The young girl before him was truly captivating.
She possessed the kind of beauty reminiscent of female protagonists from Japanese romance light novels.
Opening the door, stepping aside to let her enter the room, closing it, and sliding the lock into place...
Lu Qing could no longer remember exactly how he had completed this sequence of actions.
In any case, the girl now stood within the confines of this six-tatami room, and it wouldn't be so easy for her to leave anymore.
"Here, dry yourself off," he said, breaking the silence as he handed her a thick towel.
"Thank you..."
The girl's gaze remained fixed downward, whether from shyness or timidity. Even after accepting the towel, she remained frozen by the door, arms crossed over her chest, neither removing her shoes nor drying her rain-soaked hair.
Lu Qing guessed she might be feeling awkward, understandable given the late hour and their situation - a young man and woman alone, both drenched from the rain, with her shoes and socks likely waterlogged, appearing less than presentable to others.
So he thoughtfully tried to ease the tension by asking, "May I see that card?"
"...Mm." Her voice was barely above a whisper as she obediently handed over the "introduction card."
As he took the paper, he retrieved a new pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet and placed them on the floor. Then he naturally turned away, giving her some privacy to compose herself.
She stared at his back for a moment, seeming to understand his consideration, and a flash of gratitude appeared in her eyes.
After he turned the corner into the bedroom, she quickly removed her uniform shoes and knee-high socks, stuffing the latter into her shoes. She pulled out some wet wipes from her skirt pocket to clean her hands and toes before carefully stepping into the slippers and following him.
By then, Lu Qing was seated in a chair, carefully examining the card with its messily scrawled message:
[Tianhe Platinum Apartments, Building C, 19th Floor, Unit 1 - this is Lu Qing's address. Mom's gone abroad, your dad's dead. From now on, go to him if you need anything. Let him take care of you.]
"..."
Though brief, the message was rather explosive in its implications.
"What kind of situation is this? Not even a phone number???"
Looking at the message so brief it threatened to collapse the laws of the universe, Lu Qing felt dizzy.
If he wasn't mistaken, he didn't have any sister, did he?
According to his memories, his father had barely come home since he was in third grade. He had only survived thanks to help from the neighbor auntie next door and the very limited living expenses relatives sent each month. He had never had any interaction with younger girls, making this sister's appearance quite mysterious.
However, there was one thing worth pondering.
Before his father was imprisoned...
He had rarely sent a letter home, writing about his life's work in the creative field, warning his son never to follow in his footsteps lest he end up in the gutter, and finally mentioning that "there might be something important to entrust to you in the future, hope you can become independent soon."
"Well well, so all that serious talk was just setup, with the real point being to make a college student figure out how to raise a girl of unknown background?"
"But I barely have any savings left, can't even afford a 5-square-meter apartment in this ridiculously expensive Tianhai City. How am I supposed to raise this child..."
"Great, I haven't solved the problem with my new book yet, the apartment rent is almost due, and now there's this new side quest... no, major main quest... Looks like my wish really did come true."
Lu Qing wailed internally, feeling his difficulties mounting.
Looking back, he saw the girl had somehow appeared behind him, lips pressed tight and head lowered like a child who had done something wrong, not daring to sit down.
"Uh..." His heart jumped as he thought, this is bad.
"It's... it's okay, I'll leave at dawn tomorrow. I won't cause you any trouble."
Su Ling shrank back, maintaining a three-meter distance from him.
In truth, she had already noticed his distress.
After all, showing up at his door at two or three in the morning had not only disturbed his rest but also brought such "terrible news" - an impossible situation for a young man to handle.
At the end of the day, he was just a college student, wasn't he?
Even though Mom had told her to live with him, in his eyes, she must seem like an enormous burden.
She would bring him unimaginable trouble and disruption to his life rhythm - that much was clear from his expression.
Better to leave, even if it meant living on the streets. Hadn't she experienced that before when Mom had forgotten about her? At worst, she'd starve or freeze to death, which was better than dragging this brother down with her.
Or perhaps she could post online asking for help - with her youth and looks, surely many creepy old men would message her, wanting to take her home...
Mm... no, she couldn't accept that after all.
Rather than being toyed with by strangers, better to take her precious thing to the grave.
Nobody had ever truly cared about her anyway. It had always been like this.
Su Ling thought miserably.
"Hey, listen, Su Ling."
Lu Qing's voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts. "Don't rush to make a decision. I have a few questions I'd like to ask you."
"Eh..."
The girl hesitated for a moment before nodding obediently, like a homeless kitten in the night.
Seeing her like this, Lu Qing's heart softened. After all, she was someone his father had entrusted to his care. Though he didn't know her true background, getting her settled was necessary.
"Did your aunt tell you anything else besides this? Like... her contact information? And when she's coming back?"
These were the key questions he wanted to clarify after calming down.
If Su Ling's mother was just traveling abroad briefly and leaving her daughter in his care, that would be fine, no problem at all.
But judging by the note... something seemed off.
Sure enough, the girl's tight-lipped response made his heart sink.
Just as he was about to ask more questions, she spoke:
"Mom only said that you're that man's son, and probably inherited that... that kind of bloodline, with your head full of women and perverted thoughts, and you'd probably find some excuse to get me into bed and pregnant on the first night. She told me to get an abortion if that happened. Other than that... she didn't say anything."
Su Ling seemed even more nervous as she said this, instinctively lowering her head further.
"What???"
Lu Qing's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he heard this. Talk about world-class slander and defamation, even bringing genetic inheritance into it! Sorry for being the son of a famous erotic novelist!
And besides, did he really look like the type who would prey on younger girls?!
Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
Trying to defend himself and correct the girl's prejudiced first impression, he said:
"Look, your aunt has probably never even met me. She probably doesn't know that my dad and I haven't seen each other for many years, so I grew up completely uninfluenced by my father. I lived independently and am a healthy young man with proper values! I am..."
Before he could finish, Su Ling silently raised her hand to point at a half-open standing wardrobe in the corner of the room—
"But brother, that outfit hanging in your closet... isn't that a maid costume?"
......
......