CHAPTER 23: CHAPTER 18: ROYAL SISTER XIA XUE

"Okay, sure!" Xiao Lin didn’t object. With Xia Xue’s words, he felt at ease about the arrangement of them sharing a house, one male, one female. Without some rules, it would indeed be troublesome.

"Last rule, what I say always goes!" Xia Xue quickly said, then smiled at Xiao Lin.

At this moment, Xiao Lin was still admiring the fairness of the rules Xia Xue had made. Hearing this was the last rule, he didn’t think and just said, "Okay... what..." Because of Xia Xue’s previous words, he completely gave up resisting, not knowing that Xia Xue’s last condition was so shameless. He wasn’t prepared, and it was uttered before he could think it through.

"I heard you agree, I’m going to draft the contract now. A man’s word must be trustworthy, no going back!" Xia Xue cunningly smiled and quickly ran back to her room, slamming the door shut, not giving Xiao Lin any time to react.

Completely defeated, Xiao Lin’s heart was left with just two words, as the ancients said, women and petty people are difficult to deal with!

After tidying up the pieces of the glass in the living room, Xiao Lin grabbed his luggage and found a room. The room was spacious, complete with all the furniture, and the walls were covered with posters of various celebrities. The curtains were pink, even the bedspread was pink, indicating it was once a girl’s boudoir, with a faint feminine scent lingering in the room.

Xiao Lin backed out. The girly vibe was too strong, with the walls covered in pictures of half-naked male stars. If he moved into this room, who knows how his friends might accuse him if they visited in the future.

He moved to the neighboring room, which was much simpler—just a bed, a computer desk, and a bookshelf. It seemed to have been the guest room of the family, minimalistic yet perfectly suited to Xiao Lin’s taste. He put down his luggage, deciding he would stay here.

Xiao Lin didn’t have much luggage, just two large suitcases. One was filled with clothes and daily necessities, while in the other, besides a 24-inch laptop and an external keyboard and mouse, was filled with books. Some were deluxe editions, some were old stitch-bound editions, and some covers were even yellowed, belonging to the handwritten version category.

A hundred thick books just filled the small bookshelf in the guest room. He placed the laptop on the computer desk, plugged in the keyboard and mouse. The house was already set up with wireless internet, and with a username and password, he could get online immediately.

As for the general daily commodities, Xiao Lin took them to the balcony outside the kitchen. Entering the balcony, on the other side was the main bathroom of the apartment. The house’s design was good, separating the living area from the bathroom with the balcony. Unlike many houses where the bathroom is accessible from the kitchen or living room—for convenience and speed—it’s more hygienic to separate it with a balcony.

Xiao Lin settled everything in less than half an hour, spending most of the time sorting out his books. Passing the living room, if you listened carefully, you could still hear the sound of typing from the master bedroom, which was Xia Xue’s room.

Xiao Lin helplessly glanced at the door of the master bedroom. This woman actually went to draft the co-living contract. The previous terms weren’t an issue, it was necessary to have restrictions in a male-female co-living situation, but the last condition definitely shouldn’t be in a co-living contract between strangers.

Though Xiao Lin hadn’t interacted much with young women and was almost blank about male-female relationships, he still understood that Xia Xue’s last condition, if it were between two people mutually attracted to each other, was undoubtedly a flirty remark. Thinking of this, Xiao Lin’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. Flirting between men and women? Does Xia Xue have a thing for him?

Xiao Lin thought about it and couldn’t help but slap his own forehead, pretty much certain that Xia Xue had a thing for him. Otherwise, despite having drunk last night and the notion of a one-night stand, if she didn’t like him, she wouldn’t have agreed to get a room.

So what about his feelings for Xia Xue? Xiao Lin couldn’t deny liking Xia Xue either. Just as he assumed Xia Xue did, if he didn’t like her, he wouldn’t have gone that far last night.

However, thinking about the information Xia Xue hinted at last night, Xiao Lin became a bit wary again. Could Xia Xue be interested in his family background?

While Xiao Lin was lost in all sorts of wild thoughts, Xia Xue suddenly opened her door, seeing Xiao Lin standing in the living room staring at her doorway with big bright eyes, she shouted, "Hey kiddo, come and look at the contract. If there are no issues, I’ll take it to the office to print it tomorrow, and then we can sign it. No backing out!"

Seeing Xia Xue’s "baring fangs" expression, Xiao Lin threw all his wild thoughts aside. Since he liked her, why care what her intentions were? After all, he wouldn’t lose anything, so he chuckled and said, "No need to look at it. Actually, just the last condition on the contract is enough, the first three are just extras!" Xiao Lin blinked, and returned to his room.

At that moment, Xia Xue didn’t know why she mentioned the last condition; she just found it amusing, as a joke. But after Xiao Lin said it that way, her face immediately blushed, realizing the crux of it. The last condition was usually what half-romantic potential couples, not yet crossing the final line, would say—flirty words between boyfriends and girlfriends. Unexpectedly, she blurted it out recklessly, no wonder Xiao Lin was grinning earlier.

"Dream on, do you think you can court me?" Xia Xue muttered softly at Xiao Lin’s retreating back, as though a bit forlorn, just trying to pep herself up.

Though Xia Xue said that, her heart was a little stirred. Xiao Lin must have some background, right? It’s said that people of the same sort flock together. The friend Xiao Lin brought over in the afternoon was not only incredibly good-looking, but his fashion sense was also top-notch, looking every bit like a young aristocrat, rich or noble. Xia Xue’s observation was quite sharp, noticing the well-dressed handsome guy seemed very obedient to Xiao Lin.

"Even if he’s not as good as my fiancé, he shouldn’t be far behind. I just wonder how Xiao Lin became friends with such a person!" Xia Xue sighed, finding Xiao Lin completely unreadable.

"Ah, whatever, since when have I ever been so indecisive!" Xia Xue took a deep breath, twisted her waist in a mature big sister style, and returned to her room.