Chapter 10 Sharing a Bed They nestled together for only a brief moment, and it was already…
With his back to Shu Qing, the silver-haired boy quickly performed a series of operations, then perfectly put the phone back in its original position, restoring everything to its original state.
He returned to bed silently, his movements as light as a feather, without disturbing the sleeping Shuqing. He curled up beside her, gazing greedily and for a long time at Shuqing's face.
Her appearance in this life is very similar to that in her previous life, radiant and bright, as dazzling as the morning sun, and her beauty is objectively accurate and not merely his biased opinion.
Such a face is a perfect match for a smile; it should not show any sorrow or bitterness, much less... fade away alone, like the fate of her past life.
Her face had a healthy pink glow, and the corners of her lips were turned up; she must have been having a sweet dream.
very nice.
The boy smiled too. He reached out to touch the dimples on her face, but as soon as his fingertips touched them, he pulled back as if he had been electrocuted, curling his hand tightly in his palm.
He asked himself, "Didn't we say we'd have nothing to do with each other from now on?"
However, his gaze refused to heed the warnings of reason, remaining lingering on her with tender affection. She was a little thin, with dark circles under her eyes, the only striking feature on her otherwise radiant face.
He gently touched her eyes, a wisp of pure white cold air emanating from his fingertips. His demonic power was more for destruction than repair or healing; doing so was merely a token gesture. She always made him feel powerless.
Her haggard appearance was due to seven consecutive days of neglecting sleep and meals, all in order to keep him by her side.
Whether in this life or the next, it seems that getting involved with him always makes things difficult for her.
The boy rested his head against her hand, his cheek touching her curled fingers, and quietly closed his eyes.
She still doesn't like to draw the curtains when she sleeps, just like before. The unchanging moonlight shines in, and it's as if they are still on a moonlit island, sleeping face to face.
His past life ended tragically, and through countless years of life and death, her side remains the only place where he can sleep peacefully...
This is good enough, he told himself. Just this brief moment of cuddling together is enough.
Fate is merciful and has spared him this sliver of warmth; surely it is not meant to let him wallow in this endless cycle of suffering?
He was already content with this brief moment of companionship.
He subconsciously rubbed his fingers against her warm knuckles, warning himself in his heart: turn back from the wrong path.
If he had been able to give up his feelings earlier, he wouldn't have not only died himself, but also dragged her down with him.
This life must never be like this again.
When Shu Qing woke up the next day, she felt refreshed. After washing up, she looked in the mirror and felt radiant. Her perpetually sore eyes felt much better, it seemed her lucky charm had given her another boost.
With more energy, she can shoot more short videos, and with more short videos, she can replenish her energy—a perfect virtuous cycle!
Furthermore, she finally received a reply from Jiu Su... and the quality of the reply was quite high.
“More than a thousand years ago, there was a special demon clan that knew the past,” Jiu Su told her. “It was a special kind of magic, and the demon king at that time would occasionally seek their help. You, with the bloodline of this demon clan, also have the same ability to see the past.”
“Great, he really does have special abilities,” Shu Qing thought, her mind racing with ideas. “Seeing into the past…being able to see the past? That’s pretty novel. Hmm, I could make a fluffy little detective video called ‘Thumbelina Sheriff’…”
She continued reading, and Jiu Su wrote: "It cannot control its demonic power, and what it sees is nothing but the past events of a few breaths ago. Normal demons would not do this, perhaps its origin is mysterious."
Shu Qing was silent for a moment, then exclaimed with pity, "Ah, poor little monster."
Its origins are mysterious—she had overheard it at the Supermarket Management Bureau; her sugar daddy had spent a lot of money to buy this little monster, and there was also a certificate from the merchant in the documents.
It's probably the result of artificial breeding, just like those pets with disabilities.
What about her little snake demon?
She touched the little snake demon curled up on her shoulder, dozing off, and muttered, "You didn't come from there too, did you...?"
The little snake demon, half asleep, swayed its tail, indicating that it hadn't come to that extent yet.
"I don't know if there's any way to cure it. Jiu Su didn't say, so it seems like the hope is slim." Shu Qing sighed, then suddenly had a brilliant idea, "Hey, do you think using my 'golden finger' might work?"
She hadn't expected any answer when she asked the question, but the little snake demon raised its head and nodded at her very slightly.
"It really works?!" Shu Qing's eyes lit up. "How do you know? Can you feel it too? I knew it couldn't be my imagination. But if I tell this to the client's daughter, she probably won't believe me. I'll have to think of another way."
She rested her chin on her hand and thought for a while, then decided, "It's always good to give it a try, it won't cost me any money. After I finish filming the video with the sponsor, I'll discuss with her whether we can film a public service video to warn against these kinds of businesses that sell little monsters in private."
She highlighted this matter in bold and red on her to-do list, then lowered her head and, as if reading from a textbook, opened her notebook to take notes on Su's reply: "Omnivorous, can eat anything... but needs to avoid being disturbed. Hmm, these are all precautions for filming... Huh?"
"No need to spend money," Jiu Su said politely, declining her invitation to dinner after explaining the science. "If you really want to thank me, then treat your little monster well."
Shu Qing poked the little snake's tail with a mischievous grin, "Jiu Su said I should be nicer to you."
The little snake demon tucked the tip of its tail away from her hand, looked up at the sky and down at the ground, and pretended not to hear.
"Thank you, senior. I received it. It's very useful!" Shu Qing replied to Jiu Su. "Just send me voice messages next time. It's convenient for me to listen to voice messages too."
She cleverly concealed her true purpose with thoughtfulness and politeness—she was quite fond of Jiu Su's clear and unhurried voice.
Although her Mandarin wasn't perfect, it was a beautiful, standard voice that provided crucial emotional support during her intensive study sessions.
Shu Qing smiled, resting her chin on her hand. "I think this person is really interesting."
"Stubborn on the outside but soft on the inside, always willing to help, but refuses to chat?" Shu Qing sketched a cool and aloof face in her mind and scribbled on the paper. "Judging from his professionalism, he should be quite experienced, but he sounds very young, at most the same age as me."
"Oh, and he even made me call him 'senior.' He speaks very politely and is quite cultured."
"Could he be the heir of some reclusive family or something?"
With a few strokes of her pen, she sketched the figure on the paper, giving it outline and spirit.
Shu Qing picked up the paper and shook it: "I wonder how similar it is?"
The drawing on the paper depicted a profile somewhere between a boy and a young man, with long, flowing hair, an indifferent expression, and beautiful, almost sharp, eyes that seemed to pierce the paper. Although it was only a few strokes, her skill was superb; the moment the sunlight shone through the paper, those eyes seemed to come alive with a soul.
The little snake demon suddenly sat up and stared at the person on the paper.
The person in the painting bore a striking resemblance to him, and for a moment, he almost suspected that he had been too carried away last night and had revealed his true appearance to Shu Qing.
"Strange," Shu Qing muttered at that moment, "It looks so familiar."
Little snake demon: "..."
He was grateful that he couldn't speak right now.
The snake demon curled up to one side, feigning death, so Shu Qing never remembered where she had seen the person in the painting before.
She offered a plausible explanation: it was probably an SSR character from some game, or a male celebrity, who left an impression on her, and she simply made a vague match when she wrote it down.
Yes, the logic is sound.
She carefully blew on the painting, then tucked it into her notebook to keep as a keepsake.
The brief period of slacking off came to an end. With the help of the notes Su had given her, Shu Qing began to focus on devising a proposal for the client.
“I’m most inclined to start with its special abilities,” Shu Qing said two days later, during a video conference with her client. “The audience of monster-raising content creators is generally most interested in its characteristics and abilities. For example, the most popular content creators in the pet section…”
She opened the pet section and sorted them by popularity from highest to lowest. Shu Qing's own videos were prominently listed, and besides that, the white cat on her following list was also very popular. The "cat-shaped stress reliever" was very effective, attracting hundreds of thousands of students and office workers on the verge of depression.
There are also dogs that can dance Latin dances, and mynah birds that can sing pop songs. In short, it's a group of Pokémon that each has their own unique abilities.
Both people on either end of the video call were quite reserved. Shu Qing had made a point of dressing up carefully because she was meeting the client; the client, probably out of respect, had also dressed very elegantly.
The wealthy client watched intently, nodding frequently; the freelance contractor spoke confidently and eloquently. Two well-dressed young women sat facing each other across a screen, both striving to maintain the atmosphere of a serious business meeting.
"Secondly, the form in which one demonstrates their abilities is also very important."
Shu Qing scrolled to the top of the popularity chart. The current number one was a fire-breathing flying squirrel. The most-liked video was a spellcasting mishap—the little squirrel inhaled and exhaled in front of the camera, its cheeks puffing out, and after a full half minute of preparation, it spat out a mouthful of scattered sparks.
The barrage of comments was filled with laughter, with phrases like "The operation is as fierce as a tiger, but the damage is only 0.5" and "Mouse, go home, go home." Tens of thousands of comments scrolled across the screen, and the number of likes reached nearly ten million.
“I’ve seen this too,” the rich second-generation heiress chuckled. “Its emojis are even more popular. In our gaming group, we use it every day to mock those noob mages who can’t deal any damage even after casting for ages.”
Shu Qing smiled knowingly. Their eyes met across the network signal, and they both gave themselves away: neither of them were reliable people. They played games and watched videos, and in short, they had a lot in common when it came to "not doing their jobs properly."
The serious atmosphere of the business meeting could not be maintained, but both parties reached a preliminary agreement, which is commendable.
"Anyway, to sum it up, it's mostly about shareable tags and anthropomorphic associations." Finding that the other person was on the same wavelength, Shu Qing relaxed considerably. She opened a storyboard folder. "I've drawn a few ideas; see if you see any you like?"
The young lady relaxed a lot, leaned back in her chair, and brought over a cup of coffee from a spot out of the camera's view, drinking it while watching.
Her tiny thumb monkey lay in front of the camera, a cute little thing, fluffy and golden, giving off a warm and cozy vibe like a sunny meadow.
While showing her storyboard video to the client, Shu Qing observed the thumb-sized monkey—it was tilting its head and curiously examining the other "self" that Shu Qing had drawn on the screen, stretching out its paws and lifting its legs in an attempt to imitate it.
She observed it closely and found that each of its movements was delayed by more than three seconds. If she hadn't been observing it intentionally, she would have just thought it was lively, cute, and adorable.
The little snake demon silently climbed onto Shu Qing's shoulder and maliciously flicked its tongue at the camera.
Three seconds later, the little monkey jumped back in fright and hid behind the young lady, not daring to even peek out.
Shu Qing: "..."
She raised a very fierce little monster.
The young lady finally turned to the last page of the proposal in her hand. Shu Qing held her breath and waited for her conclusion.
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