Chapter 18 Thank You

When Yan Sui returned to the intersection, Yu Shuli was standing there listening to her words without moving.

Seeing her coming out of the pharmacy with a bag, Yu Shuli frowned slightly and asked with concern: "Are you feeling unwell? Are you injured in the fight with that guy just now?"

Yan Sui shook her head and handed the plastic bag to Yu Shuli: "Treat the wound."

After he finished speaking, fearing that the other party might misunderstand him, he added, "Your wound."

Yu Shuli seemed not to have expected that these medicines were bought for him, and took them from her hands with ecstasy.

He rummaged through the bag, pulled out the iodine and cotton swabs, tilted his head, and whispered, "Can you please apply it on me? I can't see."

Yan Sui paused, then refused calmly, "Go home and apply it again."

Having his request rejected, Yu Shuli's expression suddenly turned dejected. His originally raised eyebrows drooped.

Yan Sui glanced at him and thought about Yu Shuli's expression at the moment. If he had ears on his head like a rabbit, they would definitely droop down in frustration, looking pitiful.

Yan Sui withdrew her gaze and stopped watching him apply the medicine on his own.

While Yu Shuli was applying medicine on her side, her heart felt as if it was being gnawed by something, with countless ants crawling on her heart. She kept looking in his direction and didn't even notice several empty taxis passing by her.

After Yu Shuli rubbed the iodine in the wrong place again, Yan Sui's shoulders relaxed.

She turned around and held out her hand to him: "Give it to me."

-

The other party seemed to be waiting for her to say this, and the corners of his lips, which had been drooping, suddenly lifted up.

Yu Shuli handed her the iodine and cotton swab, adding, "Thank you for your help."

Yan Sui lowered her eyes for a moment, then took it from him.

In fact, Yan Sui knew that Yu Shuli was deliberately applying medicine next to her, and he was also deliberately applying it sideways to attract her attention.

She could completely ignore what the other person wanted to do and let all his little actions become a one-man show that no one cared about.

But Yan Sui still reached out.

She told herself again in her heart,

The last time.

-

Yu Shuli was much taller than her, and even when she stood up straight, she could only reach his chin. Yu Shuli's wound was at the corner of his eye, and Yan Sui raised her hand, but her grip was unstable, and she stumbled as she rubbed the disinfectant iodine on the wound.

Perhaps because she couldn't control the strength of her movements, the cotton swab rubbed the wound repeatedly. The pain in the wound attacked Yu Shuli again and again, and he couldn't help but groan.

Hearing the sound coming from his lips and teeth, Yan Sui's eyes paused.

She bent her arms back: "Lower it, I can't reach it."

It seemed that he had already succeeded, and Yu Shuli was particularly easy to talk to at this moment.

He bent down and lowered the distance between himself and Yan Sui.

The person in front of her was looking at her at eye level. Yan Sui could clearly feel his breathing and see the wound on his face.

She closed the distance between them, and with each stroke of the cotton swab on the wound, she could even clearly see Yu Shuli's trembling eyelashes. Her hands couldn't help but soften their movements.

After quickly applying the medicine, Yan Sui closed the lid of the iodine bottle and said, "It's done."

Yu Shuli did not stand up, but lowered himself, raised his eyes, and looked at her with his eyes open.

Looking up at him, Yan Sui saw the tenderness in his eyes. As the distance shortened, their breathing intertwined in this small area, from passionate to disordered in just a moment.

Yan Sui stared into his eyes. The same eyebrows and face. She seemed to see the 22-year-old Yu Shuli in her previous life.

On the eve of their breakup, he held her tightly in his arms, his eyes filled with countless unrecognizable emotions, just like now, as he just kept staring at her.

Thinking of this, Yan Sui's thoughts began to become hazy.

She was confused and murmured, "Yu Shuli, so why?"

Yu Shuli paused and asked, "Why?"

His voice brought her thoughts back to reality, and Yan Sui realized that she had mistaken the seventeen-year-old Yu Shuli for the twenty-two-year-old Yu Shuli in her previous life.

She shook her head in annoyance and took a step back: "Nothing."

Yu Shuli wanted to ask something else, but Yan Sui's emotions subsided and reason took over her mind again.

She knew she had already crossed too many rules tonight.

We can't keep making mistakes.

She no longer paid attention to Yu Shuli's question. Just then, an empty taxi came from a distance, and she raised her hand to stop it.

Seeing this, Yu Shuli did not stop her.

Before getting in the car, Yan Sui thought of Yu Shuli's confession to her in the alley today and turned back to look at him: "Yu Shuli."

"Um?"

"Don't come near me again."

“…”

—

When the system appeared again, it was Monday two days later.

The familiar sound of radio waves came into her mind again. Yan Sui was sitting in her seat doing the exercises assigned in the last class.

"Host."

Hearing the system's voice again, Yan Sui paused as her pen slid across the paper. After a moment's pause, she abruptly stood up, her chair being pushed back with a harsh "tsk tsk" sound.

Chen Ling also stopped what he was doing and asked in surprise: "What's wrong?"

Yan Sui supported the table with one hand and said as she stepped out of her seat, "I'm going to the bathroom."

.

During the break, the entrance to the girls' restroom was crowded with people. Yan Sui looked at the entrance for a while, but seeing that the queue would take a long time, she gave up and turned to look for a stairwell with less traffic.

As soon as she stopped walking, she asked, "Where have you been these past two days? Why can't I call you?"

Since last Friday when she left the school, the conversation between the system and her came to an abrupt end, and the system seemed to have disappeared afterwards.

During the two days of the weekend, no matter how Yan Sui called, the system did not respond.

It was then that she realized that if the system ever disappeared from her, she would have no way to retrieve it. The initiative in her relationship with the system lay with the system.

Hearing Yan Sui's question, the system replied: "I'm sorry, host. I made a mistake during the mission and was subsequently punished by the terminal. Therefore, I have been banned from speaking during this period and cannot contact you."

After hearing this answer, Yan Sui was stunned.

She thought that the system might leave temporarily due to something, but she didn't think that it was banned by the terminal.

This was the first time she heard the word "terminal" from the system.

"What's the terminal? Your boss?"

System: "It's our management department."

Yan Sui didn't know how the system was divided into several levels. She was just a person chosen by it for a task.

However, after listening to the system's explanation, Yan Sui also knew that the system was muted by the terminal after it said that sentence. It was pulled into a small black room and could not see any movements on its side.

No wonder when she decided to go to the alley to rescue Yu Shuli, the system did not jump out to stop her as usual.

"By the way, host, I noticed your quest bar is moving. Have you already started the third quest line?"

Hearing this, Yan Sui couldn't help but think of the strategy mission that she was forced to push forward because of Yu Shuli's confession.

She said "hmm" lightly, "It opened on Friday."

"Host, I can check the progress of your three quest lines. Compared to before I left, the progress bar for the third quest line has moved forward a bit, but the bar for the second quest line has regressed a bit."

The system didn't say it explicitly, but Yan Sui understood what it meant.

The third quest line is to conquer the person who has not yet appeared.

The second quest line is to stay away from Yu Shuli.

Yan Sui never thought of hiding what happened on Friday from the system. She couldn't hide it.

She and the system were one. While the system's authority was slowly expanding, and it couldn't see into other people's minds, it could share her senses. Everything she thought about would appear on the system's end, word for word.

"Host, you have violated our agreement."

She didn’t know if it was Yan Sui’s illusion, but she felt that the system’s voice was a little colder than before.

Yan Sui lowered her eyes and hummed softly, "Sorry, I broke the agreement."

She didn't know what punishment she would receive for breaking the agreement. She couldn't escape, and she wouldn't escape.

If it happened again, Yan Sui would still choose to go to the alley to save Yu Shuli.

It was one thing that he had gone through those things because of her.

On the other hand, she couldn't just sit back and watch Yu Shuli being bullied.

Yan Sui calmed down and waited quietly for the punishment to come.

After listening to her words, the system did not respond for a long time.

The system was silent, and Yan Sui waited quietly.

Until the class bell rang, Yan Sui still hadn't received a response from the system.

She didn't say anything else and walked towards the classroom.

Just as her legs crossed the threshold of the stairwell, a long radio wave sounded in her mind:

Beep——

"Dear host, because you violated the second clause of the contract you signed, 'Stay away from Yu Shuli,' the system will automatically impose a penalty on you. Due to your recent good behavior, the penalty will be reduced appropriately. Please pay attention to it."

Unknown punishment, unknown time.

Yan Sui hummed softly and resumed her steps that had stopped.

—

After returning to the classroom, the head teacher took over this physical education class.

She clapped her hands, signaling the class to be quiet. "Before class, let me tell you about the registration status for the English speech competition. After an internal selection process within our class, we've decided to give this spot to Chen Xin."

After the speaking spots were announced, many students in the class looked at Yan Sui with puzzled eyes when they heard that the final person chosen was not Yan Sui but another student.

Chen Ling's face was more surprised than Yan Sui's. She held Yan Sui's hand under the table and said, "Why isn't it you?"

In the speech selection organized by the class meeting last week, Yan Sui's speech was fluent and impeccable. Many students in the class believed that the speech would go to Yan Sui, but they did not expect that it would fall to another classmate in the end.

The students who were closer to Yan Sui all knew that she had made thorough preparations for this English speech. Her English teacher had also repeatedly told Yan Sui that she would be the one to give the speech.

Compared to the shock of Chen Ling and other classmates, Yan Sui's reaction seemed much calmer.

When she heard that the spot was not hers, she paused for a moment and then found the answer for herself.

This is the punishment imposed by the system.

According to the timeline of the previous life, the spot for this English speech belonged to me.

However, because she had contracted the flu from Yan Zhaoting the day before the speech, she had a high fever on the day of the competition and her throat was hoarse and she could not speak. In the end, she had to forfeit the speech.

This English lecture is held every five years and is only for high school students.

After missing it in her previous life, she never had the chance to participate again.

This incident has been bothering her for many years.

Yan Sui really likes English and has always wanted to attend this speech.

When she returned to this world in this life, she found that she had been preparing for her English speech since she came back.

She still wanted to make up for the regret of not being able to participate in her previous life.

But in the end, this is the punishment the system imposed.

Yan Sui felt a little complicated. She should be glad that the punishment did not fall on her main task.

But after all, this is what I have been looking forward to since I came back.

After class, Chen Ling took Yan Sui to find the head teacher to clarify the matter, but was stopped by Yan Sui.

Chen Ling was puzzled. "Your speech that day was so great! Everyone in the class saw it. This spot should have been yours. Why was it suddenly given to Chen Xin? Let's go find the teacher and find out what's going on."

Yan Sui shook her head: "It's mine only if you make sure it's given to me. Never mind, it's okay if I don't participate."

Even if you ask about this matter, there will be no result.

She has to accept whatever punishment the system gives her.

At night, Yan Sui lay in bed.

Under her was the four-piece suit that Sui Yuling had just changed for her. The sheets and quilt had been exposed to the sun all day, and she could still feel the remaining warmth from the sun while sleeping under them.

She looked up at the ceiling for an unknown amount of time, then she shouted "System" towards the ceiling.

The moment the voice fell, the system's voice appeared in her mind——

"I'm here, host."

Yan Sui blinked and asked, "Did you help me reduce the punishment today?"

The system paused for a moment and did not answer the question: "Host, please pay attention to the start of the third task."

Yan Sui turned over and buried her face in the warm quilt.

She carefully felt the temperature on it and gently sniffed the smell of laundry detergent remaining on the four-piece suit.

It tastes like mom.

The system's irrelevant answer was the answer she gave her.

Yan Sui suddenly thought that the system had helped him a lot since he got to know it.

The terminal's punishment is unavoidable. Although Yan Sui appears calm on the surface, she is always feeling uneasy in her heart.

She was afraid that the punishment would fall on her family, which would affect her main mission and ruin her plans.

The system is one with her, it can sense her emotions. It must know that compared to her English speech, Yan Sui is more afraid that the punishment she will receive will affect the progress of her main task.

If you want to punish her, it wouldn't be too much to give her what she fears the most.

But it didn't. It used its power to help her avoid the punishment she feared most.

"Thanks."

Yan Sui's voice came out muffled from the quilt, falling into the silent room, heard by a system that did not exist in this world.

The system did not respond to her thanks.

It was only in the next sentence, "Host, please start the side quest as soon as possible," that Yan Sui sensed the joy hidden beneath the mechanical voice.