In a moment of impulse, I forcibly kissed my brother's best friend.

"Is my darling daughter awake yet?"

A clear, cheerful voice came from outside the door, accompanied by light footsteps.

Xie Yige had already finished washing up and was sitting by the window in a daze—she had barely slept last night, her mind filled with that strange voice.

"Greetings, Madam," came the voice of Yu Chun, the personal maid, from outside the door. "Miss has woken up."

"Mother," Xie Yige got up to greet her, saying helplessly, "What time is it? I've been up for ages."

Xie Wanqing, dressed in a pale yellow ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), leaned against the door frame, her hair loosely tied up, her eyes still showing the languor of someone who had just woken up, yet she was full of energy. She smiled and pinched her daughter's rosy cheeks.

"Oh dear, it's not that I'm criticizing you, but girls need to sleep more to look beautiful. Look at me, my complexion is great because I sleep so much."

Xie Yige was already used to her mother's unusual remarks, and only muttered softly, "Mom, you wouldn't... just get up, would you?"

"Yes." Xie Wanqing walked in confidently, sat down on the embroidered stool, poured herself a cup of tea, and took a sip. "See how much your mother loves you? She came to see you as soon as she got up. By the way, I heard you helped your sister-in-law deliver some things yesterday? Did it go smoothly?"

"Hmm...it went pretty smoothly." Xie Yige subconsciously touched her earlobe—if you ignored that unexpected incident.

Xie Wanqing noticed the suspicious blush on the tip of her ear, and her smile deepened, but she simply continued the conversation, saying, "Your sister-in-law is such a stickler. Never mind that—so, did you see your brother's classmates? Aren't they good-looking?"

Xie Yige's face flushed red instantly: "Mother! What nonsense are you talking about? How can I, an unmarried woman, casually gossip about men outside the marriage..."

Xie Wanqing glanced at her sideways and slowly took a sip of tea: "Xie Yige, don't blame your mother for not reminding you. Although our family is open-minded, if you don't hurry up, after your coming-of-age ceremony next year, you will still have to obey your parents' orders and the matchmaker's words to marry someone you don't know or like."

The blush on Xie Yige's face faded a little.

She used to think that following instructions like other girls wasn't so bad. But now... something inside her suddenly clenched, leaving her feeling stuffy and breathless.

"Mother," she looked up and asked softly, "back then, you abandoned your family and insisted on eloping to be with Father...was it because you loved him so much?"

Xie Wanqing was taken aback.

Then, a gentle smile bloomed on her face, and a light shone in her eyes, as if she had remembered a secret she had kept for many years.

"Of course." Her voice was soft, as if she were telling a story that belonged only to her. "In this life, it's not easy to meet someone you truly love. If you do meet them, of course you should hold on to them."

She paused, then laughed, reaching out to ruffle her daughter's hair: "So, don't be like those old-fashioned girls. If you like something, say so; if you want something, fight for it. It's your life, understand?"

Xie Yige nodded as if she understood, but something inside her was quietly stirring.

"Oh, right, my darling daughter," Xie Wanqing suddenly became excited again, her eyes shining brightly.

"Mom is currently researching how to make a new dessert called 'mini cakes.' Once it's done, send some to your brother so he can try it out too."

Then he left in a hurry.

The room fell silent.

Birds chirped in the branches outside the window, and sunlight streamed through the windowpane, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

"Waaaaah, the person I was supposed to bind to was her."

A weak, tearful child's voice exploded in my mind.

Xie Yige froze, stood up abruptly, and looked around.

The room was empty. Only her own shadow was cast on the floor, all alone.

"Who is it?! Who is speaking?" No one answered.

The wind rustled the branches of the pear tree outside the window.

Xie Yige held her breath and waited for a long time. Just when she thought she was hallucinating again, the voice rang out again, timid and with a thick nasal tone:

"Waaaaah~ Master, it's me, I'm your system."

Xie Yige's heart was pounding, and her fingertips were trembling.

"Where are you? And what is this system?"

"I'm in your mind's eye," the voice said pitifully. "Concentrate, close your eyes, and you'll see me."

Xie Yige closed her eyes with a mixture of belief and doubt.

Darkness. Then, faintly, a tiny blue light flickered in the depths of consciousness, swaying like a candle in the wind. The halo gradually coalesced and became clearer…

A chubby little girl, emitting a light blue glow, floated in the void. She had two small buns in her hair, wore a strange short-sleeved shirt and shorts, and was looking at Xie Yige pitifully with her big, watery eyes.

"Master...can you see me?" the little girl whispered to her.

Xie Yige's heart pounded as she "looked" at the strange little person in her consciousness.

"What kind of monster are you? Why are you in my mind?"

"Dudu isn't a monster!" The little girl waved her hands anxiously. "Dudu is Master's system! Hmm... strictly speaking, I should be your mother's system."

"My mother?"

"Yes, yes." The little girl nodded vigorously, her two little buns swaying. "Your mother came from another world. Eighteen years ago, I was supposed to come here with her..."

As she spoke, her lips trembled, and she was about to cry again: "It's all that damn engineer's fault for cutting corners! Otherwise, I would have successfully bound the device long ago, and there wouldn't have been any errors, waaaaah..."

Xie Yige was completely confused, but when she recalled her mother's unusual words and actions, her strange and peculiar ideas—if there really was "another world"...

"Can you get out of my sea of ​​consciousness?" she asked tentatively.

"Waaaaah—" Dudu really cried this time, big tears falling down her face, turning into specks of light and disappearing in the void. "Master, no! If you don't want me, I won't be able to complete my KPIs! If I don't complete my KPIs, I can't go back, waaaah..."

"What are KPIs? Can you speak in a way I can understand?"

"Anyway, anyway, it's something very important!" Dudu sobbed, "Master, I'm very powerful, please don't abandon me... I can let you hear other people's thoughts, and I can even let you enter other people's dreams!"

Xie Yige was taken aback: "Entering a dream?"

"Yes, yes!" Dudu's eyes lit up, and her tears instantly disappeared. "Master, do you want to try them? Which one do you want to try?"

Xie Yige pursed her lips, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes.

The image of that person's eyes kept resurfacing in my mind.

She said softly, her ears burning slightly, "How about... we try that dream-entering function you mentioned?"

"Sure!" Dudu clapped her hands excitedly. "Whose dream does Master want to enter?"

Xie Yige's face suddenly flushed red, and she buried her burning face in the quilt, her voice muffled:

"I...don't know that person's name."

"It's okay!" Dudu floated in front of her. "Just close your eyes and focus on that person's face, and I'll be able to send you in. But..."