Although they had already added each other as friends, Shen Xingzhi didn't leave in a hurry. Since he didn't leave, Shen Jianxi couldn't very well ask him to go.
The phone began to vibrate again, this time continuously. The sound was exceptionally noticeable in the quiet room.
It was clearly a voice or video call.
Shen Jianxi ignored it. It rang for a while before stopping. Before she could relax, her phone vibrated again.
"Aren't you going to answer?" The persistent ringing also caught Shen Xingzhi's attention.
"Ah... I was just..."
77: "Random mission released! Please answer Luo Yuqi's call and confess your feelings to him no less than three times during the call."
Well, now she knew who was calling. Shen Jianxi's words took an abrupt turn: "... I shouldn't keep him waiting. I'll answer now."
System missions always came so suddenly, adding fuel to the fire, making things worse.
Despite her reluctance, Shen Jianxi had no choice but to press the answer button.
"Sis..."
"What does little brother Yuqi want from big brother?" Before Luo Yuqi could finish saying "sister," she quickly interrupted, afraid Shen Xingzhi would overhear something.
Luo Yuqi paused for a moment, then quickly realized that his girlfriend was probably filming a program at the moment.
He smiled harmlessly and didn't cause trouble at this time. "When are you coming back, brother? I miss you."
Shen Xingzhi, standing beside her, looked at the handsome young man on the screen and raised an eyebrow, remaining silent.
Shen Jianxi chuckled awkwardly. "I... miss you too."
77: "Mission completion: 1/3."
Shen Jianxi's eyes lit up. This counted too?!
Just as she was about to say a few more words, 77 saw through her little plan and scoffed, "Xixi, this kind of loophole can only be exploited once. In the 0.00000001 seconds after you finish that sentence, the system self-corrected."
Shen Jianxi: ......
No chance at all?
"When is sister coming back?"
"... Hmm, in a few days. What's up?"
She subtly glanced at Shen Xingzhi. He was looking down, lost in thought.
Seeing that he wasn't paying attention to her, Shen Jianxi slowly shifted her position, wanting to get further away from him.
She had only moved ten centimeters when she heard a light chuckle beside her.
She paused, then slowly moved back.
"It's my birthday this week. Didn't you remember, brother?" Luo Yuqi looked wronged. Even though she knew he was faking it, it still made one feel sympathetic.
Shen Jianxi smiled charmingly at him, frantically searching her memory. It seemed that before she returned to the dormitory that day, Mother Shen had mentioned it in passing.
Even though she had just gone through a mental whirlwind, Shen Jianxi showed no outward signs of it. "How could I forget? Big brother loves you the most. I've already bought your gift and am just waiting for the weekend to give it to you."
77: "Mission completion: 2/3."
"As long as brother doesn't forget," Luo Yuqi snorted lightly, clearly not entirely convinced.
"I won't. It's my dearest little brother's birthday, sister and brother won't forget."
77: "Mission completion: 3/3."
"Beep! Random mission: Answer Luo Yuqi's call and confess your feelings to him no less than three times during the call - completed!"
Shen Jianxi swallowed. She got carried away and almost said "sister" again. Luckily, she managed to salvage it.
Shen Xingzhi's gaze next to her made her inexplicably uneasy. Shen Jianxi's smile was almost frozen. She just wanted to hang up the phone quickly.
"Um, I have some things to attend to here. Let's talk later."
"Okay, I'll wait for brother to come back."
Just as Shen Jianxi was about to hang up, she heard Luo Yuqi continue, "Oh, right, and also, sister."
After saying that, he hung up the phone.
The room fell silent.
However, this silence was not comforting. Instead, it was tinged with a sense of pressure.
Shen Jianxi quietly looked up, wanting to catch a glimpse of Shen Xingzhi's expression, and to her surprise, met his gaze directly.
Shen Xingzhi's expression was a half-smile, his eyes narrowed as if scrutinizing something.
Shen Jianxi knew he must have become suspicious. After all, although they had called each other "brother" and "sister" earlier, it didn't feel the same.
She pondered for a second, then made a decisive move, biting her lower lip nervously. "Teacher Shen, please don't misunderstand. He's my little brother whom I grew up with."
"Mhm," Shen Xingzhi simply gave a faint hum.
He hadn't said anything, but it made her more flustered than if he had said something.
The young girl who had admired him for so long was no exception.
At that moment, she even forgot her disguise and anxiously grabbed his sleeve. "Really, Teacher Shen, please believe me. Although we're not related by blood, we're just like siblings."
The young girl's disguise was incredibly flimsy, her facade on the verge of collapse, yet she still refused to give up.
Shen Xingzhi smiled, maintaining his usual distant gentleness. "I understand, but..."
"My thoughts don't seem to matter, do they?"
"Mat-matter! They matter." Hearing him say that, the young girl instinctively wanted to deny it, but after speaking, she lowered her voice guiltily. "Because, Teacher Shen, you are the senior I admire the most."
Shen Xingzhi remained silent, staring at the bowed head in front of him without a word.
After a long moment, he reached out and placed his hand on the fluffy head, gently pressing down.
"Okay, I understand. I don't have anything planned for the afternoon. Get some rest early, little one."
With that, he walked away, not forgetting to thoughtfully close the door behind her.
After Shen Xingzhi left, all that remained was this ambiguous statement.
However, the two-point increase in favorability told Shen Jianxi that it wasn't entirely in vain.
It was only now that Shen Jianxi had the time to reply to Ji Zhaoyun's messages.
He had probably returned to his room as well. By this time, there were already several new messages on her phone.
The last one was sent three minutes ago, an emoji.
j:
He hadn't sent anything since then.
Following that was the sound of favorability decreasing.
77: "Beep! Favorability -4. Ji Zhaoyun's current favorability is 38."
Shen Jianxi quickly picked up her phone.
Don't Touch My Blue Buff: [I'm here. Just got off work and came back. The boss didn't allow me to look at my phone while at work.]
Ji Zhaoyun replied quickly, as if he had been waiting by his phone. Su Dan Novel Network
j: [What kind of boss is so demanding!]
At this moment, he had completely forgotten that he had once deducted his year-end bonus because he caught a supervisor playing on his phone during work hours.
Don't Touch My Blue Buff: [Yeah, but the boss is okay. It's just a colleague who misunderstands me, so he seems to hate me.]
Ji Zhaoyun frowned. His first instinct was to avenge his little master, but he was afraid of appearing too aggressive and scaring her.
j: [It's okay. People who lack discernment, we should stay away from them, lest we get infected by their stupidity.]
After sending this message, Ji Zhaoyun sneezed twice. He looked around inexplicably, and finally his gaze fell on the open window.
After getting up and closing it, he felt significantly better.