A Peculiar Ailment and a Maid Outfit Dilemma

Zhou Yi grew increasingly uneasy the more he thought about it. The strange sensation in his chest was becoming more pronounced. This, coupled with the sudden appearance of blood in his stool a few days prior, and the severe, twisting pain in his lower abdomen that had nearly knocked him unconscious, filled him with dread.

All these symptoms, piling one upon another, caused the faint unease in his heart to steadily magnify.

Perhaps… Zhou Yi should take some time off and get a proper check-up at the hospital.

After all, the four thousand yuan the system had given him was still untouched in his account. It should be enough to cover a specialist appointment and a comprehensive set of tests.

A check-up, if nothing else, would offer some peace of mind.

He quickly dried himself and pulled on his dry pajamas.

The cotton fabric felt as soft and familiar as ever. Yet, as he pulled it on, he noticed that the area around his chest no longer felt as hollow as he remembered.

This subtle difference made him pause, towel still in hand.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Zhou Yi found Jiang Chen already dressed, engrossed in a WeChat discussion with Han Chen about the day’s topic.

Hearing the movement, Jiang Chen looked up, his gaze lingering for a moment on Zhou Yi’s face, flushed from the hot water.

“Done washing?”

“Mhm,” Zhou Yi mumbled in response, haphazardly drying his hair with the towel. “You should go wash up soon too, Chen Ge, before you catch a cold.”

By the time Jiang Chen emerged from the shower, Zhou Yi was already huddled on his bed, frowning at his phone screen.

Hearing the door open, he looked up, speaking hesitantly.

“Uh… Chen Ge, I need to take Monday off to go to the hospital. I just told the counselor.”

Jiang Chen paused, towel stilling in his hand.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

He recalled how Zhou Yi had occasionally clutched his stomach, his face pale, over the past few days. He also remembered Zhou Yi’s shivering, slender figure in the rain earlier, looking as if a gust of wind could topple him.

“Well…” Zhou Yi was about to casually concoct an excuse about a follow-up for gastritis when a sudden knock sounded at the dorm room door.

Jiang Chen casually draped his towel over the back of a chair and walked towards the door.

“Coming!”

The moment the door opened, Zhao Lei and Chen Hao squeezed in, one after the other.

Zhao Lei carried two cups of milk tea. The instant he stepped inside, he automatically switched to “apology mode,” reverently presenting the milk tea to Zhou Yi’s bedside with both hands.

“Yi Ge, I was wrong, truly wrong! Full sugar, extra ice, pearls, and pudding! Please, old man, calm your anger!”

Zhou Yi sat up in bed, raising an eyebrow as he looked at them.

“Oh, so you actually showed up? I thought you two would hide until the next century.”

“Absolutely, absolutely!” Zhao Lei bowed repeatedly.

“It was my fault for ditching you. I’ll buy the Lolita outfit! I’ll even learn the dance! Please, Yi Ge, give me a chance to make amends!”

Zhou Yi took the cold, substantial cup of milk tea, inserted the straw, and took a sip.

The icy sweetness momentarily quelled the agitation in his heart.

He then looked at Chen Hao.

“What about you?”

Chen Hao looked bewildered.

“Me… what about me?”

He scratched his head.

“No, Yi Ge, I’ve racked my brain, and I don’t think I’ve committed any heinous crimes. I didn’t ditch you for the sports meet, did I? I threw the shot put properly. This maid outfit… isn’t really necessary, is it?”

With Zhao Lei taking the bullet for him, his courage had grown.

“Holy crap, Haozi, are you selling me out?!” Zhao Lei grabbed Chen Hao’s sleeve.

“I brought you here to share the blame with me, but you just defected?! Is it fair for me to take all the heat now, brother? Huh?!”

Zhou Yi, however, was stumped by Chen Hao’s words.

Indeed, this Chen Hao in front of him hadn’t actually promised anything in reality.

Whether it was the maid outfit or the life-saving grace, those things only existed within the simulator’s storyline.

In this Chen Hao’s eyes, they were merely brothers who played games together, brought each other meals, and occasionally messed with each other.

He couldn’t very well tell Chen Hao, ‘The last time that green tea nearly made you sell a kidney, it was *I* who pulled you out of it in the simulator.’

‘You’re still here, able to complain, because I changed your fate for you. So, for this life, you owe me your body… no, you owe me a maid outfit as repayment!’

“You…” Zhou Yi opened his mouth, but in the end, he could only wave his hand dismissively and unreasonably.

“I don’t care! I just don’t like the look of you, so you’re definitely wearing this maid outfit!”

Chen Hao stared, utterly baffled.

His suspicions were indeed correct. Yi Ge’s reaction, his logic, this inexplicable and intense obsession targeting him… it all seemed utterly sinister.

This was certainly not something a normal guy would do to his brother.

It was as if Yi Ge had been possessed by something unclean. Or even worse… had his body been taken over?

A shiver ran down his spine. Just as he was about to probe further, Zhao Lei quickly tugged on Chen Hao’s sleeve, stopping him.

“Haozi, don’t be stubborn! Whatever Yi Ge says, goes!”

“But—”

This wasn’t about being stubborn; it was a matter of principle! He hadn’t done anything wrong!

“No buts!” Zhao Lei clapped a hand over Chen Hao’s mouth, then turned to Zhou Yi, forcing a fawning smile.

“Yi Ge! Haozi doesn’t know any better! I’ll agree for him! He’ll wear the maid outfit! I’ll personally supervise!”

“Alright then!” Zhou Yi leaped off his bed and rushed to his wardrobe.

He pulled open the door, grabbed the maid outfit complete with lace trim and cat-ear headband, and dramatically unfurled it before Chen Hao.

“It’s in stock! No time like the present, Haozi. Go put it on in the bathroom right now and give your brothers a show!”

Chen Hao’s hands trembled as he took the bundle of pink fabric and shook it out.

He looked at Zhou Yi with an expression of utter despair, then at Zhao Lei, whose face was beet red from stifling laughter beside him. Finally, he cast a pleading glance at Jiang Chen, who had been leaning nearby, silently observing.

Jiang Chen received the hopeful gaze and let out a light cough.

“Zhou Yi—”

Zhou Yi immediately turned his head.

“Chen Ge, don’t try to persuade me! There’s no room for discussion on this matter!”

Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow.

“I wasn’t going to persuade you,” he said, slowly walking closer.

He pinched a corner of the maid outfit between his fingers, examining it. “I was going to say, the size…”

Chen Hao probably won’t fit into it.

The dorm room fell silent for a second.

Chen Hao looked down at his own height of 1.8 meters and his not-so-slender build.

Then he glanced at the clearly one-size-fits-all maid outfit in his hands, and suddenly felt that Jiang Chen had spoken nothing but the truth.

“Yes, yes!” Chen Hao exclaimed, as if grasping a lifesaver.

“Chen Ge is right! I definitely won’t fit into this! It’ll burst at the seams!”

Zhou Yi froze, clearly not having considered this.

He frowned, staring at the outfit, then scrutinizing Chen Hao’s sturdy physique up and down.

He stubbornly insisted, “Even if it bursts, you still have to wear it! I don’t care, figure it out yourself!”

“If the lace rips, how am I supposed to sew it back, Yi Ge?!” Chen Hao was practically on his knees.

At this point, Zhao Lei weakly raised a hand.

“Um… Yi Ge, how about next time? Next time! I promise!” He thumped his chest.

“I’ll bring my Lolita outfit, and buy Haozi a maid outfit that actually fits. The two of us together… we’ll perform a ‘brothers united’ show for you?”

This suggestion made Zhou Yi narrow his eyes.

He looked at the outfit in his hand, which indeed seemed likely to tear. It had sat in his shopping cart for a long time, and he hadn’t quite brought himself to order it.

If Chen Hao hadn’t annoyingly told him, “Yi Ge, I’ll make you brown sugar water in the future,” he wouldn’t have impulsively paid for it on the spot.

He looked at Chen Hao’s almost tearful expression, then considered the “brothers united” scene Zhao Lei had described…

It seemed… not entirely unfeasible? In fact, it was almost too tempting to look forward to.