Li Zhi went numb as she watched the glowing yellow arrow move toward her.

"To be honest, I’m not very keen on acknowledging this father-daughter relationship."

The smile on Old Li’s face froze.

A look of sorrow crossed the handsome middle-aged man’s face.

Just then, Shen Yuan chimed in, "It’s fine, it’s fine, Uncle! I’ll acknowledge you! If Li Zhi won’t, I will!"

Shen Yuan patted his chest. "I’ll be your son from now on!"

"Get lost!"

Li Zhi kicked out at him.

Shen Yuan dodged nimbly. "Hey, hey, hey, why are you getting so worked up about me wanting a dad?"

"What do you mean, wanting my dad as your dad?!" Li Zhi lunged after him.

"So you’re allowed to call your dad ’Dad,’ but I’m not allowed to call your dad ’Dad’?!"

"You’re not allowed!"

In the end, Shen Yuan’s attempt to get adopted failed.

Old Li chuckled at the two kids’ horseplay.

"Alright, alright. This is just to make it easier for you to see me!"

The handsome man reached out to pat his daughter’s head, then took the arrow light off his own.

"Let’s go."

Shen Yuan stared at the arrow light in Old Li’s hand, his eyes filled with longing.

"Uncle, can I wear that for a little while?"

Old Li didn’t hesitate, handing the arrow light straight to Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan received it like a priceless treasure.

Looking at the arrow light in his hands, a voice couldn’t help but echo in Shen Yuan’s mind.

’Once you put on this golden circlet, you are no longer a mortal. You must not be tainted by worldly passions and desires. If you fall in love, this circlet will tighten upon your head, causing unbearable agony.’

Li Zhi shot him a look as if he were an idiot as she listened to his muttering.

"Can you please not say everything you’re thinking out loud?"

Completely ignoring Li Zhi’s verbal assault, Shen Yuan placed the arrow light on his head.

His expression was one of utmost reverence.

TA-DA!

The brightest Liangzai on the whole street had arrived!

"Don’t I look cool?" Shen Yuan asked, grinning as he came up to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi couldn’t take it anymore.

"Cool my ass! One more word out of you and I’ll make you do two sets of college entrance practice exams!"

With that, Li Zhi snatched the arrow light off Shen Yuan’s head.

Shen Yuan was no longer grinning.

The moment the golden circlet left his head, Shen Yuan’s world came crashing down.

Li Zhi finally felt some peace and quiet return to the world.

Back at their apartment complex, Li Zhi looked at Shen Yuan’s glum expression and suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

’Wearing an arrow light... it was just a weird little stunt, not a big deal.’

’Why did I have to react so strongly?’

With this on her mind, Li Zhi called out to Shen Yuan after they got out of the elevator.

"Shen Yuan."

Shen Yuan looked up at Li Zhi, a hint of dejection in his eyes.

The words Li Zhi wanted to say caught in her throat. After a long moment, she squeezed out, "Do your best tomorrow."

Shen Yuan nodded blankly, then turned and went back to his home.

Li Zhi watched Shen Yuan’s back disappear behind his door, her lips slightly parted. In the end, she went home under Old Li’s urging.

Back in her room, Li Zhi tossed her schoolbag aside and sat back down on her bed.

The beautiful girl looked at a large doll beside her and muttered to herself, "Was I a little too harsh? Should I apologize to Shen Yuan?"

At this thought, Li Zhi flopped onto her bed, her mind drifting to the apartment next door.

’Is Shen Yuan cuddling Naonao right now and talking bad about me?’

In his room, Shen Yuan, who was in a staring contest with Naonao, suddenly sneezed.

"Aha, you sneaky cat! Attacking me with your fur! But I’m not a sore loser. Since you insist, I’ll condescend to pet you!"

Shen Yuan grabbed Naonao and petted the cat to his heart’s content.

While petting the cat, Shen Yuan started thinking about his mission.

That’s right. He had just received a new mission in the elevator.

[You have been spending time with Li Zhi for a while, but your relationship has not progressed at all.]

[With Li Zhi’s birthday approaching, are you really going to do nothing?]

[Give Li Zhi a gift. Reward: 2000 yuan.]

This was also why Li Zhi had seen him looking a little dejected.

In reality, when Shen Yuan saw this mission, his mind went completely blank.

Li Zhi’s birthday was in the first half of the year; it had passed long ago!

The Stupid System’s timeline was completely different from Shen Yuan’s!

"Good thing the Stupid System didn’t specify it had to be a birthday present. If it had, I’d be totally screwed."

Shen Yuan mulled over the mission at hand.

Although it didn’t say what kind of gift to get, Shen Yuan knew that with a reward of 2000 yuan, he couldn’t just get something for a few dozen yuan to get by, right?

"Tsk, I’ll just treat it as a reward for scoring a 620 on my exams."

Thinking of this, Shen Yuan picked up his phone and opened Taobao.

Shen Yuan didn’t even consider what would happen if he didn’t get that score.

He quickly picked out a gift for Li Zhi.

A black dress.

If your mind is in the gutter, type ’1’ in the comments.

Shen Yuan naturally wanted to buy Li Zhi some sort of silk garment that clung to the skin, but considering his life was on the line, he ultimately gave up the idea.

Giving clothes is more normal, right?

However, Shen Yuan didn’t just buy a dress; he also bought a pair of shoes.

The two items added up to over 800 yuan, leaving Shen Yuan with a nice bit of "rebate."

Sweet.

Expensive is expensive, but Young Master Li’s two sets of practice exams would have cost a few hundred yuan too.

Just as Shen Yuan was about to place the order, a message from Li Zhi popped up on his phone.

Li Zhi: "I was in a bad mood today."

Shen Yuan: Subway, old man, phone.

’This is completely random,’ Shen Yuan thought. ’Emperor Li of Heaven, are you trying to pick a successor or something?’

But soon, a new message from Li Zhi arrived.

Li Zhi: "Don’t take what I did to you personally."

After sending the message, Li Zhi tossed her phone aside, completely oblivious to the fact that she’d botched her attempt to delete it.

Shen Yuan looked at Li Zhi’s message, a wide grin spreading across his face.

Would Shen Yuan be upset?

Of course not. He wasn’t that fragile.

If he were, Li Zhi’s constant roasts would have sent him into depression long ago.

’My golden circlet was just taken off, that’s all.’

’Isn’t that a good thing?’

Shen Yuan had no desire to forsake all worldly passions.

’She was trying to say sorry, wasn’t she?’

Looking at the message on his phone, Shen Yuan felt a wave of satisfaction.

He didn’t know why, but getting Young Master Li to proactively admit fault was a rare event indeed!

Shen Yuan exited his shopping cart and quickly found Old Li’s arrow light on the shopping platform.

Order, order!

Buy two!

Soon, Li Zhi received a message from Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan: "Wanna be Liangzai together?"

Shen Yuan: "[Image]"

Li Zhi’s jaw dropped slightly as she looked at the screenshot of Shen Yuan’s order.

’I’m so stupid, really. I only considered that he’d get depressed after I snapped at him, but I forgot he’s a total idiot.’

’Why did I even message that guy?’

’I wonder if I can still unsend it?’

Shooting bolt upright as if from her deathbed, Li Zhi scrambled to unsend the message, only to find the option had already disappeared.

Seeing this, the beautiful girl seemed to lose all her strength, collapsing weakly onto the bed again.

Let the world be destroyed.

Looking at the doll by her bed, the beautiful girl shot up and viciously kicked it in the face.

"That idiot Shen Yuan can go die!"