The boisterous atmosphere of the party was like a rising tide, bound to recede. Everyone had a great time.

Chen Yuan's roommates headed back to school first, leaving the two of them to drive back to Fengting District together.

While being with friends could make one feel enveloped by a boisterous mix of emotions, staying home alone was inevitably associated with one word: "loneliness."

Perhaps Jiangg Yao was pitifully waiting for her sister's return, as lonely as could be.

But no, that wasn't the case at all.

As Jiangg Ning and Chen Yuan were heading home, their car had just left East University Road and was stopped at a red light.

Meanwhile, in a high-rise building several streets away, Jiangg Yao, who was so busy she was about to pass out, had just found a moment to rest. She took the opportunity to guzzle down some bottled water.

On her screen, the bullet comments on the right flew by so quickly it was impossible to keep up with them.

This was her first stream after the New Year, and the platform was giving her a huge push. Perhaps they saw potential in her virtual persona, Yaoyao, because as soon as she went live, her stream was featured prominently on the main landing page, visible the moment anyone opened the site.

This was a top-tier traffic spot that every streamer coveted, capable of gaining tens of thousands of new followers in a single day.

Coupled with the support from her long-time fans, the stream's popularity stayed consistently high.

Jiangg Yao was actually quite surprised to find herself in a featured spot on the front page; no one from the platform had notified her beforehand.

Half an hour into her stream, someone in her fan group posted a screenshot, saying, "Whoa, she's on the front page! Our girl's made it big!" Only then did she realize she was being officially promoted.

Among VTubers, the persona "Yaoyao" wasn't exactly top-tier. To use an entertainment industry analogy, she was a B-list gatekeeper at best. Top-tier streamers usually had well-trained teams: some to edit videos and drive traffic, others to manage the stream itself, and even dedicated staff to communicate with their agencies.

Jiangg Yao was on her own. Plus, she used to be a chronic procrastinator.

She genuinely found learning to edit videos and creating accounts on other platforms to drive traffic exhausting.

When it came to streaming, she was so inconsistent you'd think she wanted to work one day and take the next two off.

Thankfully, the streaming software had an auto-clip feature that turned highlights into short videos, which saved her a ton of hassle.

After each stream, she'd just glance over the auto-generated clips. If they looked fine, she'd post them directly without any editing.

And yet, for some reason, the platform itself had actually been editing clips from her streams. Before the New Year, they had promoted them on various short-form video accounts. Perhaps the staff were just as surprised that a small, unsupported streamer could pull in so many viewers.

New users came and went, but her follower count shot up. Her long-time fans also made a surprising discovery.

Yaoyao's singing had gotten even better.

What's more, she had stepped out of her comfort zone to sing more popular anime theme songs, a move that was undoubtedly helping her transition from a niche appeal to a more mainstream audience.

...

"I'm dead tired."

Jiangg Yao practically had to hold her back as she stood up from her chair. Her shoulders ached so deeply it felt like they were on fire, and her lower back felt like it had been whacked with a club.

Since she was streaming as a virtual avatar, she was dressed casually, just wearing a pair of flip-flops.

After frowning and stretching, she plopped back into her chair, kicked off her flip-flops, and propped her exquisite feet up on the desk. She crossed her fair-skinned legs with a complete disregard for her image.

Her perfectly sculpted pink toes, painted a bright, shiny color, wriggled gently. One wouldn't dare taste them, for fear of what the nail polish might do to one's stomach.

Jiangg Yao scrolled through her fan group chat, smiling as she lurked.

Enchanting Jasmine Flower: "Do you guys feel like Yaoyao's singing has gotten better again recently? I'm not good with words, so I can't really describe it... but it's really special."

Ding: "Yes! I heard a different kind of quality in it too. Maybe it's more emotional?"

Miss Kawashima Fumie: "Has it? Am I going deaf?"

Tyrannical Sky-Defying Dark Empress: "You all just don't get it. Aside from being more emotional, I can hear elements of classical vocal technique. Yaoyao probably studied it over the New Year. I just never thought it could be blended with anime songs and still sound so good."

Tu Miao: "For real? What kind of technique? Dark Empress, you actually know about this stuff?!"

Tyrannical Sky-Defying Dark Empress: "Who are you looking down on? Girl, I'm a student in the Vocal Performance department at the Berlin University of the Arts! I've mentioned it before."

Miss Kawashima Fumie: "You did? I don't remember that. I just remember you saying you wanted to go out with a toy in, but couldn't handle it and ran back before you even left the house."

Kawashima's comments were always off the wall. Even though everyone was used to her shocking statements...

...the girls in the group still spammed the chat with a flood of question marks.

In an instant, all the lurkers emerged from the woodwork, and even Dark Empress herself posted one.

The topic was instantly derailed, and it took a long time to be brought back on track.

Given her great performance on stream, the fan group was filled with praise, which made Jiangg Yao a little bashful.

After a moment, she couldn't resist sending a [Giggling] sticker.

Miss Kawashima Fumie: "@Yaoyao Hey, are you guys in some kind of massive debt? No way you actually spent your New Year break studying vocal techniques, right? Why so diligent?"

Yaoyao: "I did learn a little, but it was just from tutorials I found online. Some conservatories abroad have free courses on their websites, but listening to the English is a bit of a struggle for me."

Tu Miao: "@Yaoyao I'm a little confused. From before the New Year until now, it's like you've had a personality change. Did you grow up or something?"

Yaoyao: "I have gotten bigger..."

Tyrannical Sky-Defying Dark Empress: "What's bigger?"

Yaoyao: "Nothing, haha. Let's just say I have my reasons. I guess I've just reached an age where I need to start trying harder."

Miss Kawashima Fumie: "I knew it! There has to be a reason. People don't change for no reason! And guess what? I checked the stream data for Yaoyao's account for a while before the New Year. She was streaming insane hours—an average of eight hours a day, with only three days off in an entire month."

'I streamed that much?'

Jiangg Yao herself was a little shocked; she'd never paid attention to those stats before.

She did remember that month, though. She had been working really hard. Coincidentally, that was also when her relationship with Chen Yuan was progressing the fastest. The following month, when her secret relationship was exposed to Jiangg Ning, a lot more worries cropped up, and her streaming naturally took a backseat.

Tu Miao: "@Yaoyao Hurry up and tell us! What's the real reason?"

Yaoyao: "Actually... I have a child."

The moment she said that...

"???"

"???"

"???"

The chat exploded with question marks. Many of the girls started wailing, their minds conjuring up a tragic story: their cute, "innocent" Yaoyao, deceived by a scumbag, pregnant out of wedlock, abandoned by the man, and now forced to stream with a baby bump just to shoulder the burdens of life alone...

'Is this some kind of mandatory real-life drama event for every VTuber?'

Just as Jiangg Yao was about to say she was joking...

Suddenly, her sharp ears caught the sound of the front door opening.

Delighted, Jiangg Yao immediately put down her phone. It had to be Ningning.

"Sis! My dearest sister!"

She threw open the door and gave Jiangg Ning a passionate bear hug!

...

Truth be told, Ning was exhausted when she got back. She wasn't the kind of person who drew energy from social interaction. If Yaoyao was a homebody by nature, then Jiangg Ning was the type who thrived in quiet environments. Overly lively social scenes tended to drain her energy, and she needed to recharge afterward. When her energy was low, she would appear listless and weak.

She wouldn't have the energy to go out again until she was mostly recharged.

Holing up in the study to read, listening to music, or cooking by herself would help her recover her energy more quickly.

This is what she usually did.

There was another way, which was to spend time with Jiangg Yao. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The two sisters were as close as could be, and when they were together, there was always a wonderful, comfortable atmosphere between them.

The moment she opened the door and saw Yaoyao's infectiously cute smile, Jiangg Ning immediately felt much better.

'She was actually quite touched. 'So... my little sister really missed me too?''

After the hug, Jiangg Yao took Ningning's hand and started hopping around her. "Sis is finally back~ Which means the rest of the night is mine~ You must have been so lonely by yourself~ Now I can go find my little master~"

The few sentences blended into a cheerful little song that played on a loop in Ningning's ears like a cursed melody.

The smile on her lips gradually froze, and her expression soon turned blank.

With a THWACK, Jiangg Yao cried out and clutched her head.

"Why did you hit me?"

"Because you deserved it!"

"Psycho! You big weirdo! Stinky Ningning!"

"Just get out of here, I'm going to rest. Go be Chen's little puppy. I don't want to see your face tomorrow, either."

"As if I want to see you! Pfft!"

Jiangg Yao bared her pearly whites at her sister menacingly before pattering off into the walk-in closet to change and go find Chen Yuan.

With a SLAM...

The door was shut.

The entire apartment fell silent, not a single sound to be heard.

Jiangg Ning sat alone on the sofa, a strange mix of emotions welling up inside her.

In any case, their game of love was now on the right track. The two sisters had grown accustomed to dating Chen Yuan together, and their disagreements were becoming less and less frequent. In the past, Jiangg Ning would have felt the psychological burden was too heavy and that their arrangement was unfair to Chen.

Gradually, she seemed to be influenced by Yaoyao as well.

She was beginning to forget just how absurd she'd once found the whole situation.

A year ago, Jiangg Ning could never have imagined she would compromise her principles time and time again.

'Perhaps love really can change a person.'

Jiangg Ning didn't know if this change was for the better or for the worse. All she knew was that she had begun to crave the feeling of being with Chen Yuan, and she could almost see a brilliant, shining future that she yearned for.

...

Sometimes your brain plays tricks on you. You might only have been asleep for ten-odd minutes, but it can feel like hours have passed in the blink of an eye.

Chen Yuan even noticed a fragrant scent drift past him as he dozed.

Then, a pair of legs rested on his backside.

Strands of soft, messy hair tickled his neck, and then the sensation vanished.

Chen Yuan reached out a hand. His fingers brushed against an impossibly smooth calf, cool to the touch. It felt so good that he couldn't resist giving the soft flesh a little squeeze.