Stepping into her own yard, Xia Mengxi noticed a figure standing at her doorstep and suddenly remembered that Lin Xue’er was still at her place. Feeling a bit awkward, she glanced toward Lin Xue’er.
“Sorry, Xue’er, but you don’t have to listen to what my mom said. I’m fine on my own.”
“No way!”
Lin Xue’er responded firmly to Xia Mengxi’s words. “Since Auntie entrusted you to me, I will definitely take good care of you, Mengxi.”
Before Xia Mengxi could refuse, Lin Xue’er turned and started walking toward her own house.
“I’m going back to get some things. For the next week, I’ll be staying at your place temporarily. That way, Uncle and Auntie can feel more at ease.”
“Ah? No, that’s not necessary, Xue’er…”
That was unacceptable! In just one week, she would be free from her Body Weakness. On top of that, she’d have a whole week of freedom alone time enough to do so many things. How could she let Lin Xue’er bind her like this?
However, Lin Xue’er completely ignored her refusals. The firmness in her attitude was something Xia Mengxi hadn’t seen in all this time.
Had her mother said something that made Lin Xue’er so resolute? If she pushed back hard, would that upset Lin Xue’er?
With so many concerns swirling in her mind, Xia Mengxi reluctantly agreed. But since she had to agree, she definitely chose to stay at Lin Xue’er’s place. That way, she’d have more time to dig for information about Lin Xue’er that she hadn’t discovered yet.
Hopefully, after the Body Weakness disappeared, everyone’s perception of her would change accordingly. Only then could she break free from Lin Xue’er’s hold.
“Wait, Xue’er! If you insist on staying together, why don’t we stay at your place instead?”
At these words, Lin Xue’er froze for a moment, then thought it over before turning back to look at Xia Mengxi.
“That works too. Mengxi, do you have any daily essentials you need to bring?”
“Just my school Uniform. As for daily necessities, even my pajamas, you have them at your place.”
“Alright. Let’s make sure to turn off the water, electricity, and lock the doors and windows at your place first, then we’ll head to my house.”
After taking care of those tasks Lin Xue’er mentioned, the two headed back to Lin Xue’er’s home once again.
Upon entering, Lin Xue’er, perhaps realizing how abrupt her earlier behavior had been, offered an explanation to Xia Mengxi.
“Mengxi, my tone earlier might have made you uncomfortable, but I was really worried about you being alone at home. After all, you’re someone I care about, so… I hope you can understand how I feel.”
“It’s okay, Xue’er. I understand your feelings and why you did that. But that doesn’t mean I’ll forgive you—unless you personally make me an Afternoon Tea Dessert. Then, maybe I’ll think about it.”
Xia Mengxi’s words made the uneasy expression on Lin Xue’er’s face soften into a gentle smile.
“Alright, I’ll make a dessert for you now.”
Once Lin Xue’er went into the kitchen, the smile on Xia Mengxi’s face slowly faded. She regretted losing a whole week of absolute freedom. Thankfully, the Choice Task imposed by the God didn’t have a time limit. Otherwise, she feared she’d suffer a heart attack and need quite some time to recover.
So, going with the flow, within ten minutes she stopped dwelling on it and even began to enjoy this ‘forced’ cohabitation with Lin Xue’er once again.
“Mengxi, want to go out for a walk?”
“Sure.”
Around four in the afternoon, Lin Xue’er suddenly made the invitation. Xia Mengxi, feeling a bit tired of watching TV, was just looking for something else to do and readily agreed.
When they stepped outside, since she didn’t know where they were headed, Xia Mengxi asked Lin Xue’er, who replied:
“Hmm… I plan to make dinner around five, so if we go outside the Residential Complex, we won’t have enough time. In that case, let’s just stroll around the Artificial Lake inside the complex.”
The place where Xia Mengxi and Lin Xue’er lived was a rather large upscale Residential Complex. All the houses there were detached Villas with private yards, so having a sizable Artificial Lake in the area was quite common.
Speaking of which, Xia Mengxi couldn’t help but think about her incredibly lucky Parallel World parents.
Normally, a middle-class family like hers would at most have a family home plus an apartment in a Residential Complex. Living in a Villa in a wealthy neighborhood was many levels above that. At least, that was how it was before she crossed over.
But in this Parallel World, according to her father, one day when she was a child, a real estate company bought her old family home, which was quite large, and they received a huge compensation payment.
Her parents, startled by the sudden windfall, kept the money close and barely slept. They were uneasy about putting it in the Bank and had no concrete plans. By chance, they saw a Villa for sale and, after discussing it, used the unexpected money to buy it—that is the Villa they now lived in.
Living in a Villa didn’t mean they were rich! In other words, Xia Mengxi’s family was a bit of a poser—living in a luxury home on a middle-class income.
Fortunately, half a year after buying the Villa, her father happened to help someone on the way home—a kind deed. That person turned out to be the Group President of this wealthy neighborhood. Since then, aside from normal water, electricity, and gas fees, all property management and maintenance fees were waived for life.
In other words, with the house fully paid off and lifetime free management fees, she had no financial worries at all. Under these conditions, completing the God’s tasks while living in a grand Villa, surrounded by everything she wanted, was almost like a reward—a perfect life.
However… no matter how beautiful the future looked, it was still just the future. If she couldn’t resolve the current crisis, everything would be doomed.
“Mengxi… do you still remember your first encounter with me after moving here as a child?”
As the two reached the sidewalk by the Artificial Lake, Lin Xue’er suddenly brought up a topic between childhood friends, startling Xia Mengxi. She wasn’t really Lin Xue’er’s childhood friend—how was she supposed to know about memories that never existed?
Should she fabricate a story or just claim she forgot?
Xia Mengxi clenched her teeth, deciding that fabricating something was too risky, so she planned to go with the latter option.
Just then, that familiar sensation appeared again.
[God… making a grand appearance! Young lady, did you drop Option A… or Option B? Or perhaps… Option C?]
Huh? Option C?
After reviewing the prompt, Xia Mengxi instinctively looked at the options and was surprised to find that this time there were three choices.
Could it be that Choice Tasks didn’t always offer just two options?
Well, she’d think about it later. Having an extra choice just made it harder to decide, so that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. She’d just check out the options first.