I am the old, fiery-faced man from the senior department.

"you……"

Xi frowned slightly and raised her hand to push her away. Her red eyes inadvertently swept over her waist, and she suddenly stopped, so much so that she hadn't come to her senses when Nian hugged her.

"How could you..."

How could this exist!

She looked up at the New Year, but what she saw was a smile.

"How is it? Does it look good?"

Nian picked up the accessory and waved it in front of the painter.

"Hmm, of course it was taken from him."

Nian held a scale in his hand and looked at it against the light.

"Hmm, it seems I didn't take the wrong thing. This really was prepared for you."

Nian flicked its tail slightly in dissatisfaction.

She was trying to be considerate of the daytime, but the little guy had already prepared everything.

"Hmph, before I left I asked him if he had anything for you. That silly boy was stammering and so shy."

"Here, do you want it? Call me 'sister' and I'll give it to you."

The painter didn't reply to Nian's ramblings.

"Ok?"

Looking at the artist's expression, Nian vaguely sensed something was wrong. Didn't he only say that he was forced to say it because of his scoundrel brother's interference? Why is he showing this expression upon seeing this gift?

Could there be some hidden story behind this?

"Hey, Eleven, if you don't reply soon I'm not giving it to you. This outfit looks really good with this little accessory."

"..."

The artist reached out to grab it, but froze halfway there, unsure whether to retract it or not.

Why are you being so fussy?

Nian threw the scale ornament onto her table.

"You're so annoying!"

The artist glared at her, then swiftly snatched the ornament into his pocket.

"Hmph, isn't this exactly what I wanted?"

Nian looked around, casually picked up a glass of juice, sat down opposite her, and looked at her with a smile.

"I've given you the things, but you have to tell me what happened between you two."

"How come I didn't know you had this gossipy side?"

The artist pursed his lips, his fingertips caressing the cool touch of the scales. He then glanced at his brother, who was drinking tea alone not far away, and slightly raised his chin.

"……oh!"

He responded with a sudden realization.

"But I still want to hear what you have to say."

"(oへo╬)"

If it weren't for the fact that she brought good things, the artist would have slapped her in the face with his sword.

"What's there to say? I'm just tired and want to break it off."

"I do not believe."

The artist looked up and saw Nian's smile, which made her lower her head again.

"No matter what you do, I know it clearly."

“Silly Ah Xi often stares blankly at the scroll that hides your clone. Oh, he even hung it on the wall of his bedroom.”

"He keeps your pen in a separate pen holder, and he uses the ink you use most often. Recently, he's even started practicing drawing, but unfortunately, his drawings are still not very good."

"Sometimes he would still mutter your name. He would address you as 'Mr.' or 'Mr.' when we met, but he would secretly mutter your name behind your back. You have no idea how funny that scene was."

He propped his chin on his hand, sipped his juice, and talked to her, but the more he talked, the tighter he gripped the cup.

"..."

The artist listened quietly, but in the end, he could only let out a long sigh.

"These are all useless now."

She was already preparing for her eternal rest; what use would it be to hear anything more now?

"I'm just leaving you something to look forward to, so you don't get lost in your dreams and never come back."

The smile faded, and she looked at the painter with worry.

My sister rarely sleeps for long periods, but she is experienced and knows what it feels like to sleep for a long time.

While it slowed the passage of time and alleviated the panic of knowing one's own demise, it also amplified the insatiable emptiness. The long sleep was unbearable, yet one was forced to continue.

However, this emptiness is a specially designed alarm clock; once the feeling of emptiness accumulates to a certain degree, it will wake them from their long slumber, which is both good and bad.

But more importantly, the dreams of the long-sleeping are the closest to the old man. The longer she sleeps, the easier it is for her to be captured by the old man's dreams, and even to be assimilated.

She said so much to the painter because she wanted her to have more attachment to this world, so that she could wake up in time if she knew she still had regrets and unfinished business.

The painter clutched the treasure in his hand and gave Xiang Nian a fleeting smile.

"...Yes. Thank you, sister."

The 20th anniversary is approaching.

In the capital city, the winter snow falls continuously without showing any sign of stopping.

"Uncle! I've come to see you!"

The little guy, wearing the new clothes his mother had knitted for him, wagged his little tail and ran happily into the house. His little face was flushed red from the wind, and it was full of joyful laughter, showing not a trace of worry.

"A-Yin, good boy, what brings you to your uncle's place today?"

“A-Yin misses his uncle, so he came to visit him with his father.”

"Haha, good boy, your uncle is very happy."

The daytime dispelled her worries, and with a gentle laugh, she bent down to pick up the little guy, then rubbed her chin against his little face.

The little guy giggled as he was rubbed against him, and then raised his hand to push him away, but how could his little strength possibly move Bai Zhou? So the little guy started looking for help.

"Father, please help me! My uncle is making me so itchy!"

"Didn't you say you hadn't seen your uncle in a long time and wanted to play with him? Why don't you want to be affectionate with your uncle anymore?"

The dragon who came in later chuckled and replied to his son.

"No, that's not it. Of course, Ah Yin wanted to play with Uncle. It's just that Uncle's rubbing against my face made it really itchy."

"Haha, does A-Yin want to fly?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Okay, then Uncle will let Ah Yin fly."

"My elder brother always spoils him like this."

Watching their son being carried around the house by his older brother, they all murmured with slight envy.

“You grew up like this too, so how dare you talk about A-Yin?”

Holding the little guy who was laughing so hard he could barely keep his eyes open, Bai Zhou quietly teased his younger brother.

"That's right, that's right. Father only hugs Mother now and doesn't care about Ah Yin anymore."

The little one nestled in Bai Zhou's arms, mercilessly exposing the favoritism shown at home.

"Nonsense, I never neglected you. It's just that I love your mother a little more than you."

They all glared at the little guy, made a face at him, and made him laugh again.

After playing for a while, Bai Zhou asked his younger brother:

"What brings Your Majesty here today, to visit a lonely old man like me amidst your busy schedule?"

"Brother, please don't laugh at me. If you are all alone, then what am I?"

They chuckled lightly at Bai Zhou's teasing, then straightened up and explained their purpose to him.

"Brother, to tell you the truth, I have come to you in an emergency."

"New Year's Day is just twenty days away. The end of the year is approaching, but the performance evaluation reports from various regions have only just been collected. The sheer number is overwhelming, and I simply cannot handle it all by myself."

Upon hearing his explanation, Bai Zhou understood.

All registered officials of the Great Yan Dynasty will undergo a year-end assessment, which is of great importance as it determines their promotion or demotion in the coming year.

According to past practice, this year-end assessment should have been conducted at the beginning of the year-end season. However, due to the mess that Ursus caused, most of the Great Yan's attention was focused on military preparations, which delayed preparations for other matters. Therefore, these assessments were only collected by the Imperial Guard from various provinces and states a few days ago.

"Yes, I understand."

During the day, he picked up a jujube and fed it to his nephew, then said to Du:

"Send some people to bring those files to me. I happen to have a talented person here who is skilled in this."

"Oh, I know that."

They all squinted and grinned.

"And what else have you found out?"

Bai Zhou slightly raised an eyebrow.

He wasn't wondering why Du knew about Kal'tsit.

He used the back door to find an official for Kal'tsit, and he didn't try to cover it up, so it would be strange if no one knew.

What puzzled him was their "fox-like smile".