Chapter 3
They took the elevator upstairs.
Yao Yingmo saw from the elevator mirror that her neighbor's eyes were eager to talk to her, but he didn't dare to open his mouth. The conflicted look of wanting to say something but stopping made her feel uncomfortable.
After all, she was not familiar with this person, and she was afraid that if she spoke suddenly, she would scare him, so she pretended not to notice his little movements.
Sure enough, until they each went home, she still couldn't hear her neighbor say a word.
Before entering, he bowed deeply to her, and when he stood up, his head accidentally knocked against his door.
What a solemn way to say thank you.
Yao Yingmo held back his laughter until he closed the door.
Sure enough, boys with social anxiety are all very cute. Her brother is, and so is her neighbor.
I really want to call right now.
It was still class time, and she didn't know her brother's schedule for the semester, so she couldn't call him during a break. She had to save the call for the evening.
Before that, she had to post on Weibo first.
She rarely uses Weibo. Apart from automatically posting updates to her website, the rest of her posts are promotional posts for physical books and collaboration teams that ask her to forward them.
Only on rare occasions would she post on Weibo to share her life.
It is usually used to explain the reason for taking leave or less updates.
For example, today.
She could only update one chapter and needed to tell her hungry readers.
[Zhaohe's Ink Shop: [Notice] Only one chapter will be updated today.]
The comment section was filled with wails. Yao Yingmo thought for a moment, clicked edit, and added the reason.
[Zhaohe's Ink Shop: [Notice] Only one chapter will be updated today.
[Reason] There was a fire upstairs, and the time it took to escape and wait for the fire to be extinguished was quite long, so I can't finish writing about it. Incidentally, I saved a life from a frightened neighbor in the Lovely Society today.]
After the Weibo post was published, most of the comments expressed understanding, and some even asked her to work harder tomorrow and make up for it with today's update.
To her surprise, the largest number of comments were about her neighbors.
"Touch Mr. Zhaohe."
"Teacher Zhaohe, please be safe."
"Teacher Zhaohe, please be safe. May you live a long life and continue writing for the rest of your life."
"Fire, escape, fire extinguishing. The teacher only used six words, but I imagined a thrilling 60,000 words."
"It's been a long time waiting for the fire to be put out. It must be a big fire. Hug Mr. Zhaohe. It's okay if I don't update today. But there must be one tomorrow."
"I can forgive Mr. Zhaohe for today, but if I can't make up for it tomorrow, it's unforgivable."
"Am I the only one who noticed the neighbor Mr. Zhaohe mentioned? She sounded like she liked him very much."
"I just want to know if my neighbor is handsome."
"No, the teacher didn't even tell me the gender of the neighbor, how do you all know it's a boy?"
"Didn't you see the teacher said it was cute? These days, all the cute ones are boys. No arguments."
"Mr. Zhaohe's writing has regressed. He even missed out on character description. Tell us if our neighbor is handsome!"
"I just wanted to ask what the neighbor looks like and whether it's worth our teacher Zhaohe's heroic rescue."
Seeing that the comment section was gradually getting out of control, Yao Yingmo responded in a unified manner.
"Zhaohe's Ink Shop: I'm fine. The fire was just upstairs, but my house wasn't affected. My neighbor is a boy, and he wears a mask every day. I've never seen his face, so I don't know if he's handsome, but he has a cute temperament."
"I really want a neighbor like me! A quiet and socially anxious one is much better than a party at home."
"Teacher Zhaohe must find a chance to see what he looks like. If he's handsome, let him be the male lead of the new book."
After responding, Yao Yingmo quit Weibo and ignored the subsequent comments.
Li Yicheng's call came soon after.
"He He! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Yao Yingmo said.
"How's your family? Do you have a place to stay today? I can lend you my place."
Li Yicheng started asking a series of questions as soon as he opened his mouth, and seemed to be more scared than Yao Yingmo.
Yao Yingmo said softly, "It's okay. The fire was on the upper floors. My house wasn't affected."
"That's good. I was really scared to death."
Yao Yingmo heard Li Yicheng's long sigh.
"It's just that we're waiting a little longer to put out the fire, so I can't update much today."
"Alas, in a situation like this, safety is of course the most important thing. I just read the comments under your Weibo post, and everyone can understand."
Yao Yingmo: "Yeah."
"So...are you feeling okay?" Li Yicheng asked cautiously.
"Not bad." Yao Yingmo answered immediately.
Li Yicheng was still worried, "Are you sure? Do you want me to go over and accompany you later? After all, this is... a fire." Fire.
This is... a fire.
Li Yicheng was with her from beginning to end when it came to that incident, so it's no wonder she's still worried now.
Yao Yingmo whispered to Li Yicheng, "Well, I'm really fine."
Li Yicheng was still worried and kept reminding him, "If you have something to say, you must tell me, okay?"
Yao Yingmo: "I won't hide it from you."
Li Yicheng sighed heavily, "It's better this way."
"That's it." Yao Yingmo reiterated firmly.
"Okay, then at least go downstairs and get the sweet soup I ordered for you. I asked the boss to add a lot of taro balls, you must eat it."
Li Yicheng specifically emphasized that taro balls were added to the syrup.
When Yao Yingmo is anxious, he always likes to eat chewy food. He always feels that this can help him focus all his attention between his teeth. As the chewing muscles exert force again and again, the breath in his heart will gradually dissipate.
She knew that Li Yicheng didn't believe her promise.
Yao Yingmo said softly: "Yes, thank you."
"What are you thanking me for? We've been friends for so many years." Li Yicheng changed the subject and asked about the three-dimensional character that first appeared on Yao Yingmo's Weibo. "By the way, your neighbor..."
When Yao Yingmo mentioned his neighbor, he smiled and said cheerfully, "He's a boy who looks a lot like Xiaoyu."
Li Yicheng: "He is younger than you?"
"I don't know, but he doesn't look very old."
It's hard to judge someone's age without seeing their face. But Yao Yingmo remembered his eyes, clean and clear. The panic he felt when the alarm sounded, the bewilderment he felt when waiting downstairs, the lively look in his eyes that made one want to look at him.
He doesn't look like a mature adult at all.
Li Yicheng was speechless at Yao Yingmo's tone: "You are only 25 years old, in the prime of your youth."
Yao Yingmo chuckled and didn't answer.
Li Yicheng only asked about it because it was the first time she saw Yao Yingmo mention the three-dimensional real person on Weibo. She didn't really take it to heart. She was still more concerned about Yao Yingmo's career. "Alright, alright, let's talk about business. What have you thought about it?"
The topic suddenly changed, and Yao Yingmo was unable to react for a moment, "What?"
Li Yicheng: "You haven't forgotten about the radio drama adaptation, have you?
Yao Yingmo said, "You mean the radio drama? I've read the information."
Li Yicheng couldn't wait to ask, "How is it? Have you thought about it?"
Yao Yingmo: "Well, agree to it."
There was a cheer from the other end of the phone, "Great, I'll tell the other party right away."
Yao Yingmo: "Hey, wait..."
The call has been hung up.
Yao Yingmo held his forehead with his hand.
I have to agree to it anyway, so let it be.
The radio drama matter was left to Li Yicheng to handle, and she had to continue working on today's update.
I had just opened the document when my phone rang again.
Yao Yingmo quickly picked up the phone: "Xiao Yu."
“I saw the Weibo.”
"It's okay." Yao Yingmo paused and quickly comforted him, "Xiaoyu, don't worry."
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a full minute before someone said, "...I'll be there this weekend."
"Okay, I'll clean up the guest room. I was just thinking this afternoon that I'd call you tonight."
"Next time, tell me first, don't post on Weibo first."
Yao Yingmo also didn't expect that Zhou Yu would check Weibo. The last time he came back for dinner, he was clearly still a well-behaved socially anxious boy who only had WeChat.
Is university really a melting pot?
Although Yao Yingmo was confused, he quickly agreed: "Okay. I'm sorry for scaring our Xiaoyu."
"Sister, I'm a sophomore."
Zhou Yu had always been unhappy with Yao Yingmo's childish tone, but she couldn't change it, so she naturally ignored Zhou Yu's weak protest. "Are you all right at school?"
"very good."
Zhou Yu's answer was very brief, but Yao Yingmo was not discouraged. After all, Zhou Yu usually kept silent, but at least he would answer every question she asked.
She continued to show concern, "Are you getting along well with your roommates?"
"Um."
"That's good," Yao Yingmo said. "How's everything else? Have you made any friends in the department? How are your professors this semester?"
"...Everything is fine." The call was hung up.
Yao Yingmo smiled.
I'll take better care of Zhou Yu on the weekend.
I have to find time to go to the supermarket to buy groceries and buy more of Zhou Yu’s favorite foods.
"Orange: He He, the takeaway has arrived, remember to come downstairs and get it."
Yao Yingmo returned to the computer, digitized the remaining words, briefly checked for typos, and then published it from the author's backend.
Yao Yingmo gently tapped his legs, which had gone numb from sitting for too long, and waited until he regained consciousness before heading to the kitchen.
It was time for her to get herself some dinner.
Usually dinner would be quite sumptuous, but there were too many unexpected events today, so Yao Yingmo really didn't have the energy to prepare. He just cooked a bowl of simple noodles like he did in the morning, as long as he had food to eat.
Speaking of which, her next-door neighbor hasn't gone out yet.
Doesn't this person need to eat?
He just moved in last year. During the renovation, Yao Yingmo accidentally overheard the workers chatting. They said that the owner of this house was very strange. He didn't install a kitchen at all. It seemed that he only installed a refrigerator and a microwave.
Yao Yingmo didn't take it seriously at the time, but now she realizes that her neighbor's lifestyle is really unhealthy.
Sleep during the day, go out at night, and don’t cook.
Yao Yingmo shook her head in amusement. She was worrying too much.
Let’s eat quickly, today’s work is not finished yet.
According to Yao Yingmo's habit, he writes and posts updates during the day, and plans the next day's details at night.
Only one chapter will be updated today, and it would be best if three chapters can be updated tomorrow.
Yao Yingmo took longer than usual to complete the detailed outline for tomorrow's work.
After completing the detailed outline, Yao Yingmo turned off the computer, stretched, and prepared to take a shower and rest.
Just as I stood up, I heard the sound of a door opening and closing next door.
Yao Yingmo subconsciously looked up and saw that it was ten o'clock in the evening.
Yao Yingmo frowned unconsciously. Is her neighbor's job...serious?
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