With the fountain pen in hand, Ye Zhibai had now fully bid farewell to the apartment where she once lived.
As for the other scraps of junk in the sack, she had originally planned to drag them all home in the spirit of thriftiness.
But under Yun’er’s gaze—full of confusion and concern—Ye Zhibai just couldn’t bring herself to do it. She couldn’t swallow her pride with that icy little face of hers!
Wuwu, the way she looks at me salvaging these frying pans, it’s like she thinks I’m sick or something!
I’m just being frugal—my head’s fine!
Never mind. She wasn’t taking any of it.
Even so, just dumping the stuff there didn’t sit right with her.
Conveniently, Old Man Zhang—the scrap-collecting god who roamed the streets—happened to pass by.
Ye Zhibai promptly sold him all the junk on the spot.
Unlike Aunt Liu Dayi, Old Man Zhang was honest and straightforward. He deserved these castoffs.
Ye Zhiyun’s eyelids twitched wildly at the sight.
“Sister… are you sure it’s okay to sell off the personal belongings of the dead like that?”
“Yun’er.” Ye Zhibai delivered the line without batting an eye or blushing in the slightest—her face was thicker than a city wall. “The person in my dream told me to sell all this junk and keep the money for myself.”
After a pause, Ye Zhibai added, “The money itself doesn’t matter… What’s important is giving solace to the departed, right?”
“Oh! So that’s how it is! Sister, you’re so kind—I’m dying here! That guy’s lucky; you’ve really gone above and beyond for him!”
“Yeah…”
Clutching the crisp fifty-yuan bill she’d gotten from the sale, Ye Zhibai nodded solemnly and slipped the cash into her pocket without a fuss.
In my last life, if I’d gathered up all my worldly possessions and sold them off… it’d probably fetch about fifty bucks too.
Doesn’t sound like much, but honestly, fifty wasn’t peanuts.
Ye Zhiyun handed Ye Zhibai a tissue to wipe her little hands clean. Then, clasping her hands together and clapping once, she made an eager suggestion.
“Sister, we’ve got what we came for. For lunch… let me take you to this restaurant in the city that I highly recommend!”
“Mm…” Ye Zhibai took a step forward, then halted. “A restaurant? The kind you recommend… the expensive kind?”
“Ah, I get it, I get it! You’re worried I’ll be wasteful again? It’s not expensive at all—totally reasonable!” Yun’er beamed brightly. “Just a meal out. Three hundred per person tops. Ah… but don’t worry, Sister—even if it sounds cheap, it’s seriously delicious! I guarantee it!”
“……”
Unable to help herself, Ye Zhibai reached into her pocket and pinched the fifty-yuan bill through the fabric.
The weight of her entire life’s possessions from her previous incarnation…
Suddenly felt so fragile.
So featherlight!
After all the fussing around and finishing lunch, the Head Maid brought both young ladies—and one Guang Yu—back home.
As dusk fell and the sky darkened.
In Ye Zhibai’s room.
Guang Yu cradled the takeout she’d just received, delivered to the door by the maids: a Honey Rain Ice City drink. She chomped down on the straw and slurped it in circles!
Not only did she have one cup in her hands, but there was another on the table beside her. Both were hers!
Guang Yu had never felt this wealthy before!
From now on, call her the Affluent Fox!
Well, she wasn’t the affluent one. It was Ye Zhibai, who had just leveled up to little rich lady status.
Actually, that wasn’t quite right either. The true little rich lady was Ye Zhiyun—the one who’d helped Ye Zhibai ascend to that status!
When they’d gotten home earlier, Yun’er had set up a payment account for Ye Zhibai and transferred her a sum of money. She’d said it was for whenever Ye Zhibai was home alone and wanted to buy something online—it’d make things convenient.
Ye Zhibai had figured it’d be some four-figure fortune.
But when she checked the bank card balance…
Six zeros!!
And those six zeros were preceded by a full two!
She squinted and counted several times, but no matter how she did it, it always came to two million yuan!
The note read: “Pocket money for Sister. If you need more, just let me know.”
—Pocket Money.
Little rich lady? Yun’er, you’re basically the God of Wealth!
So, buying Scummy Guang Yu a drink was hardly an issue.
But she still had to be thrifty when splurging on Honey Rain Ice City.
Earning more and spending less—that was key.
Is this stuff really that good? Ye Zhibai didn’t quite get it.
Personally, she thought plain water was just fine.
Ye Zhibai had her own joys and sorrows at the moment.
Now dressed in a pure white nightgown, the silver-haired girl with her cool demeanor sat on the bed. She occasionally wiggled her toes or shook her head. In her hands, she held the fountain pen she’d salvaged from the junk pile at noon. Her pale purple eyes had been fixed on it for over ten minutes straight.
Just like playing Red Light, Green Light—freeze!
—Even Guang Yu felt awkward watching it!
“Ye Zhibai? Why are you still staring at that… whatever it is you’re holding?”
“Fountain pen.”
“Oh yeah! Fountain pen. Look, why keep eyeballing that thing? How many iced drinks could that tiny thing even buy?”
“Rough estimate? About three hundred cups of yours.”
“…! Okay, yeah, stare away then. Stare hard—we’ll trade it for drinks after!”
“……”
Oh lord, look at this fox. I should dunk her headfirst into that blasted drink canister and let her chug till she bursts!
Ye Zhibai carefully laid the fountain pen sideways and placed it back into the gleaming red gift box she’d polished to a shine.
She let out a soft sigh.
“If I had some other expensive thing like this… I’d definitely sell it for cash. But this fountain pen… I can’t sell it. It’s too important.”
“Because it’s a gift from someone?”
“Because it’s a gift from someo—huh? How’d you know that?”
How’d you beat me to the punch?!
Guang Yu smugly patted the top of her own head.
Clang clang. Good grief, like she wasn’t afraid of pain at all!
“Heh heh, I’ve been saving up divine power all afternoon. I did a little scan, and you…”
“Don’t peek into other people’s thoughts! Drop dead!”
Today, Ye Zhibai hadn’t picked up much from Ye Zhiyun.
Except for one key essence.
Namely—
“Drop dead!”
But in her flat, emotionless delivery.
Ye Zhibai grabbed both of Guang Yu’s big ears and squeezed until the fox’s cheeks flushed bright red!
Guang Yu’s first instinct was to protect her drink, then she immediately begged for mercy!
“Wahh!! I didn’t look! I didn’t look! My divine power’s too low—I only saw it’s a gift from someone! Nothing else! Wuwu, let go… we can talk this out… my drink’s slipping!!”
“Hss…”
If not for Guang Yu’s last line suddenly carrying a suspiciously sultry vibe that startled Ye Zhibai, she definitely would’ve given this scummy fox a proper thrashing today!
Memories were important, after all… She couldn’t just go peeking willy-nilly.
Had Guang Yu really not looked?
She’d only wanted to know why Ye Zhibai treasured the pen so much. With her remaining power, she could only glimpse the most surface-level detail.
—A gift.
One hand clutching her ear, the other steadily holding her drink, Guang Yu took another sip before pouting and muttering a complaint.
“See? I knew it had to be a gift. In your last life, you couldn’t afford something worth three hundred drinks.”
“If you don’t need that mouth of yours, you could donate it to someone who does.”
“Sorry… so, who gave you the gift anyway?”
Ye Zhibai eyed Guang Yu, who was also in her nightgown and sitting cross-legged on the floor.
Truth be told, she didn’t really want to bring it up.
But…
The moment she’d touched the fountain pen again and seen those words engraved on it.
Certain emotions Ye Zhibai had tried hard to suppress—along with the memories tied to them—had come surging back.
People had so many things they wanted to pour out to someone.
Yet stubborn pride insisted on shouldering it all alone, without telling a soul.
Especially since, before, there’d been no one to listen to her troubles anyway.
But confessing to a deity…
Wouldn’t that solve all those problems?
—Guang Yu wasn’t human!
Having reasoned it out, Ye Zhibai slowly began to speak.
“The person who gave me this fountain pen is named Chi Yuliang. I called her Sister Liang. She was the big sister who took care of me back in the orphanage days—before I moved into the apartment. She’s two years older than me.”
Guang Yu’s expression went blank for a few seconds, as if she were digesting the sheer info-dump in Ye Zhibai’s words.
Mm… Guang Yu, you get it too, right? Being cared for in the orphanage, depending on each other—that’s a pretty touching story.
Finally, Guang Yu blinked, flashing her little tiger teeth in an excited grin!
“A girl?! Can you two cuddle?!”
“Your mouth really knows how to dig its own grave…”
