Volume 1 Chapter 33: Comforting the Injured Senior Sister Bai (Part 2)

Volume 1 Chapter 33: Comforting the Injured Senior Sister Bai (Part 2)

To be honest, Ye Anping hadn’t expected that doing the “Comforting the Injured Senior Sister Bai” side quest would actually result in Bai Yuelin staying the night.

There was only one bedroom—the one he had just tidied up the day before.

At this hour, if he brought Bai Yuelin to rent a room at an inn in the market street, it would definitely raise some eyebrows. So in the end, he could only bring her to the back room of the clinic and planned to give the room to her for the night. As for himself, he’d just make do with a nap on one of the massage beds in the front.

But before that, he had to give her the three quest completion items he’d prepared.

If those still couldn’t turn Bai Yuelin around, then… he’d have to give up on that 20% discount voucher and start looking for another Profound Star Sect disciple to be his mail runner.

“This bedroom—I just finished setting it up yesterday,” Ye Anping explained as he led her in. “It’s definitely not as nice as the ones in the Profound Star Sect, but I hope you won’t mind, Senior.”

Bai Yuelin followed the boy—whose head barely reached her chin—into the room and gave a faint nod.

“I’ll go fetch the pastries,” he said with a salute, then turned and left.

Once he was gone, Bai Yuelin began wandering curiously around the room.

She wanted to know what kind of person this Ye Anping really was. Was he really just a clean, handsome young lad like she imagined?

Pressing her lips together in thought, she got down on her hands and knees to peek under the bed, then patted the pillow, as if searching for… well, certain kinds of hidden reading materials.

After all, boys Ye Anping’s age in the Profound Star Sect often had a habit of stashing “those kinds of books.” The sect even organized random inspections every so often—she’d been part of quite a few herself.

Typically, the usual hiding spots were under the mattress or inside the pillowcase.

But to her surprise, she didn’t find anything of the sort. The entire room was spotless. The furniture was neatly arranged, and the place was even cleaner than her own room back in the sect.

“…He really is a proper kid,” Bai Yuelin muttered with a faint smile. Then she turned her attention to the wardrobe and opened it.

And then—

Amidst the neatly hung sleeves of seven or eight robes…

She spotted a green silk dress.

It was clearly meant for a girl no older than ten.

“…”

She froze.

Quickly, she reached in and pulled the dress out for a closer look.

Not only was there a girl’s robe—there were also hairpins, rouge, lip glaze, and embroidered shoes tucked neatly in the corner of the wardrobe.

Creak—

“Senior, I brought the pastries I made yesterda—”

At that moment, Ye Anping walked in with a tray in hand… and locked eyes with Bai Yuelin, who was holding his custom-ordered girl’s outfit.

Ye Anping’s throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, trying to maintain a straight face.

Whoever reacts first… loses.

They stood frozen for a while.

Eventually, Bai Yuelin couldn’t hold it in anymore. She hurriedly hung the dress back inside the wardrobe and gave an awkward, apologetic smile.

“Sorry… I was just curious. You have a thing for this sort of stuff?”

Ye Anping smiled calmly as he closed the door behind him, carrying a tray with osmanthus wine and rice cakes.

“No, it’s just for business purposes.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“Like that foot massage I gave you the other day,” Ye Anping said matter-of-factly. “Men and women shouldn’t casually make physical contact, right? But since I run the clinic alone, I can’t exactly not treat female clients.”

“So,” he continued coolly, “I figured if a female client came in, I’d just change into that outfit. For male clients, I dress like I am now.”

Bai Yuelin looked him up and down.

It was true—he was thin, and at fifteen hadn’t yet grown into his full height. His voice hadn’t even deepened yet. In another couple of years, this kind of cross-dressing trick might not work, but for now… he could probably pass as a girl without much trouble.

“…You really go all in, huh?”

“Of course. Gotta make a living.”

Bai Yuelin nodded thoughtfully and sat down at the table. “But… aren’t you the young master of the Hundred Lotus Sect? Even if you didn’t run this shop, you shouldn’t be hurting for money.”

Well… Hundred Lotus Sect can’t afford to feed his junior sister.

Not that it was some deep secret, but considering she had just been crushed by his junior sister, he figured now wasn’t the best time to bring her up.

“I just don’t want to live off my dad,” Ye Anping said, steering the topic away. He handed her the rice cake. “Here, try this. I made it myself.”

Bai Yuelin blinked, finally noticing the type of pastry he’d brought—just some plain old rice cakes.

“Ah… rice cakes?”

Ye Anping kept a close eye on her reaction. The moment she saw the cakes, her expression clearly froze. A moment later, he figured out why this particular item was a quest reward in the game—it must’ve been personal for her.

After a beat, he asked with a smile, “Never had them before? I guess that makes sense—places like the Immortal Market don’t really sell this stuff. Mostly ordinary folks make it at home during festivals. It’s simple, but tastes pretty good… so I made a batch yesterday.”

“…I’ve had it before,” Bai Yuelin murmured.

“Really?”

“Yeah… a long time ago.” She pressed her lips together and picked one up gently, taking a small bite. “My parents used to make them for me and my younger brother all the time.”

“Oh? So your parents are mortals?”

“Mhm… We were poor. My brother went to school, but we couldn’t even afford meals. So I used to perform sword dances in the streets to earn money. One day, a wandering cultivator saw I had a singular spirit root and brought me into the cultivation world. I’d nearly forgotten about all that…”

“So… what happened to your parents after that?”

“I… don’t know.” Bai Yuelin’s eyes dimmed slightly.

The divide between immortals and mortals was vast—there was no need to say more.

Ye Anping didn’t press further. He simply picked up the osmanthus wine and gently poured her a cup.

“Senior Bai, try the wine.”

Bai Yuelin took a sip—but suddenly set the cup down with a frown, looking suspiciously at him.

“…Did you do this on purpose?”

“Huh? Do what on purpose?”

“You deliberately brought out these things for me to eat… Are you trying to persuade me to go back to the Profound Star Sect?” Bai Yuelin bit her lip and asked quietly. “When I first left home, my parents told me cultivation would be hard. But they said that since I’d caught the eye of an immortal, since I now had a chance at a higher destiny, they were proud of me…”

Ye Anping was quiet for a moment. He looked away and said, “Senior Bai… how would I know what your parents told you back then? But… if these two things really can persuade you to return to the Profound Star Sect, I think that’d be a good thing too. The cultivation path is hard enough—don’t give up just because of a single setback.”

“You really talk like a little kid…” Bai Yuelin puffed her cheeks. “But you sound just like my master.”

Still, after saying that, she lowered her gaze slightly, then picked up another rice cake and took a bite. Her lips curved into a soft, almost nostalgic smile.

Seeing that, Ye Anping finally let out a breath of relief in his heart.

‘Looks like I’ve got that 20% discount coupon in the bag~!’

Since the clinic would reopen tomorrow, he stood up and gave a respectful bow.

“Well then, Senior Bai, good night. I’ll sleep in the therapy parlor.”

Bai Yuelin nodded, but her eyes lingered on him as if lost in thought. A flicker of something passed through her gaze.

And just as Ye Anping was about to open the door to leave—

She suddenly stood up and grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Huh?”

Before he could react, she flicked her sleeve—the candlelight in the room went out in an instant—and dragged him onto the bed, the only one in the room.

Ye Anping’s face turned pale with shock. But before he could even move, Bai Yuelin’s arms wrapped tightly around his chest, completely immobilizing him. On his back, he could feel two soft, warm, cloud-like little watermelons press against him.

“Se-Senior Bai?! What are you doing?!”

Bai Yuelin hugged him closer and gently nuzzled the back of his head with her chin, whispering:

“I mentioned before… I had a younger brother.”

“Ah… right.”

“So… could you be my little brother for just one night?” she whispered. “When I was little, I used to sleep like this—curled up between my brother and my parents on the same bed.”

Ye Anping blinked, dazed.

And in that moment, he finally realized… in the game, the item described as “a handmade cloth doll” represented this exact feeling.

And now, it looked like that cloth doll he had prepared wouldn’t be needed anymore.

Because he had become the doll himself.

“Senior Bai…”

“…Is that not okay?”

All for the sake of that 20% discount coupon… Just a little sacrifice. Just a little!

Ye Anping gritted his teeth ever so slightly. Feeling the soft, warm breath brushing against his ear, he slowly relaxed and nodded.

“…Alright. If it’ll make you feel better, Senior Bai…”

“Call me Sister.”

“…Sister.”