After busy days running around like a headless chicken for five whole days, Yun Qingyue could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Over the past few days, she had been so busy that aside from meals, she barely saw Li Lianhua. Her head was buzzing with chaos, and she didn't even want to speak!
In all her life, Yun Qingyue had never done such exhausting work, and she was on the verge of a breakdown. If she had to start doing missions for real in the future, how exhausted would she end up? She would probably die of overwork at a young age!
Sob, sob, sob. She was starting to regret her decision not to tell Li Lianhua, but she simply lacked the capability. Could it be that this abnormal System chose her precisely because she lacked ability and was easy to control? No way, that was too miserable! Sob, sob, crying!
Li Lianhua brought over the meal and looked at Yun Qingyue, who wore a mournful expression and radiated an aura of utter despair. With an amused smile, he asked, "What is this? Did someone pick a fight with you?"
Although these past few days had been extremely busy, Li Lianhua had seized every opportunity to observe Yun Qingyue closely. She was a kind and patient good girl.
She never lost her temper at others, and no matter what kind of person came to ask a question, she never wore an unpleasant expression. She didn't haggle over petty gains and losses, and if there was a problem, she would talk it through clearly.
When the children came by, she would happily give them candies and carefully calculate with them how wild vegetables and small fish could be exchanged for sweets and pastries.
Every day, Li Lianhua marveled at what kind of country and society could cultivate a person with such a disposition! He grew more and more curious about the place where Yueyue grew up; without needing any description, he knew it must be a wonderful place!
Li Lianhua decided to have a proper talk with Yueyue today, so he prepared the meal early and went to close the courtyard gate to ensure they could talk without interruption later.
Yun Qingyue, having freshened up, looked suspiciously at the person opposite her who was leisurely brewing tea amidst the snacks on the table and her already brewed fruit tea. "What's going on today? Is there some major event happening again? You're being so formal!"
Li Lianhua picked up his teacup, took a slow sip, and silently anticipated Yueyue's possible reactions and how he should respond.
Then, with earth-shattering casualness, he asked, "How long can you stay in this world? When are you leaving?"
"Pfft—cough, cough, cough! You—cough, cough, how did you—cough, cough..." Yun Qingyue spat out the tea in her mouth and beat her chest frantically to catch her breath.
Seeing this, Li Lianhua silently blamed himself for testing her too harshly, though her reaction had already confirmed his suspicion. At the same time, he felt a pang of heartache seeing her with reddened eyes, unable to speak, and filled with panic.
So, he shifted his position to sit right beside Yun Qingyue, gently patting her back to help her recover while saying, "Um... I guessed it!"
*So easy to guess?* Unable to speak, Yun Qingyue simply glared at Li Lianhua with her eyes.
Seeing this pitiful look of someone who had been bullied to the limit, Li Lianhua immediately picked up his teacup to hide the rising corners of his mouth. He took a sip of tea and continued slowly, "After all, you've never really tried to hide it, have you? Everything was so obvious. If I still couldn't figure it out, wouldn't I be a fool?"
Continuing to glare at him, Yun Qingyue burst out in exasperation, "How are you anything like a fool? Clearly, I'm the fool! Since when is this easy to guess? You're like a freakin' monster—who can possibly compare to you?!"
Li Lianhua was speechless. *Is that the main point here?* He gave a light cough and set down his teacup. "Ahem, don't get so worked up. It's just... fine, fine, I won't say it, and you can stop glaring at me. Let's talk about the important matters, shall we?"
Finally calming down, Yun Qingyue adopted a fatalistic, "in for a penny, in for a pound" attitude and said, "Ask whatever questions you have. Anything I'm allowed to say, I certainly won't keep from you!"
*Anything you're allowed to say? Does that mean there are restrictions?* That meant he needed to phrase his questions carefully. "How about this: I'll ask you questions, and you don't have to answer out loud—just nod or shake your head. We can fill in the details afterward, alright?"
*What a clever person.* He could think of so much from just a single sentence. Thumbs up! Yun Qingyue nodded. "Alright, no problem! Go ahead and ask."
Li Lianhua raised his head and locked his gaze onto Yun Qingyue. "Do you know what happened here? ... So you went to save my master? ... Can you take other people with you? ... How much longer can you stay? ... Have you found the catalyst to return? ... Can you tell me what happened to the me in a world without you? ... Is my—is my senior brother still alive?"
When he asked that last question, Li Lianhua's eyes suddenly reddened. Yun Qingyue found it utterly incredible. "Why are you asking if your senior brother is still alive? Shouldn't you be asking where his body is?"
Li Lianhua, whose body had been tense the entire time, relaxed upon hearing her question. With reddened eyes, he explained, "It seems I guessed right. From the moment we met, you've mentioned Master, Mistress, the driving errand boy, the fat wine-shop keeper, and even the heroic woman who saved you—everyone except my senior brother. Yet you clearly knew that I've always wanted to find his body. But you never uttered a single word about anything related to him. So something must have gone wrong, which is why you didn't want to mention him, or rather, you despise him! ... Therefore, it's all a conspiracy, right? A conspiracy targeting me! Dan Gudao is just like those people, plotting against me, isn't he?"
*Help! Why is this person so bloody smart?!* Yun Qingyue, who hadn't felt like she had given anything away at all, genuinely began to doubt reality at this moment.
She had merely brought him some things from the future and cured his Bicha Poison, yet she had been seen completely through to the bone! The gap between people was simply too vast! How was his brain even wired?!
Giving up the struggle, Yun Qingyue slumped dejectedly over the table. "Your guesses are all spot on, but their motives for plotting against you are a bit different. It went like this..."
Yun Qingyue recounted all the relevant plot points of Lotus Tower she could remember seeing in short videos, along with netizen theories, wild imaginations, and extrapolations.
She talked until her throat was completely parched, stopped to gulp down water, and even took a moment to comfort him: "Don't you go crying over those people now; none of that has even happened yet!"
Li Lianhua murmured, "So, when you said you saved my Master from the man in black... that person was Dan Gudao!"
Yun Qingyue nodded without speaking.
"We came all the way from being little beggars to being adopted by Master and raised under his guidance—how could he dare raise a hand against Master? That is utter treason, an act of defying master and destroying ancestors!" Li Lianhua's eyes grew even redder with fury, and tears welled up.Yun Qingyue hurriedly pulled out a handkerchief and stuffed it into his hand. "Don't be angry, don't be angry. It's not worth getting yourself worked up over people like that. Your master is doing fine now, and you know their scheme. You just need to go deal with them—why torture yourself over it!"
Yun Qingyue, who had once again been pulled into Li Lianhua's arms, was calm this time. "Yueyue, can you please not rush to leave? Can you wait until I've dealt with all these schemes before you go? Take me with you when you leave, and we can go back to Yunyin Mountain and explain everything clearly to Master and Mistress. If there's still plenty of time, we'll stay with them for a while; if there isn't enough time, I'll go and beg for their forgiveness. Take me with you! Can you please not leave me behind?"
This was killing her! Yun Qingyue had no idea what kind of expression to make right now. Well, how about that—all her difficult problems were solved just like that, and she hadn't even had to ask. This was wonderful!
And yet, Li Lianhua looking this fragile absolutely struck her right in the tear ducts. He hadn't cried when the Bicha Poison flared up; he hadn't cried when he was framed and betrayed; he hadn't cried when his girlfriend dumped him. How could someone who hadn't shed a single tear through all of that now look so fragile he seemed ready to shatter!
Last time he had only shed tears in secret, and she hadn't realized he was carrying such deep sorrow—once he let it out, he would be fine! So why was she the one wanting to cry this time?
Before she could even finish that thought, her eyes turned red, and Yun Qingyue wrapped her arms back around Li Lianhua, choking out, "If I could leave, I'd definitely take you with me wherever I go. You have no idea what it was like for me back then..." Crying as she spilled all her secrets, Yun Qingyue didn't notice when Li Lianhua had already calmed down, holding her gently without a word.
He lowered his head to look at the pitifully weeping girl in his arms, who hadn't even forgotten to file a complaint against the so-called System. Thinking of something, the tips of his ears turned inappropriately red.
Hearing the young woman's genuine experiences firsthand, he couldn't help but feel a series of sharp, aching twinges in his heart. His Yueyue had suffered so many terrible things, yet she remained so strong and kind!
The very first thing she thought of when arriving in an unfamiliar world was how to save him, and she had traveled thousands of miles to rescue his master simply so he wouldn't have any regrets. She had found him, saved him, and even remembered to comfort him. How could his Yueyue be so wonderful!
Such a good, wonderful girl—he had to treat her the best from now on. He would buy her the prettiest clothes, the finest jewelry, and give her the absolute best of everything.
A husband... well, a husband could wait. In this world, he hadn't yet found anyone worthy of his Yueyue. He could scout around later, when they were out doing missions together.
No, his chest was starting to feel tight and uncomfortable again. Later, he'd have her take out that thing called a Medical Pod and patch him up. It was also possible the Bicha Poison had left behind some lingering side effects that his inner force couldn't detect.
Filled with heartache over Yueyue's pitiful tears, Li Lianhua seemingly mastered the art of coaxing girls without even being taught. As he gently wiped the tears from the face of the person in his arms, he soothed her softly, "There, there, don't cry anymore. You won't look pretty if you cry so much. Come, let Lianhua-gege see if our Yueyue is still pretty. Alright, alright, your eyes are all swollen from crying—it breaks my heart to see it. I know our Yueyue has been wronged; when that so-called System comes back, gege will help you vent your anger, alright? Yueyue knows I'm the smartest one—that System won't stand a chance of making trouble or hurting anyone, right? Be good now, stop crying, won't you? Just touching you breaks my heart!"
As he spoke, Li Lianhua took one of Yun Qingyue's hands and placed it over his heart, lowering his gaze to her tear-stained face with a serious expression, trying to make her understand that every word he said was true!
Recovering her wits from his tender gaze, Yun Qingyue suddenly covered her face with both hands. "Ahhh, this is too humiliating! You're not allowed to look, put me down right now—hey, I'm ignoring you!" Once Li Lianhua obediently stood up and set her down from his embrace, Yun Qingyue—before she had even steadied herself—covered her face and bolted straight for her room. Frightened, Li Lianhua hurriedly called out, "Slow down, watch out for a fall!" From behind her came an angry, muffled retort: "Shut up!"
Yet the man who had just been yelled at laughed out brightly, turning back with a light step to sit down by the stone table, where he resumed sipping his tea amidst the pastries and candies.
That bright, lighthearted smile lingered on Li Lianhua's face all the way until he went to bed. Until... in the dead of night, a series of vague, muffled murmurs drifted from Li Lianhua's room. What he was saying wasn't very clear; only that the speaker was not sleeping peacefully: "Yueyue, don't move!"
Sitting up in a daze, Li Lianhua couldn't quite remember what he had dreamed about. It just felt like he'd been a bit hot, so he got up to drink some water while trying to recall, but he genuinely couldn't remember a thing. Oh well, if he couldn't remember, forget it—it probably wasn't important!
The next day, as she was preparing to head out to gather wild vegetables, Yun Qingyue suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to mention the Gene Repair Fluid. Never mind, talking about it at lunch would be just the same.
Entrusting all her secrets to a trustworthy person felt simply amazing, didn't it? Free of burdens, she finally had the mood to head outside. Besides, a smart person was already figuring those matters out, so there was no rush, no rush!
The shipwreck salvage was finally finished. In the process, they had also pulled up a lot of weapons, which the villagers were too afraid to handle. Yun Qingyue had them piled together, and eventually Li Lianhua took them out to be forged into kitchen knives, firewood choppers, hoes, and other agricultural tools, which were then distributed to the villagers.
There was also an abundance of fish, shrimp, and seaweed; they just needed to wait until they were completely dry before packing them away. Next came building their new home, the Lotus Tower! But Yun Qingyue didn't need to worry about any of that—Li Lianhua, the DIY expert, could handle it all on his own with a crew!
What she did need to worry about was having the women and children of the village gather extra wild vegetables, mushrooms, black fungus, and bamboo shoots for her—without interfering with their household chores—so she could process them into semi-finished goods and store them away!
Yun Qingyue felt like a hamster nowadays. For the sake of those illusory missions, she really was pulling out all the stops.
Ever since Yun Qingyue realized she needed to complete missions, she felt that everything was useful and everything could come in handy. There was simply nothing in this world that didn't need to be collected!
Poor Yun Qingyue, a pretty young girl, acting like a little thief every single day—wuwuwu!