The Annoying Little Sprite

Li Muyang eventually sent away his convenient younger sister, Li Yuechan.

Well... it wouldn't be entirely accurate to say he "sent her away."

Li Muyang's attitude was indeed poor, but he hadn't been overly vicious. After the young girl sat and rested for a while, she simply set down the items her aunt and uncle had instructed her to bring and left obediently.

She was remarkably tactful.

Watching Li Yuechan's retreating figure, Li Muyang sighed inwardly.

Perhaps it was because she had been living under someone else's roof since she was young, but despite her age, the girl was very good at reading people and possessed high emotional intelligence.

Her optimistic and cheerful personality made it difficult for anyone to harbor ill will toward her.

Even when Li Muyang snapped at her, she didn't get angry.

Such emotional intelligence and poise in a sixteen-year-old girl made the original owner—that chuunibyou man-child—look like absolute trash by comparison.

It was no wonder the original owner had hated this convenient sister.

When a self-important, chuunibyou teenager encounters a peer who outclasses him in every way, it would be strange if he liked them.

After sending his sister away, Li Muyang inspected the luggage she had left behind.

Aside from the food box containing pastries from Jiuyuan City, there was a bundle containing two brand-new winter coats, a pair of newly made boots, a letter from home, and a purse.

Although the original owner had shouted "Do not bully a young man for being poor" to his parents in front of the neighbors, his mother still worried about her son after he had been away for so long.

She had prepared the winter clothes before summer had even ended and sent them over with her foster daughter, fearing her son would suffer from the cold at the Demon Refining Sect.

The silver in the purse was a small fortune for the currently penniless Li Muyang, enough to cover his expenses for a long time.

Finally, looking at the letter in his hand, Li Muyang hesitated; he didn't have the courage to open it.

The words Li Yuechan had spoken earlier had dealt a massive psychological blow to Li Muyang, a transmigrator from Earth.

He truly didn't dare to read a letter sent by the original owner's parents.

The original owner might have been an ungrateful chuunibyou, but he was not.

He could not accept the affection of a stranger's mother; to him, it felt too intense and terrifying.

Li Muyang was determined to discard all of the original owner's social ties.

Fortunately, given the terrible relationship between the original owner and his sister, even if Li Yuechan didn't hold a grudge, she shouldn't come to bother him again after being met with such a cold reception.

...At least, that was how it should have been.

The following afternoon, when Li Muyang finished watering the spirit fields and sat under a tree on the ridge to rest, he entered the game once more.

He continued his role as the kind big brother in Black Cloud Stronghold, looking after Little Wild Grass.

However, the sound of a girl's footsteps echoed at dusk.

When Li Muyang opened his eyes, he saw the young girl, now wearing a light white dress, appearing under the sunset with a smile.

She carried a food box in her hand, skipping along the mountain path with her hands behind her back, looking innocent and pure.

Seeing Li Muyang open his eyes, the girl smiled brightly.

"Brother, I've cooked some food for you. Would you like to eat together?"

The girl opened the lid of the food box, revealing the steaming hot dishes inside.

Two meat dishes and one vegetable dish, all looking and smelling delicious.

The color of the meat dishes made Li Muyang subconsciously swallow—he had been eating nothing but salted vegetables for so long that he hadn't touched meat in ages.

But after a moment of hesitation, Li Muyang still didn't give the girl a pleasant look; he darkened his face and told her to get lost.

"Stop bothering me!"

The current Li Muyang had too many secrets; he had to keep his distance from everyone, and he couldn't afford even a shred of softness.

If Li Yuechan discovered the Endless Spirit Rice Jar in his room, who knew what ideas this sixteen-year-old girl might get?

Li Muyang would never gamble his safety on someone else's conscience.

After being snapped at by Li Muyang, the girl holding the food box blinked innocently.

"Alright..."

She didn't argue with him, seemingly devoid of any temper.

Instead, she simply placed the food box where she stood and turned to leave.

Li Muyang told her to take it with her, but she turned a deaf ear.

Eventually, the girl vanished into the sunset.

Watching her retreating back, Li Muyang, who had just played the villain, sighed.

He glanced at the abandoned food box... Li Muyang had intended not to waste it, but he worried that if she came back tomorrow and saw the food had been eaten, she might take it as an invitation to push her luck.

Thus, Li Muyang forced himself to ignore the food box's enticing aroma, turned away, and continued his austere life of rice and salted vegetables.

As for that meal, it sat out in the wilderness for a day and a night.

It wasn't until the following dusk, when the girl appeared again carrying a food box, that she saw the original one still sitting exactly where she had left it, completely untouched.

The girl hesitated for a moment, then looked toward the old tree on the distant ridge where Li Muyang sat with his eyes closed. In the end, she said nothing, instead silently carrying the day's food box to the door of Li Muyang's tile-roofed house and taking away the untouched meal from the day before.

On the third day, at the same twilight hour, she arrived at the edge of Li Muyang's spirit field again, only to see him resting under the tree and the food box at his door still completely untouched.

This time, the girl didn't say a word. She walked familiarly to the door, set down the box containing freshly cooked hot dishes, and took away the one that had remained untouched since the night before.

Then came the fourth day, the fifth, the sixth...

This "cheap" younger sister seemed to have locked horns with Li Muyang.

Even though Li Muyang never touched the food she brought, she still delivered meals every single evening.

This standoff lasted for nine days. Finally, on the ninth day, when the girl arrived, she saw that the food in the box was gone, leaving behind only clean, washed bowls and dishes.

Seeing this, the girl's eyebrows curved into beautiful crescents as she broke into a smile.

Humming a cheerful tune, she took away the previous night's box and left the new one behind.

As for Li Muyang under the old tree, she didn't disturb him, simply leaving on her own.

Just like that, a splash of color entered Li Muyang's life.

He no longer had to eat his rice with nothing but pickled vegetables every day.

Every day, in addition to fragrant spirit rice, there were hot dishes brought by his "cheap" sister.

With a mix of meat and vegetables that changed daily, Li Muyang had to admit that her cooking was excellent.

Moreover, Li Yuechan never disturbed him, maintaining a perfect sense of boundaries.

Between this pair of strangely related siblings, a peculiar balance was maintained.

Both sides lived in peace, getting along quite harmoniously.

As for Li Muyang, the "good-for-nothing brother" who unilaterally accepted these offerings, he felt no shame at all.

He had already realized that this "cheap" sister was no pushover.

She didn't fuss or make a scene, yet she was more persistent than those girls who would throw tantrums, refusing to give up until she reached her goal.

Though he didn't know why she was so keen on feeding him, as long as she didn't further intrude on his life, Li Muyang didn't mind giving her a little face.

At this moment, after a long period of cultivation, Li Muyang had successfully raised Little Wild Grass's favorability to [36].

This second stage of cultivation was, just as Li Muyang had guessed, something that required time spent accompanying Little Wild Grass.

Two years had passed in the game, and Little Wild Grass's favorability toward Li Muyang was growing slowly, on the verge of breaking through the [40] mark.

Li Muyang was now looking forward to seeing what rewards he would receive once this second stage of cultivation concluded.