The morning after Anby's leave request was approved—
Zhong Yan was still deep in sleep, enjoying the rare luxury of a weekend. On days like these, unless something urgent came up, he usually wouldn't get up until noon.
Meanwhile, Pei had already awakened at dawn through its scheduled recharge timer and had begun tidying up the house.
Since being taken in by Zhong Yan, Pei was rarely assigned to Hollow missions anymore. Its main responsibilities had been reduced to basic housework.
Still, simple tasks didn't mean lax performance. For a Bangboo, its master's orders were absolute and must be executed without a single error.
"Eh-ne eh-ne... (Zhong Yan said the meals lately have been a little plain. Good thing I learned some new recipes online yesterday—time to do some grocery shopping and make him something special!)"
Pei swept the floor with its miniature broom, already planning to cook up a feast for Zhong Yan later.
Knock knock knock!
Suddenly, the front door was pounded with a loud series of knocks. Pei jumped in surprise, nearly dropping its broom.
"Eh-na?! (A visitor? But Zhong Yan didn't say anything about guests…)" Pei's first reaction was wariness.
It immediately shifted into combat mode, its hands inching toward the twin blades on its back.
Even if it hadn't fought in ages, never underestimate the purpose behind a Bangboo's design!
Pei crept cautiously toward the door. Due to its height, it couldn't use the peephole to see outside.
Thankfully, Zhong Yan had custom-installed a lower door handle just for it—otherwise, it wouldn't have even been able to open the door.
"Eh-ne... (I must protect Zhong Yan. I can't let anything happen to him...)" With a resolute heart, Pei opened the door.
The moment the door swung open, it was greeted by a human who towered over it like a giant.
But judging from her overall appearance, she was quite petite among humans, and her face wasn't intimidating, so Pei didn't strike first. After a moment of stunned silence, it spoke politely:
"Eh-no? (Hello. Who are you here to see?)"
…
Looking down at the Bangboo she had never seen before, Anby was momentarily stunned.
She stepped back and surveyed her surroundings to make sure she hadn't come to the wrong place. Once certain, she replied, "I'm looking for Zhong Yan. I took special leave just to visit him today."
"Eh-na! (Zhong Yan is still sleeping. He probably won't wake up until at least noon.)" Pei delivered the disappointing news.
Hearing that he was still asleep, Anby frowned in thought before asking, "In that case, may I come in and wait? I'm a close friend of Zhong Yan. I promise not to wake him."
She had worked hard to get this time off to visit him—there was no way she was leaving empty-handed. Besides, she'd never seen what he looked like while asleep.
Based on her years of movie-watching experience, she was convinced Zhong Yan's sleeping face would be its own kind of charming. After all, to her, any version of Zhong Yan was mesmerizing.
Pei hesitated for a moment, then, seeing the genuine anticipation in Anby's eyes, finally relented.
If it turned away a good friend of Zhong Yan's, it might get scolded later.
"Sorry to intrude."
With permission granted, Anby stepped into the apartment, closing the door behind her.
This wasn't her first time visiting Zhong Yan's home. In fact, she was one of only four people in all of New Eridu who knew where he lived.
The other three were Belle, Zhu Yuan, and Qingyi.
"It's way cleaner than last time. Must be Bangboo on cleaning duty again," she said as she took in the spotless apartment. Her analysis was immediate—this was definitely Pei's doing.
She knew Zhong Yan well enough to be sure he didn't clean regularly... and neither did she.
Cleaning was exhausting. Afterward, she needed at least five burgers just to recover her strength.
Unless Nicole put her foot down, most of the cleaning at Cunning Hares HQ was done by Billy.
Meanwhile, Anby spotted Zhong Yan still fast asleep in bed. Her energy surged as she walked quickly over to his side.
"Looks like he won't be waking up for at least another three hours…"
Based on her extensive study of similar scenarios in movies, Anby was confident—as long as she didn't make any loud noise, there was no way she'd wake him.
A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She leaned in close, staring at his sleeping face with curious intensity.
Zhong Yan wasn't bad-looking at all. Even asleep, as long as his sleeping posture wasn't wild, his appearance lost no charm.
Especially the way his lips parted slightly as he breathed—Anby couldn't help but lean in closer just to feel it.
As expected, even his breathing was soothing to her.
"In movie terms… you sleeping like this is just adorable."
She reached out and lightly brushed his nose with a fingertip, which immediately caused him to react.
Zhong Yan sniffled, then muttered in his sleep, "Ellen... don't tickle my nose with your tail... it's too itchy…"
Anby's hand froze in place, and the soft smile on her face darkened in an instant.
By the time the black lines had crept up her face, her expression had fully soured.
Ellen.
That was clearly a woman's name. For Zhong Yan to dream of her… their relationship couldn't be simple.
Determined to identify this potential rival, Anby glanced toward Pei and asked in a low, grim tone, "Can you tell me—who is Ellen?"
Faced with Anby's ominous stare and shadow-covered face, Pei felt an immense pressure descend upon it. It did its best to respond:
"Eh-na! Eh-na! (I don't know her! I only know there's a girl named Belle that Zhong Yan is close with. They go out to eat together a lot, and sometimes Belle drives him home and comes in for tea and stuff...)"
In its panic, Pei spilled everything it knew—even things totally unrelated to Ellen, like Belle.
What it didn't realize was just how much trouble this would bring Zhong Yan.
Now realizing her potential rivals numbered two, Anby could no longer sit still.
She stared at the still-sleeping Zhong Yan, overcome with jealousy. The very next second, she balled up her fist and—through the blanket—punched him right in the gut.
"WAKE UP—NOW!!"