After dropping out of school, I chose to join a girls' band.

“Next time… if you catch a cold, I’ll definitely bring you some green onions and garlic to visit you,” Nagasaki Motoyo said with a smile.

"What are you visiting?" A gentle voice suddenly interrupted their conversation.

"Visiting Aine... Ah." Su Shi paused for a moment, then quickly turned to look at the source of the voice. She saw Hinasaki Tsuki wearing a thin nightgown, slowly walking down the stairs.

"Xiaoyue?" Su Shi looked at her in surprise.

Li hope rushed to Yue's side almost instantly, holding her arm tightly, and said urgently, "Why did you get down? You haven't fully recovered yet, how could you get out of bed?"

"Mmm." Yue nodded gently. Although her face was still as pale as paper and beads of sweat occasionally appeared on her forehead, she felt much better than when she was unconscious.

"I feel much better," Yue's voice was still a little weak and slightly hoarse, but compared to the weakness she had just shown, it probably just sounded like her throat was damaged.

"My body is no longer feverish. Although I'm still a bit weak, at least I can get out of bed and walk around," Yue described her current physical condition.

Although she wasn't sure whether her recovery was due to the natural healing process or the effectiveness of the so-called "Baba Enbo God's" prayers, she was deeply moved by everything everyone had done for her.

"Thank you all." Yue spoke softly to the people who came to visit and help her, her tone filled with heartfelt gratitude.

Of course, when Yue thought about the scene of having green onions and garlic hanging around her neck just now, and the suffocatingly high temperature in the room, she couldn't help but shiver.

Seeing Yue's expression, Ai Yin immediately revealed a smug smile and looked at Su Shi, saying, "See! I told you our method worked!"

Upon hearing this, Su Shi couldn't help but roll her eyes, tilting her head slightly and muttering to herself, "So that Baba Enbo god actually works?"

Climax Stage: Chapter Sixty-Seven - A Playful Confession

That evening, everyone from Mygo had gone home, except for Shiina Riki, who decided to stay at Tsuki's house to take care of her.

Yue leaned back on the sofa, sighed helplessly, and looked through the half-open door at the busy figure in the kitchen.

“Lixi…I’m really alright…You can go back,” Yue said, her tone carrying a hint of persuasion.

However, Lixi in the kitchen showed no sign of relaxing, and even added a hint of reproach to her tone: "No."

Her gaze remained fixed on the seafood porridge in the pot, her movements quick and focused.

As she stirred the ingredients in the pot, she continued, "You've only just recovered. What if something else goes wrong? There's no one home. What if you get a fever again?"

"But...you haven't been back for several days now, are you really okay?" Yue couldn't help but ask, her gaze gently falling on Lixi.

Lixi stopped what she was doing, looked at the porridge in the pot, and then slowly said, "It's okay... I've already told my family."

Yue Wei paused for a moment, pursed her lips, and ultimately said nothing more.

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The aroma from the kitchen grew stronger, filling the room with the fragrance of seafood porridge.

Yue's appetite was whetted; having only consumed liquids all day, she was now feeling quite hungry.

She turned her head and looked at Lixi's focused expression in the kitchen, but felt too embarrassed to sneak in and eat beforehand.

Fortunately, Li hope didn't keep her waiting too long. She came over with two steaming bowls of seafood porridge, placed one bowl in front of Yue, and the other in front of herself.

Yue took the spoon, gently scooped up a mouthful of porridge, and put it in her mouth. The warm taste immediately filled her mouth, and the freshness of the seafood and the fragrance of the rice porridge blended perfectly.

Her brows relaxed slightly, and a faint smile appeared on her lips: "So delicious... I didn't expect Lixi to cook so well."

"Well..." Lixi also scooped up a spoonful and put it in her mouth, "Maybe this is the only thing I'm better at than my sister at home?"

Yue looked up at Lixi and asked with a hint of curiosity, "Speaking of which... I haven't met Lixi's older sister yet. When will you introduce her to me?"

Upon hearing this, Li hope paused for a moment, a barely perceptible hesitation flashing in her eyes, before nodding slightly: "...There should be an opportunity later."

Yue sensed the hesitation in Li hope's words and didn't press further, simply continuing to eat her porridge.

The atmosphere inside the room returned to quiet, with only the occasional soft clinking of a spoon against the rim of a bowl echoing in the still night.

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After dinner, Yue leaned lazily against the sofa, her eyes fixed on the television screen, but her attention was not on the news program at all. Her gaze kept involuntarily drifting to the kitchen, where Shiina Tatsuki was busy washing dishes.

The gentle sound of water lapping against the porcelain plate was exceptionally clear in the quiet room, while Lixi's focused figure appeared particularly warm under the warm yellow light. Yue's gaze unconsciously lingered on Lixi, her mind replaying the day's gentle care she had received.

Feeling the intense gaze behind her, Li hope shifted her shoulders uncomfortably and glanced back at Yue: "Wh...what's wrong? I feel a little strange that you're staring at me like that."

Yue was startled and realized that she had been caught staring at Li hope in a daze, and her cheeks flushed slightly.

She bit her lip, hesitated for a moment, and felt an unprecedented impulse quietly growing in her heart.

Perhaps because of her illness, the physical fatigue and fever caused emotions she usually dared not express to quietly surface.

"Hmm... I was taken care of by Rikki all day today..." Yue's voice was a little soft, but full of tender feelings. "I feel like I can't live without Rikki anymore... I really want to marry Rikki."

As soon as she finished speaking, Lixi froze in the kitchen. The bowl and dishcloth in her hands stopped in mid-air, and she seemed to be frozen in place.

She turned back to look at Yue, her face filled with disbelief and bewilderment: "...Huh?"

Seeing Li hope's stunned expression, Yue felt a small fire burning in her heart, and her face instantly turned bright red.

Realizing what she had just said, her heart raced, and a wave of shyness washed over her.

"...I'm going to take a shower!" Yue quickly made up an excuse, jumped up from the sofa, and walked quickly towards the bathroom without even turning her head. Her steps were light but hurried as she hurried away from the awkward atmosphere.

Li hope remained stunned in the kitchen, watching Yue's figure disappear behind the bathroom door.

Her heart was pounding faster than usual, a faint blush rose to her ears, and her mind was still replaying Yue's bold words.

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In the bathroom, Hinasaki held her head and banged it against the wall again and again.

Of course... she had put a towel under her arm beforehand, because she was afraid of getting hurt.

"Aaaaaaah!!! Hinasaki, what on earth are you thinking?!" she cried out in her mind, her face burning with embarrassment.

The words she had just blurted out were etched deeply into her mind like a brand, replaying endlessly.

Steam gradually filled the bathroom mirror, blurring her figure.

She couldn't help but cover her face with her hands again, her fingertips touching her burning cheeks, feeling as if the temperature of her whole body was about to evaporate.

"I actually said I'd marry Lixi..." She was filled with remorse, feeling like she could never face Lixi again.

"It's over... I'm really hopeless." Yue leaned against the bathroom wall, feeling the cool tiles behind her bring a sense of calm, but her thoughts were still not at peace.

"Really... how could I say such a thing!" She kept blaming herself in her heart, her hands still covering her burning face, the shame in her heart almost overwhelming her.

Yue looked down helplessly at her blurry reflection on the water in the bathroom, and a complex mix of emotions welled up inside her.

She recalled Lixi's expression at that moment and couldn't help but imagine his reaction at that moment—did he think she was joking, or did a different feeling flash through his mind?

"Could it be that Li hope... actually has feelings for me too..." This thought popped into her mind.

"No, no... I'm definitely overthinking it." Yue shook her head, trying to banish these chaotic thoughts from her mind.

Climax Stage: Chapter Sixty-Eight - Three Great Illusions...?

Three great illusions in life: My phone is vibrating, I can turn the tables, and she likes me.

And now, our Miss Hinasaki is deeply trapped in the third kind of illusion and cannot extricate herself.

"Lixi...you wouldn't really have any thoughts about what I said, would you?" Yue stared at the rising steam in the bathroom, looking somewhat dazed.

"No, no, how could Lixi like me... We're just friends, and she hasn't shown any particular interest in me..." Yue desperately tried to convince herself.

She tried hard to recall Lixi's usual behavior, attempting to find any evidence that could prove their relationship was just that of "ordinary friends".

However, the more carefully one thinks back, the more one feels that some of their usual actions seem rather "unusual".

"Yes, yes... Lixi and I are definitely just friends. It's normal for female friends to make jokes like this... right?" Yue tried to calm down, clutching the towel in her hand, and fell into self-comfort.

"Right, I've always said I'm straight, so Lixi definitely won't misunderstand, right..." she continued to explain in her mind, but her heart was beating faster and faster, and the blush on her face hadn't faded.

"Aaaaaah... If I really am straight... why am I so embarrassed by these kinds of questions!" She covered her face with a towel, feeling a surge of frustration, trying to shake all those chaotic thoughts out of her mind.

"It's over...it's over..." Yue's heart began to waver, and she began to doubt whether she was straight or gay.

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Compared to Hinasaki, who was wallowing in self-pity in the bathroom, Shiina Ritsuki, who had just finished washing the dishes, seemed much calmer.

Her movements remained orderly, and everything in the kitchen was tidied up perfectly, with the sound of water gradually subsiding.

However, upon closer inspection, one would notice that Lixi's expression seemed overly focused, even somewhat deliberately serious, as if using his busyness to mask his inner turmoil.

She gently wiped the last bowl, but her movements were much slower than usual, as if each effort was tinged with hesitation.

Her brows furrowed slightly from time to time, and Yue's words kept replaying in her mind—"I feel like I can't live without Rikki anymore, I really want to marry Rikki."

Upon thinking of this, Li Xi paused, and her originally calm expression instantly became somewhat out of control.

She couldn't help but recall Yue's shy yet playful tone. She took a deep breath, put the cleaned bowl back on the shelf, and tried to shake those irrelevant thoughts out of her mind.

"Xiaoyue...she must have just been joking..." Lixi murmured, trying to convince herself.

However, the still-present red mark on her ear, where the scars from the previous surgery had not yet faded, betrayed her current mood.

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As Yue lay on the edge of the bathtub, she felt the heat slowly rising from her body, gradually making her drowsy.

Although she wanted to stay in the bathroom and stay away from Lixi's sight, she was already weak from her illness, and the high temperature in the bathroom made it hard for her to breathe.

As the feeling of weakness gradually crept over her, she had no choice but to pull herself together and end this "escape."

She stood up from the bathroom, slowly dried herself with a towel, thinking that she should quickly put on her pajamas and go back to bed to rest.

However, when she reached out to grab her clean pajamas as usual, her fingers froze in mid-air—she was stunned.

"Oh no..." Yue murmured softly, a blush quickly creeping onto her face.

She suddenly realized that because she had said something so shameful like "I really want to marry Lixi," she had rushed into the bathroom and completely forgotten to bring clean pajamas.

The clothes I had just taken off... because everyone had turned off the air conditioner earlier, and because I was weak and sweating, my pajamas were already covered in sweat stains.

If she puts it on, then all her efforts in taking a shower will have been wasted.

Yue stood in the center of the bathroom, stunned for a few seconds, her eyes darting back and forth between the two choices.

Should she ask Lixi to get her clothes, or should she put on that old, sweat-stained dress again?

She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. Reason told her that the best thing to do was to ask Lixi for help, but shame kept pulling at her nerves, making her hesitate.