This guy really wasn’t reliable at all. He was so unreliable, it reached the heavens.

What was he supposed to do now?

The keys were actually a minor issue. The real problem was, if her bag had been left in a place like that, could they even get it back?

He could only call Huang Ziyin first. Luckily, that girl treated her phone like a priceless treasure and kept it in her hand at all times. Otherwise, the phone would’ve been lost too.

What the heck was he supposed to do?

Huang Ziyin didn’t answer at all.

Still, the reason was obvious. No one inside that place could possibly hear a phone ringing.

He sent her a text first. He didn’t expect her to bring the bag back. At the very least, she had to hold on to it and make sure it didn’t get lost.

What next?

It was the middle of the night. Asking his roommate to bring out the spare key wasn’t realistic.

The dorm downstairs was locked. There was no way to get out from inside.

Even if he went back, he’d first have to climb over the wall, then get someone to throw down their student card and unlock the downstairs door.

The noise from unlocking it would definitely attract the dorm supervisor’s attention.

And he was carrying Li Mo.

Come to think of it, he couldn’t go back either.

Ah, screw this.

With no other choice, Tang Zhe carried Li Mo downstairs. He randomly picked a lucky person from the people near the entrance, which was never locked year-round.

Then he called them and begged them to hurry over.

His arms were about to give out.

Tsk.

Even if this girl was light, carrying her for so long still made his arms ache.

“Whew…”

Not long ago, this girl had announced the unbelievably stupid news that her bag wasn’t coming back.

Yet somehow, she’d already fallen asleep and started snoring.

She even smacked her lips every now and then.

Was she seriously dreaming?

Sigh…

Whatever.

He’d just keep carrying her.

The locksmith had said he’d arrive in about ten minutes. Tang Zhe could still hold out.

Luckily, he’d carried her on his back from the start. If he’d carried her in his arms, he would’ve been completely screwed.

“Given your situation, it’ll be one hundred yuan.”

The sleepy locksmith said it in a daze, and Tang Zhe’s heart twisted with pain.

“Fine. Just hurry up and open it, sir.”

“Okay.”

He had to admit, this line of work made serious money.

They could name any price they wanted. After all, they had the ultimate advantage: if they didn’t open the door, you couldn’t get inside.

Opening one door in the middle of the night was enough to pay for a day’s meals.

He was insanely jealous.

To put it simply, it was just using brute force to pick a lock with a little technique.

“Beep.”

“Alipay payment received. One hundred yuan~”

“All done. Sorry to trouble you, sir.”

Tang Zhe thanked him with a constipated look after scanning the code. Then he slipped inside and shut the door before the locksmith could reply.

One hundred yuan had vanished just like that.

That money could’ve paid for several meals cooked by this girl.

Sigh. He’d deal with it tomorrow.

He could already imagine how much of a fuss she’d make after waking up.

She’d definitely shower, wash her clothes, change the quilt, and replace the sheets.

The main issue was that men and women shouldn’t get too physically intimate.

If Li Mo were still a guy, Tang Zhe could’ve helped her remove her jacket and pants first.

But doing that now would make him a complete pervert.

All he could do was place her on the bed and cover her with a blanket. There was nothing else he could do.

As the final step, he carried the trash can into the bedroom and placed it beside the bed.

He also dragged in a reclining chair and sat down in it, closing his eyes to rest.

There was no telling whether Li Mo might suddenly wake up and throw up.

At least for the next hour, he had to keep watch.

Luckily, nothing happened.

Li Mo was sleeping even more deeply than he’d expected. She was out cold.

Tang Zhe relaxed his guard, moved the chair back, and used his jacket as a blanket. Then he lay down on the sofa.

Damn it all. He had no choice. He couldn’t go back.

……………

……………

The next morning arrived in the blink of an eye.

Tang Zhe had a student-council task that afternoon, so he’d deliberately set an alarm before lunchtime. He was afraid he’d sleep in.

That alarm proved incredibly useful.

He hadn’t fallen asleep until after three. If it hadn’t gone off close to eleven, he probably would’ve slept for another two hours.

He was exhausted.

Sleeping on the sofa was even more miserable than he’d imagined.

It was painfully hard, for one thing. It didn’t even have a pillow.

When he got up, his entire body felt stiff.

His neck was a problem too. It showed slight signs of a crick.

Fortunately, it wasn’t serious.

It was already eleven.

He stretched his limbs as he walked toward the girl’s bedroom and found that Li Mo still hadn’t woken up.

She was still wearing the same clothes from last night, sprawled across the bed with absolutely no sleeping posture whatsoever.

A faint snore escaped her.

The smell of alcohol was rather strong, though.

Tang Zhe frowned. He couldn’t help regretting how careless he’d been last night.

He’d been afraid Li Mo would kick off the blanket in her sleep and catch cold, since she couldn’t change her clothes.

That was why he hadn’t opened the window.

He’d only left the bedroom door open.

Now that he thought about it, even leaving the window cracked for ventilation would’ve been better than keeping it shut.

“Whoosh—”

He opened the window.

The fresh air outside rushed in with the wind, and Tang Zhe immediately felt much better.

At least the girl wouldn’t be hit by such a terrible smell when she woke up.

She should be fine now.

It was also getting late. He needed to go back, eat lunch, and attend the afternoon task.

Once this task was over, he really had to take Li Mo’s advice and rest for a while.

The pressure had been getting to him. His last illness had nearly killed him.

Time to go.

If he reached the cafeteria any later, he’d have to wait in line.

If he had to queue, he wouldn’t make it to the task in time.

“Cough, cough, cough—”

Just as he reached the door and was about to press the handle, coughing came from the bedroom behind him.

Tang Zhe lowered his hand and turned back to check on Li Mo.

Why was she coughing now?

When he entered, he found that Li Mo had already woken up.

She lay on the bed like a corpse, staring blankly at the ceiling.

She’d heard him approaching the bedroom door and only then turned her head to look over.

“Gah…”

That one movement made her head throb with pain.

“You’re awake? I’ll boil some water for you.”

Forget lunch. He’d eat a bowl of noodles near the school after finishing the task.

“Mmm…”

She let out a weak nasal hum.

Li Mo hadn’t drunk as much as Tang Zhe had the last time.

At least she hadn’t gotten so hungover that she forgot everything from last night.

She had actually been clinging to Tang Zhe and acting spoiled all night.

Oh my god…

How embarrassing.

And the smell of alcohol made her feel awful all over.

But she really couldn’t get up yet.

Her head hurt, her entire body felt limp, and she had the same sensation as when she’d woken up after suddenly falling asleep last time.

Her throat was dry too.

Still, thank goodness she’d made it back alive.

About five minutes later, Tang Zhe returned with a glass of water.

It seemed he’d let it cool first. It wasn’t scalding hot.

After drinking two mouthfuls, she felt much better.

“Can you get up? If you can, go take a shower. You smell pretty strongly.”

“You’re disgusted by me?”

“...Huh?”

Tang Zhe didn’t recover from the sudden question right away.

“Disgusted by what? I think you should be the one disgusted. You were so stupid last night. Why didn’t you call me sooner?”

“If Huang Ziyin hadn’t called me, someone probably would’ve picked you up off the street.”

“At times like this, you should rely on me a little more. I’m not going to think you’re a bother.”

“Mmm... okay.”

Li Mo glanced at Tang Zhe.

Then she turned over, showing him her back.

“Are you busy later?”

“Nope.”

He was busy. Very busy.

But seeing her condition, he definitely wasn’t going to say so.

“Then... stay with me a little longer.”

One more point for tonight!