The Foolish Devotion

“This is absolutely maddening…,” she thought. Disregarding any lingering shame or awkwardness, she quickened her steps and approached.

“Chen Hao… junior?”

“Z-Zhou Yi Senior Sister? What are you doing here…?” Chen Hao gasped in surprise, his hand trembling, nearly dropping his phone.

Upon hearing the address, Zhou Yi nearly choked on her breath. ‘Zhou… Yi… Senior… Sister?!’

She knew her current role was that of a senior sister, but what was the system thinking, using her full name and title so literally?

“Seriously, Xiao Qi, you didn’t even bother changing my surname, did you? Aren’t you worried I’ll get doxxed in real life?!”

[Player’s surname exposure risk detected. Rationalization patch automatically loaded. Target’s cognition currently being corrected…]

“You’re only thinking of patching it *now*?! What were you doing before?!” Zhou Yi was seething with rage, and she wholeheartedly cursed the system’s ancestors.

Complaints aside, the arrow was already nocked and had to be loosed. Zhou Yi steeled herself, forcing a gentle smile, and spoke to Chen Hao:

“What a coincidence. I was just on my way to return some books…” She gestured towards the empty seat beside Chen Hao. “May I sit here?”

“O-of course!” Chen Hao fumbled with his phone, hastily moving it aside.

Zhou Yi approached slowly, deliberately graceful, smoothing her skirt before finally taking her seat.

Regarding this “lady mode” sitting posture, she truly had no desire to complain, unwilling to experience the system’s triple electric shock once more.

She deliberately placed the prop hardcover book—which the system had conjured out of thin air for her to “act cool” with—between them, creating a safe distance.

Then, she was the first to break the silence. “Um… I’m sorry, actually… I was in the wrong that day at the coffee shop.”

“Senior Sister…” Chen Hao hadn’t expected an apology, and for a moment, he was at a loss for words.

“It’s mainly because something came up with my family recently, and I ended up taking it out on you.” Zhou Yi sighed softly.

“N-no, it’s fine! Is everything… alright with your family?”

“It’s rather laughable, really,” Zhou Yi said, lifting her head to gaze wistfully into the distance. “My cousin, he’s been… having a terrible time lately…”

“What happened to him?” Chen Hao unconsciously straightened his posture.

“My aunt asked me to talk to him, to guide him. But with the way he is, I truly don’t know how to console him…”

“Why is that?”

Zhou Yi paused, pressing her lips together as if hesitant to speak further.

“Well, he’s foolishly fallen for a girl. He’d bring her an umbrella on rainy days and milk tea on sunny ones, practically emptying himself out just to give her the very best.”

“When she mentioned wanting that trendy, hard-to-buy dessert, he’d cut class and brave the rain to queue for three hours to get it, even returning with a fever himself. When she reminisced about the *shaobing* from her hometown street stall, he’d stay up all night, taking an overnight bus to that small county town. After buying them, he’d rush straight back, delivering the *shaobing* still warm into her hands.”

She paused, observing Chen Hao’s subtly changing expression, before continuing.

“Later… to make her happy, he even used up all his living expenses, spending it entirely on gifts for her. He had no money for food but didn’t dare tell his family, still foolishly thinking it was all worth it.”

“D-did… did that girl know?” Chen Hao’s voice was dry, almost hoarse.

“How could she not know?” Zhou Yi managed a bitter smile.

“But my cousin only realized later that she never truly cared for him. She was clearly with someone else, yet she continued to accept his gifts daily, summoned him whenever she pleased, and reveled in his devotion…”

“Senior Sister… your cousin, how is he now…?” Chen Hao’s tone softened unconsciously.

“He…” Zhou Yi lowered her gaze. “After learning the truth, his entire world collapsed. Before, to buy her gifts, he would deliver food during the day and work at a convenience store at night, enduring such exhaustion, yet finding sweet satisfaction in it all…”

“Now, he doesn’t even leave the house; he just lies in bed all day, staring blankly. My aunt has cried her eyes nearly blind, saying she wished she had stopped him sooner…”

As she spoke, her own eyes welled up with tears.

‘Damn it,’ she thought, ‘I actually made myself feel miserable. The latter half was fictional, but the first half—all that heartfelt devotion taken for granted, that dark history—every time I recall it, it feels like flogging a corpse.’

“Heh.” Zhou Yi suddenly chuckled, having reached this point in her story. “Tell me… isn’t he hopelessly foolish?”

Chen Hao fell silent.

“The last time I flared up at you, it was also because I saw the shadow of that foolish boy in you. You were clearly being used as an ATM, yet you happily paid for others.”

Chen Hao wasn’t foolish; how could he not grasp Zhou Yi’s underlying meaning? He was simply being stubborn, unwilling to admit it.

“Senior Sister… this has nothing to do with Yating… it was all my choice.”

As he spoke, a subtle hesitation entered Chen Hao’s voice.

Zhou Yi did not rush to refute him. Instead, she simply watched him, her gaze imbued with an almost compassionate clarity.

‘This fool said the same thing last time,’ she mused. ‘On the surface, he claims willingness, but deep down, it’s merely a fear of loss—a fear that if he stops giving, he will completely lose his place in Lin Yating’s world.’

More profoundly, it was the illusion of imminent success at play, a persistent feeling that just a little more effort would yield a response. This unwillingness to give up made him prefer to continue deceiving himself.

“Chen Hao… you say it’s not her fault, that it was all your choice. Very well, then let me ask you… if, right now, you had nothing, were deeply in debt, could no longer afford any gifts, and even needed to borrow money from her to get by, do you think she would still smile at you? Would she still answer your calls?”

She paused briefly. “That willingness of yours… does she truly… deserve it?”