That night.
In Room 301 of Dongyang Residence.
In the old, dilapidated building, flies and mosquitoes swirled and buzzed.
Although autumn had already arrived, the insects lurking in the corridors seemed unfazed, with a seemingly extended lifespan as they fed on human blood.
At the end of the narrow passage, an old, rickety iron door creaked slightly.
To prevent being spied on by a pervert, Tang Hua had added five layers of protection to her already existing door security—
Inside the door, there was a sliding chain, a door handle lock, a bicycle-style handle loop lock, a wooden door latch, and an inexpensive password lock at the very end.
"You must protect yourself, protect your body, and wait for the day when you can offer your boss the purest thing."
—This was the obsessive compulsion of a certain illustrator who was deeply entrenched in her mental cleanliness.
Clearly,
For Tang Hua, the biggest crisis she had faced in her life so far was the "first meeting" with her boss two days later.
Called a "first meeting," she had already secretly "seen" her boss more than a hundred times.
Each time, she would take more than ten photos,
Then edit, retouch, and crop them herself, even drawing herself into the pictures—
Incorporating herself into the photos,
Adjusting the angle of her boss's face from a lover's perspective,
Embracing the "love from her boss" that came from the void.
"Hehe... Boss, hehehe..."
Love that isn't two-dimensional is still love.
The bitterness of unrequited love is also a kind of practice.
At this moment, Tang Hua was curled up in the corner of her bed, wrapped in a small blanket, shyly shifting back and forth, unsure how to calm her excitement.
Although five days had already passed, the thought of her boss arriving in [43 hours, 12 minutes, and 21 seconds] made it impossible for her to focus on anything else.
"Ahhh, what if he arrives 15 minutes early..."
"What if I'm not ready, if my skin isn't in its best condition, if my hair isn't as perfectly dried as in the manga, how would I face him..."
"And this room, this room..."
"Is it even worthy of having the boss step inside, even just to sit for a moment?"
Tang Hua furrowed her little face, filled with unprecedented confusion and anxiety.
At times like these, "If only I had a best friend to consult with."
She thought to herself,
Unconsciously, she hugged her legs and sat with her knees pulled up against the corner, burying her pure face in the gap between her knees.
"It's so hard..."
Tang Hua felt wronged.
She felt that she had already done her best.
Looking around,
Although there was still over a meter of trash piled on the floor.
At least, the 865 photos on the wall had been carefully taken down over these five days,
Gently stacked together and stored deep in a square box in the closet.
She believed that this way, her boss wouldn't discover the thing she least wanted exposed.
As for the rest, it wasn't a big deal.
"Even though I didn't do anything, I still worked hard."
Over these five days since returning, she hadn't even touched her computer.
Her mind was filled with thoughts of her boss.
Her mind was filled with the anticipation of meeting her boss.
Counting the time in her heart, time slipped away cunningly.
In a blink, it was today. It was now.
"I still have time, just a little bit more."
Tang Hua whispered to herself, comforting herself, slightly lifting her eyes to glance at the dust and trash in the room, feeling exceedingly distressed.
"But I really, really suck at cleaning..."
"A messy me like this would definitely be looked down upon by the boss..."
She felt melancholic.
Feeling increasingly introverted.
"Speaking of which, managing to shower and wash my hair on time every day is already exhausting..."
"Cleaning the room... it's so tiring, so hard."
"Throwing out the trash too. I have to leave the house."
"Putting on clothes is even more of a hassle."
It's troublesome.
I have to go downstairs.
Then upstairs again.
Then take off my clothes, wash them.
So many steps, so much physical effort needed.
The heat in my body needs to be cherished.
After all, it's all transformed from the food I eat, bit by bit, paid for with money.
Wasting energy is equivalent to wasting money.
Money is limited, and the 18,300 rent is due soon, I can't afford to waste it.
"Ah."
Calculating it, the 20,000 from the boss, after deducting the rent and my expenses over these days, only leaves about 1,500.
With that, paying the internet fee, phone bill, electricity and water bills, and fixing the cracked phone screen.
Poof.
It's all gone.
"Ugh."
Tang Hua felt unwell.
Tang Hua felt wronged.
Tang Hua felt like she was one of those extravagant rich girls who couldn't save money.
Was it a bad habit inherited from her past family background?
Although she came from Taiwan, her family's business was in Macau, with her father helping her grandfather in some shady dealings.
The business was big, but...
She had never been involved in those things since she was a child.
How did the money in her pocket disappear so quickly?
At home, she had never even received a birthday present.
Other kids had dolls and princess dresses.
She had always been a gloomy girl, hiding in her room, introverted.
Not daring to breathe loudly, not daring to make a sound.
Afraid of being heard by her "family."
Afraid of their sharp insults and attacks.
After all, her brother was the future of the family.
She was just a pretty chess piece, ready to be sold off when she grew up.
"Trash."
Tang Hua cursed.
Then she thought:
"Speaking of which, I didn't do anything, I didn't buy anything."
"Not even a new cosplay outfit."
"The boss likes maid outfits, and I had planned to buy a 400-plus cosplay outfit of the popular character from 'Maid Fantasia'—'Demon Blade' Yidai, to wear for him."
But...
There's no money left.
"I'll have to wait until next time..."
She muttered disappointedly, then suddenly realized:
"Ah, next time, whether the boss even wants to see me is uncertain..."
"Ah."
Tang Hua sighed slightly.
Thinking about the process for the day after tomorrow.
In an ideal scenario, she would dress up beautifully to open the door for the boss, welcome him into the house, and then click-clack—
Completely lock the five door locks.
This way, no matter how bad the situation in the house was, or how trashy her appearance was, he wouldn't turn around and leave within the first ten seconds of meeting her.
"As long as he can't get out, I can temporarily save face and not have to rush to die."
Tang Hua licked her lips, smiling foolishly.
Her smile was innocent.
"Seeing the real me, would the boss be surprised..."
"Would he think that I'm... not that ugly after all?"
—Tang Hua's definition of "ugly" was whether she was "pure" or "clean."
Past memories should be erased.
She wanted to hide her unbearable past.
"Even if I can't clean the house, even if I daydream about him every day... he probably wouldn't notice, right...?"
She self-persuaded:
"I, I just need to disguise myself well, even if the room is a bit dirty, even if it looks a bit poor, would the boss still accept me like this...?"
"The boss always likes to encourage people. So even if he's unhappy, he would still give me some dignity on the surface."
Tang Hua immersed herself in the illusion she had woven for herself—
"But if the boss, after seeing me, doesn't scold me, doesn't blame me for deceiving him..."
"Then, can I be a bit bolder and ask him to compliment me in person...?"
"Hehe... The boss is so gentle, he would definitely agree, right?"
She smiled.
Naturally, she thought:
"Then. Since he can agree to compliment me in person,
Then... then asking to do something else in person should also be negotiable, right...?"
"After all, he only recognizes me."
"I'm his only illustrator."
Thinking of this, her mood improved slightly.
She wasn't as anxious anymore.
"Hehe, hehehe..."
"Boss, the boss is so nice..."
"Ah, darn it, how did I pack up all the print papers. I should have left a few by the bed. Darn it."
Reaching out instinctively to grab something on the wall, she grabbed nothing.
Only peeling off a piece of wallpaper.
This made Tang Hua frown slightly.
Feeling.
It should still be possible to grab it now.
As long as she can stash it away before the boss arrives at her place the day after tomorrow... it should be fine.
Thinking of this,
she rolled out of bed.
Stepping down, she kicked aside the pile of takeout bags that had accumulated like a small mountain.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Immediately after,
she crouched in front of the wardrobe, reaching into the depths where the cosplay outfits were stacked, and pried open the tightly sealed box.
A moment later.
Tang Hua returned to the bed with over 400 photos in her hands,
whispering to herself like a meerkat about to do something mischievous:
"Even though there's still about 20% of the boss's order left to complete, it shouldn't be a problem if I reward myself one last time, right?"
...
...