Chapter 71: Because She's Obsessed with Love, Her Boyfriend's Twisted Nature Doesn't Matter (3)

At noon, Bai Yao made some quick frozen dumplings filled with pork and cabbage to get by, and after eating, she continued tidying up. As dusk fell, she struggled to carry several large bags of garbage toward the station.

Halfway there, a tall young man ran up to her. “Miss Bai, let me help you!”

He snatched the garbage bags from her hands, instantly making her load much lighter.

Today, Lu Sheng wore a white T-shirt, black trousers, and carried a shoulder bag. Even in low-top shoes, he towered above Bai Yao. He pulled off the black headphones from his ears and let them hang around his neck, making him look even more youthful and energetic. He lowered his head, flashing a bright smile. “I just got off work and happened to meet you, Miss Bai. What a coincidence.”

He bent slightly toward her as he spoke, and the evening light blurred the boundary between the orange hue of his tousled hair and the shadows. Thanks to his fair skin, he could pull off a hair color few others could.

“If I’d come back earlier or later, I might not have run into you,” he said with playful seriousness.

With a humorous tone, the young man continued, “Today’s luck is pretty good. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.”

Bai Yao’s eyes curved with a smile. “Then it seems my luck is good as well. If I were alone, disposing of all this garbage would have been exhausting. But I really feel bad—yesterday you brought me flowers, and today you’re helping me throw out the trash.”

Lu Sheng replied, “If I were to stand by and watch a lady do heavy lifting without offering help, it would be a failing on my part as a gentleman.”

When they reached the garbage station, Lu Sheng easily tossed the bags into the pit and threw in the two smaller ones Bai Yao still held. Smiling, he asked, “Is there anything else I can help you with, Miss Bai?”

Bai Yao thought for a moment. “I’ve pretty much finished tidying up, so for now, nothing urgent. But actually, there is something I might need your help with, Mr. Lu.”

Lu Sheng asked, “What is it?”

Bai Yao replied, “There are lots of flowers and plants in my yard that need attention, but I’ve never grown anything before, so I’m not sure which ones I can pull up.”

Lu Sheng smiled. “That’s easy. Let me just put my things away when I get home, and I’ll come help you.”

Bai Yao glanced at the bag in his hand.

Lu Sheng lifted it. “These are dumplings I bought on my way home. I need to put them in the fridge first.”

Bai Yao asked, “Pork and cabbage filling?”

He nodded with a smile. “Yes.”

Bai Yao felt a strange sense of connection. “That’s exactly what I ate today—pork and cabbage dumplings.”

He was surprised. “Are the dumplings you had the same brand as the ones I bought?”

After checking the packaging, Bai Yao’s voice grew excited. “Yes! They’re the same!”

Lu Sheng’s eyes crinkled. “Well, that really is a coincidence!”

Bai Yao turned away, cupping her cheeks.

This was no mere coincidence!

It was fate itself!

Lu Sheng went home to put away his things, and before long he arrived at Bai Yao’s house. Thoughtfully, he brought her a pair of white gloves. “I noticed your hands are beautiful. If you hurt them pulling weeds, that wouldn’t do. These might be a bit warm, but at least you’ll avoid injury.”

Bai Yao thought to herself, This man is an angel!

Not only was he athletic, he knew so much—every plant she considered a weed, he could name.

Lu Sheng turned over the leaf of one plant, revealing a green insect with tiny spines crawling on it. “If you get stung by this, just apply some ointment and you’ll be fine. But without medicine, it’ll hurt for a whole week.”

Bai Yao asked, “Have you been in pain for a week before?”

Lu Sheng turned his face, his dark eyes gazing at the girl crouched beside him.

Bai Yao explained, “I guessed since you said it’d hurt for a week without ointment. That kind of ointment should be easy to find at the pharmacy, right?”

Lu Sheng’s lips curved in a smile. “Yes, when I was little, my mother was busy and often away. I was mischievous, so I’ve been stung a few times.”

Bai Yao said, “Then let’s get revenge!”

He tilted his head. “Revenge?”

“Wait a moment,” Bai Yao said.

She stood up and ran inside. Night had already fallen, and the house was dim without lights. As she opened the door, she saw a pale-skinned boy crouched by the stairs, startling her.

The boy wore only shorts, his skin as deathly pale as his face. He crouched silently in the corner, staring straight at Bai Yao.

But when she looked again, the child was gone.

Her brows furrowed—this was not a simple matter.

Remembering that Lu Sheng was still waiting outside, Bai Yao grabbed a plastic cup from the kitchen. As she was leaving, a boy’s shadow darted past her.

Bai Yao quickly caught the boy’s hand. He hadn’t expected to be caught and turned to her, opening his mouth to let out a piercing catlike screech.

From outside, Lu Sheng called, “Miss Bai?”

“I’m coming!” Bai Yao replied hastily.

Without caring about the boy’s struggles, she dragged him into the kitchen and warned fiercely, “I’m telling you, I hate troublemakers. Sneaking into my house without clothes to scare people—who are you trying to frighten? It’s fine if you scare me, but if you frighten someone outside and mess up my romantic prospects, I won’t stand for it!”

The boy looked at her with a shocked expression, as if he’d heard something incomprehensible.

Bai Yao opened the kitchen window, lifted the troublemaker, and set him down on the grass outside. She threatened, “Go home now! If you sneak into my house again, I’ll tell your parents!”

She shook her fist at him, slammed the window shut and locked it, then ran out with her cup.

The little boy stood in the grass. A black cat leapt out from some corner and meowed. He shivered, scooped up the cat, and ran back home.

Bai Yao returned to the yard, covering the insect with a disposable plastic cup and placing a small stone on top.

Lu Sheng watched her, puzzled.

She explained, “I saw the forecast—tomorrow will be sunny. If I trap it like this without food or water, it’ll be thirsty and hungry, and slowly dry up under the sun.”

Bai Yao let out a villainous, sinister laugh. “It will suffer, unable to live nor die, tormented until it perishes, ha ha…”

Lu Sheng’s eyes widened.

Bai Yao asked, “What do you think? Isn’t it fun?”

He laughed heartily. “It’s fun.”

Bai Yao smiled as well, glanced at her phone, and said, “Mr. Lu, do you know any restaurants nearby? You’ve helped me so much—I’d like to treat you to dinner.”

Lu Sheng didn’t decline. He pointed, “There’s a noodle shop over there. The food’s pretty good.”

Bai Yao said, “Then wait a moment, I’ll get my purse.”

Lu Sheng smiled. “Sure.”

Bai Yao ran back inside.

Lu Sheng looked down at the green caterpillar in the cup, his eyes curving as he placed another small stone on top.

“It smells so good…” A voice murmured from the darkness, entranced. “So fragrant… I want to eat…”

A hoarse voice mingled with the wind, chilling as a death knell in the night.

Lu Sheng stood up unhurriedly, raised his hand, and reached into a swirl of mist.

The fog gradually formed into a black human shape, its neck caught in Lu Sheng’s palm. It struggled, groaning in pain.

Lu Sheng smiled at it, eyes narrowed. “She’s mine. You can’t eat her.”

The shadow stammered, “You… You never compete with us for food…”

Lu Sheng replied, “This time, things are a little different.”

The misty figure asked, “Wh-what?”

Lu Sheng’s smile was radiant, his orange hair gleaming, but beneath it, a hint of sickness flickered in his black eyes. He chuckled, voice light and cheerful. “From the moment I first saw her, I got hard.”

The misty figure: “!?”