Then let the witch offer her loyalty

"Don't rush, eat slowly, no one will take it from you. See which snacks you like, and take some back with you."

Zhou Yan kept stuffing snacks into her mouth, saying indistinctly as she ate, "We're not allowed to bring food back to the dorm in the strictly controlled area."

Gu Qiaoqiao rarely showed a sly smile like a little fox: "It's okay, we'll do it secretly. You hide the food on Chen Moxin's body. He's a witch hunter, so the supervisor won't care what he's carrying."

"When you get back to the dorm, have him bring out the food for you, and then you can secretly hide it."

Zhou Yan's personality, which stemmed from long-term abuse and consequently developed an unfounded distrust of others, was clearly revealed at this moment.

She always felt that Gu Qiaoqiao was deliberately trying to harm her.

The plan was to trick her into bringing snacks so he could see her get punished by the authorities.

Seeing that distrustful and repulsive look in her eyes, Gu Qiaoqiao remained calm and even moved closer to Zhou Yan.

She lowered her voice and chuckled to Zhou Yan, "Let me tell you, when Chen Moxin and I were in high school, the dormitory supervisor was like a strict control zone supervisor, checking everything."

"I had a huge sweet tooth back then, and I had to outsmart the dorm manager every day. I often hid potato chips inside my padded jacket, since the jacket was already puffy and you couldn't tell at all."

“For those long, thin snacks, like fruit peel or something, I would stuff them into my wrist, cover them with my sleeve, and hey, nobody could see them.”

"Once I get to the dorm, I'll take them out and hide them, like under the mattress, but I'll be careful not to crush them. Or I can hide them on top of the closet; the dorm supervisor doesn't usually climb up to check..."

And so, Gu Qiaoqiao and Zhou Yan shared their high school dormitory life.

Zhou Yan had never been to school, so he was naturally curious about campus life.

Moreover, the topic was still about "hiding food," and her attention was gradually drawn to it.

Chapter 170 Time Management Master

Although Zhou Yan listened silently and barely responded while Gu Qiaoqiao spoke, the sense of rejection in his expression was disappearing.

In this way, Gu Qiaoqiao used similar experiences as a starting point to weaken Zhou Yan's guard against her, and used some professional psychological techniques to gradually close the distance between them.

Gu Qiaoqiao's professional skills in this area are undeniably superb. She consciously avoids sensitive issues such as her background and tries her best not to evoke Zhou Yan's painful memories, only talking about interesting things.

Furthermore, whenever she senses that Zhou Yan is resistant to the current topic, she will naturally steer the conversation in another direction.

This professional psychological counseling technique, coupled with Gu Qiaoqiao's sweet appearance and her girl-next-door charm, gives her an innate sense of approachability.

After spending half an hour together, Zhou Yan was already occasionally replying to her.

As the sun sets and night deepens, the aroma of food begins to fill the house.

Just as Zhou Yan was engrossed in eating snacks, Liu Lan's clear voice suddenly came from the kitchen: "Yan Yan, stop eating so many snacks, dinner is coming soon."

The elder-like tone, coupled with the adult-speaker address of "Yanyan" as a child, made Zhou Yan pause for a moment.

She was holding some snacks that she hadn't finished eating; in the past, she would have quickly stuffed them into her mouth.

But Liu Lan's call made her stop instinctively.

"okay..."

Zhou Yan agreed softly, put the snacks away, and kept glancing at the kitchen.

Through the transparent glass door, she stared blankly at the figure in the apron, her gaze seemingly lost in memories, as if time had flowed back to a moment in the past.

Before long, Liu Lan brought out the prepared dishes one by one.

Dinner was quite lavish; there were only four people eating, but Liu Lan prepared a full ten dishes.

There's a glossy, dark brown pork belly, the marbled pieces soaking up the broth, the glistening collagen shimmering slightly under the light. The stir-fried broccoli is vibrant green, perfectly seasoned, and garnished with a few carrot flower petals.

There were also tomato and egg soup, pan-fried ribbonfish, stir-fried minced meat with pickled green beans, and so on. All of these were home-style dishes, steaming hot and filling the table, looking very homey and inviting.

Chen Moxin looked at the table full of dishes and sighed, "Liu Lan, you made so many dishes, how are the four of us supposed to finish them all?"

Liu Lan wiped her wet hands on her scarf, sat down next to Zhou Yan, and smiled gently: "The child is still growing, of course he needs to eat more."

"Yanyan, if you don't have anything else to do, ask Chen Moxin to bring you here more often. If there's anything you particularly like to eat, you can tell me in advance and I'll cook it for you."

"Don't be shy, just make yourself at home here."

Zhou Yan held her rice bowl, head bowed, silently shoveling rice into her mouth. She didn't dare look up at Liu Lan, as if she was afraid that all of this was fake, a dream like a mirage, and that looking up would shatter it all.

The conversation at the dinner table was mainly between Chen Moxin and Gu Qiaoqiao, discussing everyday topics. Whenever they talked about funny things in their lives, they would burst into laughter.

As Liu Lan listened to the two chatting with a smile, she kept adding food to Zhou Yan's plate, urging her to eat more and make sure she was full.

Midway through, a piece of braised pork slipped from his grip and fell onto the table next to Zhou Yan's bowl.

Liu Lan casually picked up the dirty piece of meat and put it in her own bowl, then picked up a fresh piece and gave it to Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan's bowl was always full, and her mouth was always full. When she saw Liu Lan's unintentional little movement, her puffed-up cheeks moved, and her pupils trembled involuntarily.

When no one was looking, she secretly wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand and continued to eat heartily the meal that tasted like memories.

While they were eating, the group suddenly felt everything go dark and all the lights in the room went out.

"Huh, is there a power outage?" Gu Qiaoqiao's puzzled voice came from the darkness.

Chen Moxin felt her way to the window in the dark and looked out: "I see that everyone else's rooms are lit up, so it should be just our room that has lost power. Maybe the circuit breaker tripped."

"Liu Lan, where is the main power switch in your house? I'll go take a look."

Liu Lan's voice came from the darkness: "It's in the corridor, right behind that painting."

"Zhou Yan, come on, let's go take a look together." Chen Moxin turned on her phone's flashlight and pulled Zhou Yan up without saying another word.

Zhou Yan didn't say much and went to the corridor with Chen Moxin.

Chen Moxin used her phone to illuminate the shoe cabinet and pointed to it: "You're short and light, so step on it and see if the circuit breaker trips."

Zhou Yan climbed onto the shoe cabinet and removed the mural.

When she saw what was behind the mural with the help of the light, she was completely stunned.

"...What is this?"

Behind the mural was not a main power switch, but a red scarf hanging there. Judging from its workmanship, it was hand-woven, and a birthday card with "Happy Birthday" written on it was stuck in it.

"Happy birthday to you~Happy birthday to you~"

At that moment, a sweet singing voice rang out from the other end of the corridor.

Gu Qiaoqiao and Liu Lan hummed the birthday song with smiles on their faces. The former clapped along to the rhythm, while the latter held a big birthday cake.

Fourteen slender candles are inserted into the pure white cream, like shining stars in the darkness. The flickering flames cast a faint glow on the cake surface, illuminating the cream's texture, the red of the strawberries, and the chocolate cubes with soft outlines.

The sudden "change" completely stunned Zhou Yan, who stood on the shoe cabinet, dazed and confused.

Chen Moxin reached out and pulled her down, smiling as she asked, "How was it? Were you surprised?"

Looking at the birthday cake in Liu Lan's hand, Zhou Yan looked bewildered, his expression full of confusion.

"Whose birthday is it today?"

"What do you think? Fourteen candles, who else could it be? Of course, it's you, the little birthday star."

"Is today my birthday...?" Zhou Yan blinked in confusion, lowered her head and thought for a moment before muttering softly, "Oh...it really is...I completely forgot..."

She subconsciously looked up at Chen Moxin: "So, today wasn't a friends' gathering at all..."

Chen Moxin smiled slightly, without answering directly. Instead, she led Zhou Yan to the cake and said softly, "Come on, birthday girl, make a wish."

Zhou Yan asked blankly, "How do I make a wish?"

The word "birthday" was unfamiliar to Zhou Yan.

She has no memory of anything before she was 4 years old.

She has some memories of things after she was 4 years old, but her mother passed away before her 5th birthday.

From then on, all that remained in his life was day after day of hunger and endless beatings.

Therefore, in Zhou Yan's memory, there was no "birthday celebration" segment.

She might know her birthday, but she'd never celebrated it, let alone know what she should do on that day.

“Like this, pinch your hands together.” Chen Moxin patiently helped her pinch her hands together, making a wishing gesture. “Then close your eyes and silently say your wish in your heart.”

Zhou Yan obediently did as she was told, closing her eyes in front of the cake and candlelight.

What should I wish for...?

Soon, she had an idea.

I hope God will be kinder to me from now on.

After silently making this wish in his heart, Zhou Yan opened his eyes and saw the three gentle smiling faces in the dim candlelight.

She was silent for a moment, and just as she was about to say something, Chen Moxin raised her hand to interrupt her, saying, "Don't say your wish out loud, or it won't come true."

Zhou Yan shook her head: "No, I wanted to ask... can I only make one wish?"

"Of course, do you want to make several more? You can't be too greedy~" Chen Moxin said jokingly.

Zhou Yan asked cautiously, "Then... I made a mistake earlier, can I make it again now?"

Chen Moxin smiled and said, "Sure, you can make a new promise before blowing out the candles."

Zhou Yan clasped her two little hands together again and closed her eyes.

I hope God will be kinder to the three of them in the future.

After making the wish, Zhou Yan stepped forward and blew out all the candles on the cake.

Chen Moxin turned on the corridor light, took down the red scarf hanging on the wall, and squatted down in front of Zhou Yan.

"This is a scarf I knitted for you. It's going to be autumn and winter soon, and the weather will get colder. You'll be able to use it then."

Chen Moxin tied the scarf around Zhou Yan's neck, looked into her eyes, and gave her a kind and gentle smile, like an older brother.

Happy birthday, Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan closed her eyes, and a fluorescent light seemed to flicker in her slits. She draped her small hands over the scarf on her chest and nodded gently.

...

Time passed day by day, and it was late September.

Since helping Zhou Yan celebrate her birthday, Chen Moxin's relationship with her has made a substantial breakthrough.

When she goes to Zhou Yan for meals, she is already willing to chat with Chen Moxin and take the initiative to share some topics about life.

In addition, now that autumn is approaching, the weather sometimes suddenly drops in temperature and gets cold, so Zhou Yan will wear the red scarf that Chen Moxin gave her.

On September 23, Chen Moxin sat in her office during her lunch break, with the system panel floating in front of her.

[Current Stage Task: Complete 3 things that will move Zhou Yan (Completed)]

【Task Update】

Those who have suffered trauma find their hearts filled and experience a long-lost warmth in their lives.

The witch has begun to trust you, but only to a certain extent.

Only when someone opens up their most vulnerable side to you without reservation can that trust be truly elevated.

[Current task: Establish a spiritual pact with Zhou Yan]

[Task Reward 1: Implant "Mental Interference - Chaos" into Zhou Yan]

[Task Reward 2: Absorb Zhou Yan's extraordinary factors and obtain the spiritual energy "Blood Healing"]

Upon seeing the task for the next stage, Chen Moxin fell into deep thought.

Previously, whether it was with Liu Lan or Gu Qiaoqiao, the spiritual contracts were established only after all the missions were completed.

At that time, they all had "mind interference - absolute", and they would not refuse any request. Establishing a spiritual contract was just a matter of opening their mouths, and he could establish it whenever he wanted.

But now, the mission requires a spiritual pact to be established halfway through, which is completely different from before.

Zhou Yan currently only has "Mental Interference - Beginning", which is only the lowest level of mental interference, and in addition, she has some personality problems.

As things stand, Zhou Yan's feelings towards Chen Moxin can only be described as "not rejecting" her; there's no real intimacy between them.

Chen Moxin had previously tried to subtly inquire about establishing a spiritual contract, but she remained reluctant.

"This mission is challenging and interesting."

Chen Moxin stretched, temporarily putting the task out of her mind, and looked at the calendar on her computer.

Today is September 23rd, which falls on the "Autumn Equinox" in the traditional culture of the Empire.