Sit still, stop fidgeting.
Lift your foot higher so it doesn’t get wet.
“I can do this myself! Ow—ow, ow! Easy!”
“How can I get it clean without scrubbing?”
After the bath, Bai Yao put on her mother’s nightgown and wrapped herself in a fluffy long robe.
A faint blush of embarrassment still clung to her cheeks as she walked out of the bathroom with a look of utter despair.
Even though her mother had helped her bathe a few times at the hospital, she still couldn’t get used to it.
On one hand, it was humiliating being seen naked as an adult.
On the other, her mother’s hand strength was too strong—wherever the towel rubbed, the skin turned red.
It felt more like her mother was scrubbing pig skin.
Bai Yao glanced at her father, who was still sipping tea and watching TV, then hobbled back to her bedroom on her crutches.
Her bedroom was tiny, packed to the brim with just three pieces of furniture.
But instead of feeling cramped, it gave her a sense of security.
She locked the door, pulled the curtains shut, and the tight space didn’t feel oppressive at all.
She tossed her robe onto the bed and pulled out her phone to check messages.
Qiu Ye had messaged her half an hour ago asking her to play games.
She hadn’t replied because she was in the bath, so she quickly sent a couple of responses.
Hmm… someone in the high school group was talking about a gathering.
But few people responded, so it probably wouldn’t happen.
Bai Yao didn’t have many friends to begin with, and now that she’d become a girl, those high school classmates probably wouldn’t stay in touch in the future.
[As a former shut-in, you finally have a partner. You’ve restored your body to its eighteen-year-old state, quit smoking and drinking, and walked out of the gloom.]
[But you still don’t have a job or friends.]
[It’s time to make some new friends. Your life shouldn’t revolve entirely around men!]
[Make one friend. Cash reward: 100!]
Bai Yao silently rolled her eyes.
What did it mean by “your life shouldn’t revolve entirely around men”?
Made her sound like some 100-person slayer.
Though, it was true that Qiu Ye was the only person in her life.
Making friends, huh…
Qiu Ye had mentioned it too, but she hadn’t given it any thought.
She didn’t expect the System to have the same opinion.
One friend for a hundred bucks…
Bai Yao was a little tempted.
She gnawed on her nails and imagined the scene of making a friend.
“Hi, I’m Bai Yao. Want to be friends?”
“Ugh—just thinking about it feels so forced and awkward!”
She rolled over, setting the task aside for now.
She opened Douyin to scroll through short videos, but her mind wasn’t on them at all.
She wondered if she’d ever have to go through that whole being-cheated-and-breaking-up thing again.
She really trusted Qiu Ye not to do anything to hurt her… but what if? After all, she hadn’t escaped the traffic accident.
If she hadn’t been turned into a girl beforehand, that runaway kid would have died in that crash.
As for taking out a mortgage for a house, there were already signs.
Her mother had been pushing her to ask her father for money to buy a house.
She had a feeling that if things kept going like this, she’d end up in the future the System talked about.
Bai Yao anxiously sent Qiu Ye a message:
“Really—we’re getting married right after graduation?”
She had never had much of a sense of security.
Even if the System had improved her appearance and figure, it couldn’t change her underlying nature.
She waited anxiously for a moment.
Qiu Ye must have just finished a game, because he replied.
“Of course. Why, you in a hurry to get married?”
“No. Get on the game. Let’s climb the Spire together.”
At least it was a few years down the road.
No point worrying about it now.
What will come will come.
Bai Yao sighed, got up, and sat in front of her computer.
Her wooden desk still bore traces of her past: cartoon stickers she’d stuck on the corner in elementary school, doodles from middle school.
Back then, her parents had just bought her a desktop computer, and she’d been addicted to games, writing down walkthroughs; there were also math formulas from high school, and even the name of a girl she’d had a crush on.
And her desktop computer was a six- or seven-year-old configuration.
She powered it on.
The wallpaper was still a Naruto poster.
A mess of files filled the desktop almost completely—each one a memory.
Back then, she’d hated being treated like a girl.
Who would’ve thought that the old her would end up as a girl in the future?
Bai Yao propped her chin on her hand, downloaded Slay the Spire 2, and casually browsed through the files on her computer.
“Wow—was I really this innocent back then?”
There wasn’t a single lewd picture or doujin in the computer, not even a single adult website in the browser.
It was all game sites.
Now, even her shopping app kept recommending all kinds of little toys to her.
She’d been completely corrupted, stained a filthy butter-yellow.
Back in her rebellious phase, she’d wanted to get a tattoo.
Her computer was stuffed with various tattoo designs.
She’d secretly bought tattoo tools but was too scared of the pain to use them on herself.
She’d even considered becoming a tattoo artist in the future…
Now, the most she’d consider was buying a tattoo sticker.
“Yeah, a succubus tattoo. Very lewd.”
“Hey, hey?”
Qiu Ye’s voice came through the speakers.
Bai Yao turned off the speakers, picked up the headphones hanging nearby, and asked in a soft voice:
“The static is pretty loud, I can’t hear clearly… Hello? Can you hear me?”
“Then I’ll switch to voice chat on my phone.”
She reconnected the voice call on her phone and paired her Bluetooth headset.
This time, the static was much quieter, and she could talk normally with Qiu Ye.
Even though they’d only been apart for half a day, hearing Qiu Ye’s voice felt like a lifetime away.
While playing games, she held it in for a long time, then finally vented to Qiu Ye about what had happened since she got discharged.
“My mom keeps telling me to ask my dad for money. Says I should trick him into giving me the cash to buy a house.”
“I don’t even know who told her, but she says my dad wants to have another son.”
“I mean, he hasn’t even had one yet, and it’s just hearsay from someone else. And now I’m supposed to fight for the family inheritance against a brother that doesn’t even exist?”
“My family still lives in a rented room. What inheritance are we talking about?”
“He hasn’t talked to me since I got back. We haven’t said a word to each other. But then again, he’s always been like that.”
Bai Yao only ever rambled like this in front of Qiu Ye.
In the past, she would’ve just bottled everything up and occasionally vented to some random stranger online as a trash can.
Qiu Ye’s voice was gentle.
He waited until Bai Yao had gotten it all out, then asked:
“So what do you think?”
“I don’t want to ask my family for money. I have my own money, and I can earn it myself.”
Though Bai Yao was making money by fleecing the System, and the System’s current task was to make friends—something she wasn’t good at either.
“I think Auntie might have a point, actually.”
“Hmph.”
“But if you don’t want to, that’s fine. That’s just how you are.”
“Exactly.”
After venting, and with Qiu Ye on her side, Bai Yao’s mood improved a lot.
They hadn’t been playing long when she yawned, rubbed her eyes, and felt them sting and refuse to stay open.
“Tired?”
“I haven’t slept well the past few days. There are fireworks every night.”
“I’m worried you’ll be bored on your own… Don’t go drinking again.”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’ll go take a bath after this game.”
Bai Yao’s eyes narrowed, and she suddenly perked up:
“Start a livestream. Let me see.”
“You’re being a bit of a pervert, aren’t you?”
“Like you haven’t seen it before~”