My Dating Sim Just Got an Update - Chapter 58

This cold, aloof goddess the one who had always seemed so dismissive of the breakfasts she had painstakingly prepared—had actually been secretly finishing the congee after she left?

Ren Chenxi stared at Mu Ning in disbelief, speechless. Should she be happy? Happy that all those early mornings spent over a hot stove hadn’t been a complete waste? Or should she be angry? Angry that if Mu Ning was perfectly capable of accepting her cooking, why had she been so cold and resistant back then?

A surge of complicated emotions rose in her chest. After staring at Mu Ning for a long while, Chenxi could only manage a soft, “You really are…”

“I really got what I deserved.”

Mu Ning finished the sentence for her with a bitter, self-deprecating smile.

Wasn’t that exactly right? She had brought this on herself. Back then, she clearly had feelings for Ren Muhui, yet she insisted on pushing him away. She had loved the breakfasts he made, yet because of a few words from outsiders, she had cruelly rejected his kindness.

Mu Ning remembered it all too clearly. In the days following her stomach issues, Ren Muhui hadn’t just made sure she took her medicine; he had carefully prepared meals suited for someone with a weak stomach. Beyond the mushroom and chicken congee, there had been pumpkin millet porridge and white fungus lotus seed soup.

Mu Ning had loved those meals. But back then, driven by a desperate need to prove she hadn’t “succumbed” to his pursuit or started dating him, she had not only thrown away the medicine he bought but reverted to her icy exterior. Any food he brought her was promptly handed off to someone else the moment he turned his back.

For two years in this apocalypse, through countless days and nights, Mu Ning had been haunted by the memory of that squandered devotion. But now, the taste she could only find in her dreams was right in front of her again.

Cherishing every drop, she took another sip of the congee and said with a raspy, tearful smile, “This is really delicious.”

That smile looks more painful than crying, Chenxi thought.

Ren Chenxi kept her face stony, ignoring Mu Ning’s near-tears expression. She took a deep breath, pointed toward the kitchen, and said coldly, “If it’s good, there’s more in the pot.”

“Mm! I’ll definitely have a few more bowls!” Mu Ning wanted to reclaim every ounce of regret she had felt for the meals she once threw away.

Hearing this, Chenxi reminded her sharply, “Food is precious in the apocalypse. You… eat a reasonable amount.”

“…”

Mu Ning stopped talking and focused on her food, taking one careful spoonful at a time. She ate quietly, without the sound of slurping or the clinking of metal against ceramic. Chenxi tried not to look at her, but for some reason, her mind kept amplifying the sound of Mu Ning eating, making her feel inexplicably irritable again.

Just as Chenxi was considering retreating to the kitchen for some space, Mu Ning spoke again.

“Do you think. he can ever forgive me?”

Mu Ning didn’t specify who “he” was, but Chenxi knew exactly who she meant. Chenxi’s lips curled into a mocking sneer as she looked at her. “He’s gone. How exactly do you plan on getting his forgiveness?”

“I feel like. I still want to try. I want to fight for it,” Mu Ning said, putting down her spoon and looking Chenxi straight in the eye, emphasizing every word.

Chenxi met her gaze with an expressionless face, a cold smirk playing on her lips. “Then go tell that to Ren Muhui.”

“I…”

Mu Ning wanted to say more, but the arrival of a group of laughing girls coming downstairs cut her off.

“Wow! Xiao Tong said breakfast is mushroom and goose congee. It smells amazing!”

“Did Sis Xi make this for us? Thank you so much, Sis Xi!”

“Heavens, are we really in the apocalypse? A feast last night and congee this morning? Life is too good~”

Seeing the girls’ lively, joyful faces, Chenxi’s sour mood lightened considerably. Ignoring Mu Ning, she looked up and greeted them. “Morning! Go get washed up and come eat~”

“Okay!”

The girls cheered and swarmed toward the bathroom near the stairs. Tang Ying, while squeezing toothpaste onto her brush, suddenly remembered something and shouted over her shoulder, “Sis Xi, have you used the bathroom yet? What do you think of the decor?”

“Yeah, yeah! Boss, you went in this morning, right? How was it? Isn’t it magical?”

“…”

Chenxi, who had been looking for an escape, instinctively glanced at Mu Ning. Their eyes met, both sharing a look of profound, “it’s-complicated” misery. After a long pause, Mu Ning offered a very strained compliment: “It’s… quite pretty…”

“Really, really?” Tang Ying was thrilled to be praised by her idol, Senior Mu. She turned eagerly back to Chenxi. “What does Sis Xi think?”

 Chenxi struggled to find the words. Finally, she choked out a lie: “It’s very… glamorous…”

“Glamorous” didn’t even cover it. “Pretty” was an understatement. That bathroom, which had been entirely coated in a layer of crystal, was bright enough to blind a person. The problem was, it was just a bathroom! Why would you make a regular bathroom so flashy that even the squat toilet was made of crystal? How was anyone supposed to focus on their business in there?

Honestly, the original bare concrete walls and floor were better!

Chenxi vividly remembered going in to wash up before starting breakfast. She had seen the crystal sink and thought it looked nice enough, but the moment she stepped into the stall, the glittering crystal “throne” had nearly sent her running back out in shock. She deeply regretted going to bed early last night. Why hadn’t she supervised these girls during their “renovations”?

A sparkly sink or shower was fine, but a crystal squat toilet?! Heaven only knew the psychological hurdles she had to clear just to finish her business this morning.

Thinking of that terrifying crystal toilet, Chenxi glanced at Tang Ying and asked as casually as possible, “Xiao Ying… that toilet… how exactly did you ‘crystalize’ it?” Did you have to put your whole palm on it? Just imagining the scene made Chenxi’s eyes sting.

Sensing the hidden meaning behind the question, Tang Ying’s face turned bright red instantly. She waved her hands frantically, explaining with total earnestness, “Sis Xi, don’t think weird things! We scrubbed that bathroom spotless yesterday! And when I was crystalizing the walls and floor, I just… did the toilet at the same time!”

Once Tang Ying explained it, Chenxi understood. The toilet was embedded in the floor; as long as Tang Ying’s fingers touched the floor, the crystal layer would naturally spread across it. Still… why did you have to “incidentally” crystalize the toilet?!

So, Chenxi asked a bit more subtly, “Is everyone… used to using such a beautiful crystal toilet?”

“Huh? Everyone loves it! Xin Xin, Ling Ling, do you guys like the pink crystal toilet?”

“I love it!” Song Xin, currently brushing her teeth, gave a thumbs-up. “A bathroom this dreamy… I’ve only ever seen something like this in my dreams~”

“…” Fine, as long as you guys are happy.

While they were discussing the crystal bathroom, Zhang Tongqi arrived downstairs, supporting Sun Jia. Upon seeing Chenxi, Zhang Tongqi couldn’t help but shout with excitement, “Sis Xi! Your detox medicine is a miracle! Xiao Jia didn’t have a single withdrawal episode last night, and her complexion looks so much better today!”

Although Sun Jia had taken the medicine yesterday, Zhang Tongqi and Wu Tong had remained skeptical. To prevent Sun Jia from clawing at her wounds again during a late-night craving, Tongqi had slept in her room to keep watch. She had been hyper-vigilant at first, but as the night went on and Sun Jia remained peaceful, Tongqi had accidentally drifted off.

She had slept right through until morning when she was woken by the others. Her first move was to check on Sun Jia. To her shock, Sun Jia reported that she had slept deeply and soundly—the best rest she’d had since being poisoned. Without the torture of the addiction, she woke up feeling refreshed. Tongqi hadn’t quite believed her at first, fearing she was just being “tough,” but when she changed the bandages and saw the wounds were healing rather than being torn open, she knew the medicine worked.

“Sis Xi, thank you so much! Now Xiao Jia will definitely recover~”

“Really?” Wu Tong chimed in excitedly. “Then Xiao Jia needs to keep taking it today! Three times a day—I’ll make sure you take it after breakfast. By the way, Sis Xi made breakfast today and it smells incredible. You haven’t had an appetite lately, so you better eat a lot!”

Sun Jia gently touched her bandaged arm, smiling as she listened to her friends’ cheerful chatter. With Tongqi’s help, she walked slowly over to stand before Chenxi.

“Sis Xi… thank you so much for this.”

Sun Jia had only met Chenxi yesterday and didn’t know her age, but just as she had once willingly called Mu Ning “Boss,” she was now ready to call Chenxi “Sis Xi” with total sincerity. It wasn’t about age; it was about genuine gratitude and respect.

Ever since Fan Juntian had infected her, Sun Jia had lived in a private hell. When the addiction flared, it felt like thousands of ants were gnawing at her bones. The itching and pain were so deep that the only relief was to tear her own wounds open, using the sharper pain of the injury to drown out the unbearable crawling sensation. And once an episode passed, she lived in constant terror of the next one.

She had been living on the edge of despair. Several times, covered in blood and sweat after an episode, she had considered just ending it all.

If I die, the torture stops, and I won’t be a burden to the Boss anymore, she had thought.

But just as her will to live was flickering out, Chenxi had arrived with her medicine. And that medicine—the one she had been so skeptical of had truly dragged her out of the abyss.

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