Watching Pantalone's departing figure, Chen Xi had hundreds of curses spitting out, but he could only hold them back for fear of affecting Analis.

Staring at the dozens of similar-looking keys in his hand, Chen Xi had to distinguish which one was the key to the room, cursing Pantalone dozens of times in his mind.

Would someone like that try inserting each key into the keyhole to enter their own room?

Driven by curiosity, Chen Xi went up to the third floor and saw Pantalone bending down to try out the keys one by one in the keyhole in the corridor.

Feeling much better now, he went back to try the keys, separating all the keys on the keychain. He had Analys hold the keys he had tried and string them together, while the ones he hadn't tried were thrown on the ground. He tried them one by one until one of the keys could be inserted into the keyhole.

……

……

after an hour

With the last key successfully unlocking the door, an excited Chen Xi picked up Anaris and performed a feat of conjuring up a steak out of thin air.

Analys looked at Chen Xi with admiration and asked curiously, "Big brother, are you a magician too? My dad took me to see one before."

Chen Xi placed her on a chair. Based on his understanding of various countries, Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, and Sumeru were far less advanced. Nata, a country of war, was constantly at war and would never develop a performing arts industry. Only Fontaine, a country of justice, and Winter, a country devoid of divine mercy, would have the profession of magician.

This piqued Chen Xi's curiosity: "Where did you see Xiao Ana before?"

Analis sat in the chair, swinging her little legs back and forth, remembering something very happy: "At home, on my birthday, my dad brought a magician uncle to celebrate with me."

"Uncle Magician is amazing! He pulls out several cards from his hat, holds them in his hand, and scatters them into the air, whereupon they turn into pigeons!"

Chen Xi pinched Analis's slightly chubby cheeks: "Well, little Analis should go to sleep now. Big brother is going home tomorrow, so you have to get up early."

Anaris blinked her adorable big eyes, making it impossible to refuse: "Big brother, can you tell me a story to lull me to sleep?"

Chen Xi subconsciously replied, "Sure, little Ana, lie down on the bed and cover yourself with the blanket."

At the same time, Chen Xi was frantically calling out to the system in his mind: System, come out quickly, can you tell a story?

System: No, I'm just a system. But I'll check online, please wait a moment, host...

A few seconds later, a bunch of text appeared in Chen Xi's mind. After reading it through, she realized it was a healing story.

Analis lay in bed, gazing expectantly at Chen Xi beside her.

Chen Xi was gathering her emotions, clearing her throat a few times to soften her voice: "Once upon a time, there was a queen who sat by the window. The garden outside was covered in snow, the mountains were covered in snow, the paths were covered in snow, the trees and rooftops were covered in snow—everything was a vast expanse of white. In her hands she held some cloth and a needle, as white as snow itself. The queen was making a garment for a child, saying, 'I want my child to be as white as this cloth, as white as snow; I will call her Snow White.'"

A few days later, the queen gave birth to a child who was as white as snow, and the queen named her "Snow White". However, the queen fell seriously ill and died a few days later. Snow White survived and was a very happy and beautiful child.

A year after the queen's death, the king married another queen. The new queen was very beautiful, but she was not a kind woman. A wizard gave the new queen a talking mirror, which hung on the wall of her room. Every day, the queen looked in the mirror, admiring her own beauty. When she looked in the mirror, she asked, "Tell me, magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" The magic mirror replied, "The queen is the fairest of them all."

Years passed, and Snow White grew into a young woman. One day, the Queen looked in the mirror and said, "Tell me, magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" The magic mirror replied, "Snow White is the fairest of them all."

When the Queen heard these words, she was furious. She said, "Snow White is not as beautiful as I am; no one is more beautiful than me." Then the Queen sat on her bed and wept. An hour later, the Queen came out of her room and summoned a servant, saying, "Take Snow White to the forest and kill her."

……

……

Then the prince told his servants to lift the coffin. As they lifted it, one of the servants tripped and fell, knocking the coffin to the ground. Snow White fell with it, and the apple fell out of her mouth. She woke up, sat up, and said, "Where am I?" The prince said, "Come with me. I have never seen anyone as beautiful as you. Come with me and be my queen." The prince and Snow White married, and she became queen.

As Chen Xi was engrossed in telling the story, his gaze inadvertently swept over Analis. The child's eyes were already closed, her breathing was even and calm, and she was sleeping soundly.

It seems I'm quite good at storytelling. What other tasks are there?

Oh right, I'll have Pantalone take me back.

Without further ado, he went up to the third floor, pushed open Pantalone's door, and barged in.

Under the lamplight, a beautiful woman with long black hair, wearing silver-rimmed glasses, sat at her desk reviewing documents. Her pale face and the dark circles under her eyes were very noticeable, making her look even more sickly.

Chen Xi didn't intend to hide it from him, and walked up to him and said frankly, "Brother Pantalone, I want to go back."

Pantalone's gaze fell on Chen Xi, a hint of displeasure flashing in his eyes: "Aren't you used to living here?"

Chen Xi brought up the "[Doctor]": "[Doctor]'s experiment needs me as a test subject." The implication was that she wanted to leave.

That wasn't a very good reason. Pantalone scoffed, "Ha, this is the first time I've heard of someone eagerly seeking to be a test subject. Wouldn't it be better for them to stay with me?"

Despite the capitalists' mockery, Chen Xi remained defiant: "He needs me, and I need him."

The reason was perfectly valid, and Pantalone agreed: "Okay, when do you plan to leave?"

Chen Xi: "Tomorrow."

……

……

After a long silence, Pantalone seemed to be in a bad mood, but a smile remained on her face, and her voice was gentle as the wind: "Come here, sit on my lap, I have a little gift for you."

Chen Xi sat on his lap, meeting his slightly narrowed eyes. A glint of light suddenly flashed across his glasses as he took off a ring from his finger, gently took Chen Xi's hand, and slipped it onto the middle finger of Chen Xi's right hand.

Knowing that Pantalone, as a capitalist, never did anything that lost money, Chen Xi felt a strange emotion welling up inside him: "What's wrong with you?"

Pantalone: ​​"I just thought you might never see me again, so I'm giving you this as a keepsake."

"..."

Chen Xi: ? ? ? So you think I'm going to die?

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