Ye Li was jolted awake by hunger.
The kind that gnawed relentlessly at her insides.
Opening her eyes, she found herself still lying on the cold floor, though a ragged quilt had been draped over her.
She didn't need to guess—with Duoduo’s tiny arms and legs, there was no way the child could have hoisted her onto the bed.
Her surroundings were just as they had been before she lost consciousness: an utter, chaotic mess strewn across the floor.
The little girl was nowhere to be seen, but the sound of trickling water came from the bathroom.
Bracing herself with limp, trembling hands, Ye Li barely managed to roll over and sit up. Every inch of her body felt miserable—utterly drained, weak, and dizzy.
Yet in the next second, she froze, subconsciously testing her arms and legs.
Only then did she realize that her previously broken arms and dislocated leg had fully knit back together.
So the wretched state she felt right now was simply because she was starved out of her mind!
Just how long had she been lying here?
Ye Li furrowed her brows, finding it strange. Logically speaking, she shouldn't have fallen into such a dead, heavy sleep.
“Duoduo...” Ye Li called out softly.
The sound that scraped past her lips was dry and raspy, like a rusty saw grating against withered bark.
Patter, patter, patter...
At the sound of hurried footsteps, Duoduo came running out, clutching a dripping-wet towel in her tiny hands.
Seeing her sister awake, the child’s dark, luminous eyes instantly brightened with joy. But in the next second, her little mouth crumpled, and she burst into tears with a loud “Wah!”
Sobbing, Duoduo threw herself into Ye Li’s arms, wrapping her little hands tightly around her neck and burying her head into the crook of her shoulder, venting all her bottled-up grievances and terror without restraint.
Ye Li was already frail, and the sudden impact nearly knocked her over. She wobbled, only barely steadying the two of them.
“All right, what are you crying for? Look, I'm fine, aren't I?”
With some effort, she raised a hand to pat the little crybaby in her arms, gently prying her off before asking weakly, “Is there anything to eat? Quick, bring your sister something. I'm about to starve to death!”
Duoduo nodded frantically, wiped away her tears, and scurried off to fetch food for Ye Li.
A small bowl of vegetable porridge, along with a dry multigrain flatbread.
Dinner had passed long ago, so both the porridge and flatbread were stone cold. But starving as she was, Ye Li wolfed them down, savoring every bite as though it were a delicacy.
Having barely appeased her ravenous stomach, she felt as if she had truly returned to the land of the living.
After catching her breath for a bit longer, Ye Li pushed herself up. She decided to tidy up the mess on the floor before lights-out—at the very least, she needed to make up a clean bed so they could sleep that night.
Duoduo followed her around sensibly, pitching in to help.
“Little squirt, how long was I asleep?” Ye Li asked while tidying.
Duoduo thought for a moment, then held up a single finger.
“What?” Ye Li paused, her face filled with astonishment. “I only slept for one day?”
Based on her previous self-healing rate, injuries like that should have taken at least four or five days to recover. How could it have only been one day?
And that overwhelming hunger she felt upon waking—she shouldn't have felt that starved unless she had gone without food for three to five days!
“Did you count wrong?” she couldn't help asking.
Duoduo shook her head, holding up her single finger with utmost certainty.
Just one day!
Ye Li furrowed her brows. “Did anyone else come by?”
Could someone have come to treat her?
Yet Duoduo shook her head again. No one had come.
Ye Li fell silent, filled with doubt.
No one had come, yet her wounds had mysteriously healed in such a short window. Could it be...?
Her gaze couldn't help drifting toward the little girl beside her, a flicker of suspicion rising in her eyes.
Before she could dwell on it any further, however, Ye Li had bigger problems.
Because the little crybaby was crying again!
Underneath a pile of torn bedsheets, Duoduo had found her lost teddy bear. But the bear was ruined beyond recognition—its entire head had been ripped off, and the cotton stuffing spilled out all over the place.
Seeing her only toy destroyed, the child crumpled her lips in sorrow, fat teardrops rolling down one after another, heartbroken.
Ye Li was powerless to help. The bear’s head was shredded to pieces; even if she had a needle and thread, there was no sewing it back together.
She patted Duoduo’s little head out of sympathy, quickly finished making the bed, dug out half a bar of soap, and headed into the bathroom.
By the time Ye Li washed up and came out, the lights in the corridor had already turned off.
The little crybaby was still squatting on the floor, sniffling as she mourned her “departed” teddy bear. She completely ignored Ye Li when called to bed.
Faced with a pouting child throwing a tantrum, Ye Li felt rather helpless.
After a moment’s thought, she went into the bathroom to grab a dry towel. With a few folds, she slipped two hair elastics from Duoduo’s braids, secured them on the left and right, and took the ribbon bow from the teddy bear’s body, tying it neatly around the towel. Just like that, a brown towel bear wearing a ribbon bow was born.
“Here!”
Ye Li shoved the towel bear into the hands of the dazed little girl, speaking in a thoroughly impatient tone. “Hurry up and get into bed. Make any more noise and I'll smack you!”
Duoduo gently stroked the towel bear with her little hand, her tear-brimmed eyes filled with wonder and delight.
Suddenly looking up at Ye Li, she lunged straight into her arms, puckered her lips, and planted a kiss right on her sister’s cheek.
The sudden affection caught Ye Li completely off guard.
Although she and Duoduo had grown much closer lately, this was the first time the child had ever been this affectionate toward her.
By the time Ye Li snapped out of it, Duoduo had already obediently scrambled into bed.
She seemed thoroughly exhausted; the moment her head hit the pillow, she fell fast asleep, even letting out faint little snores between breaths.
Looking at the child fast asleep while clutching her new toy, Ye Li’s lips curved upward slightly, an unconscious tenderness rippling in her eyes...
The next day, Ye Li’s sudden recovery caught the attention of the research institute, and she was taken straight to the laboratory.
After a battery of tests, the results came as a surprise.
Ye Li had completed her secondary mutation in a single day.
This explained why her severe injuries had healed in such a short span of time.
Her overwhelming hunger had also been caused by the massive energy consumption during the mutation process.
As for why her secondary mutation had begun so abruptly without warning, no definitive cause could be found; they could only chalk it up to an acute stress reaction.
Judging from the current test results, apart from a faster self-healing rate, her ability hadn't developed any new variations—it remained a completely useless, negligible ability!
Ye Li didn't react much to this conclusion.
On the surface, she maintained her facade of a slacker just waiting around to die, but in her heart, she knew she couldn't stay in this institute for much longer.
Those without value would only be discarded without mercy!
In the days that followed, Ye Li never saw Zhao Lei again.
When she asked the new guard, the guard didn't state it outright, but hinted between the lines that Zhao Lei was dead.
Yet Ye Li couldn't shake a strange feeling, especially regarding what Zhao Lei had told her before—his words had clearly held a deeper meaning!
Three days later, Qiao Bei finally returned.
He looked noticeably thinner, having apparently suffered a great deal during his secondary mutation.
Duoduo was overjoyed to have her brother back, clinging to his arm almost the entire day without letting go, sticking to him like chewing gum.
Finally relieved of babysitting duties, Ye Li was naturally glad for the peace and quiet.
To her surprise, as soon as the lights went out for the night, Duoduo climbed onto her bed anyway, insisting on sleeping with her sister.
No matter how Ye Li threatened and intimidated her, Duoduo remained unfazed, having completely figured out that she was nothing more than a paper tiger.
Ye Li was rendered speechless with annoyance, turning her back resentfully and ignoring the little brat.
Watching the two of them squabble, Qiao Bei found it amusing, though he couldn't help feeling touched.
Duoduo was a timid and sensitive child; unless someone truly treated her well, she would never grow this close to them.
Big Sister really had it rough these past few days!
As the night deepened and Qiao Bei was fast asleep, he suddenly felt someone patting him.
He blearily opened his eyes to see Ye Li crouching by his bedside. Her pitch-black eyes were fixed on him, shimmering with starlight; a slight smirk curved her thin lips, and her voice was cool and eerie, like a siren bewitching hearts in the dead of night.
“Hey. Want to break out of prison with me?”
Rate on N.U.
