So that was it. Today wasn’t just Su Xiaoli’s day off; it was also the day she would use to punish me.
I didn’t know if Su Xiaoli had planned this all along or if she had changed her mind because of my physical condition, but…
Feeling the soft sensation beneath her head, Meng Huange completely relaxed her body.
‘Ever since my mother’s passing, I’ve always viewed being sick as a form of humiliation, a type of neglect. So, even when I realized this cold was quite serious, my mind was still trying to figure out how to keep things running normally.’
‘Conserving energy, reducing steps, and using various means to maintain a facade of normalcy… even if I had to force myself to perform physical tasks my body couldn’t support, I would grit my teeth and endure. That was always my way of doing things.’
“But… ‘A patient should look like a patient’?”
For some reason, even though what Su Xiaoli said was a perfectly ordinary sentence, the string that had been tightly wound in Meng Huange’s heart suddenly relaxed.
‘Yes, this is the right way, isn’t it? When a person is sick, they really should receive a bit of leniency.’
So, even though I’ve already ended up in Su Xiaoli’s bed, she didn’t show the slightest bit of dissatisfaction. Perhaps, in her view, this was a perfectly natural thing —
‘Since this pathetic little girl accidentally caught a heavy cold and collapsed beside me from exhaustion, letting her rest in my own bed is simply a matter of necessity.’
Looking at it this way, my earlier attempt to avoid being seen as a burden by Su Xiaoli and trying to prove I was healthy… was that behavior actually incomprehensible to her?
Meng Huange took a deep breath and looked toward Su Xiaoli’s backlit figure with a faint smile.
‘If it were the version of me from the first day I arrived at the Su house, I probably wouldn’t have dared to imagine that I would one day be lying in Su Xiaoli’s bed. However, after only a few days, I don’t feel anything strange about my current situation at all.’
‘She really makes it easy for people to let their guard down, this legendary Tranquil Eldest Miss.’
‘I originally thought that by doing my best to serve and please her, I could alleviate some of the hidden guilt in my heart. Now it seems that no matter how hard I try, I might never be able to make up for this debt I feel.’
‘Then, at least for this period of time, I should try my best to satisfy all of Su Xiaoli’s whims, shouldn’t I?’
‘If she wants me to maintain the state a patient should have, then I won’t put up any useless pretenses. If she wants me to be punished because of what happened yesterday, then I will willingly accept it.’
‘As long as it’s something she wants, I will give it my all.’
Thus, Meng Huange narrowed her eyes slightly and reached out toward Su Xiaoli —
“Forgive me, Aunt Su. I have deeply realized my mistake, so…”
“Today, please… punish me as you wish, Master.”
Facing such a cooperative heroine, Su Xiaoli twitched the corner of her mouth slightly.
She put on an act of sneering, but in reality, her head was already starting to throb. ‘What… what should I do?’
Up until now, the only Task the System had assigned her was to keep Meng Huange confined in the room. As for the specific details of what should happen during the confinement, it hadn’t notified her at all. Naturally, she had no clue.
As for the punishment she had mentioned earlier… that was merely a choice provided by the prompt to “press Meng Huange onto the bed”…
‘Ugh, if only I could just say that your punishment is that you aren’t allowed to leave the room for the entire day. That way, I’d complete the Task the System gave me while also fulfilling my own words.’
‘But the villainous Tasks the System gives me are definitely more than just that. It’s not just about being “wicked and acting willfully”; I don’t want to leave an impression of being someone who goes back on her word in front of Meng Huange…’
Su Xiaoli sighed softly, pinched the bridge of her nose with a dignified air, and gazed at Meng Huange lying on the bed.
The black-haired girl, who was usually elegant, dignified, and mature, was now curled up slightly under the thick blankets. She looked like a lazy cat that had successfully claimed its territory. Her loose, long dark hair was scattered across the bed like seaweed, contrasting with her exquisite and beautiful cheeks, which were flushed red from the fever.
A thin layer of sweat coated Meng Huange’s forehead. Her eyelids were half-closed, and her long eyelashes trembled slightly due to her discomfort, yet she still watched Su Xiaoli quietly with her clear eyes.
‘Now that I think about it, this seems to be the first time I’ve seen Meng Huange with her hair down. Right now, she has a bit less of a sharp edge and a bit more of a soft, feminine charm.’
‘It’s a good thing the Task the System gave me was to keep Meng Huange at home. Otherwise, if I imagined this version of Meng Huange being seen by others, my heart would probably feel several more stirs of annoyance for no reason.’
[Female Value decreased to…]
“Ahem!”
Su Xiaoli coughed twice, silently shifted her gaze to a corner of the room, and spoke in a deep voice —
“Enough, Meng Huange. Although I wanted to use harsher methods to discipline you and teach you a lesson, but… seeing as you did complete the Task I gave you and are a useful tool, I’ll set aside those methods that might break the tool for now.”
“Of course, my leniency is only because you’re currently unwell. Your punishment is definitely still unavoidable. However, I will use a method that targets your spirit instead.”
Looking at Meng Huange’s slightly confused eyes, Su Xiaoli stood up gracefully and crossed her arms, looking down at her coldly —
“Meng Huange, do you still remember the topic we discussed at the dessert shop?”
“Are you referring… to the matter of today’s night being quite long?”
“No… that’s not it!! I’m talking about the matter of you feeding pups at the Orphanage!!”
Recalling the scene where she had been tricked by Meng Huange into getting cream on her nose and was unable to retaliate, Su Xiaoli sneered and rolled up her sleeves. She picked up a spoonful of the still-warm rib soup —
“Prepare yourself, Meng Huange. Like a chirping young bird waiting to be fed, I will engrave this pathetic look of yours deep into my memory.”
“Lean over. You aren’t allowed to use your hands. Open wide — “