Ning Xi’s legs gave out, and she nearly slid off the toilet seat.
He Kezhou, who was outside the door, rushed into the bathroom in the first instant and steadied her.
The man’s hands held her shoulders, his gaze filled with helplessness and deep exhaustion. “Can I wait until you’re feeling a bit better before I head out?”
Tonight, if he delivered enough takeout orders to hit the hundred-order mark and cash out, he could buy Ning Xi the brown sugar pearl milk tea she wanted to drink.
He could also buy himself a pack of noodles to cook at home.
He hadn’t eaten anything for an entire day.
All the money on him had gone to pay off Ning Xi’s credit card and the online loans she’d overdrawn. A portion had been left with Ning Xi, who was unemployed at home, to cover living expenses.
Ning Xi took a deep breath, and a sour, rancid smell of raw meat hit her square in the face. She covered her mouth and dry-heaved.
He Kezhou immediately let go of her shoulders and lowered his head to sniff himself.
Before coming home from work, he’d rinsed off several times with cold water at the auto shop.
Did he still smell?
A look of indescribable dejection surfaced on He Kezhou’s weary face.
Ning Xi was both embarrassed and mortified now.
Those unpleasant odors were coming from her own body.
She held her breath, forced a still-gentle smile, and looked seriously at He Kezhou. “If you’re really tired, you should rest at home today. I’m fine. Just close the door for me, thanks.”
Ning Xi’s strained smile and her unprecedented gentleness made He Kezhou’s back, which had been straight just a second ago, slump.
Last night, she’d said the same thing. He’d thought he could really rest at home.
By the time he finished washing up and returned to the room, Ning Xi had already done her full makeup and was wearing a camisole and a mini skirt, ready to start a livestream.
“Since you can’t earn money to support the family and take care of me, I can only let other men support me.”
Those words had trampled He Kezhou’s dignity as a man into the dirt.
With a soft click, the door slowly closed, shutting out all sight from outside.
Ning Xi thought, he’s so tired—he must have taken her words to heart and gone to rest.
Her stomach hurt too much. She couldn’t get up, but she couldn’t stay sitting either.
The surroundings were completely silent.
Ning Xi reached out to flush the toilet, forgetting she had extra-long fake nails on her hands. The pain made her flinch.
The struggle of flushing, changing to a new sanitary pad, and lifting her skirt was about to drive her insane.
This thing—it looked pretty, sure, but it was really inconvenient!
It was practically an instrument of beauty torture.
She clutched her stomach and slowly shuffled out.
When she got out, neither the living room nor the bedroom had any sign of He Kezhou.
Ning Xi was in despair.
He Kezhou had still gone out to deliver takeout.
The mess in the room and the sour vinegar smell wafting from the takeout containers on the coffee table made her brow furrow deeply.
That rancid, sour raw-meat smell in the air followed her everywhere, relentlessly.
“Ugh…”
She pinched her nose, dug out the painkillers He Kezhou had bought for the original owner from the medicine cabinet, and swallowed them dry without even taking water.
The original owner firmly believed that taking painkillers was bad for her health. Every time she had menstrual cramps, she just gritted her teeth and endured it. She even blamed He Kezhou for buying her medicine, saying he was trying to harm her.
Ning Xi couldn’t take that kind of suffering.
She was about to die from the pain right now—she’d worry about the future later.
After taking the painkillers, Ning Xi crawled into the bathroom.
She sat on the toilet, waiting for the medicine to kick in.
The effect was slow. She cried and yelled between sobs.
“If you’ve got the guts, just kill me with this pain.”
“If it doesn’t kill me, then you’re the one who’s dead.”
“Why can a girl go half a month without washing her hair or taking a shower!”
“I’m going to stink myself to death.”
“Wah wah wah.”
“I’d trade ten years of my life to make it so no girl in the world ever has menstrual cramps.”
Ning Xi couldn’t cry anymore, couldn’t heave anymore, and couldn’t yell anymore.
Finally, the medicine kicked in.
She stripped off her clothes in a hurry, turned on the showerhead, and no longer cared that she was still bleeding.
She washed for a long time—until every inch of her skin was rubbed red.
She wrapped her wet hair in a towel cap and tied the only white bath towel in the bathroom around herself. Finally, she felt a bit better.
She walked into the room shared by the original owner and He Kezhou to find clothes to change into.
The room was even messier than the living room.
The bed was piled with wrinkled clothes everywhere, opened snacks, and spicy strips—all spread out on the bed.
On the pink bedsheet was a dried patch of menstrual blood.
The scent of perfume mixed with spicy snack food made Ning Xi dry-heave again.
The only spot in the room where she could step was the black yoga mat laid out under the curtains.
That was where He Kezhou slept.
The original owner hated that He Kezhou always came back from the auto shop smelling of sweat mixed with motor oil, so she never let him sleep on the bed.
She never once considered that her own hygiene was the filthiest and most chaotic of all.
Strict with others, lenient with herself.
Every time He Kezhou cleaned the house and tidied the room, if she couldn’t find something, she’d throw a tantrum.
Eventually, to keep her from getting angry and upset, He Kezhou would just go along with her most of the time.
This place wasn’t fit for human habitation—calling it a pigsty wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
How could anyone live their life like this?
Ning Xi rummaged through the cluttered wardrobe and found a plain white short-sleeved shirt with no flashy patterns or designs.
Before putting it on, she lowered her head and gave it a sniff. Only after detecting no strange odor did she feel at ease slipping it over her head.
Among the original owner’s clothes, she couldn’t find a single pair of pants. Resigned to her fate, she casually grabbed a black pleated skirt and put it on.
Everywhere her eyes landed made them ache.
Since she couldn’t stand the sight, she might as well get to work.
Fortunately, basic cleaning supplies were available.
She also found a large unopened bottle of Dettol.
It was probably something He Kezhou had bought.
Ning Xi carried all the trash and takeout containers out the door, planning to take them downstairs to throw away after finishing the cleaning.
Her gaze lingered on the locked master bedroom for a few seconds.
The male lead was truly loyal to He Kezhou.
He would rather curl up and sleep in the garage warehouse every night than take the initiative to suggest that He Kezhou bring her along to move out.
But it was precisely this that had fueled the original owner’s greed and discontent.
After finishing the cleaning in the bedroom and living room, Ning Xi’s waist was about to give out.
She sprayed the entire place inside and out with alcohol.
Once the smell had mostly dissipated, she found a bottle of light perfume and gave it one spritz.
The perfume was authentic, and its scent wasn’t cheap. It carried a subtle fruity-floral fragrance.
The mountain of packages was sorted and neatly arranged against the wall.
Finally, there was the disastrous bed.
She ripped off the stained sheets and duvet cover, along with a pile of discarded clothes that hadn’t been washed, and tossed them all into the laundry basket.
She searched through the wardrobe stuffed with clothes for a long time before finding new bedding and a four-piece set.
Just as before, she only dared to put them on after inspecting and sniffing them.
No pillowcase could be found.
She simply stuffed the yellowed pink cloud-shaped pillow on the bed into a black trash bag.
Ning Xi stood in the room with her hands on her hips, looking at the living room and bedroom that had been restored to cleanliness and brightness, and curved her lips into a smile.
That’s enough for today.
Humming a little tune, she picked up the trash bags from the room and headed out to throw them away.
The sound of someone entering a passcode came from outside the door.
Ning Xi opened the door first.
The man about to come in was clearly annoyed by the pile of trash stacked outside. He lifted his eyelids to see her, his expression weary and cold.
The joy at the corners of Ning Xi’s lips hadn’t yet had time to fade.
Caught off guard as her gaze met the man’s, she froze for a moment.
Both the man and Ning Xi stepped back simultaneously.
The man, having bumped into her, was about to turn and leave without a second thought.
Ning Xi, on the other hand, moved aside to let him in.
The open door allowed Meng Yizhen to take in the home he hadn’t returned to in nearly a month.
Unexpectedly clean, tidy, and bright.
A faint, pleasant fragrance lingered in the air.
Oddly enough, it wasn’t unpleasant.