Chapter 165 The Root of All Motivation

September 5th, 5:20 AM.

Feng Bujue opened his eyes, glanced at the time, and then climbed out of the game pod with a yawn.

"Haa..." He walked to the window, stretched, and casually pulled open the curtains.

The morning light poured in through the glass, casting a pale blue hue over the entire living room.

"Pull the curtains, you bastard!" Two seconds later, Asmodeus's complaint rang out. "You trying to die?" She was clearly in a foul mood.

Jue-Ge heard this and had no choice but to reluctantly pull the curtains closed again. After all, she wasn't fully awake yet, and it was wrong of him to brighten the room without asking.

"Sigh... at least she doesn't pee everywhere anymore." Jue-Ge comforted himself as he walked towards the bathroom.

When he finished washing up and came out, Ruoyu was just arriving at the bathroom door.

"Oh? You're awake too?" Feng Bujue asked casually.

"Not really..." Ruoyu replied sleepily, "...just getting up to use the toilet."

She really did look like she hadn't fully woken up yet, not even noticing that her loose t-shirt had "slipped off" while she slept, exposing one of her fragrant shoulders and the strap of her bra as she stood in front of Jue-Ge in a daze.

"Oh..." Feng Bujue replied nonchalantly, neither reminding her nor taking a second glance. He simply brushed past her, leaving her to the bathroom.

From their old-married-couple-like exchange, it wasn't hard to see... in the days since Ruoyu had moved in, the amount of "benefits" Feng Bujue had unintentionally seen was countless, and Ruoyu had grown accustomed to similar "accidents." So... the current situation was nothing to get worked up about...

...

Ten minutes later, Ruoyu had gone back to sleep; and Feng Bujue had changed into a set of gray sportswear, put on a pair of Nikes, and embarked on his morning run.

He did some simple warm-up exercises in the elevator on the way down, and after leaving the apartment building, he put on his headphones, turned on his phone's player, and set off on his planned route.

Generally speaking, when jogging, Jue-Ge always placed the song "gonna_fly_now" at the top of his playlist. This morning run anthem... would probably never be outdated, even in a hundred years. It not only instantly put people in a state of motion, but also created a psychological suggestion of "workout effect plus 50%."

"Yo, Xiao Feng, morning."

"Mm, morning to you too."

Passing by the entrance of the vegetable market, Jue-Ge ran into Aunt Liu, the landlady, who was out buying groceries.

"Out exercising?"

"Yeah." Jue-Ge said, politely taking off his headphones. "Are you out preparing breakfast for your granddaughter?"

"Hey~ I'm just doing the usual 'Ma Da Sao' (Shanghainese pronunciation, meaning to buy, wash, and cook) stuff." The aunt replied.

After a brief chat, Feng Bujue wanted to leave. Just as he was about to say, "I'll continue running," he never expected...

"Oh yeah..." Aunt Liu seemed to suddenly remember something. "When were you planning on telling me about your little secret?"

At that moment, Feng Bujue's acting skills exploded. Marlon Brando, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Jackie Chan... soul possession.

"Huh? What are you saying I'm hiding?" Jue-Ge replied to her question with a question, and his face showed a natural, puzzled expression from beginning to end.

However, Aunt Liu wasn't buying it at all. "Hehe... Xiao Feng..." She stared directly into Jue-Ge's eyes. "I'll give you one more chance..." She paused, "...tell the truth."

The momentary eye contact made Feng Bujue realize one thing... continuing to lie would probably lead to his doom.

"Alright... let me explain." Jue-Ge sighed. "Actually... that's my friend. Due to certain reasons... she's temporarily staying with me for a while."

"Friend?" Aunt Liu's expression changed. "Girlfriend, right?"

"Uh..." Jue-Ge stammered, "Now... should... indeed... can... be called my girlfriend." He finished the sentence in five or six segments, as if each word had to be squeezed out.

"Oh..." Hearing his words and observing his expression, Aunt Liu seemed to understand something, or rather... she misunderstood something. "A friend stayed at your house for a while, and then became your girlfriend, is that it?"

"Uh..." Feng Bujue heard the hidden meaning in her words and immediately turned to the side. "It's not what you think..."

"Alright, alright~ you don't have to explain to me." Aunt Liu interrupted Jue-Ge. "That's your young people's freedom..."

It seemed... even if Jue-Ge wanted to explain, it might not be useful.

"Anyway, I've already rented the house to you, as long as you don't tear it down or turn it into low-rent housing and sublet it." Aunt Liu continued. "One more person or one less... it's not a big deal." She changed the subject. "But... as an elder, I still have to advise you a few words..."

"Mm... please speak..." Feng Bujue said, lowering his head.

So, Aunt Liu continued, "I've met that young lady surnamed Li a few times, and honestly... her conditions... are wasted on you."

For some reason, Feng Bujue wanted to cry and laugh at the same time when he heard these words.

"I've also seen the car she drives..." Aunt Liu added. "It seems she's not after your money."

The old woman knew her stuff. She knew... Ruoyu's car alone was worth all of Feng Bujue's possessions combined.

"Xiao Feng, although many people misunderstand you, I know what kind of person you are..." Aunt Liu continued. "It's rare to encounter such a fate, I hope you can cherish it and not let her down. If you need any help financially, feel free to ask me, if I can help..."

Feng Bujue had basically guessed what she was going to say next. Jue-Ge couldn't help but think to himself, "She thinks I'm too poor to marry her? Well... now that I think about it... I'm not exactly rich, at least not compared to Ruoyu in terms of family background."

Some things, people of Feng Bujue's age... wouldn't consider. It wasn't a question of intelligence, but rather that people's attitudes towards life and the direction of their thinking would change with age and experience. For example... the word "dream" is completely different for an eighteen-year-old and an eighty-year-old.

Jue-Ge's situation was similar. If Aunt Liu hadn't said these words to him today, he might not have realized until the last minute... that if his relationship with Li Ruoyu really came to fruition, he would have to face many very real problems.

...

At 7:00 AM, Feng Bujue returned home.

At this time, the sun had fully risen, and golden sunlight shone through the curtains, illuminating the living room.

Jue-Ge placed a breakfast on the coffee table, then went to take a shower.

When he returned to the living room, Ruoyu had just opened the bedroom door and walked out, rubbing her eyes.

"I brought you back breakfast." Feng Bujue said as he walked to the bottom of the bookshelf.

"Oh... I'll go brush my teeth first." Ruoyu replied.

Two seconds later, she turned her head and said to Jue-Ge, "Why are you tidying up the bookshelf so early in the morning?"

At this time, Feng Bujue had moved a chair and stood on it, looking through the books on the top shelf. "I'm preparing to find some materials to prepare for a new book." He paused for half a second and added, "Although *Second-Rate Detective and the Cat* is still being serialized, *Both Ends of Nightmare* is already finished, so I might as well start a new one."

"Haa--" Ruoyu yawned and asked, "You're actually being so diligent?"

There was a reason why she thought Jue-Ge was diligent... because every time Feng Bujue published a physical book in the past, he would give himself a vacation for various reasons. Not to mention starting a new book, he would even interrupt the novels being serialized... and his readers all knew about this.

"I need to save money to buy a house." Feng Bujue replied naturally, without turning his head.

"Save money to buy..." As Ruoyu muttered these words, she seemed to realize something, and the remaining sleepiness instantly disappeared. "...Hey... what do you mean?"

Feng Bujue didn't answer the question, but turned around, tilted his head, and gave Ruoyu a carefree smile.

After looking at him for a few seconds, a blush inexplicably appeared on her cheeks.

She immediately raised her voice in a rather flustered tone, stammering, "You... crazy person!" Saying that, she ran into the bathroom and slammed the door shut, leaving Jue-Ge alone... laughing silently.