system space.
The silver-white light screen was suspended in mid-air, projecting the delayed picture of the Medical Pavilion on the first floor - Wang Yan followed the nurse into the ward on the second floor. He responded to the students' greetings with a smile, his back straight, and he looked completely different from the awkward look he had just held at the front desk holding a fruit basket.
Long Jinyu is nestled in a soft wicker chair, holding the bottomed cup of honey water in his hand, dangling his feet in the air.
System Treasure was suspended on the edge of the main console, with his arms folded, his heterochromatic eyes reflecting the data that had just been retrieved on the light screen, and he suddenly let out a meaningful sigh, "Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
Long Jinyu didn't even bother to raise his eyelids when he heard the death noise. "What disease have you got again?"
"I was thinking..."
System Treasure turned around and floated in front of him, with a cunning light shining in his heterochromatic pupils, "Is this also part of your plan? That teacher's qualification certificate - you gave it to me on purpose, right?"
Long Jinyu's shaking feet paused for a moment.
"What a plan, it sounds so ugly."
He put down the cup, cleared his throat, shook his head like an old master, and said seriously, "How can the things of scholars be called calculations?"
"What's that called?"
"This is called planning. Do you understand, you idiot?"
"Hey, it's so stinky."
System Treasure pursed his lips into a line, imitating his tone, and drew a circle in the air with his fingers, "I didn't say what you did was wrong - I just didn't expect you to use this method."
She retracted her hand and tilted her head to look at him. "I still remember what you said when you first came here. Han Ruoruo and Wang Yan are two secret lovers. Only if they follow you can they be considered a perfect match. I was thinking at the time that you just said it casually. Are you really interested in me?"
Long Jinyu's originally lazy expression froze instantly, and he almost choked on his trachea with a sip of tea.
"Cough cough cough - what the hell?!"
He sat up straight and said, "When did I say this? You are telling lies! A naked slander! How could I, an upright gentleman, say such narcissistic words?"
"You... just said it."
System Treasure's expression remained unchanged, "There is a record in the system log. Do you want me to bring it up and show it to you? What's the meaning of 'Han Ruoruo is such a good girl, she should at least have someone like me~'"
"You adjust it! If you have the ability, just adjust it!"
"Oh, forget it, I'm too lazy to turn it over."
"You--"
Long Jinyu stood up, walked around behind System Treasure in a few steps, made fists with both hands, placed them on both sides of her head, and then pressed in hard - a standard "drilling into the temples" posture.
It was expected that System Treasure would scream, hunker down and beg for mercy, and then he could condescendingly declare, "This is the consequence of damaging the reputation of the host."
But System Treasure doesn't move at all.
She even turned her head and looked at him with a "Why are you so childish" look in her eyes, her tail almost raised.
Long Jinyu pressed hard again. "... Huh? You don't feel any pain?"
"Do you think I'm stupid?"
System Treasure turned around slowly, raised a finger and poked his temple, "The essence of my body is a soul guidance machine - if I turn off the Simulation nerves, won't I be afraid of pain?"
The corner of her mouth curled up, and she put her face into his palm. "Hey, hey, you hit me, you hit me, you hit me~"
Long Jinyu: "..."
"Really..." He took back his hand and sat back on the wicker chair angrily, "You have a system, how can you be more cunning than me?"
"My lord, this is called 'humanized iteration', do you understand? You taught me."
System Treasure was confident, and then he came closer and lowered his voice, "And to be honest - why are you nervous? Your sister Xiaotao is not here. We are all our own people, so don't be afraid. In fact, we all still support you in starting a harem -"
She counted on her fingers and said deliberately, "Look, Shrek, those three beautiful sisters, Lexuan, Ruoruo, Wu Ming, one is sassy, the other is soft, and the other is spicy, and you have saved them all. How deep is this fate? Who else is worthy of it besides you? If you don't accept them, won't you be taking advantage of those stinky men outside?"
"Um..."
Long Jinyu was about to open his mouth to refute, but Yu had already raised his hand.
The emerald dragon tail silently poked out from her side and gently touched System Treasure's forehead.
"System Treasure."
Yu's voice came from the side and cut her off slowly, "What are you thinking? Don't take us with you."
System Treasure was poked and leaned back a bit, rubbing his forehead angrily.
"Nine Dragon God Guards never said that."
Yu came over and raised his hand to straighten Long Jinyu's messy silver hair, "Jin Yu should decide who he likes, who he wants to be with, and whether he can have a harem or not. As a family, we will stand silently behind him."
"Listen, listen!"
Long Jinyu felt warmed by what she said. He turned his head and glanced at her, "Sister Yu is still considerate. Unlike some people who fill their heads with messy information all day long!"
He glanced sideways at System Treasure: "I think your emotional module really needs some training - why don't I personally write you a new agreement, which is called the 'Emotional Module - Serious Version', and it will be executed once a day, and the treatment will last for one year."
System Treasure's mouth pouted even higher.
"I'm not thinking about you..."
"Then you should think less about it."
System Treasure: "..."
She coughed lightly and skipped the topic wisely. She flicked the screen and cut out the surveillance picture of the Shrek Academy: "Okay, okay, okay, I'm a slut, and you are a gentleman. Then, a gentleman, I want to ask you something serious - Zhang Lexuan has been rescued by you, when are you going to tell Shrek?"
Long Jinyu paused slightly.
He didn't answer immediately.
"No rush, let's take a look first."
"What are you looking at?"
"See their reaction."
He crossed his fingers on his knees and his gaze became far-reaching.
"It's such a big deal that Zhang Lexuan was kidnapped. It's impossible for the Sea God Pavilion to do nothing. I'm very curious - what they will do."
"Are you looking around like a headless fly but getting nowhere? Are you just keeping silent and pretending that nothing happened? Or are you -"
He paused.
"--Organize a real rescue operation?"
System Treasure was quiet for a moment, tilted his head and thought, "Is there any difference?"
"The difference is huge."
Long Jinyu stood up and walked to the light screen, "If nothing is done, it means that their 'emphasis' only applies while the person is still alive. The lives of direct disciples are not worth the risk. Then we have nothing to look forward to in their reforms."
"What if they take action?" Yu's voice came from behind.
Long Jinyu turned his head and looked at her.
"That would be more interesting--"
He turned around, with a hint of coolness in his golden and silver pupils, "It shows that they have the ability to save people. But whether they are willing to use this ability to save - depends on whether that 'person' is worth it."
"In the original work, when sister Xiaotao was snatched away by Holy Spirit Cult--"
His voice was very soft, "They didn't do anything."
System Treasure was quiet for a while, as if chewing on his last words.
After a long while, she spoke softly, "... So, in your case, no matter how you do this question... everything is wrong?"
Long Jinyu did not nod or shake his head.
He put his hands back into the pockets of his coat, turned and walked toward the door.
"I'm going to see if Sister Lexuan is awake."
The sound of footsteps echoed gently between the silver-white bulkheads, and the light door opened silently in front of him.
System Treasure watched him disappear through the light door, then turned to look at Yu, and murmured in a low voice:
"He seems to be in a bad mood..."
"Hmm."
"Then should we... do something?"
"Don't worry, Jin Yu is not fragile, just a little... upset."
The more he raised his eyes and looked towards the direction where the light door disappeared, the dragon scale grass twisted between his fingertips glowed with a soft emerald light, "He is much stronger than you think. It's just that there are some obstacles. You have to go through it by yourself."
Core area ward, room 601.
It was very quiet in the ward.
The morning light outside the window filtered through the half-covered blinds, cutting parallel strips of light on the snow-white quilt.
Cai Mei'er was lying facing the wall, smothered in the quilt, not even a single hair exposed.
Yan Shaozhe When he pushed the door open and came in, he saw the quilt trembling slightly.
He paused for a moment, then quietly walked to the door. He placed the insulated food box on the bedside table with a gentle knock.
The trembling quilt stopped for a moment.
"Mei'er."
Yan Shaozhe sat down on the edge of the bed, and put his hand gently on the quilt, covering her shoulders through the layer of fabric, "What's wrong with you? Are you still feeling uncomfortable?"
There was no response from the quilt.
"The nurse said you didn't eat breakfast." His voice became softer, "Is it because Medical Pavilion's food is not to your liking?"
The quilt moved slightly, as if he was shaking his head.
"I made your favorite lotus seed and lily porridge." He reached out and patted the quilt, "Would you like to get up and eat some? While it's hot."
After saying this, the quilt was quiet for a while. There was a muffled response. "... I'm not hungry."
"You didn't eat yesterday."
"... I told you I'm not hungry."
"Mei'er."
Yan Shaozhe was not pushed back by her stinging words. He sighed softly, followed the curve of the quilt a few inches up with his fingertips, found her forehead, and touched her through the fabric, "I can't worry about you like this."
There was silence in the quilt for a long time.
It was so long that Yan Shaozhe thought she would never speak again.
Suddenly his wrist was grabbed.
"Yan Shaozhe...Lexuan...Lexuan she..."
She only said these few words, and the rest of the words stopped. But Yan Shaozhe understood.
He held her hand with his backhand and squeezed it gently through the quilt. "I know, I know it. It's not that you don't want to eat, you can't eat it."
The quilt trembled again. This time it trembled more violently than before.
Yan Shaozhe didn't rush her. He sat there quietly, holding her hand with one hand through the quilt, and gently patted her back with the other hand, like coaxing a child, once and again.
After a while, he tentatively pulled the corner of the quilt.
"Let me see if you're okay?"
The corners of the quilt were clenched so tightly that they were almost twisted into a rope under his fingertips. He didn't pull hard, he just stopped there and waited.
After a few breaths of stalemate, the fingers holding the corners of the quilt loosened little by little.
Yan Shaozhe slowly pulled down the quilt, revealing her face.
Cai Mei'er was lying on his side, his eyes were red, there were wet tears on his eyelashes, and there was a thin layer of red on the tip of his nose - the usually decisive and resolute vice president Spirit Soul Department, now looked like a child who had been wronged but refused to speak out.
Yan Shaozhe looked at her and said nothing. He stretched out his hand and gently wiped away the tear stains on her cheeks with his thumb.
"... You are just tough-talking." He whispered.
Cai Mei'er didn't refute, just rubbed his face into his palm.
"The porridge is hot." Yan Shaozhe retracted his hand and turned to reach for the insulated food box on the bedside table. "I put rock sugar in it, so it won't be bitter."
The moment the lid of the box was opened, a sweet and warm aroma spread in the ward. The fragrance of rice was wrapped in the bitterness of lotus seeds and the slight sweetness of lily, floating gently in the morning light.
Cai Mei'er's nose moved.
Yan Shaozhe brought the porridge bowl over. The porcelain bowl was warm in his palm. A white porcelain spoon was placed on the edge of the bowl. He was about to say something--
The door was suddenly pushed open.
"Teacher!"
A fiery red figure almost ran in, and the movement was so loud that the curtains fluttered.
Ma Xiaotao stood at the door, his red hair a little messy and his chest rising and falling slightly.
Her peach blossom eyes swept across the room - and when they landed on Yan Shaozhe, she narrowed her eyes slightly.
There was complaint, worry, and a bit of grievance in the eyes of "You actually hid it from me."
Yan Shaozhe's hand holding the porridge bowl paused without any trace.
"...Xiaotao." He cleared his throat and put the bowl on the bedside table guiltily, "Why are you here?"
"Why am I here?"
Ma Xiaotao walked in step by step, walked up to him, folded his arms, and looked him up and down, "Teacher, you are so good at hiding it."
"I..."
"The matter between Master Wife and Sister Grandmaster, I worked hard with Xuan Zi for a long time this morning to figure it out!" Her voice was a little higher, "Do you think I can't handle it, or do you think I'm not qualified to know?"
Yan Shaozhe was stunned and wanted to explain something, but when he looked at his goddaughter's angry look, and then at his wife who still had red eyes on the bed, he suddenly felt - he couldn't explain it.
He simply sighed, picked up the porridge bowl, turned around and handed it to Ma Xiaotao:
"Okay, okay, it's my master's fault. But don't blame me for now - your master's wife hasn't eaten since yesterday. She won't eat anything I say. She loves to listen to you. Are you here to persuade me?"
Cai Mei'er's eyes suddenly widened. "Yan Shaozhe you--!"
Ma Xiaotao let out a "hum", glanced at the bowl of porridge, and then at Cai Mei'er, took it without saying a word, walked to the bed and sat down, tapped the white porcelain spoon lightly on the edge of the bowl, stirred up the porridge noodles, and scooped out a spoonful.
She didn't hand it over. She just held up the spoon and looked at Cai Mei'er.
Cai Mei'er: "..."
The master and apprentice just looked at each other.
"...Xiaotao, don't listen to him, I can do it myself." Cai Mei'er's voice was still a little hoarse, and the roots of his ears were already burning.
"Master Wife." Ma Xiaotao didn't put down the spoon, "Why are you blushing? I was sick when I was a child. Didn't you feed me like this? If you didn't eat, I would keep holding it like this."
"You kid..."
"You don't feel bad if my hands are sore?"
Cai Mei'er was ashamed and helpless. The corners of his mouth moved uncontrollably, and finally he opened his mouth slightly.
Ma Xiaotao fed the porridge into her mouth, but the force was not as gentle as her usual style.
Yan Shaozhe stood aside and watched, the corners of his eyes curled up, and he couldn't help but said, "Xiaotao still has a way."
Cai Mei'er glared at him. "... shut up."
"Okay, okay, I'll shut up." Yan Shaozhe smiled and raised his hands in surrender, "It's good to have a daughter in charge."
Ma Xiaotao scooped another spoonful of porridge and said without looking back, "Teacher, you too, don't hide anything from me in the future. I'm not a child anymore."
Yan Shaozhe responded gently, "Yes, I understand."
The ward became quiet for a moment, with the only sound left was the soft sound of the spoon hitting the rim of the bowl.
Cai Mei'er silently swallowed the second mouthful of porridge, the hot steam made her eyebrows soften a little. After drinking the third spoonful, she suddenly paused and said in a very soft voice, "I don't know how Lexuan that child... is doing now."