"Old Bao?" Noa repeated, amusement flashing through his smile. "Is he your friend?"
Yun Qiqi nodded.
There was no trace of hesitation in her eyes when she handed her friend to Noa.
"He is my only friend…" she trailed her words, her voice shaking. "The only one who hasn't left me yet."
A short silence descended before Noa tried to lift her spirits.
"I told you, you aren't alone anymore. Now, Old Bao is my friend as well, and we can all play whenever you want."
Qiqi locked her eyes with Noa.
Her mischievous smile widened, and her eyes glowed in happiness.
"That's what I would expect from my older brother," she said cutely.
Meanwhile, Noa took the teddy bear in his hands. He held this important plush like an artifact he had to treasure.
Though Noa had heaven-defying products and items in his store, none of them came close to the feeling this simple toy gave him.
"He is cute," Noa commented. "And fluffy."
Yun Qiqi shook her head. "He doesn't like it when someone calls him that," she corrected.
Noa coughed apologetically and changed his stance. "Very well, Senior Bao, what game do you want to play?"
The bear himself looked old.
His fur was patched with white threads—one ear was stitched back on with red threads.
A jade-green tie, faded and worn, was placed around his neck, giving Old Bao a friendly but serious appearance.
Even its button eye colors were mismatched, yet he still looked impressive. The game Yun Qiqi wanted to play was something Noa had never heard of.
'It's probably part of the child's wild imagination,' he mused.
As for Old Bao, he had to survive a series of deadly trials that both of them created for him.
The first challenge was jumping from one platform to another (tall shelves). The second one consisted of swimming through molten lava (red bed sheets).
The third mission Old Bao had to endure was dodging explosive bombs (shampoo bottles), but the last trial was the hardest one.
Both Noa and Yun Qiqi had to teach him secret techniques from the most ancient and powerful sect.
Unfortunately, Old Bao failed every single trial spectacularly.
And yet, every time he tasted the taste of defeat, Qiqi still treated him like a king, announcing his victory over death.
"He is truly good at this," Noa joked at the end of the last session.
"I told you, he is born for this," Qiqi answered smugly, her grin never fading.
Meanwhile, long hours had passed. What was once an early night had changed into early morning.
But despite playing and hopping around this entire time, Yun Qiqi didn't even show a single hint of tiredness.
The same thing couldn't be said about Noa. The only thing keeping him awake was how much fun he was having this whole time.
He felt like a kid again when he spent countless hours playing with Mia and doing everything she wanted.
They had been foreign, distant memories that almost buried themselves deep inside Noa.
But playing with Qiqi helped him remember the good old days, which increased his motivation to advance his capabilities.
'I think they could become friends,' he wondered, glancing at Qiqi.
"Don't you have to go home? Someone might be searching for you," Noa asked, even though he knew her answer.
The girl lowered her head.
"Brother Noa, you don't want to play with Qiqi anymore? Are you bored with me?"
She sounded sad, her voice wavering.
"No, no!" Noa denied strongly. "Of course not. I'm just worried that you are going to get into trouble because of me."
"You don't have to worry about that. No one cares about me anyway," she said casually.
It sounded like she was long used to this fact, but her misty eyes said otherwise.
"You can live with me," Noa offered. "As your older brother, it's my responsibility to take care of you, and I am going to add more floors to this store."
"That's…" Yun Qiqi's lips parted into something Noa could recognize from afar.
It wasn't just a smile but the most genuine expression of happiness a human could ever make.
Her lips reached all the way to her eyes.
She then just blinked for a moment, as if the words were still trying to register in her mind.
Not even a day had passed since she met Noa. Now he took her as his family, fed her, played with her and her only friend, and even allowed her to live with him.
Not even in her wildest dreams could she imagine that her sorry life would change this quickly.
She wanted to cry and bawl her eyes out.
But she gritted her teeth, leaped at Noa, and gave him a hug that both of them had needed for so long.
"Thank you, Brother Noa. Thank you," she said, hiding her face.
Noa said nothing.
He just hugged her back, giving her the warmth she needed.
"You deserve it," he said only after she released him from her embrace.
"Can I work here? I promise I will help you with everything you want me to," Yun Qiqi promised.
Noa shook his head, his voice still gentle.
"I didn't ask you to live with me to use you as cheap labor. We can just play around and work at the same time as partners. How does that sound?"
"Really?" she exclaimed.
Noa nodded again and offered her proper food. "Do you want to eat with me?"
Yun Qiqi thought for a while, feeling her empty stomach.
"Only if I can drink that thing again," she demanded.
Noting her love for the protein shakes, Noa agreed and called out the system.
"Feed us. Try to impress me," he said.
[How does your favorite my special sound?] the system teased.
"Curse you!" Noa yelled inwardly but sat in front of the counter with Yun Qiqi.
Two minutes later, both of them started eating as their noises filled the store. Even the air felt full after the meal when she fell asleep in her chair, her guard completely down.
Before Noa could even find the blanket to cover her, the door creaked open and someone walked in.