Chapter 19

They had lunch at a nearby restaurant, and afterward, Chen Zilu took the two kids to the mall to pick out New Year’s gifts.
It was Qiu Li’s first time receiving a New Year’s present, and even more, his first time being told to choose it himself.
He was happy and nervous. So nervous he didn’t dare touch anything.
Yan Xiao watched him for a while, noticing that he only glanced briefly at the shelves without even picking anything up to look at it. His stiff, detached attitude made her a little angry.
He didn’t like her, fine. But her aunt had been nothing but kind to him! She’d helped him with the test, treated him to lunch, and was now offering to buy him a gift. And this was how he repaid her? How rude!
“Well, if you’re not picking anything,” she said, stomping over with her little face cold and serious, “then I’ll pick two!”
And none for you!
Qiu Li froze for a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”
If she liked them, then she could have them all.
Even if it meant he wouldn’t get a gift, he still felt strangely happy.
His easy agreement only made Yan Xiao more indignant on her aunt’s behalf. Huffing, she darted toward the opposite aisle and grabbed a big box of building blocks, and a huge jar of cotton candy lollipops. Without even glancing his way, she turned and ran to her aunt.
The “gift shopping” was really just meant as a bit of fun after lunch. Chen Zilu had already prepared proper presents for both children. Still, when she saw her niece hugging two big gifts while Qiu Li’s hands were empty, she couldn’t help but laugh.
“Xiao-xiao, why did you take two?” she teased. “If you take two, then your brother won’t have any left.”
So what if he doesn’t? He didn’t even want one!
But she pressed her lips together, saying nothing, she didn’t want to make her aunt sad.
Seeing her clutch the toys in silence, Chen Zilu said gently, “Xiao-xiao, that’s not right…”
She could’ve easily bought out the whole store for her niece if she wanted to. But still, good manners mattered, this wasn’t about money, it was about teaching.
Before she could go on, Qiu Li spoke. “I gave mine to her.”
“You did?”
“She likes them. I let her have my share.” His tone was soft but firm, and there was a faint smile at the corner of his lips.
“Is that true?” Chen Zilu asked, amused, turning to her niece.
Yan Xiao nodded. “Mm-hmm.” He didn’t want them anyway. I did!
“Then, since your brother gave you one,” Chen Zilu said with a knowing smile, “shouldn’t you pick one out for him too, as a thank-you?”
It would’ve been too cruel to make her put anything back now, so she found a way to make it a lesson in sharing instead.
Yan Xiao looked up at her aunt, clearly unwilling.
But she couldn’t tell the truth, so she puffed up her cheeks and trudged back toward the shelves.
Fine. I’ll pick something cheap. Something he definitely won’t like.
With that vengeful little thought, she started scanning the aisles with great seriousness, one shelf after another.
Following behind Yan Xiao, Qiu Li couldn’t help the small smile that kept tugging at his lips.
She was seriously picking out a gift for him.
It was the first time anyone had treated him with such importance, and the feeling filled him with a strange, quiet satisfaction.
The store was huge, famous for its wide selection, high prices, and terrible cost-performance ratio. After combing through row after row of shelves, Yan Xiao was exhausted, but she refused to give up. Sometimes she crouched down to check the lowest shelves, sometimes she stood on tiptoe to peer up at the highest ones, her expression earnest and focused.
It was December 31st, and she was dressed festively for the New Year.
On top, she wore a bright red hooded cape that fell to her knees. From afar, she looked like a little puff of red bouncing through the aisles.
The edge of her hood was trimmed with a ring of soft white faux fur, framing her pale face, festive and utterly adorable.
Qiu Li was still a child; his thoughts were nothing like an adult’s. To him, she just looked beautiful.
Especially when she was focused, lips pursed in concentration, she looked even prettier.
Chen Zilu had never seen her niece this picky before. When choosing something for herself, she could decide in seconds, but when it came to picking something for Qiu Li, she was scrutinizing every single option like it was a life decision.
Checking her watch, she decided to wait patiently just to see how long this “serious gift selection” would take, and, more importantly, what she would end up picking.
Soon, the scene began drawing attention.
Shoppers and clerks alike started secretly following the little girl in the red cape from aisle to aisle. Some even took discreet videos and posted them online with captions like “I want a daughter like this so bad!”
Others snapped pictures of Qiu Li too, the quiet, handsome boy walking right behind her, and shared them with the caption “Just saw the cutest pair of little angels today!”
Meanwhile, the little “angel” herself, Yan Xiao, was too absorbed in her mission to notice the attention. She was completely focused on finding something cheap and undesirable.
And as for Qiu Li, he didn’t notice anyone else either. He simply followed close behind, step for step.
After scanning more than twenty shelves, Yan Xiao was exhausted and getting cranky. So she grabbed the first thing she saw, a Barbie doll.
Price didn’t matter anymore. She was certain Qiu Li would hate this!
When the onlookers saw her holding up the Barbie, many girls smiled knowingly. Of course. No little girl could resist the Barbie spell.
Chen Zilu almost laughed out loud. Finally! If she’d spent another five minutes shopping, she would’ve had to carry her niece out of the store.
“This one!” Yan Xiao turned and thrust the Barbie toward Qiu Li. “It’s for you!”
A collective “aww” rippled through the nearby shoppers.
“Wow…”
“She’s giving the little boy her favorite thing!”
“So precious, I’m gonna cry…”
Qiu Li blinked, looking from her to the Barbie, a mix of surprise and delight flickering in his eyes.
So she liked Barbie dolls too, not just cotton candy.
“You don’t want it?” Seeing that he hadn’t taken it, Yan Xiao’s fatigue disappeared, replaced by triumph. Perfect. He definitely didn’t like it.
“I want it,” Qiu Li said quietly, hiding a smile in his eyes as he reached out and took it. “Thank you.”
Watching him hold the Barbie like it was some awkward obligation and still politely thank her made Yan Xiao’s mood skyrocket.
Chen Zilu hadn’t expected her niece to pick that of all things, but she decided not to interfere. She only asked gently, “Do you like it, Xiao Li? If you don’t, we can let Xiao-xiao choose something else.”
Qiu Li turned the Barbie over in his hands, studying it for a long time before finally looking up. “I like it.”
He really did. Anything she gave him, he liked. Especially since she’d spent so long choosing it.
Seeing the genuine light in his eyes, Chen Zilu couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. I really am getting old, I can’t keep up with the logic of kids these days.
“As long as you like it,” she said with a smile. “Let’s go pay.”
Yan Xiao practically skipped to the counter, happiness glowing on her little face.
Watching her niece’s retreating figure, Chen Zilu chuckled helplessly. So thrilled, just because she got to give someone a gift?
After checking out, she treated both kids to ice cream and bought a few sparklers before driving Qiu Li home.
Yan Xiao stayed in the car while her aunt walked him to the door.
“Happy New Year,” Chen Zilu waved. “Go on inside.”
He nodded and glanced past her shoulder.
Chen Zilu turned around. “Xiao-xiao, aren’t you going to say goodbye?”
From the car, a tiny hand lazily waved. “Bye!”
Qiu Li’s lips curved faintly. “Happy New Year.”
He turned to go back inside.
“Wait!”
Yan Xiao pressed against the window, calling out, “You forgot something!”
Chen Zilu thought maybe her niece had another gift prepared, until the girl leaned out and handed over two sparklers. “These are for you!”
She’d already given him the Barbie, so what were two sparklers? They were girly, he wouldn’t like them anyway.
Before Chen Zilu could comment about how odd it was to give two, Qiu Li had already run back to take them.
“Thank you.”
Hearing his earnest thanks again, Chen Zilu could only sigh inwardly. Yep. Definitely old.
Meanwhile, in her head, Yan Xiao was bombarded with cheerful system chimes. Ding, ding, ding! She grinned so hard she forgot to hide it. “Goodbye!” she said, this time full of genuine warmth.
Qiu Li, one hand holding the Barbie, the other clutching the sparklers, waved back. “Bye.”
Only after he went inside and closed the door did Chen Zilu return to the car.
On the drive back, she thought of asking her niece why she’d chosen a Barbie of all things, but when she glanced in the mirror, the little girl was already fast asleep, smiling in her dreams. Clearly, it had been a very good day.

At Shengyi Garden.
The moment Qiu Li stepped inside, he’d barely changed his shoes when a mechanical voice echoed in his head:
[Today’s study progress: 10% complete. Would you like to enter learning mode now?]
He hung up his coat and carried the Barbie and sparklers upstairs.
Now that he wasn’t living at the main Qiu residence, he didn’t have to be so careful anymore. He placed the Barbie proudly on his desk, right where it was most visible, and tucked the sparklers into his pencil holder.
After tidying up, he stared at them for a few seconds, then sat down and said coldly, “Yes.”
The system stayed silent for a while, then finally responded:
[Confirm subject. 1. Mathematics. 2. Language Arts. 3, ]
Before it could finish, he interrupted: “One. Math.”
System: […]
After a pause, it continued, sounding almost sulky:
[Confirmed. Please concentrate and study attentively.]
There was a faint note of grievance in the mechanical voice.
Qiu Li opened the textbooks and notebooks he’d bought at the bookstore a few days ago. His attention fixed entirely on the material, he ignored the system completely.
When the first session ended, the system finally couldn’t hold it in anymore.
[At this rate, with your current intelligence level, you’ll easily surpass Qiu Zhan’s scores on next year’s entrance exam! You’ll completely crush him!]
Qiu Li, about to start on the test paper Aunt Chen Zilu had gone over with him, blinked once and said coolly, “You’re noisy.”
System: […]
After a brief silence,
[I’m only trying to help. Even if you’ve moved out, Qiu Zhan’s hostility toward you hasn’t diminished. You need to-]
Qiu Li’s expression darkened. “Shut up.”
[I was just-]
“Keep talking, and I’ll stop studying.”
[…]
The world went quiet.
Qiu Li flicked one of the sparklers sticking out of his pencil holder, his mood finally lifting. Then he calmly opened his test paper.
System: […]
The system was practically fuming.
All I want is to complete the correction mission, why did I get stuck with such a stubborn, completely OOC host?!
Not only was he off-script, he was impossible to handle, a little kid harder to manipulate than most adults. If it hadn’t reacted fast enough to adjust the mission, the plot deviation would’ve gone completely off the rails by now.
While the system silently sulked, Qiu Li finished his test and went downstairs to get milk.
System: [Human nutrient absorption is limited. You’ve already had five glasses of milk today. I don’t recommend]
Qiu Li turned on the TV and started following along with a French-learning video.
System: […]
French wasn’t part of the elementary curriculum, meaning the system couldn’t assist. It didn’t even have a body, yet it swore it could feel the sting of that slap, loud and clear.
Qiu Li sat cross-legged on the carpet, repeating the French phrases in the video, completely ignoring it.
He treated the system like a tool, useful when needed, nonexistent when not.
At first, he hadn’t been this calm.
That night in the elevator, when he’d first heard the system’s voice, he’d thought it was a hallucination born of anger and fear.
But later that same night, when Qiu Zhan kicked open his door, he’d heard the voice again.
And that time, he’d been terrified.
At first, Qiu Li had been terrified, frozen stiff, certain that hearing a strange voice in his head meant he’d lost his mind.
But after a few moments, when he realized that besides the voice, nothing strange had happened, nothing hurt him, nothing attacked, he calmed down considerably.
That calm didn’t last long.
Soon, the voice began giving him multiple-choice questions, asking him to pick between options. He was convinced he’d been captured by aliens and that they were trying to control his brain. He’d seen enough sci-fi movies to know where that went, so he stayed on high alert, and absolutely refused to cooperate.
Over the next few days, the voice tried five times to influence him, giving him “choices” meant to guide his behavior. Each time, he either ignored it or deliberately did the opposite.
Eventually, the voice gave up on controlling him and switched tactics, it started giving “constructive advice.”
He didn’t trust it at first. Some unknown being in his head? Of course he was wary. But then the voice said it had a way for him to get back at Qiu Zhan, the cousin who always bullied and mocked him.
That made him pause. Tentatively, he asked what kind of “way.”
The voice listed seven or eight different suggestions.
Since Qiu Zhan was always bragging about his grades, sneering at him as “stupid” and “useless,” Qiu Li picked studying as his weapon of choice.
If he could beat Qiu Zhan at the thing he was most proud of, what better revenge could there be?
Of course, revenge wasn’t his only reason.
He remembered what Yan Xiao had said, that she wanted to go to a top university like her aunt. He wanted to have more in common with her. Maybe, if he worked hard enough, they could even attend the same school one day. So he studied harder than ever.
And so, one human and one system, each scheming in their own way, reached a strange kind of harmony.
A few days later, the holiday ended. Kindergarten started again.
Shengyi Garden, where Qiu Li lived, was much closer to the school than the Qiu family estate, so he arrived early that morning.
Unfortunately, even after waiting until the school bell rang, there was still no sign of Yan Xiao.
He worried the whole morning. When lunchtime came and she still hadn’t appeared, he couldn’t eat a single bite. Finally, for the first time ever, he left his own classroom and went to another, to look for her.
After asking around, he learned from the teacher that Yan Xiao had caught a fever and was resting at home.
That entire afternoon, he didn’t hear a single word the teacher said.
As soon as the final bell rang, he grabbed his backpack and bolted out of the classroom, a stark contrast to his usual habit of waiting until everyone else had left.
Once in the car, he gave the driver an address.
The driver, who’d worked for the Qiu family for many years, immediately recognized it as the Yan household. Concerned, he asked, “Is there something wrong?”
Qiu Li hesitated for a moment. “My friend’s sick. I want to see her.”
The driver knew that the Yan family’s little princess went to the same kindergarten. Still, he hesitated, visiting a friend wasn’t part of his duties.
“Just for a minute,” Qiu Li said, noticing his hesitation. “It won’t take long.”
The driver frowned. “But…”
“It’s on the way,” Qiu Li said calmly, brows furrowed. “It won’t take longer than the time you once forgot to pick me up.”
The driver fell silent, then sighed. “Alright.”
When her mother told her that Qiu Li had come to visit, Yan Xiao was curled up on the sofa with a fever patch on her forehead, sipping warm water listlessly.
She thought her mother was joking, until she heard a familiar voice at the door.
“Hello, Auntie.”
Her head snapped up. Her voice was weak and drowsy from the fever. “Why are you here?”
Her words were soft and milky, clearly showing how unwell she was.
Qiu Li frowned and walked over. “The teacher said you were sick. I came to see you. You…”
He trailed off. The truth was, he had no idea what one was supposed to say when visiting a sick friend. After “you,” no more words came out.
Yan Xiao stared at him silently. Was he here to laugh at me?
The silence stretched. Finally, Qiu Li gathered his courage and said, “You’ll get better soon. I’ll wait for you at school.”
Yan Xiao blinked. In her feverish daze, that sounded like a challenge.
Isn’t that the same as saying “see you on the battlefield”?
So he really was a scheming little villain, waiting for her to be weak before striking!
Chen Ziyi, her mother, brought out a tray of fruit and snacks to treat their young guest. Qiu Li politely thanked her but didn’t touch anything. He just wanted to make sure she was okay. Seeing that she wasn’t seriously ill, he relaxed, and stood to leave.
Chen Ziyi found him very polite and sweet. Since he’d come all the way over, she wanted to invite him to stay for dinner, but that seemed inappropriate. So instead, she took a box of marshmallows from the fridge, the same kind she often saw her daughter share with him, and handed it to him.
Yan Xiao’s eyes went wide. Her marshmallows! Her personal stash!
Her heart ached. She nearly cried on the spot. He’s doing this on purpose!
Chen Ziyi then grabbed a box of fresh cherries from the kitchen for him to take home too.
While she was in the kitchen, Qiu Li quickly walked up to the sulking little girl and whispered, “I’ll save these for you. When you’re better, you can have them all.”
Then, he smiled.
Yan Xiao blinked. He smiled at me?
And he said the candy was for her?
Was she hallucinating from the fever?
Who was actually sick here, her or him?!
[Ding! 53 points.]
“…”
Oh. It was her. Of course. As if he’d suddenly be that nice.
She clenched her tiny, powerless fists, grinding her teeth in her mind. Just you wait. Once I’m better, I’m taking back every single point of dignity I lost today!

Author’s Note:
Tomorrow, 10k words, mwah mwah mwah~ (づ￣3￣)づ╭♡