“No, my Sponsor Mom!”
Luo Tiantian’s sleepiness vanished instantly, and he woke up completely.
‘If Mom leaves, she won’t have a support target anymore, and it’ll be all over, *mie*!’
Log in, log in!
Luo Tiantian hurriedly put on his helmet.
***
Shen Xixi lay on her bed.
The curtains weren’t drawn, and the sky was already starting to brighten.
Her phone screen was lit up with a system message from *Huaxia Shenyu*.
**[Your special NPC Baosi is online and seems anxious to see you.]**
**[Soothing and stress-relief scenes are available in-game. Log in now?]**
**[Reminder: Escaping is shameful but useful. Come play! :)]**
Shen Xixi stared at the “:)” emoticon, feeling like the System was being sarcastic with her.
She flipped her phone over, placing it face-down on the bed.
The ceiling was white.
The air conditioning was off.
How much were the property fees for next month again?
She closed her eyes and calculated for 3 seconds before giving up.
Water and electricity bills. Internet fees. The electricity bill was actually quite high.
Then there were those memberships; she had even prepaid for a video streaming membership she’d only used once until 2026. At the time, she felt like money wasn’t an issue, but thinking about it now, it was absolutely insane.
“Am I crazy?” she asked the ceiling.
The ceiling did not answer.
Did Baosi want to see her?
She probably just wanted her money.
But she didn’t have any money left.
“Why don’t you just go coax her? It’s not like it costs anything to log into the game,” she mumbled into her pillow.
The pillow replied: ‘But you have no money to spend. You’re so poor you’re practically rattling.’
She really was out of money now.
The old man and woman were true to their word; they had actually frozen the cards they’d given her.
Hadn’t it always been like this for years? They would have a fight, have a cold war for a few days, and finally, everyone would take a step back.
But not this time.
“If you won’t follow our arrangements, we will act as if we don’t have a daughter.”
She didn’t even know which country they were in right now.
Were they still in the country? Or had they already flown to Europe?
Shen Xixi pulled the pillow into her arms, staring at the sliver of light peeking through the edge of the curtains.
Should she sell her gaming pod?
The moment the thought surfaced, she sat up, then immediately lay back down.
No.
The gaming pod still held her save files, her character, and her Baosi.
She couldn’t bear to let go.
“Am I obsessed?” she asked the ceiling again.
The ceiling remained silent.
Her phone lit up.
It wasn’t a system message this time, but a notification from another app: **[Your XX membership will automatically renew in 3 days. Renewal amount: 198 yuan.]**
198.
In the past, she would have swiped such a notification away without even blinking.
Now, staring at that 198, she was actually seriously considering—when had she even subscribed to this?
The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became.
She grabbed her phone, opened the system message, and typed a line:
“Don’t want to play. I’m tired.”
Delete.
“I’m busy, play by yourself.”
Delete.
“Tell Baosi to wait for me, I’ll come later.”
But she had no money.
What else could she give Baosi if she logged on later?
She couldn’t let Baosi play with her for nothing every day.
That wasn’t right.
Shen Xixi thought back to that play-buddy from before.
She hadn’t thought much of it when she hired that play-buddy; she was just in a bad mood and wanted someone to talk to.
The voice of that streamer, Luoluoyousheng, was soft and sweet. He wasn’t very good at the game, but he was quite spirited when it came to cursing people out.
100 yuan an hour… How many days of food would 100 yuan buy?
She’d never had any concept of that before.
“Am I a spendthrift?” she asked herself sincerely.
If she were still a child, she wouldn’t have to think about all this…
Suddenly, a spark of inspiration flashed in her mind.
When she was a child… a Minor Refund?
She seemed to have seen people discussing this in a game group before. They said that any money spent could be refunded as long as the player was a minor.
Even if she wasn’t a minor, she still had many things she hadn’t used, right?
Shen Xixi opened the game’s customer service interface and typed “Minor Refund” into the search bar.
**[Search Result: Instructions Regarding Top-up Refunds for Minors]**
She clicked on it and squinted at the first paragraph.
Then the second paragraph.
Then the third paragraph.
It was a dense thicket of legal terms, evidentiary requirements, audit processes, refund percentages, guardian certifications that needed to be provided, twenty-seven forms that needed to be filled out, a waiting period of fifteen to thirty working days, and…
Shen Xixi’s gaze began to drift.
There were too many words.
Her head felt dizzy.
She struggled to stare at the screen for 5 minutes, roughly understanding that this was a very troublesome matter and might not even be successful.
Five minutes later, the phone slipped from her hand and landed next to the pillow.
Her body had already slumped onto the bed, her breathing steady.
She had fallen asleep.
***
**[System Notification: Detected that player “You Wang / Zhou Wang” recently searched for “Delete Account”.]**
**[System Notification: Detected that player “You Wang / Zhou Wang” recently searched for “Minor Refund”.]**
**[Comprehensive Analysis: This player poses a high risk of churn and a risk of requesting a refund. Situation: Dangerous.]**
**[Generating Response Plan…]**
**[Plan 1: Send soothing push notifications to guide the player to log in and experience relaxation scenes.]** — Executed three times, no response.
**[Plan 2: Provide limited-time discount activities to increase player stickiness.]** — Player is currently offline; unable to push.
**[Plan 3: Provide guidance through high-affinity in-game characters.]** — Feasibility: High.
**[Target Character: Baosi]**
**[Initiating Soothing Protocol.]**
***
A string of system notifications popped up in front of Luo Tiantian’s eyes.
**[Emergency Notification]**
**[Your assistance target “You Wang / Zhou Wang” has recently exhibited high-risk behaviors such as multiple searches for account deletion and refund applications.]**
**[Player’s willingness to log in: Negative.]**
**[Comprehensive Assessment: Your assistance target is highly likely to run away.]**
**[System Suggestion: Please soothe the assistance target’s emotions as soon as possible and guide them to log into the game normally.]**
Luo Tiantian: “I want to soothe her, but where is she?!”
**[Suggested Plan: You may provide a certain amount of Game Coins to unlock the “Emotional Awakening: Remote Feeding” function. The System will send a customized soothing push notification to the player in your name, significantly increasing their desire to log in.]**
**[Required Game Coins: 200]**
**[Confirm payment?]**
“Damn it! 200!!”
“You want me to pay?!”
“I 🌿 your 🐴, System!”
“A black shop! You’re a blatant black shop!!”
**[System Tip: Player loss is irreversible. Once the assistance target completely deletes their account, the Support Points in your account will lose their exchange target and be permanently frozen.]**
**[System Tip: 200 Game Coins to bring your Sponsor Mom back around—it’s a long-term investment. It’s a real bargain! :)]**
Luo Tiantian looked at that smiley face and felt like the System was mocking him.
But he had no choice.
With trembling fingers, he clicked “Confirm Payment.”
**[Payment successful.]**
**[Your soothing message has been sent to the device of player “You Wang / Zhou Wang”.]**
**[AI dialogue will also be initiated. Please remain in the game. Once the call is connected, you will speak with the other player.]**
***
On the other side of the city.
Shen Xixi’s phone screen lit up.
**[Huaxia Shenyu — A message from your Baosi]**
The phone began to ring.
But it was on silent.
Shen Xixi turned over and pulled the duvet over her head.
Sleep first.