Chapter 2: They're quite sensible. It's our first meeting; one should always be careful...

The doorbell rang at an inopportune time.

The agreed time was Sunday noon, but Li Baidong wandered around Xing Lan's house like a stray dog ​​around 7 a.m., pulling two suitcases, one big and one small.

Xing Lan now lives in a high-end apartment in the city center. Although the apartment is not large, it has a good location and convenient transportation, which saves her commuting time.

This property was actually a gift from his grandfather to him the year he graduated from university.

After his mother passed away, Xing Lan's relationship with his father remained strained; the two barely exchanged a few words throughout the year. His contact list contained only two numbers marked as relatives: his grandfather's and his aunt's.

From childhood to adulthood, his father never attended any of his graduation ceremonies, nor did he ever give him any gifts that represented care and blessings.

However, Xing Lan didn't care.

In his mind, his father was no different from a stranger. Who would care whether a stranger, busy balancing his career and new family, remembered to wish him a happy graduation?

Standing in the clean and tidy corridor of the apartment, Li Baidong turned on the front camera of his phone, carefully examined his hairstyle by the warm light of the overhead lamp, whistled happily, and rang the doorbell at eight o'clock sharp with a joyful heart.

Xing Lan was used to taking a shower first thing on weekend mornings. When the doorbell rang, he was tilting his head back slightly and applying the new shower gel to his neck and shoulders.

Because he was so thin, his collarbone was very prominent, like a small boat filled with water, gently swaying with the movements of bathing, creating tiny ripples.

The fingertips were slender and glowed with a thin layer of pink from the steam, gently gliding over the snow-white skin from top to bottom, with a slightly cool touch.

It was a perfectly normal action, yet it looked somewhat alluring in the hazy mist.

He just grabbed this shower gel randomly at the supermarket, but the scent was stronger than he expected.

As it slowly dissolves in the air with the flow of warm water, the entire cool gray-toned bathroom is filled with the rich fragrance of freesia.

"Ding-dong—"

"Ding-dong—"

He heard the noise outside the door, thought for a few seconds, realized that his new roommate might have arrived early, quickly rinsed off the remaining shower gel with the shower head, came out of the bathroom, put on a bathrobe, and went out to open the door.

Although he moved quickly and methodically, his pace still revealed a certain haste.

My hair was still wet and hadn't been dried, and I hadn't had time to completely dry myself off.

Tiny, glistening water droplets clung to her fair collarbone, and her long, slender legs beneath the cotton bathrobe looked so delicate they could be encircled with one hand.

Upon opening the door, a clearly very young man with striking blond hair was standing in the opposite corridor.

The man was very tall, with broad shoulders and long legs. He wore a smart and oversized black leather jacket, and when the wind blew through the alley, his flamboyant burgundy lining was faintly visible.

He wore a thin silver zircon necklace, eye-catching yet understated, which perfectly matched his outfit today.

The young man paused for a few seconds after seeing him, then smiled lightly and asked, "Brother, are you taking a shower? Did I disturb you?"

The boy had a clear and distinctive voice, and his appearance was also unique. He was clearly the "Mu Bai" who had chatted with him online a few days ago.

"No." Xing Lan stepped aside to make room for him and casually asked, "You're Li Baidong?"

The person opposite nodded, a clear smile on their face, looking like an innocent and harmless college student.

He stared intently at Xing Lan, and perhaps because the weather was too dry, he subconsciously licked his lips.

Xing Lan raised his hand to smooth his still-dripping hair, unaware of the slight change in the other person's expression the moment they saw him.

He had no idea how careless the boy who shared a dorm with Li Baidong must be about his personal hygiene to have driven his roommate to this point.

They're in such a rush to move here so early in the morning, they can't even wait a few hours.

After Li Baidong entered the house, Xing Lan noticed that he was carrying a large gray backpack on his back.

The bag was made of Oxford cloth, thick and durable, with several round ventilation holes on the side and a small transparent window in the middle, inside which was a…

Xing Lan couldn't help but exclaim, "A cat?"

Li Baidong turned around and saw Xing Lan staring intently at his cat carrier, her beautiful brows slightly furrowed.

"Ah! This is a stray cat I picked up at school. It's been with me for a long time." Seeing Xing Lan's strange expression, Li Baidong quickly explained, "It's very well-behaved. It's been very affectionate since it was a kitten, and it doesn't meow much. Brother, you... shouldn't mind if I keep it here, right?"

He swallowed hard, his face still smiling, but he was clearly more nervous than before, as if he was afraid that Xing Lan would pack him and the cat out as soon as he entered the door.

Fortunately, Xing Lan pondered for a moment and quickly shook her head: "I don't mind, it's just..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a loud bark.

"Woof woof!!"

Suddenly, a large white dog rushed out from some corner of the living room, ran to Xing Lan's feet, circled around him, rubbed its wet black nose against his calf, and made affectionate panting sounds.

This is Xing Lan's dog, a male Samoyed with a great personality and appearance. It's white, chubby, and has soft, shiny fur, like a big, white cotton candy that can run and jump.

Because of its gluttony, the dog's weight has been constantly teetering on the edge of becoming an extremely obese dog. Xing Lan has been listening to pet podcasts whenever she has free time, trying to come up with a plan to help it lose weight.

Xing Lan looked down at the big white dog, bent down and stroked its head. His eyes lost some of their coldness and became more gentle, like the faint moonlight shining through the window at night.

The bathrobe was loose and baggy, and a large expanse of skin on the chest was easily exposed.

Xing Lan wanted to go to the bedroom to change his clothes, so he gave his dog a command at the door: "Little Prince, sit."

The little prince obediently stopped at the door after hearing the instruction.

Xing Lan had just turned around when he didn't notice a very tall figure swaying behind him and creeping closer.

Li Baidong put down the bulky cat carrier, unzipped it, and carefully took out a tabby cat with stitches in its left eye.

The cat was long and thin with round green pupils. It was being held in the arms of a blond boy like a baby. It meowed and yawned lazily.

Looking at the Samoyed sitting on the ground wagging its tail frantically, Li Baidong said with surprise, "Brother, your dog is named Little Prince?"

Xing Lan turned her head: "Yeah, what's wrong?"

Li Baidong raised the kitten's soft paw in his arms, shook it at Xing Lan, and said with a smile, "What a coincidence, my kitten's name is Fox."

"...Is it a coincidence?"

Xing Lan didn't quite understand what the relationship could be between a fox and a prince, since they were different species.

Li Baidong explained with a smile: "I once read a book called 'The Little Prince,' in which the Little Prince and the fox are best friends."

He glanced at the Samoyed sitting upright by the door, then at the soft kitten in his arms, and said softly in a low voice, "Even their names are so compatible, it seems they will get along very well in the future."

Li Baidong has two barely noticeable canine teeth. When he smiles, his canine teeth are sharp, but they don't look aggressive at all. Instead, they give him a kind of inexplicable friendliness.

Like the cheerful boys in every class in high school who are good at enlivening the atmosphere, although they are good-looking, they are not arrogant and give people the illusion that they are easy to approach.

Xing Lan nodded thoughtfully, then looked up and glanced at him indifferently.

Just now, Li Baidong, holding the cat, got closer and closer in a very familiar way, and before anyone knew it, his butt was almost sitting on the edge of his bed. Anyone who didn't know them would think they were old friends who had known each other for many years.

Although he spoke and acted very naturally, it was only their first meeting, so they should still be mindful of their boundaries.

Almost the instant their eyes met, Li Baidong immediately understood the meaning in Xing Lan's eyes, and politely took a step back while holding the kitten.

"Brother, are you changing your clothes?"

"You go ahead and change, I'll wait for you in the living room."

Before leaving, she winked at him and closed the door for him.

They're quite sensible.

Xing Lan slowly took off her bathrobe with her back to the wardrobe. The skin on her back was exceptionally fair and smooth, gleaming with a delicate, pearly luster under the soft light of the bedroom spotlight.

However, upon closer inspection, one can see a faint, thin scar on the left scapula, which has faded in color with age, resembling an autumn leaf fallen on the shoulder.

-

When he dried his hair and walked out of the bedroom, he saw that his silly dog ​​had somehow gotten up and was happily lying on the stranger's lap.

Li Baidong gently patted her a couple of times, and the naive and sweet girl squinted her eyes and hummed softly in enjoyment, as happy as if she had met a long-lost new father.

Xing Lan: "..."

On our first meeting, could you please be a little more reserved?

He coughed softly, and the people sitting on the sofa and the white tank on their laps immediately turned to look at him.

The little prince's eyes showed only the whites, making him look a little guilty. Li Baidong, on the other hand, smiled warmly and exclaimed happily, "Brother, your puppy is so cute!"

Xing Lan's tone was somewhat cold: "It weighs almost seventy pounds, it's not small anymore."

He walked over, and the little prince immediately jumped off Li Baidong's lap, running towards him and nuzzling his fluffy head against his legs, perfectly embodying the term "lackey."

Xing Lan temporarily ignored this little traitor who fell in love with every woman he saw. She simply bent down, took out two thin sheets of paper from the drawer next to her, and sat down on the other side of the sofa, maintaining a social distance that was neither too close nor too far from Li Baidong.

"This is the roommate agreement," he said to Li Baidong in a businesslike tone. "Take a look, and if there are no problems, you can sign it."

Li Baidong glanced at it curiously, then quickly signed his name a few seconds later, before looking at Xing Lan with a boastful expression: "Brother, it's done."

Xing Lan paused: "...You've looked at it carefully?"

“I’ve seen it.” Li Baidong thought for a moment, but still couldn’t help but say, “I just have a question.”

"you say."

"I can understand the first few of your requirements for a roommate, but why does the last one have to be someone who sleeps in the same bed as you?"

Li Baidong's expression became more serious than before. He looked at Xing Lan and said, word by word, "Although there is only one bedroom here, it is very spacious. Whether you sleep on the floor or on the sofa, it will be no problem at all."

"Is there... a special reason why we have to sleep together?" He raised his eyebrows, slightly puzzled.

Xing Lan glanced at him, her gaze extremely cold.

"I won't charge you rent, and I won't force you to clean every day. That's my only request. If you don't want to, you can still back out now."

"I'll give you half an hour to make a decision," Xing Lan said, standing up and looking at the contract in his hand. "Although you're still a student, you're also an adult and should have a sense of contractual obligation."

Li Baidong paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "Of course I won't regret it. I was just asking casually, so please don't mind, brother."

Xing Lan didn't say anything and walked towards the open kitchen not far away.

Li Baidong gently stroked the kitten's fur with his long, slender fingertips while looking up at his back.

After a while, a cold voice was heard from the quiet living room.

Xing Lan took two eggs out of the refrigerator and casually asked Li Baidong, who was sitting on the sofa, "You came so early, have you eaten yet?"

A note from the author:

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