Chapter 245: Late Night
As the New Year was getting closer, fireworks and firecrackers were already going off nonstop in the distance.
It felt like the noise of the New Year was slowly moving closer, getting louder and more excited. When the clock finally reached midnight, and the hosts on the Spring Festival Gala shouted “Happy New Year,” An Han’s mother threw the firecrackers she had prepared out of the room.
In an instant, the loud explosions hit their ears, echoing all around them, as if the whole world was celebrating the New Year.
Through the window, the outside had already turned completely white. Smoke from the firecrackers filled the small city, like a thin veil covering the town.
An Han sat on the sofa, holding her chin with one hand, yawning again and again.
Her little sister was lying sideways on her lap, already asleep. Her parents usually went to bed early, but tonight they were full of energy, busy in the kitchen preparing items to honor their ancestors.
“An Han, do you want a late-night snack?” her mother called from the kitchen.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll carry my sister upstairs to sleep.”
Her legs were going numb from her sister’s weight, and she really couldn’t take it anymore.
She usually stayed up late playing games until early morning, but watching the Spring Festival Gala with her parents today was making her sleepy.
She carefully lifted her sister’s head, slowly stood up, and then picked up her sister’s legs, trying to carry her in a princess hold.
“So heavy…”
Because of her “body stats,” she was stronger than most women, but she had never tried carrying someone like this before. The movement felt awkward, and although her sister looked small and flat-chested, she still weighed close to 50 kilograms.
Muttering under her breath, she carefully carried her sister toward the stairs. At that moment, her father happened to walk toward her.
An Han stepped to the side, blocking his way.
“What’s wrong?” her father looked down at his older daughter, a bit confused.
“Dad, come upstairs for a moment. I have something to show you.”
She planned to test the new tool’s side effects on her father first.
Her previous two tools had different side effects depending on the user’s gender, or sometimes none at all. She guessed this one would be similar.
She wanted to fully understand it before using it on herself.
“Alright.” Her father noticed how much she was struggling and bent down to take her sister from her arms. “Let’s go. She’ll sleep with you tonight.”
“With me?”
Since their father started sleeping on the sofa, her sister had been sharing the bed with their mother, because her mother didn’t want her learning bad habits from An Han, like staying up late and playing games.
An Han froze for a moment, then understood why. If this were a roommate instead of her father, she would probably give a teasing, knowing look like a typical pervy joking friend.
She followed him up the stairs and couldn’t help asking, “Dad, are you planning to have another baby brother?”
“……”
Her father fell silent, not sure if he was embarrassed or something else. After a moment, he asked back, “Do you want a little brother?”
“I think it would be nice. And now the country encourages having three children, so you won’t get fined.”
Honestly, An Han wouldn’t mind if they had a younger brother.
But was her mother’s health really that good? She was already in her early forties. Having a baby at that age would count as an older mother, right?
Her father paused again, then looked back at her as if he understood her thoughts. “Forget it. If we had another child, your mom wouldn’t be able to take care of them.”
“Okay.”
“And you don’t have to feel guilty.”
“…Huh?”
Now it was An Han’s turn to be stunned. She didn’t expect her father to see through her feelings.
It was true, her parents had raised her for twenty years and placed expectations on her. But when she was male, her grades were average, her university was ordinary, and now that she had become female, she couldn’t even give them a grandchild.
Even though it was the system’s fault, she always felt a bit guilty toward her parents.
“Men and women are all the same.” Her father kept walking upstairs with no expression, as if he was trying to convince himself. “If it really doesn’t work… we can just find a son-in-law who marries into our family.”
An Han couldn’t help laughing. “Our family isn’t rich enough for that.”
But as she laughed, her smile slowly faded. She asked softly and hopefully, “Dad… don’t tell me our family is actually some kind of super rich hidden family, with assets worth tens of millions, and you all just hid it from me?”
“Sleep well tonight. Maybe you’ll see it in your dreams.”
“Tsk~ Then what about all the years you worked overseas? You didn’t come home even once a year. Where did all that money go?”
She realized that just chatting casually made her feel closer to her father.
“Your mom invested it in a factory. She lost it all.”
“She should’ve bought houses instead… Even homes from a few years ago have gone up a lot.”
Even in this little town, the housing prices had already passed 10,000 per square meter. Completely ridiculous.
They reached the third-floor bedroom. Her father gently put her sister near the pillow, covered her with a blanket, then looked up at An Han, who was already holding her “medical report” tool.
“Here, my medical report.”
She nervously handed the system tool to him.
Please don’t let it be some kind of side effect that ruins family relationships…
The tool’s side effects on men were always much smaller than on women. Like the chest wrap, its side effect only increased a man’s favorability toward her, but didn’t affect women at all.
“I already saw it from your mom earlier.” Her father still took the report and said, “I sent it to a doctor friend. He said…”
Halfway through speaking, his eyes suddenly went unfocused, like his mind had gone blank. He just stood there without moving.
Maybe ten seconds later, her father finally lifted his head, looking as if he suddenly understood something. “So that’s how it is…”
What is “that,” exactly…?
An Han complained in her heart and quickly checked the system’s goodwill rating.
[Father: Favorability 85]
It was still moving between 80 and 90, showing her father’s emotional journey. But nothing seemed strange.
Then she touched a strand of her hair from the roots to the tip. No change in length.
Impossible?
Her father seemed a bit uneasy. He frowned slightly, put the medical report on the table, and said, “You should sleep too. Don’t play games… Why is she snoring?”
He turned and stared in surprise at her snoring sister.
“And you two?” she asked.
“After we finish the ancestral rituals, we’ll go to sleep.” Her father left the room.
After she heard his footsteps going downstairs, she hurried over to the system tool and scratched her head in frustration.
“No way… Did the system switch things around this time? The side effect only works on women?”
“Is the system treating me this well? Trying its best to make my hair grow long?”
………………
Late at night, An Han lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling with red, tired eyes.
Because it was too loud, she couldn’t sleep at all, tossing and turning nonstop.
“So noisy…”
She sighed with a hopeless expression.
At last, she understood the tool’s side effect.
It was terrifying.
The constant loud “boom boom boom” made her feel like she was inside a cheap hotel.
“My parents really don’t know how to hold back…”
Luckily her sister was already fast asleep. Otherwise, if her sister asked what their parents were doing, she wouldn’t be able to answer a single word.
“At this rate, their relationship will definitely get better again… maybe even sweeter than before.”