Chapter 17

In the lonely depth of night, the silence around her felt as though the whole world had emptied out, leaving only her behind.
Perhaps that wasn’t just a feeling.
Life was so boring. What was the point of being alive?
After drifting through those thoughts for a while longer, Yu Qing finally picked up her phone, more out of listlessness than intent. She had no idea what she wanted to do. She simply opened each app in turn, then closed it again.
When she tapped on WeChat, she suddenly noticed a new unread message in her contacts.
A voice echoed in her mind—
“I’ve already added your contact. Remember to approve it. I’ll send your daily routine over.”
Her heart, which had felt wrapped in swamp mud and dragged steadily downward, jolted.
She opened the friend requests.
A profile with an avatar of a penguin sitting in front of a hot pot had sent her an invite.
There was no verification message, but there didn’t need to be. Very few people even knew this WeChat existed, and someone else had already warned her that they’d sent a request.
There was no need to think about it. It had to be Xiang Changge.
Extending one forefinger, Yu Qing stabbed firmly at “Reject.”
A second later, the screen refreshed. The message under the request changed—now it read “Added.”
Yu Qing: “?”
Something was wrong here. Shouldn’t that have been “Rejected”?
Frowning, she tapped open the profile—and felt her stomach drop when she saw the “Send Message” button.
Not believing it, she pressed it anyway. The chat window popped up, a line of gray text at the top.
“You’ve added Eight‑Bowls‑a‑Meal. You can start chatting now.”
Yu Qing: “?!!”
Was she seeing ghosts? She was sure she’d hit reject. How had it turned into add? Had she mis‑tapped? Impossible—she had been very careful.
There was no time to unravel it. As if Xiang Changge might leap out of the screen at any second, Yu Qing hurriedly deleted the contact with swift, practiced motions.
Only when it was done did she let herself breathe.
So much for that stupid schedule. She could forget about it ever being sent.
She might not be able to fire her, but that didn’t mean she had to obey her every word.
At that thought, and ignoring the fact that it wasn’t even three in the morning, Yu Qing scrambled out of bed to relock the door.
That still wasn’t enough. She dug out a pair of earplugs and placed them within arm’s reach on the nightstand, then grabbed her poetry collection and opened it, mood significantly improved.
Hmph. Let’s see what other tricks Xiang Changge had.
Tomorrow morning, she’d just plug her ears and let the woman knock herself silly outside.
Little Fish: She’s so annoying. [sobs][sobs]
Sausage: Looking for “warmth,” are we? [question marks][question marks]
Paragraph comments are on now, and the cover’s been updated too. [droopy‑eared bunny]
So… who was it again who said Sausage‑bro is the clown here? [clown][clown]
Poem quote: From *Selected Poems of Hai Zi*.