My Romance Game Updated – Chapter 104
by Little PandaThe Communal Sleeping Bunk
During the days of torrential rain, Ren Chenxi tallied up their recent gains with the other girls while also calculating her own stockpile of crystal stones. Her inventory was now completely filled—a full page of slots occupied by all manner of mutated seafood, mutated beasts, and various mutated plants gathered from the wild. For the coming cold season, they would be fine even if they didn’t venture out at all.
As for the crystal stones Ren Chenxi had exchanged from crystal cores, their number had swelled from over five million to more than six million. This extra million had come almost entirely from mutated seafood. If it had all been from the crystal cores of low-order creatures, she never would have been able to amass another million so quickly. The main credit belonged to Mu Ning. A while back, when Mu Ning had hooked a 6th-order mutated lobster, several 6th-order mutated squids had actually followed it ashore. Ren Chenxi had shown no courtesy, immediately taking out a large portion of them with an Explosion Card.
A few days later, by sheer coincidence, Mu Ning reeled in another 6th-order mutated fish, which was being pursued by nearly ten giant mutated crabs. Perhaps realizing how difficult it was for her to catch mid-tier seafood in the ocean, Mu Ning didn’t compete with Ren Chenxi for any of the mid-tier mutated sea creatures that washed ashore the second time around. And just like that, Ren Chenxi’s crystal stone count had smoothly increased by over a million.
And speaking of Mu Ning…
Her behavior these past few days had been utterly normal, as if nothing had happened. She went out as usual, returned as usual, ate as usual, and rested as usual. In the evenings, she would come up to the third floor to watch movies with everyone, just as she always had. And… just as before, she liked to sit beside Ren Chenxi while they watched.
The reappearance of Ren Muhui seemed to have had no effect on her whatsoever. To be more precise, Mu Ning paid Ren Muhui no extra attention at all, treating him as if he were just another ordinary, insignificant new member of their team. This attitude of complete disregard baffled Chen Gu and the others. They secretly asked Ren Muhui if there had been some misunderstanding with their Boss, which would explain why the once-infatuated leader had suddenly started ignoring her boyfriend, who had just come back from the dead.
Hearing their questions, Ren Muhui could only manage a bitter smile.
A misunderstanding? It’s a huge misunderstanding. The ‘boyfriend’ your Boss fell for later on isn’t this father at all! It’s this father’s younger sister!
By now, judging from Mu Ning’s completely different attitudes toward him and Ren Chenxi, Ren Muhui had no choice but to accept a cruel fact: the person Goddess Mu liked was his own sister.
During the several days of continuous rain, everyone stayed indoors to rest. Experiencing winter in the south for the first time, Ren Chenxi found it hard to adjust. Although it didn’t snow, the damp, bone-chilling air seeped straight into her bones. Starting a charcoal fire in a room with tightly sealed windows was obviously unwise. Fortunately, among the supplies from her previous warehouse trip, Ren Chenxi found some very old-fashioned heaters.
These old models were quite large, and their power consumption was terrifying. Ren Chenxi found fifty of them in total. She gave ten to the men, kept ten for the Girls’ Building, and had Mu Ning send Chen Gu to deliver the remaining thirty to Qi Sheng to distribute as he saw fit. When Chen Gu and his group returned, they brought back a new mobile power supply.
This mobile power supply was a new invention from Qi Sheng’s research personnel, created specifically in preparation for winter. The new model had a larger capacity of 1,000,000 mAh and charged much faster. According to Chen Gu, it was a thank-you gift for the heaters they had delivered.
Naturally, this new mobile power supply was allocated for use in the Girls’ Building. From now on, the men’s and women’s buildings would use their power supplies separately, each paying for their own crystal cores to charge them. But even with an extra power source, the heaters’ energy consumption still made the girls’ hearts ache. The luxury of using one heater per room was something they didn’t even dare to consider. They felt it was a waste of electricity even to use one heater per floor. Zhang Tongqi, Jian Dan, Tang Ying, and a few of the more frugal girls simply proposed that they all live together on one floor for the entire winter. They could gather in the living room, lay out a large communal sleeping bunk1, put down electric blankets, and share a single heater while watching movies and playing games. How great would that be?
The suggestion received enthusiastic approval from all the girls except Ren Chenxi—especially from Mu Ning.
Watching the excited group, then glancing at Mu Ning, whose eyes were shining at the head of it, Ren Chenxi shrugged and voiced her doubts.
“Don’t we all have electric blankets? It doesn’t really matter if we don’t use a heater when we sleep at night, right? So there’s no need for everyone to squeeze onto one floor for warmth.”
“Hey, Xi-jie, you’re wrong about that!” Tang Ying immediately retorted as soon as Ren Chenxi finished speaking. “Everyone knows it’s warmer when more people gather together! Besides, when we’re not sleeping, we can’t just go back to our rooms and crawl into bed to stay warm, can we? Just look at the past few days when we’ve been watching movies and playing games. Isn’t it warmer for those of us squeezed together on the sofa? And don’t the ones who can’t fit feel like they’re freezing to death?”
“That’s right, that’s right!” Zhang Tongqi raised her hand in agreement. “My fingers felt like they were frozen stiff when we were sitting on the floor playing games. No wonder my character kept dying!”
…Your character keeps dying because you suck. What does that have to do with your fingers being frozen?
Ren Chenxi shot Zhang Tongqi a disdainful look but didn’t voice her rebuttal. Over the last few days, apart from the first day when she joined Jian Dan and the others on the floor for games, she had basically been lazing on the sofa watching movies. They said they were sitting on the floor, but the clean floor was actually covered with a rug, and Ren Chenxi had even provided several small, round, soft cushions for them to sit on. Even so, she had to admit that a few people scattered on the floor playing games wasn’t nearly as warm as everyone huddled on the sofa watching a movie. Plus, when they watched movies on the sofa, the girls would all share a large blanket to keep warm.
Looked at that way… it really wasn’t much different from a communal sleeping bunk, was it?
“Xi-jie, Xi-jie, let’s just do the communal bunk~” Seeing Ren Chenxi’s hesitation, Zhang Tongqi pressed on. “That way, I can sit right on the warm electric blanket to play games, and I can even cover myself with another quilt~”
“Yes, yes, and when we’re done playing, we can go straight to sleep! No more climbing upstairs to our rooms and crawling into a cold bed!” Tang Ying added hurriedly. Heaven knew how arduous the journey upstairs was every night, braving the freezing air.
Tang Ying’s words struck a chord with the other girls, especially those who huddled together to watch movies. They would be perfectly warm one moment, only to shiver for a good while upon returning to their rooms. Often, they would forget to turn on their electric blankets in advance and have to climb into an icy bed, waiting impatiently for it to heat up. It was sheer torture.
“Please, Xi-jie~ Let’s all sleep on a communal bunk!”
Facing the blazing gazes of more than ten girls—especially the one at the very front—Ren Chenxi had no choice but to nod in agreement. “Fine, fine! Then let’s tidy up the living room…”
Before she could finish, the girls erupted in a collective cheer. Tang Ying seized the opportunity to make another request: “Since we’re all sleeping together anyway, why don’t we just move to the second floor? It’ll be quicker to go upstairs after meals, and more convenient to get up at night2 to use the toilet~~~”
As a resident of the fourth floor who had a habit of waking up at night, Tang Ying found the nightly trip down to the first-floor bathroom to be an absolute torment. The mere act of getting out of her warm bed was torture enough.
Ren Chenxi knew how much trouble it was for Tang Ying and the other girls on the fourth floor to go up and down the stairs, especially during this cold season…
“Then, how about we set up the communal bunk here on our floor?” Mu Ning followed up on Tang Ying’s request, looking at Ren Chenxi.
“…Then let’s move it!” What else could Ren Chenxi do? The minority had to yield to the majority. Besides… being able to save a flight of stairs when she suddenly needed the bathroom while watching movies or playing games was something she was happy about, too. While she didn’t usually get up at night, it was impossible not to drink more water during a movie or game, right?
The Girls’ Building Second-Floor Living Room was quite bare, with only a coffee table and a sofa; there wasn’t even a TV. The floor had initially been dusty concrete, but after Tang Ying had crystallized it, they had laid down a large rug.
The girls worked together to move the coffee table and sofa, leaving the large hall empty and spacious. After consulting Ren Chenxi and discussing it among themselves, they decided to lay hotel mattresses directly on the living room floor. The hotel mattresses were all two meters by 1.8 meters. With thirteen girls, laying four mattresses in an upper row and four in a lower row created a communal bunk more than large enough for them all to sleep comfortably. After placing the mattresses, they laid down electric blankets and then sheets. Previously, each girl had used a double-sized electric blanket for herself, so this new arrangement saved quite a few.
Once everything was done, the girls looked at each other. Only one problem remained: How would they arrange the sleeping spots? And for the upper and lower rows, should they sleep head-to-head or feet-to-feet?
At that, Tang Ying, the CP Chief3, stepped forward without hesitation. “Does this even need arranging? Of course, those who are close will sleep together! As for head-to-head or feet-to-feet, it’s definitely better to be feet-to-feet! I don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night with someone’s head right above mine!”
Sleeping with those you were close to was a given. The problem was, Ren Chenxi didn’t feel particularly closer to anyone. Even Jian Dan, Song Xin, and Chang Ling, the three girls who had followed her from the beginning, had buddied up with Huo Keyu and left her out. Ren Chenxi watched in a difficult position as the girls cheered and dove for their chosen spots. When the chaotic scene finally ended, everyone had formed their groups and claimed a satisfactory bed, leaving only Ren Chenxi and Mu Ning still standing.
Glancing at the excited and gossipy4 faces of the girls, led by Tang Ying, Ren Chenxi quietly clenched her fists. You little troublemakers, you did this on purpose, didn’t you?
“Well then… we’ll just…”
Mu Ning was extremely pleased with the current situation. She looked at Ren Chenxi expectantly, just about to ask her to share a bed, when a small, furry blanket suddenly rubbed against Ren Chenxi’s leg.
“Meow meow meow meow~”
“Oh, Tantan~ I almost forgot about you~”
Because they were laying out new mattresses and sheets in the second-floor living room, Ren Chenxi hadn’t even returned to her own bedroom, simply pulling a new electric blanket from her inventory. As a result, she had nearly forgotten to bring Tantan’s cat bed down. Now that Tantan had so thoughtfully come downstairs on its own, well~ the cat bed was no longer needed~
“Since you’ve all chosen your spots, I’ll just sleep with Tantan~”
“Tantan is so small! Xi-jie, you can have Mu xuejie sleep on your other side!” Tang Ying hurriedly tried to secure this perk for herself—no, for Mu Ning.
“No need. Tantan can just sleep in my arms~” In that case, Mu Ning could only sleep on the other side, separated by the cat.
Once again, Mu Ning felt that this long-haired, golden blanket was a real eyesore!!!
The author has something to say:
Xixi: What do you do when you’re surrounded by wingmen?
Mutou: Submit to me!
Footnotes
- A 'dà tōngpù' is a large sleeping area, often on the floor, created by arranging many beds or mattresses together for a group to sleep in the same room, common in dormitories or for conserving heat.
- The term 'qǐ yè' refers to the act of getting up in the middle of the night, specifically to use the toilet.
- A Chinese internet slang term, 'cp tóuzi', for the biggest supporter or 'chief' of a romantic pairing ('CP' or 'couple').
- A Chinese slang term, 'bāguà' (literally 'eight trigrams'), used to mean 'gossip' or 'gossipy'.
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