"Ah, wait for me a moment."
Cornelia noticed the two looking at her with intense gazes, and they seemed to regard her as a fool, which greatly wounded her pride.
In order to salvage her image and self-esteem, she ignored their stares, stood up from the sofa, and rushed toward the refrigerator.
Liu Qingyue and Li Guanqi exchanged glances, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes, as if they couldn’t understand why she was doing this.
However, they were soon drawn to the sound of Cornelia opening a can of drink. They watched as she tilted her head back and chugged the entire can in one go, then wore an expression of bliss, leaving the two momentarily stunned.
Li Guanqi thought to herself, "Will she wet the bed tonight after drinking so much water?"
Liu Qingyue wondered, "Could this be some kind of system item?"
Different thoughts arose in their minds, but they both couldn’t help but speculate—could this seemingly ordinary drink hold some hidden secret?
The next second, after Cornelia downed another can of the drink, she walked over with an unprecedented expression on her face—three parts joy, four parts pride, and three parts self-satisfaction.
She approached Liu Qingyue and Li Guanqi.
Li Guanqi instinctively scooted aside, while Cornelia calmly sat back down, crossed her legs, and leaned back with an air of ease, as if everything was under her control.
The highly intelligent Cornelia nodded at the two women and began speaking to them in a high-IQ manner. She started, "Actually, the solution is very simple. We just need to find a way to make Su Cheng go without his phone for a day."
As soon as she said this, Liu Qingyue and Li Guanqi were both shocked into silence, then looked at her as if to say, "As expected of you. We could never come up with such a trick."
Cornelia seemed to thoroughly enjoy their reaction. She smirked slightly, shook her head, and was about to explain how to reasonably make Su Cheng go without his phone for a day when—
Suddenly—
Su Cheng walked out of the bathroom and said to Li Guanqi, "I’m done. The water’s ready. You can go ahead and shower."
With Su Cheng’s interruption, Cornelia froze in place, not reacting for a long time.
It was as if her internet connection had been cut off...
Her brain felt overloaded, buzzing and emitting smoke, as if she had turned to stone.
Her mind went completely blank, leaving only one question: "Why did this person shower so quickly?"
Then, Cornelia stiffly collapsed onto the sofa, deflated like a punctured ball, completely drained of energy.
Seeing this, Li Guanqi glanced at Cornelia with some concern but still picked up her bag, stood up, nodded at Su Cheng, who had just come out of the bathroom, and headed toward the shower.
"What’s wrong with her?"
Su Cheng, who had just sat down on the sofa, noticed Cornelia’s strange behavior and couldn’t help but ask curiously.
"It’s probably a historical issue," Liu Qingyue replied, shrugging as she glanced at Cornelia on the sofa.
Hearing this, Su Cheng was still puzzled but didn’t dwell on it, as Liu Qingyue spoke again, this time in a very serious tone: "There’s something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
Seeing her so serious, Su Cheng straightened up and sat properly.
"I want to drink some water."
Liu Qingyue licked her lips, looking parched.
"Huh? Oh, okay."
Su Cheng was momentarily confused but then stood up and walked toward the refrigerator. As he walked, he turned his head and asked, "What do you want to drink?"
"Eight Walnuts."
She held up her hand, making an "eight" gesture with her fingers.
"Got it!"
With that, Su Cheng turned around, grabbed three bottles of the drink, placed them on the table, and then went to the kitchen to bring out a plate of cut fruit, setting it in front of Liu Qingyue.
"You’re the best, junior."
Liu Qingyue smiled, then picked up one of the walnut drinks and examined it carefully.
However, she found that the drink was no different from any other on the market. Believing that practice is the only way to test the truth, she handed the walnut drink to Su Cheng and said in a soft voice, "Can you open this for me? I’m not very strong."
"Huh?"
Su Cheng looked at her with a face full of question marks, thinking to himself, "Are you kidding me?"
But when he met her expectant gaze, he couldn’t bear to refuse. He carefully took the drink, opened the lid, and handed it back to Liu Qingyue.
"Thank you."
Liu Qingyue took the drink with a smile, took a small sip, and found that the taste was no different from usual. There was no special effect or strange sensation.
Puzzled, she took another sip, but still found nothing unusual. She tried a couple more sips, but to no avail. Now she was completely baffled. She looked at the walnut drink in her hand and muttered, "Weird. Why did she become different after drinking this?"
As she said this, she glanced subtly at Cornelia, who was lying on the sofa staring at the ceiling. At this moment, Cornelia seemed to have entered a state of mental exhaustion, as if she had no strength left, completely devoid of willpower, sinking into nihilism and extreme negativity.
"People’s physiques are different. She has a special constitution, and the trigger is the walnut drink. After drinking it, she experiences a strong effect that influences her thoughts and actions. I’m not sure exactly why, though."
Just as Liu Qingyue was deep in thought, Su Cheng seemed to understand her confusion and suddenly offered an explanation.
"Is that so?"
Liu Qingyue put the walnut drink down and nodded thoughtfully.
Su Cheng’s meaning was clear: the drink only had an effect on Cornelia.
"So this is just regular walnut drink?"
She asked.
"Exactly," Su Cheng confirmed with a nod, then looked at Liu Qingyue and added, "I’ve been experimenting with something new recently."
"Could it be the papaya drink in the fridge?"
Liu Qingyue looked at Su Cheng with a strange expression.
She had just seen the papaya drink in the fridge.
"Correct."
"What’s the idea behind your experiment?"
"For the sake of all humanity."
"Any results or phenomena so far?"
"Not yet. It’s too early."
"Alright."
Liu Qingyue nodded, glanced at Cornelia’s flat chest, and with a look of great interest, said, "Let me know as soon as there’s progress. I’m really looking forward to this 'Human Revival Project.'"
"Will do."
Su Cheng nodded, opened another bottle of the drink, and gently handed it to the "bedridden" Cornelia, saying in a soft, coaxing voice, "Drink some water~"
The seemingly gentle but subtly persuasive tone instantly activated Cornelia’s brain. As soon as the walnut drink touched her lips, she reached out like a baby, took the bottle from Su Cheng, and gulped it all down in one go. She closed her eyes, as if immersed in an ocean of wisdom.
The first thing she did after regaining her senses was to confront Su Cheng: "Why did you finish showering in less than ten minutes? Can you even get clean that fast?"
"..."
Su Cheng was stumped, not knowing how to respond. Being told he was "fast" was particularly hurtful, especially for a man.
He glanced at Liu Qingyue, who was also looking at him curiously, and fell into deep thought.
In truth, this was a question that neither men nor women could fully understand.
However, in Su Cheng’s view, it was all society’s fault.
There were too many fancy toiletries on the market, wasting both time and money.
So he shouldn’t waste any more time or money on such things.
In the animal kingdom, the shorter the reproduction process, the less time spent in danger, and the higher the survival rate. Similarly, in human society, completing the task of reproduction in a short amount of time had become something to be mocked.
Thus, he concluded—
The fact that men were mocked for being "fast" was entirely society’s fault!
So he looked up with a serious expression and said, "Because that’s how boys shower. That’s more than enough time to get perfectly clean."
His meaning was quite subtle, expressing both that he was on the verge of becoming a societal issue and that he valued cleanliness highly.
"Can it really be cleaned thoroughly?"
Cornelia, however, looked at Su Cheng with a skeptical expression, her eyes filled with doubt.
But as soon as she finished speaking, Liu Qingyue suddenly leaned in and whispered something into Cornelia's ear.
After hearing it, Cornelia's cheeks instantly flushed red. She shyly glared at Su Cheng, then lowered her head and fell silent. However, the embarrassment and unease in her eyes suggested that Liu Qingyue had said something quite shocking.
Feeling awkward, Su Cheng took out his phone to check the time and realized it was almost ten o'clock.
This made him feel uneasy!
He had forgotten to say goodnight to the club president.
Thinking of this, he quickly opened the chat interface, typed out a "goodnight," and sent it. Then, he put his phone away and said to the two girls, "You should rest early too. We have school tomorrow."
However, both girls were staring at his phone. Hearing his reminder, they were momentarily stunned. Then, Liu Qingyue suddenly smiled and said, "What, junior, are you tired already?"
"Yeah, this is usually the time I go to bed," Su Cheng replied with a serious nod.
"Then you go ahead and rest. I'll chat with everyone a bit longer before heading to bed," Liu Qingyue said, waving her hand with a smile.
"Alright, take your time. Just remember to rest early," Su Cheng said as he stood up. At the same time, Li Guanqi emerged from the bathroom. She was wearing a loose black nightgown, her long black hair cascading down to her waist. Her hair wasn't wet, and she exuded a faint, refreshing fragrance. She looked like a lotus emerging from water—fresh and captivating, and even more striking.
She gracefully walked over and sat down beside Su Cheng, then looked at him and softly asked, "Are you going to sleep?"
"Ah... yeah, I'm about to rest," Su Cheng nodded instinctively, then headed toward the bathroom. Before leaving, he turned back and added, "Everyone, remember to rest early."
Li Guanqi nodded slightly, watching Su Cheng enter the bathroom before turning her gaze back to the two girls. However, the room suddenly fell into silence.
When Su Cheng entered the bathroom, he noticed that Li Guanqi had already drained the water. He quickly cleaned the floor with a mop, but when he approached the bathtub, he noticed there was still some bathwater left.
For some reason, he had the strange thought that drinking it might grant him some kind of magical power.
Normally, he only took showers, reserving the bathtub for when he was particularly exhausted. But today, the thought that three beautiful girls had used the same bathtub, and the lingering mixture of their scents in the bathroom, left him feeling somewhat dazed...
After cleaning up, he left the bathroom and found the three girls chatting on the sofa. He didn't bother asking what they were talking about and instead headed straight to the bedroom, where he lay down on the bed.
He then took out his phone, only to find that Ji Qingyi had retracted a message and then replied with a simple "Hmm."
"Damn it."
The repeated retractions made it hard for Su Cheng not to feel that Ji Qingyi was doing it on purpose.
In the end, he put his phone aside, lay down on the bed, and stared at the ceiling.
He couldn't sleep at all; in fact, he felt wide awake.
He was just avoiding the situation. Being with three women in the middle of the night made him feel incredibly uneasy, especially since they were all wearing nightgowns. Every little movement seemed to spark endless fantasies.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh.
………………………………
"So, senior, what's your plan?"
Li Guanqi asked, watching Cornelia down another bottle of walnut milk.
Liu Qingyue was also curious about Cornelia's idea and how much power it would unleash. She looked at Cornelia, waiting for an answer.
Cornelia sighed and shook her head, saying, "We've missed our chance."
"Originally, I was planning for us to play Truth or Dare."
As she spoke, she glanced at the closed bedroom door and explained, "If we asked him a question he couldn't answer, he would definitely choose Dare. Then we could make him go a whole day without using his phone."
Hearing this, the other two were surprised. They glanced at the empty walnut milk bottle in Cornelia's hand, then exchanged looks. Liu Qingyue asked, "Actually, I'm curious. What question were you planning to ask him?"
"Something universal," Cornelia replied with a confident smile, glancing at Li Guanqi. "I was going to ask him who he likes."
After all, Su Cheng had confessed to her twice. He would definitely say it was her. She couldn't help but wonder what Li Guanqi's expression would be like then.
Even if Su Cheng refused to answer, the Dare punishment of not using his phone for a day would suffice.
To her, this plan was perfect.
However, as soon as she finished speaking, Liu Qingyue stood up, wearing the mischievous smile of someone looking for entertainment. She knocked on Su Cheng's bedroom door.
She knew Su Cheng would refuse to play or choose Dare if he did, but she couldn't resist the chance to see his adorable reaction.
"Knock knock~"
"Junior, I bet you can't sleep. Why don't we play a game together?"
Liu Qingyue's knock and playful, teasing tone caught both Li Guanqi and Cornelia off guard, leaving them momentarily stunned.