The small room was silent.
Only a tiny rice dumpling of a girl curled up on the bed, eyes tightly shut, her little hands fiercely gripping the hem of her clothes, huddled into a ball, her face pale.
Xiaobai, who had barely been a little girl before, had now completely shrunk to the size of a toddler. She was no taller than Ye Shu’s arm, small, looking like a child who had just learned to crawl.
Ye Shu quickly stepped forward and crouched by the bed.
Under closer inspection, he noticed that the girl’s face was terrifyingly pale, devoid of any color. Her lips, once pink and tender, were now ashen white, and her breath was faint.
“Xiaobai? Xiaobai?”
He testedly called out twice, gently touching her plump little cheek, like he was trying to wake a sleeping child—softly, but enough for her to feel it.
“Mm...”
In her sleep, Xiaobai murmured softly, slowly opening her dull, lusterless eyes.
When she saw the person before her, she smiled gently.
“Hehe... you’re awake?”
Xiaobai lay sideways on the bed, lacking the strength to even move a finger. She only weakly tugged at the corners of her mouth, looking at the fragmented figure before her, speaking wearily.
“See... I’m actually pretty useful, right?”
“You said it before... I’m the most... the most useful, didn’t you? You can’t die. I won’t let you die...”
Her voice was very soft, every word spoken with effort.
After two or three words, she had to pause, catch her breath, before continuing.
But Ye Shu was patient, listening quietly.
“So, it was you who revived me?”
“That’s right! So... am I impressive?” Xiaobai grabbed his pinky finger, holding it tight, her big eyes full of a look that begged for praise.
“...”
Ye Shu’s lips trembled a few times. He wanted to say something but couldn’t bring himself to speak. He just nodded.
“Impressive. Very impressive.”
“Hehe...”
Hearing his praise, Xiaobai’s eyes crinkled with joy as she giggled, like a child who had finally gotten candy.
“If I’m that impressive... hehe...”
“Can you give me a hug?”
She squinted, reaching out her two chubby little hands, like a child just waking up and asking for a hug.
Today, Xiaobai loved to smile.
She hadn’t stopped smiling.
So innocent and carefree, so sweet and clever, like a real three- or four-year-old child.
Ye Shu was stunned for a moment, then took off his shoes and socks, climbed onto the bed, and gathered Xiaobai into his arms with the utmost care, as if afraid that even slight pressure would break her.
“Mmm...”
Xiaobai nestled comfortably in his arms, her little nose twitching slightly as she let out a contented sigh.
“This is way more comfortable~”
“Hoo...”
The two leaned together, enjoying the simple time.
“Aren’t you curious?” Xiaobai suddenly spoke quietly, with a hint of pride. “Why was it the Holy Maiden of the Demon Sect who revived you, and not Zhao Zhixia?”
Ye Shu was taken aback, then nodded.
Indeed.
Whether in terms of power or emotion, his childhood sweetheart should have had no reason to lose to the Holy Maiden of the Demon Sect.
Seeing his dazed expression, Xiaobai giggled softly.
“That’s all because of me~”
She gave a sly wink, and a brief spark lit up in her dull, lifeless eyes.
“Hehe, if Zhao Zhixia had revived you...”
“Wow, that would’ve been a total disaster!”
She said dramatically: “Then I’d get NTR-ed again! She’s got so many people eyeing you hungrily, no way I’d let that happen!”
Xiaobai wrinkled her little nose, acting petty.
“Bushigomen?”
Ye Shu almost laughed in exasperation. So all this scheming was just to keep him away from others? He asked curiously, “Aren’t you afraid the Holy Maiden of the Demon Sect might devour me?”
“No.”
“No?”
“Absolutely not.” Xiaobai looked at him with utter certainty. “I know you. You would never get involved with the Holy Maiden of the Demon Sect. You couldn’t do it.”
“Hard to say.”
Ye Shu shrugged noncommittally.
“Hmph...” Xiaobai grunted softly, curling deeper into his arms. Her eyes could barely stay open, but she forced herself to hold on, speaking in fragments. “I’m getting sleepy... I might sleep for a long, long time... a really, really long time... You have to promise me, while I’m asleep, don’t go batting your eyes at other women. No more additions!”
Her later words were too quiet. Ye Shu seemed not to hear.
“What did you say?”
He leaned in, pretending to listen closely: “I didn’t catch that. Say it louder.”
“You big dummy... no more NTR-ing me...”
Xiaobai murmured weakly, eyes half-closed.
“Huh?”
“No... more other women...”
“Can you speak up? My ears aren’t so good. What’d you say? No more other women?”
“It’s... no more...”
“More?”
“You! You...”
Xiaobai was furious. Of course she knew Ye Shu was just messing with her on purpose, but she had no strength left. She could only glare helplessly, her little hand clutching his clothes as she said feebly, “No... no...”
Before she could finish, her voice stopped abruptly.
Xiaobai’s hand had already loosened, but her eyes were still wide open, full of unwillingness.
She couldn’t even sleep with her eyes closed!
Ye Shu looked down at the sleeping Xiaobai, his playful expression fading away, replaced by a calm, impassive face.
He gently closed Xiaobai’s eyes, laying her flat on the bed and pulling the covers over her. Then he got out of bed, standing by the bedside, gazing at her for a long time.
Xiaobai’s breathing was very faint, but also steady.
Just as she said, she was merely too tired.
“Silly child.”
Ye Shu turned around and pushed open the courtyard gate.
“From today on, I will never let anyone leave me again.”
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
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.”
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…
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
