Although they had only met online, they had known each other for a year already. Xu Qi figured they could at least be considered friends, so he had to think of a way to persuade her to change that awkward personality of hers.
Otherwise, how was she supposed to find a girlfriend?
Sparkling Qiqi: Just got up. If you can't stay awake next time, sleep on me.
If he could really sleep on Theresa, that would be great. She was soft and fragrant, and would definitely make a perfect cushion.
After taking a shower early in the morning, Xu Qi walked out of his room and happened to see Elysia sleeping facedown on the living-room table outside, drooling all over it. There was even a laptop beside her.
What happened? Did she play games all night like me and fry her brain?
Xu Qi leaned closer for a look—fuck! The livestream wasn't even turned off!
He checked the comments.
"Where's the streamer? Still sleeping?"
"This is a sleeping stream, right? Forget the avatar, let us see her sleeping face."
"Wait, did I just hear snoring?"
"Hehe~~ I fell asleep listening to Pink Elf Lady's voice. I just woke up, and my verdict is that I slept really well."
As a side note, Elysia's VTuber username was also Pink Elf Lady.
Xu Qi sighed.
He did not rush to turn off the livestream. Instead, he found a jacket and draped it over her. After thinking for a moment, he poured her a glass of water and placed a packet of tissues beside it.
A sudden noise came from upstairs. Xu Qi looked up—it was Fu Hua, who was preparing to go out for her morning exercise.
She first saw Elysia sleeping facedown on the table, then noticed Xu Qi busying himself nearby.
Fu Hua could not help sighing inwardly at his thoughtful manner.
As a boyfriend, Xu Qi was genuinely outstanding—so why wasn't he together with Elysia? Everyone in the courtyard felt the same way...
Of course, that was not to say Miss Mei was lacking. It was just that whenever they chatted privately, they would always end up discussing ambiguous topics involving those two.
As time passed, although they were not together, everyone in the Golden Courtyard still had the inexplicable feeling that Elysia would eventually end up with Xu Qi.
Xu Qi clearly treated Elysia differently, and Elysia did the same with him.
But those two were both far too awkward...
"Morning, Fu Hua."
"Morning, Brother Xu Qi... Going for your morning exercise?"
"Yeah. Want to come along?"
When she drew closer, Fu Hua lowered her voice. "Elysia..."
"I don't know. Maybe she had some livestream assignment last night... Let her sleep a little longer. We shouldn't disturb her."
Brother Xu Qi was so considerate.
······
No one knew how much time had passed. When Elysia groggily opened her eyes, she did not feel the blinding sunlight she should have.
Only after narrowing her eyes and looking around did she realize that someone had drawn all the curtains in the living room.
Did I draw the curtains last night?
Elysia was a little confused. She could not remember.
The jacket draped over her slid off as she slowly sat up. Elysia froze. Someone had obviously covered her with it, since it was not even her own jacket.
Who could it have been? Had Pardofelis gotten up in the middle of the night to help her?
I'm thirsty...
A glass happened to be within her field of vision.
As if she had found an oasis in the desert, Elysia hurriedly picked it up and gulped down the water. At that moment, she could not care less about ladylike manners. She was simply far too thirsty...
"Ah..."
After letting out a satisfied sigh, Elysia instinctively reached out and grabbed several tissues to wipe her mouth.
She had drunk too quickly, and water had spilled out.
Now that she was gradually waking up, Elysia froze again—who had poured the water? And... there shouldn't have been tissues on the living-room table. Who had brought them?
She lowered her head and looked at the jacket that had slipped off.
Xu Qi...
Elysia looked at the computer, discovering that the livestream had already been turned off. If she remembered correctly, she had been chatting with her viewers last night, but as they talked...
She had fallen asleep.
Only Xu Qi would have been this thoughtful...
For some reason, a trace of bitterness and inexplicable sadness welled up in her heart.
It was the first time Elysia had experienced such a negative human emotion so clearly.
Her memories flashed before her like scenes from a revolving lantern.
Welcoming him to the Golden Courtyard.
Playing games with him at night until they fell asleep.
Confiding their feelings in each other.
Of course, they had also gotten into some inexplicable arguments.
Most of the time, Xu Qi would take the initiative to come and coax her. In truth, Elysia had already forgiven him every time he came to comfort her.
But seeing his clumsy appearance still made her heart inexplicably warm.
Accompanying him to Vil-V's grand magic show, and even stealing Neko's cat suit together.
Everyone in the Golden Courtyard was just far too serious... but Xu Qi was different...
The days with him around seemed to be filled with laughter forever.
The memories drifted past her eyes one by one, finally—
Freezing on the moment he brought Mei to the Golden Courtyard.
Elysia raised a hand to cover her heart. It hurt so much... There was a feeling of regret, as if... a piece of her heart were missing, constantly tormenting her.
Xu Qi...
"Click!"
The sound of the front door turning brought Elysia back to her senses.
She looked toward the entryway and happened to see Xu Qi walking in, bare-chested and drenched in sweat. Fu Hua followed behind him, wearing nothing but a sports bra.
"Hm? Elysia? You're already awake?"
"Uh... yeah." For some reason, Elysia turned her head away, seemingly afraid to look at Xu Qi.
Xu Qi did not mind. Of course, he had no idea how intensely his muscular bare upper body affected women at that moment.
Fu Hua climbed upstairs, panting heavily.
"Brother Xu Qi, I'm going to take a shower."
"Okay."
After wrapping a towel around himself, Xu Qi likewise collapsed onto the sofa, panting heavily.
"Ah... The weather's getting hotter too. Air-conditioning feels so much better..."
Elysia froze. Then she suddenly grabbed the jacket and hurried over to Xu Qi. Under his somewhat blank gaze, she draped it over him.
"Honestly! How can you keep switching between hot and cold like this? You'll catch a chill!"
"Elysia..."
Her cheeks still flushed, Elysia leaned toward Xu Qi. The two were so close that Xu Qi could even smell a faint floral fragrance—this couldn't possibly be Elysia's...
"Go take a shower!"
56. Miss Mei! Your home has been stolen!
Elysia pushed Xu Qi into the bathroom and had even brought his clothes over. He could still hear her speaking outside the bathroom door...
"You got carried away just because Mei isn't here, didn't you? I promised Mei that I would take good care of you during these three days while she's away. I can't have her come back to find a sick Xu Qi."
Yae happened to hear those words as she came downstairs to go to work, and her gaze turned strange.
You promised Mei... to take care of Xu Qi?
It would be a miracle if Mei had agreed to let you do something like that. She clearly asked Aponia to do it... If you're the one taking care of him, are you planning to take care of him all the way into bed?
Of course, Yae was not going to meddle in such matters. Rather...
Well, wouldn't that be a good thing?
Though for Miss Mei, it might be somewhat disastrous.
After his shower, Xu Qi came out feeling refreshed and happened to see Elysia playing with Griseo in the living room, while Sister Nya stood nearby with a loving gaze.
"Hm? Brother Xu Qi!"
Griseo, still holding a paintbrush, scampered over to Xu Qi and threw herself into his arms.
"What is it, Griseo? What happened?"
"Elysia said that Brother Xu Qi was cooling off shirtless under the air conditioner again, so she wanted me to come teach you a lesson."
Xu Qi was in an excellent mood. Suppressing his laughter, he asked, "Then how are you planning to teach me a lesson, Griseo?"
"Hmm... I want to chop off all four of your limbs!"
Xu Qi drew a deep breath.
"Jie Ge! What on earth have you been teaching Little Griseo?"
Kalpas, who was still studying recipes in the kitchen, hunched his neck. To be fair, if anyone else had spoken to Kalpas in that tone, he would have given them a proper taste of what despair and fear meant.
But Xu Qi was different. And since this involved Griseo, that also meant...
"Kalpas, take this as a warning."
"Shut up! I'll watch myself next time!"
Griseo blinked, then put on a stern face and said to Xu Qi, "Shut up, Brother Xu Qi. Watch yourself next time."
"I'm going upstairs to study. Hurry up and straighten this child out."
Xu Qi watched Kalpas go upstairs, then held his forehead and sighed helplessly. The bad thing about Little Griseo was that she was like a blank sheet of paper. No matter who she spent time with, she would take on their shape—or rather, their manner.
"Come on~~ Kalpas didn't mean it~~"
Elysia crouched in front of Griseo and rubbed the child's little head with a smile.
"Isn't that right, Griseo?"
"Scram."
"Xu Qi! You stay away from Griseo too!"
Although somewhat surprised, Xu Qi still found Elysia's furious expression amusing. He burst out laughing, patted Griseo on the shoulder, and said,
"Hahahaha! Well said, Griseo."
Aponia, who had been watching from the side all this time, finally could not help sighing. She walked over, took Little Griseo into her arms, and lightly tapped Elysia and Xu Qi on the head.
"Come on, Griseo. It's time for class."
"Okay, Mommy Aponia."
Before you continue