New Semester

"..."

"Mm..."

"Huh?"

On the first day of the semester at Yinshan Academy, Ye Shuang woke up groggily in bed, only to find that half of his arm had completely lost all sensation, as if it had gone entirely numb.

As his mind gradually cleared, his gaze fell on the young girl beside him. Bai Yuyou was fast asleep in her pajamas, looking perfectly peaceful. When Ye Shuang realized his arm was pinned under her, he carefully pulled it free.

"I can't feel a thing at all."

Ye Shuang tried to move his arm, but when it didn't respond at all, he let out a small, helpless sigh.

Everyone had stayed up very late the night before, even though it was the first day of the new semester. After all, they had hosted a party and invited Taozi and her friends over to celebrate. The most tedious parts of the whole thing had been the preparations, and then the cleanup afterward.

Almost everyone had left in the wee hours of the morning. By the time they had tidied up the whole venue, put everything away, and taken a shower, it was only natural that they had gotten to bed extremely late.

"Mmm." Bai Yuyou seemed to sense Ye Shuang moving. She reached out a hand blindly, half-asleep, then rolled over and plopped her whole body right on top of Ye Shuang's thighs. Her dark hair fanned out, revealing her smooth forehead and the long, fine eyelashes peeking out from under her bangs.

Seeing the clingy little girl who had crawled over to fall asleep on his lap, Ye Shuang tried to lift her head off gently. But since his arm still had no strength, he could only poke her cheek with his finger.

"Yuyou, time to wake up."

At the sound of Ye Shuang's voice, Bai Yuyou didn't react at all, only letting out a dazed, murmurous "uh" sound.

Ye Shuang then started patting her cheek softly, and the girl let out a string of cute, muffled "mm-mm-mm-mm" noises.

When Bai Yuyou rolled over, grabbed the air conditioner quilt, and wrapped herself up tight like a spring roll, Ye Shuang had no choice but to get out of bed and head to the bathroom to wash up first.

Just as he had expected, everyone had pulled an all-nighter cleaning up the night before, so there was nobody else outside the bedroom at all. Even though it was the first day of the new semester, Keke and the others had clearly forgotten that classes were starting that day.

"Finally, it's feeling a little better." Ye Shuang moved his arm around, relieved that the numbness from Bai Yuyou lying on it was starting to wear off.

He was just thinking about what to make for breakfast when he heard a faint knock on the door.

"Huh? That's my door? But we have a doorbell, don't we?" The knock was so soft that it made Ye Shuang pause for a second. He had no idea who could be coming over at this hour.

He set down what he was holding and walked toward the entryway. He didn't rush to open the door right away, but stood behind it for a few seconds to make sure someone really was outside knocking so softly. Then he peered through the peephole.

Standing outside was a tiny, petite figure, with one hand raised in the air.

Recognizing the familiar face, Ye Shuang pulled the door open right away, and saw the young girl standing outside. "Taozi, good morning."

"Good morning, Brother Ye." The moment Taozi saw Ye Shuang open the door, the originally calm look in her eyes brightened noticeably.

Taozi greeted him politely, and Ye Shuang looked at the girl who was a whole head shorter than him, feeling a little confused. "Taozi, this isn't your first time coming over to my place, right? Why didn't you just ring the doorbell?"

Taozi looked a little sheepish. "I got here way too early, Brother Ye. I was worried you guys were still asleep, and ringing the bell would wake you all up."

"So I just tried knocking really softly. I figured if anyone was in the living room, they'd be able to hear it."

"What if no one was in the living room? You couldn't have just stood out there waiting forever, right?" Ye Shuang said.

Taozi smiled shyly. That was exactly what she had planned to do.

"I see you really were just going to wait out there." Ye Shuang suddenly realized something. "How long have you been standing out here, anyway?"

"I just got here a second ago!"

"Is that so?" Ye Shuang suspected she had been waiting for much longer, but he didn't press the matter. "Alright, come on in. It's so hot out there."

After Taozi stepped inside, Ye Shuang poured her a glass of water. "Go sit down and rest for a bit. Keke and the others are still lazing around in bed, they haven't woken up yet."

As he spoke, Ye Shuang walked into the kitchen to get started on breakfast.

But when he turned around a little later, he found Taozi standing right behind him. "Brother Ye, let me help you make breakfast."

"Thanks, but you should just go rest." Ye Shuang noticed the dark circles under her eyes. "You haven't been getting much sleep lately, have you?"

Taozi touched the corners of her eyes in surprise. "Ah... you're so observant, Brother Ye."

After the party ended the night before, Taozi still had her shift at the bar, so she hadn't gone to bed until three in the morning.

"Fugui really is something, piling all that work on you."

"No, no, I asked for all those shifts myself!" Taozi spoke up immediately, worried Ye Shuang was going to blame Fugui. "I want to get more practice and experience, and the boss has been paying me really well too."

"I know that..." Ye Shuang paused for a moment. "I know how much pressure you're under right now, with all those little sisters you have to take care of. But your health is the most important thing. Most health problems are caused by staying up late all the time. Don't think just because you're young nothing bad will happen to you."

"But..." Taozi started to say something, then hesitated.

Ye Shuang gave her a gentle smile. "If you ever feel like you can't keep going, come work at my company. Don't put so much pressure on yourself. I might not be able to pay you a huge, outrageous salary, but it'll be more than enough for you to take good care of all your sisters, and you won't have to work those late, tiring shifts anymore."

"Then can I do all the work myself?" Taozi asked suddenly.

The next second, Ye Shuang flicked her lightly on the forehead.

"All that talking I just did, and you still want to do my share of the work too?" Ye Shuang said, equal parts amused and exasperated.

Taozi covered her forehead with her hand, but the look in her eyes turned soft and warm. "Thank you so much, Brother Ye. If you hadn't helped me out back then, I..."

Just then, a voice came from the staircase.

"Whoa, Taozi's already here."

Ye Shuang and Taozi turned around to see a short-haired girl in her pajamas walking down the stairs. She yawned widely, then put her hands on her hips. "Ugh, classes are starting again. This school life is so boring."

"But you barely even show up to class anyway, right?"

"Yeah, but I still get great grades, don't I?"

Ye Shuang was speechless.

Isn't that all because Xiaoyi takes the exams for you?

Just then, An Shiyu noticed how exhausted Taozi looked. "Hey, do you want to catch some sleep? Did you pull an all-nighter again?"

"No, it's fine, I don't need to sleep."

"You really should go get some sleep." An Shiyu said, her face completely serious. "If you work yourself to death from overwork, no one's going to take care of your sisters. They'll end up on the streets, and no one'll even find them when something bad happens."

"Eek, eek—" Taozi knew perfectly well Little Yu was just looking out for her, and in the end she let the girl lead her to the guest room to take a quick nap.