Chapter 145: Tongtong Remains Eager to Learn

Although the livestream ended at nine o'clock, Zhang Wuyong did not arrive home until midnight.

The livestream might have ended for him, but Honglian's younger sisters still had plenty of tasks to handle.

Capitalizing on the waning hype, they set up chat groups, invited new members, and accomplished quite a bit.

It was past ten o'clock when they finally headed downstairs to celebrate a successful performance at a nearby restaurant that had been booked in advance.

Everyone congratulated Zhang Wuyong on his smooth performance.

In turn, Zhang Wuyong expressed his heartfelt gratitude for their assistance, which had allowed him to settle his mind and deliver the most pristine performance possible.

In terms of objectives, his efforts to establish a "sect" and accumulate a massive amount of points had been overfulfilled, thanks to this livestream and the system's own endeavors.

Even so, he quite enjoyed this kind of atmosphere.

Therefore, he would continue livestreaming at least for the duration of this summer vacation.

At the very least, he needed to help Brother Huo and Sister Lian recoup the upfront investments they had made over the past few days.

There were also Yanyan and those helpful "pseudo-student girls," all of whom deserved to get a share of the profits.

As for himself, making a fortune during this summer vacation was merely a side benefit.

He was quite a decent guy.

By the time Zhang Wuyong returned home, it was almost one in the morning.

Ever since she discovered TikTok, his mother—who usually went to bed early to preserve her complexion—was still wide awake.

Excitedly, she chattered at him, declaring that her son was about to become a major celebrity.

Zhang Wuyong had no choice but to tell her that he was still far from being a major celebrity.

In today's era of massive internet explosions, truly major content creators boast hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers.

Naturally, this referred to genuine followers.

Those who inflate their follower count to ten million, yet fail to sell even ten items during a product-promotion stream—leaving brands that paid them huge endorsement fees completely empty-handed—certainly did not count.

The next day, around nine in the morning, Zhang Wuyong arrived at the apartment across the hall as usual.

This time, however, because Aunt Zhu was at home, he did not dare to directly use the spare key that Tongtong had not yet taken back to open the door.

After he pressed the doorbell, Aunt Zhu opened it and said, "Wuyong, come on in!"

Zhang Wuyong stepped into the living room and asked, "Where is Tongtong?"

"She's still sleeping!" Zhu Yuwen glanced toward her daughter's bedroom. "God knows what she was doing last night; it seems she only fell asleep in the middle of the night. Go on in, wake her up yourself."

Since the girl's mother had no objections, Zhang Wuyong saw no reason to stand on ceremony.

After all, Tongtong was long accustomed to it.

The bedroom door was left ajar. Wearing a two-piece pajama set, Tongtong was covered by a blanket, curled up on her side, and genuinely still asleep.

A scattering of various books lay across her desk.

That tablet computer, which used to be good for nothing more than holding down instant noodle bowls, was still resting on the table alongside the chocolate-colored keyboard.

Zhang Wuyong felt a fresh wave of confusion.

Tongtong was not the type of girl who left her things unorganized before going to sleep.

Even back during the intensive review period before the college entrance examination, she would neatly organize all her books, reference materials, and used test papers before heading to bed.

It was a habit she had cultivated since childhood.

Of course, even when facing the college entrance exam, she had rarely stayed up studying until the middle of the night.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down at the sleeping girl.

Her smooth, delicate cheeks were as flawless as unblemished jade, prompting him to reach out and gently stroke them.

Beneath his palm, her exquisite and lovely facial features radiated a cute, endearing innocence.

Tongtong opened her eyes, her head still resting on the latex pillow.

The very first moment she saw him, her eyes sparkled with bright, smiling warmth.

It was as if simply laying eyes on him filled her with happiness.

Then, she raised her head slightly and cast a glance toward her bedroom door.

The door was half-open, and Zhang Wuyong couldn't very well walk in early in the morning—knowing full well that Tongtong was still sleeping—and casually slam the door shut.

Yet, from that angle, anyone outside could not directly see the bed.

Realizing her mother couldn't see, she lay back down.

Zhang Wuyong slid his palm down and gently flicked her rosy lower lip.

Her thin, adorable lips parted slightly under the touch, then snapped back against her upper lip with a faint, popping sound.

They looked remarkably bouncy and soft.

Tongtong opened her mouth, pretending she was going to bite him.

Unfazed, Zhang Wuyong brought two fingers together and teased her playfully.

The girl's eyes widened instantly.

My mom is still outside!

It was neither candied hawthorns nor ice cream, nor was it anything more outrageous.

Yet these two fingers...

Next, while keeping an eye on the scoundrel's reactions, she slowly and continuously adjusted herself.

Strictly speaking, what they were doing at that moment didn't seem like much of anything.

Yet to say they weren't doing anything at all would be quite untrue.

More importantly, she understood.

Right now, he was simply "teaching" her.

What an odious fellow.

Out in the living room, Zhu Yuwen noticed that after the young man went inside, all sound ceased.

There was no sound of conversation, nor the occasional banter and random chatting that usually accompanied the two kids whenever they spent time together.

Yet she knew her daughter was actually awake at that moment.

She felt a mild headache coming on; in a sense, this absolute silence was far worse than their previous lack of shame.

Oh well, whatever.

She decided to simply head across the hall to chat with Song Meimei, leaving the two kids to their own devices.

She hadn't been home these past few days.

She was honestly afraid that when the new semester started, her daughter would suddenly announce she was about to become a grandmother.

Surely it wouldn't come to that, right?

Regardless, prevention was entirely useless at this point.

Having learned numerous useless skills, Tongtong finally stopped lingering in bed.

Once she got up and emerged from the bathroom, Zhang Wuyong asked out of curiosity, "Tongtong, what on earth have you been doing at home these past few days? Why do you always sleep so late at night? Are you typing something?"

The tablet, the laptop, and that brand-new keyboard made him suspect she must be working on something that required a massive amount of typing.

"It's nothing!" Tongtong picked up a brush, combing her morning-tossed hair as she walked.

"What do you mean, 'it's nothing'?" Zhang Wuyong grew even more puzzled. "What on earth are you doing? Why won't you tell me?"

Zhao Yutong opened her mouth, then suddenly grew shy again. "I just won't tell you."

Zhang Wuyong acted as though he had suffered ten thousand points of damage. "There are secrets between us now? Hurry up and tell me what you're up to!"

"Why can't I have secrets?" Zhao Yutong glanced at him, pouting slightly. "I'm not telling you, humph."

That felt right.

It really hit the spot.

"It's fine if you don't tell me, but you've just damaged my fragile heart, so you have to compensate me." Zhang Wuyong pulled her into an embrace and pushed her back onto the sofa.