A First Feast at Green Wave Cottage Soothes the Lonely Heart · Innocent Words on Pink Paper Reveal a Pure Heart

The two of them had dinner at a place called—

"Green Wave Cottage."

It truly lived up to its reputation as a high-end restaurant.

The setting was elegant, the dishes exquisite, and the taste was simply beyond compare.

Long Jinyu was like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden; everything was new to him.

Though he still restrained himself and didn't let loose while eating, he genuinely got to sample several delicious Soul Beast ingredients and special dishes he'd never encountered before. It was an eye-opening experience.

Of course, the biggest "sight" was still him.

All along the way.

With his silver-white hair and sweet JK uniform outfit, he had a two-hundred-percent head-turning rate. Shocked, curious, dazzled, puzzled... All sorts of gazes practically pinned him in place.

If he hadn't had the ill-tempered, murderous-eyed Fire Phoenix Heavenly Maiden walking beside him, someone would probably have already come up to chat or gawk.

Ma Xiaotao's "keep away, strangers" aura was in full force, saving them quite a bit of trouble.

When it came time to pay, Long Jinyu saw the not-so-small figure on the bill and felt a twinge on Ma Xiaotao's behalf.

After they left the restaurant, the cool evening breeze carried away the aroma of food clinging to them and made his skirt sway gently.

Long Jinyu instinctively pressed his legs together. He still wasn't quite used to it.

"Senior Sister."

He turned his head toward Ma Xiaotao, who had her hands in her pockets and was walking a little fast, and sincerely thanked her.

"Thanks for treating me to such delicious food. That must've cost you a lot."

He really was a little curious.

The original story never mentioned Ma Xiaotao being rich. Even if the inner-court disciples received generous stipends, surely she didn't need to spend like this?

Besides, Ma Xiaotao didn't seem like the type to be so particular or extravagant about food.

Ma Xiaotao paused, as if only then remembering that.

A trace of extreme awkwardness crossed her face. She looked off to the side and mumbled, "Oh, that... It's fine. We've got... money now."

"Hm?"

Long Jinyu was even more confused.

Ma Xiaotao seemed to find it a little hard to explain, but seeing his utterly bewildered expression, she still hurried through it. "Well... while you were sleeping like a pig this afternoon, the teacher came by."

She left out Yan Shaozhe's "you know what I mean" and his exact words about how she absolutely had to make him feel the warmth of home, which had made her toes curl with embarrassment. She also skipped over her own complicated feelings, a mix of flustered annoyance and secret delight, and gave him only the essential information:

"He gave us two cards, one for each of us. Said it was some kind of... 'mission stipend.' He told me to show you around and... take good care of you."

She tried to make herself sound as if she'd been handed an annoying chore.

"There's ten thousand Gold Soul Coins in each one. He said that's the monthly allowance. Your share's with me, too. I'll give it to you when we get back. Before, I was... just thinking about you crying... and that skirt you're wearing, so I forgot."

After she finished, she didn't quite dare meet Long Jinyu's eyes. She quickened her pace and moved a little ahead of him, leaving behind only the faintly reddened tips of her ears.

Long Jinyu froze for a moment, then suddenly understood.

"At least Mu En and the others have a little conscience."

He grumbled to himself, but then another thought occurred to him.

"Ten thousand a month... I guess that's not bad? Is that all my Dragon God Bloodline is worth? How stingy. Maybe it's just a token bit of pocket money?"

Then he couldn't help laughing.

He really had been dazzled by the power that had come upon him out of nowhere. Ten thousand would cover nearly half a year of living expenses back on Blue Star. Even here, it was no small sum.

It was just that, compared with labels like "god-level Martial Soul" and "the Sea God Pavilion's special attention," the money seemed like a little too little.

"Still," he thought, "if I asked for more, they probably wouldn't be stingy?"

But the thought passed in a flash.

After Teacher Jin had taken him in on Blue Star, he no longer had to worry about food and clothing. Even so, he always kept the principles "don't make trouble for others" and "know how to behave" close to heart. (Though, after all, this was Shrek. Should he fleece—cough, cough—ask for a little more? He definitely should! Hehehe~~)

He'd saved almost all the pocket money Teacher Jin gave him each month. In the end, it became a scarf for Teacher Jin, reference books for his older sister Mu Yao, or a modest but heartfelt meal he cooked himself for a holiday.

Whenever Teacher Jin saw him do that, she would scold him, half angry and half worried, but she could never hide the smile in her eyes.

To him, money only needed to be enough. Thoughtfulness and promises mattered far more than numbers.

Thinking of that, he looked at Ma Xiaotao with even more warmth.

She'd just gotten her "stipend," and the first thing she'd thought of wasn't spending it on herself, but taking him out for something delicious...

"So that's how it is. You're the best, Senior Sister~!"

He took a couple of quick steps to catch up with Ma Xiaotao, his tone light.

"I was sleeping so soundly, I had no idea. Sorry for the trouble, Senior Sister. You even have to take care of a 'kid.'"

He made a little joke.

His inner monologue: Looks like I'm still good for something. With me around, Ma Xiaotao's life has gotten a lot more comfortable.

A bizarre phrase suddenly popped into his mind—

A mother grows noble because of her son?

"Pfft—"

Long Jinyu was so horrified by his own thought that he nearly stumbled, one foot tripping over the other.

"What the heck! Ma Xiaotao's become my mom?! What kind of nonsense is this?! I'm not some junior brother from a school drama!"

"Peach grows noble because of feathers? That doesn't sound right either..."

He shook his head, flinging all those wild associations away.

Come to think of it, Ma Xiaotao's talent was astonishing. She was almost a Soul Saint before turning twenty, and her cultivation speed might even have surpassed Mu En's when he was young.

She deserved these resources. It was just that Shrek... was a little too stingy.

"Speaking of which..."

His thoughts started to wander again.

"Yan Shaozhe was picked up by Mu En and became the Spirit Soul Department's dean."

"Ma Xiaotao was picked up by Yan Shaozhe and became the successor to the Spirit Soul Department's dean."

"What a fine Shrek tradition..."

"...Start with an academy, and pick up all your deans?"

"And they always pick up phoenixes? Is this fate? Some sort of destiny?"

"Speaking of fate..."

Long Jinyu's thoughts were drawn along by an invisible thread, drifting quietly toward the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest, toward that brilliant yet lonely golden figure.

"I can't help thinking of her again... the 'little golden-haired girl,' burdened with the power of fate yet unable to control her own destiny..."

When he thought of the pure, stubborn Three-Eyed Golden Lion, who had thrown herself into a love that had been woven for her and ultimately burned away to nothing...

The pain of that unresolved regret was no less than his sorrow over Ma Xiaotao's tragic fate.

"Now that I'm here and I know what's coming, I can't stand by and watch the same tragedy happen again."

"I have to find a way to help her, too."

"At the very least... I can't let her live like a tool and die like a symbol again."

"I have to let her... truly live for herself, just once..."

As he let his imagination gallop, a pensive look unconsciously appeared on his face, his brows drawing together slightly.

Ma Xiaotao sneaked a glance at him. Seeing him like that, she couldn't help worrying.

"Uh-oh, is this kid thinking about something sad again?"

"Is he uncomfortable because we're spending the teacher's money? Or does he think ten thousand is too little?... No, he looked pretty happy just now."

She felt a little awkward. She wasn't good at comforting people, but she still cleared her throat and tried to make her voice sound casual.

"Hey, kid... The teacher gave it to you, so just take it. Don't overthink it."

"From now on... from now on, big sis will look after you. If there's meat, you'll get your share of the soup!"

"Uh... no, if there's soup, you'll get your share of the meat!"

She seemed to realize her analogy was off and awkwardly corrected herself, but somehow it sounded even stranger.

Long Jinyu: "???"

He snapped out of his daydream and stared blankly at Ma Xiaotao, who had suddenly started "promising" him meat and soup.

What was she acting out now?

Seeing the baffled look on Long Jinyu's face, Ma Xiaotao realized she might have misunderstood...

"What are you staring at? Move!" she snapped, masking her embarrassment. Then she almost jogged off toward Phoenix Perch Pavilion.

Watching her flee, Long Jinyu finally realized what she might have been worried about. His heart warmed.

The evening breeze was gentle, lifting his silver-white hair. He smiled and quickened his pace, catching up with the fiery-red figure ahead.

The lights of Phoenix Perch Pavilion had already come on, glowing warmly in the distance.

Inside.

The lamplight was cozy, but it couldn't dispel the weight of loneliness in Long Jinyu's heart.

"Good night, Senior Sister," he called to Ma Xiaotao, who was already hurrying upstairs.

"Mm. Go to bed early," Ma Xiaotao replied, though she still seemed unable to shake off the awkwardness from earlier.

He shut the door.

The room was so quiet he could hear his own heartbeat.

A vast sense of loss slowly welled up in his heart again. It was quieter than before, yet it lingered even longer.

Transmigration wasn't something he could accept with one big cry. He needed time—a whole lot of time.

He had to find something to do. He couldn't just sit there, lost in his thoughts.

"System."

He lay on the bed, his voice a little hoarse.

"Since you can read my memories and back up my phone, what about other things? Can you do those too?"

[Of course, Host~]

[What do you want to back up now? Do you have some more 'precious' study materials? Hehehe~]

"You little pervert... Am I that kind of person?"

Long Jinyu laughed as he scolded it.

"This is serious. I remember... when I was little, Mu Yao and I watched Douluo Continent together. We made some notes to organize the plot and... well, to make up for a few regrets. If I'm not mistaken, we wrote down some things in them."

He paused, his voice growing quieter, a choked note creeping in. "I haven't read Peerless Tang Sect in so long. I've forgotten a lot of the details... It'd be good to go over it again. I never thought... this would actually come in handy one day..." He couldn't continue; his nose was starting to sting again.

[Look at you, all pitiful...]

The system stopped joking around. Its tone seemed to carry a touch of... human-like exasperation?

[All right, all right. This one's on the house. I won't deduct any points.]

As soon as it finished speaking, a soft light flashed. A thick pink notebook appeared out of thin air and landed in Long Jinyu's hands.

On the notebook's cover, neat but youthful handwriting spelled out Douluo Continent. Beneath it were two names side by side: Jin Mu Yao and Long Jinyu.

Seeing the familiar notebook and Mu Yao's name, Long Jinyu almost started crying again.

He held the notebook tight, as if it were the only keepsake from another world, and buried his face in it. His shoulders trembled for a long while before he slowly calmed down.

He took a deep breath, went to the desk, and sat down. By the warm glow of the Soul Guidance Lamp, he carefully opened the notebook.

He skipped straight past the section about Douluo I. The pages rustled until he finally stopped at the chapters on Peerless Tang Sect.

One familiar name after another came into view:

Ma Xiaotao, Wang Qiu'er, Meng Hongchen, Zhang Lexuan, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong'er, Tang Ya, Jiang Nannan...

His gaze lingered on Ma Xiaotao's name for a long time. Someone had clumsily drawn a crooked little heart in red ink beside it.

Long Jinyu gently ran his finger over the little heart. He paused, then laughed, though his eyes were a little damp. "Had I really... liked her when I was that young?"

He turned another page.

The title on this page was written in neat, graceful handwriting. It was clearly Mu Yao's: Peerless Tang HE: Rescue Plan.

Below it was a long list of names:

Huo Yun'er (Huo Yuhao's mother), Jiang Nannan's mother, Tang Ya's parents, Zhang Lexuan's family... Even Ju Zi's parents?!

Long Jinyu stared at it in shock.

"Save every tragic character from the original story? And... solve things at the root?"

He murmured to himself.

"This... is such an ambitious idea. It definitely sounds like Mu Yao's. Back then, I probably only knew how to stare happily at pretty older sisters. How could I have thought this far ahead..."

He imagined Mu Yao carefully writing down those names back then, and a complicated, warm glow rose in his heart.

[Oh? Your older sister's idea is rather interesting.]

The system chimed in.

[Unfortunately, judging by the current timeline, most of the people on that list have been dead for years. You... came too late.]

"Could you stop ruining the mood right now?"

Long Jinyu snapped back at it. The system's words made his heart feel even heavier.

That was right. He'd arrived too late. It seemed many regrets had been inevitable from the very beginning.

He shook his head and continued flipping through the notebook.

Next came his own handwriting. The strokes were obviously much more childish, and the contents made him wish he could dig himself a three-bedroom apartment with his toes—

"I'm going to awaken the Ultimate Ice Martial Soul! I'll replace Huo Yuhao and suppress Big Sister Xiaotao's Evil Fire! Then she'll be grateful to me and make me her little brother! After that I can follow her around every day and let her spoil me! (A happy little smiley face was drawn underneath.)"

Long Jinyu: "..."

"Huh?"

"Huh?!"

"Huh??!"

He covered his face, feeling his cheeks grow hot. He vaguely remembered being instantly captivated the first time he saw Ma Xiaotao in a comic book as a child, with her fiery-red hair and dazzling appearance.

Kids loved bright colors. What little boy could resist a powerful, beautiful "big sister" who looked as if she'd stepped right out of the flames?

Later, when Mu Yao found out, she had apparently planted her hands on her hips and huffed, "I'm the only one who gets to be your big sister!" Then she'd given him a "lesson" over it... Thinking about it now, it was both childish and hilarious.

He endured the embarrassment and kept reading.

"Big Sister Xiaotao absolutely must not get blood on her hands! I have to save Chen Fei and Lin Xi during the Star Luo Tournament! I'll take her place against Ma Rulong and completely shatter that damn Judgment Sword! Protect Big Sister!"

[The host was pretty interesting as a child, too.]

The system's voice carried a teasing note.

[Looks like you really do like her. You can't go three sentences without mentioning Ma Xiaotao, and you're always thinking of her.]

"Hahaha..."

Long Jinyu gave a dry laugh, absently rubbing his fingers over the page.

"Yeah, I really do like her."

But his smile slowly faded, and his tone grew distant and complicated. "But this kind of liking... it was only admiration and affection for a fictional character. It was an image I'd created of her on my own. It didn't really mean anything..."

He lifted his head and gazed without focus at the deep night beyond the window.

"But now she's a living, breathing person. She has flesh and blood. She laughs and cries, gets angry and feels shy... And now... I'm actually a little afraid to like her."

Being so close made the fantasy fade; the weight of reality left him at a loss.

"Fate sure has a strange sense of humor..."

He sighed softly, a trace of absurdity at fate in his voice.

"The first time I 'met' Ma Xiaotao, I was still in elementary school. So many years have passed. I never thought that now... I'd be her 'peer.'"

He gently closed the notebook, as if closing away a dusty childhood fantasy.

He carefully placed the notebook in a corner of the bedside table, then turned off the Soul Guidance Lamp.

The night was deep and still. Moonlight spilled through the window lattice and across the floor like a layer of silver frost.

Long Jinyu lay in bed, staring at the ceiling for a long, long time before his jumbled thoughts slowly carried him into sleep.

Beside his pillow, the pink notebook from a distant past lay quietly, like a tender footnote linking two worlds.

That night, he slept fitfully, his dreams weaving together his past on Blue Star and his present in Douluo.

But at least he wasn't facing this loneliness alone. Upstairs lived a senior who was all bark and no bite, and who would stay outside his door when he cried.

The night at Phoenix Perch Pavilion was deep and long, yet it was also nurturing new possibilities.