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Xiang Changge seemed completely unaware of her surroundings, wholly absorbed in the cookbook.

The room fell quiet. Compared with the sound of someone reading, the silence seemed more conducive to sleep.

But Yu Qing found it a little strange.

She was used to being alone, used to spending long, lonely nights by herself, used to quietly feeling time pass... not to having someone keep her company like this.

Yu Qing turned over, lying on her side facing the bed.

She looked at the person by the bed. A book stood between them, and she didn't know whether Xiang Changge realized she was watching her. But Yu Qing's gaze never left her.

In the soundless stillness, time seemed to stop, too.

These past few days, ever since Xiang Changge had arrived, her days seemed to have become different.

That was what Yu Qing thought before closing her eyes.

-

A little after midnight, Xiang Changge looked up from her book and rubbed her sore, tired neck. When she glanced over, she saw the person by the bed facing her, eyes closed, already asleep like a good girl.

She really did look a little cute when she was asleep.

That was what Xiang Changge thought as she quietly got up and left the room.

Yawning, she returned to her own butler's villa. The moment she lay down on her big bed, the system announced a new task.

"Ding—"

"Minor Support Task: Help the female lead develop the habit of sleeping for long stretches at night. 0/10."

"Healthy routines depend on good sleep. The female lead has been unable to get long stretches of sleep at night. Host, please help her."

"Each time the female lead gets more than five hours of uninterrupted sleep at night, you will receive a +10 point reward. After completing the task ten times, you will receive an additional +100 points."

"Task duration: one month; failure penalty: none."

Xiang Changge forced herself to stay awake and read the task twice before reaching a conclusion. "A-Tong, this task actually has no penalty? Are you really a good system?"

"!"

"Isn't it obvious? Tongtong has a heart of gold!"

The main reason was that the host didn't have any points right now. Without points, how could she redeem a physical body for it and let it go be Yu Qing's puppy?

Tongtong was truly breaking its back for its host.

Thinking of that, the system couldn't help urging her. "Remember to finish the task soon, okay?"

It was already getting a little impatient.

Xiang Changge had no idea what the system was thinking. Before bed, she only had time to flash an OK sign to show she understood, then drifted off to sleep.

-

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

Xiang Changge sat on the balcony railing, brushing her teeth as she looked up at the summer morning sunlight illuminating the beautiful villa.

The morning sunshine was already warm, and it didn't take long for its heat to seep into her skin.

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

It was good to be alive.

And even better to be alive in the modern world.

The bloodshed and slaughter seemed to be far, far behind her now.

So far away they felt like a dream. Once the dream faded, she was simply Yu Qing's butler.

The system couldn't stand it any longer and interrupted her thoughts. "...8802, could you stop doing dangerous things like this?"

What normal person brushed their teeth while sitting on a balcony railing, with their legs dangling outside? Anyone who didn't know better would think she wanted to jump 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 hop down whenever she wanted.

System: "..."

It should have left her body data behind and given her the body of a frail college student instead.

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

The human and system were still talking when Aunt Gong, just off work, happened to pass by. From a distance, she spotted the figure perched on the second-floor balcony of the small villa.

She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. But when she went closer, sure enough, someone was sitting up there.

Aunt Gong was stunned.

The villa's balcony railing was made of stone, sturdy and elegant, but sitting on top of it was still far too dangerous.

Even if she didn't die from falling, getting hurt would be no small matter.

Xiang Changge twisted around, turning lightly until she was standing on the balcony.

With toothpaste still in her mouth, she didn't say anything. She just waved at Aunt Gong, then quickly ducked back inside the villa.

Aunt Gong was left standing at a distance, clutching her chest, still shaken.

This butler seemed very unreliable.

No, she'd have to remind the young miss again.

-

When Aunt Gong returned to the main house's third floor, Yu Qing had already curled up in the window seat and painted two pictures.

One was the one she hadn't finished the night before; the other was new, painted that morning.

She hadn't known when she'd fallen asleep the night before. When she woke, it was only a little after three. After lying down for a while, she got up to paint.

When Aunt Gong knocked, Yu Qing was studying her two new paintings.

Hearing the knock and noticing the time, she guessed that annoying butler had come to get her up. Yu Qing calmly took out her earplugs and pretended not to hear.

Poor Aunt Gong knocked for a while. When Yu Qing didn't come to open the door, she thought she might still be asleep. With a sigh, she had no choice but to leave without disturbing her any further.

After washing up, Xiang Changge went to the staff dining hall for breakfast, then headed to the main house.

The weather was good today, and the puddles from the past two days had all evaporated overnight. Xiang Changge planned to have the gardeners trim all the lawns and gardens around the villa.

Especially the golf course at the back.

Yu Qing had never played there, so the grass had grown tall enough to start a pasture.

Though... turning it into a pasture didn't sound like such a bad idea.

Xiang Changge was a little conflicted at the thought.

Yu Qing didn't play golf anyway. Why not turn the place into a pasture?

She could raise a few cows and lambs. Then, whenever she had nothing to do, she could milk the cows, or randomly pick a lucky sheep to roast whole.

The more she thought about it, the more perfect having a pasture at home seemed. Then even if the apocalypse came, they wouldn't have to worry.

"Host, don't go thinking about random things. This is a modern romance novel. There's no apocalypse arc!"

Xiang Changge, who didn't feel safe unless she had food stored up, refused to give up. "Then could there be some kind of plot where we can't go outside?"

The system answered firmly. "No!"

Xiang Changge frowned, then compromised. "Then how about turning it into a horse ranch?"

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

And if they were already raising horses, wouldn't it be easy to raise a couple of cows and lambs, too?

"..."

Of course, the two of them couldn't just make that decision themselves. They'd have to ask Yu Qing what she thought.

With the system's help, Xiang Changge knew when Yu Qing got up and what she was doing at any given moment.

Thinking about the long-sleep task, Xiang Changge figured she should keep Yu Qing awake all day. Then she'd definitely sleep longer that night.

But the question was, how could she keep her awake all day?

With a body that got out of breath after walking a little and wanted to lie down after standing for a while, Yu Qing would need a carefully planned schedule of activities.

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

As expected, she got no answer, so Xiang Changge pulled out her phone.

There was no point calling Yu Qing this time. Her calls wouldn't get through to someone pretending to be asleep.

She chose to send Yu Qing a message instead.

The phone lay carelessly beside the pillow. The vibration from an incoming message made Yu Qing, who had lain back down and was searching for information on her tablet, glance to the side.

After thinking it over, she reached for her phone.

She opened WeChat—

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

"!"

Yu Qing looked as though she'd seen a ghost.

She remembered that ID. Hadn't she just deleted this person yesterday? When had she added her back?

Yu Qing opened the chat. The time of the greeting at the top immediately reminded her of how Xiang Changge had taken her phone yesterday and made her unlock it.

That woman had gone too far.

She'd pretended they were just going to play chess, but had actually secretly added herself back.

Yu Qing blocked her without hesitation.

Five minutes later, her bedroom door suddenly opened. Aunt Yang smiled at Yu Qing a little awkwardly as she carried in the morning's breakfast.

Yu Qing leaned blankly against the headboard, staring at the person behind Aunt Yang, who was stuffing a ring of keys into her waistband.

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

How could she have forgotten something so important!

But that morning, Xiang Changge hadn't insisted that Yu Qing eat anything. Aunt Yang set the generous breakfast on the small table in Yu Qing's room, then left with Xiang Changge.

Once the door closed again, Yu Qing still hadn't quite processed what had happened.

Was that it for today?

She hadn't even been made to get up and eat?

Was this some kind of reverse psychology?