"You must be thirsty, Xiaofeng? I'll go get you something to eat right now."
"......"
At this moment, Shen Mengli was so flustered that she could barely string her words together. Seeing this, Ye Feng reached out and gently held her back, preventing her from fleeing the scene.
"It's alright, Mengli. Embarrassing moments happen to everyone. You'll get used to it after a few more."
"I don’t want to embarrass myself like that in front of you, Xiaofeng!!"
Realizing escape was futile, Shen Mengli slumped back into her wheelchair, closing her eyes and muttering to herself in resignation.
"It's over... Everything is over now, my life, my future... all of it..."
"Is it really that bad?"
Ye Feng tapped her forehead lightly, amused yet surprised by how dramatic her inner monologue could be.
"Alright, Mengli, enough joking around. We need to have a serious talk about what you just said."
"Mmm..."
Shen Mengli opened her beautiful eyes, her expression conflicted as she lowered her head, resigned to the inevitable.
"Can... can I not talk about it?"
"What do you think?"
Ye Feng stood up from the pavilion bench, carefully steadying the wheelchair behind her as he asked,
"Mengli, do you want to chat while I push you, or would you prefer to walk and talk?"
"W-Walking..."
"Got it."
With Ye Feng’s support, Shen Mengli slowly rose from the wheelchair. Thanks to her persistent rehabilitation, she stood up much faster than before.
"Do you need me to hold you?"
"Yes. I can take a step or two on my own, but without support, I’ll fall."
Her tone was matter-of-fact, betraying no embarrassment—she knew her body’s limits all too well.
"Alright, then hold onto my arm. Tell me if you get tired, okay?"
"I will."
Shen Mengli glanced at the unease in Ye Feng’s eyes and sensed something must have happened to unsettle him.
"Ask me anything, Xiaofeng. I’ll tell you what I can."
"Okay..."
And so, the two began a slow stroll through the welfare center’s garden.
"Mengli, first, explain why you still think you’re a burden to me. I’ve told you countless times you’re not, yet you keep believing it."
"Well..."
She bit her lip, her furrowed brows betraying her hesitation.
"Don’t worry, Mengli. I know you might have reservations, but trust me, alright? If you don’t speak up, nothing will change. It takes courage to break free."
"Because... because all of this..."
Mid-sentence, Shen Mengli suddenly shuddered, burying her face in Ye Feng’s chest like a frightened ostrich.
"Mengli?!"
Before he could comfort her, he felt her trembling violently in his arms. He tried stroking her hair gently to soothe her, but she only shook her head, murmuring incoherently.
"I don’t... I don’t want to die... I don’t want to disappear from your life... No!"
"Mengli! Snap out of it!"
Ye Feng gripped her shoulders, shaking her lightly. If she didn’t calm down soon, she’d spiral into full-blown panic.
"X-Xiaofeng... please... h-hold me..."
Without hesitation, Ye Feng wrapped his arms tightly around her. Only when his hands settled around her slender waist did her trembling gradually subside.
Despite her long stay at the welfare center, Shen Mengli still carried a faint, delicate fragrance. The scent relaxed Ye Feng, and he let his mind go blank, simply holding her in silence.
"Mmm..."
Nestled against him, Shen Mengli breathed in his familiar scent, her expression softening into tranquility—even with a hint of longing.
"Xiaofeng."
Her voice snapped him back to reality, and he quickly loosened his embrace.
"Mengli? Feeling better?"
"Yes, thanks to you."
Instead of pulling away, she leaned into his chest, smiling faintly.
"Sorry, Xiaofeng. You had to see me like that again."
"Never mind that. Tell me—what were you so afraid of? Did someone threaten you?"
"It’s..."
She gnawed her lip, hesitating, then glanced warily toward the welfare center’s outer wall before rising on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear.
"Actually... I’m scared of Sister Yuyan."
"Wha—"
Ye Feng nearly blurted out his shock but caught himself. Her cautious demeanor suggested she was wary of being overheard. Could "Yu Yan" really be Xie Yuyan? But they’d only just met—how could...
He cut off his own thoughts and abruptly scooped Shen Mengli into his arms. The sudden motion startled her, and she instinctively clutched his shirt.
"Wh-what’s wrong, Xiaofeng? Why are you carrying me—"
"Not here. Let’s go to your room first, okay?"
He kept his voice low, urgency lacing his words. This was critical—his life and future depended on it.
"O-okay."
Shen Mengli nodded obediently, pressing her face against his chest again as if hiding from an unseen threat.
In no time, Ye Feng carried her back to her room. After carefully settling her onto the bed, he turned to fetch a chair—only for her to seize him from behind in a tight embrace.
"Mengli?"
"J-just stay like this, okay? I only feel safe when you’re close."
"Is that so..."
Ye Feng couldn’t fathom what had traumatized her so deeply, but his suspicion toward Xie Yuyan grew.
Could it really be as Mengli said? Has Xie Yuyan been scheming behind my back?
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
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)
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!
spital. Good news: I've bound a system. Bad news: I'm still a baby. "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, do not bully the middle-aged for being poor — Divorce Comeback System." "Your marriage may have failed, but your luck in love has never run dry. Your childhood sweetheart, out of contact for twenty years, reappears. Her beauty remains, yet her eyes are brimming with tears." [Listen to the childhood sweetheart's sorrowful story.] Chen Zhi looked down at the diaper he was wearing, then at the little childhood sweetheart crying her heart out beside him, and fell into deep thought. Can anyone relate? I'm having a midlife crisis at an age where even rolling over is a struggle.
