It was the weekend.
Ye Shuang woke up early. He didn’t plan on going to the office today, and neither did Chen Qin. Since it was the start of a new year, he intended to visit his parents.
The moment a loved one passes away, your mind goes completely blank. That isn't actually the most painful part. The true agony comes later, rushing in like a tide whenever you remember them or encounter something related to them.
"Phew." Ye Shuang leaned back against the headboard. A sliver of sunlight filtered through the gap in the curtains, falling across his bangs in shimmering patches. He squinted slightly and reached out, trying to grasp the light.
"I must be half-asleep, actually trying to keep the light in my hand..."
With a rustle, Ye Shuang pulled the curtains open. The sunlight was a bit blinding, forcing him to look away. He couldn't help but marvel at the beautiful weather.
"Oh?"
A furry sensation brushed against his foot, and Ye Shuang realized he had stepped on something. He looked down and saw Yi Wan lying on its back, exposing its belly. Its fur was white, and although it hadn't had a bath in a while, it was still snowy and clean.
"Did you sleep with me last night?" Ye Shuang glanced at the closed door nearby. "You didn't decide to use my room as a litter box because you couldn't get out, did you?"
He sniffed the air, but everything seemed fine.
Yi Wan gave him a look of utter disdain, then rolled over and went back to sleep on the floor.
"Well..."
Ye Shuang opened the door and checked the wall clock. It was not even seven o'clock yet—too early. Neither Bai Yuyou nor Chen Qin were up.
"I'll get breakfast ready," Ye Shuang thought as he headed downstairs.
By nearly eight o'clock, Ye Shuang had finished preparing three servings of breakfast and brewed coffee for himself and Chen Qin. Whether it was coffee or strong tea, both were excellent for a morning pick-me-up, though he usually chose coffee on workdays.
It was simply more convenient and kicked in faster.
"We'll head to the cemetery after breakfast. I need to buy flowers, but there should be a shop at the cemetery entrance." Ye Shuang leaned back in his chair, sipping his coffee. His heart felt heavy. Chen Qin had told him the truth about his parents' death to help him correct his memories.
Although Chen Qin had repeatedly insisted that it wasn't his fault and that Zhao Mengyao was to blame, Ye Shuang still felt responsible after learning the truth.
"If only..."
"There are no 'if onlys' in life." Ye Shuang tasted the bitterness in his mouth and looked out the window. The sky, which had been clear when he woke up, was now veiled by a thin layer of clouds. The living room felt much dimmer.
"Is it going to rain?"
"Probably not... just cloudy?" Ye Shuang walked to the balcony to look out. He felt like his heart was mirroring the sky—heavy, stifled, and unable to clear.
Click.
Ye Shuang turned on the living room lights, instantly brightening the space. Considering that Chen Qin usually took a long time to get ready, he went up to the second floor to wake her.
Knock, knock. Ye Shuang tapped on the door and then pushed it open gently.
He walked in to find Chen Qin in the middle of changing her underwear. Her long hair draped down, and one hand was covering her full curves as she stared at him in a daze. She had probably been about to answer him, but she hadn't expected him to just walk in.
"Ye, close the door first," Chen Qin said, her face flushing red. "Wait for me a moment."
"Cough, I'll head out. I thought you were sleeping in," Ye Shuang said, not expecting to see such a sight.
"No need to go out, Ye... Here, help me with the clasp. This feels a bit small, I can't reach it." Chen Qin turned her back to him, sweeping her long hair over her shoulder. Her face was tinged with a rosy glow, her eyes shimmering like water, exposing her smooth, elegant back.
"..."
"Want to go a round? I have some Durex."
"Uh..."
In the end, Ye Shuang didn't take her up on the offer. After all, "playing games" took too much time. When Chen Qin finished washing up and came out, she hadn't even put on makeup. She went for a completely natural look, her clear, beautiful face still dotted with a few stray droplets of water.
"Not going to wear makeup?" Ye Shuang asked. Chen Qin almost always wore makeup when going out because her busy work schedule often left her looking a bit tired.
"No. It’s better to look simple when visiting your parents," Chen Qin said with a smile as she pinned her hair up. Having had plenty of sleep the night before, she looked to be in excellent spirits.
"Alright."
Sensing that Ye Shuang’s expression was a bit off, Chen Qin asked, "Ye, are you... alright?"
"Hmm? What could be wrong?" Ye Shuang smiled.
"I see." Though she knew what was on his mind, Chen Qin didn't press him. Instead, she said softly, "Should we wake Yuyou?"
"Yeah."
After Chen Qin went downstairs to eat, Ye Shuang arrived at Bai Yuyou's door. Taking a lesson from a moment ago, he knocked firmly.
There was no response from inside.
After a few seconds, Ye Shuang knocked again. "Yuyou, time to get up."
It remained quiet; there was still no reaction.
Seeing this, Ye Shuang decided he didn't need to be so formal and pushed the door open.
The room was dim, likely because the girl had drawn the curtains tight. On the desk nearby, piles of sketches and papers were stacked high.
On the bed, the girl was hugging a pillow, sleeping soundly. Perhaps because the heater was on, she was currently wearing nothing but a pair of white stockings, not even covered by a blanket as she slept on her side.
"..."
Ye Shuang stood there for a few seconds, his lip twitching. Why did this girl sleep in stockings but no underwear?
"Yuyou, wake up, Yuyou."
Ye Shuang sat on the edge of the bed and gently pinched the girl’s cheek.
But Bai Yuyou remained dead to the world. He wondered if she had pulled an all-nighter.
"Maybe I should just go with Chen Qin and let you sleep a bit longer?" Ye Shuang asked.
Only then did Bai Yuyou blearily open her eyes. "I want to go."
As she spoke, she clung to Ye Shuang like a piece of limp dough.
Left with no choice, Ye Shuang had to help the girl into her clothes before finally hoisting her over his shoulder to carry her downstairs.
"Hmm?" Chen Qin was sitting in the dining area, scrolling through her tablet. She looked surprised when she saw Bai Yuyou dangling limply over Ye Shuang’s shoulder.
"Baa?"
"She probably didn't get enough sleep. She's like this sometimes."
"Uh... maybe just the two of us should go?"
"I'm going," Bai Yuyou suddenly lifted her head, though her voice remained incredibly sluggish.
She certainly was persistent.
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
