"The Evans boy is fine. He was just weak from his recent illness, and now he's had a fright, which is why he's so pale." After speaking, Dr. White earnestly instructed, "From now on, make sure he rests more in bed. Don't let him run wild like today."
"Yes, yes, yes~" Both men lowered their heads in shame upon hearing this, but relief washed over them knowing Ethan was alright.
"Uncle White, if Ethan is fine, why hasn't he woken up yet?" Damian still asked worriedly.
Dr. White looked at him and said meaningfully, "Everyone sleeps differently deeply."
What does that mean??? Damian froze, taking a long moment to understand the old doctor's implication. "Are you saying... Ethan... he's just asleep?" Damian's eyes widened in disbelief. Because he was asleep, he couldn't hear Damian calling him? He didn't even wake up when Damian carried him all the way down the mountain and wiped him down? That reason seemed utterly absurd.
"..." Meanwhile, Caleb, having processed it, slapped his forehead, speechless. He put his other hand on Damian's shoulder and whispered one of Ethan's little secrets. "Damian, I forgot to tell you, Ethan has two... small sleeping habits." Caleb glanced around guiltily before continuing, "Really, just two small habits. One is falling asleep instantly – whenever he feels sleepy, he can just drop off anywhere, anytime. The second is sleeping like the dead – the kind where you could bang gongs and drums next to his ear, and he wouldn't wake up." Caleb sounded helpless himself; heavens knew how many times this habit had scared them growing up. Still, it was his brother. He tried to salvage Ethan's reputation, "Sleeping deeply is good. Only by sleeping well can one be healthy."
Hearing Caleb, Leo White (Dr. White's grandson) couldn't help muttering under his breath, "Uncle Ethan's health is pretty good~ And are those really small habits?" Uncle Ethan was so delicate, frailer than Lily Huang, the village beauty. He was weaker than even Leo himself, a child. Yeah, real healthy... Having often accompanied his grandfather to the Evans house before, Leo hadn't thought much of it, but looking now! It was truly a miracle from heaven that Uncle Ethan had managed to grow up safely!
"Thank you for telling me." Damian smiled; he actually found this aspect of Ethan rather endearing. However, these sleeping habits certainly posed risks. It seemed he'd have to get Finn and Maeve to stick close to Ethan from now on to prevent danger.
Leo White: "..." I don't understand adult emotions, but Uncle Damian marrying Uncle Ethan must be what Mom calls true love, right? Who else could put up with this kind of trouble?
Ethan, the subject of the gossip, had no idea his older brother had just spilled all his secrets. At this moment, his soul was floating in a dark void. Before him hovered a ball of iridescent light – the wedding gift from the Mountain God.
"Hey, buddy, could you maybe turn down the lights a bit? You're blinding me," Ethan said, covering his eyes, exasperated. The flashing rainbow colors strongly reminded him of bars or KTVs back in his previous life.
A cute, soft, and slightly sticky voice emerged from the light ball, "Don't you think this is romantic? I remember a saying from your Aldoria: 'One day, my destined one will come for me, riding on rainbow-colored clouds.'"
Ethan rolled his eyes. He hadn't expected this light ball to be an internet surfer. He couldn't resist retorting, "You know it says rainbow-colored clouds, right? Not rainbow-colored strobe lights? Someone descending from clouds might be your destined one, but someone emerging from rainbow strobes is definitely a punk!"
"Punk?" The little light ball thought of those cringey internet pictures of exaggerated hairstyles and immediately shook its head. It definitely didn't want to look like that. "Alright?" The light ball reluctantly retracted its glow, transforming into a cute, chibi-style Pixiu.
"Is this better?" The little light ball was now covered in dreamy blue-pink fur. Its round eyes were like two sparkling gems, and its chubby cheeks made one want to reach out and pinch them. Its plump body resembled a fluffy ball – absolutely adorable!
"Yes, yes! Totally!" Ethan's eyes gleamed. He desperately wanted to pounce, scoop it into his arms, and give it a good petting session.
"Ahem~ Since this is acceptable, let's get down to business," the little Pixiu coughed twice, putting on a serious face. It looked ridiculously cute, like a child pretending to be an adult, nearly making Ethan melt.
Business? Just as Ethan wondered, a 'ding' sounded in his mind, and a prompt box appeared before him: "You have received a wedding gift from the Blackstone Mountain God. Please accept." Below the text, a large, flashing blue 'Accept' button pulsed.
"No 'Decline' button, huh? Figures, typical Mountain God style." Ethan pursed his lips, but for the sake of the cute little creature, he decided to accept. Grinning, Ethan decisively pressed the 'Accept' button. Great! He was finally getting a pet!
However, imagination was beautiful, while reality was often cruel.
"Ding! Confirmation received. Good Wife and Virtuous Mother System is now installing..." A cold, mechanical system voice echoed in Ethan's mind, followed by a progress bar appearing before his eyes.
"What the hell? What is this? Did I get a virus?" Ethan stared in disbelief. Where was his cute little pet? And what the heck was a 'Good Wife and Virtuous Mother System'? He was a guy! A GUY!!!
Seeing the installation progress bar already at 10%, Ethan quickly yelled, "STOP! Stop, stop, stop! I want to uninstall!"
"System installation in progress. Uninstall unavailable." The cold system voice replied, and the progress bar vengefully jumped from 15% to 75% in one second.
Fuck! It really was malware! "I want to download Norton Antivirus! I'm reporting you!!!"
"Searching... Apologies, Norton software not found. Additionally, the system does not have a 'Report' function, but the Host may provide feedback freely. Little System will diligently store it."
Hearing the system's deceptively polite words, Ethan roared in frustration, "Fuck! You just store it, you don't deal with it?"
"No, it is stored for future reference, to seek opportunities for retaliation one by one." The system's cheerful tone sent shivers down Ethan's spine, strengthening his resolve to get rid of this download.
"Buddy, just let me go! I'm a guy, I really can't handle the role of a 'good wife and virtuous mother'!" Ethan softened his tone, adding a pleading note. A wise man knows when to yield. If it meant getting rid of this cursed thing, he'd even kowtow to it – he'd just treat it like offering incense to a god!
"Ding! Progress 100%. System installation complete. Wishing you a pleasant life." The system's response was to jump the progress bar straight to 100%, fundamentally rejecting Ethan's request.
Fuck!