His heart nearly jumped out of his chest, and the words were forcefully strangled in his throat.
How could he dare ask, right in front of You Chumu himself, whether he could take him away?
You Chumu opened his gray-blue eyes wide and asked, “What’s wrong, brother?”
The male officer was also staring at him, waiting for him to speak.
He forced the words to take another direction. “Didn’t you just say to leave a phone number? Let’s go.”
The male officer paused, then laughed. “I thought you were about to say something serious. Let’s go.”
“Haha.” Xu Chi gave an awkward laugh, glanced at You Chumu, and followed along.
You Chumu lagged one step behind him, stopped for a few seconds, and then followed as well.
As they walked, he waved his hands for a moment, then tilted his head to stare at Xu Chi’s shoes. After that, he looked at his own shoes again, the corners of his mouth carrying a faint, unsettling smile.
By the time they reached the management office, Xu Chi left his phone number and took You Chumu away.
When they came out of the management office, he saw several cleaners in blue uniforms tidying up the graffiti at the entrance.
One worker noticed Xu Chi staring and turned to smile at him, revealing a mouthful of crooked teeth.
Xu Chi shuddered, inexplicably chilled. He returned a fake smile and pulled his clothes tighter around himself.
He felt that he had nothing to fear now. After all, the most terrifying person in the entire manga was already by his side.
He had just wanted to ask the male officer when the superpowered individual would be back, but with You Chumu right beside him, he did not even dare to ask that out loud.
He stuffed both hands into his pockets and put on his cap, looking tall and cold.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw You Chumu staring at him. When he turned to look, he found You Chumu copying him, hands in his pockets, head tucked down because he had no cap, his posture exactly the same as his.
Even the black, fluffy head looked a little cute.
“…”
You Chumu now looked like a child imitating someone.
Not like. Exactly.
But he knew that no matter how much You Chumu copied him, it was only the surface, only a disguise. His inner nature had been shattered by the lab and driven into madness, with no rules at all.
…But… was it possible for him to change…? Since he was no longer who he used to be, would the people in the manga still end up with the same fate as before?
If the butterfly effect applied, then everything should already be completely different…
But who could say for sure…
The streets were nearly empty. As he passed an alley, a map of this area surfaced in his mind.
Thinking of the refrigerator at home, Xu Chi turned and headed for the vegetable market.
It was only one alley away from where he lived.
The vegetables were arranged in individual basins. The seller was an auntie, and inside the shop there was also a teenage boy sitting there playing on a tablet, looking about eighteen or nineteen.
Xu Chi crouched down to look at the vegetables and asked You Chumu,
“What do you want to eat?”
You Chumu crouched down beside him too, hugging his legs and looking completely clueless.
“Can all of these be eaten?”
“Yeah.”
The boy inside seemed to hear that, turned his head to glance over, said nothing, and then turned back to continue playing on his tablet.
The auntie paused when she heard them, then put on a smile and told them to pick whatever they wanted, before going back to helping other customers buy vegetables.
After thinking for a moment, You Chumu answered seriously, “I want to eat eggs.”
“…”
Xu Chi paused. “There are eggs at home. You can eat something else.”
“I want to eat eggs.”
“…Fine.”
Xu Chi picked out some green vegetables and then carried them home.
The moment he closed the door, Xu Chi’s heart trembled. He was still scared, after all, in the closed-off room, only he and You Chumu were together.
But now he could only force himself to stay calm and rely on his brain as a modern-day intellectual to carry out an indirect struggle with little You Chumu.
It was still early. He put the ingredients he had bought into the fridge, took a deep breath, turned around, and said to You Chumu, “I forgot to buy meat. I’ll go out again.”
You Chumu looked at him and obediently put on his slippers. “I’ll go with brother.”
He walked toward him.
Xu Chi instinctively stepped back. Seeing his reaction, You Chumu stopped immediately. The face that had just been so happy turned expressionless in an instant, his eyes clear and cold, with a hint of bewildered innocence.
He stared straight at Xu Chi.
Xu Chi was startled, realizing what he had done. He wanted to curse, but he reacted quickly, turned around, and sifted through the vegetables on the table, saying calmly,
“I also forgot to buy asparagus. I’ll buy that too in a moment.”
You Chumu watched his movements. Whether he believed it or not, his expression did soften a little. Smiling, he walked over to Xu Chi again.
“Okay, brother. I’ll go with you.”
Xu Chi started toward the living room. “No need. Just stay home. The vegetable market is very close. I’ll be back soon.”
You Chumu followed him. “I want to go with brother. What if brother runs into danger?”
Xu Chi paused. “I won’t.”
You Chumu said, “You will.”
Xu Chi found the conversation strangely unnatural. “Even if I do, I’ll protect myself.”
You Chumu stared at him, his gaze direct. “I want to go with brother. If we run into danger, I can protect brother.”
“…”
To hear You Chumu say he would protect him, Xu Chi did not know whether to believe it. He was 99 percent sure he did not believe it.
“You’re still young. It should be brother protecting you.”
He did not even know what he was saying. You Chumu needed protection? That was blatant nonsense, but when he was with You Chumu, he had no choice but to say nonsense.
“Then brother can protect me.” He did not expect You Chumu to say something so shameless.
“…”
“Do you really have to come with me?” Xu Chi asked again.
“Mm.” You Chumu answered as if it were only natural.
“…Alright.” Xu Chi stubbornly gave in.
Xu Chi had no choice. He could only let You Chumu follow, thinking that he would find another excuse to go out later and ask when that superpowered individual would be back. He had to have some idea. If that superpowered individual never came back, was he supposed to keep staying with You Chumu forever? Impossible.
Then he saw You Chumu staring at him and asking, “Does brother not want me to follow?”
What an obvious question.
Xu Chi looked at him, paused, and asked, “If I told you not to follow me, would you not follow?”
You Chumu made a troubled thinking face, then shook his head. “No. It’s too dangerous outside. I have to stay with brother.”
“…” So why ask that?
“Brother, I’ll kill him for you.” You Chumu suddenly blurted out.
Xu Chi’s heart jumped. “Kill who?”
“The person who stole the cotton candy just now.”