They are still close to me today despite their negative feelings

"?"

Chu Guyin tilted her head, seemingly puzzled as to why she wouldn't accept it.

"...Take it."

Chen Di said softly, and I nodded in agreement.

Chen Yin then took the registration slip from Chu Guyin and threw it into the "garbage dump" that symbolized invalidity.

For a fleeting moment, I thought I saw a look of sadness on Senior Sister Chu Guyin's face. But it passed quickly, and I wasn't sure.

"...No, it's okay. Well, since the marriage ended, the marriage (harem) card has been moved back into the deck." Even though she was a senior much older than her, Chen Yin comforted her, "Well, it's just a new beginning. Sometimes it's like this—you can draw it back."

While I don't possess a photographic memory, I did manage to quickly skim through the instructions. According to the game rules, removing a card from the game means it disappears completely; I don't recall any rule about moving it back into the deck after a marriage ends.

—As expected of Chen Di's sister. I smiled as I looked at Chen Yin, who was explaining the rules in a serious tone.

...At the same time, I nudged the cat, who was still in my arms and seemed to have realized its mistake and was starting to feel uneasy, with its fist.

The game continued, but this time, everyone seemed to tacitly avoid the "Fate" tile, trying to leave the opportunity to a girl who, on the surface, was not obvious but had been staring at the Fate card.

however……

"..."

An Yu looked at the card in his hand, opened his mouth slightly, and after a flash of surprise, his face was filled with unease and astonishment.

Chen Di and I exchanged a glance, and he sighed softly.

"What did you draw?"

Seeing that An Yu didn't immediately reveal the contents of his card, Hu Dan asked curiously.

“…” An Yu did not answer immediately, but subconsciously glanced in Chu Guyin’s direction before quickly looking away.

That's too obvious. Judging from the look on Ge Lanlan's face across the street, she should have guessed which card An Yu had drawn.

I sighed silently to myself and glanced at Chu Guyin.

The senior student was still staring at the cards of fate, completely oblivious to anything else.

"Is it some kind of difficult challenge?"

Hu Dan, however, only had eyes for An Yu. Seeing the girl's troubled expression, he asked her with concern.

"...No, it's very simple."

As if having made up his mind, An Yu suddenly looked at me.

"It's about having the person next to me praise my strengths, and then shuffling the card back into the deck."

The brown-haired girl looked at me, her eyes curving into crescent shapes, and said with a smile.

"You should praise me properly."

She handed me the card with the back facing down, looking completely at ease.

"Although he's a bit dim-witted, he's not bad at times."

I glanced at her and took the card.

"That's not a compliment at all!"

An Yu said somewhat unhappily, puffing out her cheeks slightly.

"Okay, okay, I can eat and drink, a great companion for buffets."

"Did it bite you?"

"Maybe we can go to a buffet together next time." I didn't look into the girl's eyes, but I could feel the joy and warmth emanating from her.

"Really?!"

"Maybe," I smiled. I'll wait until I have some spare funds.

……

Finally, after drawing the "marriage (harem) card" again, Senior Sister Chu Guyin finally showed a slightly relieved expression.

After several more rounds of maneuvering, we also ended the game.

Are you more confident about the bet now?

While tidying up the chessboard for everyone, Chen Di whispered to me.

"Not really. Senior Chu Guyin is just more dependent on me here right now. Don't tell me you didn't notice."

"Such a boring answer is too uninteresting." Chen Di shook his head. "Speaking of which, don't you find the president rather strange?"

"Hmm, this is completely unlike her usual self."

Even though I was a little angry with Chu Guyin, I really couldn't imagine why the president had acted that way just now.

"It's less about being cold to Chu Guyin and more about preparing to hang up the phone quickly—did something happen at the debate competition?"

"In the Lucheng area, there shouldn't be any opponent who can defeat the debate team that Senior Chu Guyin belongs to. Not even the Lucheng University debate team."

"...Isn't this a bit too much? High school students versus college students?"

“Debate doesn’t have a strict age requirement; it’s common for undergraduates to be involved in research and for doctoral students.” Unlike me, Chen Di seemed to have heard about some of the rules of debate.

beep--

Our phones and his phone vibrated at the same time.

We exchanged a glance and then unlocked our phones.

[Hey, did you guys hear? It seems Senior Wu Yuehua lost the debate this time!?]

[Completely outmatched! Senior Wu Yuehua completely lost her composure when facing the opposing debater, wasting the entire third debate's questioning session due to her stuttering! Do you think there might be some shocking revelation here!?]

…………

[Next chapter preview: "Has your cat finally lost its mind?"]

"You only have one very old gaming laptop?"

"I didn't cry."

The proprietress is being too childish.

"Don't teach your older sister to explain words incorrectly!!"

Chapter 104: 1room-a young girl

"I want to go back together, meow..."

"Today is the day we agreed to go home with Grandpa and the others, right? Go and pick up Qiqi so we can go together."

"So you owe me one chance to go home together, okay?"

Has your cat finally lost its mind?

I gently tapped Qiu Luxi's forehead with a scalpel, rubbed her forehead, and then waved to her.

The girl sitting in the back seat obediently reached out and gently waved to me. As the car started moving, her waving gesture through the rear window gradually disappeared into the distance.

So, it was Friday night, and even Ning Ruoxin was somewhat reluctant to go home to visit her parents—I'll just enjoy my leisure time back in living alone.

With that thought in mind, I happily walked up the stairs, and then I was startled to see a guy squatting on the ground in the stairwell.

—A homeless person? So even the Kingdom of Jiuhua has them…

"Sobbing, sobbing"

Hey, the voice sounds like a girl. Good heavens, being a homeless woman was practically the most tragic thing in my past life... and it usually comes with mental instability.

The motion-activated lights on the stairs were probably old and only now did they finally turn on, seemingly out of nowhere. And I stared wide-eyed.

A homeless person wearing our school uniform?!

No, I personally have no goodwill or trust towards the school leaders, so I still need to talk to the president.

So I quickly picked up my phone and dialed the president's number.

...A bell rang from the homeless man's pocket.

Perhaps startled by the ringing, she looked up, somewhat bewildered, took out her phone, and answered the call.

"Hey, junior?"

"……Hello."

I looked at the girl I considered homeless and twitched my lips.

……

"Sorry, I only realized I forgot my keys when I got to my front door."

"What about the landlord..."

"Recently, the landlord and the manager seem to be handing over some things, and it seems that a new operating company has taken over the project here. So it seems that I can't find the spare key to my room for a while."

So that's how it is. It's probably because Qiu Luxi's move prompted the Qiu family to make a lot of extra preparations, such as using a more trusted mobile operator to protect her privacy as much as possible. Wu Yuehua, on the other hand, just happened to be in the busiest time of her life, which was pure bad luck.

"Thank you so much for letting me in, junior. I didn't know what to do tonight."

Huh? Tonight?

I blinked, but still said politely.

"It's okay. After all, my younger sister bothered you for a long time last summer."

"Sorry, I feel like I'm being a bit too forward. Could I borrow your computer for a bit? I haven't released my update for today yet."

"You only have one very old gaming laptop?"

"I myself only use an older model business laptop."

I nodded and opened the notebook that was on the coffee table.

Senior Wu Yuehua whispered a thank you to me, then quickly sat down in a chair and began to carefully manipulate the interface.

The thought that my notebook would soon be used by a famous writer filled me with excitement, so I asked quite naturally.

"Senior, you were just crying, was it because you were afraid you wouldn't be able to update on time?"

If that's the case, isn't that incredibly professional? I'm almost moved to tears.

"...I didn't cry."

"No, I definitely heard it at that time..."

"I didn't cry."

Senior Wu Yuehua said firmly.

Well, everyone has one or two secrets they don't want others to know. I choose to understand and respect that.

I shrugged and sat on the wooden bed in the living room, staring blankly as my senior diligently typed and operated the software.

...She should be going back tonight, right? Or maybe from my balcony? No, it's all security bars, I can't get over there.

To be honest, although Wu Yuehua and I are neighbors, we're not actually that close. So, in this situation where it's just the two of us, I try to clear my mind and let my thoughts wander.

My senior suddenly struck up a conversation with me.

"Junior."

"Ok?"

"...No, it's nothing. Sorry, I think I forgot what I was going to say."

"Oh, it's okay, it happens all the time."

I suddenly remembered something quite important.

"Senior, have you had dinner yet?"

"It's okay, I'm not hungry."

At times like this, it would be quite fitting to hear your stomach rumbling, but unfortunately, that didn't happen.

I have to say, since I traveled to this world, I have rarely felt such awkwardness and suffocating feeling of time standing still.

I miss the time when my sister and Qiu Luxi were around.