After Ye Chengxing finished speaking, she saw Li Jia’s expression crumble as if the entire world were collapsing around her. Only then did she fully realize what she had done.
Her previously muddled thoughts sharpened a little.
…How had she just blurted it all out like that?
She really must be affected. Normally, she would never have done something so reckless.
Meeting Li Jia’s gaze, Ye Chengxing felt a mix of annoyance and worry surging in her heart.
Before Li Jia could say a word, she reached out and pulled her into her arms. “Xiao Li, hear me out first. I still have some time left, and the reason I stayed was my own—”
But before she could finish, Li Jia cut her off. “Sister, I made you some porridge and honey lemon water. Why don’t you eat something first? Can we talk after?”
Ye Chengxing’s words caught in her throat. The Omega slipped out of her embrace.
Li Jia’s expression no longer looked quite so devastated, and her voice had stopped trembling.
Stunned for a couple of seconds, Ye Chengxing finally managed, “All right. We can talk when you get back.”
Li Jia let out a soft hum and opened the bedroom door to leave.
But the moment she reached the kitchen on the first floor, the composure on her face shattered completely. Fat teardrops rolled uncontrollably down her cheeks.
She took off the collar around her neck, and almost at the same instant, a glitchy electronic voice echoed in her mind.
“Yo, Big Villain. Finally decided to let me out? Where’s Ye Chengxing? Now that you’re freeing me, I’m going to find her. Don’t even try to stop—”
The voice sounded noticeably weaker, but it carried a strange, sarcastic edge fueled by pent-up frustration.
Before Li Jia could respond, 001’s snarky tone cut off on its own.
Then the electronic voice suddenly spiked in pitch, turning shrill. “How long exactly have you kept me locked up?!”
Li Jia stared ahead with dark, sunken eyes, her chaotic electronic companion filling the silence. Without answering, she cut straight to the point. “Do you still have enough energy to send Ye Chengxing back?”
There was a long pause after her words. When 001 finally responded, its tone had collapsed into despair. “No use. It’s too late… all too late…”
Its voice broke in fits and starts. Li Jia felt as if she’d been struck by a massive blow, too stunned to react.
“What are you talking about?” she murmured. “How could that be? Why… Aren’t you the system?”
001 let out a miserable, electronic laugh. “Li Jia, you’re asking me why? Don’t you know better than anyone?”
“Why do you think Ye Chengxing stayed behind?”
“By trapping me with that bug? Or some other trick of yours?”
“When the World Will detects a Retained Tasker meets the conditions to leave, it automatically sends them back. She could have left, but she didn’t! She chose to stay!!”
By this point, 001’s voice was choking up. “All the previous energy has been automatically converted, and the maintenance protocols have been withdrawn. Send her back now? She can’t go anymore. She knew she’d only get weaker and weaker, but she still chose to stay in this world…”
Li Jia staggered at 001’s words, her body swaying for an instant.
The Omega gripped the edge of the kitchen island with white-knuckled fingers, her mind echoing with that broken phrase: She chose to stay.
Something inside her mind snapped.
She chose to stay…
She chose to remain in this world…
A pained whimper escaped Li Jia’s lips. She gasped for air, remembering that she’d been downstairs too long already. After standing there frozen in icy despair for a moment, she forced herself out of that state.
She retrieved the vegetable porridge and honey lemon water from the Smart Storage Compartment and made her way back upstairs, one step at a time.
When the bedroom door opened, Ye Chengxing was struggling to get up from the floor.
Hearing the sound, the Alpha lifted her eyes.
The instant their gazes met, Ye Chengxing instinctively averted hers a little. Even so, she curved her lips into a forced, casual smile. “I got worried when Xiao Li took so long, so I thought I’d come down to check. But…”
But she had clearly overestimated her strength—and underestimated just how debilitating the removal of the maintenance protocols would be.
“Though really, it’s nothing. I just look a mess.”
Ye Chengxing kept her tone light, but her eyes never quite met Li Jia’s.
Li Jia walked over and scooped her up into her arms.
“You’re not a mess. Not at all.”
She helped her settle against the headboard, then gently pressed a kiss to her lips. Setting the porridge and honey lemon water aside for a moment, she said, “Sister, let me feed you, okay?”
Ye Chengxing had no appetite at the moment, but since Li Jia had gone to the trouble of making it, she nodded.
She took a sip of the porridge Li Jia offered. “I could feed myself… but Xiao Li’s cooking is as delicious as ever.”
Li Jia nodded. “Then eat a little more, Sister.”
After that, she fell silent.
A few spoonfuls later, Ye Chengxing hesitated and softly called out, “Xiao Li.”
Their eyes met. Ye Chengxing reached up to touch her face and went on. “I’m not sure exactly what you’re thinking about all this, but staying in this world was my choice. Completely voluntary.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Xiao Li. It was my decision from start to finish. Even if it ends like this, it’s not your fault. You don’t need to feel guilty or take responsibility for it.”
Her tone was gentle.
Truth be told, she had many other things she wanted to say, but the atmosphere was already heavy enough. She worried that continuing would turn it into farewell words.
Imagining that scenario in her mind, Ye Chengxing’s smile turned a little bitter.
She knew exactly what Li Jia must be feeling right now. But…
Beyond reassuring her that it was her own choice, she didn’t know what else to say.
It felt so futile.
Li Jia listened as she spoke those words so slowly and carefully.
Even though she’d already known deep down that Ye Chengxing had chosen to stay, hearing her say it aloud made her heart ache with a fine, dense pain.
“Why…” Her eyes burned, but no more tears would come.
Why would you stay here so willingly? Is it worth it?
She didn’t voice the rest of her thoughts, but Ye Chengxing heard the unspoken question in her words and let out a soft chuckle. “Li Jia, I love you. I really, really love you—maybe even more than you realize.”
Having said it, Ye Chengxing felt a touch embarrassed.
She rarely strung together such a long string of love-you’s like that.
But it was exactly how she felt.
After a long moment, Li Jia replied in a trembling voice, “I understand.”
Ye Chengxing didn’t know what else to say. She let out a gentle breath, pushing down the bitter ache lodged at the tip of her heart, and tried for a normal tone. “I really do still have some time. And didn’t I tell Xiao Li we were going to wear wedding dresses together? We’re crossing the New Year together too.”
As she spoke, Ye Chengxing pictured it. “How about we wear our wedding dresses on New Year’s Eve?”
“…Okay.”
“Wedding dresses on New Year’s Eve.”
She had no other words left. Waves of invisible suffocation and hopeless grief threatened to drown her.
Li Jia gazed at Ye Chengxing’s features and pressed her lips together.
There had to be another way.
It couldn’t end like this.
There must be some other method—she just hadn’t found it yet.
Ye Chengxing envisioned the scene, and her smile grew more genuine, an involuntary one born from the memory. “That sounds wonderful.”
Li Jia took a discreet deep breath, schooling her expression to something more natural. She even reminded her, “Sister, you haven’t finished your porridge.”
Ye Chengxing hummed in agreement and obediently took a few more sips from the spoon Li Jia held.
The honey lemon water had a straw, so after some more porridge, she tried a couple of sips. Seeing Li Jia about to offer more, she laughed lightly and shook her head. “Xiao Li, I really can’t eat any more.”
Li Jia paused for a second before withdrawing her hand, nodding a little frantically. “Then we’ll stop for now. Is there anything else Sister wants? I’ll make whatever you’d like next.”
Ye Chengxing realized she could barely taste anything anymore. The porridge and lemon water registered only as vague textures, nothing more.
“Anything’s fine. Whatever Xiao Li makes will be delicious.” That was her eventual answer.
After a brief pause, she added, “Xiao Li, you need to eat properly too. Don’t just focus on me. You’re the one who has to remember to take good care of yourself.”
Li Jia looked stunned for a moment. She murmured a soft agreement and took a few bites of porridge herself before tidying everything up and having the robot clear it away.
They chatted as they usually did, but it wasn’t long before exhaustion crept over Ye Chengxing again. A wave of drowsiness swept through her body.
She struggled to focus on Li Jia’s voice, trying to stay awake, but it did no good. Her responses grew fainter and fainter.
Li Jia saw the obvious weariness in her eyes, the way she was fighting to listen despite it all. Her fingertips twitched. Then she reached out, brushing them over Ye Chengxing’s eyes, and helped her lie back down. She tucked her in gently. “It’s okay, Sister. If you’re tired, sleep for a bit. We can talk more when you wake up.”
Ye Chengxing could no longer make out her exact words, but she felt those fingertips lingering before her eyes.
Her consciousness began slipping away uncontrollably. She lifted her hand to cover Li Jia’s, threading her fingers through the Omega’s with the lightest of touches, interlocking them. Her tone was reassuring, almost coaxing. “Mm, just a little nap. I’ll wake up soon. Xiao Li, don’t be scared.”
Her voice faded.
…But how could she not be scared?
Outside the window, days and nights cycled relentlessly. Li Jia sat by the bed, watching as Ye Chengxing’s wakeful periods grew shorter and shorter. At first, she woke after one or two hours. Then it became four or five. Then seven or eight. Then over a dozen.
She watched helplessly as Ye Chengxing inevitably grew weaker.
Her body wasted away more each day, and still, Li Jia had no solution.
What was she supposed to do?
How exactly could she help her gather enough energy to get home?
Wait… energy to get home…
It seemed she had thought of something…
Li Jia sank deep into her own thoughts, losing all awareness of her surroundings in the process. She only snapped back to reality when Ye Chengxing stirred awake.
“What day is it today?” Ye Chengxing’s voice was so faint it was barely a whisper. She blinked once, then again, before parting her lips toward Li Jia and asking, “How long was I out this time? I feel so exhausted.”
Li Jia froze at the sight of her movements. “Sister, I’m right here.”
Ye Chengxing paused for a couple of seconds at her words, then slowly turned her gaze toward the sound of her voice. Her tone carried a helpless chuckle. “I’m still a little out of it right after waking up.”
—But she had no idea that the direction she’d turned to this time was wrong, too.
With that said, Ye Chengxing suddenly remembered something. “Xiao Li still hasn’t answered my question.”
Li Jia gave her the date, then added, “It’s four in the morning right now. We’ve got less than a day until our New Year’s countdown. You slept for a little over a day this time, Sister…”
Ye Chengxing smiled warmly at her response. “Then I woke up at just the right moment.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she reached out, fumbling until she caught the hem of Omega’s clothes. “Xiao Li, let’s go try on wedding dresses.”
Her voice was still laced with that rippling laughter. “We’ll pick out the two prettiest ones. Will you help me choose, Xiao Li?”
