Why did the system take my request to take photos with a cosplayer seriously?

Baima honestly admitted, "But if I'm frugal, I won't starve. Anyway, the school cafeteria is cheap. I can get three meals a day for thirty yuan. With the rest, I can buy daily necessities and occasionally go out for a nice meal. It should be... alright."

Ding Heng turned his head and glanced at her.

The girl's youthful innocence hadn't completely faded, but she was certainly much more composed than before the summer vacation.

Huang Yue's incident had a significant impact on her.

As for Huang Yue herself...

Ding Heng later heard from Lin Man that after Huang Yue ran away from the hospital, she didn't go far. When the police found her, she was hiding in a small hotel near the train station.

She was taken back to the police station to give a statement. As one of the victims in Li Chongfeng's fraud case, she will have to cooperate with the police in the subsequent procedures.

Baima did not go to see her again.

Huang Yue did not contact Baima again.

The two seemed to have reached some kind of tacit understanding, and neither of them would disturb the other.

However, Bai Ma still asked her lawyer to send her an iPhone 17, which was a way of making up for Huang Yue's initial regret.

The car came to a stop in the supermarket's underground parking garage.

Ding Heng unbuckled his seatbelt, and the mission interface appeared in his mind.

【Pearl of the Snowy Plateau: Pema Yangjin】

[Current Status: The Saintess Covered in Dust]

[Awakening Value: 8%]

[Piety Level: 0%]

[Bond Value: 46%]

Like Lin Man's "Crown of Thorns" and Hua Qing's "Azure Cold Sword Immortal".

Pema also has her own title – “Pearl of the Snowland”.

It also has three progress bars, but the difference is that Ding Heng doesn't have to start from scratch because of the long time they've spent together in the past.

Ding Heng leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.

He turned his head to look at Baima.

Baima was bending down to unbuckle her seatbelt, her ponytail hanging down, revealing a section of her fair nape.

She was petite with a round face, looking like a middle school student who hadn't grown up yet, but at this moment she was labeled "Saintess" by the system.

Ding Heng rubbed his temples.

To be honest, he and Baima are not related by blood, nor are they legally connected.

But he did treat her like a younger sister from beginning to end, which made up for his regret as an only child.

But ever since the system notification popped up, Ding Heng has been unable to explain his feelings for Bai Ma.

Is it the protective instinct an older brother has for his younger sister?

Or... something else?

He was a little flustered.

Baima turned around and saw Ding Heng staring blankly at her. She blinked.

"Brother? What are you looking at?"

Ding Heng snapped out of his daze, looked away, and got out of the car.

"It's nothing, let's go."

Bai Ma said "Oh" and jogged two steps to catch up with him.

The two took the elevator up to the floor where the supermarket was located. Baima walked ahead, her ponytail swaying, her steps light and quick.

As she walked, she kept turning back to talk to Ding Heng, speaking much faster than usual, chattering away.

"Brother, let me tell you, the guys in my dorm are pretty easy to get along with. The chubby one you just saw is Zhou Ling, she's a local, her family runs a small business, and she's really funny. There's also the one with glasses, Wu Siyu, from the next province, she's a computer whiz. And the short-haired one is Sun Yao, she has a really loud voice, she totally stunned us on her first day here..."

You could tell that even though she only had a junior college degree, Baima was still incredibly excited about her upcoming university life!

Ding Heng listened quietly to her rambling, occasionally offering a few words of response.

The two strolled around the supermarket for almost half an hour, and by the time they left, the sun was already setting.

Baima put the things in the trunk, opened the car door, sat in the passenger seat, and let out a long breath.

"worn out……"

Ding Heng was about to start the car when he glanced at her.

"Go back to school to drop off your things first, then go home for dinner?"

"Um……"

Bai Ma suddenly turned to the side and leaned towards Ding Heng.

"Brother~"

"what?"

"Didn't I just say that my mom only gives me two thousand yuan a month?"

"Ah."

"Two thousand yuan, what can you do with that these days?"

"so what?"

Baima brought her face even closer, her nose touching Ding Heng's earlobe.

"My dearest brother, please help your dearest sister!"

Ding Heng chuckled.

"How can I help you?"

"Hmm... maybe increase her allowance? Or send her a red envelope occasionally? She doesn't ask for much, just an extra thousand a month would be fine."

Ding Heng did not respond.

Seeing that he was unmoved, Baima simply pressed herself against him, wrapped her arms around Ding Heng's neck, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

The sound was crisp and clear, and it was more powerful than ever before!

"Brother, please, please~"

The little girl blinked her big eyes, her face looking both innocent and mischievous.

Ding Heng said coldly, "That's it? You've used this trick countless times."

"Well……"

Baima's smile is even more charming; I wonder who she learned it from.

"Then why would the prince still want her?"

She tilted her head, and her ponytail slipped off her shoulder.

The setting sun shone obliquely through the car window, making her eyes appear exceptionally bright.

Ding Heng's heart suddenly started pounding.

He looked away: "Alright... if you really need money, just say so, I won't ask any more questions."

Baima didn't let go; instead, she pressed her face even closer, her forehead against Ding Heng's temple.

"Brother~ It's so good~"

Ding Heng was indeed powerless against Bai Ma's cuteness and did not push her away.

The system interface quietly appeared in my mind.

【Pearl of the Snowy Plateau: Pema Yangjin】

[Current Status: The Saintess Covered in Dust]

[Awakening Value: 8%]

[Piety Level: 0%]

[Bond Value: 50%]

[Ding! Bond level progress has exceeded 50%, milestone achieved!]

[Task Rewards: 5000 Divine Merit, Perception +12, Constitution +12, "Holy Pendant" relic upgraded, "Purification" exclusive skill upgraded.]

Ding Heng sighed softly.

Forget it.

Let's take a step by step.

Chapter 221: Interactions Under the Dinner Table

After the start of the school year, life went on uneventfully.

Ding Heng's studies were not heavy, and he basically divided his remaining time equally among the girls, occasionally taking a trip to the capital.

On weekends, a few girls would tacitly get together and spend the whole day cozy up in their duplex apartment by the Xiangjiang River.

Pema's university life was a completely different story.

The little girl was like a bird released from its cage, finding everything new and exciting, and she would send messages to Ding Heng from time to time.

They complain about their dorms, their cafeterias... they even send photos of people queuing for the public bathhouse, along with a long string of funny and exasperated emojis.

"Brother, brother! Someone in our dorm is snoring! It's deafening! I didn't sleep a wink last night!"

"Dude! The school's internet is terrible! The latency is over 200ms when I'm playing games, it's driving me crazy!"

"Brother... I want to eat Sister Jiang's cooking. The school food is inedible..."

Voice messages kept popping up on Ding Heng's phone from morning till night.

Ding Heng didn't know how long the girl's excitement would last, but he would open and listen to every message, occasionally replying with a few meaningless words like "drink more hot water," "go to bed early," or "you'll get used to it."