The bright moonlight spilled through the window, coating the floor in a layer of silver frost. By its light, Zhou Yuesheng could clearly see Yu Zhile as she slept. She was a disciplined sleeper, hands resting gently on her stomach, her breathing light and rhythmic.
After half a minute, Zhou Yuesheng shifted his gaze and began searching for the letter. It was on the desk, carelessly tucked under a notebook. As he lifted the notebook to retrieve the letter, a photograph slid out and hit the floor with a soft thud.
Yu Zhile let out a soft mumble.
Zhou Yuesheng’s muscles immediately tensed into a state of alert. A minute passed, but there was no further movement behind him. He looked back and realized she had simply turned onto her side, still deep in sleep.
The person in the photo had medium-length hair and refined, striking features. The delicate brow bone and slender eyebrows, which should have looked out of place against such sharp features, did not ruin the aesthetic; instead, they added a touch of androgynous beauty.
The person in the photo was Sheng Lanyue. Zhou Yuesheng had seen reports about him at Ning Tan’s house.
Taking the letter outside, he began carefully extracting the secret codes hidden between the lines. The writing on the envelope was sparse, leaving little room for codes; translated, it yielded only three words: “Cannot stay.”
Inside the letter, Sheng Lanyue mentioned he was to play the male lead in a large-scale dance drama and included a photo of a swing prop from a play his troupe was currently rehearsing. From these details, Zhou Yuesheng pieced together scattered fragments of information: May 20th, 10:00, meeting, Haidong Town, night, West Woods.
He rearranged the components: May 20th, 10:00 PM, meeting at the West Woods in Haidong Town.
The codes had been added afterward; the ink used for the internal and external codes differed from the ink Sheng Lanyue had used. For now, Zhou Yuesheng ruled out the possibility of Sheng Lanyue being an enemy agent.
But what did the difference between the codes mean? Was one person pretending to be two, or were two different people who knew their ciphers contacting her separately?
Zhou Yuesheng fell into deep thought. The night was late and the mist was heavy; by the time he snapped out of his reverie, the letter in his hand was damp with dew.
When he pushed the door open to return, Yu Zhile was still in the same position, though her brow was furrowed as if she were trapped in a nightmare. Half of her face was slightly pressed against the pillow, giving her a soft look, but the sight of her smooth neck made Zhou Yuesheng’s knuckles tighten.
Yu Zhile woke as the sky was just beginning to turn gray. Her sleep had been restless, plagued by a cycle of bizarre nightmares that left her with a lingering sense of dread. Taking a steady breath, she opened the Cloud Live Stream platform to check her data.
Yesterday had been the final day of the Streamer PK Competition. Her room’s popularity had skyrocketed in the final hour, overtaking second place and eventually finishing with a massive lead. The champion rewards had already been distributed, and the system automatically unlocked the Medium Mall.
“Host, congratulations on achieving the ‘Fastest Unlock of the Medium Mall’ achievement. The badge and rewards have been issued instantly,” Xiao Yun announced.
As the words fell, a large sack appeared beside her bed. The rich aroma of grain allowed Yu Zhile to guess the reward without even opening it. “How much?”
“Fifty pounds of rice,” Xiao Yun replied.
Yu Zhile acknowledged the reward and scrolled through the front-page streams. Some were assembling mechs, others were making nutritional fluids; she wasn’t particularly interested in any of them.
With a ding, the mall upgrade was complete. She switched to the Medium Mall page, where the items were incredibly varied:
Rejuvenation Pill: One pill to banish the worries of aging and return your body to age eighteen.
Charming Powder: Enhance your charisma in just one course; thousands of young men/women will fall at your feet.
…
Yu Zhile browsed through the list, finally stopping on one specific item: Restoration Liquid. According to the platform description, it could repair all bodily damage with zero side effects.
Price: 100,000 Cloud Coins.
Yu Zhile clicked “Save” and silently exited to check her balance. The income from the Small Window had arrived, and combined with her previous gift conversions, her balance was just under 7,000. She took a long, slow breath. She would make Yu Yue stand again.
New goal: 100,000 Cloud Coins!
By the time the sun was fully up, soft sounds drifted from the courtyard. Yu Zhile got out of bed and was immediately tackled by Yu Chi.
“Sister!” Yu Chi said, his eyes still sleepy.
Yu Zhile rubbed his head. “Did you wash up?” Yu Chi opened his mouth wide to show off his clean white teeth. “Good boy, go play.”
After washing up, she washed the rice to make porridge. Today’s breakfast was multigrain porridge and pickles. As the morning sun hit the courtyard, Zhou Yuesheng moved the trays of mugwort from under the eaves to the center of the yard so the leaves could get full sun.
As he moved them, he noticed the weight was off. He turned the leaves over and realized a significant amount was missing. He looked at the ground under the eaves, but not a single leaf had been blown away.
“Breakfast is ready!” Yu Zhile’s shout interrupted his thoughts.
The porridge was smooth, and when paired with the crisp, refreshing pickles, it brought an immediate sense of satisfaction. After breakfast, Yu Zhile headed up the mountain alone. Zhou Yuesheng scanned the yard; the climbing plants were starting to grow wildly and truly did need wooden trellises to guide them.
As soon as she left the house, Yu Zhile started her stream. Viewers immediately began typing “Good morning.”
“Good morning. Have those of you who bought mugwort yesterday received it yet?” Yu Zhile interacted with the audience. “I’m going up the mountain today to find some new plants for the Small Window. I’ll try to find some that can be replanted.”
[Got the mugwort! It’s so fuzzy—I love the texture!]
[The actual scent is even better than the one through Synesthesia! I’m obsessed!]
[I bought ten portions. Half of them are now specimens in my fish tank! So pretty!]
An ID named xxxx tipped twenty Cloud Seas with the message: Like.
“I’m glad you all like it. If you see something you want, tell me in the chat and I’ll consider listing it,” Yu Zhile said with a smile.
[Bamboo stalks! I want those!]
[I like that plant with the long flowers and the ring of fuzz. It’s so beautiful.]
“Bamboo stalks, I can do that,” Yu Zhile replied. “The fuzzy flower… do you mean foxtail grass?” She suddenly crouched down, focusing the camera on a pale yellow flower spike drooping among the wild grass.
[Yes! It’s stunning! A masterpiece of nature! I love it!]
Yu Zhile dug up the flowering plant and placed it in her basket. The village livestock loved this grass, so most of it on the lower slopes had already been harvested, leaving only stubble. The children who usually gathered fodder were forbidden from going too deep into the mountains, so after walking a short distance, the foxtail grass became abundant.
She dug up fifty plants, her back and waist beginning to ache. The roots were encased in mud, making the basket quite heavy and putting pressure on her shoulders. Suddenly, a message popped up from the Small Window Manager:
[Hello, Streamer! For 1,000 Cloud Coins, you can purchase a Small Window Warehouse. Use it anywhere, anytime. Huge capacity, excellent preservation quality.]
[The Small Window Warehouse makes stocking easy. You won’t regret it!]
Yu Zhile was silent for a moment before decisively purchasing it. With a thought, the pressure on her shoulders vanished. A foxtail grass icon appeared in the warehouse interface, with the quantity “x50” displayed in the bottom right.
The Manager sent another message:
[Dear, for 500,000 Cloud Coins, you can upgrade the warehouse function so you never have to manually stock items again.]
“How much?” Yu Zhile stared at the string of zeros following the number five. Only after counting several times did she confirm it was indeed 500,000. “Thank you for thinking so highly of me.”
[Keep it up, Dear! We believe you can do it.]
Suddenly, her back didn’t hurt quite as much. She continued deeper into the mountains. Entering the heart of the bamboo forest, Yu Zhile spotted a fire pit that was still smoldering. She tightened her grip on the machete in her hand.