Weight Loss

Summer Night was cool, with a bright moon and sparse stars.

In an elegantly decorated café, inside a small private room, the long-haired girl in a flowing white dress idly stirred the coffee in her cup with a tiny white porcelain spoon.

Across from her, a short-haired girl was firing on all cylinders, her mouth chattering away like a machine gun. The two had been talking from noon until night.

More precisely, the short-haired girl had been talking all the way until night, while Han Jiangxue only occasionally responded, looking thoroughly distracted.

The short-haired girl did not mind much. Of course, she knew Han Jiangxue's personality. Having grown up together, they could be considered childhood sweethearts and knew each other better than anyone.

In fact, the short-haired girl was already satisfied that Han Jiangxue had given her enough face to sit here all afternoon and listen to her pour out her troubles.

"Cuckoo!"

At the sound of a cuckoo call, Han Jiangxue finally stopped idly stirring her coffee with her chin propped on her hand.

Han Jiangxue pulled her phone from her bag, her expression turning slightly strange.

"What is it? What happened? Did someone confess to you again?" The short-haired girl immediately perked up, her eyes shining as she hurried over to Han Jiangxue's side.

After glancing at the message on her phone, Han Jiangxue quickly put it away and said, "Xia Yan, I need to go home."

"Going back so ear—" Xia Yan, the short-haired girl, stopped halfway through, a little embarrassed. It was already nearly eight, and Han Jiangxue had listened to her complain for an entire afternoon. "All right, I'll drive you back, but you have to tell me who texted you and what it said."

"Drive me or don't." Han Jiangxue rose directly to her feet, opened the door, and left.

"Hey, you little—" Xia Yan watched her departing figure, hurriedly got up, and chased after her despite herself.

Time rewound three minutes.

Jiangbin City, DC District, Garden Community, Building G7, Unit 1, Room 701.

Jiang Xiao looked at the night outside the window, still somewhat worried.

In the memories he had merged with, Han Jiangxue seemed never to have come home this late. He had no idea where that girl had run off to fool around.

He had called twice. Han Jiangxue casually answered with two "mm-hmms" before hanging up. When he called a third time, Han Jiangxue simply told Jiang Xiao to go downstairs and buy instant noodles.

Jiang Xiao: ??? If the memories and emotions of Jiang Xiaopi had not been secretly affecting him, Jiang Xiao could not have cared less about this woman—well, girl.

Han Jiangxue was an Awakened, after all. Nothing should happen to her, right?

But then again, the danger level in this world had risen too. What if the criminal was also an Awakened?

Leaving danger aside, what if Han Jiangxue went out drinking or singing karaoke and someone took advantage of her? Well, Han Jiangxue did not seem like the type to go clubbing.

Sigh. He had the fate of being a younger brother, but the worries of a father.

Jiang Xiao helplessly shook his head. He had spent the entire afternoon searching through materials at home, deepening his understanding of this world and gaining a clearer grasp of so-called Star Power. Only now did he remember that he had something important to do.

That important matter was deleting his embarrassing past.

And that embarrassing past was, naturally, Jiang Xiaopi's Weibo.

Following his memories, Jiang Xiao entered the account and password, then opened Weibo.

Fortunately, the previous Jiang Xiaopi had only created the account today. There were no posts on it at all, and the self-introduction-like video from noon had not been uploaded either.

However, there was one Weibo post from before that:

I want to be a dad! Jiang Xiao looked at the post on the screen and silently nodded. It was indeed domineering—simple and clear.

Huh? There was actually a reply below? Jiang Xiao hurriedly opened the replies, only to find that it was from someone named Straw Hat Man.

And it had been posted twenty minutes after the Weibo post: "Delete the Weibo immediately."

Straw Hat Man? Jiang Xiao blinked. He knew this one: "A lone boat, an old man in a straw hat; fishing alone in the cold river snow."

Cold river snow? Han Jiangxue? Oh-ho?

That name was rather poetic.

It seemed Han Jiangxue paid close attention to how Jiang Xiaopi was making a fool of himself.

Come to think of it, why did a Weibo account created today already have thirty-four followers?

Jiang Xiao clicked through the followers one by one. They were all sellers and bot accounts matched by Weibo's software.

Among those thirty-four followers, probably only one was an actual living person—Han Jiangxue.

There seemed to be some room to work with here? Jiang Xiao thought for a moment, deleted the only Weibo post, and tapped away at the keyboard.

One minute later, after carefully considering the wording, Jiang Xiao clicked Post.

At the same time, Han Jiangxue's phone in the café made a "cuckoo" sound.

Just now, from Weibo wb.cn: What a lonely, boring night. I really want to go out and have some fun. I'll hold out for another ten minutes. If I can't, then... PS: Day 1 of liking Little Jiang Xue.

In the café, Han Jiangxue put away her phone, pushed aside Xia Yan, who had leaned close, and said, "I need to go home."

Time returned to the present.

The black Jeep roared back to the entrance of Garden Community and came to a sudden stop, startling the security guard at the gate.

Han Jiangxue moved quickly, opening the car door and running into the community.

"Hey! Little Xue, don't forget our agreement! I'll pick you up in three days, and we'll go exploring together!" Xia Yan opened the front passenger-side window, leaned out, and watched the slender figure quickly disappear into the distance.

Han Jiangxue did not even turn her head, merely waving a hand casually.

"Hey! Would it kill you to look at me once more?" Xia Yan grumbled angrily to herself, then stomped on the accelerator.

Han Jiangxue could not be bothered with that now. Her younger brother had only just started behaving better, and now he was showing signs of acting up again?

No, she had to stop him in time!

If it came down to it, she would deal with him using slaps! Han Jiangxue hurried home, opened the front door, and glanced at the clock in the living room. Good, ten minutes had not passed yet.

The house was so clean and tidy. Had this brat done a thorough cleaning at home?

While surveying the living room, Han Jiangxue walked to Jiang Xiao's door and rudely shoved it open.

What she saw was Jiang Xiao's back as he stood by the window, his frame still somewhat thin.

Jiang Xiao stood before the window. In the dim room, flickering starlight glimmered around him, and wisps of Star Power wound about his body.

He was absorbing Star Power?

Where was there even the slightest sign that he was about to go out and have fun? Jiang Xiao suddenly said, "So you still know how to come home?"

Han Jiangxue: ???

Jiang Xiao said, "Do you believe I can make fish-fragrant shredded pork, sweet-and-sour fish, and potato beef soup?"

Han Jiangxue raised an eyebrow, her voice carrying a trace of mockery. "You?"

Jiang Xiao chuckled, turned around, and said, "Don't believe me? Then why aren't you cooking?"

Han Jiangxue: "..."

Jiang Xiao turned back around and said, "From now on, you cook at home, and I'll wash the dishes, sweep the floor, and clean the house. That's settled. Come home on time every day."

Han Jiangxue took a deep breath, feeling the veins on her forehead throb. "Your Star Power is full again, isn't it?"

"Huh?"

Han Jiangxue went to the wardrobe, opened it, and casually pulled out a set of sportswear. "Put this on."

Jiang Xiao looked at Han Jiangxue warily. "What are you going to do?"

Han Jiangxue said coldly, "Your body is too weak. You can only gather such a tiny amount of Star Power. You need to build up your physical strength now."

"Now?"

"Yes. Come on, you're night running with me." Han Jiangxue turned and walked out of the room. "Five minutes. I'm going to change."

"I'm still hungry." Jiang Xiao said gloomily.

"You don't need dinner. Lose weight." Han Jiangxue's voice drifted back from afar.

Lose weight?

With this stick-thin body of mine? Lose weight?

Are you the devil?