Liu Yuan's flustered voice mingled with the splashing of water.
Su Qi was absolutely doing this on purpose!
Using this to tease her!
Then, hearing Liu Yuan's shout, Su Qi actually turned back.
His voice came through the door, laced with deliberate innocence: "What's wrong? Just call me when you're done."
As if what he'd tossed in earlier was genuinely something she needed.
Liu Yuan bit her lip, glaring at the roll of medical bandages in her hand before finally deflating with a sigh.
Whatever. Why bother arguing with Su Qi, that big idiot?
You can't wake someone who's pretending to sleep.
But then again, she wasn’t about to let him off so easily either.
Liu Yuan haphazardly wiped away the water droplets.
After a moment, she called out softly toward the door, "Brother… I'm done."
The door opened.
Su Qi stepped inside, his gaze lingering on his sister for just a second.
Her small hands were crossed defensively—one horizontal, one vertical—like a shield.
Only then did his eyes drop to the unopened roll of medical bandages in her hand. His pupils contracted sharply.
So, she’d rather…
Than…
Ah. Still a long way to go, it seemed.
Then, with slight awkwardness, Su Qi moved closer, bending down to assume the same carrying posture as before.
Liu Yuan instinctively shrank back.
"I can… probably walk on my own now," she protested in a small voice.
"Oh?"
Su Qi arched a brow but didn’t pause, sliding his arms beneath her underarms and knees before lifting her securely.
The familiar weightlessness struck her, and Liu Yuan let out a startled gasp.
Su Qi carried her out of the bathroom and gently deposited her on the living room sofa.
"Sit still," he instructed.
Liu Yuan didn’t understand why but obeyed, straightening her posture.
Su Qi picked up the discarded roll of medical bandages beside her, unwrapping it.
"Give me your hand."
"Huh?" Liu Yuan blinked.
"Didn’t you get hurt sparring yesterday?" Su Qi held up the bandage. "It’s normal to wrap injuries, right?"
Liu Yuan’s face burned crimson, equal parts embarrassment and indignation. "I’m not injured!"
"Really?" Su Qi drawled. "But from where I’m standing, a little fox seems to have gotten herself hurt and needs proper bandaging."
Liu Yuan froze, momentarily lost.
A little fox?
Was Su Qi getting into it too?
Ignoring her confusion, Su Qi took her wrist without hesitation.
The girl’s wrist was slender and pale, her skin smooth.
He began winding the bandage around it, slow and methodical.
His touch was featherlight, fingertips occasionally brushing her skin, sending faint tremors through her.
"Stop… stop messing around…"
Liu Yuan tried to pull her hand back, but her voice came out weak, lacking any real force.
Watching Su Qi meticulously "treat" her, any further protests lodged in her throat, impossible to voice.
What… what was he doing?
Role-playing again?
Now?
The bandage coiled around her wrist.
The steam from the bathroom hadn’t fully dissipated, leaving the air thick with damp warmth.
The atmosphere grew subtly charged.
"Brother…" Liu Yuan couldn’t help whispering.
"Hmm?" Su Qi glanced up, fingers still working. "Why’s the little fox acting so familiar?"
"……" Liu Yuan’s eyes widened, shame crashing over her like a tide. She shook her head vigorously.
This was… this was too embarrassing!
Su Qi paused, giving her bandaged wrist a light squeeze as if inspecting the "injury." "See? All patched up. Shouldn’t you thank the kind soul who took you in?"
Mischief glittered in his eyes.
Liu Yuan stared at him, realizing just how infuriating Su Qi could be sometimes.
He knew exactly how flustered she got, yet he kept teasing her like this.
But… the way he looked at her so intently, the gentleness of his touch…
Maybe… it wasn’t so bad?
After all, being an injured little fox sounded kind of…
Her thoughts tangled, cheeks growing hotter.
Su Qi didn’t rush her, patiently waiting while his thumb traced the edge of the bandage around her wrist.
Finally, after a long pause, Liu Yuan seemed to steel herself. In a voice barely louder than a mosquito’s hum, she mumbled four rushed, indistinct words:
"Thank you… Master…"
The moment the words left her lips, she ducked her head, too mortified to meet his eyes.
"Good girl."
"Little fox, seems your injuries aren’t just in one place."
Su Qi’s voice came again.
Liu Yuan jerked her head up, meeting his gaze.
"Where else hurts?"
She opened her mouth but couldn’t find an answer.
She wasn’t actually hurt!
This was all made up!
Yet under Su Qi’s deadpan expression, she inexplicably felt compelled to play along, to find some imaginary "wound" to humor him.
Hesitating, her gaze drifted downward, landing on her ankle.
Tentatively, she murmured, "My… my foot kind of…"
"Really?"
Su Qi caught on instantly, setting the bandage aside as his eyes trailed down her calf to her slender ankle.
It was smooth and unblemished, no sign of injury whatsoever.
Still, he reached out and cupped it lightly.
"Ah!"
Liu Yuan gasped, a shiver running through her.
"Stay still," Su Qi said firmly. "Let me check."
He leaned in, examining her ankle with exaggerated care, fingers pressing lightly.
"Does this hurt?"
"…No."
"How about here?"
"N-not… either." Liu Yuan’s voice grew smaller, her face burning.
He was too close.
After a moment, Su Qi straightened. "Doesn’t seem serious, but it still needs proper care."
With that, he took the bandage again, carefully wrapping it around her ankle.
The cool material against her warm skin sent an odd tingle through her.
Liu Yuan curled her toes, body tense, not daring to move.
She could feel the roughness of Su Qi’s calloused hands, the occasional accidental graze.
"Done."
Su Qi tied off the bandage with a neat knot, admiring his handiwork.
The girl’s right wrist and ankle were now swathed in slightly messy white bandages.
The disarray was probably intentional—Su Qi wasn’t incompetent at wrapping injuries.
Liu Yuan stared at the bandages.
What even was this…
But it wasn’t over yet.
"Move your hands. Don’t keep covering the wound. Let me treat it properly."
Liu Yuan resisted. "If I weren’t ‘injured’ and weak, I wouldn’t let you wrap me up like this."
Incidentally, Su Qi glanced at the mission prompt.
[Fun Adventure: Within two and a half months, persuade your adorable sister to willingly wear the ‘Battle-Damaged Fox Cub’ and ‘Recuperating Fox Cub’ outfits. (Completed)]
After some maneuvering, Su Qi only wrapped the bandage three times—after all, the "injury" wasn’t severe.
But this time, his technique seemed slightly off, the binding a bit too tight.
"Now then, shouldn’t the injured little fox get some proper rest?"
Su Qi's voice sounded by her ear.
Liu Yuan instinctively nodded.
Then, she felt her body lifted into the air again.
"Where are we going?" Liu Yuan asked, flustered.
"Taking you back to your nest to rest."
Su Qi carried her toward his own room.
Liu Yuan: "..."
How could this jerk Su Qi say such roleplay lines so effortlessly!
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
