Chapter 9

It had been a long time since Qiu Li played with anyone else. Once he joined the soccer game, he was stiff and nervous. He also kept trying to pass the ball to Yan Xiao, which only made him look more awkward and clumsy.
It didn’t take long for Bai Xiaozhou and the others to lose their patience.
They’d never liked Qiu Li to begin with, if not for the fact that Yan Xiao was small, cute, and too likable to upset, they wouldn’t have agreed to play with him at all.
Now his hesitation gave them an excuse.
“You’re so stupid!” Bai Xiaozhou sneered, stepping on the ball. “You can’t even kick right! Are you a pig or what?”
“Ha ha ha! Qiu Li’s a dumb pig!”
“Yeah, a dumb pig!”
“Pig! Pig! Pig!”
The insults came in chorus, a pack of little voices echoing after their self-proclaimed leader.
Yan Xiao hadn’t expected things to turn like this. She looked at Qiu Li’s tight jaw and pale face and felt a pang of guilt. Honestly, he played better than she did, her legs were short, she couldn’t even run fast. Bai Xiaozhou and his gang were just bullying him for fun.
“Why don’t you be the goalpost?” she suggested after thinking quickly, pointing at a nearby pole. “Just stand there!”
Qiu Li clearly didn’t want to keep playing, his face was white with anger. If she didn’t end it soon, he might actually get mad enough to retaliate against her later.
Still, she didn’t want to waste the opportunity. Having him stand off to the side was a good compromise, far enough to calm him down, close enough to keep “interacting.”
Her suggestion pleased Bai Xiaozhou immensely. He laughed out loud. “Yeah, yeah! You’re so dumb, go stand over there and be the goal! That’s all you’re good for anyway!”
Qiu Li had been made to play “goalpost” or “target” plenty of times before. When he was younger, he’d even been happy about it, thinking the other kids actually wanted him to play. Later, he’d realized they were just mocking him, using it as a way to hurt and humiliate him.
He still remembered vividly how the ball, or sometimes homemade darts, would hit his body, how it hurt, and how the others would laugh.
But now…
Now, the little girl was looking at him with wide, expectant eyes, waiting for him to agree.
Without hesitation, he nodded. “Okay.”
Yan Xiao: “…”
Wait. Something feels off.
Before she could figure out what, Qiu Li had already walked toward the pole.
Yan Xiao smiled, satisfied.
He walked so fast, he must’ve been that annoyed. This round definitely earned her points!
But Qiu Li’s expression had softened.
He could tell she wasn’t mocking him, she really wanted him to play with her.
When he reached the spot and turned around, he saw her watching him with a big, sunny smile, bright as a sunflower.
He blinked, and his tight mouth eased into the smallest, most unguarded smile.
She’s different from everyone else.
Just then,
[Beep,]
[Congratulations! Value now visible!]
Yan Xiao froze. Then her eyes went wide, glowing with excitement.
Really? How much???
[2 points.]
Yan Xiao’s mouth twitched in disappointment.
Only that much?
System: [Small gains add up.]
She thought about it and had to agree, if earning points were that easy, her life would be way too cheap.
So what’s the goal then? A hundred points?
System: [Nine hundred ninety-nine.]
Yan Xiao: “…” Nine hundred and ninety-nine?! That high?!
System: [It’s not that bad. You’ve already earned 2 points in one week. At this rate, you’ll be done in 499.5 weeks, less than ten years. That’s pretty fast.]
When the system put it that way, it didn’t sound too bad.
Less than ten years to earn back her life, actually, that was kind of fast.
And technically, she’d only spent about three days around Qiu Li this week, not a full seven. If she kept that pace, that was…what, five years?
Five years!
Her spirits immediately lifted.
If she worked even harder, she could probably cut that in half!
System: [Keep it up.]
Yan Xiao clenched her tiny fists, fired up by that monotone “keep it up.” She didn’t even stop to consider whether constantly making someone “slightly annoyed” might eventually stop working.
She was as excited as a colt breaking into the open field, darting after the ball, kicking it with unrestrained joy.
Standing at the edge of the lawn, Qiu Li watched her from afar. Seeing her so happy, he unconsciously straightened his back, standing even more upright in his role as the “goalpost.”
Seeing Qiu Li stand so still and serious only made Bai Xiaozhou’s mischievous side flare up. He aimed carefully and kicked.
The ball slammed squarely into Qiu Li’s chest.
At eight years old, Bai Xiaozhou already had quite a strong kick. Caught off guard, still looking at Yan Xiao, Qiu Li had no time to react, the impact knocked him flat on the ground.
“Yeah!” Bai Xiaozhou cheered. “Goal!”
The other kids joined in, chanting, “Goal! Goal!”
Yan Xiao, still dizzy with excitement from playing, froze at the sudden sight.
Wait, he fell?
While she was still stunned, Bai Xiaozhou and his gang ran toward Qiu Li, surrounding him and shouting triumphantly, “Goal! Goal!”
Because he’d been standing at the edge of the grass, when he fell, his hand scraped against the brick border. The sting was sharp.
The laughter, the mockery, he’d heard it all countless times before, but it still grated.
His brows furrowed, his little face growing colder by the second.
Just as he was about to glare at Bai Xiaozhou,
A soft, childish voice called out, “What happened? Did you fall?”
The sour expression on his face cracked instantly.
The other kids, faster and louder, had surrounded him tightly; Yan Xiao couldn’t squeeze through, so she called out from outside the circle.
When Qiu Li didn’t react, the bullies got bored. Tossing a few more insults, “Idiot,” “Pig,” “Moron”, they scattered, running off to find new fun.
With the “pests” gone, Qiu Li’s face eased slightly. He looked up, and found Yan Xiao still staring at him anxiously. Just as he was about to ask if she’d had fun, she frowned, pointed at his scraped hand, and scolded:
“You’re so stupid!”
That was the thing he hated hearing most.
Qiu Li: “…”
“The ball was coming, why didn’t you dodge?” she said, voice full of irritation.
Another thing he hated, being told what to do.
Qiu Li: “…”
But…was she worried about him?
He blinked, and his dark eyes shimmered faintly, as though sprinkled with stars. That strange, warm feeling fluttering in his chest left him momentarily speechless. He pressed his lips together.
“Didn’t see it coming.”
“You should have the maid disinfect it,” she said primly.
Also something he hated, being told to get treated.
“It’s fine,” he muttered, brushing dirt off his palm. “It’ll be better in a few days.”
Yan Xiao looked at him doubtfully. He was so stubborn! Just because he hated being told what to do, he’d rather leave a wound untreated? His hand was bleeding!
But Qiu Li truly didn’t care. He’d scraped worse before, knees, his elbows, no one had ever fussed over it. It always healed on its own.
Yan Xiao watched his tight, cold little face. Was he mad again?
“You’re not playing anymore?” he asked, looking up at her. The uncertainty in his eyes had been neatly tucked away; what shimmered there now was barely concealed excitement, though his expression remained carefully composed.
To Yan Xiao’s ears, it sounded like: Go back to your game. Stop bothering me. You’re so annoying.
Thinking of how rich the Qius were, surely they had a doctor or at least a medical kit, she decided not to argue. Better not push him too far.
She nodded briskly. “Okay, I’ll go.”
But before leaving, she pulled something out of her backpack, a pink band-aid printed with tiny sheep, and thrust it toward him. “Here!” she said, face stern.
When he frowned at the childish design, clearly unimpressed, Yan Xiao nearly laughed out loud. Ha! Knew you’d hate it.
She shoved the band-aid into his hand and ran off.
As she ran, she called in her mind,
What’s the score now? Did it go up?
System: [It did… uh, yes. Now 3 points.]
Qiu Li looked down at the band-aid in his hand.
And somehow, his scraped hand didn’t hurt anymore.
His lips curved ever so slightly.
The band-aid was cute.
Just like her.

Author’s Note:
Little Qiu Li: Just… happy (^▽^)
Xiao-xiao: It’s showing! It’s showing! I’m so happy I could spin in circles!
System: Did I ever say whether the value was positive or negative? Forget it. Keep working hard.