Ye Shuang had no idea that Aunt Qiao would suddenly say all that. After all, Fu Yao had passed away a long time ago. As for whether Fu Yao had truly had feelings for him — Ye Shuang more or less had a pretty good sense of the truth, since during the years he had lived through that alternate timeline, he had come to know just how much that reserved young girl had cared for him.
But there were no "what ifs". That girl was truly gone, and Fugui, even as the sister playing that part, could never actually become Fu Yao. There was no way he could ever get together with Fugui. That was absolutely impossible.
Even the idea of some kind of head-to-head showdown didn't hold any appeal for Ye Shuang. Even though he'd been run ragged lately by Bai Yuyou or Chen Qin, his orientation was perfectly normal.
Looking at Auntie Qiao's increasingly gaunt face, Ye Shuang knew that jolting this poor, grieving old woman back to full, harsh clarity would be nothing short of cruel. He looked down at the aged, wrinkled hand wrapped around his own, sighed softly to himself, and gently wrapped his hand around hers in return.
After chatting with her for a little while, Auntie Qiao's eyes fell on Bai Yuyou. Confused by the unfamiliar face she had never seen before, she asked, "This one is..."
Auntie Qiao had never met Bai Yuyou before. Fugui almost certainly had never told her about her, or if he had, she had completely forgotten — after all, someone whose memory was failing so badly couldn't even bring herself to accept that Fu Yao was no longer alive.
"Auntie Qiao, this is Bai Yuyou. She came to visit you too," Ye Shuang said with a warm smile when he noticed her confused gaze.
Auntie Qiao patted Ye Shuang's hand gently after hearing that. "This kid, calling her 'this kid' — you're still a kid yourself, not even fully grown!"
Ye Shuang awkwardly twitched the corners of his mouth. Auntie Qiao, what timeline are you still stuck thinking of me from? When he turned his head, he saw Chen Qin covering her mouth to stifle a laugh, her bright eyes crinkling into little crescents.
Auntie Qiao took an immediate liking to Bai Yuyou, the fair-skinned girl with an almost dreamlike air about her. She set Ye Shuang aside and started chatting with Bai Yuyou, asking the usual questions about what school she went to, what year she was in, and so on. When she heard Bai Yuyou was already a junior in college, she looked genuinely surprised.
"Then Fu Yao and Xiaoye should both be calling you big sister!"
That line left everyone present feeling a little caught between laughter and tears, but no one said anything. If the old lady wanted to talk that way, it was better to go along with it than to contradict her.
After chatting for a while, Ye Shuang suddenly noticed something, and his gaze drifted to the medical record book on the bedside table. The name on the cover made it clear it belonged to Auntie Qiao.
But just as he reached out subconsciously to flip through it, a hand moved faster and snatched the record right out from under him. Ye Shuang turned to look, and saw Fugui smiling faintly, saying nothing at all.
Seeing that, Ye Shuang seemed to understand everything. He glanced over at Auntie Qiao one more time, then pulled his gaze back and stood up. "Auntie Qiao, are you thirsty? Let me get you a glass of water."
"Haha, no need, no need. I'm not thirsty."
As lunchtime drew near, Fugui got up to go talk to the doctor. Seeing Fugui's back as he left, Ye Shuang stood up to follow. "I'll come with you."
"Oh?"
The moment Ye Shuang followed Fugui out of the hospital room, Fugui paused in his steps. His eyes narrowed, and it was hard to tell if he was smiling or hurting. "Little Shuangshuang, you figured something out, didn't you?"
There was a few seconds of silence before Ye Shuang answered. "You know I know a thing or two about spotting illnesses."
"So you think it's bad?" Fugui didn't sound like he was asking Ye Shuang. He sounded more like he was muttering to himself, his voice drained of all energy.
"Cancer." The single word caught Fugui by surprise, but soon a look of desolation spread across his face, as if nothing could ever be hidden from Ye Shuang. "You're really something, you could even tell that?"
"Just a guess," Ye Shuang said, not bothering to explain further.
Fugui didn't press him on it. He leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath. "Pancreatic cancer. The king of all cancers, Little Shuangshuang."
Ye Shuang knew full well how tricky this condition was. The pancreas is tucked deep behind other organs, and it's so quiet about small problems that by the time you feel something is wrong, it's already a huge issue. Regular checkups almost never catch problems there. That's why pancreatic cancer earns its reputation as the king of cancers. By the time it's found, it's almost always at the advanced stage. The blood vessels and nerves around that area make surgery incredibly difficult, it's close to being a hopeless situation.
"Is it... advanced?"
"Yeah, it's advanced." Fugui looked off to the side, not really focusing on anything in particular, just using the tip of his pinky to brush away a tear that no one would have noticed otherwise. "Heh. In the end, I'm all that's left."
"I really tried my best, didn't I?"
This was the first time Fugui had ever let his vulnerable side show in front of anyone. His shoulders slumped, and seeing that, Ye Shuang reached out and wrapped his arm gently around him. "Fugui, you still have us. You still have Taozi."
Fugui didn't say anything else. As Ye Shuang held him, he realized Fugui barely had any flesh on his bones at all — he was practically just a skeleton. A few nurses passing by glanced their way, but Ye Shuang didn't care in the slightest, and just kept patting Fugui's back softly.
"Keep this a secret for me, Little Shuangshuang," Fugui said once he had calmed down a little.
"Got it."
The two of them went to the doctor's office, got all the details on Auntie Qiao's condition, and only then headed back to the hospital room.
"You two were gone for ages. Did the doctor say anything?" Chen Hai asked when he saw them walk in half an hour later.
"They just said she needs to take better care of herself," Ye Shuang paused for a moment, but answered with a gentle smile.
"Mommy, let me peel an apple for you," Fugui said, grinning cheerfully as he sidled up to Auntie Qiao's bedside. "Here you go."
Auntie Qiao beamed. "Good, peel one for Little Yuyou too. She's such a sweet, lovely kid."
"Sure thing!"
Ye Shuang and the others stayed at the hospital until two or three in the afternoon before leaving. Auntie Qiao had more tests scheduled later, and it wasn't convenient for them to hang around any longer.
"She's just here to recuperate, right? Why does she need so many tests?" Chen Hai mumbled to himself as they walked out.
Chen Qin noticed that Ye Shuang had been quiet ever since they left the hospital room, deep in thought about something. She asked, "Ye, is everything okay?"
"Me? There's nothing wrong with me." Ye Shuang couldn't say anything more, since he had promised Fugui to keep the secret. He just said softly, "Let's go home."
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
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.”
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
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…
