You are all bad women! Don't come over!

Shen Mochen stopped what he was doing, falling silent for a moment.

"You can't feel it now, but you still have more than a dozen months of rising period..." Xia Qingrou, obviously unable to guess Shen Mochen's thoughts, sighed deeply, her gaze distant, "Lately, I feel increasingly helpless, even though I'm giving it my all, I'm just not as powerful as before... Yuncui sister must feel the same these past two years..."

Shen Mochen looked up at her, "Do you really wish to remain powerful forever?"

"Who wouldn't want that, but it's impossible," Xia Qingrou said softly, laughing as she touched her hair by her ear, her voice subdued, "My superpower is very simple, without sufficient power, it's really not enough, I might even retire earlier than Yuncui sister..."

Shen Mochen was silent for a while, then continued slowly chopping vegetables.

Tap tap tap... the knife continued its monotonous melody on the cutting board.

"Honey, how many years do you plan to stay at Buque?" Xia Qingrou asked.

"What's up?"

"I was thinking, if you only do it for two years... we might be able to retire together... But by then I'll be twenty-one, older than when Yuncui sister retired, I might not be able to hold on till then, and dragging it out is not responsible to teammates..."

Xia Qingrou pursed her lips, gazing at the sky, her thoughts drifting off to who knows where.

"There's no need to retire together..." Shen Mochen said.

"But... but... what about you if I retire first?" Xia Qingrou looked at Shen Mochen.

Shen Mochen tilted his head, "What about me?"

Xia Qingrou pouted, then her mouth tightened into a line, her face slightly flushed as she lightly punched Shen Mochen, "If I'm not around... what if you get seduced by other women..."

"Have some confidence in yourself, will you? You're so beautiful, like a fairy, and so capable, how could I be tempted by anyone else?" Shen Mochen couldn't help but laugh heartily.

Xia Qingrou felt a sweetness in her heart, but pouted with feigned annoyance, "That's still uncertain; you men, after having tasted exotic delicacies, might even find wild greens appealing! Humph, it's all because you're spoiled! I won't let you touch me next time!"

Shen Mochen chuckled, reaching out, "Isn't it you who always initiates bedtime? And recently, you only talked about paying two hundred each time, where's the money? You never pay and now you owe me eight hundred!"

"You owe me nothing!" Xia Qingrou waved her fist, "If anyone owes, it's you owing me eight hundred, I haven't even asked you for money!"

"That's what you say, then next time no touching without upfront payment!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Xia Qingrou pinched Shen Mochen's waist hard, "Disregarding a woman's will is illegal!"

"Ah, you're being unreasonable... Since when is not letting you sleep a violation of any law?" Shen Mochen snickered.

"It violates my law, I sentence you to one hour next time!"

"I don't want that, not unless you pay up front, including the debt, that's a thousand!"

Amid their playfulness, Xia Qingrou finished preparing lunch.

After lunch, feeling that she had not interacted much with Han Muxue over the last few days, Xia Qingrou cheerfully went to find Han Muxue to play, but she came out less than half an hour later, her face showing embarrassment.

Shen Mochen, who was watching TV in the living room with boredom, saw Xia Qingrou's troubled expression, his eyelids drooped slightly: "Why did you come out again?"

"Hehe...", Xia Qingrou scratched her face, sitting next to Shen Mochen, looking chagrined, "I angered Xuexue, got kicked out."

"Why did you make her angry?"

"I don't know either, just like usual..."

"Just like usual, pretending to be bold and telling dirty jokes... Oh, you're not pretending anymore, you really are bold."

Xia Qingrou punched Shen Mochen annoyedly, "Nonsense, I didn't... I was just worried because she might have overheard us recently. I didn't dare to tell a single dirty joke!"

Shen Mochen eyed the TV, "Oh, I see, then you must have annoyed her in some other way..."

"I didn't, I was just chatting with her... Hey, have you noticed that Xuexue has been a bit off lately?"

"Where off?"

Shen Mochen still looked unconvinced.

"She just seems off everywhere... Kind of forlorn..."

"Yeah, someone must be putting love before friendship."

"I'm not, ah, you don't get it! I've known Xuexue for over a year, and she's been acting really weird recently! She's stopped being sarcastic and cursing, and she's speaking even less than before."

"Could something have happened at her home?"

"Nothing's wrong at her home..."

Xia Qingrou looked around to make sure no one was listening, then said seriously, "I suspect she's heartbroken!"

Shen Mochen felt a surge in his heart, glanced at Xia Qingrou's face out of the corner of his eye, and feigned calm, "Heartbroken? When did she ever date anyone?"

"I don't know, but let me tell you..." Xia Qingrou surveyed the area again to make sure no one else was around and whispered, "She has this tiny plastic toy that she treasures a lot, always hung around her neck on a platinum chain, and she never takes it off, not even letting me or Sister Yuncui touch it much. It must have been given by a boy she liked..."

"A plastic toy?"

"Yes, a little plastic bear, probably costs a couple of bucks each. Can you believe it, Xuexue actually treasures such a cheap thing. I'm telling you, she has a very soft heart..."

A plastic bear? Shen Mochen thought about it and couldn't recall anything.

But it was normal for him not to remember. Even a super-genius like Su Mo who never forgets a face couldn't remember all the girls he kissed back in kindergarten, resulting in him being ambushed and beaten up by a dozen guys years later.

Ugh, that jerk... Well, to be fair, blaming someone solely as a terrible person might be a bit biased and not quite objective.

Just as Shen Mochen was about to scorn the other person's character like he usually did, he suddenly found himself speaking well of Su Mo for some reason.

"Speaking of which, I haven't seen her wearing it recently," Shen Mochen mentioned.

"Yeah, she said she threw it away..." Xia Qingrou's face solemn, "That was something she treasured for so many years, that guy must have really broken her heart!"

Shen Mochen looked away, thinking whether this really had anything to do with him, but he couldn't remember anything... Well, maybe it did not involve him after all!

"Damn, if I find out who that jerk is, I'll beat him to death!"

"You're calling him a jerk without even knowing him, plus, aren't you allergic to guys? How would you beat him up?"

Xia Qingrou kissed Shen Mochen on the mouth matter-of-factly, "Of course, you'll do it for me, beat him to death!"