As Gu Zhinan was washing the dishes, he caught a glimpse of Xia An’ge tidying up her takeout and throwing it into the trash before limping back to her room. The sight was a little amusing.

  He gnced at what she had thrown away—just a bowl of noodles. Gu Zhinan was starving, and since he always cooked his own meals, the sight was a bit of a shame.

  Not that he knew what exactly he was pitying. He grabbed a piece of pork belly and some green peppers from the fridge, then went back to grab some vegetables.

  He always did his grocery shopping in bulk every few days. After all, he rarely went out. As an online novel author, why would he need to leave the house?

  Exercise?

  What a joke. What kind of author exercises regurly? Is it because their bed won’t hold them back? Or because their soda isn’t compatible?

  A true homebody's essentials: soda, keyboard, and computer. Absolutely perfect!

  Half an hour ter, including the time it took to cook the rice, Gu Zhinan finished making his dinner. He pced it on the dining table just as Xia An’ge walked out of her room, holding an A4 paper in her hand—not the rental agreement, since that was still lying on the table.

  As soon as she stepped out, she caught a whiff of the food’s aroma. The noodles she had eaten earlier barely filled her up, and when she saw the stir-fried pork with green peppers and a side of vegetables, she immediately felt hungry.

  No need for an invitation—Gu Zhinan simply grabbed an extra set of chopsticks from the kitchen.

  “Want some?”

  Xia An’ge hesitated, but that wasn’t why she had come out!

  She pced the A4 paper in front of Gu Zhinan, who picked it up and read it.

  “House Rules?”

  Gu Zhinan gnced at Xia An’ge in surprise. She stared at him intently, urging him to continue reading.

  Do not tell anyone that you are co-renting with Xia An’ge.Do not interfere with each other’s daily lives. You do yours, I do mine.No noise after 10 PM. Do not disturb each other’s rest.No bringing friends to the apartment.No littering inside the apartment. Keep it clean.Aside from shared spaces like the living room, kitchen, and bathroom, do not enter each other’s rooms—especially not secretly!No smoking or drinking inside the apartment.Shared areas must be cleaned once every week.At the bottom, the date and the ndlord’s name were written: Xia An’ge.

  “These are your so-called ‘house rules’?” Gu Zhinan finally learned the name of his ndlord.

  Xia An’ge didn’t respond. Instead, she pced a pen in front of him, signaling him to sign.

  “So troublesome. You didn’t mention any of this when I first rented the pce.” Gu Zhinan muttered, making Xia An’ge tense up slightly, worried that he wouldn’t sign.

  But to her surprise, he simply grumbled a bit before signing his name: Gu Zhinan.

  To be honest, Gu Zhinan didn’t really get it. He was just a tenant. Maybe she was worried because he was good-looking? Overthinking much.

  He didn’t smoke or drink, so that wasn’t an issue. As for the other rules, the first one was just weird—why would he even mention her? It wasn’t like she was famous or anything.

  And the no bringing friends rule? His only friends from college had long since gone their separate ways. Who knew when they’d meet again?

  The rule about not interfering with each other’s lives was perfect for him. He didn’t want to interact with anyone anyway.

  “We should add something—since we’re both living here, how are we splitting the utility bills? Shouldn’t that be crified?”

  Gu Zhinan asked after signing.

  Xia An’ge thought about it and nodded in agreement. She took the pen and stubbornly wrote Rule 9: Utilities will be split equally.

  That made nine rules—three times three equals nine.

  Sounds fair!

  From start to finish, Xia An’ge hadn’t spoken a word, making Gu Zhinan realize she was the cold and aloof type. That was fine. He just wanted to write novels in peace. Once he made enough money, he’d go traveling.

  Satisfied, Xia An’ge gnced at the signed agreement and—without realizing it—smiled slightly.

  Gu Zhinan was stunned. She can smile???

  Unbelievable.

  With the agreement signed, Xia An’ge turned to return to her room, but Gu Zhinan hesitated before saying,

  “Not eating? I made enough for you too.”

  Xia An’ge shook her head. They had just agreed not to interfere with each other’s lives—she couldn’t be the one to break the rules first!

  She would just take it as dieting!

  Gurgle~

  The sound of her stomach protesting filled the room, making things extremely awkward.

  Gu Zhinan hadn’t expected that even a cold and aloof girl’s stomach could growl. Weren’t they supposed to survive on immortal dew or something?

  “Consider it compensation for your injury. The agreement takes effect tomorrow.”

  Gu Zhinan found a convenient excuse. He did feel guilty for accidentally knocking her over, so a home-cooked meal as compensation seemed reasonable.

  Xia An’ge’s face, turned away from him, flushed red like a cherry—even her earlobes seemed about to drip blood. Hearing his reasoning, she thought about how she was injured, couldn’t shower, and couldn’t go out to buy food…

  That did seem reasonable!

  So she turned back and let out a soft “Mm.”

  Then, without expression, she sat down, took a bowl, scooped some rice, and started eating.

  That was the first word she had spoken to Gu Zhinan that day.

  Gu Zhinan also noticed—her face was really red.

  What was this? Sudden blood rush?

  Watching her eat, he wouldn’t say she was devouring the food, but she definitely wasn’t slow. She must have been starving.

  Thinking back to the almost untouched takeout in the trash, he figured this cold and aloof ndlord probably hadn’t eaten much.

  Gu Zhinan scooped himself a bowl of rice and started eating too. As the sun set, golden light streamed through the balcony, casting a warm and harmonious atmosphere over the scene.

  Until Gu Zhinan went to scoop more rice—only to find the pot empty.

  Xia An’ge seemed to sense something and turned red again.

  She had eaten three bowls!!!

  Gu Zhinan had only eaten two, and the dishes were completely wiped clean.

  “It’s fine, I’m full anyway. I was just checking if there was any left.”

  Gu Zhinan expined. He really was full and had just wanted to avoid waste.

  But in Xia An’ge’s mind, it sounded like: Are you a rice bucket? Don’t you care about your figure? How can you eat three bowls in one go?!

  Since joining Starlight Entertainment, she had never eaten this much!

  Gu Zhinan casually cleaned up the dishes. Xia An’ge wanted to help, since she had eaten for free, but he waved her off.

  “Thank you.”

  Her voice, clear and ethereal, lingered in the air as she limped back to her room.

  It was the second and third words she had spoken to Gu Zhinan that day.