Turned Black

“Hey, these are the snacks I got for you. They might not be worth much, but since they're from yours truly, they're priceless.”

“Got it?”

Bai Yuyou was sitting on the hospital bed, and by her bedside was Alice, who had just been speaking.

Bobo, meanwhile, was placing the gifts and a fruit basket on a nearby table. Everything there was basically what Bai Yuyou loved to eat—generally speaking, as long as something was edible, Bai Yuyou wouldn't refuse it. After all, this kid had spent a fairly long stretch of her life eating leftovers.

Being able to eat until full is itself a blessing—that's what Bai Yuyou had always believed.

“Thank you, Alice,” Bai Yuyou said. Even though Ye Shuang had already prepared plenty of snacks so she wouldn't run out, she still softly expressed her gratitude upon seeing what Alice had brought. “And you too, Bobo.”

“Please, don't be so formal, Miss Bai Yuyou,” Bobo said, but he still asked with concern, “Is there anything serious with your health?”

“No problem at all—it's just that Ye Shuang is worried,” Bai Yuyou said. She had already been in this ward for several days now. Even Taozi had been discharged and gone back to work, while she was still staying for a few more days of observation.

“Oh, come on, big brother is just worried about you, that's all,” Tang Keke said with a smile from the other hospital bed, the one originally meant for Taozi. She practically came over to help look after Yuyou whenever she had free time. That was, of course, something Ye Shuang had asked of her, but it was also something Keke wanted to do herself.

It definitely wasn't because Ye Shuang had promised to buy her a full set of merchandise.

“It's better to be checked more thoroughly. After all, you almost lost your life this time,” Alice said, speaking with great maturity. “Life is extremely fragile.”

“You're still just a little kid,” Keke said.

“Hmph, my psychological age is way more mature than yours—you, whose breast capacity is bigger than your brain capacity,” Alice snorted.

“As if your head is any bigger than they are,” Tang Keke pursed her lips, looking even a bit disgusted.

“You! Hmph... I won't bicker with you.” Alice turned around. “I'm leaving!”

“Alice, won't you stay a little longer?” Bai Yuyou asked.

“No.”

“After all, Mr. Ye Shuang isn't here either,” Bobo added from the side.

“Shut up, Bobo. Let's go!”

“Very well, Lady Alice.”

Under Bai Yuyou and Keke's watch, Alice left the ward with Bobo in tow.

However, right before going out the door, Bobo glanced back at Bai Yuyou, then turned and followed Alice out.

...

“Hmph, that Tang Keke. One of these days, I'll pop her,” Alice muttered as she walked ahead, then subconsciously touched herself. As if a thought crossed her mind, she let out a smug little hum. “With my genes, it'll be easy to grow bigger.”

“Right, Bobo?”

“Bobo?”

Alice turned around, only to find Bobo walking quietly without a word. When she stopped in her tracks, Bobo lowered his eyes and looked at her. “My apologies, Lady Alice. I was just thinking about dinner and got a little distracted.”

“How can you do that?” Alice puffed up her adorable little cheeks.

“What did you just say?”

“Never mind—you didn't hear it anyway.”

“Is that so?”

Just then, an anxious voice rang out from nearby: “Excuse me, please make way!!!”

Alice and Bobo looked over and saw a hospital bed being rushed forward, with several nurses and doctors running alongside—on the bed, someone was covered in blood, apparently seriously injured.

“Whoa... that looks bad,” Alice said as she watched the group hurry off. She rubbed her own arm with her palm, looking a little scared.

Then a thought struck her. “If I'd been in the lead singer's position back then, when that screen fell down, I probably would've ended up like that too, huh?”

Based on how things were originally arranged, the person standing beside her wouldn't have been Taozi—it would've been Bai Yuyou.

And with Bai Yuyou's snail-paced reaction speed, no one would've been saved.

“...” Alice seemed reluctant to think any further down that path.

“Well, guess I was just lucky,” Alice muttered to herself, then left the hospital with Bobo.

...

Time blurred by until it was already afternoon. At the entrance of the Chen Group building, inside a Rolls-Royce, the driver sitting in the driver's seat said, “President Ye, we've arrived.”

“Mm...” Ye Shuang, sitting in the back, rubbed his brow and responded.

He reached out and pulled the handle, and the car door opened automatically. Stepping out, Ye Shuang looked a bit tired. Kou Kou, who immediately came up beside him, asked, “President Ye, would you like to rest for a bit?”

“I'm fine. What's next on the schedule?” Ye Shuang asked. The ride today had been a bit long.

“One more meeting, and then there's nothing else on the agenda for today.”

“Alright.”

Ye Shuang walked into the elevator with Kou Kou. Quite a few employees passed by and greeted him, but Ye Shuang merely nodded lightly and took the elevator up.

“President Ye has been kind of aloof lately.”

“Shh, say less. Now that Chief Chen has given all the power to President Ye, of course he doesn't need to smile at us little employees all day.”

“True, he's pretty much the top guy now. And didn't he only just join the company not too long ago?”

“Alright, enough you lot. President Ye actually chatted with us just today—he's no different than usual. He's probably just tired right now.”

A few employees whispered among themselves, but they didn't feel comfortable gossiping about leadership for too long. After exchanging a couple of words, they each returned to their posts. And just as some employees had said, Ye Shuang really was exhausted—so tired that all he wanted was to get to his office and sit for a moment.

“Rest for a bit, then pick up the kid and head over to Yuyou's place,” Ye Shuang thought as he arrived at his office door. After all, Ye Zi also went to see Bai Yuyou after school every day, so he could just bring her along.

But just as he was about to open the door, he sensed that someone was inside his office.

He felt a little puzzled, but he still reached out and pushed it open—

Inside the office, two figures were sitting at the desk, typing away furiously. Perhaps hearing the sound of the door opening, one of them—a short-haired young woman—looked up.

“Yo.”

“Yo~”

After seeing An Shiyu and Anshi Yi in his office, Ye Shuang paused for a few seconds, then quietly closed the door.

A few seconds later, he opened it again.

“Not a hallucination, huh.” Seeing An Shiyu and Anshi Yi again, Ye Shuang was genuinely surprised.

“It's been so long since you've seen us, and you have nothing to say?” Anshi Yi asked.

“...” Ye Shuang looked at them for a few more seconds, then said,

“Your skin's gotten darker.”