Dong Chengling opened the bedroom door.

CLICK.

Dong Chengling paused slightly. Ren Suo was still lying on the bed, covered by the blanket, but he was holding his smartphone and aiming its camera at her. It emitted the crisp sound of a photo being taken—clearly, this was a phone designed to prevent stealth photography.

Dong Chengling took two steps forward, gently took Ren Suo's smartphone, and saw that he had the camera app open. He had just taken a photo of her opening the door.

"..."

Noticing Dong Chengling's silence, a sheepish Ren Suo tightened his grip on the blanket and chuckled awkwardly. "Not bad for a candid shot, huh?"

Dong Chengling looked at him and asked, "So the reason you're still in bed is because you were..."

"Yes, it's because I was playing with my phone," Ren Suo admitted quite honestly. "When I woke up earlier, I still felt really sleepy."

"What does being sleepy have to do with playing on your phone?"

"I'm fighting fire with fire," Ren Suo said seriously. "Sleep is a desire, and playing on my phone is also a desire. When my desire to play on my phone overcomes my desire to sleep, I'll naturally wake up."

What Ren Suo said made a good deal of sense, and Dong Chengling was naturally convinced. She lowered her gaze back to the phone's screen. "Then why did you take my picture?"

Ren Suo's eyes darted around, and he stammered, "Because... I wanted to."

"You wanted to?" Dong Chengling paused, slightly taken aback.

"Yeah, I had a sudden impulse to capture it." Seizing the opening, Ren Suo found it easier to spin his tale. "My photographer's intuition told me I was about to capture a precious, memorable moment. My photography skills aren't great, but Cheng Ling, you're so beautiful that it's impossible for me to take a bad photo of you..."

"Is that so?" Dong Chengling asked abruptly, her eyes fixed on the phone screen.

Not knowing what she was asking, Ren Suo didn't press for details and just nodded eagerly. "Yeah!"

"Do you like this photo?"

Although Ren Suo hadn't actually seen clearly how the photo turned out, he had just been photographing Dong Chengling. There was no way he could say no now. "Of course! Especially you, Cheng Ling—you blend perfectly with the composition, lighting, and environment in the photo. It's very natural!"

Ren Suo was again haphazardly throwing around photography terms he'd picked up. He actually knew a photography enthusiast in university. However, this friend was peculiar: their height in centimeters was numerically identical to their weight in half-kilograms. Even though this friend bought numerous lenses and had editing skills so adept he could transform Koopa into Princess Koopa, he remained one of Ren Suo's close friends during his university days.

Well, true to the principle "birds of a feather flock together," Ren Suo had primarily hung out with other single guys during university. In this respect, you could say society had smoothed out his rough edges—he could now even chat and laugh comfortably with "life winners" like Zhao Huo.

While Ren Suo rambled on, Dong Chengling's gaze never left the screen.

In the image, Dong Chengling, dressed in loungewear, was opening the door. Morning sunlight streamed in from the window, falling on her slippers and illuminating her smooth calves. Her hair was casually tied into a ponytail that draped over her right shoulder, giving her the distinct look of a young wife. She was looking at the camera, a gentle smile on her face, her beautiful, clear eyes twinkling, her lips slightly parted as if she were about to speak.

She looked just like a wife calling her husband to get out of bed.

You blend perfectly with the composition, lighting, and environment in the photo. It's very natural.

Dong Chengling felt her cheeks grow as hot as if they were pressed against freshly steamed custard buns, and her breathing quickened slightly. She forced her Qi Cyclone to circulate, calming her emotions, and said in an even voice, "Well, since you like it, I'll set this photo as your wallpaper."

"Huh? Oh? Sure..." Ren Suo was momentarily stunned, not quite able to process Dong Chengling's sudden turn, but it wasn't a big deal, so he let her.

With a composed expression, Dong Chengling tapped on the phone a few times, handed it back to Ren Suo, and then left the bedroom, saying, "Hurry up and get out of bed. Breakfast won't taste good if it gets cold."

"Okay!" Ren Suo immediately clutched the blanket—the mere mention of breakfast was enough to get him stirring.

After Dong Chengling left, Ren Suo turned on his phone. Sure enough, Dong Chengling had set the photo he'd just taken as the wallpaper.

The photo really did look nice, though. Previously, his little sister had forcibly set his wallpaper to a picture of herself, so changing it to one of Dong Chengling wasn't a big deal.

"Hmm, it really is a good shot," Ren Suo mused. He hadn't expected a casual snapshot to turn out so well.

He had only been trying to distract Dong Chengling, to keep her from noticing other details in the bedroom, so he'd pretended to be playing on his phone. But after turning it on, he'd easily tapped on the camera app and, on impulse, taken her picture.

"Little Jiu is prettier! Little Jiu wants one too!"

Ren Suo felt a weight on his back. A pair of delicate small arms wrapped tightly around his neck, squeezing so hard he could barely breathe. He gasped, "Little Jiu, get down!"

The pressure on his neck eased, but a little head quickly popped up from behind him. A cute, elfin face with a pair of big, bright eyes looked at Ren Suo. "Big Brother, that big sister didn't notice Little Jiu just now. Aren't I amazing?!"

The Little Jiu now was no longer the mature figure from before but had reverted to the little girl appearance from their first meeting. Yet, she was slightly different: her fox ears and tail were hidden, and her hair and eyes were now a pure, glossy black. She looked like an ordinary little girl.

Her red, flowing garments had also changed into a simple little white dress. Her slender legs, clad in white tights, looked very cute. It was because she had shrunk that Ren Suo had been able to hide her under the covers without Dong Chengling noticing.

Now that they were finally safe, Ren Suo sighed with relief. He held Little Jiu still to keep her from squirming—this little imp was surprisingly strong and clingy, and his body couldn't take much more.

"Little Jiu, you..." Ren Suo collected his thoughts, deciding to start with his first question. "Why did you become so big earlier?"

"Big?" Little Jiu tilted her head. "What do you mean, big?"

"You know..." Ren Suo began, vaguely gesturing towards his chest before realizing the motion was inappropriate. He quickly said, "I mean, when you became as tall as Big Brother."

"Because it's more convenient that way!" Little Jiu sat on the edge of the bed, her little legs swinging back and forth. "Little Jiu runs very, very slowly, but when I get bigger, I can run really fast!"

That makes sense, Ren Suo thought. Of course Little Jiu's short legs would be slower than long ones. "But... why did you take on that particular appearance?"

"What appearance?"

"The way you looked when you were bigger," Ren Suo said, unsure how to phrase it. He tried coaxing her, "Um, I mean, Little Jiu looks especially pretty when she's big. I was wondering if you have any special trick for it. Tell Big Brother; Big Brother wants to be pretty too."

Little Jiu giggled happily. "Nope! Little Jiu just wanted to get bigger to run faster, and I just changed into that form! No trick!"

Then she thoughtfully hugged Ren Suo and said, "But Big Brother is very pretty too!"

Kids these days are so honest, Ren Suo thought. Too bad she used the wrong word.

Still, it seems the reason Little Jiu transforms into the Palace Nine-Tailed Fox form when she gets bigger must be influenced by her subconscious. After all, the Palace Nine-Tailed Fox is her mature form.

Ren Suo asked, "So, that bigger form you took earlier—you can control that?"

"Mhm, mhm." Little Jiu nodded like a bobblehead. "But Little Jiu can't hide my tail and ears when I'm big... Big Brother, do you like me better when I'm big?"

Looking into Little Jiu's sparkling eyes, Ren Suo—who had twelve years of experience caring for children (his sister hadn't counted as a child after she turned twelve)—naturally shook his head and said, "No, I like the current Little Jiu best."

"HEHE." Little Jiu burrowed into Ren Suo's embrace, rubbing her little head against him. "I like Big Brother best too!"

Good, Ren Suo thought. Even though it's been ten years since I last had to coax a child, my skills haven't gotten rusty. He then asked his second question: "Little Jiu, how did you find me?"

Little Jiu looked up at him and said, "After Big Brother accepted Little Jiu's gift, Little Jiu could find Big Brother easily!"

A gift? Ren Suo recalled that when he and Little Jiu had formed their Bond yesterday, Little Jiu seemed to have sent a stream of Energy to him. Did that also have a GPS tracking function?

Ren Suo continued, "Then, Little Jiu, why did you come looking for me?"

"To play with you, of course!" Little Jiu said with a serious expression. "Big Brother, I've kept our agreement! Now you have to take responsibility!"

"What? What agreement?" Ren Suo had heard Little Jiu mention this "agreement" several times, but he had no memory of it.

Little Jiu pouted. "Big Sister once said that as long as I hid my tail and ears, I could go find her!"

Hmm?

Ren Suo vaguely recalled that while playing "Midnight Walker," when he encountered the Little Nine-Tailed Fox in New York, he had indeed instructed the Food Goddess to say something like that to her.

"Little Jiu can't find Big Sister now, and Big Sister's cup is with Big Brother. And Big Brother, you also said you would keep the agreement!" Little Jiu's face was puffed up indignantly. "Little Jiu was afraid of not keeping the agreement, so I made sure my clothes were on perfectly so I could keep my tail and ears hidden all the time before I came to find Big Brother!"

Ren Suo blinked. So, Little Jiu suddenly left yesterday and then reappeared this morning because she felt she hadn't kept the agreement. She must have initially gone to find someone from the Fairy Palace without her tail and ears hidden. That's why she abruptly said goodbye to me yesterday. She must have spent the whole night perfectly merging with that 'Supreme Treasure' so she could maintain her human form perfectly for an extended period before coming to find me.

Hiding her tail and ears, and changing her hair color and clothes—those must be the abilities of that Supreme Treasure.

"Big Brother, you won't break the agreement, will you?" Little Jiu looked at Ren Suo, her big eyes welling up with tears.

Although Ren Suo felt he could now barely resist Little Jiu's passive Charm, he himself had made that agreement. Obviously, the Food Goddess can't fulfill it now; she's still in Peacock Country collecting the Energy of Desire.

Besides, looking at Little Jiu, who had braved countless dangers to come all the way from New York, Ren Suo wasn't a heartless robot. He naturally shouldered the responsibility and said, "Of course not. I'll keep the agreement!"

"Yay!" Little Jiu cheered, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "This means I can be with Big Brother forever!"

"Hmm?" Ren Suo asked warily. "Isn't it about me playing with you?"

"Nope! Big Sister said that as long as I hid my tail and ears, she would take care of me for life!" Little Jiu looked at Ren Suo with a pitiful expression. "Big Brother, you wouldn't abandon Little Jiu, would you?"

Did I really say something like that in the game?

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