Cold was the first clear sensation.

It was a bone-deep cold, as if even the air itself was about to freeze.

The air seemed filled with countless tiny ice needles, piercing his exposed skin. The white mist of his breath was instantly torn apart by the wind.

The dim streetlights couldn't illuminate the entire street, leaving only small halos of light struggling to survive amidst the swirling snowflakes. Dirty footprints in the snow, blurry shadows covered by a layer of pale new snow.

The entire world was a swaying patchwork of interwoven gray and white.

Only the howling of wind filled his ears, snow pellets crackling as they hit the ground. He was so cold his teeth chattered uncontrollably.

His frozen fingers fumbled clumsily through the garbage pile. His sense of touch had gone numb, only the biting cold remained. At his neck, a small metal necklace warmed by his body heat pressed against his skin.

Was this his? It should be, though he couldn't remember clearly.

But it was already one of the few things on his body that didn't belong to the garbage pile.

A thin old necklace, worn smooth and shining.

"Ugh..." The sharp pain from his fingers jolted his senses awake. He hurriedly moved to the streetlight beside the garbage bin, where the dim light revealed bright red, warm liquid flowing out.

He silently wiped away the blood. The sharp pangs of hunger from his stomach made this small pain utterly insignificant.

The snow continued falling. It wouldn't pause even a moment for people's suffering.

Suddenly, a tiny, discordant sound came through. He instantly became alert, struggling to focus his gaze. In the shadows of a corner, another dark shape was huddled.

That shadow was almost buried by snow, with only a pair of small eyes filled with tears, staring fixedly at him. In the dimness they reflected faint light, filled with deep wariness and fear.

The small body shivered under thin, tattered cloth. The tender white face bore many scars.

She trembled, her entire being radiating a sense of helplessness that invited abuse. Her palms were also small and had grown stiff with cold, but she still used all her strength to rub them together, desperately seeking that last bit of warmth.

He felt his heart being gripped tight by that gaze. What kind of look was that?

Even as she was about to be extinguished by the cold wind, she still radiated a cry for life, radiating tenacious vitality. Something that had never appeared in him before, and it pierced him deeply.

What could he do? He was also panicked by cold and hunger, but those pure eyes pierced through his numb shell like steel needles.

Somehow, he suddenly wanted to do something. He said nothing, only slowly and clumsily moved a little closer.

But the little one immediately took a wary defensive stance, like tenacious grass.

He froze, carefully thinking for a moment.

He extended his stiff, frozen fingers, trembling as he reached behind his neck and clumsily undid the small clasp.

The necklace carrying his body heat slipped into his dirty palm. He greedily clutched it tight for a moment.

Then he opened his palm toward her. Not food, and certainly not warm clothing. It was that old necklace carrying his meager body heat. At the end of the chain was just a small iron ring.

This was an invitation.

That was the only valuable thing he had left–the slight warmth on the necklace.

A silent, clumsy invitation, with only the sound of wind and snow, and the pure stubbornness in their eyes.

Time seemed to freeze for a few seconds in the wind and snow. The wariness in those eyes slowly faded like the snowstorm, replaced by a bewildered, inexplicable trust.

But that small hand didn't touch the chain. Instead, it gently rested on his open palm.

Then it didn't move.

What? He grew anxious. He clumsily used his frozen fingers to gently place that necklace carrying his body heat around that thin neck.

The warm metal touched her cold skin. That tiny bit of weak warmth seemed incredibly precious in this bone-piercing cold night.

She froze. The stubbornness in her small eyes completely crumbled. Tears filled her eye sockets and slid down her cheeks. She trembled, then threw herself into his arms.

He froze, but it was really too cold, so he also wrapped his arms around her back.

Two ice-cold bodies held each other tightly in this cold night, two stubbornly beating hearts separated by only a few layers of flesh.

Soft sobbing sounds came, then turned into wailing cries that seemed insignificant in the wind and snow, but in his ears, they were deafening.

Feeling the slowly rising body heat, he bit his teeth and held back his tears, not crying out.

He had a home.

That year, he was 6, she was 5.

…

The blurry memories jumped illogically. The bone-piercing cold was instantly replaced by suffocating stuffiness. That fragile warmth of depending on each other in the snowy night was like thin ice dropped into boiling water, melting away in an instant.

Before his eyes was no longer that small figure who depended on him, but a well-dressed man and woman. Before his eyes were no longer wind, snow and garbage piles, but a warm, bright room.

They were blindingly well-dressed, their expensive aura completely at odds with him. Their faces were very blurry, but their gazes were clearly hurtful, undisguised scrutiny, disgust, and a trace of condescending pity.

Enormous sadness pressed on his chest like a boulder, making him unable to breathe or catch his breath. Even heavier were the words of accusation. He could no longer remember what they said, but he only remembered that every word was like a water-soaked leather whip, lashing him painfully.

What did he have? Even that old necklace symbolizing meager shelter and promise seemed to have its traces erased by this crushing disparity. On the table lay a stack of bills that the man and woman had casually thrown out. Something that would take him a very long time of work to earn, yet they tossed it aside like waste paper without care.

That tiny thing that meant nothing to them was the price for severing their connection.

He was truly afraid of loneliness, but this fear made him feel incredibly selfish and ugly. How could he, because of his own fear, forcibly drag her to remain in this endless darkness?

As it turned out, only he had no home.

He couldn't say a word. Like a marionette, he stiffly turned around, every step requiring enormous effort.

Behind him seemed to come unbridled laughter, but none of that mattered anymore. His former world had collapsed, leaving only one path.

Lonely, dark, leading nowhere.

He had no home anymore.

That year, he was 16, she was 15.

...

A crack appeared in the darkness of consciousness, and his heavy eyelids lifted with difficulty. What followed was a warm, comfortable sensation.

Xie Ci struggled to open his eyes. What met his gaze was a spacious and comfortable room, understated yet luxurious interior design, exquisite furniture, and pristine white walls.

Where is this...

The memories from his dream receded like a tide, fading away, leaving only an enormous feeling of loss in his heart, accompanied by severe headaches. His heart felt completely hollow, as if someone had torn out half of it.

After a long while, the headache disappeared.

But his face felt wet. He raised his hand to touch it.

Tears.

His other hand felt a warm, smooth sensation in his palm, being gripped tightly.

Xie Ci turned his head. In his blurry vision was Dong Ye Li's sleeping face, her pure white pretty face written with worry. Her black hair was scattered messily on the bed, and that red outfit was wrinkled, as if it had been soaked and dried.

Ah, so that's how it is...

He looked at Dong Ye Li sleeping deeply, gripping that warm hand in return, greedily absorbing the warmth of this moment. The unease in his heart was dispelled, but then immediately filled with numbness.

He quietly looked at the unfamiliar ceiling, coming back to his senses. Suddenly remembering something, he opened the system interface.

[Mission Completed]

[Congratulations player for successfully passing the beta mission—Black Iris]

[The black petals shed their gloom, blooming into rare deep blue iris]

[But the shadows of despair still loom, the hope of rebirth is only temporary]

[The price of salvation has manifested: Player will be unable to accumulate wealth or improve status through any normal means, only through love-starved rich women bound to this system.]

[Mission Triggered: Deep blue iris temporarily opens, personal fate still not in Dong Ye Li's hands]

[Please bind more love-starved rich women and enter their hearts to improve your status, adding weight to the scales of fate for the near future]

[Next target estimated to appear in a few days]

[Target hint: Twin lotus blooming at different times]

Translator’s Corner

Tenacious Grass: Resilience, persistence. Just cause it can exist almost everywhere and even if trampled, will eventually stand tall again.

It felt like I was reading a different novel for a bit. How intersting.

-Ruminas

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