After sending that message, Yan Yu gently placed her phone on her lap, and the corners of her mouth involuntarily curved into a slight smile. Plan successful.
Almost the next second, the familiar chime rang out in her mind on cue, clear and crisp.
[Ding!]
[Key plot node ‘Reassurance After White Moonlight Conflict’ completed.]
[Comprehensive evaluation of plot fidelity: 94 points.]
[Evaluation details: After the conflict between Su Qinghan and Jiang Muyun, the Host took the initiative to contact Su Qinghan with a gentle attitude, expressing just the right amount of concern while precisely reiterating the self-positioning of a substitute. Expressions such as “I am just Muyun’s substitute” and “I’ll guard your happiness from afar” perfectly matched the original character’s emotional logic and behavior pattern at this moment. The voice message conveyed emotions delicately, successfully breaking through Su Qinghan’s psychological defenses and triggering her emotional fluctuations.]
[Current mainline total progress: 30%]
[Reward issued: Heart-Talk Perfume × 1.]
[Note: After being sprayed on skin, this perfume will emit a soft fragrance within half an hour. Those who smell this fragrance will gain spiritual tranquility, emotional stability, and improved mental clarity. The effect lasts about one hour with no side effects. Please take advantage of the opportunity and use it wisely, Host.]
Yan Yu’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. Her consciousness sank into the system space and retrieved the newly acquired reward.
The perfume bottle was not large, square and seal-like, just right to hold snugly in the palm. The clear glass body had no superfluous decorations, only a minimalist logo and a line of small text etched on the front — “Heart-Talk.”
The liquid inside was as clear as water, refracting shimmering spots of light under the warm yellow glow, swaying quietly.
She subconsciously turned over her wrist, revealing a section of pale, translucent wrist bone. Under the light, her skin was as fine as grease, the lines of the bones sharp and distinct. Yan Yu aimed the nozzle at the inside of her wrist and gently pressed.
Psshh—
A very fine misting sound arose, and a cool mist covered her skin. A few seconds later, a faint fragrance slowly diffused.
It wasn’t any single floral scent, but rather like the clear base note of white tea, blended with the subtlety of jasmine after rain, fresh and lingering, winding around the tip of her nose.
Yan Yu brought her wrist close to her nose and took a deep sniff. The nerves that had been tense all day seemed to subtly relax in that wisp of fragrance.
Perhaps it was the effect of psychological suggestion, or perhaps it was truly a blessing from the system, but the sense of peace that rose from the bottom of her heart was real and undeniable.
‘This is a good thing.’ Yan Yu realized inwardly.
If she could use it at critical moments, especially when facing characters on the verge of emotional breakdown, this perfume would be like an invisible ace card.
She carefully stored the perfume away in the drawer of her bedside table. Then, supporting herself on the wheelchair’s armrests, she slowly stood up, holding onto the wall, and moved step by step into the bathroom.
Warm water poured down from the showerhead, washing over her skin, carrying away the fatigue of the entire day, along with the tension of treading carefully, all swirling down the drain. The thick steam quickly filled the room, fogging up the mirror, making the whole world hazy and soft.
She closed her eyes, letting the hot water pour over her head, following the strands of hair, temples, neck, all the way down, until her entire body was filled with a warm embrace.
When she came out of the bath, she wrapped herself in a large bath towel, revealing her rounded shoulders and a pair of straight calves. Still holding the wall, she slowly moved back to the bedroom.
From the living room came sounds leaking from Ruo Xiaozhen’s room. The door was ajar, and the sound effects of the TV mixed with Ruo Xiaozhen’s crisp laughter.
“Hahaha, this male guest is so dumb! How could he choose wrong?”
As Yan Yu passed by, she glanced through the crack in the door. Several exquisitely made-up male and female guests sat in the studio, and the host was reciting lines with deep emotion.
Ruo Xiaozhen, sitting on the sofa, was laughing so hard she was rocking back and forth. She turned her head and saw Yan Yu, immediately sticking half her body out, her eyes shining like they had caught stars.
“Yan Yu, Yan Yu! Have you seen this? The latest episode!” Ruo Xiaozhen waved her arms excitedly. “Just now there was a segment of Truth or Dare. The male guest had to send a midnight snack to the girl he liked, but that idiot actually sent it to the wrong room! Sent it to that super fierce Girl No. 1! Girl No. 1 immediately threw the snack into the trash and sneered, ‘Who wants it!’ I’m dying of laughter!”
“And Girl No. 4 just secretly passed a note to that male guest, reminding him what to choose, but the male guest didn’t understand at all. The expression on Girl No. 4’s face! I’m dying! Oh right, let me tell you, that No. 4 sister is really super cool!”
“Who don’t you think is cool?” Yan Yu replied with a smile, her tone light.
“Yeah, that’s true,” Ruo Xiaozhen tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said energetically, “But this one is really different! I’ll tell you after I finish watching! Oh, oh, last time I saw on the internet this kind of couple’s check-in spot. There’s a really beautiful one called… Sakura Valley… Let’s go together after the exams?”
“Is it suitable for two girls to go to a couple’s check-in spot?”
“Why wouldn’t it be suitable! We’re going, we’re going!” Ruo Xiaozhen playfully stuck out her tongue, shrank back into the room, and another burst of silvery laughter floated out through the crack in the door.
Yan Yu smiled and shook her head, then slowly walked into her own bedroom and closed the door behind her.
In the bedroom, only a warm yellow wall lamp was lit, casting soft light across the entire space. She moved along the wall to the bedside and slowly sat down.
The large bath towel was loosely wrapped around her, her half-dry long hair spread behind her shoulders, the ends still dripping with water beads. She picked up the hairdryer from the bedside table, plugged it in, and was about to lift her hand to blow-dry her hair when her gaze inadvertently fell and fixed on her legs, pressed together.
Her two legs were slender and long, glowing with a jade-like luster under the warm light, skin fair to the point of translucence. Because she had just bathed, her knees and calves had a faint pinkish hue. The water droplets hadn’t been completely dried, slowly sliding down the smooth line of her calves, rolling all the way past her slender ankles, and finally gathering at the tips of a row of rounded, lovely toes, teetering on the edge.
‘Very beautiful.’ Yan Yu looked at her own legs, and this thought objectively arose in her mind.
After this body had undergone the S-level appearance transformation bestowed by the system, it had indeed reached the peak of aesthetic pleasure. Especially these legs, with perfect proportions and smooth lines. If they were healthy and intact, they would be worthy of any fashion shoot.
‘What a pity. Beautiful as they are, they are useless. Pretty as they are, unable to stand, in the end it is just a regret of mere appearance.’
Yan Yu reached out and gently pinched her calf with her fingertips. It felt soft, the muscles lying limp without any response. She occasionally thought, if these legs were healthy, she could walk far, go to many places she wanted to go, and do many things she couldn’t do before.
But there are no “ifs” in life. To get this chance to start over was already an extra gift from fate. She had long learned not to be greedy, not to ask for more.
Thinking this, Yan Yu lowered her eyelids, suppressing that moment of wistfulness deep in her heart.
She plugged in the hairdryer, turned it on, and warm air rushed out, blowing the wet hair hanging over her shoulders up. She carefully combed through her hair with her fingers, letting the hot air evenly pass over every strand.
The mirror reflected her fuzzy silhouette: wrapped in a bath towel, bare rounded shoulders, one hand holding the hairdryer, the other moving through her hair, expression calm.
Just as she was halfway through drying her hair.
Ring ring ring—
The harsh ring exploded abruptly in the quiet room, rudely interrupting the drone of the hairdryer.
Yan Yu paused, instinctively glancing at the time. It was almost nine in the evening.
‘At this hour, who could it be?’
She turned off the hairdryer, and the sudden silence immediately enveloped the room. She stretched her hand to reach the phone. The screen lit up sharply in the dimness. On the caller ID, three characters clearly and strikingly jumped into her eyes.
Su Qinghan.
Yan Yu’s pupils contracted slightly.
‘Su Qinghan?’
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