"What's wrong with you? I'm your mom—cleaning up your room is totally my job! Why are you so nervous? Don't tell me you've got your future husband hiding in there or something?"
With that, Mrs. Fang pushed open the bedroom door and walked in. The bed was a total disaster zone, clothes scattered everywhere like a laundry bomb had gone off.
"Look at this mess! You call this a girl's room? Clothes everywhere—you think this is how a proper lady lives?" she scolded while beginning to fold the garments.
But Hailey Fang was already panicking. One glance at the clothes on the bed and she instantly knew—Doug Feng was hiding in her wardrobe!
And now her mom was folding clothes and heading straight toward the closet—the exact same place she was about to open to put everything away.
Hailey's mind went into overdrive. In a flash of inspiration, she blurted, "Mom, I'm starving! Can we have breakfast first? You can clean up after we eat, right?"
Mrs. Fang was already reaching for the wardrobe handle. "Hold on, let me just put these away—"
"No, no, no!" Hailey rushed forward and tugged on her mom's arm, pouting like a child. "Please, let's eat first? My tummy's making dinosaur noises!"
Mrs. Fang sighed, finally giving in. "Fine, you win. But you're still in your pajamas! Go get dressed. I'll take you to get breakfast, and we can swing by the market—I'll make something nice for lunch."
Inside the cramped wardrobe, Doug was sweating bullets. Not just from panic—though there was plenty of that—but from all the layers of clothing stuffed in around him. The air was thick with Hailey's scent, a mix of lavender shampoo, soft cotton, and… was that her lingerie?
His nose twitched. Was that—? Yep. Lingerie. Pajamas. Jeans. Blouses. The whole wardrobe was practically a shrine to her daily outfits.
Doug took a tiny breath and nearly sighed. Focus, man. Focus!
"Come on, Hailey! You said you were hungry. Change quickly so we can go!" Mrs. Fang called out.
"Mom! You're still here—I can't change in front of you!" Hailey protested.
"What's the big deal? I'm your mom! I've seen everything before. Quit stalling—if you don't hurry, I'm gonna be the one eating both our breakfasts!"
"Okay, okay!" Hailey gave up, rummaging through the pile and picking out a few items to wear. Her cheeks were burning as she began changing, facing away from her mom.
Inside the closet, Doug heard every word. His ears perked up at the sound of shifting fabric. No, no, don't look! Don't be that guy… he told himself. But curiosity won. He peeked through a sliver in the door, heart thudding.
The view was… impressive. But Doug didn't dare breathe too loud. One wrong move and Hailey's mom would catch him red-handed. And then he'd probably be red-faced… or dead.
Thankfully, Hailey managed to find a way to shoo her mom out of the room. The moment the coast was clear, Doug slipped out of the wardrobe like a ninja, threw on his clothes, and escaped down the stairs.
"You're early today!" Howie called out as he stepped into the classroom, slinging his backpack onto his desk. "Usually you're barely on time. It's only 7 a.m.—what gives?"
Doug was slumped over his desk, staring into space like he'd just seen a ghost.
"Hey, Doug! Hellooo?" Howie gave him a few playful nudges. Doug finally blinked and came back to life.
"You okay, man? Did some hot demoness suck your soul out or what?" Howie teased.
Doug gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Nah. You think any girl's got the skills to mess with a boss like me?"
He tried to act nonchalant, but his mind was still spinning with images of Hailey… and that wardrobe… and those clothes…
"Hey," Doug said suddenly. "What period do we have English today?"
Howie raised an eyebrow. "First period. Why? Don't tell me you're planning to skip again. You got roasted by Miss Fang yesterday and you want a second helping?"
"No, just wondering… Think she'll make it on time today?"
Doug was already pulling up his affection system in the corner of his vision. The translucent interface popped up, displaying his current points: 25 total.
Hailey Fang: +20
Zhu Liang: +4
Mysterious MILF at the hotel: +1
Available affection points: 22
"Wait a sec… I used 5 points yesterday for that basic body enhancement. I should only have 20 left. Why do I have 22?" Doug squinted at the screen.
After diving into the help menu, he finally got it. Turns out, affection points regenerate over time. If your total is under 10, you regain 1 point per day. Between 10–20, you get 2 points daily, and so on. Since he'd been under 20 at midnight, he'd regained two points.
"Huh… Nice! So the points come back on their own. This system's got way more potential than I thought."
Doug was still poking around the system when a familiar voice rang out across the classroom.
"Alright, people! Check your lottery tickets—this is it!"
It was Zhang Caijie, the guy who organized yesterday's lottery group buy. He was practically vibrating with excitement as he pulled out his own ticket.
Everyone scrambled to get their tickets out, chattering excitedly.
"Oh right, Doug—here's yours!" Howie tossed him a slip of paper. "You vanished after your bathroom break yesterday and missed the chaos. We stormed the lottery store like a mob. The owner thought he was getting robbed!"
Doug reached into his jeans pocket… nothing. He checked the other side. Still nothing. Then the back pockets. Nada.
Panic started rising. No. No. No… Don't tell me—
"The tickets… They're gone?!"
His heart sank. Sixteen lottery tickets—gone. And with them, the dream of skipping the college entrance exam and living large.
"Okay! Drumroll, please! Winning numbers coming right up!" Zhang Caijie jumped onto a desk and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"First number: 08!
Second: 25!
Then: 06, 01, 13, and 31!
And the special number… 09!"
A collective groan rose from the class.
"I had the first three but missed the rest. Total bust!" Zhang sighed dramatically.
"Same here. Got the last three but missed the beginning," Linda said with a laugh. Then she turned to Doug. "What about you, Little Belly? How many did you match?"
Doug opened his mouth to answer, but all he could think was—
None. Zero. Nada. Because I lost the damn ticket!