If Lan Yucheng had heard that at this moment, she would have pondered it for quite some time.
‘Qing Xinxue clearly harbored deep affection for her, perhaps even a secret crush.’
‘But then, what was the meaning of the favorability she had sensed?’
“Hmm… first…”
Upon finishing, Qing Xinxue wore a look of sudden realization.
“Sister Su Yiyi, you understand so much!?”
“Of course.”
Su Yiyi, her arms crossed, spoke with immense pride.
“Then, Sister, do you have a girlfriend?”
“Hm?”
Caught off guard by Qing Xinxue’s question, Su Yiyi first paused, then burst into laughter.
“A girlfriend… I don’t have one.”
“Ah?”
Qing Xinxue gazed at her, disbelief coloring her features, scrutinizing her from head to toe once more.
“That can’t be right, Sister, you’re so beautiful!”
“I’m not interested.”
Su Yiyi gently shook her head. It wasn’t that she genuinely lacked interest in romance; rather, she simply hadn’t met anyone who truly suited her.
Having been single for all twenty-six years of her life, she had never even held hands with anyone.
“Would you like me to introduce someone to you, Sister?”
Qing Xinxue immediately leaned closer, her face alight with expectation, blinking her eyes.
“Are you sure?”
Su Yiyi’s eyes curved into a smile, as if she had thought of something amusing.
“Yes!”
Qing Xinxue, completely oblivious to the shift in Su Yiyi’s tone, grew even happier, seeing that Su Yiyi was about to agree.
‘She could finally help someone now!’
“Then… how about you let me have your Sister Cheng?”
“Ah!?”
Qing Xinxue froze, utterly bewildered by Su Yiyi’s words.
‘Wasn’t she supposed to be a gentle older sister?’
‘Why was she trying to snatch her woman away!?’
Qing Xinxue lowered her head, fidgeting with her fingers, contemplating whether to agree.
On one side was Lan Yucheng, whom she had secretly admired for so long, and on the other was Su Yiyi, who had helped them.
Before long, a mist welled up in her eyes.
Her voice thick with a sob, she whispered, “I… I really like Sister Cheng… but… but Sister Cheng taught me before that I should be grateful… I… I don’t know, Sister Su Yiyi… do you really have to have Sister Cheng?”
Qing Xinxue suddenly looked up at her, tears brimming in her eyes. One perfectly round tear slipped down, landing on Su Yiyi’s clothing.
“No, no, no! I-I was just joking! Don’t take it seriously! Nobody’s taking your Sister Cheng!”
Su Yiyi hadn’t expected Qing Xinxue to take her seriously, let alone cry.
‘She had truly gone too far.’
However, a hint of worry also crept into her mind. Qing Xinxue was so innocent and adorable.
‘Wouldn’t she be easily tricked by some scoundrel with a lollipop into being taken away into the mountains later?’
Su Yiyi shivered, quickly moving to comfort Qing Xinxue.
Yet, Qing Xinxue simply continued to cry, her sobs growing more intense. Su Yiyi was at a loss; she had never encountered such a situation before.
Just then, Lan Yucheng finally awoke. Opening her eyes, she saw Qing Xinxue crying beside her. And who was this beautiful, mature older sister next to her?
‘Could she have contracted some serious illness?’
“Xiao Xue.”
She spoke, her voice somewhat hoarse.
Upon hearing Lan Yucheng’s voice, Qing Xinxue’s crying ceased abruptly.
She quickly wiped away her tears with her hand, then tightly grasped Lan Yucheng’s hand.
“Sister Cheng! You’re finally awake!”
“No… how many days have I been unconscious?”
“About an hour or so.”
Su Yiyi took out her phone, glanced at it, and then replied.
“Only an hour?”
Lan Yucheng was somewhat surprised. Given the intensity of Qing Xinxue’s crying, an outsider might have thought she was mourning her death.
“I just fainted, there’s no need to cry so fiercely…”
Lan Yucheng raised her other hand and gently stroked Qing Xinxue’s hair.
Qing Xinxue sniffled and said softly, “Hmm… I was just afraid I was going to lose Sister Cheng…”
“?”
Lan Yucheng’s hand paused.
‘What kind of talk was that?’
‘Could she really have some terminal illness? The system hadn’t mentioned anything about it.’
“Xiao Xue, explain clearly, what do you mean by ‘I was just afraid I was going to lose Sister Cheng’?”
“It’s just… it’s just that Sister Cheng might not stay by my side later…”
Qing Xinxue whispered, her face unable to hide her disappointment.
“I was just playing a joke on her, I didn’t expect her to be so adorable and take it seriously.”
Su Yiyi promptly added, fearing that Lan Yucheng might jump to other conclusions.
Upon hearing Su Yiyi’s explanation, Lan Yucheng finally let out a sigh of relief.
If Su Yiyi hadn’t clarified, she truly would have started thinking she had a terminal illness.
“Honestly, Xiao Xue, you gave me quite a fright.”
Lan Yucheng withdrew her hand, propping herself up to sit. However, Qing Xinxue immediately pressed her down.
“Sister Cheng mustn’t move around!”
“I’m not that fragile.”
Lan Yucheng said helplessly, simultaneously looking at Su Yiyi, knowing full well that it was she who had brought her to the hospital.
“Thank you.”
“It was nothing. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now.”
Su Yiyi stood up, offered a slight smile, and walked directly out of the ward.
“Sister Su Yiyi, let’s play together next time!”
Qing Xinxue waved at her, speaking with anticipation.
“Mm.”
Su Yiyi responded faintly and took the elevator down.
“Alright, let’s go home.”
While Qing Xinxue was turning to bid farewell to Su Yiyi, Lan Yucheng took the opportunity to get out of bed. After straightening her clothes, she took Qing Xinxue’s hand.
“Perhaps you should lie down for a bit longer?”
Qing Xinxue said, a hint of worry in her voice.
“If I’m going to lie down, I’ll do it at home. I don’t really like it here.”
Lan Yucheng stated truthfully, simultaneously opening the window to breathe in some fresh air.
She detested the smell of disinfectant here; it was unpleasant.
“Okay.”
Seeing Lan Yucheng’s insistence, Qing Xinxue could only concede.
Stepping out of the hospital entrance, Qing Xinxue took out her phone to hail a taxi.
“Wait a moment, where’s the car?”
Lan Yucheng looked left and right, but the motorcycle was nowhere in sight.
She averted her gaze, muttering inwardly, ‘Did she forget the motorcycle? She can’t be that silly, can she…’
Qing Xinxue first thought for a moment, then came to a sudden realization.
“Oh, right, where’s the motorcycle?”
“…”
‘She had no words. That motorcycle clearly looked expensive; how could she forget it?’
‘But to be angry… she couldn’t bring herself to be. This girl was probably so preoccupied with her that she had long forgotten the motorcycle.’
‘Wait, if that’s the case, the favorability shouldn’t be low, System!’
Time around them suddenly froze. Little Sprite yawned, swaying as she floated before Lan Yucheng, her tone as casual as ever.
[What’s up, Little Chengzi?]
“Bring up Qing Xinxue’s favorability panel for me to see, and also tell me about my previous background story.”
[You don’t have enough credits to pay for that.]
Little Sprite said languidly, lying on her side atop Qing Xinxue’s head.
“Credits? No, you need money for that?”
Lan Yucheng had been ready to analyze the information thoroughly and formulate a strategy to win over Xiao Xue, and now she was being told she needed to pay for it?
‘Weren’t these the most basic things?’
[Not money.] Little Sprite rolled over and continued, [You can earn a certain amount of credits by increasing favorability to a certain degree.]
“How many credits do I have now?”