Chapter 117 – Extra 9

The man stood stoically by the window, motionless, seriously contemplating whether he had suddenly unlocked some new skill or if jet lag and discomfort from the unfamiliar environment had temporarily impaired his brain. After about thirty seconds, the man, confident in his unwavering intelligence, calmly chose the first option.

Thirty-two years had passed. On this land about to be caressed by the spring breeze, at this thrilling moment—

Caesar had finally opened a new door.

Meanwhile, Luo Chenzhou, who was currently soaking in the bathtub and agonizing over which of the row of high-end, luxurious bottles and jars next to the tub could be used to wash his underwear, had no idea that his Caesar had just unlocked a skill tree labeled “EQ,” embarking on a brand-new chapter in his winding, monster-slaying, leveling-up life.

A joyous occasion indeed.

The man clicked his tongue, shifted into a thoughtful pose, and instinctively reached into his pocket. Finding it empty, he paused momentarily before remembering that he had smoked his last cigarette at the entrance of the teaching building. His face showed no particular emotion as he stepped away from the floor-to-ceiling window and headed to the bedroom to grab a new pack of tobacco. Just then, a strange Chinese conversation suddenly echoed in the living room, which had been so quiet that only the sound of raindrops could be heard—

[Boss, excuse me, fish ball udon.]

[No udon.]

[Oh? How about fish ball rice noodles?]

[No fish balls.]

[Then beef tripe udon.]

[No udon.]

[Fish ball oil noodles, then.]

[No fish balls.]

[Ah, how come you’re out of everything? How about cuttlefish ball udon?]

[No udon.]

[Sold out again? Excuse me, fish ball rice vermicelli, please.]

[No fish balls.]

[…McDull, their fish balls and udon are sold out. All combinations with fish balls and udon are gone.]

[Oh~~! No more of those combinations, huh… Then, boss, just the fish balls, please.]

[No fish balls.]

[What about udon?]

[No udon.]

Caesar: “…”

Caesar didn’t know why he had so much time on his hands that he silently stood by the sofa and listened to this entire conversation from start to finish. By the end, he felt a deep sense of being played—but his intelligence forbade him from getting angry over a ringtone.

With a swift motion, he used two fingers to pick up Luo Chenzhou’s wet clothes from the expensive leather sofa with utmost disdain. Then, from the pocket of the jeans Luo Chenzhou had changed out of, he pulled out the source of the incessant buzzing. At that moment, the childish, drawn-out, and annoyingly smug conversation repeated itself, reaching the part about “cuttlefish ball udon.”

The man stared expressionlessly at the vibrating jeans pocket for a while.

Then, for reasons unknown, instead of tossing the pants to the black-haired youth splashing around in the bathtub, he couldn’t help but reach in and pull out the phone—pausing momentarily when he saw it, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. In an age dominated by smartphones, someone was still carrying a Nokia with a monochrome screen while wearing designer underwear.

The screen flickered incessantly, displaying the caller ID: Lu Jiajia.

It seemed like a girl’s name.

At that moment, the phone call ended due to no one answering. The screen went dark again. Caesar raised an eyebrow, crouched on the carpet, and stared at the outdated monochrome phone in his hand. He said nothing, did nothing, and no one could tell what he was thinking.

Meanwhile, Luo Chenzhou’s roommates were in chaos over the topic of “It’s already dark, why hasn’t our roommate returned? Seeing him about to starve to death, how can you bear it, young man?”

Roommate 1: “I’m starving. I can see heaven. Roommate 2, write this on my tombstone: ‘Here lies the heartless youth who promised to bring food but never returned after mealtime.'”

Roommate 3, Dong Ming: “If you’re so hungry, go buy something yourself!”

Roommate 2, Lu Jiajia: “Once you enter the dormitory, you don’t leave until class the next day. The barrier has closed; we can’t break it and disrupt the balance.”

Roommate 3, Dong Ming: “Lazy is lazy, even if you dress it up with some high-sounding nonsense, it can’t hide the overwhelming aura of ‘laziness.'”

Roommate 1: “…Guys, our youngest roommate must have been kidnapped. He must have been kidnapped.”

Roommate 2, Lu Jiajia: “Roommate 1, you’re making me cry with your stupidity—if I were a kidnapper, I’d return him to wherever I took him from as soon as I found that Nokia monochrome phone in his pocket. Kidnapping him would be a waste of gas money.”

Roommate 3, Dong Ming: “Eh? His underwear is designer, though.”

Roommate 2, Lu Jiajia: “Let me give you an example. Question: All the girls on campus are carrying LV bags. How many of them are real?”

Roommate 1: “…Oh, right? But what if the kidnapper thought the monochrome phone was a Vertu? You know, that Nokia monochrome phone that costs over a hundred thousand.”

Roommate 3, Dong Ming: “…Back then, Comrade Luo Chenzhou tried to trick us with that, but it seems like everyone except you, Roommate 1, firmly believed it was just a ‘free with a 198-yuan phone plan’ Nokia monochrome phone.”

Roommate 1: “…”

“So I’m more inclined to think he fell into a manhole because he wasn’t looking where he was going,” Lu Jiajia said calmly.

“Call again,” Dong Ming pointed at Lu Jiajia’s phone.

Under the expectant gazes of his roommates, Lu Jiajia pressed the call button once more—

This time, the call connected.

The person on the other end rudely said “Hello” and then fell silent. His voice was low, slightly hoarse, and carried a lazy, indifferent tone, yet it was undeniably magnetic—definitely not the cackling, carefree voice of a goofy youth like Luo Chenzhou.

The three roommates fell silent, exchanging bewildered glances.

“Damn, the kidnapper’s voice is pretty sexy,” Roommate 1 muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Go jerk off somewhere else,” Lu Jiajia shot Roommate 1 a disdainful look and pointed to the bed, signaling him to scram. Then he cleared his throat and uttered a rather uncreative phrase: “Hello?”

The voice on the other end sounded genuinely surprised: “You’re a guy?”

Lu Jiajia: “…”

Roommate 1 scrambled over to grab Lu Jiajia’s hand, which was about to hurl the phone out the window. Dong Ming, squatting nearby with his knees hugged, sighed deeply at the high-level skill of the man now in possession of Luo Chenzhou’s phone. These days, it was rare to find someone who could hit Lu Jiajia’s buttons with just four words across two sentences.

Casually taking the phone from the hands of Roommate 1 and Lu Jiajia, who were now wrestling and rolling on the floor, Dong Ming said, “Hello, we’re Luo Chenzhou’s roommates and classmates. Sir, how much ransom do you need to release our roommate? It’s the end of the month, so the combined living expenses of the entire dorm probably won’t exceed 600 yuan. If that amount is beyond your acceptable range, then… feel free to kill him.”

The man on the other end chuckled deeply, a resonant, powerful laugh that seemed to vibrate from his throat.

“Me, kidnap him? He’s not even worth the gas money to sell him.”

“…You’re right.”

Dong Ming replied, relieved, and kicked Roommate 1’s fat butt. The two wrestling roommates finally stopped. Lu Jiajia, panting, crawled over and snatched the phone from Dong Ming’s hand, pressing it to his ear: “Hello, is Luo Chenzhou there?”

“He’s here,” the man’s voice carried a hint of amusement, “but he’s unavailable right now. Is there something I can pass along?”

“Oh,” Lu Jiajia said expressionlessly, “tell him his starving roommates are about to die of hunger. Where’s the dinner he promised?”

“…You’ll have to come get it yourselves,” the man’s tone lacked any hint of genuine regret, “it’s raining heavily outside, and I’m too lazy to go out. I’ll make sure to return him to you safe and sound first thing tomorrow morning.”

“…Who are you?”

“Your new marine meteorology professor.”

“You… never mind. Where’s Luo Chenzhou?”

“He’s busy.” The man’s voice grew distant, as if he had moved the phone away. Then, faintly, Lu Jiajia heard the man call Luo Chenzhou’s name, followed by Luo Chenzhou’s muffled voice asking, “What’s up?”—though it sounded a bit muffled, as if accompanied by the sound of water—

Lu Jiajia’s curiosity was piqued: “Where is he?”

“The bathroom.”

“What’s he doing in the bathroom?”

“What do you think?” The newly appointed marine meteorology professor laughed, “Taking a shower.”

The call ended.

Lu Jiajia had been on speakerphone the entire time.

The man’s deep, resonant voice clearly reached the ears of all three roommates, echoing like a haunting melody.

Luo Chenzhou’s roommates were silent.

After a long while, Roommate 1 finally moved, wiping the grease off his face and sighing to the heavens: “…That’s a lot to unpack.”

Lu Jiajia: “I’ve never heard anyone make the phrase ‘safe and sound’ sound so concerning.”

Dong Ming: “…What do you eat to celebrate losing your virginity? Longevity noodles or red eggs?”

…

Leaving the roommates who were thoroughly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information, let’s shift the focus to Caesar’s bachelor apartment. After hanging up, the man tossed the phone aside and turned it off. Then, he rummaged through his closet, pulling out a new pair of underwear and a new pair of jeans—which he had no idea why they were in his closet. He couldn’t find a plain T-shirt, but he did manage to dig out a sports shirt.

With the assortment of clothes for the black-haired youth to change into in hand, the man walked back to the bathroom door, patiently waited for thirty seconds, and then, without hesitation, pushed open the door he had deliberately left unlocked earlier.

The bathroom was filled with milky white steam, carrying the faint scent of shampoo Caesar was familiar with. The marble floor was covered in a thin layer of moisture from the humidity, leaving blurred footprints with every step. The showerhead was spraying hot water, and beneath it, a black-haired youth with hair plastered to his face like a lop-eared rabbit was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, his feet in the water, hunched over like an old man, happily washing his hair.

His back was smooth and fair, neither too thin nor too fat, with just the right amount of tautness.

On the youth’s pristine back, a striking tattoo in a deep blue hue, seemingly incongruous with his student identity, silently bloomed—

At the base of his spine, a blue-green rose blossomed on his pale skin. Unlike the soft, alluring tattoos typically seen on women, this rose had sharp, angular petals, resembling the face of a mechanical watch.

Two snake-like hands, more akin to compass needles, were deliberately bent at odd angles, seemingly symbolizing or pointing to something. The longest of the two extended vertically from the center of the rose, pointing straight down at a six o’clock angle, disappearing into the crevice of his firm buttocks. No one knew where it ultimately led.

A large semicircle, resembling a crescent moon or perhaps a scythe, began at the top of the rose, its perfect arc following the curve of the flower and ending at the very top of the buttock cleft. A small hook-like shape casually yet elegantly connected the semicircle to the rose.

Caesar thought it looked like more than just a scythe—it resembled a letter.

Perhaps the letter “C.”

Symbolizing something.

Perhaps a name.

The name of the person who had tattooed this pristine canvas.

…

“Get up, take a look at my masterpiece… I told you to look at the tattoo, not to stare at yourself like a narcissist, trash.”

“Relax.”

“Turn around and look. If you say it’s not good, you’re dead.”

“Got it, stop nagging. Your attitude alone makes me want to leave a bad review—”

The familiar, faint conversation Caesar had overheard during the auction once again echoed in his mind—as if a small figure was hiding in his brain, slowly cranking a hand-cranked projector, replaying an ancient, distant black-and-white film.

This feeling of something about to burst forth, yet just out of reach, made Caesar frown silently.

…

When Luo Chenzhou heard the door open, he nearly slipped and drowned himself in the bathtub.

Wiping the water from his face, Luo Chenzhou turned to see Caesar leaning casually against the bathroom door, his amber eyes sharp and bright even through the layers of steam.

“Brought you some clothes,” the man said, holding up the clean clothes in his hand as a gesture. Under Luo Chenzhou’s speechless glare, he set the clothes down and turned to leave.

Just as the man was about to step out of the bathroom, he paused, as if remembering something, and added in a calm tone—

“Nice tattoo.”