Chapter 156: Time, Keep Moving Forward
Hand cream?
Such a deliberate hand cream!
Ye Zhen immediately suspected this girl had been reading some weird "dating guides" or "flirting tips" again.
This wasn't something Ye Fuli would normally do.
Ye Fuli wore a deadpan expression, completely unfazed.
Truth be told, she had recently binge-watched some romantic soap operas and picked up a few things along the way…
Whether this tactic was obvious or not, she'd achieved her goal.
The fireworks had finished, and the riverbank was filled with the acrid smell of pyrotechnics.
It was getting late.
A cold wind whistled through the air, and both Ye Zhen and the sickly Ye Fuli were struggling to endure it.
Zhao Mengde, however, remained in high spirits. He was childishly competing with a group of kids in a long jump contest, reveling in their wide-eyed reactions: "Wow wow wow!" "Sister, you're so amazing!" "Sister, do it again!"
"Let's go, Miss Mengde!"
"Ooh."
Miss Zhao Mengde, reluctant to leave, turned back several times to wave goodbye to the children.
Once seated in the car, Zhao Mengde deliberately shot several glances at Ye Fuli.
Ye Fuli frowned sternly: "Don't look at me like that. It makes me feel a sinful urge to gouge your eyes out, and that makes me feel terribly sorry."
Zhao Mengde gasped: "…Hey, this isn't something you can just apologize your way out of, is it?!"
Ye Fuli looked innocent: "I just have that thought. I wouldn't actually do it."
Zhao Mengde sucked in a sharp breath: "You can't even think it! Thinking it is a sin! Stop scaring me like this, okay? Wait… you should sit in the front passenger seat. Stay away from Ye Zhen!"
"Alright, just drive."
Ye Zhen rubbed her head, which ached from the cold wind.
"Stop arguing. My head hurts."
Their constant bickering wasn't something that had started overnight.
The strange thing was, even though Ye Fuli had lost some of her memories and become much kinder, she still occasionally revealed her vicious nature.
Hmm…
The biggest difference from before was that now she mostly talked the talk without walking the walk, and even apologized frequently.
However, her apologies often struck Zhao Mengde as a new form of mockery.
Zhao Mengde desperately wanted to have a proper spar with her.
But the thought of her already being in such a sorry state made him unable to bring himself to do it.
What kind of skill is bullying the sick and weak?
Miss Mengde simply couldn't bring herself to do such a thing.
Better to wait until the sickly one regained full strength.
The car slowly started up and merged into the congested lane.
A song reminiscent of the theme from Kiki's Delivery Service played inside, sounding cheerful.
Yefuri and Yezhen, seated in the back, remained silent.
…
By the time they returned to the factory in the southern suburbs, it was past 1:00 AM.
After getting out, Ye Fuli went left while Ye Zhen went right.
Before entering their respective homes, they both turned back in perfect unison, exchanging a glance.
Ye Fuli smiled faintly. "I had a wonderful time today. Thank you for the blue fireworks."
Ye Zhen gave a light cough: "Ah, yeah."
How to put it?
Faced with Ye Fuli's sincere smile, Ye Zhen always felt a pang of guilt.
Her fundamental reason for wanting Ye Fuli to survive wasn't love, but rather the desire to avoid becoming a lonely ghost herself… Of course, mixed in were sympathy, hope, and a lingering attachment toward Ye Fuli.
Ye Zhen's will to survive was incredibly strong.
She had known this all too well during the ten years she spent confined to a hospital bed.
"Sigh."
Lying in bed, Ye Zhen's eyes remained fixed on the ceiling.
The damn system was singing in her mind, sounding quite cheerful.
"You damn dog system! Are you mocking me right now?"
[What the heck! Aren't I just trying to cheer up my poor host when she's feeling down?]
"Who needs your comforting? Shut up."
[(ˉ▽￣～) Pfft~~]
A moment passed.
The system emitted another "heh heh" chuckle.
[Dog host, facing your true feelings isn't something to be ashamed of, you know.]
"What inner self?"
Ye Zhen shot upright in her seat.
Her hair hung down in messy strands.
"I just want to survive. What inner thoughts do I have? This is my truest desire."
[It's undeniable that your will to survive is exceptionally strong. However, your desire for Ye Fuli to live must extend beyond that reason alone, correct?]
Her thoughts exposed, Ye Zhen stiffened her expression. "How dare you! Who gave you the right to speculate about the host's intentions?"
[Is it shameful to have fallen for the heroine? She's a Mary Sue-level protagonist—even birds flying overhead can't resist her charm, let alone you!]
Ye Zhen chuckled twice.
"After everything she did to me, I still like her? I must have some kind of masochistic tendencies!"
[If you don't like her, then this moe assistant will help you apply for an opportunity. How about it?]
"What kind of chance?"
Hearing this, Ye Zhen suddenly felt inexplicably anxious.
[After the three-day period ends, if the world resets, I'll arrange for you to go to another world and find you a new body. Of course, doing this will get me locked up. There might be a new master to take over for you, or there might not be… ]
At this point, the dog system's voice grew tinged with sadness.
It constantly talked about conquering worlds and latching onto powerful patrons, but in truth, it had grown accustomed to Ye Zhen and their life of slacking off together.
Ye Zhen's heart tightened.
Before her mind could process it, her mouth had already uttered, "No."
[This little one will secretly leave you some money. In another world, you can live quite comfortably.]
"I said no! Shut up. I don't want this opportunity."
Ye Zhen clenched her fists and snorted coldly.
At this very moment, she finally realized that for her, this world had long ceased to be something she could take or leave.
Even as she tried her hardest to avoid forming deep bonds with others, she had still passively gained far too much.
"I won't let Ye Fuli die."
Ye Zhen made up her mind.
"No matter the outcome, I won't let her time—or this world's time—reset once more."
……
……
For the next two days, Ye Fuli remained confined to her room, never stepping outside.
As for Ye Zhen, on the morning of the third day, she found a kitten still nursing in a discarded cardboard box outside the factory grounds.
She hurried back and knocked on Ye Fuli's door.
Ye Fuli opened the door, frowned, and looked at the tiny, scrawny creature in her hands.
"It won't survive. It's too small."
"How do you know? I think we can raise it—but you have to do it."
"…Why me?"
Ye Fuli's tone was dismissive, but when Ye Zhen forcefully placed the kitten in her palm, she didn't pull away at all. Instead, she even shielded it from the wind with her fingers.
"Why me? I paid for last night's fireworks, didn't I? That giant blue one—you have any idea how much that cost? Thousands!"
Ye Zhen's tone was slightly arrogant.
She even planted her hands on her hips, glaring at Ye Fuli indignantly, as if stating an indisputable fact:
"We agreed you'd buy the fireworks and I'd set them off, but in the end, I bought them and set them off myself. You owe me a favor, right?"
Ye Fuli fell silent for a moment before replying slowly, "Using this tactic to stall will only buy you a few more days at most."
Once this half-frozen kitten finally died, the issues between them would still need to be addressed.
Ye Zhen stared at her seriously. "Hey, Ye Fuli, you wouldn't secretly strangle it to death, would you?"
Ye Fuli chuckled. "No. But it's so weak, it won't last long."
The tiny kitten struggled feebly in her palm, emitting a barely audible meow.
It was pitiful.
But Ye Fuli didn't have much sympathy.
She didn't have much sympathy for people, let alone a pet.
Yet, when faced with Ye Zhen's request, she always found it hard to refuse.
"Anyway, you can die if you want, but don't die owing me a favor!"
Ye Zhen said this, then immediately pushed her back inside the house.
"I'll have someone bring goat's milk later. Make sure you feed it properly!"
Ye Fuli, shoved back inside, clearly had no idea how powerful her destiny was as the Chosen One.
The tiny kitten by her side gradually regained its vitality. After drinking a few mouthfuls of goat's milk, its meows grew much louder.
Ye Fuli watched its fluffy little form and couldn't help but feel a bit down.
So, she reluctantly kept it for several more days…
Until it finally opened its eyes completely and no longer needed milk. She promptly returned the kitten to Ye Zhen.
By then, only two days remained until the start of the new semester in Mondstadt.
"I'm leaving."
Ye Fuli's desire to die remained unchanged, despite having saved a young life with her own hands.
This left Ye Zhen, who had witnessed the entire scene, with mixed feelings.
She now understood firsthand what Ye Fuli had said: "I'm not easily fooled."
This was indeed a stubborn man who wasn't easily fooled!
"The debt I owed you has been repaid."
Seeing her actually about to leave, Ye Zhen, in a moment of desperation, grabbed her wrist.
Ye Fuli paused slightly, turning to look at her.
"Is there something else? Or have you thought of some new trick to stall for time?"
Ye Zhen rolled her eyes in exasperation.
Fine, let's lay it all out.
"When your ex-lover left you, didn't she tell you she didn't want to see you down there too soon?"
"She told you to live with a repentant heart and rebuild your life. What did you do?"
"Ye Fuli, have you fulfilled the promise you made?"
At this point, Ye Fuli felt a throbbing pain in her temples.
Cradling her head, she groaned in agony and slowly sank to the floor against the wall.
Countless fragments of memory now surged toward her like a tidal wave.
Countless faces—beloved and loathed—overlapped and intertwined… Finally, they froze on Ye Zhen's disfigured face.
With that face, Ye Zhen smiled pitifully, leaping from before her and vanishing into the darkness.
Just as Ye Fuli's emotions threatened to shatter once more, and all memories were about to fade into oblivion, Ye Zhen crouched down, trembling hands clasping her fingers.
"Ye Fuli, keep moving forward."
Time, keep moving forward.