"You're here."
Hearing Shen Yi's words, Shu Yunyi eyed the two of them and countered,
"Did we come at a bad time...?"
Shen Yi quickly waved his hands in response,
"No, no, no."
"You came at just the right time..."
Cheng Jun lowered her head without speaking, while Shu Yunyi deliberately teased,
"Not at all. It’s our fault for barging in like this, interrupting you."
"Go ahead and continue."
As she spoke, Shu Yunyi pulled Cheng Jun to sit across from them, crossing her arms and adopting the posture of a quiet observer.
Cheng Jun subtly curved her lips. Though she hadn’t meant to target Nanzhi, for now, she had to stand united with Shu Yunyi.
Hearing this, Fu Nanzhi immediately stood up and moved to sit beside Shu Yunyi, laughing as she said,
"Don’t be silly, we were just fooling around."
"Oh really? Doesn’t look like it to me."
Shu Yunyi leaned back into the sofa, feeling both familiar and unfamiliar with Fu Nanzhi’s closeness.
After everything they’d been through, she had grown used to this kind of thing. It didn’t stir much in her anymore—just a reflexive reaction out of habit.
Cheng Jun, on the other hand, remained relatively quiet. In the simulation, she had even been the dominant one. If she couldn’t handle a scene like this now, how could she have ever brought it up after marriage?
Fu Nanzhi affectionately took Shu Yunyi’s hand in hers, chuckling softly,
"Come on, we’re on the same side. Don’t gang up on me."
Then, to everyone’s surprise, she pointed at Shen Yi and added,
"If anyone should be ganged up on, it’s him."
Shen Yi’s jaw dropped. He hadn’t expected Fu Nanzhi to switch sides so blatantly.
Watching as she now sat in a united front with the others, he felt utterly abandoned—just moments ago, they had been all lovey-dovey.
He couldn’t help but point a finger and protest,
"Hey, hey, hey."
"That’s just dirty play."
Fu Nanzhi grinned mischievously, clutching Shu Yunyi’s arm as she declared,
"We’ve formed an alliance now—specifically to oppose you."
Shu Yunyi stiffened slightly as Fu Nanzhi tightened her grip, her ambiguous words stirring up memories of last night’s wild scene projected on the wall.
She didn’t know what had possessed her to wander in, only that the emotions she’d carried back weren’t disgust—but a fluttering, accelerated heartbeat.
As Shu Yunyi wrestled with her tangled thoughts, Cheng Jun leaned in and remarked,
"Nanzhi, you’re being awfully eager. Are you sure you’re not a spy sent by Shen Yi?"
"Of course not!" Fu Nanzhi’s brows shot up as she hurriedly defended herself,
"I’m firmly on our side. No way I’d betray the team."
Cheng Jun was sharp—she turned everything over in her mind multiple times before speaking.
Seeing the conversation spiral further, Shen Yi clapped his hands to intervene,
"Hold on, hold on. Let’s get to the main point."
"You all... experienced something last night, didn’t you?"
The moment the words left his mouth, the three women exchanged glances before quickly looking away—some nodding, others silent. Only Fu Nanzhi responded with an audible "Mm-hmm."
"Good." Shen Yi clenched his fist and continued,
"That strange dream I mentioned before... it happened again."
"Actually, I was there the whole time—just in a different dimension, unable to communicate with you."
"But you must’ve noticed... there were four chairs..."
Shu Yunyi frowned after hearing this. She couldn’t care less about how many chairs there were and fixed her gaze on Shen Yi across from her.
"Xiao Yi, everyone here came because you called them," she said.
"Now that we’re all here, you might as well say what’s on your mind."
Shen Yi didn’t bother beating around the bush. He stood up, gestured around the room, and declared straightforwardly:
"Actually, it’s nothing too complicated. After everything we’ve been through, I think we all understand each other’s feelings now."
With a spirited flourish, he spread his arms wide.
"This place—Donghu Residence—was handed over just this morning. It’s fully ours now, and from today onward, it’ll be our home."
"What I want to say is simple: starting now, I’d like all of us to move in together..."
Before he could finish, the girls reacted with mixed emotions, their cheeks flushing as they recalled the previous night’s events.
"Ugh!"
"Wishful thinking..."
"Who wants to live with you...?"
Understanding was one thing, but none of them were willing to break that delicate barrier first.
No matter how thin the paper was, someone had to be the one to pierce it. Though their hearts were already set, they maintained their outward reluctance, murmuring half-hearted refusals.
Each had her own pride, glancing at one another, none daring to be the first to agree.
Fu Nanzhi, ever resourceful, had a solution. Her eyes sparkled as she waved Shen Yi away.
"Go on, shoo! Take a walk outside for a bit."
"Our alliance needs to have a little private chat. Don’t come back until we call you."
Seeing the three women’s uncertain expressions and lack of immediate agreement, Shen Yi didn’t argue. Scratching his head, he obediently stepped out.
The moment the door closed behind him, the tension in the room visibly eased.
Cheng Jun tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and whispered:
"Nan-jie, what’s... the plan here?"
Fu Nanzhi mulled it over, then became the one to pierce the paper. She spoke first:
"Whatever you two think, I’ve already decided to stay..."
Her words struck a chord. Cheng Jun and Shu Yunyi’s expressions shifted. If Shen Yi had been present, they might’ve agreed on the spot.
As they hesitated, Fu Nanzhi continued:
"You... feel the same, don’t you?"
"We’re already tangled up in this. There’s no backing out now."
Shu Yunyi sighed in agreement, offering a self-deprecating smile.
"Yeah. No matter how much I complain, my legs refuse to take a single step away. Isn’t that the definition of ‘my mouth says no, but my heart says yes’?"
"In the end, we’ll agree anyway—just like before."
"It’s just that we’re stuck for the moment, too embarrassed to say it outright."
Cheng Jun’s brows relaxed as she chimed in.
"Fine, we’ll agree. But we can’t let him off too easily..."
Fu Nanzhi grinned mischievously and proposed:
"As an alliance, we should lay down some rules. How about this... and that...?"
The three huddled together, whispering and giggling, quickly reaching a unanimous decision.
"Shen Yi, get in here!"
Shen Yi had been standing idly by the swing, nudging the wooden plank with his toe, watching the ropes sway back and forth.
At the call, he immediately perked up and headed back inside.
As soon as he stepped inside, he saw Fu Nanzhi, Shu Yunyi, and Cheng Jun sitting in a row with their arms crossed, their expressions solemn and unsmiling as they stared at him.
Shen Yi felt a pang of unease under their gaze. He sat down across from them and forced a dry chuckle.
"What's this? A tribunal?"
"Tribunal? Hmph!"
Fu Nanzhi scoffed, not even bothering to look at him properly.
"Right now, there's one good news and one bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"
Shen Yi had no idea what kind of act this was, but he had no choice but to play along. As the saying goes, no pain, no gain—so he replied,
"Let's hear the bad news first."
"Fine."
Shu Yunyi raised her head slightly, her eyes narrowing as she fixed him with that familiar 'teacher' smile. Her rosy lips parted as she said,
"The bad news is..."
"Your request—we've agreed to it."
"..."
"Agreed?"
Shen Yi froze for a moment before immediately snapping back to reality, overjoyed.
"You agreed!"
"Woo-hoo!"
He leapt up in excitement, unable to contain his happiness.
"How is this bad news? This is great news—the best news possible!"
Once his laughter subsided, he glanced at the three women's lovely faces and thought to himself,
'If the bad news is this good, the good news must be out of this world!'