Chapter 8: Don't Call Me Ah Zhi!

Around half past twelve noon, Cheng Jinyang returned home from the clinic, opened the door, and almost popped his eyeballs out.

Everything in the living room was arranged neatly, indicating some form of OCD. A white wool carpet covered the floor, new wallpaper adorned the walls, and every surface, from the cabinets to the tables, was wiped spotlessly clean.

A young woman was carefully wiping the windowsill with a cloth. She wore a uniform with "Cleaning Robot" printed on it. The glowing light on her left temple indicated that she wasn't a human but a highly realistic synthetic domestic helper.

"This cleaning task is complete. The next scheduled cleaning is tonight at 8:00." The synthetic person stood up, gestured a heart on her chest, and smiled at the astonished Cheng Jinyang. "I'm Xiaoyun, maid robot No. 3741 from Taierong Household Services. If you're satisfied with the service, please give us a five-star rating~"

She sent a convincing wink, and Cheng Jinyang hurried to grab his phone: "Oh, okay..."

"Don't be silly, that's just programmed behavior, not really asking for a good review." The bathroom door opened, and Xing Yuanzhi, with her wet black hair, walked out, still drying it with a towel.

"Were you just washing your hair?" Cheng Jinyang asked.

"Yeah."

"I remember you saying you don't wash your hair at noon."

"When I took a shower this morning, I only rinsed my body quickly because I didn't bring clean clothes," Xing Yuanzhi explained, holding the hairdryer. "Just now was to make up for this morning's bathing session."

"You can still owe and make up for that..." Cheng Jinyang was a bit speechless, only hearing Xing Yuanzhi continue, "I've replaced your tooth cup, toothbrush, and towel with new ones. You must change them every week from now on, and I'll cover the cost."

"Hey!" Cheng Jinyang protested. How could she casually throw away other people's belongings?

"Do you know how much fungi, plaque, dandruff, and dead cells accumulate on personal hygiene items used for a week?" Xing Yuanzhi's face showed disgust. "If you don't want to throw them away, I'll buy a bucket later. You can throw your old items in it, cover the bucket when not in use to prevent fungal spores from floating out—this way, you can let your things ferment in it for as long as you want, even growing hair and mushrooms, it's no problem."

Cheng Jinyang: ???

"Cough, since you're paying for new ones, then throwing away the old ones is fine," feeling grossed out by Xing Yuanzhi's disgusting description, Cheng Jinyang could only cough and reluctantly agree.

After blow-drying her hair, Xing Yuanzhi snorted coldly and turned to enter the room.

Cheng Jinyang sighed, feeling that this girl was really not cute at all, wasting her good looks, figure, and temperament.

"Why are you standing outside?" Xing Yuanzhi suddenly popped her head out of the room. "Come in quickly."

"Ah? Okay."

Cheng Jinyang hurriedly followed into his own bedroom, only to find that his wardrobe had been removed, replaced by a slightly smaller single bed, complete with mosquito net and curtains.

"I'll be sleeping here from now on," Xing Yuanzhi said, sitting on the single bed and patting the mattress beneath her. "Your bed is still yours to sleep in."

"Ah, so does this mean we're sharing a room?"

"We're already living together. Do you think outsiders would care whether we sleep in the same room?" Xing Yuanzhi smirked.

"I have to admit, A'zhi, you have a point," Cheng Jinyang said thoughtfully.

"It's just common sense," Xing Yuanzhi's eyelid twitched. "I've told you, don't call me A'zhi."

"Oh, by the way, where did my wardrobe go?"

"It's been moved to the spare bedroom next door. And all of my personal belongings have been moved there too."

"So you managed to move everything over in just one morning? That was fast!"

"Of course, what else would I do?"

"I can't help but feel you were quite eager about the idea of living together..."

"Let me remind you, living together doesn't necessarily mean I'll marry you in the future. So it's best to keep any fantasies to yourself and not embarrass everyone."

"Don't worry about that, A'zhi. I used to think I didn't mind my partner's habits, but now it seems that at least mysophobia needs to be ruled out in advance. Just the water and electricity bills alone are enough to make me cringe." Cheng Jinyang sighed.

"So I've said, I'll take care of the utilities," Xing Yuanzhi sighed, "How many times do I have to repeat myself? Please don't call me Ah Zhi, thank you."

"No, you need to consider that if we get married, your money becomes my money, and having to pay such a large sum every month is like cutting into my flesh with a knife," Cheng Jinyang shook his head, "And about not calling you Ah Zhi, then how would you like me to address you?"

"No problem, even if we get married, we'll still have a prenuptial agreement to divide our assets, so my money doesn't equal yours," Xing Yuanzhi said coldly, "As for how to address me, you can call me 'Miss Xing,' 'Lady Xing,' or 'Young Miss Xing,' it's all fine."

"But I think 'Ah Zhi' sounds better, why use three words when two would do?"

[T/N: The number of words he mentioned is about the chinese characters.]

"Because I hate being called 'Ah Zhi,' you don't need to know the reason," Xing Yuanzhi paused abruptly, staring at Cheng Jinyang with wide eyes.

"Hey, Cheng Jinyang... don't you know why I hate being called this?" Her voice turned eerie, as if a snake was silently peeking out of the grass, hissing.

"Why?" Cheng Jinyang asked in surprise.

Xing Yuanzhi didn't answer, just stared at him without blinking.

After a while, seeing no hint of weakness on Cheng Jinyang's face, she slowly averted her gaze and whispered, "Anyway, just don't call me Ah Zhi anymore."

"Okay, Ah Zhi," Cheng Jinyang nodded, then seemed to realize and awkwardly waved his hand, "Sorry, I got used to it just now, my bad."

"You'd better change this habit of yours soon!" Xing Yuanzhi glared at him fiercely and stomped out of the room.

The reason she disliked being called "A'zhi" was because in her nightmares, that's how that person used to address her.

The person that she detested deeply.

"Miss Xing!" Cheng Jinyang concluded and then put on a warm smile, following her out of the bedroom. "What would you like for lunch today?"

"I've already ordered for food. It'll be delivered later," Xing Yuanzhi replied, sitting on the sofa, pressing the remote control forcefully as if venting her anger.

"Takeout? Even you, with your cleanliness obsession, are willing to eat takeout?"

"It's from a restaurant opened by a branch of our Xing family. Though they're from a humble background, their hygiene is trustworthy enough," Xing Yuanzhi replied dismissively, continuing to switch channels rapidly.

The TV program shifted from a male lion being bitten in the eggs by a lioness to a soap opera where the male lead was slapped by the female lead, and then to a live broadcast of the ruins of Songjiang from an aerial view. Xing Yuanzhi kept pressing the remote control until Cheng Jinyang snatched it from her hand.

"I want to watch this." Cheng Jinyang stopped at a TV channel that Xing Yuanzhi had skipped over.

It was the recently popular animated adaptation "Sword of Azure". It probably depicted a story where an unbeatable male protagonist started from scratch and ended up with eight beautiful girls at a super god level, leading to various melodramatic stories of the eight goddesses fighting over him.

Xing Yuanzhi lost interest after watching for a while, mainly because she didn't quite like stories completely told from the male protagonist's perspective; Cheng Jinyang, on the other hand, was thoroughly enjoying it, having read the original work, finding it much more interesting than the manga and anime.

After a while, the doorbell rang again.

Cheng Jinyang got up to answer the door, only to come back with a puzzled expression, carrying a large, heavy box from the deliveryman synthesoid.

"Oh, the things I ordered for you have arrived," Xing Yuanzhi said, showing a rare cold smile.

"What is this?" Cheng Jinyang asked as he took the scissors from the side and cut open the oiled paper, revealing dozens of thick books inside, each book's thickness comparable to a dictionary.

"What you asked for, the algorithm for universal gravity," Xing Yuanzhi said lightly, with a hint of subtle malice.