84: Becoming more and more compliant

Bai Xinran slowly stood up, her legs still feeling weak.

Now that she had recovered slightly, a sense of shame belatedly surged within her.

With her head lowered, she walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet.

She washed her hands, then cupped some water to splash onto her face.

"Finished tidying up?" Yu Heng's voice came from the doorway.

"Mm." Bai Xinran pulled out a paper towel to wipe her face.

"Come here." As he spoke, Yu Heng had already sat back down on the sofa.

Bai Xinran dawdled as she followed him over, sitting down in the spot next to him.

"You like Non-humans," Yu Heng began, "right?"

Bai Xinran was stunned for a moment before giving a vague response: "Mm..."

"Then the reward for this mission is," Yu Heng leaned back against the sofa, "you can design one yourself."

Bai Xinran looked up: "Huh?"

"Yes," Yu Heng looked at her, a slight smile playing on his lips, "I'll find someone to do the modeling and a manufacturer to create the mold to produce a physical entity."

This reward killed two birds with one stone, as he had already planned to create a self-developed brand.

This way, he could also seize a portion of the market early on.

"Really?" Bai Xinran asked subconsciously.

This reward was too... too tempting!

"What, you don't want it?" Yu Heng raised an eyebrow.

"I want it!" Bai Xinran blurted out almost instantly, "Thank you!"

"Thank who?" Yu Heng raised an eyebrow.

"Thank you, Boss~" Bai Xinran murmured.

"That's not right," Yu Heng shook his head, "you should say 'Thank you, Sir.'"

Bai Xinran was startled, then pursed her lips: "Thank you, Sir..."

"Good girl." Yu Heng gave a faint smile and then asked, "How did you feel about doing the mission this time?"

"It was... very..." She was still a bit shy from being called a 'good girl' just now, and after hesitating for a long while, she said, "It was very shameful."

"Besides the shame?" Yu Heng pressed further.

Bai Xinran avoided his gaze, staring at her own knees.

Besides the shame, what else was there?

A sense of helplessness? Fragility?

And that sense of reassurance that welled up in her heart when he finally gave her his affirmation?

"Although it was a bit shameful," she finally whispered, "I actually quite liked it."

Hearing this, Yu Heng nodded: "As long as you like it. Next time, I'll tell you the general direction in advance, and you can choose to accept or refuse. But once you accept, you must complete it, understand?"

"I understand." Bai Xinran nodded.

Yu Heng asked again: "Are you hungry?"

"Huh?" Bai Xinran touched her stomach, "A little."

"Order some takeout?" Yu Heng took out his phone, "What do you want to eat?"

"Anything is fine... BBQ?" Bai Xinran asked tentatively.

After completing such a mentally and physically taxing task, she wanted to eat something with strong flavors.

Yu Heng pulled up his phone: "Then I'll just order what looks good."

"Okay~" Bai Xinran responded in a soft, sweet voice.

She realized she was becoming more and more obedient in front of him.

The BBQ takeout arrived quite quickly.

Yu Heng ordered a lot, along with two cans of Coke.

The smell of the BBQ diluted the subtle atmosphere from earlier.

Bai Xinran sat cross-legged on the rug by the sofa, and Yu Heng broke apart a pair of disposable chopsticks and handed them to her.

"Here." Yu Heng then handed her a skewer of mutton.

"Thank you." Bai Xinran took it and took a bite. "Delicious!"

She narrowed her eyes, and the tension from before slowly began to relax.

Yu Heng also took a beef skewer and leaned back into the sofa to eat.

Neither of them spoke. Bai Xinran had actually passed the peak of her hunger, and after eating two or three skewers, she already felt full.

She took small sips of her Coke and stole a glance at Yu Heng.

His eating manner wasn't exactly refined, but it wasn't bad either; he just looked... very normal?

He actually looked decent, though not particularly stunning.

They had only known each other for about a month, yet they were already on the verge of being completely open with one another.

Between a normal man and woman, this might seem like rapid progress, but within the 'circle,' it was actually quite standard.

She had heard experience-sharing sessions in the circle's groups where many partners established relationships very quickly.

Some even started the very day they met and surprisingly remained stable for a long time.

"What are you looking at?" Yu Heng suddenly spoke up, glancing at her.

"Nothing..." Bai Xinran quickly withdrew her gaze, "I just feel like you seem very calm about everything."

"What else should I be?" Yu Heng tossed the bamboo skewer into the empty box, "Is there anything worth making a fuss about?"

"True." Bai Xinran pursed her lips.

Yu Heng's words were true; he felt that his threshold for surprise had increased after his rebirth.

He knew the general outline of what would happen over the next few years.

What could make money, and what would develop.

In fact, if he had been able to remember a few lottery numbers from his previous life, he could have become an overnight billionaire.

Unfortunately, he never bought lottery tickets, nor did he ever bet on sports.

He didn't play the stock market, and he knew even less about Bitcoin.

He was originally just an ordinary person, an ordinary practitioner in the media industry.

After his rebirth, all he could think about were the fields he was familiar with, because he felt that if he didn't work in this industry, there might be no difference between him and someone who hadn't been reborn.

The only difference was that he was no longer surprised by anything; in the short-video era a few years later, one could see all sorts of bizarre and outrageous things.

What frustrated him the most was that his only forms of entertainment before were watching dramas and anime.

Now that he was reborn, it meant that for at least seven years, he would have nothing new to watch!

Many things were foreknown, but the unknown was where the fun lay.

Yu Heng felt that the greatest meaning of rebirth wasn't how much wealth one possessed—being comfortably well-off was enough.

The greatest pleasure was creating the unknown under the premise of foreknowledge.

To make up for regrets, to change, and to perfect things within the original trajectory of life—that was true rebirth, that was being himself, and that was the essence of being reborn.

Seeing that she was mostly finished eating, Yu Heng asked, "Full?"

"Mm." Bai Xinran nodded.

"Then tidy up; it's time to head back to school." Yu Heng checked the time; it was ten o'clock, just right for the walk back.

"Okay." Bai Xinran stood up and gathered the trash on the table into a plastic bag, tying it shut.

Yu Heng also stood up and stretched.

"I'll go back to the room to change my clothes." She was still wearing the oversized T-shirt.

"Just change right here." Yu Heng suddenly spoke.

Bai Xinran's footsteps paused, and she turned her head: "Huh? No way!"

"Why not?" Yu Heng raised an eyebrow, "I've seen everything already, why hide from me?"

"That's different!"

Looking at her determined expression, Yu Heng laughed and said, "Fine, go ahead and change then."

He didn't insist.

"Then wait a moment." Bai Xinran turned to walk toward the bedroom.

"Come back!" Yu Heng called out to her again.

Bai Xinran stopped and turned her head, pouting: "What is it now..."

Yu Heng narrowed his eyes and looked at her: "What should you say?"

"Ah..." Bai Xinran realized and said in a soft voice, "Thank you, Sir..."

Yu Heng smiled happily upon hearing this: "Alright! Go on!"

Bai Xinran pursed her lips and entered the room.

While changing, she moved exceptionally fast, as if afraid Yu Heng would suddenly push the door open.

Even though she knew he wouldn't.

When she finished changing and went downstairs, Yu Heng was already waiting at the door in his coat.

"Let's go," he said.

"Mm."

The two left, locked the door, and walked toward the school.

The night wind was a bit chilly, so Bai Xinran pulled her down jacket zipper all the way to the top and tucked her hands into her pockets, with Yu Heng walking beside her.

The two of them had been walking like this for about a month now.

The familiarity between them had likely grown through these daily bickering sessions and these quiet evening strolls.