Chapter 9: The Little Author Gets Scared Twice!
Xiao Xi: “Sir, the lady you asked me to escort has arrived home safely. But before entering her neighborhood, she stopped at a beef offal stall and bought some food.”
After reading the message from his assistant, Gu Zhiren showed an “as expected” expression.
From what he remembered, that stubborn girl’s stomach had been growling very loudly.
It almost made him think she hadn’t eaten lunch at all and had been waiting for dinner. Yet in the end, she chose to stay hungry all the way until she got home.
His expression became a little subtle, though there was still a faint smile on his face.
But when he looked up and noticed his family staring at him strangely, his smile slowly faded, replaced by a hint of confusion.
“Zhiren, did you see something interesting? Or is there some good news?” his mother asked.
Hearing this, Gu Zhiren suddenly understood. A faint, meaningful smile appeared on his handsome face. Half-closing his eyes, he replied casually,
“It’s nothing. Just a stubborn stray cat that finally decided to eat.”
Hearing this, Gu Anran and their parents all showed expressions of understanding.
Oh, it’s just a stray cat.
“Zhiren, if you want to keep a cat, it’s safer to buy one from a pet shop. Stray cats aren’t very clean,” his mother said gently.
Gu Zhiren smiled in response. He didn’t like lying, but he didn’t feel like he was lying now. To him, that white-haired girl really did resemble a stray cat.
“I know, Mom.”
……………………………
The full moon was covered by clouds. The bright moonlight slowly faded, and soon the night sky was filled with dark clouds again. A flash of lightning tore through the sky.
Rain fell heavily, soaking the ground without mercy.
It was very late, around one in the morning.
Inside Mu Yi’s rented room.
The smell of beef offal filled the simple bedroom. The white-haired girl was curled up on the bed, fast asleep, wearing a small sleep mask.
Her silver hair spread across the pillow like a blooming camellia.
Her face was calm, her soft lips slightly parted as she breathed quietly.
But suddenly, her mouth twitched once… then several times.
In her dream…
Mu Yi was lying comfortably on a beach chair, enjoying the sun and sea breeze. But suddenly, the peaceful beach scene was torn apart like paper, and a large hand reached out from the tear.
Before she could react, the hand grabbed her. No matter how she struggled or shouted, she was pulled inside.
The next moment, the small, helpless figure was thrown onto a chair in front of a computer. She was forced to face a blank document.
Then those hands appeared again, this time pressing down on her shoulders.
“Time to start writing, little author.”
Mu Yi resisted strongly, but the hands held her down tightly. She couldn’t move. All she could do was shout in protest:
“I don’t want to!”
In the dream, she shook her head and refused. In real life, she also murmured, “I don’t want… I don’t want…” while shaking her head.
Then, in the dream, the hands on her shoulders suddenly slid downward…
“Mm!”
“I’ll give you ten minutes. If I don’t see 3,000 words after ten minutes, I’ll do whatever I want with them,” a deep voice said beside her ear.
Hearing this, Mu Yi turned back angrily and glared at Gu Zhiren, lifting her chin defiantly.
“You must be joking! How can I write that much in ten minutes?!”
“You can wait ten minutes and see whether I’m joking or not.”
As if trying to scare her, Gu Zhiren lowered his head onto the girl’s shoulder. His hands tightened slightly, his eyes fixed on her reflection in the computer screen.
“Mm… fine, I’ll write, okay?”
Mu Yi gritted her teeth, her red eyes filling with tears. She looked both shy and pitiful.
“That’s more like it,” Gu Zhiren said, gently patting her white hair. “But I wonder… are you going to just smash the keyboard with your face, or actually write properly?”
Mu Yi immediately promised she would write seriously. But because she was short on time and unwilling, what she wrote was mostly filler.
She thought he wouldn’t notice. She even felt relieved, thinking she would finally be free soon, already planning to drink some coconut milk later.
But the next second, she was pushed down onto the desk…
into a very suggestive position.
“You’re just brushing me off. So from now on, I’ll have to teach you properly. I wonder if you’ll even be able to get up for breakfast tomorrow.”
“No, no! Don’t come closer! I’ll scream!”
Seeing Gu Zhiren getting closer, Mu Yi struggled with all her strength.
“Don’t… don’t… I don’t want to write! I don’t want to kiss a man! I don’t want to be… damn it! I don’t want to kiss a man!”
Right before she was about to be forcefully kissed, Mu Yi suddenly sat up in bed in the real world. She threw off her sleep mask and stared at the familiar wall, stunned.
Her eyes moved around, looking at her surroundings. She breathed heavily, her face slightly red.
“Mm… so it was… just a dream.”
She muttered to herself, scratching her head in annoyance. Then she puffed her cheeks and let out a long breath through her nose.
It must just be because she thought about it too much during the day.
Thinking about it simply, she relaxed and smiled. But the smile lasted less than two seconds.
Thump!
Something suddenly fell beside her, making the whole bed shake.
“Huh?”
Mu Yi instantly sat up straight. Her eyes widened, and the smile on her face slowly turned into fear. Her lips pressed tightly together.
She didn’t know what had fallen beside her, but her instincts told her it wasn’t anything good.
Her body trembled slightly. She felt miserable, why did so many bad things happen to her today? Was today just a bad day to go out?
“Mm… Mu Yi, be brave! Yes, be brave!”
Encouraging herself, she took a deep breath and slowly turned her gaze toward the source of the sound.
On her pillow… there was a furry, big, black rat.
It was almost big enough to wrap around her head.
“…Uh…”
“…Huh?”
Mu Yi froze on the bed, mouth slightly open, eyes wide. It was as if all color had drained from her, like a simple sketch drawing.
After a few seconds, the rat’s tail moved.
That snapped her back to reality. Her face instantly darkened.
“Ra… ra…”
At that moment, the rat actually lifted its head and looked at her, bold and fearless.
Mu Yi immediately shut her mouth. Without even putting on shoes, she jumped off the bed and ran out of the bedroom as fast as she could.
Bang!
Mu Yi pressed both hands on the sink, staring at herself in the mirror. But her eyes kept glancing nervously toward the bedroom. Her eyelashes trembled slightly.
She felt like she had nowhere to complain about all the bad luck today.
Once that unwanted “guest” left her room, she would have to wash her blankets, bedsheets, and pillow. They were already “contaminated.”
But when would that stupid rat leave?
Just thinking about sharing the bed with it made her shiver all over again.