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Xiang Changge seemed completely unaware, her mind entirely immersed in the cookbook.

The room suddenly fell quiet; compared to the sound of reading, this moment seemed much better suited for her to drift off to sleep.

But Yu Qing felt a little unaccustomed to it.

She was used to being alone, used to spending the long, lonely nights by herself, used to quietly feeling time slowly slip away in solitude... rather than having someone accompany her like this.

Yu Qing turned over, shifting to lie on her side facing the bedside.

She looked at the person by the bed, a book held up between them. She didn't know if Xiang Changge realized she was watching her, but her gaze remained fixed on her.

In the silence, time itself seemed to stand still.

These past few days, the few days since Xiang Changge arrived, her life seemed to have changed.

Before closing her eyes, this was what Yu Qing thought.

Past midnight, Xiang Changge looked up from her book and rubbed her sore neck. As she lifted her eyes, the person on the bed, facing her with eyelids tightly shut and already fast asleep, came into view.

When she's asleep, she really does look a bit cute.

Before silently getting up to leave the room, Xiang Changge thought to herself.

Yawning as she returned to her steward villa, Xiang Changge had just laid down on her large bed when she heard the system issue a new mission.

"Ding--"

"Support Sub-mission: Help the supporting female lead develop a habit of long nighttime sleep 0/10."

"A healthy lifestyle is inseparable from good sleep. It has been detected that the supporting female lead is unable to achieve long periods of sleep at night; please provide assistance, Host."

"For every night the supporting female lead achieves more than five hours of continuous sleep, you will receive +10 points. Upon completing the task ten times, you will receive an additional +100 points."

"Mission Duration: One month; Mission Failure: No penalty."

Xiang Changge forced herself to perk up and read the mission twice, finally concluding: "Tongtong, this mission actually has no penalty? Are you actually a good system?"

System: "!"

"Isn't it obvious? I, Tongtong, have a heart of gold, okay!"

The main thing was that this host currently had zero points. If she didn't have points, how could she redeem a physical form for it so it could go be a little puppy for Yu Qing?

Tongtong was truly worried sick for its host.

With that in mind, the system couldn't help but urge: "Remember to finish the mission early, duck."

It was already getting impatient.

Xiang Changge didn't know the system's hidden agenda. Before falling asleep, she only had time to make an OK gesture to show she understood, and then she drifted off.

The next day, City A finally saw some rare sunshine.

Xiang Changge sat on the balcony railing, brushing her teeth while looking up at the summer morning sun illuminating the beautiful villa.

The summer morning glow already carried warmth, and one could feel the heat on their skin before long.

Xiang Changge raised her hand, trying to touch the sunlight with her palm.

It's good to be alive.

And, to be living in modern society, no less.

The bloodshed of cannibalism and slaughter seemed to have drifted very, very far away from her.

So far that it felt like a dream; once the dream dissipated, she was merely a steward for Yu Qing.

The system, unable to bear it any longer, interrupted her thoughts: "...8802, can you stop doing such dangerous things!"

What normal person sits on a balcony railing while brushing their teeth, with their legs dangling outside? Anyone who didn't know better would think she was trying to jump off the building first thing in the morning.

Xiang Changge: "..."

"Is it dangerous?"

She looked down; it was only the second floor, what was dangerous about that? She could flip down with ease.

System: "..."

It should have known better than to copy over her physical data; it should have just given her the body of a fragile college student.

"Oh my heavens, Steward Xiang, what are you doing?!"

As the person and the system were talking, Aunt Gong, who had just finished her shift, happened to pass by and caught a glimpse of the figure perched on the second-floor balcony of the small villa from afar.

She thought she had seen wrong, but when she got closer, she realized it really was someone sitting up there.

Aunt Gong was stunned.

Although the balcony railing of the villa was made of stone, sturdy and elegant, sitting on it like that was just too dangerous.

Falling down might not kill you, but getting hurt was no small matter.

Xiang Changge shifted her weight, turned around, and landed lightly, standing firmly on the balcony.

With toothpaste still in her mouth, she didn't say a word, merely waving a hand at Aunt Gong before darting back into the villa at lightning speed.

Aunt Gong was left standing in the distance, clutching her chest in lingering fear.

This housekeeper seemed incredibly unreliable.

No, she had to remind the young miss again.

-

When Aunt Gong returned to the third floor of the main house, Yu Qing was already curled up in the bay window, having finished two paintings.

One was the piece left unfinished last night, and the other was a new one from this morning.

She didn't know when she had fallen asleep last night, and when she woke up, it was only a little past three. After lying there for a while, she had gotten up to paint.

Aunt Gong knocked on the door just as Yu Qing was appraising her two new works.

Hearing the knock and considering the time, she guessed it was probably that annoying housekeeper coming to wake her up, so Yu Qing calmly took out her earplugs and pretended not to hear.

Poor Aunt Gong knocked for a while, and seeing that Yu Qing didn't come to open the door, she assumed she hadn't woken up yet. Sighing, she had no choice but to leave without disturbing her further.

After Xiang Changge finished washing up and had breakfast in the staff cafeteria, she headed to the main house.

The weather was nice today, and since the previous two days' worth of standing water had evaporated overnight, Xiang Changge planned to have the gardener trim the gardens and lawns around the villa.

Especially the golf course in the back.

Because Yu Qing had never gone there to play, the grass had grown so tall it could almost be turned into a pasture.

Wait, would turning it into a pasture actually be a bad idea?

Thinking of this, Xiang Changge felt a bit conflicted.

Since Yu Qing didn't play golf anyway, why not just convert it into a pasture?

She could raise a few cows and sheep; that way, she could go milk the cows whenever she had free time, or randomly pick a lucky sheep to turn into a whole roasted lamb.

Thinking about it this way, having a pasture at home would be perfect—even if the apocalypse came, she wouldn't have to worry.

System: "Host, stop thinking about such nonsense. This is an urban romance novel; there is no apocalypse arc!"

Xiang Changge, who felt no sense of security without hoarding food, refused to give up: "Then will there be any plot where we can't leave the house?"

System, firmly: "No!"

Xiang Changge frowned, then retreated to a secondary plan: "Then how about a horse ranch?"

That way, if Yu Qing got bored, she could go horseback riding.

Besides, since they were already raising horses, adding a couple of cows and sheep would be quite convenient, right?

"..."

Of course, it wasn't enough for just her and the system to discuss it; she had to ask for Yu Qing's opinion.

With the system around, Xiang Changge knew exactly when Yu Qing woke up and what she was doing at any given moment.

Thinking about the long-sleep task, Xiang Changge felt she had to keep Yu Qing awake for the entire day so that she would definitely sleep longer at night.

But the problem was, how to keep her awake all day?

Given her body that panted after two steps and wanted to lie down after standing for a moment, she had to carefully consider the activities she arranged.

At eight in the morning, Xiang Changge knocked on Yu Qing's bedroom door.

As expected, she received no response, so Xiang Changge took out her phone.

This time, there was no need to call Yu Qing; she wouldn't answer a call from someone pretending to be asleep.

She chose to send Yu Qing a message instead.

The phone was tossed casually on the edge of the pillow. The vibration from the incoming message made Yu Qing, who was lying back in bed searching for information on her tablet, glance to the side.

After a moment of thought, she reached out and picked up the phone.

She tapped into WeChat and saw—

One Meal Eight Bowls of Rice: "Miss, it's time to get up and have breakfast."

"!"

Yu Qing wore an expression as if she had seen a ghost.

She remembered this ID; hadn't she just deleted this person yesterday? When did she add her back?

Yu Qing tapped into the profile and saw the time the friend request was sent, which easily reminded her of the moment yesterday when Xiang Changge had taken her phone to unlock it.

This person was too much.

She had claimed she wanted to play chess, but in reality, she had secretly added herself back.

Yu Qing retorted by blocking her.

Five minutes later, her bedroom door was suddenly pushed open. Aunt Yang walked in, smiling somewhat unnaturally at Yu Qing while bringing in her breakfast.

Yu Qing leaned against the headboard in a daze, watching the person behind Aunt Yang who was currently stuffing a ring of keys into her waistband.

Wait, had she actually forgotten to lock the door last night?

How could she have forgotten such an important matter!

However, Xiang Changge didn't force Yu Qing to eat anything this morning; Aunt Yang simply placed a rich breakfast on the small table in Yu Qing's room and then followed Xiang Changge back out.

Once the door closed again, Yu Qing was still a bit stunned.

Today—just like that?

She actually didn't call for her to get up and eat or anything today?

Is this playing hard to get?