“Didn’t I already fulfill my purpose?”
Ye Jinyi continued playing her game without so much as glancing at the woman.
“Saving Huimengyi—that was the full extent of my worth.”
Her words were sharp, each one stabbing directly into Xiang Yujie’s heart.
For a moment, Xiang Yujie felt as if she were standing in a rose garden, trying to admire its beauty, only to be pricked and bloodied by the thorns beneath the flowers.
She remained silent for a long while, then finally decided to reach out, one last time, to this child slipping toward the abyss.
“Yi… may I call you that?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Yi, the way you changed the character in your name… it’s meant to mean ‘flight,’ isn’t it? Like a bird spreading its wings. You know, young birds must first fall into the depths of a valley—only by struggling to flap their wings during that fall can they ever learn to fly.”
“Auntie believes you’re in that fall right now, sinking into a bottomless abyss. It’s harsh, but I believe that when you come out the other side… you’ll soar.”
“You’re a kind child—one that will be protected by the divine. I hope that one day, you’ll spread your wings and rise from the depths. On that day, I believe you’ll learn to love this world.”
“…Thanks.”
Ye Jinyi’s match had just ended.
After she and four random teammates put in their best efforts, they still lost.
Support really couldn’t save teammates trapped in fire and flood.
Not that Ye Jinyi had any desire to save them anyway.
“Um, Yi, would it be alright if I added you on WeChat?”
“Sure.”
Ye Jinyi pulled up her WeChat QR code and handed it to Xiang Yujie.
Xiang Yujie scanned it with her phone.
“Ye Jinyi.”
She looked at the plain red text in the profile picture, which matched the ID exactly—it seemed the girl used her real name online.
What Xiang Yujie didn’t know was that, for Ye Jinyi, WeChat was purely a work tool.
Aside from former colleagues and managers, no one else was on her list.
Using her real name?
That was just so her bosses would remember her more easily.
Woo-lee~ woo-lee~
Just then, the sound of ambulance sirens came from outside.
Hui Feng quickly stood up, walked to the door, and turned the knob.
“Yujie, I’ll go meet the medics.”
Ye Jinyi didn’t say anything.
She quietly stood up, folded the blanket covering Huimengyi.
Not long after, Hui Feng returned with the doctors, and they carried Yingmeng away.
Before leaving, Xiang Yujie waved goodbye to Ye Jinyi.
Once the door closed, Ye Jinyi returned to her computer chair.
The guests of the banquet had all left.
Everything now belonged to Huimengyi and her family—it no longer had anything to do with her.
She powered on the computer, thinking she’d play a game to kill time.
But as soon as the screen lit up, her stomach growled, reminding her she hadn’t eaten all day.
…
“If that calamity hadn’t happened, I’d be eating instant noodles by now.”
“Whatever, I’ll go buy something.”
Ye Jinyi didn’t shut off the computer.
She hopped off the chair and left her rental apartment.
If she had a kitchen, she wouldn’t be forced to waste money eating out like this.
Back at Tianting Group, she used to mooch food from the cafeteria—drinks too, all on the company’s dime.
She found a ramen shop and ordered a bowl of noodles.
As she was about to scan the QR code to pay, Ye Jinyi suddenly saw a notification—Xiang Yujie had just transferred her some money on WeChat.
[Happy and Joyful]: ¥10,000
Note: Thank you for your help.
Ye Jinyi didn’t accept the transfer.
She simply scanned the restaurant’s QR code and paid the 8 yuan for her ramen.
She found an empty seat and sat down, staring at the payment notification Xiang Yujie had sent, lost in silence.
Why did it feel like charity?
Sure, taking alms was embarrassing… but Ye Jinyi genuinely needed the money to get by.
“So why am I not taking it?”
“I’ve already lost all my dignity, haven’t I?”
“What exactly am I afraid of?”
Maybe it was the sheer shock of seeing that much money in one go—something she’d never experienced before.
Maybe it was the humiliation of owing someone a favor.
Maybe it was the exhaustion of someone who had already given up resisting.
While Ye Jinyi was deep in thought, the waiter brought over a steaming hot bowl of ramen.
He offered a quiet blessing.
“May peace, mercy, and blessings of the Almighty be with you always. Amen.”
With that, the young waiter returned to the kitchen.
Looking at the beef ramen and the waves of savory aroma wafting toward her, Ye Jinyi instantly tossed all her confusion aside.
“Uh… ah! Forget it, forget it! Food above all else!”
She picked up her chopsticks and began eating the blessed noodles, bite by bite.
The halal camel’s footsteps seemed to echo from the vast desert, and beneath the star-and-crescent sky, the exotic beef ramen danced on her tongue.
Should she pull up Desert Camel on her phone to match the vibe?
Ye Jinyi devoured the bowl, down to the last drop of soup.
She was very satisfied with this meal.
And now, she’d discovered one great perk of her current body—she ate so little.
One small bowl of ramen was enough to fill her up, even after a whole day without food.
Being a loli had its perks after all.
Ye Jinyi hopped off the chair and left the restaurant.
The moment she stepped outside, the world was already blanketed in falling snow.
She looked up at the snowflakes drifting down and tried to catch one in her hand.
But each time a flake touched her palm, it melted into water, then vanished.
“Can’t hold on to it.”
Ye Jinyi pulled out her pixelated sunglasses and black face mask from her pocket, put them on, and then pulled up her hood.
She stepped down from the stoop and began walking back toward her rental.
Once home, she didn’t bother turning on the lights.
She took off her clothes and lay down in bed, letting herself drift into sleep.
“Goodnight~”
Night moved on beneath the moon.
Some people had already gone to rest.
Others were still keeping watch.
At the hospital, a doctor handed a chart to the Hui family couple.
After giving it to them, he couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.
“Your daughter really lives up to being a magical girl—her body’s something else.”
“I can say with confidence, she’ll probably wake up tomorrow. No major injuries—just the shock and magic-induced neural strain.”
Hearing that, Hui Feng immediately asked, “Doctor, is there any chance this will leave lingering damage in her brain? I mean, she won’t… end up slower or anything, right?”
