**[Miss Bai Yao! A day full of hope has arrived!]**
**[Are you satisfied with yesterday’s surprise? You completed one task yesterday and received a reward of 100 Cash.]**
**[The System has paved the way for your marriage! From now on, you will pursue happiness with unstoppable momentum!]**
Bai Yao woke up in a daze.
He pulled back the bed curtain and looked out the window.
It was still pitch black; dawn had not yet arrived.
It was a bit cold…
Even though it was already autumn, the air conditioning was still on in the dormitory.
Didn’t his roommates care about the expensive electricity bill?
“Mm —”
He stretched on the bed, tensing his body.
His waist arched high like a bridge, and the sour ache from the stretch jolted him awake, dispersing the remaining sleepiness.
As his waist fell back into the covers, Bai Yao looked down, lifted the hem of his pajamas, and touched his slightly bulging belly.
It felt delicate and smooth.
‘…’
Thinking about the System’s surprise, his mood dipped.
While still on the bed, he applied nipple covers to his chest, put on a coat, and donned long pants.
Only then did he slowly get out of bed, treading softly without making a sound.
It was only 4:00 AM.
Wang Zuhao’s snoring echoed through the entire dormitory, while Chen Zhilong was gritting his teeth with a rhythmic *creak, creak*.
Stepping onto the balcony, a fresh, cool breeze hit him.
Bai Yao stretched again and leaned on the railing, gazing at the quiet dormitory area.
It was so silent that he could only hear the wind and the sound of his own breathing.
He began to let his mind wander again.
He imagined the scene of him actually becoming a woman and entering into marriage with some man.
He imagined having children — a well-behaved daughter and a mischievous son.
He imagined being a divorced single parent, living a life even more difficult than that future Chinyu.
‘How terrifying…’
Honestly, Bai Yao’s personality wasn’t very likable.
Because he was prone to internal conflict, his ability to handle pressure was weak.
He would panic at the slightest trouble.
He was completely unfit for romance or marriage.
‘And yet, as young as I am, the System is already pressuring me to get married. I’m still a child myself.’
Leaning on the railing, Bai Yao toyed with his phone.
He checked his ninety-nine-plus gaming groups, scrolled through his recent novel updates, browsed Bilibili, and then opened HeyBox.
He looked enviously at the relationship section, where people his age posted about the sweetness and bitterness of love.
**[You envy these innocent romances and emotional tug-of-wars, wearing a knowing auntie smile.]**
**[However, you are hesitant about your own feelings and have yet to make any substantial progress. It is time to take the initiative! Face your feelings head-on!]**
Here it goes again.
He hadn’t even sorted out his own mess yet, but the System was already jumping in to egg him on.
Bai Yao let out a resentful sigh.
**[Take the initiative to hold hands for a duration of over ten minutes! Task Reward: 100 Cash]**
‘Hold hands?’
Although his relationship with Qiu Ye was already quite close, aside from the time he comforted an injured Qiu Ye at the hospital, they hadn’t actually held hands.
And for ten minutes?
‘That’s so gay! Qiu Ye might get angry!’
Although he was dirt poor, was it really necessary to do a task that might anger Qiu Ye just for a 100-yuan reward?
Bai Yao complained silently in his heart.
“Up so early?”
He turned around and saw Lin Mingxin had woken up.
Yawning, Lin Mingxin walked onto the balcony.
“Yeah.”
Lin Mingxin went to the bathroom first, then returned to the balcony to lean against the railing, a cigarette dangling from his lips.
He lowered his head to light it, exhaled a puff of smoke, and waved his hand to disperse it.
He complained casually, “Damn it, I want to break up.”
“???”
Hearing gossip, Bai Yao immediately threw the task nonsense to the back of his mind. He looked at Lin Mingxin with burning curiosity.
“Which Senior?”
“There’s only one. What did you think?”
Lin Mingxin rolled his eyes at him.
“I’m not that much of a scumbag.”
“But everyone says you have several…”
“I can’t even handle one, and you think I have several? Do I have iron kidneys?”
‘Can’t handle her?’
Lin Mingxin cursed, “Damn, that woman is like a vixen! Every weekend she calls me out and locks me in a guesthouse. I can’t even get out of bed for one whole day.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“You’ve never been in a relationship, so you don’t understand.”
Lin Mingxin waved his hand.
“There are only exhausted bulls, never a worn-out field, you know?”
“…”
Bai Yao lowered his head and picked at his fingernails.
This was indeed outside his area of expertise.
He estimated he would never have the chance to understand it in this lifetime.
‘But that future Chinyu seems to be a vixen too, doesn’t she?’
She became a 100-Person Slayer in just one year and was so obsessed with sex that she ended up in the hospital…
It was reasonable to suspect that her cheating boyfriend did it because he couldn’t handle her demands, just like Lin Mingxin now.
Bai Yao found it hard to imagine himself becoming like that.
After all, he usually had almost no desires.
“I didn’t want to go out this week, but she’s forcing me.”
Lin Mingxin threw away the cigarette butt and crushed it with his heel.
He complained, “I’m afraid I’ll have to eat something to supplement my kidneys.”
“You’re so young and you’re already saying you can’t do it?”
“Sometimes you just have to admit defeat.”
Lin Mingxin grumbled as he went back into the dormitory, planning to go back to sleep.
Bai Yao also had nothing to do.
He went to the bathroom and planned to lie down for a while too.
Back in the dormitory, he climbed the ladder lightly.
Just as he was about to slip into his bed curtain, he turned his head and saw Qiu Ye lying flat on his back, sleeping soundly.
Hanging on the ladder, he glanced around guiltily, unsure if Lin Mingxin had fallen asleep yet.
Very carefully, Bai Yao sat at the head of Qiu Ye’s bed.
He turned sideways to look at Qiu Ye.
Seeing that the guy hadn’t been woken up by him, he rubbed his thighs with his hands, feeling conflicted and guilty.
‘The task is to hold hands for ten minutes… If Qiu Ye were awake, I definitely couldn’t do it. I’d probably get beaten up.’
But now Qiu Ye was asleep.
Pretending to be casual, Bai Yao glanced at the other beds.
In the darkness, even if someone were awake, they would likely only see the silhouette of him sitting at the head of the bed without seeing the details.
He secretly leaned over, extending his body, and reaching out his hand to gently touch Qiu Ye’s hand, which was resting on the quilt.
He stole another guilty glance at Qiu Ye.
He didn’t wake up.
Bai Yao felt a bit more relieved.
He lightly grasped Qiu Ye’s hand and pulled it over to his side.
‘It should be fine, right? No one will find out, right? Qiu Ye hasn’t woken up, has he?’
Bai Yao was as guilty as a thief.
A shameful flush bloomed on his face.
His toes gripped the ladder railing nervously, and his eyes darted around to monitor the other beds.
Ten minutes, ten minutes…
‘Why do I feel like a pervert!’
When he had slept with Qiu Ye before, he was worried that Qiu Ye would get touchy-feely while he was asleep.
Now, the tables had turned, and he was the one being touchy-feely.
Bai Yao looked down at the large hand he was lightly grasping with his own small hand.
The skin was very fine, with a bit of faint hair.
Qiu Ye’s hand was very large, with long fingers and distinct knuckles.
Gently stroking it, he could feel the soft veins on the back of the hand and the hard protrusions of the bones…
Qiu Ye’s hand was very hot, even a bit scalding.
It made Bai Yao’s face turn red, and a faint sinking sensation appeared deep in his lower abdomen again, making him restless.
Ten minutes was so long.
Why hadn’t the System notification for task completion appeared yet?
“Hmm?”
Bai Yao flinched and immediately let go.
Qiu Ye groggily pulled his hand back, rolled over onto his side, and turned his back to Bai Yao.
‘Falling short at the last moment!’