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墨書 Inktalez
My Tenant is a Female Ghost
Cao Xin's disappearance left Bai Zhuo feeling uneasy, a sense of apprehension gnawing at him for reasons he couldn't quite understand. After making plans with Nie Qian, he scrolled through his phone and dialed Zheng Ming's number.
"Who is this?"
"It's me, Bai Zhuo."
"You're back?"
"Yeah. Come to the café on Ningbei Road at midnight. I'll return the Five Elements Plate to you."
"Midnight? Why?"
"Are you coming or not? Once this opportunity is gone, it's gone!"
"…I got it."
After Zheng Ming hung up, Bai Zhuo chuckled lightly and shook his head. Just as he was about to put his phone away, it rang again. This time, it was a call from Ouyang Shirei.
"Sister Shirei."
Ouyang Shirei's voice was as gentle as ever. "Bai, are you… back?"
"I just got back this morning from the airport. Is there something up?"
"No, I just wanted to check in. I'm glad you're safe. Ahem… How was Qi? Did you have fun?"
As soon as Miao Xiaoqi came to mind, Bai Zhuo felt a pang of guilt. "Haha… it was, well, okay, I guess. The scenery there was pretty nice… By the way, how did the Autumn Outing go with the orphanage during the National Day holiday? Were those kids well-behaved?"
"The kids were very good. This time, thanks to better funding, it wasn't like before… They were all very enthusiastic and had a great time."
A few coughs caught Bai Zhuo's attention, sensing something was off with Ouyang Shirei. He furrowed his brow and asked, "What's wrong, Sister Shirei? Are you sick?"
"I'm fine... cough cough, just a little fever. Bai An is back, so it's okay for now. I have class later, so let's leave it at that."
"Hey, Sister Shirei..." Bai Zhuo's words didn't get through before she hung up the phone. He cursed under his breath, "Ah, come on! How dare you hang up on me?"
Putting away his phone, he hailed a taxi and rushed to Good Baby Orphanage. At the entrance of the orphanage, Qin Zhu, who usually worked at the door, was nowhere to be seen. About twenty kids were playing joyfully in the playground. Bai Zhuo caught hold of one child and asked, "Hey, where's your Sister Dean?"
The kid jumped in surprise upon seeing Bai Zhuo and shouted, "Big Bad Wolf is coming! Big Bad Wolf is coming! Everyone run!"
The group of children laughed and pushed each other, escaping from Bai Zhuo's sight.
Bai Zhuo lightly patted the boy on the backside and said, "…Hey, I'll deal with you later. Where's your Sister Dean?"
The boy pouted and replied, "Sister Dean is in the room. Aunt Qin is sick, and Sister Dean is taking care of her."
"Sick?" Bai Zhuo paused for a moment, releasing his grip. The boy took his chance to break free and ran off laughing. Worried about Qin Mother and Ouyang Shirei, Bai Zhuo headed towards Ouyang Shirei's room.
He knocked on the door but received no answer. She must be in her mother's room, he thought as he casually turned the doorknob. With a click, the door opened.
"Eh? Why is the door open?" Bai Zhuo murmured as he pushed the door open and stepped inside. Her room looked just as it always had—simple yet cozy—except for the pink lingerie on the bed that disrupted the warmth of the space. Just as Bai Zhuo was lost in thought, the bathroom door swung open.
The mixed scent of shower gel and shampoo wafted through the air, accompanied by a faint hint of feminine fragrance. Ouyang Shirei emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a pink cartoon towel.
She looked like a peach after rain; water droplets added a touch of maturity and allure that made one want to reach out and pick her!
"Ah~" Ouyang Shirei screamed as she instinctively tried to cover her chest with her hands but forgot she was already wrapped in a towel. As she let go, the large pink towel gracefully fell to the floor.
Bai Zhuo's eyes widened, his fair skin tinged with a hint of red. The bright crimson and the dark grass below her made him momentarily blind. At that moment, he forgot to close his eyes and to turn away, wishing he had more pairs of eyes. Images of that day’s alluring vision flooded his mind as his brother gradually lifted his head.
Ouyang Shirei's delicate neck began to flush, quickly filling her cheeks with color. She screamed, "Ah~ Bai, get out! Get out! This is inappropriate!"
The word "inappropriate" instantly pulled Bai Zhuo back to reality. Hearing Ouyang Shirei's scream frightened him so much that he rushed out the door, slamming it shut behind him. He leaned against the door, gasping for breath as the sound of rustling clothes came from inside the room.
"So round, so red, so beautiful!" Bai Zhuo thought to himself before slapping his own face in self-reproach, cursing himself for being a beast.
Only a few minutes passed, but Bai Zhuo was drenched in sweat, feeling as if centuries had gone by. From inside the room, Ouyang Shirei's voice called out, "Bai, come in."
Bai Zhuo swallowed hard and nervously asked, "Is it... is it okay now?"
"Mm."
With Ouyang Shirei's affirmative response, Bai Zhuo finally felt relieved enough to push the door open. Ouyang Shirei sat respectfully at the edge of the bed, her cheeks flushed. As a man, he felt slightly bolder than a woman and began to apologize, "I'm sorry, Sister Shirei, I..."
Ouyang Shirei suddenly asked, "Do you think it's pretty?"
"It's pretty, very big and round..." Bai Zhuo blurted out before immediately regretting it. Why were these women so unpredictable? Yang Liu was like this; Ouyang Shirei was too—straight to the point. This left Bai Zhuo, who had never experienced such "storms," with no chance to react before being caught in their trap.
"Cough cough... Bai, what brings you here?" Ouyang Shirei brushed aside her hair that obstructed her view and did not let go of Bai Zhuo's braid. She scolded him lightly, "You really should have knocked when you came in."
Bai Zhuo protested indignantly, "Sister Shirei, I did knock! But you didn’t answer me. And don’t you close the door when you take a bath?"
Ouyang Shirei's expression changed. "Cough cough... So you're saying it's my fault?"
"..." Bai Zhuo finally realized he couldn't dwell on this issue any longer. He decisively changed the subject and asked with concern, "Sister Shirei, I was wrong earlier... Look at you coughing like this; are you alright? What about Aunt Qin? Did she catch a cold too?"
Ouyang Shirei wiped the water from her hair with a towel to hide her shyness and replied, "My mom has a fever and is resting in her room. I just have a bit of a cough; I took some cold medicine and sweated a bit after sleeping for a while... I'm fine, don't worry... cough cough..."
Bai Zhuo, who had feelings for Ouyang Shirei, noticed her severe coughing and said, "You're coughing like that and still being stubborn. You should rest well today; let me take your classes this afternoon."
"No need, Bai, you go do your own thing... cough cough... Besides, you just graduated high school... um..."
Bai Zhuo frowned in dissatisfaction. "Sister Shirei, you underestimate me. They're just a bunch of kids; do you think I can't handle them? But you, if you don't take care of yourself, how will you have the energy to look after the kids?"
"But..."
Bai Zhuo shot her a glare. "No buts. Just listen to me. You continue to sleep; I'll check on Aunt Qin later. Let me handle the classes this afternoon. You need to rest; that's settled!"
With that, Bai Zhuo forcefully pushed Ouyang Shirei back onto the bed, pulled the blanket over her, and walked out. Ouyang Shirei called out anxiously, "Hey, Bai, Bai! This afternoon there's an English class and a math class; my books are in my..." Bang! Before she could finish her sentence, the door had already closed. Ouyang Shirei shook her head with a bitter smile mixed with sweetness. She got up to dry her hair but found that she couldn't fall asleep no matter what.
Bai Zhuo peeked in on Aunt Qin and saw her sleeping peacefully, so he didn't disturb her.
When the class bell rang, the children returned to the classroom one after another. A few kids who had been napping in the dormitory were also called awake by Bai Zhuo and brought into the classroom. When the children saw that their Sister Dean was not at the podium, they began chattering among themselves.
Bai Zhuo smiled and called out, "Class is starting."
The children didn’t respond and continued their discussions. Goodness, even I, Bai Zhuo, can’t believe I can’t handle this bunch of kids! His expression darkened as he slammed his hand on the desk and shouted, "Class is starting!"
The sound of Bai Zhuo slamming his hand on the desk startled the children into silence. One slightly older child instinctively stood up and shouted, "Attention!"
At once, all the children stood up in unison; it seemed that being strict had its merits.
"Hello, students!"
"Hello, teacher!"
"Please sit."
Being a teacher felt quite good, Bai Zhuo nodded in satisfaction and said, "Your Teacher Ouyang is sick, so I will take over the two classes this afternoon."
However, Bai Zhuo's image was not very favorable in the eyes of the children. The mischievous girl Jia raised her hand and shouted, "Teacher, when I passed by Sister Ouyang's room just now, I heard Sister Ouyang shouting about something inappropriate... a pervert... did you do something bad to Sister Ouyang that made her unwell?"
Bai Zhuo felt embarrassed upon hearing this. The girl had developed faster than the boys and was more mature; Jia was one of the older orphans in the orphanage. Bai Zhuo felt it was his duty to properly educate "problematic girls" like Jia, especially since these children were of varying ages and he had no idea how Ouyang Shirei taught.
He glanced at the children sitting below the podium, avoiding the question raised by Jia. "Today we will temporarily change to physical education class. Is there anyone who feels unwell or doesn't want to participate?"
In the children's eyes, physical education meant playtime, and they immediately cheered with no one opposing. Bai Zhuo led them in warm-up exercises and ran a lap around the playground, calling out seven or eight slightly older boys and girls to stay behind while the rest ran off to play.
He brought these few children to a secluded spot under a tree and formed a circle.
Bai Zhuo asked, "Do you know what inappropriate behavior means?"
The other children shook their heads, but Jia spoke up, "It means boys bully girls!"
Bai Zhuo shook his head. "That's right, but not entirely. Inappropriate behavior refers to boys forcing girls to do some shameful things. If a boy does such things, he is a bad person and it's against the law; you should call the police. Girls must protect themselves well and not let bad boys take advantage of you, understand?"
The children nodded, somewhat understanding. One boy asked, "Then, Teacher Bai, what are these shameful things?"
Bai Zhuo replied calmly, "In our Han culture, there are two parts of our bodies that are considered very private: one is where boys and girls urinate; the other is our chest area. So we don't expose these private areas; when we need to urinate, we should go somewhere out of sight."
Seeing that the children were listening intently, Bai Zhuo cleared his throat and continued, "What I just referred to as 'shameful things' involves the private areas of men and women coming together. However, you are not men or women yet; you can’t do such things until you become men or women and mutually like each other. Otherwise, you could be caught by the police as criminals. Do you understand?"
The oldest of the girls was already fourteen years old; she understood Bai Zhuo's crude explanation. The boys looked at each other with puzzled expressions, unsure if they fully grasped what he meant.
At that moment, one boy asked, "But Teacher, why do people do that?"
Bai Zhuo was taken aback for a moment, then replied, "Because when you grow up, doing intimate things will make you feel very comfortable. Moreover, it's only through this that adults can have children and create the next generation; that's how you all came to be! This is a sacred yet embarrassing matter, so classmates, you must treat it seriously and take good care of yourselves, understand?"
Another child raised their hand and asked, "Is that how we all came to be? But Sister Dean isn't like that!"
"Oh? How is she different?"
"Sister Dean was picked up from the doorstep!" Jia answered.
Well, isn't that true? These orphans were either sent from the hospital or abandoned by heartless parents right at the door; some had lost both parents with no relatives left. Bai Zhuo smiled and playfully ruffled the hair of the mischievous girl, saying, "It's because your Sister Dean is a girl. Girls are shy about these intimate topics and don't dare to talk about them, so she makes things up. As a boy, I have a thicker skin and don't know what it means to be embarrassed, so I told you."
The children nodded or stared blankly; Bai Zhuo's words resonated with them. He continued, "Alright, let's not discuss these intimate topics around others. If younger siblings ask about it, you can respond like this. Remember?"
"We will remember, Teacher Bai Zhuo!"
This response startled Bai Zhuo so much that he jumped up from the ground; the voice had come from behind him and clearly wasn't from the children. He turned around stammering, "Shirei! When did you arrive?"
Ouyang Shirei shot him a glare. "When you were asking what 'indecent' means!"
Ah? Did she hear everything? How embarrassing! (To be continued.)
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