Going back to being twenty, taking her heartbroken son to a massage parlor.

"Get down here right now!"

Su Mu gritted his teeth, feeling like his old back was about to break.

"No! Down!"

Lin Zhiting announced loudly in his ear, and deliberately swung her legs, tightening her arms even more.

"Unless you promise not to splash me!"

"I promise! I promise, okay?!"

Su Mu practically spat out those words through gritted teeth.

"Then swear it!"

"I swear!"

"I swear if you splash me, your daughter will find a boyfriend just like you—a greasy middle-aged man!"

"..."

Su Mu's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

That girl has a really sharp tongue!

He took a deep breath, trying his best to maintain his "elderly" image, and said through gritted teeth, "Lin Zhiting, I'll count to three. If you don't come down now, I'll throw you and the bucket overboard onto the balcony!"

"one!"

"two!"

Before he finished speaking, the little girl on his back nimbly let go of his arms and legs, jumped to the ground with a whoosh, and casually put three meters away from him, assuming a defensive posture.

"A gentleman uses words, not fists, Uncle Su Mu!"

Su Mu was so angry at her smug look, as if she had gotten a good deal but was still acting innocent.

He put down the bucket, pointed at her, and couldn't utter a word for a long time.

In the end, all the anger turned into a long sigh.

Why get angry with a little girl?

……

After a chaotic scene, two hours had passed.

Under Su Mu's "iron-fisted" command, this dormitory, which originally resembled a garbage recycling station, was finally transformed.

The floor was so shiny it reflected light, the windows were spotless, and the tables and chairs were wiped clean.

The air was filled with a faint smell of soapy water mixed with the scent of sunshine; it finally looked like a place where people lived.

"call……"

Su Mu wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the fruits of his labor with satisfaction.

Finally, I can make the bed.

He turned around, walked towards Lin Zhiting's small-looking suitcase, and reached out to unzip it.

The next second, he stopped moving.

The suitcase contained very little stuff.

A few clothes that weren't folded very neatly, a set of bed sheets and duvet covers, and then... a thin, rolled-up straw mat.

Gone.

Su Mu's brows furrowed instantly.

He took out the straw mat, weighed it in his hand, and then tapped the bare hardwood bed board in the dormitory, making a loud thumping sound.

"Lin Zhiting".

Su Mu turned his head, his expression somewhat serious.

"You only brought this thing with you?"

Lin Zhiting was admiring her clean dormitory on her phone, preparing to post it on her WeChat Moments to show off, when she heard this and casually looked up.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?"

Su Mu was amused by her matter-of-fact attitude.

He took the straw mat and walked up to her.

"Look at this bed frame, it's as hard as stone! You only laid this on top? Do you think you're made of iron?"

"You should at least get a mattress, or at the very least, two thick blankets! Sleeping like this for one night will rub your bones raw!"

Once Sue's fatherly lecturing mode is activated, it's a bit hard to stop.

"And where's the mosquito net? In the summer in the south, there are so many mosquitoes you could carry someone on your back, and you didn't even bring a mosquito net?"

"How exactly do you take care of yourself?"

"You're a girl, don't you even have this much common sense?"

As he spoke, he walked back to his suitcase and, unwilling to give up, rummaged through it again.

A few T-shirts and two pairs of jeans.

Gone.

There wasn't even a bottle of skincare products like lotion or cream in sight.

Is this girl planning to cultivate immortality at university?

Su Mu grew increasingly angry as he looked at her. This was no young lady; she was clearly a wild child who had no one to care for her.

He rambled on for a while, but felt that the surroundings were unusually quiet.

There was no rebuttal or backtalk as expected.

Su Mu turned his head in confusion.

Lin Zhiting stood there, head down, without saying a word.

Her face, which had been so radiant just moments before, was now almost translucent with paleness.

She bit her lower lip tightly, her eyes were frighteningly red, and large tears rolled down her cheeks without warning, hitting the floor and splashing into a small water droplet.

One drop, two drops, and then they strung together into a line.

She didn't cry out loud, but her shoulders were trembling uncontrollably, making her look extremely aggrieved.

Su Mu panicked immediately.

He couldn't stand seeing women cry, especially young girls.

"No...why are you crying?"

He hurriedly went over, intending to offer a tissue, but after rummaging through his pockets for a while, he realized he didn't have that habit.

"We're in the dorm, so keep your voice down. Don't let others hear and think I'm bullying you."

The more he comforted her, the more Lin Zhiting cried.

Finally, she couldn't hold back anymore, and with a heavy nasal voice and a sobbing tone, she spoke.

"After my parents divorced... no one has ever talked to me about these things again..."

"How...how was I supposed to know I needed to bring these things...?"

These words were like a small hammer, gently yet with perfect precision striking Su Mu's heart.

All his anger vanished instantly.

All that remained was an indescribable heartache and frustration.

This girl harbors far more bitterness in her heart than he imagined.

That seemingly fearless and indomitable spirit she always maintained was just a hard shell she used to protect herself.

Now, this hard shell has been shattered by a few unintentional words of his own.

Su Mu rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

He really doesn't know how to comfort people.

After struggling for a long time, he finally managed to utter a dry, uninspired sentence.

"Well, it's nothing... it's no big deal."

"We go to university to learn independence, self-reliance, and self-improvement, right?"

"If no one teaches us, we'll learn on our own. See, now we know, right? That's a good thing; it means you've improved, and you're enjoying the fruits of your labor."

This line of reasoning was a favorite catchphrase of his former eccentric boss, used specifically to manipulate employees.

Unexpectedly, he used it to comfort a little girl today.

As expected, Lin Zhiting wasn't buying it at all.

She raised her tear-streaked face, her red eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment.

"Why do you think people get divorced so easily these days?"

"They were clearly so in love, why couldn't they stay together forever?"

This question left Su Mu speechless.

He sighed, walked to the window, and looked at the young figures running on the playground outside.

"forever?"

He chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"In today's society, which is so superficial, even watching a short drama requires fast-forwarding at double speed. How long do you expect love to stay fresh?"

"So, little girl, remember this."

Su Mu turned around and looked at her, his eyes filled with the vicissitudes of someone who had been through it all.

"Love is not something that can be obtained and everything is fine. It is more like a child that needs to be carefully nurtured, requiring both parties to continuously invest energy in maintaining it."

"What I fear most is taking someone's efforts for granted."

Lin Zhiting stared at him blankly, tears still clinging to her eyelashes, but she forgot to let them fall.

She seemed to... understand.

She nodded, her voice still slightly nasal, yet surprisingly obedient.

"I see."

Su Mu was somewhat surprised.

Hey, this girl is being unusually obedient today?

Why is my own bowl of "toxic chicken soup for middle-aged people" so effective?

However, the next second, he realized he was overthinking it.

Lin Zhiting wiped away her tears and suddenly walked towards him, standing right in front of him and tilting her fair face up.

The sadness and vulnerability from before vanished, replaced by a cunning and anticipation.

She blinked her big, watery eyes, tears still clinging to her long eyelashes, looking both pitiful and captivating.

"Then... Uncle Su Mu."

Her voice was soft and sweet.

"Why don't you date me and teach me how?"

"I think you know a lot."

"And... it would be even better if we could get married. You can teach me step by step how to maintain the relationship, okay?"

She tiptoed closer, her warm breath brushing against his chin.

"I will be very obedient."

With a loud bang.

Su Mu felt his mind go blank for a moment.

My heart skipped a beat.

This stunningly beautiful female college student, with tears streaming down her face, confesses her love to you and begs you to marry her.

Who can stand this?

Su Mu admitted that he was shamefully tempted.

but!

Years of social experience taught him that there are no free lunches, only traps.

Especially those that come to your door uninvited, 99% of the time they're like a weasel offering New Year's greetings to a chicken—they have no good intentions!

His expression instantly vanished, replaced by a calm demeanor as if he had seen through everything.

"I refuse."

Su Mu took a step back, creating some distance, crossed his arms, and looked down at her.

"Keep pretending."

"Are you an obedient person?"

"You want me to teach you? I think you just want to practice on me, don't you?"

"Little Lin, your uncle has eaten more salt than you've eaten rice, don't give me that crap."

The air froze for a second.

Followed by.

"Pfft—"

Lin Zhiting suddenly burst into laughter through her tears.

She clutched her stomach, laughing so hard she was shaking uncontrollably; the ambiguous and romantic atmosphere from before vanished instantly.

"Hahaha! Uncle Su Mu, you're too easy to fool!"

"That won't fool you!"

She wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes as she looked at Su Mu with a mocking expression.

"Actually, this is just a rehearsal for filming the video later!"

"Just to set the mood!"

"Look at you, you're so scared your face has turned white. Am I that scary?"

"How boring!"

Su Mu's face darkened.

really.

He knew that brat was up to no good!

Su Mu rolled his eyes at her, annoyed. To cover up his momentary lapse in concentration, he picked up his phone.

"Alright, alright, stop acting. You have nothing here. I'll see if I can order takeout to get you everything you need. I can't really let you sleep on a cold mat."

He opened the food delivery app, looked at the dazzling array of supermarket options, and was immediately filled with envy:

"To be honest, you students these days are really lucky. They can even have your mattresses and blankets delivered right upstairs."

"Back when I was in college, I had to climb seven floors to get food in the cafeteria, and if I was late, there wouldn't even be any soup left."

Su Mu subconsciously recalled his painful past.

"Tch, middle-aged men just love reminiscing about the past."

Lin Zhiting responded with a sentence and slowly sat back down in her chair.

She lowered her head, looking at her toes. The corners of her mouth, which had been smiling brightly just moments before, were now quietly pursed into a straight line.

In a corner where no one could see, her fair fingers clenched tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force.

"coward."

She muttered something unsatisfactorily in a voice only she could hear.

I'm not kidding.