Sister, you wouldn't want your own card to be damaged, would you

"Cut it out!"

Su Qi could still grit his teeth and accept the previous +9999.

After all, the rewards were just too generous.

So what if he became a laughingstock?

But now, this "666" felt downright glaring.

Su Qi could swear on his C drive to the heavens above:

"By the will of the heavens, I stand against gambling and vice!"

In other words, Su Qi truly didn’t have the guts to do something like that openly—at most, he might fantasize about it in his head...

Ugh, whatever, you get the idea. Digging too deep ruins the fun.

Meanwhile, Liu Yuan’s face was burning red.

She hadn’t expected things to take such an unexpected turn.

In the past, if Su Qi had dared to pull something like this, she might’ve already been ready to fight him.

But now… for some reason, she felt a faint flicker of secret delight?

Was she awakening some strange new trait?

No, no—it had to be because, after learning the "truth" about her "brother," all those imagined barriers between them had vanished.

Plus, the very "flaws" she used to feel insecure about… Su Qi seemed to surprisingly like them?

Of course, the bigger reason was that she could tell Su Qi hadn’t done it on purpose.

After all, few people could convincingly fake the reflex of a sneeze.

Otherwise, why would anyone suffer through that maddening itch when a sneeze just wouldn’t come?

As for whether her boyfriend would get angry…

She doubted it.

Hell, he might even be secretly thrilled right now?

"Should I go ask him for you, brother?"

"No, no, no!"

Su Qi kept his head down, not daring to meet Liu Yuan’s eyes.

Even though her tone didn’t sound the least bit angry,

Su Qi wasn’t convinced.

They say the calm before the storm is the most terrifying.

Wasn’t that why people said a woman’s heart was as deep as the ocean?

Su Qi was this close to pleading: "As long as you don’t tell anyone about this, I’ll do anything."

But then it hit him—something felt off.

How had he suddenly been outmaneuvered by this little brat?

Truly, lust was the blade hanging over a man’s head.

Just as the atmosphere was about to turn unbearably awkward, Liu Yuan quickly steered the conversation:

"Then hurry up and check if you can fix the card, brother!"

Not that she was bossing him around.

It’s just that Liu Yuan had no idea how much time was left before the "forced execution" kicked in.

Half an hour?

Or maybe it would explode the next second?

If he wanted to… touch… or… well, there’d be plenty of time later, right…

Ugh, Liu Yuan, Liu Yuan, what kind of nonsense are you thinking?!

Hearing this, Su Qi let out a silent sigh of relief.

He’d been drowning in awkwardness and was desperate for a distraction.

Su Qi spread the equipment card across his palm, his expression quickly turning serious as his fingers brushed against the lingering warmth from the girl’s touch.

"What’s the issue, roughly?"

Not that he lacked skill—it was just like how doctors still ask patients where it hurts.

It helped cut to the chase and save unnecessary time.

Special talents aside, Su Qi did know cardcrafting, though he wasn’t some prodigy.

What could he do? There were only so many legal ways to make money—the rest were all written in the Great Xia legal code.

As for Liu Yuan, she’d grown attached to this card. Sure, the daily quests were a pain, but the stats were worth it.

More importantly… her brother loved seeing it.

Could anyone give her a reason not to equip it?

So, playing along very cooperatively: "This card might get damaged because of my mistake in using it."

Damaged, huh...

Cards do have durability, but this durability can usually be slowly repaired with soul energy.

Generally speaking, unless it’s instantly shattered by a higher-level, powerful strike, damage doesn’t usually happen.

But... what does "mistake in using" mean...?

Can you demonstrate?

Su Qi shook off the messy thoughts in his head: "Take it back, I can’t fix it easily."

"What’s wrong, brother?"

Liu Yuan noticed Su Qi’s wording—he said it wasn’t easy for him to fix, not that he couldn’t fix it.

"Is the repair material rare or something?"

Su Qi shook his head.

Neither.

After carefully choosing his words, he began to explain: "I can’t sense any obvious issues right now. The card’s circuitry is extremely intricate. Unless you equip the card and activate it, letting me observe closely how the soul energy flows through it and identify any faulty circuits, I won’t be able to figure out the problem."

"You definitely wouldn’t agree to that."

"I would."

Su Qi: ???

For a moment, Su Qi had the illusion that Liu Yuan wasn’t just saying she was willing to let him inspect the faulty card circuits—it sounded more like something solemnly declared in a very formal setting.

He could only attribute it to the card being especially important to Liu Yuan, making her blurt it out without thinking.

Or maybe she didn’t understand?

Su Qi rephrased his explanation into simpler terms: "I can’t quite decipher its circuitry. Unless you wear it on your leg to activate it, and I need to observe up close—maybe even zero-distance contact to check a few specific circuits."

Liu Yuan felt herself overheating again.

Did Su Qi think she was an idiot...?

She understood just fine...

Did he have to spell it out so bluntly...?

It wasn’t like she hadn’t imagined scenes like this before, hugging her blanket at night—

No, no, no, that was wrong. She’d never thought about such things.

Liu Yuan wanted to repeat herself, but she was afraid acting that way might scare Su Qi.

Her favorability with him hadn’t recovered yet!

Suppressing her emotions slightly, she said, "If this can fix the card... then I’m willing to let brother inspect it..."

In that instant, Su Qi’s mind conjured up several bizarre scenarios.

["I’ll do anything if it means fixing the card."]

["Little sister, you wouldn’t want your card to stay broken, would you?"]

Su Qi double-checked: "So... I’ll really inspect it?"

Liu Yuan overheated yet again.

Su Qi, you big dummy!

Usually so sharp!

Why do you turn into such a clueless goose at times like this?!

Still asking!

She was about to die of embarrassment!

Liu Yuan lowered her head, fingers twisting together, her voice barely above a whisper: "Brother... come touch—come inspect it..."