Xu Lin woke up groggily, opened his eyes, and found that the moonlight outside the window had turned into sunlight, shining on his face.
He turned his head and discovered that his blanket and Ji Yun's blanket were already tangled together, indistinguishable from each other.
At this moment, Miss Ji Yun had lost her quiet, serene sleeping posture. One arm was clutching the blanket, the other was draped over his chest. Both legs were tightly wrapped around his, resembling a baby sloth clinging to a tree.
However, Miss Ji Yun had her defenses up, as she was wearing a pair of school uniform pants, completely covering her legs.
"Ugh~"
"Mm... Xu Lin, what time is it?"
Ji Yun, having heard some noise, groggily sensed Xu Lin's presence and murmured.
"Let me check, whoa!"
"What happened?" Ji Yun was startled awake, her drowsiness instantly disappearing as she sat up.
"It's already 6 o'clock."
"Huh? Then let's hurry up and get ready, or we'll be late."
"Yeah, let me see if there's hot water. You should take a shower too; you didn't finish washing last night."
"Okay."
After saying this, they both prepared to get out of bed when the bedroom door suddenly opened.
Xu Lin was also startled, realizing that he had forgotten to close the door. But fortunately, it was likely his mom; she had seen him entangled with Chu Qianchan last time and didn't react much.
However, when the door opened, a blonde twin-tailed girl and a curly-haired beauty walked in. Their eyes met Xu Lin's, and the atmosphere became awkward instantly.
"Carry on," Chu Qianchan said coldly. Ji Yun's face turned bright red, and she immediately hid under the blanket.
"Wow, you're fast!" Chu Fengyi teased, flicking her long hair and giving him a disdainful look.
Then his mom and dad rushed in, followed by Qin Yunhe, Bai Xiaoxiao, Ye Fanleng, Su Qingwan, and even Liu Qinnuan and Zhu Zhaoxue.
They all looked at him, scolding him for hurting the young girls.
Xu Lin was dumbfounded. He pinched his cheek hard and felt no pain, suddenly realizing he was dreaming.
With this thought, everything burst like bubbles, turning from colorful to white, and finally to black!
"... Phew!"
Xu Lin opened his eyes, but outside the window, it was not sunlight but a somewhat gloomy sky.
He also felt physical discomfort, the injured area feeling hot and itchy.
"Xu Lin, you're awake? Did you have a nightmare?"
Seeing Xu Lin frown as he woke up, Ji Yun moved closer and touched his forehead.
"I'm fine. What time is it?"
Xu Lin looked at Ji Yun, who was leaning against the headboard reading a book, hoping he hadn't woken up late in the real world.
"It's only 5 o'clock. I woke up around 4 and grabbed one of your books to read."
"What are you reading? 'Dream of the Red Chamber'?"
Xu Lin leaned over to Ji Yun, glancing at the cover. It seemed to be the deluxe edition of "Dream of the Red Chamber" he bought last year.
"Yes."
As she felt Xu Lin's shoulder leaning against hers, Ji Yun involuntarily rested her head lightly on his shoulder without even realizing it.
"Class Monitor Ji, when I was a kid, I disliked 'Dream of the Red Chamber' the most. I thought 'Journey to the West,' 'Three Kingdoms,' and 'Water Margin' all had fights, especially 'Journey to the West.'"
"But as I grew up, 'Dream of the Red Chamber' became my favorite book."
"Because you envy Jia Baoyu?" Ji Yun glanced at him with a meaningful smile.
"No, no, I admire how well Cao Xueqin controlled his words. Not a single sentence is wasted; every line is connected and serves a purpose."
"For example, the prophecies for the Twelve Beauties of Jinling reveal their fates. Unfortunately, no one knows the complete ending..."
"Yeah, speaking of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling, you could gather twelve girls yourself."
Ji Yun teased, but Xu Lin's expression changed instantly, and Ji Yun noticed his reaction.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing, just felt that what you said is too scary. Twelve girls would tear me apart."
"Haha, by the way, I prefer Ping'er from the secondary beauties over the primary twelve."
"I like Ping'er too. By the way, there should be hot water now. You should take a shower."
"I almost forgot."
Ji Yun got up, and Xu Lin made space for her, but Ji Yun hesitated and looked at him, still half-buried in the blankets.
"Why don't you come down?" Xu Lin asked.
"You go out first, I don't like sleeping in clothes. Though I still have a top on, but below..."
As she spoke, Ji Yun felt embarrassed to continue, but compared to before, she had made a lot of progress and her face didn't turn red.
Xu Lin suddenly felt that his dream impressions of the old Ji Yun were now different from the reality of Class Monitor Ji.
"Come on, get out quickly!"
"We're already an old married couple."
"Who's an old married couple with you?"
Ji Yun glared at him, but as she recalled how they had naturally leaned against each other just now, she suddenly felt a bit like her mom and dad.
Xu Lin walked out and headed straight to the bathroom, turned on the shower, and found that the hot water was back.
After using the toilet and leaving the bathroom, Xu Lin saw Ji Yun cautiously coming out of the bedroom.
"You're sneaking around like a thief."
"If Auntie and Uncle saw, it wouldn't be good."
"They won't wake up before 9 o'clock today, it's definite."
Besides, my mom already considers you as the number one daughter-in-law candidate, Xu Lin added in his mind.
"Oh right, Xu Lin, you have injuries, so you can't shower, right?"
"It seems I can't exercise either. Getting up early today was pointless."
"Then go back and rest for a while, I'll call you later."
"I'm not sleepy anymore, I'll go write for a bit."
"Oh, let me help you wipe your body, you can't shower for a few days, right?"
"Let my mom do it for me."
"It's okay, I'll do it!"
Hearing that Xu Lin didn't want her to help, Ji Yun became interested and dragged Xu Lin into the bathroom.
"Take off your shirt."
"I can do it myself."
"No."
"Fine."
Xu Lin took off his shirt, revealing the bandage on his left abdomen, with a medicinal smell lingering.
"Sit down."
Ji Yun brought over a small plastic stool used for bathing and placed it beside him.
Xu Lin sat down helplessly, and Ji Yun took his towel and basin, filled it with hot water, and soaked the towel.
"Okay, roll up your sleeves."
"Why are you treating me like a kid?"
"Little friend Xu, roll up your sleeves."
"Okay."
Ji Yun took the warm towel and started wiping from the back of his neck, very earnestly and meticulously, though it tickled a bit.
After a few minutes, she finished the back, rinsed the towel again, and started wiping the front.
Xu Lin faced Ji Yun's gaze directly, feeling embarrassed as a grown man.
But Ji Yun was completely focused on wiping him, dispelling his initial embarrassment and leaving only a simple sense of gratitude.
"Done!"
"Thanks, you're so meticulous."
"After all, everyone has special circumstances."
"Yeah, to thank Class Monitor Ji, how about I wipe your back?"
Xu Lin thought Ji Yun would give him a disdainful look and tell him to get lost, but she turned back abruptly, gently lifting the hem of her shirt.
"Sure."
Xu Lin immediately swallowed hard. Despite having studied a lot and interned, his heart was racing.
Then, accompanied by the outer sweater being taken off, revealing a long-sleeved T-shirt inside, he froze completely. His mother's voice came from outside the bathroom.
"Xu Lin, are you in there? I need to use the bathroom."
Xu Lin instantly understood. Ji Yun had noticed his mother coming this way earlier.
"You're unbelievable."
"Bye bye~"
Ji Yun waved playfully, and Xu Lin put on his hoodie, opened the door, and walked out dispiritedly.
Li Yuan saw her son quickly walking out and then saw Ji Yun inside, furrowing her brows.
What's going on? Am I going to have grandchildren already? It's too early for that!