No matter what, the progress bar for Yu Mian’s beginner task of gaining 10,000 popularity points was now increasing at an absurd speed.
A few hours earlier, after seeing that the manuscript had been successfully submitted and entered the platform’s review process, Yu Mian collapsed in exhaustion, subconsciously slumping over the desk.
For some reason, while the interstellar light brain allowed faster typing, it seemed to consume an enormous amount of energy as well.
After pouring all his focus into completing the opening 30,000 characters, Yu Mian’s eyelids were almost too heavy to lift and he looked completely listless.
Originally, he had wanted to go back to the aquarium, but he didn’t even have the strength to do that.
The beautiful fishtail also drooped pitifully onto the carpet.
He didn’t know if the task would be completed after the review and publication process.
Also, when exactly was that person going to send people to move and throw away the aquarium as they had mentioned earlier?
“Squeak—”
Just as Yu Mian was drifting into a half-asleep state, the door to the study quietly creaked open.
But the person pushing the door seemed very short, so he had to and on tip top to reach the gilded handle.
After much effort to make it here, Huo Yan clung to the door and peeked outside for a long time.
After confirming that he had successfully shaken off the nanny and her group, he smugly shut the door and began to inspect his cousin’s study curiously.
He had to be careful. If he got caught, he would definitely get scolded to death.
His main mission was to steal back the failing grade report card that the school had sent over…
If Cousin Huo Ting found out, his parents, who were currently visiting an alien galaxy, would definitely find out too. And by then, he’d be doomed!
But just as Huo Yan was rummaging around and poked his head above the desk, he was caught off guard by the sight of Yu Mian slumped before him, and his eyes almost popped out.
Meanwhile, Yu Mian, whose head was pounding from exhaustion, groggily opened his eyes when he heard the noise.
One big and one small pair of eyes suddenly locked onto each other at close range.
“Y-you-you’re…! Mmph!”
Just as Huo Yan opened his mouth and ws stammering in astonishment, he was abruptly pulled into a slightly cool embrace, his mouth covered firmly.
“Mmph, mmph!?”
“Don’t scream, okay? I swear I’m not a bad guy…”
When the anxious Huo Yan tried to talk, Yu Mian hurriedly whispered in a low voice, trying to coax this little intruder who had appeared inexplicably.
It was finally quiet, and Yu Mian let out a sigh of relief.
But, why did it feel like he was holding a small, warm water bottle in his arms?
Yu Mian glanced down at the small child nestled in his arms, whose mouth was covered but whose face was turning red and heating up at an alarming rate.
Yu Mian blinked in confusion, completely oblivious to what a close range beauty attack meant.
But then voices came from outside the door:
“Yes, this is the place. We need to dispose of an aquarium…”
Yu Mian: …?!
‘They’re here to move the aquarium now? Do they really have to work so efficiently!?’
Yu Mian was so shocked that he even loosened his hand that was covering the mouth of the “little water bottle” and turned to look at the door.
Fortunately, the group paused briefly at the door.
“Hold on, I’m contacting Secretary Hals to confirm whether to proceed with the move now.”
It was the voice of the personal secretary in charge of logistical matters.
Although there were no important confidential work files in this study, as it was just a place where Master Huo Ting had studied and lived as a child, it still seemed necessary to confirm with Secretary Hals before entering.
After all, everyone was puzzled. This aquarium had just been installed not long ago.
Why had an entirely opposite order suddenly come through in such a short time?
But to Yu Mian, this brief waiting period felt like the agonizing moments before an execution.
It was better not to have it!
They might as well just break in directly…
“What’s wrong? Do you not want those people outside to come in?”
The now freed little “water bottle” didn’t make a fuss. Instead, he squatted next to Yu Mian’s fishtail obediently and whispered in an equally hushed tone, mimicking Yu Mian’s earlier approach.
“You look hurt. Your face is so pale. Do you need medicine?”
Even though Huo Yan’s grades at school were abysmal, his observational skills were always sharp.
“Your fishtail is so beautiful… can it move?”
At that moment, Huo Yan was like a walking encyclopedia of endless questions. Even though Yu Mian, who was listening intently to the sounds outside the door, didn’t respond, Huo Yan didn’t seem discouraged.
Instead, he quickly glanced at Yu Mian’s fishtail again, adjusted his position to squat further away, as if afraid of accidentally pressing on Yu Mian.
“…?”
Yu Mian, who had finally pulled his attention away from the door, was momentarily dumbfounded by the overly considerate actions of this little guy beside him.
Why was he imitating him by hiding here too?
Did he think this was a game of hide-and-seek?
“Aren’t you afraid that I might be a bad guy?” Yu Mian hesitated.
After all, judging by the quality of his attire, this little guy clearly wasn’t a simple person, yet he showed no vigilance whatsoever.
Could it be that kids in the interstellar era were all this naive and easy to fool?
If they were all like this, wouldn’t it be easy for human traffickers to abduct an entire kindergarten’s worth of children?
“Ah, how could you possibly be a bad guy!”
To Yu Mian’s surprise, Huo Yan was even more emotional than he was.
Yu Mian: ?
“Because you don’t look like a bad guy.”
Huo Yan’s tone was full of conviction.
“Is it my cousin? Did he kidnap you and bring you here?”
Faced with Yu Mian’s stunned expression, Huo Yan earnestly began brainstorming a reasonable explanation for him.
“And who’s your cousin?” Yu Mian sighed and leaned on the back of a chair. He didn’t understand how this little “water bottle” had arrived at such a conclusion, but he was too tired to explain anything.
After all, he really wasn’t a bad guy.
He was just a victim of an unreliable system!
All he had wanted was a light brain to help him start his career, but instead of manifesting it directly, the system had transported him next to someone else’s light brain, leading to his instant social death.
What kind of ridiculous novel would come with a social-death system like this?
“My cousin is Huo Ting… he’s a devil!”
At the mention of his cousin, Hou Yan’s expression twisted with apparent distress.
For someone so young, he seemed to have endured unspeakable torment.
If the situation weren’t so urgent, Yu Mian might have actually found talking to this little “hot water bottle” amusing.
But right now, he was completely drained, too weak to even lift his fishtail.
Even if he managed to crawl back to the aquarium, chances were high that both he and the tank would be thrown out together.
Hide behind the desk and pray not to be found… what would even happen in the end?
Yu Mian couldn’t figure it out either.
So after a moment of silence, Yu Mian, whose head was becoming more and more dizzy, couldn’t help but stretch out his hand and pinched Huo Yan’s chubby cheek.
Huo Yan: !
O///O
The previously indignant Huo Yan instantly turned bright red, his cheeks heating up once more.
Yu Mian usually found children terrifying, especially the ones who liked to scream and cry loudly.
But this little “hot water bottle” was quite interesting.
Though he had an eccentric personality, his manners and interactions revealed a well-bred upbringing.
Since he was going to die anyway, he might as well indulge himself a little.
“Wait, no! You’re suffering from severe mental exhaustion. How could you do something so dangerous? Don’t you even have basic common sense?”
As Yu Mian pinched Huo Yan’s face, the little dumpling suddenly realized something shocking through the physical contact.
The consequences of mental exhaustion were something no one in the interstellar era could afford to bear.
It meant the brain was completely exposed to the chaotic radiation of the universe without any protective measures.
Even though the central star system had the lowest radiation levels, no one dared to push their mental capacity to such extremes.
“Mental exhaustion?”
Right, this was an interstellar novel. Having a mental power system wasn’t surprising.
But did it mean that someone like him, who was transported into a book, would also have mental power?
While Yu Mian battled his drowsiness, he glanced at Huo Yan, who seemed increasingly anxious and at a loss for words.
“Yes! Your fingertips are already unconsciously trying to absorb my mental power. That’s a clear sign of extreme exhaustion!”
While obediently letting Yu Mian pinch his cheeks, Hou Yin frantically explained.
As a descendant of the Huo family, though significantly diluted by bloodlines, he had unexpectedly awakened as a first-tier mental power user.
“But I haven’t learned… I haven’t learned how to transfer mental power yet, so I can’t save you!”
For the first time in his life, Huo Yan deeply regretted not paying attention during class.
Mental power transfer was one of the emergency rescue skills taught to high-level mental power users.
Even his cousin had once explained the principles to him, but he had brushed it off at the time.
“No, I need to get Joanie and the others to call for help! Or I need to get my cousin to come back!”
The more Huo Yan thought about it, the more serious the situation seemed and he stood up in a panic.
If only his cousin were here, he would definitely be able to handle everything!
“But I can’t go to the hospital. I ended up here by accident,” Yu Mian murmured, growing more and more lethargic. He really couldn’t understand why the little guy was so anxious.
“Maybe I’ll feel better after a nap…”
Besides, he just wrote a few chapters, so it didn’t take much mental energy, right?
In fact, even before Yu Mian had entered this book, he frequently pulled all-nighters and wrote for long periods of time. Every time he finished an update, it always left him feeling utterly drained, like his brain was completely empty, and all he wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep.
In a sense, that could indeed be considered using up his mental power.
Although now, it did feel a little strange how sleepy he was…
Could it be that he had failed the task, didn’t gather enough popularity points, and was about to be ejected from this world?
Believing he had figured out the reason, Yu Mian couldn’t hold on any longer. The moment he finished speaking, he closed his eyes completely.
“No! Don’t fall asleep—!”
Seeing this, Huo Yan panicked and shouted, his eyes widening as he reached out to support Yu Mian.
“What’s going on in there?!”
The group outside the door heard the noise in the study. Munir, the leader of the group, immediately drew his gun and kicked the door open, aiming at the source of the sound.
“Young Master Hou Yan?! Why are you here in the study?”
Munir’s face had been stern and serious a second ago, but it froze when he saw the scene in the study, and his hand holding the gun faltered.
The usually mischievous and unruly Young Master Huo Yan stood in the middle of the room, teary-eyed.
And in his hands was…a fish?
“Waaah… huh?”
Huo Yan had been on the verge of breaking down, overwhelmed with emotion.
Now, surrounded by a group of people at the door, he blinked his watery eyes and looked down at his hands.
‘Huh?’
‘That handsome big brother is gone! ‘
In his palm was a small, fragile golden fish, silent and still.
Its beautiful tail hung limply, shimmering like scattered starlight—soft, delicate, and seemingly about to break.
“Are you… catching fish?”
Munir glanced at the fish in Huo Yan’s hand and then at the large ornamental aquarium nearby.
The explanation was absurd, but it made sense.
It was reasonable because this kind of thing seemed exactly like something the mischievous Young Master Huo Yan would do.
After all, the golden fish was indeed the most distinct and eye-catching one in the tank.
Even Munir couldn’t help but admit it was an unusually beautiful fish.
Perhaps the child found it amusing and had simply scooped it out of the water.
“If you keep playing like this, the fish is going to die,” Munir said after putting away his weapon and apologizing for the earlier intrusion.
“…”
Huo Yan realized he was misunderstood.
But remembering the big brother’s last words—”I can’t go to the hospital, I ended up here by accident”—he quickly realized that the other party probably didn’t want anyone to know of his existence.
Maybe he needed to keep this a secret.
After a long pause, Huo Yan carefully stood on tiptoe, using a stool to gently return the small fish to the water with a quiet “plop”.
To his relief, the fish didn’t float to the surface. Instead, it regained a bit of life.
Though its movements were slow and sluggish, it was clearly still alive.
Finally, the fish swam to the bottom of the tank and hid inside a conch shell, motionless except for a faint trace of its golden tail sticking out.
It looked as though it felt safe there.
“Is it treating the conch like a bed? Hiding inside to sleep? That’s actually pretty interesting,” Even Munir, a grown man, found himself amused by the sight.
After all, a massive, luxurious ornamental aquarium like this was rare in the interstellar world. Few places could afford one, let alone offer the chance to appreciate it.
“Actually, keeping it here in the study isn’t a bad idea. When you’re tired from work, you can look at the fish to relax your eyes and mind. Why throw it away, Secretary Munir?”
The others nearby seemed equally puzzled.
“What? Throw it away? Who gave the order to get rid of the tank?”
The moment Huo Yan, who had been observing the conch up close, heard the keyword “throw away”, he immediately became defensive.
The group looked at each other in confusion.
“Well, it’s Master Huo Ting’s order. Young Master, you don’t have the authority to stop it, do you?” Munir scratched his head, clearly in a bind.
“Master Huo Ting is currently handling urgent business. We’ve tried contacting him several times, but he hasn’t answered.”
“Then who originally decided to put this aquarium here?”
Huo Yan’s mind raced. If his cousin didn’t agree, then someone else must have arranged for the tank to be here!
“Uh, it was General Huo. But he’s not in the central star system right now. You know he always goes to the East Coast Resort every July and August for vacation.”
Huo Yan’s eyes lit up at Munir’s words.
“I’m going to call Grandpa! I miss him!”
Meanwhile, Yu Mian, who had already fallen asleep, had no idea that he would remain unconscious for five entire days.
During that time, the stormy and dramatic novel, “Contract Marriage”, which had only just begun with its intense, angst-filled opening, was left on a five-day hiatus!
