"Are you a writer? What works have you published?"

"Uh... I'm a webnovel author, I have to make a name for myself before I aim for publishing."

"Doesn't sound like it's going well, huh? How much do you make in a month?"

"If I'm working consistently, I take about 6,000 a month."

"Only 6,000? Not even half of what my bag's worth. Awfully poor, isn't it? How do you survive in Lan Chuan City with this kind of income?"

In a café by the lakeside of Lan Chuan City, Gu Fei was chatting with a blind date, who was recommended by his mother's mahjong buddy.

The moment the topic of income was touched, the atmosphere instantly turned awkward. Gu Fei, who was already bad at social interactions, felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.

After a short silence, the girl stood up, picked up her branded brown bag, and forced a smile.

"I'm sorry, I have an errand to run, I should go now. We will stay in touch if possible."

To her, the guy didn't look bad, and he was reasonably tall.

But his poor dressing, unkempt beard on the chin, haphazardly combed hair gave a feeling of sloppiness.

The whole air around him seemed listless, his eyes empty behind his thick glasses, the very embodiment of a nerdy homebody who spends the entire day playing video games.

What's more, he barely had any money in his pocket!

The old, beat-up e-bike he was riding, parked in front of the café, looked absolutely ridiculous next to the flamboyant sedans nearby. It stuck out like a sore thumb, unbearably unsightly.

"Oh, then take care."

Not a hint of disappointment crossed Gu Fei's mind; on the contrary, he felt a small spark of excitement, he could finally have some time to himself.

Gu Fei had just turned 24 this year. Passionate about internet novels, he began to make a living as an online writer after graduating from college, specializing in writing wuxia-style, blood-pumping novels.

His job resembled those of techie hermits who spent their days cooped up at home, tirelessly tapping away on their keyboards.

Because of his long-term hermit-style life, Gu Fei, who was already a man of few words, became even more introverted and shy.

Aside from descending his building for food, he was essentially a bonafide homebody, going nowhere.

After living this isolated lifestyle for several years, Gu Fei found himself flustered whenever he interacted with others.

Every time he chatted with a girl, Gu Fei became so nervous that his tongue would twist, often uttering out-of-place comments that ruined the mood.

This was the main reason why, being already 24, he still had never experienced romance.

Just then, his mobile phone in his pocket suddenly rang.

"Hello, is this Mr. Gu? Could you come over to sign the contract now? I have to pick up my daughter from school soon."

"Alright, I'll be right over."

Gu Fei hurriedly replied.

Tormented by constant nagging from his parents to settle down, he found a small place for himself online to rent, planning to escape from this pair of marriage-pressuring demons.

After gulping down his coffee in one go, Gu Fei stood up and strode towards the cashier counter.

Watching the gold-digger from before, he had no expectations for her to willingly pay or even suggest splitting the bill.

"Hello, that'll be one hundred and fifty yuan in total. You can scan here."

The girl at the cash register had sparkling eyes that curved into crescents when she smiled. She was cutesy and adorable.

"Ah, alright."

Gu Fei shyly avoided the girl's gaze.

Most people with social anxiety behave this way, especially when they're face to face with a beautiful girl.

"Thank you for your patronage, enjoy your day."

After Gu Fei finished scanning the code and paying, he suddenly felt a little woozy.

It seemed like a few lines of text and a blurry little red heart flashed over the girl's head and disappeared.

Blinking his eyes, he took a careful second look, but the text and little red heart were gone.

"Looks like I need to fit some exercise into my schedule."

Gu Fei thought to himself, It must be an aftereffect of staying at home all day.

After settling the bill, he hopped onto his beloved little electric bicycle and headed straight for Ruijing community in the outskirts.

Although Ruijing community is some distance from the city center, it has the advantage of being affordable and quiet, which Gu Fei, the ultimate homebody, loves. Without a second thought, he pays the deposit on a rental app.

Just as he stepped into the elevator, his phone beeped, a message had arrived on WeChat.

Peace is a Blessing

Mom

: "@SweetDreams, son, how did the blind date go today?"

SweetDreams: "How else could it go? It fell through. By the way, 150 bucks went down the drain on today's date. What's your wise advice now, Mom?"

Peace is a Blessing

Mom

: "Baby, would you like to hear a story from Mom?"

SweetDreams: "What kind of story?"

"Well, once upon a time, the Supreme Old Master spent 49 days crafting a magical pill. This pill had consciousness and slipped away to the mortal world, finding sanctuary under a ginseng fruit tree. Over time, it took on the shape of a ginseng fruit."

"Later, when the monk Tang and his disciples passed by, Monkey King ate a lot of ginseng fruit, but killed the magical pill that had transformed into a ginseng fruit with one blow. Can you guess why this is?"

SweetDreams: "Why?"

Peace is a Blessing

Mom

: "Because it turned into a pill, my dear! What's the use of keeping a useless pill around, wouldn't you say, darling? [laughing face emoji] [laughing face emoji] [laughing face emoji]"

SweetDreams: "????"

Seeing Mom's crazy use of laughing emojis in the WeChat group, Gu Fei couldn't bear it anymore and quickly switched to invisible mode and made himself scarce.

For the sake of his sanity, he decided he wouldn't be visiting his parents this weekend.

The elevator "dinged" to a stop on the 22nd floor, Gu Fei slowly dragged his exhausted body out and headed towards his rented apartment.

Just as he reached the front door, he froze in place.

The door was wide open, and the "click-clack" of high-heeled shoes echoed from inside, the sound was as crisp as if it were striking his heart.

"Are you Mr. Gu?"

A soft feminine voice came from within the room.

With the sound of the elevator, the footsteps inside the room got closer, causing Gu Fei's heart to pound wildly.

After all, as a straight man in the late stage, he is terrified of interacting with women.

Before he could regain his senses, a voluptuously bodied woman appeared before his eyes.

She was wearing a brown patterned shirt, complementing her skin that was as pale as snow.

With her black, lustrous hair casually thrown over one shoulder, she wore a skin-tight flesh-colored pencil skirt with matching stockings. Her long beautiful legs were simply too captivating to look away.

She oozed the charm characteristic of mature women, along with a hint of a seductive married woman's allure.

She held a rental contract in her hand, and a long string of keys glistened under the lights on the small table.

Unable to resist, Gu Fei took a few more glances, secretly calculating in his heart: This would mean more than a dozen houses, right?

With stunning beauty and a smoking hot body, this landlord lady – an attractive married woman – was simply a live-action version of the females in the erotic stories that Gu Fei would fantasize about.

"Are you Gu Fei?"

The beautiful woman scrutinized Gu Fei from top to bottom, her lips curving in an amused smile, she teased, "Based on your voice on the phone, I thought you were a man in his thirties. I never imagined that you'd be so young and handsome."

Faced with such unexpected praise, Gu Fei became as nervous as a high school student, stuttering in response: "Ah...is, is that so? I...I didn't expect either..."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Gu Fei wished he could slap himself.

What nonsense was he speaking, didn't he know his own age?

Sure enough, after hearing his response, the beautiful woman looked at him with a "Are you okay?" expression.

Gu Fei was so embarrassed that he wished he could hide inside a crack in the floor.

After his mind raced for a moment, he blurted out in his haste, "What I meant to say was, you look so young too, as radiant as a little maiden."