The mealtime ended, and everyone began their respective rest times.
The golden-haired girl sat on the sofa, using her phone to send messages to someone.
That someone was precisely her younger sister, Ning Dongli.
At this moment, Ning Dongli was alone at home. Although it was usually like this, today she seemed especially lonely.
Ning Wanciu wasn’t home, and An Yu couldn’t play games with her either—it was like waking up one day and going back to square one.
Ning Dongli’s face was full of exhaustion as she looked down at her phone, which had just made a notification sound, with heavy dark circles hanging under her eyes.
There was a problem with the earlier statement—it wasn’t waking up, because she had already stayed up all night.
…Big Sis, what did she send over…
From waking up in the middle of the night until now, Ning Dongli hadn’t slept even a minute.
To match An Yu’s schedule, she decided to pull an all-nighter directly, using this to correct her messed-up routine.
It was just that she was really sleepy now—sleepy to the point that if she lay on the bed, she would probably fall asleep immediately.
So, she had been sitting in her gaming chair the whole time, like a corpse, not moving at all.
“Mm…”
Ning Dongli’s tone was slow, her voice carrying fatigue.
She subconsciously rubbed her eyes to make herself see more clearly.
“It’s… a photo?”
Ning Dongli tapped to enlarge it.
She saw a group photo, with the golden-haired girl being Big Sis…
Then the green and red ones were those two friends.
Then…
“What is this ultimate cute creature?!”
Ning Dongli’s eyes widened, her fatigue even decreasing a bit.
She subconsciously enlarged the photo, zooming in on the blue-and-white girl’s figure.
The girl in the photo was making a V sign with her hand expressionlessly, sticking close to Ning Wanciu, her amber eyes calmly staring at the camera.
This person—Ning Dongli hadn’t seen her before.
But she knew who it was.
A cute girl she hadn’t met could only be An Yu, because today was An Yu’s birthday.
This face perfectly matched that voice.
Ning Dongli had imagined it countless times, but no matter what, she couldn’t have thought that the real person could surpass her countless beautified imaginations.
“So, so cute……”
This face, paired with that voice—was Nüwa biased when creating people?
However.
“Hehe~”
Ning Dongli subconsciously let out a silly laugh.
It was good precisely because it was like this!
Ning Dongli looked entranced, subconsciously starting to substitute the voice she had heard before onto this face.
“Hehe…”
She almost forgot to look at Ning Wanciu’s message, too busy looking at An Yu’s photo.
Ning Dongli long-pressed the photo, clicked save, and then returned to the chat interface with Ning Wanciu.
There, Ning Wanciu had already sent several messages.
[Big Sis]: Everyone was really happy today!
[Big Sis]: Xiangxiang bought a somewhat… ugly-cute doll and didn’t dare to give it to An Yu, but in the end, she still gave it.
[Big Sis]: Good thing An Yu seemed to like that doll quite a bit—in the end, everyone was happy.
Ning Dongli let out a dazed laugh.
“Ah… oh no, I forgot to look at the messages!”
[Big Sis]: But… it’s okay. There will be more opportunities like this. If you’re willing to come next time, remember to tell me, okay?
These messages were just Ning Wanciu sharing today’s daily life with Ning Dongli.
But Ning Dongli could tell that her big sister was still a bit worried about her.
Ning Dongli didn’t know what to say, so she continued reading.
[Big Sis]: Are you okay, Dongli?
Ning Dongli subconsciously typed a line, but quickly deleted it again.
Was she okay?
She was not okay at all.
Pulling an all-nighter or whatever was fine—she had done it plenty before.
But today, all day, her mood had been very low.
Whether playing games or reading comics, she couldn’t do any of it.
No matter what she did, she couldn’t focus—there was always this itchy feeling in her heart.
When she saw the message Ning Wanciu sent over, and that happy group photo, this feeling reached its peak.
She regretted it.
She also wanted to play with Big Sis and An Yu on the weekend, instead of staying home alone pulling an all-nighter with no one paying attention to her.
But as soon as she thought about going out the door, Ning Dongli would subconsciously feel pain.
She could never forget the way her classmates at school looked at her.
And the despair of neither teachers nor parents willing to care about her.
For her, the outside world was no different from school—only home was a safe harbor.
But Ning Dongli still regretted it, because she suddenly felt so lonely…
If it were the old her, let alone playing games alone all day.
She could play for a whole year without feeling bored or lonely—in fact, she would be very happy.
Because no one else would intrude into her world, and she wouldn’t get hurt.
But now it was different…
Every day, she had someone accompanying her.
Big Sis would care about her, and An Yu would come play with her too.
Even if it was just yesterday morning, it was much more comfortable than the old her.
Ning Dongli started to feel longing—because of An Yu’s existence, she felt longing.
She didn’t want to go out, but she wanted to play with An Yu.
Influenced by this inexplicable emotion, Ning Dongli unconsciously typed a line on her phone.
[Listen to Something Nice]: I… want to play with An Yu too!
She subconsciously clicked send, and by the time she came to her senses, it was already too late.
Even withdrawing it was useless—Ning Wanciu had already seen it.
“Ah… wh-what do I do!”
Ning Dongli looked at her phone in a panic.
That was something she typed in the heat of the moment—it shouldn’t count!
The reason for her panic was simple: because she knew that for such a small request, Ning Wanciu could easily satisfy it for her.
It was precisely because of that that she was afraid.
She really still didn’t want to go out.
[Big Sis]: Then… are you willing to go out?
On the other side, Ning Wanciu stared at the phone in her hand.
The message Ning Dongli sent made her feel a bit surprised, because this was the first time Ning Dongli said she wanted to play with someone else.
Especially wanting to play with the real-life An Yu.
It was just that she understood her little sister very well.
She would say very brave things in a moment of impulse, but afterward, once that momentum deflated, she would quickly chicken out.
That wouldn’t do—she had to push Ning Dongli a bit. Success or failure depended on this!
So, she sent that message.
However, unfortunately, after that message, Ning Dongli never replied again.
Probably thinking about it.
“Sigh……”
Since she was thinking about it, that meant reason had returned to her brain—so it probably ended here.
However, speaking of which, why did it suddenly feel a bit noisy?
What was going on?
“Little An Yu!!”
Cheng Shimumeng exclaimed.
Ning Wanciu looked up, and immediately, her whole person was stunned.
She saw An Yu with a slightly red face, pouncing toward her.
“Eh, eh eh eh??!”