With a change of clothes in hand, I headed to the washroom. To avoid any bizarre door-opening surprises, I knocked first. When no one answered, I pushed the door open. The room had clearly been used, but there was no one inside.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Looked like Liu Su had gone out. I set my clothes on the washbasin and started taking mine off.

When I’m at home, I sometimes don’t notice little changes around the sink right away. But as I took off my pajamas, ready to toss them into the washing machine, I spotted something soaking in the basin. Could it be the legendary natural scent so many people longed for?

I’d seen plenty of stuff like this in pictures and videos, but this was the first time I’d seen it up close in real life. I felt like I could barely breathe. Was the air full of too much PM2.5? Should I save myself by grabbing the gauze nearest to me and breathing through it?

I really wanted to pick it up and examine it closely. How could something so small expand enough to cover such big peaches? What a bizarre question.

But in the end, I left it alone and tossed my own clothes straight into the washing machine.

Still, Liu Su was way too bold. She was in an unfamiliar place and still left her underwear lying around. That was dangerous! What if I took it and did something weird with it? What would she do if she got pregnant tomorrow?

To avoid any suspicion, I tossed all the clothes straight into the washing machine and started a cycle. I figured I’d do laundry while I showered, so Liu Su wouldn’t run into my personal stuff later and feel awkward.

Still, bathrooms used by girls seemed to smell especially sweet. I took several big breaths of the bathroom air. Good thing the toilet and washroom were separate at home. Otherwise, this would’ve been seriously hentai.

There weren’t many clothes in the washing machine, so they finished up around the same time as my shower. After drying my hair, I grabbed a washbasin, loaded the clean clothes into it, and headed out.

That’s when I spotted the careless beauty I’d just been complaining about. She was already back.

And she was staring straight at me with a strange look on her face.

“Did you do anything naughty in there?” Liu Su asked, looking at me.

“Huh?” I’d had the good sense to get fully dressed in there, and now I was glad I’d thought ahead. Sure enough, I’d just finished washing up when Liu Su came back and walked out. That was exactly why I’d gotten dressed first.

I considered myself a man of fine character, so Liu Su’s question left me a little confused.

Liu Su’s eyes shifted to the clothes in my arms.

“Oh, these are all my clothes. I just finished washing them,” I said proudly. Resisting temptation—that was a skill of mine!

“You’ve already washed your clothes? You definitely did something, didn’t you?” Liu Su said, her face bright red.

“Wait, you don’t think I did, you know, that thing in there?” I protested, holding up a hand.

“You definitely did!” Liu Su glared at me like a tigress, then charged into the washroom.

“...” I stood there holding my clothes, completely at a loss. Had she mistaken my washing them to avoid an awkward situation for an attempt to destroy the evidence?

“I swear on heaven and earth, I didn’t!” I grumbled as I hung up the clothes.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Liu Su carefully hand-washing her underwear. She didn’t look too happy. I honestly felt wronged. If I’d known this would happen, I might as well have sniffed it...

To be honest, I still couldn’t figure out what was going on with Liu Su.

She’d signed that contract that was practically a slave contract, and even though I’d told her she didn’t have to move in, she’d chosen to anyway. Yet sometimes she acted like she couldn’t stand me...

Well, whatever. I wasn’t much for overthinking things, and having a beautiful girl like Liu Su around was easy on the eyes.

That was how I reassured myself. I couldn’t honestly say I didn’t have any ulterior thoughts, but it was obvious she wasn’t interested. I felt a little bad about the money, but I wasn’t about to hold a favor over her head.

If there was anything worth praising about a guy like me, it was probably that I didn’t dwell on things. Or, to put it another way, I was easygoing and a little thick-skinned.

Before long, I’d put the little incident out of my mind and gone back to the plans I’d made for the day. Today, Chu Turan was going to the big GMA anime convention!

I packed up my things, slung my backpack over my shoulder, and set off for the convention. It was pretty close to my place, so I just took a bus and walked a few hundred meters.

Before leaving, I remembered to tell Liu Su, who’d gone straight into her room, that I wouldn’t be back for lunch. And since it’d make things easier to keep in touch, I asked for her phone number. Her attitude toward me had suddenly turned lukewarm, but she didn’t refuse. We exchanged numbers.

The convention was packed with gorgeous cosplayers, and there was so much to see I could barely take it all in. But I wasn’t really a fan of crowded places. I’d come for the merchandise and figures on sale, and I didn’t want to spend too long in the crush of people.

I forced my way through the crowds for ages, then spent ages shopping. At last, I’d made the rounds of all the booths and bought the merch and figures I wanted—not to mention body pillows of some of my anime waifus. Carrying several huge bags, I headed to the bus stop.

There was a phone shop next to the bus stop. It suddenly occurred to me that Liu Su’s phone had been noticeably lagging when we exchanged numbers.

Standing at the bus stop, I looked at the bus waiting with its doors open for me to get on. I hesitated, waved to the driver, then carried my huge bags into the phone shop. The salesperson gave me a strange look as they eyed all the bags in my hands. The Rem and Railgun pictures on them were pretty anime-ish, and so was the Akatsuki uniform I was wearing.

If a man in a robe walked into a phone shop to buy a phone, you’d probably stare at him too.

Still, men were pretty straightforward when it came to shopping. If a woman were buying a phone, she’d probably compare prices at three different stores and ask about all kinds of after-sales service.

But as far as men were concerned, I give you money, you give me the goods. The whole process shouldn’t take more than three minutes.

Two minutes later, I walked out of the phone shop. I still had all my huge bags, and now I had a little one too.

Missing the bus meant I’d have to wait at least ten minutes for the next one.

After a bumpy ride, I got off and carried everything home. You’ve got to admit, when it comes to the things you love, no matter how heavy they are, they somehow feel super light. I actually felt like I had tons of energy the whole way.

It wasn’t like I was some frail scholar who couldn’t even lift a chicken, but I’d bought a lot of stuff. And yet the farther I walked, the easier it felt. I wasn’t tired at all.

When I got home, Liu Su was still in her room. I didn’t greet her—or, more accurately, I didn’t know how I should greet her. She’d moved in, sure, but our earlier encounters hadn’t exactly been pleasant for her.

I opened the door, and the sound of me setting down the packages reached Liu Su’s ears.

She opened her door and came out. Seeing me with bags of all sizes, she asked, looking puzzled,

“What’s all this?”

“My wives.” At my answer, Liu Su’s face filled with confusion.

When Liu Su saw me unpacking all sorts of anime body pillows, her confused expression turned to disdain. She looked like she’d expected exactly this.

“Do all you men waste money on stuff like this?”

“What do you mean, waste money? This is faith, got it?” As I spoke, I pressed my face against a maid body pillow and rubbed my cheek against it like a hentai. Mm, not bad. I’d wash it today and use it as a cushion from now on.

“Hmph.” Liu Su made no comment. She just sat down to the side and watched me eagerly unpacking all my figures.