Alone, Beautifully – Chapter 153
by Little PandaExtra Chapter Afterword
A story of loving and being loved.
“Little Boss Ye, the module that the Science and Innovation Department has been test-running recently is almost done. When would you like to go take a look?”
Sunny day.
Midday.
The sky above the financial district was bathed in bright sunshine.
Ye Zhen was wearing a simple-colored formal outfit, with a pair of glasses, sitting in a casually and minimally decorated office. Hearing the assistant outside come to report the progress of the research department, she raised her eyebrows and said: “What else is on my schedule today?”
The assistant quickly replied: “Boss Ye asked you to go to the headquarters this afternoon to give a work report. You should be able to return here after 4 o’clock.”
Ye Zhen nodded thoughtfully: “Then let’s go take a look around 4:30.”
“Alright.”
After the assistant left as instructed, Ye Zhen leaned back in her chair, gently rubbed the corner of her eye, took off her gold-rimmed blue light blocking glasses, and let out a long sigh.
Since returning to this world with Xu Jiao, the system moved too fast. At that time, she was still thinking about how it might be troublesome for a person who had come back from the dead to reappear in front of their family, and she would be considered an undocumented person, so getting a household registration wouldn’t be simpleβ
Who knew.
She had just finished fooling around with Xu Jiao when her family called her in the middle of the night. Their words were full of care and worry for her, and they even unintentionally revealed some information: “…Zhen Zhen, don’t be as stubborn as your older sister was back then. She insisted on moving to live near your grandparents’ old house, and that’s when the accident happened. Your mom and dad are getting old and can’t handle such scares……”
Ye Zhen was full of questions when she heard this. If it weren’t for her strong adaptability and her certainty that the voice on the other end was indeed her mother’s voice that she hadn’t heard in a long time, she could have easily hung up thinking it was a scam call.
After pondering for quite a while, she realized that the system always does things thoroughly. From the moment she returned to this world, it had already automatically arranged traces for her in the entire world, just like Xu Jiao entering those many stories, blending in seamlessly without arousing any suspicion.
She became the younger daughter of the original Ye family parents, with an older sister who heroically sacrificed herself saving someone when she was young. The two looked extremely alike, and even the award certificates and photos from childhood to adulthood in the house became shared between the two. The only difference was that her sister’s time had forever stopped just after she turned twenty, while she was now in her thirties, with her appearance showing a bit more mature charm.
In this timeline, she had already completed her university studies and even used her skills to secure a vice president position in the Ye family company, working on some money-burning research in the field of science and technology innovation.
Moreover, the scale of the family company was completely different from her previous impression.
How to put it…
In just over ten years, it had grown into a huge beast, an industry giant, developing in a way that defied logic like a novel plot, totally unlike the small company in Ye Zhen’s memory. After all, back then, it was precisely because her family members were busy with work that she didn’t want to stay in the quiet house, so she came to live by herself in her grandparents’ retirement home.
The Ye family is now working on Internet of Things and self-driving car systems. Recently, Ye Zhen has also contacted some top domestic and foreign research labs to start tinkering with artificial intelligence systems.
Fortunately, these are also linked to the Ye family’s industries. They were originally developing electronic products, so being able to create new systems with core competitiveness is naturally good. Therefore, the investment in this area is not small, allowing her to burn money (meaning: spend a lot of money freely).
Luckily, Ye Zhen herself had already gathered all the experiences of female protagonists in Xu Jiao’s novel world. There’s always a “domineering CEO” type in novel genres. She was initially at a loss when dealing with industries she wasn’t familiar with, but after cramming hard for quite a while, using her versatile management experience and her original identity’s memories and talents in science and engineering, she finally managed to run her department in good shape recently.
After briefly sorting out her career path, she opened her eyes and looked at the timeβ
11:50.
She picked up her phone right on time and dialed a video call.
“Mhm……”
Xu Jiao answered the video call, but her eyes remained fixed on the computer screen in front of her. The sound of typing came through the microphone to the other side. She let out a soft hum as a greeting, then quickly finished the section she was working on. Eager to pick up her phone, her cheeks hadn’t even entered the frame before her eyes crinkled into a smile.
To make writing easier, she had used hair clips to pin back the messy bangs on her forehead. Now, seeing how silly she looked on camera, she fumbled to remove the clips, carefully adjusting her appearance for the selfie camera while not forgetting to greet warmly:
“Good morning.”
Ye Zhen couldn’t help but chuckle: “It’s already noon, baby.”
Xu Jiao: “……”
She belatedly glanced at the time, realizing she had lost track of time while rushing to meet her deadline. Trying to maintain her composure and brush off the embarrassment, she quickly responded to Ye Zhen: “I know, I understand, I’ll order lunch right now! Have you eaten yet?”
Recently, she had signed some copyright agreements for her novel, and some publishers wanted changes to the plot. So often, when Ye Zhen got up in the morning, she would groggily get up too, but by the time Ye Zhen returned from work, she’d still be sitting in front of the computer, staring blankly and typing away.
One time, Ye Zhen came home early and saw her frantically searching the house for something. Only then did she realize she had forgotten to eat due to her writing, and was desperately looking for food like a squirrel. After that incident, Ye Zhen set an alarm on her phone to call Xu Jiao at mealtimes and remind her to eat.
Ye Zhen casually mentioned her assistant would arrange it, then added: “The takeout near home doesn’t taste great. I’ll have my assistant bring you something, probably in about half an hour. Remember to open the door when it arrives, don’t leave them outside again.”
Xu Jiao softly muttered: “That was an accident…”
Ye Zhen raised her eyebrow, half-smiling: “Hm?”
Xu Jiao changed her words: “Okay.”
Then she said quietly: “Actually, I think it’s fine to have takeout occasionally. After all, writing uses up my brain and fat, so I need some extra oil and water (meaning: nourishment) to replenish.”
She really didn’t want to trouble Ye Zhen’s assistant to help her with small tasks like delivering meals every time, but the last time she refused like this, the result was Ye Zhen directly agreeing, and the next day at noon, she came back personally to make her lunch before going back to work in the afternoon.
Ye Zhen didn’t let her talk nonsense, just asked her with a deep gaze: “How much longer until you submit this book?”
Mentioning this topic, Xu Jiao felt slightly relieved: “I should be able to finish editing it tonight? I haven’t gone out for a whole week now, I want to go for a walk.”
Ye Zhen immediately nodded in agreement with her words, while also casually reminding her: “It’s not just one week without going out.”
Xu Jiao looked at her for two seconds.
Belatedly realizing that for this entire week, Ye Zhen had to go to work in the morning, and when she came back in the evening, she quietly accompanied her, or when she saw her tired, gave her shoulder and waist massages, and prepared some snacks and milk at home, and even bought some small items that could relax muscles, all for her sake.
But she seemed…
Busy rushing her manuscript, she hadn’t spent much time with her partner.
Xu Jiao shifted her gaze, apologizing very guiltily: “I’m sorry, I’ve been neglecting you while rushing the manuscript. Tonightβ”
Before she could finish, Ye Zhen meaningfully continued: “Tonight, you must definitely finish the manuscript.”
After thinking for a moment, she added: “When I get off work, I’ll take you out to eat something delicious.”
Xu Jiao didn’t think too much about it, just nodded, and they continued chatting for a while, their gazes glued to each other. After Ye Zhen’s assistant delivered lunch to Xu Jiao, the two quietly ate together over video chat, occasionally making small talk, until Ye Zhen’s afternoon work began and Xu Jiao once again immersed herself in her great undertaking of revising her manuscript.
6:50 in the evening.
Xu Jiao finished her manuscript early, specially tidied herself up, washed up, and even sprayed on light perfume in preparation for her dinner date with Ye Zhen. However, after going out, she came back smelling of spicy tomato hot pot, and incidentally brought home a partner who also smelled of hot pot.
But neither of them minded this slight smell.
For Xu Jiao, that perfume was purely her life’s ritual sense. It would be good enough to seize the opportunity to go out and use up the perfume she bought before.
Ye Zhen pushed her towards the bathroom: “Let’s wash together, the hot pot smell is too strong, it’s covering up the scent of your pheromones.”
Xu Jiao: “???”
Xu Jiao: “Pheromones?”
She was confused for a second, then realized that the perfume she used before going out was that English pear and freesia one, which happened to be the same as her pheromone scent in Feng Qingyu’s world earlier. She immediately felt both amused and exasperated: “Don’t talk nonsense, mine is justβ”
Before she could finish speaking, she was suddenly stopped by Ye Zhen’s action of gently biting her neck.
This person’s actions and strength were clearly normal, but for some reason, every time they fell on Xu Jiao, it was like lighting a fire. There was never a scene where this heart arsonist couldn’t ignite. Xu Jiao was only gently bitten on the position of her throat, and she felt like all the emotions she had been holding back during this time were bursting forth, even her bone marrow started to itch.
So much so that her next action of pushing the person away became a gesture of mock resistance.
She didn’t even get to say that she had already showered before Ye Zhen pushed her into the bathroom.
Water vapor quickly filled the narrow space, amplifying all the movements and sounds inside, creating a 3D surround effect that gave the illusion that even the neighbors could hear.
Xu Jiao’s white fingertips pressed against the edge of the porcelain-white bathtub, her neck raised high like a swan’s, her eyes glimmering with a hazy passion. She wanted to escape a little further, but was pulled back by the hand on her waist. Her voice sounded like she was about to cry:
“Don’t…”
Ye Zhen, however, wouldn’t let her go: “How long has it been? Jiaojiao, why is your stamina getting worse and worse?”
As she spoke, she bent down to bite Xu Jiao’s ear, turning the area behind her ear a light red, coloring half of her neck, before suggesting in a husky voice: “When you were my senior sister, you could hold out all night without making a sound. Now you’ve learned to act coy. Do you think I’ll go soft on you?”
Xu Jiao: “!”
How could the body of an immortal cultivator be the same as her ordinary wage slave body!
She wanted to explain, but could only shake her head in disarray, her breathing became irregular, her knees occasionally slipping in the bathtub, barely able to kneel. Tears fell freely, and finally, she managed to say:
“It’s not…”
“It’s because it’s been a long time… wuwu… next time…”
Ye Zhen had been saving up for these few days and wouldn’t listen to her talk of “next time.” After all, can you trust what a woman says at a time like this?
She smiled and went to kiss her, responding perfunctorily: “Mm, next time will be next time, let’s finish our share for this time first.”
Xu Jiao tightened her waistline, and towards the end, she really couldn’t take it anymore and just wanted to lie down. But Ye Zhen hugged her into her arms, kissing her face to face, kissing away the tears by her eyes, and asked with a smile: “Really can’t go on?”
Xu Jiao kept nodding, but her hands were wrapped around her neck, looking obedient and ready to give and take.
Snow-white foam snaked down from her neck, falling on her arms and collarbone. Her whole person looked like a spirit that had walked out of sea foam, the desire in her eyes was intoxicating, coupled with those crimson eye corners, she looked just like a peach blossom come to life.
Ye Zhen casually said: “Say a few nice things and I’ll let you go.”
Xu Jiao then leaned to her ear and said softly: “I like you.”
Ye Zhen’s eyelashes trembled a bit, almost unable to control the strength of her embrace.
Xu Jiao’s whole body shuddered, thinking what she said wasn’t good enough, so she racked her brains to change it:
“Wife is beautiful.”
“You, your technique is especially good.”
“I love you.”
As a result, with each sentence she spoke, her voice trembled more severely, and her whole person was like leaves rustling in the wind. Her voice carried a crying tone that was extremely stimulated by Ye Zhen. Later, she realized Ye Zhen didn’t like it, so she had to change her way of addressing her to compensate, calling her “junior sister”, “baby,” “dear,” “Lanlan”… She went through all the names she had used before, including Zheng Zhiyu’s, until her voice was half hoarse, but Ye Zhen still wasn’t satisfied.
She could only whimper and call her “sister.”
Calling over and over again.
Later, she was cleaned up and carried out by Ye Zhen, completely powerless.
When she was exhausted, Ye Zhen held her in her arms and asked how her recent writing was going. Xu Jiaoβ answered, and was then asked if it was okay to visit Mother Xu on the weekend and bring her something. Xu Jiao hesitated for two seconds with her eyes closed, but still nodded.
Because she knew her quiet nature, Mother Xu had almost no requirements for her choice of partner. She was even afraid that a man like Xu Hankai from back then would bully Xu Jiao in some unknown corner. In her heart, her daughter was still sensitive and fragile. So when Xu Jiao honestly told her that she had a girlfriend, Mother Xu quietly thought about it for a night. The next day, she asked her to bring the person over.
When she discovered that the person Xu Jiao brought was actually the younger sister of the person who was killed by Xu Hankai years ago, Mother Xu became anxious, but she was worried that the Ye family wouldn’t like Xu Jiao.
But Ye Zhen had already quietly taken care of her family members.
Both sides are parents who have experienced pain through their children, and their only expectation for their children is to grow up safely. The Ye family is reasonable and doesn’t have much prejudice against Xu Jiao, but they just can’t seem to be enthusiastic. Fortunately, Ye Zhen and Xu Jiao live their own lives and don’t constantly show affection in front of their family members.
“Your work’s copyright has been selling well recently, and things at my company are also on track. Everything’s going pretty good.”
Ye Zhen finally made a summary.
Xu Jiao had her eyes closed and was about to fall asleep, but when she heard her words, she suddenly curved her lips and said softly, “Have you noticed……”
Ye Zhen: “Hm?”
Xu Jiao said: “Since you came back, everything you’ve been involved in has turned out well.”
Ye Zhen thought back for a moment, and her hand that was stroking Xu Jiao’s hair paused: “It does seem that way?”
Xu Jiao originally wanted to open her eyes and seriously talk to her about this, but she was too sleepy. She could only burrow into her arms, pulling her hand to rub her slightly sore waist. When asked if she was uncomfortable, she shook her head, paused for a while, then said lightly:
“It’s just like… the whole world revolves around you.”
Ye Zhen was stunned for a moment: “It’s not that exaggerated, is it?”
Xu Jiao made an “mmm” sound and said to her: “It feels like the main character’s halo is still on you… Nevermind, Sister Ye, you must take good care of me.”
Ye Zhen stopped stroking her hair and pinched her nose: “Then you better treat me well, so you can hold onto the main character’s thigh.”
Xu Jiao hugged her tightly: “Do you think my thigh-hugging posture is standard enough?”
Ye Zhen laughed and put her hand under the blanket. Xu Jiao originally wanted to joke around with her, but then realized that someone wasn’t planning to sleep properly. She opened her eyes in fright and immediately grabbed her wrist:
“No! Not anymore!”
Ye Zhen resentfully rubbed her chin against Xu Jiao’s forehead: “You owe me seven days……”
Xu Jiao seriously retorted: “If we make up for these seven days, we might not have seventy years later.”
She was going to die completely in her own room tonight! A lifetime’s reputation ruined in an instant!
Ye Zhen chuckled softly and pressed her back into her arms: “Alright, alright, we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
Xu Jiao’s spine stiffened.
Tomorrow again?!
She quickly activated her brain that was about to fall asleep, trying to change the subject to make Ye Zhen forget about this matter. She pretended to ask about her company’s business. Ye Zhen didn’t catch on and casually said a few words:
“…There was also an interesting artificial intelligence system today, I thought it was quite interesting. Do you want to go see it next timeβ”
As she was speaking, she looked down and found that Xu Jiao was already fast asleep to the sound of her voice. She smiled helplessly, held her tighter in her arms, reached out to turn off the light, and fell asleep in the peaceful and cozy atmosphere.
At that time, neither of them had imagined how that casual mention would turn into such a surprise later.
The following year.
Xu Jiao’s birthday.
Ye Zhen had been tinkering in her study all day, and in the evening, she mysteriously beckoned to her, asking her to come over.
Xu Jiao walked over puzzled. As soon as she took a step closer, she heard a mechanical voice from the computer: “Harmony System at your service. Currently loading book content. Now we have books such as γThe Scheming Young Master and the Silent Princeγ, γThe Story of the Empressγ, γThe Prosperous Empireγ, γStarlightγ… and other books already included. Which one would you like to know about?”
Xu Jiao: “?!”
Wait, did she just hear some weird voice saying strange things?
Especially when she heard the mechanical voice say γStarlightγ, Xu Jiao hadββa moment of remembering the fear of being controlled by the system. She walked to Ye Zhen’s side and asked in surprise: “What… what is this?”
Ye Zhen answered her with a smile: “It’s a replica based on the system that made us time travel before. Our company is working on systems, right? I had people modify a smaller one that can process novel content, like reading aloud, summarizing, imitating writing styles, extracting key points, and so on. I felt you missed the previous system quite a bit, so I wanted to give you a surprise.”
Xu Jiao: “……”
She stared at the software running on the computer, indicating that her heart couldn’t take it: “Sister, your surprise… almost sent me away directly.”
Just hearing this voice still made her worry that she might time travel the next second!
Ye Zhen raised an eyebrow, noticing her expression wasn’t quite right. After hesitating for two seconds, she said: “Then should I… add some different voice packs to it? Find you a few voice actor’s voices?”
Xu Jiao nodded at this: “That sounds good. It has quite a lot of functions, it can be my little assistant.”
As long as this mechanical voice could change, she actually liked this gift very much!
Ye Zhen breathed a sigh of relief, deciding to start working on the changes the next day.
As for that night, of course, taking good care of the birthday girl was most important!
“……Sister?”
Xu Jiao rubbed her eyes, her voice still nasal from just waking up in the early morning. She had a few purple marks on her shoulder and was wearing a loose shirt, searching around the room. She had thought Ye Zhen was working overtime on the weekend, but now found her deep in thought in the study.
Ye Zhen heard the voice and turned her head with a serious expression: “Jiaojiao.”
Xu Jiao’s expression changed: “What’s wrong? What happened?”
Ye Zhen beckoned her to come over: “There seems to be a problem with your computer.”
Xu Jiao’s face changed instantly, but she breathed a sigh of relief two seconds later: “It’s okay, my manuscript has cloud synchronization backups. It’s fine even if you format it. What happened?”
“The gift I gave you is gone.”
“Huh?”
“The system I mentioned yesterday that I was going to load a voice pack onto today, it’s gone. I’ve searched through all the folders on your computer today, even checked the recycle bin, but the source file has disappeared.”
“Uh… Did the system become sentient?”
The two looked at each other.
They both thought of something at the same time.
After a few seconds, Xu Jiao hesitantly said: “Out with the old, in with the new. Why don’t you give me another one?”
Ye Zhen: “……”
She smiled helplessly: “Alright, this time I’ll remember to include the voice installation package.”
At this moment, in another space-time.
A girl sitting in front of a computer typing was sucked away by a beam of light. In her confusion, she heard a voice: “Given that the content of your article does not align with core socialist values, please cooperate with the system for rectification.”
“Huh?”
“Initiating random transmission. First book, γThe Celestial Doesn’t Need Emotionsγ.”
“Wait! What is this? I’ll change it! I’ll change it right now! Surely there’s no need to throw me into the book, right?”
“Five kilometers ahead, the female lead Xia Jingzhe has been detected in Wanmo Village (Ten Thousand Demons Village) during the God-Demon War. She’s about to be abandoned by her family. You can appear in time to save her from danger and let her grow up healthily under socialist care!”
“Huh? But isn’t this the inevitable plot for the female lead?”
Under this bright and clear sky, there’s actually nothing new in the world.
It’s nothing but stories of loving and being loved, endlessly repeating in cycles.
And some people will eventually wait for their own redemption.
The author has something to say:
Let me break down the timeline for you:
Ye Zhen saves Xu Jiao when they’re young β Xu Jiao grows up and writes Ye Zhen into a story β The system appears and throws Xu Jiao into the story β Xu Jiao and Ye Zhen fall in love in the story β They return to reality β Ye Zhen develops the system β The system gets lost in space-time β The system senses Xu Jiao’s story among the sea of people, appears and throws her into the story β Xu Jiao and Ye Zhen fall in love in the story β They return to reality β They develop the system, the system gets lostβ¦ and the cycle begins againβ¦
It’s like a closed loop, you know? γdogeγ
I think this setup is pretty interesting, hehe. Hope you’ll like it. If you do, how about giving me a five-star review when it’s finished?
By the way, why not bookmark my new story γTransmigrating as the Top-tier Substitute for the Scumbag CEOγ?
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Thanks to all of you who have supported me until now! I hope your reading experience has been enjoyable!
That was a twist indeed! Thank you for the extra!
I knew it! But I really love the closed loop. It would have been fun if they also realized. I am really happy for them. π