The weather was perfect, and she slept without dreams.
Whatever happened to the others last night had nothing to do with An Yu.
“Mmm… ah~”
An Yu stretched comfortably.
She had slept extremely well last night; An Qing hadn’t invaded her dreams at all.
The game she played before bed had worked wonders.
She’d definitely play again next time.
Maybe even drag Ning Dongli into it.
“Morning, System.”
【Mmm… Good morning, host.】
The System’s voice sounded drowsy, still half-asleep.
Even though An Yu woke up at exactly the same time every day, the System still hadn’t gotten used to it.
Whatever.
After greeting the System as usual, An Yu began her daily routine.
Get up early, sneak to the bathroom, pick up breakfast, then leave the house for school under Wang Man’s inexplicably strange gaze.
Everything went smoothly, right up until the very last step—leaving the house.
Right now, An Yu was holding the breakfast she had just taken from Wang Man, lowering her head to put on her shoes.
After slipping her jade-like feet (wrapped in pure white stockings) into her shoes, she gently pressed down twice.
Comfortable shoes were very important.
The ones she wore were indeed comfortable.
Though walking still tired her out.
Every time she got tired, An Yu couldn’t help but wish she had a permanent Ning Wanciu to carry her to school on her back.
Mm, being carried in her arms would be fine too.
Everything was ready.
An Yu was just about to push open the front door when she suddenly heard a voice.
“Morning, Auntie Wang.”
Behind her, a young and icy voice greeted Wang Man.
Wang Man turned around in panic.
The moment she saw who it was, she instinctively tried to shield An Yu, who had just finished putting on her shoes.
“M-Morning, Miss An Qing…”
It was indeed An Qing.
She had gotten up earlier than usual today, yet she looked no different from always.
She greeted Wang Man with an expressionless face.
“Mm.”
An Qing nodded lightly, not bothering to exchange pleasantries.
She walked forward with light steps, heading straight for the door with clear purpose.
“Uh… Miss An Qing, miss, why are you up so early today?”
Wang Man deliberately tried to block her.
Although she didn’t know exactly what had happened between the two young misses, she knew their relationship was definitely bad.
Otherwise, why would Miss An Yu insist on sneaking off to school alone ever since An Qing arrived?
And strangely enough, this situation had maintained a bizarre balance.
An Yu left early every day, and no one in the house ever asked about it.
Everyone had tacitly accepted it.
No one knew why An Qing had suddenly broken that balance today.
“Mm.”
An Qing gave Wang Man a cold glance but didn’t answer or flare up.
Today, she had only come to remind An Yu of one thing.
She easily stepped past Wang Man and arrived at the door, instantly spotting An Yu, who hadn’t yet stepped outside.
“Morning, An Yu.”
The corners of An Qing’s mouth curved upward slightly.
She was here to remind An Yu that this house now had An Qing in it.
Running away was useless.
The more An Yu tried to escape, the more An Qing would take everything from her.
After what happened last night, An Qing had thought things through.
She could no longer let An Yu be.
She had to put pressure on An Yu.
An Yu turned her head and looked at An Qing coldly, saying nothing.
An Qing looked back at An Yu, a confident smile on her face.
The two stared at each other—one wearing a hypocritical smile, the other completely expressionless.
“You… didn’t sleep well?”
An Yu suddenly spoke.
The An Qing in front of her was still a beautiful girl, but she had untimely dark circles under her eyes.
She clearly hadn’t slept well.
An Yu wondered what had happened.
Did she play games too late?
Forget to drink warm milk before bed?
Or was something weighing on her mind?
Well, I don’t need milk and I slept just fine.
Whatever.
Even though they were enemies, An Yu still offered the most basic concern—because she was a good person!
“Don’t overthink things. It’s pointless.”
Pointless things were best not thought about too much; that way you could sleep well.
This was An Yu’s personal experience, and now she was kindly passing it on to An Qing!
“Ha…?”
Just one sentence, and An Qing almost lost her composure.
So straightforward…
Was An Yu saying everything she did and thought was meaningless?
Fine. Then she would let An Yu see whether it really was meaningless or not.
When the day came that the An family parents no longer cared about An Yu at all, would she still be able to say such things?
“Fine… An…?”
An Qing forcibly suppressed her anger, maintaining her smile as she spoke softly.
But halfway through, she swallowed the rest of her words.
Because An Yu had already pushed the door open and left, not intending to listen to her at all.
Pa—
The door closed automatically with a pa sound. That sound struck An Qing’s heart like a heavy hammer.
She stood there in a daze, staring at the empty doorway for a long time, unable to snap out of it.
Provocation, then immediate departure.
Very… well done!
“An Yu…”
An Qing clenched her teeth, but in the end she didn’t explode.
Her arrogance was only temporary.
When the day came that no one was by An Yu’s side anymore, when everyone she cared about stopped caring about her, even if she didn’t want to, she would have to turn her attention to An Qing!
An Qing closed her eyes and took deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down.
She couldn’t let An Yu affect her state of mind.
“Huu…”
She turned around.
Behind her, Wang Man was pretending nothing had happened and staring at the floor.
An Qing ignored her and walked away slowly.
Although she felt like chasing after An Yu, it wasn’t time yet.
Only by making An Yu fall into true despair would her revenge be complete.
Meanwhile, on the other side, An Yu was leisurely walking toward school.
Today, she had done another good deed—helping the reborn heroine improve her sleep quality!
“Awoo~”
She took a big bite of the hand-grabbed pancake Wang Man had made.
As always, An Yu ate breakfast on the way to school.
Mm, today’s was delicious too.
【……】
Watching An Yu blissfully enjoying her hand-grabbed pancake, the System was genuinely speechless.
What a ruthless provocation.
Ignoring the heroine last night, and daring to say that this morning.
The scariest part was that the System understood its host pretty well—she probably hadn’t meant to provoke An Qing at all.
It might even have been genuine concern.
Honestly, the fact that An Qing hadn’t chased after her even after all that—the System kind of admired her tolerance.
But unfortunately, An Qing, pretty much nothing you’re doing is getting through to An Yu.
This heartless host of mine gave up from the very beginning!
“Mmm~ So good!”
An Yu nibbled happily on the pancake.
Wang Man never repeated breakfasts, and every day it was delicious.
An Yu was very satisfied.
Although it had no idea what An Qing was thinking about right now, the System knew exactly what was in An Yu’s head…
The hand-grabbed pancake is really delicious.