A Special Name and Favoritism Forever

Dania sat down obediently, her skirt spreading around her knees.

Zhou Yu pulled a roasted sweet potato, still steaming and wrapped in oiled paper, from the pocket of his yellow vest and handed it to her.

"Here, eat it while it's hot."

The sweet potato had been roasted to perfection, its skin fragrant and charred, the flesh inside golden, soft, and starchy.

Dania held it carefully and lowered her head to peel it. Her fingers were deft, stripping off the thin skin in one piece without getting any of the flesh on them.

She held the peeled, plumpest middle section up to Zhou Yu's mouth.

Zhou Yu didn't stand on ceremony. He opened his mouth and took a big bite, then took the remaining half from her and polished off the fibrous ends she didn't like in a few bites. The whole process flowed as though they had rehearsed it countless times.

After sharing the sweet potato, the two fell into a comfortable silence.

Dania hugged her knees and watched the clouds drifting past in the distance, her fingers tracing circles on the concrete steps without thinking.

She hesitated for a long time, her cheeks slowly flushing pink. Her voice was as soft as a feather falling to the ground.

"Zhou Yu."

"Hmm?"

"Can I... call you Xiao Yu from now on?"

Zhou Yu had been unscrewing the lid of his thermos to get a drink. His hand stopped.

He turned to look at the girl. She was watching him nervously, her clear eyes full of cautious anticipation, like a kitten waiting for its owner's verdict.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and he silently screwed the lid back on.

The corners of his mouth rose despite his efforts to keep them down.

"Mm."

At that single syllable, Dania's eyes instantly lit up like a light bulb.

The blush on her face deepened, and she pressed her advantage with another question, her voice carrying a trace of softness that was hard to detect.

"Then... can you call me Yaya?"

The atmosphere around them was steeped in sweetness.

Zhou Yu looked at her, at those eyes brimming with starlight, at her lips pressed together slightly with nerves.

His Adam's apple moved.

In a deep, gentle tone he didn't even notice himself, he softly called her name.

"Yaya."

Boom.

Dania felt all the blood in her body rush to her head.

She abruptly buried her face in her knees, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably, leaving only the tips of her ears exposed to the air, so red they looked ready to drip blood.

Oh no, my heart's beating so fast.

Zhou Yu looked at her, curled up as though she wanted nothing more than to roll herself into a ball, and chuckled.

He reached out and gently rubbed her soft, short pink hair. The strands slipped between his fingers, warm to the touch.

"Yaya."

He called her name again.

The girl's shoulders shook even harder, but she didn't look up.

"Keep every weekend free from now on."

His voice was calm, as if announcing a schedule that could not be changed.

"No classes, no team-building events, and no last-minute assignments."

"Just for the two of us."

After quite a while, the little head buried in her knees gave a gentle nod.

Zhou Yu withdrew his hand and leaned against the railing behind the stands, following her example and gazing at the few clouds drifting leisurely across the horizon.

He said nothing more, simply enjoying the peace of the moment.

Dania slowly raised her head, the blush still lingering on her cheeks, and stole a glance at Zhou Yu beside her.

His profile was sharply outlined in the afternoon sun. His eyes, usually a little languid, were gazing into the distance, his expression gentle.

She quietly edged closer, little by little, until her shoulder rested lightly against his arm.

Zhou Yu's body stiffened for a moment, then relaxed. He even adjusted his position so she could lean more comfortably.

Dania's heart finally settled.

She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth coming from him and breathing in that familiar scent, mixed with a faint hint of goji berry tea.

Even the wind turned gentle.

The screen of the old-fashioned digital watch on Zhou Yu's wrist suddenly lit up.

This time, there was no skull and no banana peel.

Instead, there was a pixel-art hourglass icon, spinning as it loaded.

Below the hourglass, a line of tiny green characters flickered rapidly, rearranged themselves, and finally settled.

[Warning: High-level cognitive intervention memetic intrusion detected. Priority: S.]

[Attempting to connect to target: Zhou Yu.]

[Connection method: Clinical hypnosis.]

[Executing agent: Moning, Dean of Discipline, Flamebearers' Academy.]

Zhou Yu's gaze turned cold.

Dania was still leaning against his shoulder, asleep.

He didn't move. He merely glanced at the screen, then looked at the girl in his arms.

Her breathing was steady, and a sweet smile still lingered on her lips.

Without betraying any reaction, Zhou Yu raised his other hand and gently tapped the watch screen.

A pixel-art dialog box popped up beside the hourglass icon.

[Activate countermeasures?]

Zhou Yu's fingertip hovered over the [Yes] option for half a second.

Then the corners of his mouth tilted upward—a smile mingling mischief with supreme confidence.

His finger swept across the screen, bringing up the backend of his golden finger. On the crude interface that only he could see, he began entering a string of new commands.

[Countermeasure plan: Custom.]

[Targeted reverse injection into the source of memetic contamination.]

[Injection content: "A Wage Slave's Guide to Self-Cultivation and Resisting Involution," revised edition V3.0.]

[Core keywords: Slacking off, pooping on company time, KPI, PUA, workplace jargon...]

[Trigger condition: Automatically release when Moning's hypnotic probe contacts the user's cognitive layer.]

[Expected effect: A complete, dimensionality-reducing, irreversible formatting of her worldview.]

Having done all that, he turned off the screen.

Dania shifted gently in his arms, finding a more comfortable position.

Zhou Yu gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

You want to use academic methods to deconstruct me?

Then let me show you the purest, plainest wage-slave mental contamination from another world.

I'll show you what a real "dimensionality reduction strike" is.