Chapter Fifty-Five: Shattered Tranquility

"Chen Hao! Can you hurry up already?" Early one morning, a few days later, Gu Mengyan was incessantly banging on the bathroom door of Chen Hao’s apartment.

Recently, Fan Yirou and Gu Mengyan had both moved in with Chen Hao, shattering the serenity of his once peaceful bachelor life. Oddly enough, though Chen Hao had always imagined he would despise this kind of disruption, he found himself rather enjoying the lively bustle that came with their presence. The once cold and silent atmosphere of his home had completely vanished; now, every meal was shared in good company, and that was something he had grown fond of.

Of course, there were drawbacks to this newfound commotion—sometimes, it was simply too much. The two women would often quarrel over who got to control the television, a dispute that Chen Hao found utterly exhausting. Gu Mengyan loved variety shows, while Fan Yirou preferred those interminable Korean dramas. As for Chen Hao, he liked watching sports programs.

None of them were working these days, so they spent nearly all their time at home. The television had become the linchpin of their entertainment. The arguments it sparked grew so heated that, on one occasion, the two women nearly came to blows—not the hair-pulling, hand-biting kind, but the roughhousing typical of close friends. Yet their shrieks during these tussles often left Chen Hao’s scalp tingling and even roused the curiosity of his neighbors, who had come by more than once to ask him to keep the noise down. If not for Chen Hao’s longstanding reputation as a polite and well-mannered young man, the neighbors might have called the police by now.

The television issue was, at least, manageable. They had a computer, so Chen Hao imposed a strict schedule: each woman was assigned her own time to use the TV, and while one watched, the other was relegated to the computer. After their time was up, they switched places.

As for Chen Hao himself… he was left to pitifully watch sports on his outdated, sluggish smartphone. Why hadn’t he bought a new phone? He was still holding out for the launch of the next generation iPhone SE. He had never cared for large screens—they were just too cumbersome.

Yet while the television dispute had been addressed, another, more intractable problem remained—the bathroom. Chen Hao’s apartment wasn’t very large, just over eighty square meters, and like most apartments that size, it only had one bathroom.

When he lived alone, there had never been any competition for the bathroom. But now, with three people squeezed together, the morning rush to relieve themselves had become a daily ordeal.

Everyone was desperate to use the bathroom, but since there was only one, what could they do? They couldn’t exactly resort to chamber pots—those ancient relics belonged in hospitals, not homes. Chen Hao hadn’t seen one in years.

And so, this morning, Chen Hao had managed to get to the bathroom first. By the time Gu Mengyan awoke, she was pounding on the door in frustration.

Chen Hao ignored her. To him, the act of bodily expulsion—be it defecation, urination, blowing one’s nose, or anything else—was among life’s most primitive pleasures. The longer one lingered, the more thorough the process. Chen Hao was a man of principle; he would never bow to intimidation. So when faced with Gu Mengyan, who was acting like some tyrant intent on monopolizing his bathroom, he pretended she didn’t exist.

The previous two mornings, Gu Mengyan and Fan Yirou had beaten him to the bathroom, forcing the actual owner of the apartment to the brink of desperation, afraid to move too much for fear of losing control.

Today, Chen Hao rose early just so the others could experience what he had endured. Not only did he ignore Gu Mengyan’s cries, but he sat on the toilet and called out in an exaggerated voice, “Ah—so comfortable! So refreshing! Absolutely wonderful!”

Anyone overhearing might have suspected him of some indecent activity.

The more Gu Mengyan listened, the angrier she became. She stomped her foot furiously. “Chen Hao, just you wait!”

With that, she stormed off, heading for Chen Hao’s room to rummage for something. When the noise outside subsided, Chen Hao assumed she’d given up and settled in to enjoy his rare, unhurried bathroom time.

But his peace was short-lived. Soon he heard her voice again, then the unmistakable sound of a key entering the lock, and before he knew it, the bathroom door—locked from the inside—swung open.

“Damn!” Chen Hao yelped, hurriedly covering himself as he stared in horror at Gu Mengyan. “You little brat! What are you doing?! Where did you find the key? Even I forgot where I put it—how did you know?”

Gu Mengyan twirled the key in her hand with a smug, roguish grin, shooting a dismissive glance at the part of Chen Hao he was trying to shield. “Oh, please! What’s there to be embarrassed about? It’s not like I haven’t seen it before!”

“Damn it!” Chen Hao shouted, furious. “Get out! Do you have some kind of fetish for the smell of shit?”

But his rage had no effect on Gu Mengyan. She simply leaned against the doorframe, pulled out her phone, and aimed the camera at him.

“What are you doing?” Chen Hao demanded, panic in his eyes.

“What do you think?” Gu Mengyan replied sweetly. “I’m recording a video, obviously!”

“Why on earth are you recording a video?”

She flipped her hair. “Isn’t it obvious? This is payback for you hogging the bathroom and not letting me use it!”

“Come on! How am I hogging it? The last two days you two used it first. I just wanted my turn today! Besides, isn’t this my home? How could I be monopolizing anything? If anyone’s hogging it, it’s you two!”

“Hmph!” Gu Mengyan sniffed, dissatisfied. “Because this is your home, you should be the one to show courtesy! You’re the host, Fan Yirou and I are guests. Isn’t it a host’s duty to set an example? Besides, you’re older than both of us—you’re our big brother! Isn’t it only natural for a brother to let his little sisters go first?”

“Oh, now you remember I’m your big brother? Funny how you two never show any respect any other time,” Chen Hao muttered under his breath.

“What was that?” Gu Mengyan arched an eyebrow and opened her favorite short-video app. “It’s been ages since I uploaded a video. I wonder what my fans think. Today’s the perfect day for it—beautiful weather and clear skies. Why not shoot a quick video? Sorry, Chen Hao, but you’ll have to play the backdrop for this one…”

“Damn it!” Chen Hao bellowed. In his haste, he didn’t even wipe properly, pulling up his pants with unmentionable haste, his bare backside giving Gu Mengyan quite an eyeful. But he would rather suffer that indignity than have countless short-video viewers witness his humiliation.

As he stormed out of the bathroom, he shot her a menacing glare. “Just you wait, you little brat!”

But Gu Mengyan barely seemed to notice, basking in her victory and claiming the bathroom as her own. To her, Chen Hao’s threats were no more consequential than a casual greeting.

Chen Hao stormed into the living room, where he found Fan Yirou, freshly awake, eyeing him with open curiosity.

“What are you staring at?” Chen Hao grumbled. “Do I have something disgusting on my face?”

Fan Yirou let out a wicked laugh. “Who would’ve thought you and your sister would still be so close after all these years! Just like when you were kids!”

“Ugh! I’d strangle that little brat if I could!” Chen Hao fumed.

“Really? Is that why you just gave her a full view of your family jewels?” Fan Yirou teased.

Chen Hao was speechless. “That wasn’t intentional! She forced her way in… No, that was an accident! Honestly, that girl was put on this earth just to torment me!”

“Or maybe you owed her in your past life,” Fan Yirou shrugged. “Or maybe, deep down, you don’t really see her as a sister anymore?”

Without waiting for a response, Fan Yirou headed off to pound on the bathroom door. “Mengyan, get out of there! Your big sister needs the bathroom!”

And so, the same scene played out once more…

Chen Hao was left scratching his head at Fan Yirou’s words. “What did she mean by that? Is she jealous or something?”

He shook his head. Never mind, he’d just need to be more careful in the future. After all, none of them were kids anymore, and that sort of behavior really wasn’t appropriate.

“Hurry up, you two! We have to head to the airport after lunch! Don’t make us late for security checks and boarding! I’ve already booked our hotel rooms!” With that, Chen Hao busied himself checking their travel bags and belongings.

At the same time, deep within the vast Kestal Forest, a sleek, ultramodern building—completely at odds with its primeval surroundings—was radiating an eerie, aurora-like green light.

A circle of heavily armed security personnel stood around the building, all tense and alert, as though waiting for something to happen.

On a hillside some distance away, a shadowy figure in black watched the scene unfold in silence. “Heh. So it’s begun. Not a second off schedule. Just as that person said—the game is getting more and more interesting…”