At eleven thirty that night, Shu Li lay sprawled over his desk, memorizing English vocabulary. As he studied, his head drooped lower and lower, his eyelids sagging until he was nearly asleep.
"Thud—"
"Hiss... Ow!"
Shu Li clutched his aching forehead, instantly wide awake.
Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes. He yawned twice in a row, then shook his head hard, forcing himself to stay alert.
The National College Entrance Examination was only a month away, yet his English grades were a complete disaster. Even hiring a private tutor had done no good. No matter how hard he studied, he simply could not learn it.
He would understand everything perfectly well in class, only to forget it all the moment the lesson ended. Because of that, his father, CEO Shu, never stopped lecturing him.
"Your eldest brother, second brother, and third brother are all linguistic geniuses. They’re fluent in English, French, and Russian. They don’t even need interpreters when they travel abroad for business. So how did you end up completely hopeless at languages?"
Whenever his father saw another failed English exam paper, he always looked bitterly disappointed.
Shu Li felt wronged.
He had scored a perfect hundred in Chinese ever since he was little. How could anyone say he had no talent for languages?
"I’m just too patriotic!" Shu Li protested indignantly. "Dad, you already pulled three SSR cards in a row. You were bound to be hopelessly unlucky at least once, right?"
"You brat! You refuse to study seriously, and you still think you have an excuse?"
His father grabbed the feather duster and chased him around the house.
There was no point asking where the feather duster had come from. In any case, CEO Shu might appear impressive and dignified outside, but when he returned home and disciplined his youngest son for his terrible grades, he was no different from any ordinary father. Every time he saw an English exam on which his youngest son had scored barely more than ten points, he nearly suffered a heart attack from anger.
Naturally, Shu Li was not foolish enough to stand still and let himself be hit. Clever as he was, he would either hide behind his mother or take cover behind his brothers.
As the youngest son of the Shu family, he was showered with affection from every direction. CEO Shu’s thunder was always louder than his rain, and the feather duster had never once truly landed on Shu Li’s backside.
"If Lili can’t learn it, don’t force him. He can just bring an interpreter whenever he goes abroad. What’s the big deal?" his mother said.
"The three of us can handle the company. Let Little Li do whatever he likes," his eldest brother said.
"Little Li likes music. He can pursue the arts later. The university admission requirements are lower," his second brother said.
"And if he truly can’t get in, we’ll donate a building to XXX University. If one isn’t enough, we’ll donate two," his third brother said.
Because his family spoiled him so thoroughly, Shu Li’s English remained mediocre at best.
And now, with the entrance examination fast approaching, he was still cramming at the last minute.
Shu Li rubbed his cheeks and decided to play a few rounds of a game to wake himself up. He happily picked up his phone and logged in, his drowsiness vanishing at once.
Five minutes later, Shu Li opened his microphone and began shouting passionately.
"Left, left... Watch out!"
"Aaaah—save me, save me!"
"Phew, I survived. Thanks, bro!"
"Come support me! I’m surrounded!"
"Knock, knock, knock—"
A rhythmic knock sounded at the door, cutting Shu Li’s cries off abruptly.
"Little Li, why aren’t you asleep yet?"
His father’s voice came from outside.
Shu Li panicked. He hurriedly quit the game, shoved his phone into the desk drawer, switched off the lamp, and scrambled toward his bed.
But in his haste, his foot slipped. His body lurched backward and slammed into the bookshelf. As luck would have it, the brick-thick English dictionary sitting on the shelf toppled down and struck him squarely on the head.
I’m finished!
Shu Li’s vision went black, and he lost consciousness.
If there was a next life, he absolutely, absolutely wanted to be reborn in a world where he would never have to learn a foreign language!
Shu Li slept deeply.
He had not slept this soundly since starting high school.
The bed beneath him was extraordinarily soft, warm, and comfortable. A faint floral fragrance lingered beneath his nose, making him even sleepier. He felt so blissful that he wanted to sleep until the end of time.
Rolling over, he stretched out his limbs and lay flat on his back like a starfish, soft little snores escaping his lips.
"￥..."
"￥￥."
An unfamiliar language echoed beside his ears, disturbing his pleasant dream. Shu Li pursed his lips unhappily and mumbled in his sleep.
"￥?"
The irritating voice rose slightly, its penetrating tone scattering the last of his drowsiness.
Shu Li grew a little annoyed. He shifted onto his stomach, stuck his bottom into the air, and buried his head firmly beneath the soft blanket.
Then someone gently pressed his bottom.
Now Shu Li was truly angry.
He had been sleeping perfectly well, quiet and well behaved. Why was someone being so mean and insisting on waking him?
"￥, ￥..."
A pleasant baritone sounded nearby. Shu Li could not understand a word, but that did nothing to stop the voice from sending a pleasant shiver through his ears. As a music student, he had always been a sucker for a beautiful voice and had no resistance to one.
He wriggled, "pulled" his head out from beneath the blanket, propped himself up on both arms, and forced himself into a kneeling position. After giving an enormous yawn, he opened his eyes blearily.
The moment an enormous face filled his vision, every trace of sleep vanished.
Shu Li’s entire body stiffened. He froze in horror.
At last, he understood why the people in that animated series had been so terrified of the giants peering over the city wall.
The visual impact was overwhelming, seriously!
Even though the face right in front of him was extraordinarily beautiful, it did nothing to suppress his fear of enormous things.
Shu Li trembled violently. His overactive tear glands filled his eyes at once, but fearing the giant might open its bloody maw and swallow him whole, he forced himself not to cry.
Holding it in was difficult, and his tiny body shook even harder.
"??"
The giant looked puzzled and extended a finger toward him.
Shu Li stared blankly at the massive finger descending toward him in terror. Just as it was about to land on his head, the pleasant baritone sounded again.
The finger paused, then withdrew.
With the threat gone, Shu Li secretly let out a breath of lingering fear. His heart pounding, he stiffly turned his neck in search of the owner of the baritone voice.
Very soon, he saw another incomparably beautiful giant.
Perhaps because this giant stood farther away, Shu Li did not feel as pressured. Summoning his courage, he examined him carefully.
He was a young foreign man.
He had straight, flowing hair that gleamed like gold and eyes as brilliant as emeralds. His features were deep and sculpted, his skin smooth and snow-white, and his figure slender. He wore a pale violet robe, its cuffs and hem embroidered with elaborate, intricate patterns. His entire being radiated a holy, noble aura.
Shu Li immediately took a liking to him, his gaze practically glued to the man.
When he noticed the silver crown atop the man’s head and the impossible-to-ignore pointed ears, Shu Li’s mouth fell open in astonishment.
An... an Elf?
Only Elves had ears that long and pointed.
"￥."
The golden-haired Elf spoke to him, his gaze gentle, his expression warm, and a faint smile curving his lips.
Shu Li could not understand a single word, but that did not stop him from listening in a daze.
The man’s voice was so, so, so beautiful!
Beautiful enough to get his ears pregnant.
Shu Li stared intently at the golden-haired Elf. The giant crouching beside him poked her head closer again, making exaggerated faces while babbling a long string of words.
Shu Li’s fear of enormous things returned at once. He shrank back, grabbed the blanket beside him, and tried to pull it over his head.
Huh? Huh? Huh?
Shu Li discovered in astonishment that the thing in his hands was not a soft blanket at all, but an enormous, fragrant flower petal!
Even more shocking were his own hands.
They were tiny, plump, tender, pale, and adorably miniature.
Shu Li’s mind seemed to crash, temporarily losing all ability to think.
"Your Majesty, could this Fairy cub... be underdeveloped?"
Why else would he look so blank and foolish?
The red-haired female Elf leaned closer to the flower cradle, her face full of concern.
A new group of Little Fairies had been born in the Faerie Forest that day. All twenty-five had awakened successfully. The moment their flower cradles opened, they competed to spread their wings and fly out, darting excitedly around the Fairy Nursery.
Only the final Fairy cub remained lying peacefully inside his flower cradle, sleeping soundly without the slightest sign of waking.
The red-haired Elf called to him softly, but instead of waking, the cub stuck his little bottom into the air and buried his head beneath the petals.
The sight made the red-haired Elf laugh. Unable to resist, she gently pressed the Fairy cub’s soft, pale bottom with one finger.
Unfortunately, the Elven King, who had come to inspect the Faerie Forest, witnessed the entire scene.
"Sayah, disturbing someone’s sleep is very impolite."
"Sorry."
The red-haired Elf, Sayah, stuck out her tongue and withdrew her finger.
In the end, the Little Fairy still woke up.
He pulled his head out from beneath the petals, swayed as he propped himself upright, pressed his knees together, and knelt obediently in the flower’s center. Then he opened a pair of beautiful emerald eyes and looked up in innocent confusion.
Delighted, Sayah leaned closer to the flower cradle with a brilliant smile. She was about to speak when the Fairy cub’s expression suddenly turned terrified. His green eyes widened until they were round and enormous, making him unbearably adorable.
"Hm? What’s wrong?"
As the Elf responsible for the Fairy Nursery, Sayah had never encountered such a strange cub before. Puzzled, she extended a finger, intending to touch the little fellow’s head.
But the Little Fairy seemed even more frightened. Tears filled his eyes, and his tiny body trembled like a leaf in the wind.
"Sayah, you’re frightening him," the Elven King reminded her gently.
Sayah withdrew her finger and took a step back beneath the cub’s terrified gaze.
Sure enough, the moment she retreated, the little fellow stopped being afraid. He tilted his head and curiously studied the king. Perhaps captivated by the king’s flawless appearance, the cub’s face filled with admiration.
Sayah felt depressed.
Was she really that ugly?
Elves were the favored children of the Light God, the most beautiful beings in the world. No matter how one looked at it, the word ugly could never apply to them.
Unwilling to accept defeat, Sayah leaned toward the flower cradle again and said to the Little Fairy, "Hello, little one. I’m Sayah, the Elf responsible for caring for you. Please don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you."
She believed her words were gentle, yet they frightened the Little Fairy into grabbing a petal and trying to cover his head with it.
Sayah: ...
She wanted to shut herself away forever.
Halfway through pulling the petal over himself, the little fellow suddenly stopped. Then he stared blankly at his own tiny hand and remained motionless for a long time.
Sayah began to worry.
Light God above, could this Fairy cub truly be underdeveloped?
Shu Li was still frozen in mental shutdown, completely unaware that the red-haired Elf had judged him to be a little fool.
He suspected he was dreaming.
How else could he be seeing pointy-eared Elves? Even his own body had become strange. It seemed he had exchanged it for a tiny, delicate one, so small that a single flower petal could serve as his blanket.
This had to be a dream!
Shu Li was certain of it.
Unless he remembered incorrectly, he had been studying English vocabulary earlier. He had grown tired and secretly played a game, only to be discovered by his father. In a panic, he had tried to climb into bed and pretend to be asleep. Instead, his foot had slipped, he had crashed into the bookshelf, and then—
A thick book had knocked him unconscious.
After sorting out his thoughts, Shu Li felt slightly reassured.
A dream was fine. Dreams were always absurd and full of strange things. Seeing mythical Elves in one was perfectly normal.
Having convinced himself, Shu Li released the petal, straightened up, and raised his little head to look curiously around.
Once his fear vanished, his courage returned. His lively eyes darted everywhere.
"￥?"
The red-haired Elf asked him something.
Shu Li could not understand her, so he could only grin foolishly.
The red-haired Elf froze when she saw the Fairy cub’s pure, innocent smile. Then she quickly turned and said something to the golden-haired Elf. The golden-haired Elf gave a slight nod and replied.
Shu Li shifted from kneeling to sitting cross-legged, propped his chin in both hands, and leisurely watched the two giant Elves converse.
Their voices were so beautiful!
They sounded like singing, as heavenly as celestial music.
He really was obsessed with voices. Even though he could not understand Elven, he still listened with great enjoyment.
His father was always saying that he did not work hard enough at foreign languages. He should really come into Shu Li’s dream and see this for himself.
"."
The golden-haired Elf, who had originally been standing a short distance away, suddenly approached.
Resisting his fear of enormous things, Shu Li blinked his bright eyes and gave the golden-haired Elf a sweet smile.
Elves truly were a pleasure to behold. Their features looked as though they had been carefully sculpted by the gods, matching every one of his aesthetic preferences.
Shu Li’s tiny heart pounded, and his smile grew even more sincere.
The golden-haired Elf’s gaze softened, and he returned the smile warmly.
Struck head-on by such devastating beauty, Shu Li became completely dazed. He did not recover until the golden-haired Elf extended a long, slender finger and gently touched his forehead.
A faint warmth spread between his brows. It neither hurt nor itched. It felt as though a warm current had entered his mind, leaving him refreshed and clear-headed.
He instinctively covered his forehead, his face full of confusion.
If this was a dream, why did the touch feel so real?