There's nothing like the particular peace of sleeping in one's own bed.
Xu Musen was still deep in slumber, feeling an itch at the tip of his nose, and a pleasant fragrance lingered before him.
It was as if mosquitoes were constantly buzzing around him.
Xu Musen opened his eyes, only to meet a pair of delicate phoenix eyes.
The room was just faintly lit, with dawn's early light barely creeping through the window; the quiet of a winter morning was always extra serene.
Yao Mingyue somehow appeared in his room without him noticing, squatting by his bed, and was lightly teasing his nose with her hair.
The warm morning light draped over the girl's soft hair, as if she was wearing a golden veil, making her fair skin even more translucent.
She supported her chin with one hand, and upon seeing Xu Musen slowly open his eyes, she smiled, revealing two rows of white, even teeth.
Xu Musen's brain quickly kicked into gear. Honestly, waking up face-to-face with a pair of eyes—if Yao Mingyue weren't pretty, he might have instinctively thrown a punch.
Xu Musen was still a bit dazed, "What are you doing here?"
"Didn't someone say last night that they would bake some pastries for me today? I'm here to supervise."
Yao Mingyue's lips curved into a smile, teasing Xu Musen's face with her hair once more.
Xu Musen felt like a dead man owned by a white planter, whipped out of bed before dawn to pick cotton.
Who could endure such a torturous wakeup call of a hundred lashes?
Xu Musen glanced at the alarm clock on the table. It was just past six...
"Miss Yao, look at the time. Which college student gets up before six in the morning to eat during the holidays?"
Xu Musen said helplessly.
"I don't care, I'm already up. You can't go back on your word, can you?"
Yao Mingyue tugged at his quilt.
The warmth of the bed in the early winter morning was even cozier than the arms of a temptress; Xu Musen turned over, intending to continue his slumber.
"Just five more minutes."
"Haha, don't think I don't know. When you boys say 'five more minutes,' it actually means an hour, and when you say 'an hour,' it's actually five minutes."
Xu Musen took a moment to register before he responded, "Yao Mingyue, where did you learn all these absurd things?"
Yao Mingyue's face was full of mirth, yet her gaze slid to the quilt on Xu Musen's bed, "What does it matter to you, are you getting up or not?"
"Just let me sleep a bit more... What are you doing?"
Before Xu Musen could finish his sentence, he found Yao Mingyue pulling at his quilt—and she was even sitting on the bed, trying to squeeze into the covers.
"Aren't you going to sleep a bit more? Perfect, I'm sleepy too; let's snooze together."
Yao Mingyue huh'ed and began burrowing into the quilt.
Xu Musen clutched the quilt, "I'm not wearing any clothes."
"So? I've seen it before, it's not like it's anything special," Yao Mingyue said, nonchalantly, yet she couldn't help but swallow subtly at the sight of Xu Musen's exposed muscles.
Little man, somehow you're becoming more irresistible by the day.
"Alright, alright, you win."
Xu Musen, having been tormented to the point of wakefulness, reached out to ward Yao Mingyue off to the side.
"Humph, then get up."
"What else do you think, to get dressed?"
Xu Musen said in annoyance.
Yao Mingyue narrowed her eyes. Looking at Xu Musen wrapped up in the quilt, she seemed struck by a thought.
"I'll give you five minutes then."
Having said that, she finally left the bed and walked out, the door closing behind her.
Xu Musen let out a breath of relief.
With the sunrise comes not just the sun...
Youthful vigor indeed.
And Yao Mingyue had been squeezing into the quilt with such determination; her scent was like a fat morsel delivered right when one was famished.
Xu Musen took a deep breath. No, he had to reinforce that seal later.
Just as he lifted the quilt and prepared to change his clothes, still in his boxer shorts, the door was suddenly pushed open again.
Yao Mingyue's head popped in, her phoenix eyes gleaming mischievously, "Is five minutes enough?"
Xu Musen immediately covered his pure body.
"Giggle giggle giggle…"
Yao Mingyue left the room laughing merrily, closing the door behind her.
Xu Musen quickly got himself dressed and upon stepping out of his room, he saw Yao Mingyue standing by the door, hands clasped behind her back, waiting for him.
Xu Musen rubbed his eyes in resignation, "You know, even my parents aren't up yet."
"Then we can make them a nice breakfast. Don't you know what filial piety is?"
Yao Mingyue said solemnly.
"Yeah, yeah, you're always right."
Xu Musen grumbled internally. He would be cooking, while this princess, who had never so much as touched spring water, would only be there to steal bites.
However, Yao Mingyue then brought her hands from behind her back to the front, holding Xu Musen's toothbrush, with toothpaste already applied.
"Brother Musen, please brush your teeth~"
Yao Mingyue smiled brightly, offering the toothbrush as if presenting some priceless treasure, with an extra sweet inflection to her voice.
Xu Musen was taken aback. Was this the same Miss Yao he knew before?
Xu Musen eyed her suspiciously, along with the toothbrush in her hand—she couldn't be adding some special seasoning to it first thing in the morning, could she?
"What's with that look? Aren't you happy someone helped squeeze your toothpaste?"
Yao Mingyue looked annoyed by his skeptical expression.
Xu Musen accepted it, "It's just surprising. Who would have thought Miss Yao could be so attentive."