My Romance Game Updated – Chapter 58

The Gorgeous Toilet

This cold, aloof goddess, who had always been so dismissive of the breakfasts I had painstakingly prepared, actually snuck back and drank the congee I cooked after I left?

Ren Chenxi stared at Mu Ning in astonishment, momentarily at a loss for words. Should she be happy? Did this mean all those breakfasts she’d so carefully made hadn’t been a complete waste? Or should she be angry? Angry that Mu Ning had been capable of accepting her breakfasts all along, so why had she been so resistant to her?

            

A storm of complex emotions welled up inside her. Ren Chenxi glared at Mu Ning for a long moment before finally managing to say softly, “You really are…”

“I really am deserving of this!”

Mu Ning finished Ren Chenxi’s sentence for her with a bitter smile.

            

And wasn’t it true? Hadn’t she brought this all on herself¹? Back then, she’d clearly had feelings for Ren Muhui, yet she’d insisted on pushing him away. She’d clearly loved the breakfasts he prepared for her, but then, because of a single comment from someone else, she had cruelly rejected those delicious meals with her own hands.

Mu Ning remembered it clearly. In the days after her stomach pains, Ren Muhui had not only supervised her medication but had also thoughtfully prepared breakfasts suitable for someone with stomach problems. Besides the Shiitake Mushroom Chicken Congee, there had also been pumpkin millet congee² and tremella and lotus seed soup³.

Mu Ning had eaten those breakfasts happily; she had loved them. But then, merely to prove that she hadn’t accepted Ren Muhui, that she wasn’t dating him, she had not only thrown away the stomach medicine he’d bought her but had also reverted to her old attitude. Any breakfast or food he brought, she would turn around and give it to someone else.

            

For two years in the apocalypse, Mu Ning had been tormented by endless regret over the kindness she had so casually trampled and betrayed. But now, the flavors she could only revisit in her dreams were right before her eyes again.

She took another cherished sip of the congee, her voice hoarse as she smiled at Ren Chenxi. “This congee is delicious.”

That smile was more painful to look at than tears.

            

Ren Chenxi’s face was wooden. Ignoring Mu Ning’s near-crying expression, she took a deep breath, pointed toward the kitchen, and said coldly, “If it’s so good, there’s more in the kitchen.”

“Mm! I’ll be sure to have several more bowls!” Mu Ning wanted to reclaim all the regrets she had cast aside with her own hands, to find them again in the congee Ren Chenxi had made.

Hearing this, Ren Chenxi reminded her with a stern face, “Food is precious in the apocalypse. You… just have a moderate amount!”

            

“…”

Mu Ning said no more, simply picking up her spoon and eating the congee, one careful mouthful at a time. She ate quietly, making no sound as she sipped the soup, the spoon barely clinking against the bowl. Ren Chenxi wasn’t looking at her, but for some reason, she kept imagining the sound of Mu Ning eating, and an inexplicable irritation began to bubble up again.

Just as Ren Chenxi was thinking of escaping to the kitchen for a while, Mu Ning’s voice sounded again.

            

“Do you think… he can still forgive me?”

Mu Ning didn’t say who “he” was, but Ren Chenxi knew. Her lips twitched into a mocking smile. “The person is gone. How do you plan on getting his forgiveness?”

“I think… I still want to try. To fight for it,” Mu Ning said, putting down her spoon. She looked straight at Ren Chenxi, speaking each word with deliberation.

            

Ren Chenxi met her gaze, her expression unreadable. A smirk played on her lips. “Then go tell Ren Muhui that.”

“I…”

Staring into Ren Chenxi’s emotionless eyes, Mu Ning was about to say more when she was interrupted by a group of girls laughing and chattering as they came downstairs.

            

“Wow, Xiao Tong said today’s breakfast is Shiitake Mushroom Goose Congee! It smells amazing!”

“Did Xi-jie make breakfast for us? Thank you so much, Xi-jie!”

“Heavens, are we really in the apocalypse? We had a feast yesterday, and now there’s congee this morning. This is the good life!”

            

Seeing the girls’ lively, joyful faces, Ren Chenxi’s foul mood lifted considerably. She stopped paying attention to Mu Ning and looked up to greet them. “Morning! Hurry and wash up, then come eat.”

“Okay!”

The girls cheered and swarmed down the stairs toward the restroom by the staircase. As Tang Ying squeezed toothpaste onto her brush at the sink, she suddenly remembered something and turned to shout at Ren Chenxi, “Xi-jie, have you used the toilet yet? What do you think of the decor?”

            

“Yeah, yeah! Boss, you must have used the toilet this morning, right? How was it? Wasn’t it dreamy?”

“…”

Ren Chenxi, who had been planning to hide from Mu Ning in the kitchen, instinctively glanced at her again. Their eyes met, and both of them wore expressions that were hard to put into words⁴. After a long moment, Mu Ning forced out a compliment. “It’s… very pretty.”

            

“Really? Really?” Tang Ying was thrilled to be praised by Mu-xuejie, whom she had always admired. She turned her head again, looking eagerly at Ren Chenxi. “What does Xi-jie think?”

“…” Ren Chenxi struggled to open her mouth, but in the end, she could only force out a white lie. “It’s… magnificent.”

Magnificent was an understatement. It was beyond gorgeous, beyond beautiful. The entire restroom, coated in a layer of crystal, was so dazzling it could blind a person! The problem was, this glittering “crystal palace” was just a toilet! An ordinary, common toilet! Why would you make it so ridiculously ornate? Even the squat toilet⁵ was made of crystal! How was anyone supposed to use it?!

            

She would have preferred the original concrete walls and floor!

Ren Chenxi clearly remembered that before making breakfast, she had naturally gone to wash up and use the restroom. When she saw the crystal washbasin, she had thought it was quite nice. But when she stepped into the toilet stall, she was so shocked by the glittering crystal everywhere that she immediately backed out. In that moment, Ren Chenxi deeply regretted going to bed early last night. Why hadn’t she supervised these girls’ redecorating?!

A sparkling sink and shower area were one thing, but this was the toilet stall! And they’d given her a crystal squat toilet! Heaven knows how she managed to overcome the psychological barrier to relieve herself.

            

The thought of that terrifying crystal squat toilet made Ren Chenxi glance at Tang Ying again. She asked, feigning casualness, “Xiao Ying, that squat toilet… how did you crystallize it?” Did you press your whole palm against it? Just imagining it was an assault on the eyes⁶.

As if guessing the hidden meaning in Ren Chenxi’s words, Tang Ying’s face instantly flushed bright red. She waved her hands frantically at Ren Chenxi and explained earnestly, “Xi-jie, don’t get the wrong idea! We cleaned the whole restroom until it was spotless yesterday! And I crystallized the squat toilet along with the walls and floor!”

With that explanation, Ren Chenxi understood. The squat toilet was embedded in the floor. As long as Tang Ying’s fingers touched the wall, a layer of crystal could extend across the floor and onto the toilet itself. Still, crystallizing the walls and floor was one thing, but why “along with” the squat toilet?

            

So, Ren Chenxi asked tactfully, “Are you all comfortable using such a beautiful crystal squat toilet?”

“Huh? Everyone loves it! Xinxin, Lingling, do you like the pink crystal squat toilet?”

“We absolutely love it!” Song Xin, who was brushing her teeth, took a moment to give Tang Ying a thumbs-up. “A toilet this dreamy is something I’ve only ever seen in my dreams!”

            

“…” Fine, as long as you all like it.

While Ren Chenxi and Tang Ying were discussing the crystal toilet, Zhang Tongqi came downstairs, helping Sun Jia. The moment she saw Ren Chenxi, Zhang Tongqi couldn’t help but exclaim happily, “Xi-jie! Your divine antidote is so effective! Xiao Jia’s addiction didn’t act up last night, and her complexion looks so much better today!”

Although Sun Jia had taken Ren Chenxi’s antidote yesterday, Zhang Tongqi and Wu Tong had remained skeptical about its effects. To prevent Sun Jia from having another episode and tearing at her wounds, Zhang Tongqi had decided to stay in Sun Jia’s room and sleep with her. At first, she was on high alert, listening for any movement. But as the night deepened and Sun Jia remained peacefully still, Zhang Tongqi accidentally drifted off.

            

She slept soundly until morning, only waking up to the sound of Song Xin and Chang Ling calling for them outside the door. The first thing she did upon waking was to check on the groggy Sun Jia, anxiously asking if her addiction had flared up during the night.

Only when asked did Sun Jia realize, belatedly, that she had slept soundly and deeply. It was the best sleep she’d had since being poisoned. Without the torment of withdrawal, she even felt that her spirits were much higher upon waking. Of course, Zhang Tongqi didn’t fully believe her word alone. Past experience had made her afraid that Sun Jia was just putting on a brave face. But when she changed the dressing on Sun Jia’s wound and saw that it hadn’t been torn open again—and in fact showed faint signs of healing—Zhang Tongqi finally believed her. Her addiction really hadn’t acted up.

“Xi-jie, thank you so much for the antidote! This is wonderful! Xiao Jia’s wound will definitely heal now!”

            

“Really? Really?” Wu Tong, standing nearby, grew excited as well. “Then Xiao Jia has to keep taking the antidote! Three times a day. I’ll make sure you take it after breakfast! Oh, and Xi-jie made breakfast today, too. It smells so good. Xiao Jia, you haven’t had much of an appetite these past few days, so you have to eat a few more bowls later!”

Sun Jia gently touched her injured arm, a small smile on her face as she listened to her friends’ happy chattering. Supported by Zhang Tongqi, she slowly walked over to Ren Chenxi.

“Xi-jie, thank you so much for this.”

            

Sun Jia had only met Ren Chenxi yesterday and didn’t know her exact age, but just as she had willingly called Mu Ning “Boss,” she was now willing to join the others in sincerely calling Ren Chenxi “Xi-jie.” It had nothing to do with age; she just wanted to express her heartfelt gratitude and respect.

Ever since she’d become addicted because of Fan Juntian, Sun Jia had lived in torment every single day. When the withdrawal hit, it felt as if her entire body was being gnawed on by tens of thousands of ants. The dense, crawling itch and pain seemed to bore deep into her marrow, and the only relief was to rip her own wounds open, using a sharper pain to distract from the unbearable agony. And once the episode finally passed, she would immediately begin to worry and dread the next one.

These past days, Sun Jia had been living in constant fear, suffering day and night. The addiction was becoming harder and harder to suppress; just tearing at her wounds was no longer enough to overcome the all-consuming torment that threatened to devour her. She had even begun to despair for her future. Several times, after enduring an episode, drenched in sweat and dripping with blood, the thought of ending her own life had crossed her mind.

            

Maybe I should just die. I won’t be tormented by the addiction anymore, and I won’t be a burden to Boss. Wouldn’t that be better?

Just as her will to live was fading, Ren Chenxi had arrived with her antidote. And that antidote, which she had been so skeptical of at first, had truly rescued her from the purgatory of addiction.

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The author has something to say:

            

I’ve never had the chance to experience a crystal toilet, but… my mom loves to put “clothes” on all the furniture and appliances at home. Even the toilet seat has to wear a layer of “clothing,” and the experience is just awful, ahhh! The velvet ones⁷ are one thing in the winter, but in the summer she puts on a silicone one! That thing sticks to your butt!

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