Still Have This Side – Chapter 58

Punishment function, activated——

In the afternoon, Qiu Zimin went out to attend her Sanda class, while the two aunts stayed at home and suddenly felt inspired to tidy up.

It was mainly Qiu Baiyu who wanted to clean up.

Seeing this, Yi Wanyue lent a hand to help. She had been staying here for several days already, so she considered it as paying her rent.

While tidying up the study, Yi Wanyue discovered a photo album on the bookshelf.

She called Qiu Baiyu over and curiously asked whose it was.

“It’s mine and Xiaomin’s, mostly Xiaomin’s. I wanted to document that child’s growth,” Qiu Baiyu said as she pulled out the album and patted it.

“Physical items have more texture.

“Would you like to take a look?”

Yi Wanyue said, “Yes.”

They sat at Qiu Zimin’s crafting table and started flipping through the photo album.

Indeed, the majority of the photos inside were of Qiu Zimin.

There were photos of her doing crafts, making funny faces on the sofa while watching TV, seriously doing homework in her room… all traces of her growth.

Besides these, there were photos of Qiu Baiyu.

When Qiu Baiyu appeared, it was mostly in group photos, always with a happy child by her side.

And then… Yi Wanyue.

Seeing photos of herself, Yi Wanyue was a bit surprised.

“Oh, there are photos of me too?”

Qiu Baiyu nodded, her gentle fingertips caressing their group photo.

These were all taken when they went out to play.

In the photos, the two people were very close to each other, smiling brightly, as if every moment spent together was filled with happiness.

“These memories are precious to me too.”

This photo album was her treasure box, containing all her precious things.

Qiu Zimin’s growth was precious, and her happiness and friends were equally valuable.

Their time together left her with many beautiful memories, making the fact of staying alone in a strange world not so bad after all.

Yi Wanyue turned her head to look at the person beside her.

The daylight kissed the contours of the person next to her, and she caught glimpses of gentle sparkles in her eyes, bright enough to move one’s heart.

She couldn’t help but lean closer—

A kiss landed on the cheek.

Qiu Baiyu was stunned for a moment, her heart suddenly racing.

She turned her head to look at the person who stirred all her emotions, only to see her smiling, both beautifully and gently.

“Our Baiyu is too beautiful, I couldn’t help but want to give her a kiss.”

After saying this, Yi Wanyue leaned closer again, her gaze pitiful.

“You won’t blame me, right? There’s nothing wrong with friends kissing each other’s cheeks, is there?”

This demeanor of hers was too irresistible for Qiu Baiyu.

When a beautiful person is willing to put on a pitiful look to curry favor with you, no one can withstand it, at least Qiu Baiyu couldn’t.

Moreover, she was right this time; what’s the big deal about friends kissing each other’s cheeks?

She hadn’t even activated the shield, and the system didn’t react, as if it was also convinced by this reasoning.

But, Qiu Baiyu had her own selfish thoughts—she didn’t want to be her ordinary friend.

“It’s nothing…” Qiu Baiyu said, “but I think you should only do this to me.”

“Hm?”

“Aren’t we the most special friends? If you do this to others too, wouldn’t I no longer be special?”

Qiu Baiyu thought her words made perfect sense.

Her subtle ulterior motive was also well hidden.

It was Yi Wanyue who said she wanted to be the most special existence in each other’s hearts. Since it’s the most special, it should be distinguished from others.

For instance, all kisses should be reserved only for her.

Then she saw Yi Wanyue smile.

“Alright.”

Yi Wanyue smiled and leaned towards her, giving her another kiss on the cheek.

“I’ll only do this to you.”

Qiu Baiyu was very happy inside, but couldn’t show it, so with a flushed face, she feigned composure: “Alright, enough fooling around, let’s continue looking.”

At the same time, she felt a little guilty:

She had ulterior motives, her thoughts weren’t pure, and she had coaxed and tricked Yi Wanyue into kissing only her. Was this considered taking advantage of Yi Wanyue…

She hoped that when Yi Wanyue found out later, she wouldn’t be angry with her…

Yi Wanyue, meanwhile, was feeling happy.

Qiu Baiyu, the person she liked, had taken the initiative to ask for special treatment.

It was good progress, very good indeed.

From now on, she could kiss her more openly and rightfully!

The two had different thoughts, but their joy was exactly the same.

They secretly rejoiced as they continued to look through the photo album.

The photo album contained their memories, and as they looked through it, they recalled the little moments, making time seem especially beautiful at that moment.

Finally, they turned to the last page of the album.

There was a photo of a child there.

It wasn’t Qiu Zimin.

It was Qiu Baiyu’s, the original Qiu Baiyu’s.

Yi Wanyue picked up the childhood photo of the original Qiu Baiyu and looked at it closely, comparing it with the Qiu Baiyu beside her. She raised an eyebrow in surprise: “It does look a bit like you.”

Qiu Baiyu sat there with a calm expression.

“It does look quite similar, because that’s how I looked when I was little.”

The system’s immersive experience was really thorough in every aspect.

She had found this photo in the Jiang family’s house, in the original Qiu Baiyu’s room.

Not only was her current appearance identical to the original owner, but even her childhood appearance was exactly the same as the original owner’s childhood.

It was a strange feeling, so after leaving the Jiang family, she took it with her and has kept it well-preserved until now.

After hearing her words and looking at this childhood photo again, Yi Wanyue felt it was instantly different.

It was as if they had always lived in the same world, just hadn’t met before.

But… what about the original owner?

Yi Wanyue had never asked about the original owner’s whereabouts before, but now, looking at this photo that carried the childhood appearance of two people, she suddenly became curious.

She picked up the photo and turned to look at Qiu Baiyu: “Then what about her, where did she go?”

Qiu Baiyu raised her finger and tapped near her temple.

Yi Wanyue understood.

【Buzz…】 Interference activated.

Qiu Baiyu spoke: “Didn’t she have an accident and fall from upstairs? The system said she passed away not long after the fall, her soul had already left this world and started a new life.

“The system took over her body for a while, until I came.”

Starting a new life…

Yi Wanyue nodded gently: “Although death is regrettable, starting a new life sounds not bad.”

Qiu Baiyu nodded in agreement: “Better than being a love-obsessed vicious female supporting character here.”

A new life brings new expectations.

Regardless of how things were before, they sincerely hoped that the original owner’s new life would have a good start.

They hoped she wouldn’t become love-obsessed again, that she would love herself, and love herself even more.

After understanding the origina ownerl’s whereabouts, Yi Wanyue’s attention returned to that childhood photo.

The child in the photo was exquisitely beautiful, with bright and lively eyes, wearing a pink princess tulle dress, a crown, and holding a magic wand, just like a little princess.

Yi Wanyue looked at this pink little dumpling, gently curving her eyes: “Our Baiyu was really cute.”

“Cute before,” she said, while turning her head to look at Qiu Baiyu, smiling like a flower, “and cute now too.”

Qiu Baiyu: “…”

Her face seemed to be heating up.

“I actually never took this kind of photo,” she said, “All my childhood photos were taken by my grandmother, mostly of my elementary school performances.

“You should know that kind of costume, every time we went on stage to perform, our cheeks were painted bright red, with a little red dot between the eyebrows, and our hair tied into two buns, looking like a New Year picture doll.”

As she spoke, she gestured to her brow and head.

Yi Wanyue smiled, her eyes curving: “I know, I performed in elementary school too.”

Qiu Baiyu nodded, saying helplessly: “Yes, that kind of photo. My grandmother has many of them. I didn’t want to look at them after I grew up, but she liked to look at them and even had many copies printed.”

Yi Wanyue smiled even more happily: “That sounds really cute.”

Qiu Baiyu couldn’t help but look at her.

She was praising her cuteness again.

Qiu Baiyu suddenly remembered that she had mentioned her mother would record and keep every performance of hers from childhood to adulthood, so there might even be videos of her childhood performances.

She couldn’t resist saying: “I’d like to see your childhood photos too, and the performance videos.”

Yi Wanyue graciously replied: “Sure, but it’ll have to be next time. I don’t have them on my phone, the photo albums and video tapes are all at my mom’s place.”

Qiu Baiyu said okay.

They had made another promise.

There were still many things waiting for them to accomplish together in the future.

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Qiu Baiyu picked up Qiu Zimin to take her home.

While driving, she listened to the little one in the back seat sharing her class progress, telling her about seeing kids her age also learning Sanda, but crying while learning.

As Qiu Baiyu listened, the corners of her lips unconsciously curved upward, and she would occasionally respond with a few words.

Although there was still 0.5% of the progress not cleared, at least the child’s current happiness was genuine, making her endurance of the system for so long worthwhile.

Every time a task failed, the task panel would noisily appear in front of her for quite a while. She had been enduring this for several months now.

Yet this not-so-smart system persisted, issuing tasks as usual even when she didn’t complete them.

It was quite annoying.

It would be nice if someone could get rid of it.

Qiu Zimin opened the door with her favorite caramel pudding.

Qiu Baiyu followed behind her.

They were greeted by Yi Wanyue.

The aunt hadn’t arrived yet, she was out buying groceries.

Qiu Zimin obediently put the caramel pudding cake in the refrigerator, waiting to eat it with her aunties after dinner.

After putting away her things, she immediately turned to find Yi Wanyue: “Auntie, a boy joined our Sanda class today, he’s the same age as me, but he was crying while practicing Sanda, crying so loudly…”

After sharing with Auntie Baiyu, she didn’t forget to share it again with Auntie Wanyue.

Yi Wanyue indulged her, sitting and listening to her tell everything.

Because both adults were willing to listen to her, Qiu Zimin was always happy to share things happening around her with them, talking and smiling all the while.

But the system seemed unwilling to see her so happy, and immediately issued another task to Qiu Baiyu.

【Evil Supporting Female Character Task Issued: Say to Jiang Zimin: “You should be doing your homework instead of wasting time here.”】

Qiu Baiyu once again naturally ignored the task, calmly scrolling through her phone.

After a while, the red light panel indicating task failure appeared again.

She still had no reaction.

But she forgot one thing—

【Host has failed fifteen tasks, detected host status as passive work-shirking, punishment conditions have been met.

【Punishment function, activated—】

—Oh no!

Qiu Baiyu inwardly cried out in dismay.

She instinctively looked towards Yi Wanyue, but it was all too late.

“Bang!”

The phone smashed onto the ground once again.

The sound startled Yi Wanyue and Qiu Zimin, who were in conversation.

They both looked towards Qiu Baiyu simultaneously.

They saw her suddenly fall to her knees in front of them, as if her legs had stopped obeying her.

Qiu Baiyu lay on the ground, her hands tightly clenched into fists.

Almost at the same time, she heard the sound of electrical interference in her ears.

【Punishment buzz… buzz buzz…】

Qiu Baiyu, supporting herself on the ground, with her legs feeling numb, struggled to slowly raise her hand—giving a thumbs up to Yi Wanyue.

Yi Wanyue had acted, very quickly, incredibly timely.

Yi Wanyue hurriedly came forward to support her, looking worried.

“Are you alright?”

Qiu Baiyu, leaning on her shoulder, gently shook her head: “It’s nothing.”

Yi Wanyue had acted quickly, the punishment function had already been interfered with, now she just needed to wait for the numbness in her feet to pass.

Qiu Zimin also came over to check on her, her expression surprised, confused, and scared.

She was terrified: “Auntie, what’s wrong with you…”

She suddenly remembered the day her grandparents came, and became even more frightened: “Did grandma break you when she pushed you… wuwu Auntie, please don’t be sick!”

The incident happened suddenly, with nowhere to hide. Seeing that the child was so scared she was about to cry, and the two adults couldn’t explain the existence of the system to her, Qiu Baiyu had no choice but to—make something up.

Qiu Baiyu sat up on the ground, raising her hand to stroke Qiu Zimin’s face: “Auntie isn’t sick, Auntie is just, um…”

Her feet were still numb, she couldn’t stand up.

Suddenly, an idea struck her. If she couldn’t stand up, she might as well lie down.

“Auntie just suddenly wanted to learn how to crawl in a sinister way.”

After saying this, she made an effort to wriggle forward twice like a pupa, with a serious expression.

“In the future, if anyone annoys me, I’ll crawl like this to scare them to death.”

Qiu Zimin, with reddened eyes: “…Huh?”

Yi Wanyue: “…”

It was obvious she was trying very hard to make something up.

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