Chapter 31

"Hey, Pani, are you in the dorm?" Jessica was on a taxi, calling Tiffany.

Tiffany on the other side seemed quite happy: "Yeah, I'm watching TV. It's really funny."

Who knows what you're watching that's so funny, Jessica continued to ask Tiffany: "Is Taeyeon there?"

"Uhaha..." A exaggerated laugh, like that of an auntie, came through the phone. Now, without Tiffany's answer, Jessica could already imagine the two of them huddled together watching TV. So funny, laughing to death, making me so embarrassed, and even occupying my Pani... Jessica puffed her cheeks and tugged at the seat cushion in front of her.

"What do you want with Taeyeon? She's sitting right next to me." Tiffany asked, puzzled. Wasn't Jessica a bit resistant to Taeyeon? Why would she call and ask about her?

"Oh, I just saw someone on the street who looked like Kim Taeyeon. Now I know it wasn't her." Jessica replied.

"On the street? Didn't you go back to the dorm?" Tiffany asked. She didn't live in the same dorm as Jessica.

"I went home, I'm at the supermarket now, buying some stuff." Jessica said calmly.

Tiffany checked the time: "It's already past eleven. Where would you find a supermarket open?"

"What? Eleven!" Jessica screamed. This was bad, "Oh, it's a 24-hour convenience store, not a big supermarket."

Just as Jessica was patting herself on the back for her perfect lie, "Beep beep beep..." a car started honking because the car in front of it didn't start at the green light.

"Ah, a car drove onto the sidewalk, almost crashed into this store, that was close..." Jessica reacted quickly.

"Are you okay, Sica?" Tiffany on the other side still believed her naively.

Jessica wiped the sweat from her forehead, pretending to be scared: "I'm fine, I'm fine. I need to get home quickly, bye Pani." She hung up the phone immediately.

"Sica is so strange today." Tiffany said, looking at the phone that had been hung up.

"Hey, pervert Taeyeon, take your hands off!" Taeyeon's playful hands immediately pulled her out of her thoughts.

After Taeyeon got her hands on her, she put them under her nose and sniffed: "Little beauty, why do you smell so good?"

While the two girls were fooling around in the dorm, Jessica was wiping sweat. It was very hot in the summer, and she was prone to sweating. Plus, she was not good at lying, so she was sweating a lot. Two red patches appeared on Jessica's face, one from the heat, and the other from Li Jingming's teasing gaze.

"A car drove onto the sidewalk and almost crashed into this store." Li Jingming imitated Jessica's panicked tone: "Your acting is pretty good."

Jessica glared at Li Jingming and didn't respond, starting to bite her nails. She would unconsciously bite her nails when she was thinking seriously. At this moment, she was hesitating about something.

"I'll take you home." Li Jingming stopped teasing. He had been exhausted all day, it was the longest day ever.

"No, I can't go home." Jessica rejected it outright. She had told Xiao Shuijing that she wouldn't be home today. If she went home now, her mother would definitely ask a lot of questions. But if she went back to the dorm, it would probably be closed. Trainees didn't have the same freedom as idols; they lived in a dorm with strict curfews.

"Then are you going back to the dorm?" Li Jingming asked.

"The dorm is closed." Jessica continued.

Li Jingming frowned, "You're not thinking of staying with me, are you?"

"What are you saying? I just need a place to stay for one night." Jessica said matter-of-factly.

"Should I help you climb over the wall to get back to the dorm?" Li Jingming started to come up with ideas.

"That auntie is very fierce and sharp-eyed like an eagle. If I get caught, I'm dead."

"Should I help you find a hotel? A five-star one?"

"Hey, I'm the one at a disadvantage here, why are you so fussy?" Jessica was originally hesitant and shy about staying at Li Jingming's place, but his reluctance made her more determined to stay. Li Jingming unknowingly used one of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, "Feigning Retreat to Capture the Enemy."

"You don't want me to stay here, do you?" Jessica looked at the empty and dark LK, which was scary.

"Yes, I live here." Li Jingming walked in and closed the door again.

Jessica was already regretting it. The place was so big and empty, it had a scary atmosphere. She was particularly timid, afraid of many things: darkness, snakes, rats, heat, cold, open spaces, taking medicine, getting injections, all kinds of melons, and all kinds of ghosts and spirits. In short, she was afraid of many things.

Li Jingming noticed Jessica's fear and lowered his voice in a sinister tone: "Welcome, beautiful lady, to my hall. Feel the fear of mortals here."

"What are you doing?" Jessica was so scared she couldn't speak clearly.

"Actually, I'm not Li Jingming or Li Kan. I'm the brother of the Phantom of the Opera, the Phantom of the Coffee Shop!" Li Jingming even made a ghostly grabbing gesture in front of Jessica.

Jessica, who was initially really scared, realized she was being teased. This time, instead of screaming "Hey!" she rushed over and started hitting Li Jingming: "Annoying guy, scaring me!"

"Mercy, it hurts, do you know martial arts?" Li Jingming tried to lighten the mood by joking with Jessica.

Jessica didn't stop: "I learned martial arts from my dad."

Li Jingming was speechless. What kind of dad teaches his daughter to hit people? Jessica's random punches seemed to have a family tradition, "What does your father do?"

"Boxer!" Jessica wrinkled her nose and made a "you're dead" gesture at Li Jingming.

"Uh, you should still say 'Hey' to me in the future..." Li Jingming said, cold sweat. Even if he wasn't afraid of boxers, he couldn't hit a girl or an elder. If they both attacked him, he would only get beaten up.

When they reached the third floor, Jessica exclaimed in amazement: "Wow!"

Jessica didn't expect the two upper floors to also belong to Li Jingming, and they were decorated as living spaces. The place wasn't very large, about 160 square meters per floor, much smaller than those mansions, but it was very cozy. The overall color scheme continued the beige and slightly yellowish tone of the downstairs LK. The middle of the first floor was a living room with a large fabric sofa, a fluffy long-haired carpet, and a simple and elegant white coffee table. On the other side of the living room was a semi-open kitchen, the same size as the living room, with large and expensive-looking equipment. The countertop was clean and had some small decorations. Compared to the kitchen, the dining table was tiny, placed between the kitchen and the living room, with two chairs.

"Would you like to tour my little nest?" Li Jingming made a gentlemanly and reserved gesture.

"Little nest?" Jessica pouted.

Apart from the living room and kitchen on the first floor, there were three separated rooms: a gym, a music room, and a food storage room. The second floor was Li Jingming's resting area, with a small bedroom and a large study. The study had several bookshelves that took up a lot of space, and the desk was by a large window, where he could bask in the sunlight during the day.

"Wow!" Jessica's eyes lit up when she entered the dressing room. The clothes, though all men's, were very stylish. Li Jingming, despite his many experiences, decided to live freely in this life, aiming for a relaxed and casual style, so his clothes were quite "trendy."

Jessica wandered around for a while, admiring the clothes, but they were all men's.

After a full tour, Li Jingming, exhausted from the day, yawned: "If you don't mind, you can sleep in my bed. If you do, you can sleep on the floor in the study."

Jessica didn't like sleeping in someone else's bed, especially a man's, but looking outside, the study would be very scary with the lights off. So she said, "I'll sleep in your bedroom."

"Okay, remember to lock the door from the inside before you sleep." Li Jingming put on a gentlemanly demeanor. He had thought about sneaking in, but the other party was only eighteen. If he really did that, he would be a beast. If he didn't, he would be less than a beast? How could he, Li Jingming, not have a key to his own bedroom?

"I'll sleep with the air conditioner on." Jessica asked again.

Li Jingming was exasperated: "Why do you need to ask me to turn on the air conditioner?"

"It is your house, after all." Jessica said and closed the door.

You know it's my house, yet you still give me a cold shoulder. If I were a beast, even I would be scared, Li Jingming thought, annoyed. Li Jingming didn't like sleeping on the floor, it was too hard, so he decided to sleep on the sofa downstairs. After a shower, Li Jingming almost fell asleep as soon as he climbed onto the sofa, he was so tired.

Today, Li Jingming first did a makeover, then shot an MV, then had a small incident with Li Zhiyan, then met Jessica and had dinner and wandered around with her, then chased a mischievous girl named Kim Jisook, and finally had Jessica stay at his place. He was completely exhausted. He suddenly thought of a book, *Ulysses*. How long can a day be? He had a deep understanding of that now.

Just as Li Jingming was about to drift off to sleep, a faint voice came from his ear: "Card swiped too quickly, please swipe again..."

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