Opening the door and kicking off her shoes, Ning Chu walked barefoot into the rental apartment.
She quickly took off her trench coat and casually tossed it onto a chair before lazily flopping onto the small sofa, propping her legs up on the coffee table.
Stretching her arms, she looked up at Wen Yang, who had just entered, and sighed, “Living off-campus is great~ just a bit far.”
“Hmm?”
“It actually feels like home.”
Ning Chu knew that renting wasn’t the most stable option—there was always the risk of rent hikes, sudden evictions, or losing the security deposit when moving out. The downsides were endless. But compared to the school dormitory, this small rental unit was a hundred times better.
She pulled out her phone to order takeout while saying, “I’ll take a shower in a bit. Make sure you grab the food when it arrives.”
“Oh, right, my ID card…”
Last night, Wen Yang had signed the rental contract since Zhang Shaoqing had been around, making it impossible for Ning Chu to hand over her ID to the landlord on the spot.
“You should go register with the landlord later.”She placed her ID card on the coffee table and glanced around the apartment, pondering what else they might need.
Maybe an electric kettle and a hairdryer?
“Oh! And Black Bean!” Ning Chu suddenly remembered the little stray cat she had picked up. “Should I bring her here?”
“Leave her at the dorm. Shaoqing really likes that cat.”
“That works too.”
That cat was bound to turn into a catgirl one day and try to seduce Wen Yang. Better to let it stay at the dorm and charm their roommate instead.
At least this way, she wouldn’t wake up one morning to find a naked catgirl lying between her and Wen Yang.
In the past, she had even considered training Black Bean to be her girlfriend… but, well…before that plan can even start, she had already become someone else’s girlfriend herself.
“I’m going to shower.”
After a whole day of having her tail stuffed inside her pants, it was feeling stifled. She hurried over to the wardrobe, grabbed the nightdress her mother had bought her, and rushed into the bathroom.
Ever since she grew a tail, skirts were just so much more comfortable—it gave her tail room to move freely underneath.
Wen Yang glanced toward the bathroom and took a deep breath, trying to suppress the restless thoughts stirring within him.
When he was outside with Ning Chu, as long as there wasn’t any intimate physical contact, he could still manage to keep himself under control. But once they were alone together in this small rental unit, even just existing in the same space made his heart race uncontrollably, his mind filling with inappropriate thoughts.
As a normal, physically strong, and hormonally active young man, this was perfectly natural.
—Just a little awkward.
Trying his best not to imagine Ning Chu showering, Wen Yang lowered his head and focused on searching for information related to their group project.
Suddenly, there was a soft knock on the door.
“Wow, that was fast for takeout.”
He hesitated for a second before getting up to open the door.
Standing outside was a petite girl wearing a spaghetti strap nightdress. She was barely over 150 cm tall, giving her the appearance of a middle schooler. But with her arms crossed under her well-developed chest, she smiled sweetly and said, “I’m the landlord’s granddaughter. Did you bring your ID card today? I need to register it.”
“Oh, okay.”
Wen Yang had planned to go downstairs and register when the takeout arrived, but he hadn’t expected the landlord’s granddaughter to come find him instead.
He instinctively glanced at her, his eyes pausing for a split second on her exposed cleavage before guilt washed over him, and he quickly averted his gaze. Turning back inside, he walked over to the coffee table.
“My ID has already been registered. We just need to register my friend’s.”
“Mm-hmm. By the way, have you checked the water and electricity meters?”
“Not yet.”
The landlord’s granddaughter took Ning Chu’s ID and glanced at it, then froze.
“Is this… a girl? Wait, I think I’ve seen her before… isn’t she your girlfriend?”
“Uh… he’s a guy.”
After all, the ID clearly stated “male.” There was no explaining that away.
The landlord’s granddaughter’s eyes suddenly lit up as she looked at Wen Yang. Twisting her waist, she covered her mouth and giggled, “Boys these days are getting prettier and prettier. We women can’t even compete.”
“……”
Having been pursued by girls before, Wen Yang immediately sensed that the woman in front of him seemed to be interested in him.
Since she wasn’t directly flirting and there was still proper business to attend to, he couldn’t outright reject her as he normally would. Ideally, Ning Chu should have handled this… but she was still in the shower.
“Come downstairs with me to register.”
Wen Yang glanced toward the bathroom before calling out, “Ning Chu! I’m going downstairs to register your ID! If the takeout arrives, I’ll have them leave it at the door!”
“Lock the door!”
“Got it.”
Over ten minutes later, Ning Chu peeked her head out of the bathroom, her cheeks flushed from the steam.
She was wearing a pastel yellow, short-sleeved nightdress with a cartoonish design. Though the dress was conservative, covering her entire body except for her calves and neck, she wasn’t wearing a bra. The thin fabric barely concealed her chest, which had been feeling swollen and sore lately.
She glanced down at the two faintly visible points on her chest and hurriedly ran to the door, double-checking that it was locked before finally relaxing.
Turning back, she pulled an oversized jacket from the wardrobe and draped it over her shoulders to fully cover her exposed chest.
“I think I heard a woman’s voice just now?”
Muttering to herself, Ning Chu towel-dried her hair while wondering why a woman would come knocking.
Wasn’t the landlord an old man?
If the landlord had been a beautiful woman, she wouldn’t have dared to rent this place in the first place.
In many hentai doujin, there was always a seductive landlady who would use rent collection as an excuse to get close to the male protagonist. So, when searching for a rental, she had been particularly cautious about the landlord’s gender and appearance—she wasn’t about to walk into a trap.
After drying her hair, Ning Chu paced around the room uneasily. She sent Wen Yang a message and then started recalling the details of the "seductive landlady" trope.
In the storyline, the male protagonist came from a poor background and would rent a place while working odd jobs during the holidays. One time, after his employer delayed his paycheck, he couldn’t afford rent. The landlady, who had already set her sights on him, conveniently suggested an ‘alternative way to pay’.
Since the male protagonist lacked money but not energy, and since the landlady was quite attractive, he happily agreed. Thus began his blissful life.
Hmm, at least in that scenario, the male protagonist had the initiative. Nothing to worry about.
Wen Yang wasn’t the type to be easily seduced by just any woman.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway outside, and Ning Chu immediately tensed up, listening carefully.
It was Wen Yang… and an unfamiliar person.
“The water meter is in the bathroom, right? I’ll go check it,” Wen Yang said as he unlocked the door. “Give me a second.”
As soon as he entered, he spotted Ning Chu in her pale yellow nightdress and explained, “That was the landlord’s granddaughter. Here’s your ID—it’s been registered.”
“Mm.”
Watching Wen Yang hurry to the bathroom, Ning Chu turned her gaze to the woman standing outside in the hallway.
Hmm… A petite girl, just a little over 150 cm tall, with a cute face, a modest but well-proportioned figure, and eyes that practically lit up when looking at Wen Yang.
Confirmed!
She wasn’t the seductive landlady from the storyline. According to the setting, that landlady was a mature, alluring woman.
At the same time, the landlord’s granddaughter glanced at Ning Chu with curiosity. Realizing it might be rude, she quickly lowered her eyes and gave a polite smile and nod as a greeting.
Since she wasn’t a female supporting character from the story, Ning Chu became even more cautious.
If it were the seductive landlady, all she had to do was make sure she had enough money for rent. But with a random stranger, who knew what kind of tricks she might pull?
After a while, Wen Yang then came over and said, “The picture of the water mater has been sent.”
The landlord's granddaughter nodded her head, “Okay, I’ll get going then.”
Then, the petite girl closed the door.
Wen Yang, feeling guilty, turned to see Ning Chu glaring at him, cheeks puffed in frustration.
He hurried to defend himself, “You were in the shower just now! Next time I see her, I’ll just avoid her, okay?”
“Mm.”
Ning Chu nodded in satisfaction.
The male protagonist of a hentai world had now been trained into a pure-hearted, devoted boyfriend.