In a hazy state, Lin Chubai tossed and turned, suddenly realizing he was lying on a bed. He bolted upright instantly.
The moonlight fished shallowly in the air, the sun revealed half of its head, and stepping out of the room, he saw an adult and a child sitting at the doorway. Soft Persimmon was sitting next to Ye Zhou, covering his face and dropping little teardrops, while Ye Zhou beside him seemed to be encountering this kind of situation for the very first time, his body slightly stiff, staring rigidly straight ahead.
Lin Chubai seemed to find this scene rather amusing, the corners of his lips curling up slightly as he leaned gently against the doorway, watching the two of them with keen interest.
Soft Persimmon apparently hadn’t finished crying to his heart’s content yet, swinging his snot and extending his wicked hands toward Ye Zhou.
Ye Zhou was shocked by that reflective snot, raising his palm to press against the child’s forehead.
The tall, slender figure appeared exceptionally long under the moonlight, and the cast shadow enveloped Soft Persimmon. His walnut-swollen eyes opened a tiny slit.
A small milk candy was placed in front of him. Looking up, he saw Lin Chubai staring at Ye Zhou with a complicated expression.
Ye Zhou: (…)
“What’s wrong?” Lin Chubai propped himself up with the ground, sat on the other side of Soft Persimmon, and gently stroked his back.
“Wah, my mom is dead.” Hearing someone bring up his heartbreaking matter once again, the child instantly broke down, sobbing and beginning to swing his snot as he leaned toward Lin Chubai’s side.
“How do you know?” Lin Chubai withdrew the hand stroking the child’s back, instead pressing against his forehead to refuse him from smearing snot all over his clothes.
“I, I dreamed of mom. She had a huge hole on her stomach, and a lot of blood was gushing out from inside. I wanted to help her, pressing, pressing down.
“But my hands were too small, I couldn’t protect mom, and then a little golden dot flew over and hit me, and I woke up, and it said I obtained the C-rank skill Death Record.
“I searched for my mom’s name on it.” By the time he reached the last two words, Soft Persimmon’s voice was almost gone.
Lin Chubai was silent for a moment, wanting to comfort the child but not knowing how, so he could only gently stroke his back.
“Death is not the end, oblivion is. As long as you still remember her, she lives in your heart.” After a long while, he finally thought of what to say, his tone very gentle, flowing into Soft Persimmon’s heart like a trickling stream.
The low sobbing sound was blown away by the hot wind blowing slowly past. Soft Persimmon stared blankly at the dwindling full moon in the sky: “Then, can I see her again?”
“You can in dreams. Dreams are the place closest to the soul.” Ye Zhou, who had been silent for a long time, spoke slowly, seeming to recall something as his voice carried a hint of hoarseness.
“Persimmon Big Brother.” A mosquito-like call came from the darkness. The other children, woken up by Soft Persimmon’s crying, were standing in the shadows, and the one who had just spoken was the youngest, Su Chun: “Can you see my mom too?”
Well, nobody needed to sleep tonight. Oh wait, there was also Song Siyun, who was endlessly entangled with his bed, missing from the scene.
With all this commotion, dawn was already approaching. Lin Chubai’s eyelids were drooping heavily again, but fortunately, only the families of Soft Persimmon, Su Chun, and Su Zhan were on the list.
If worst came to worst, he would just raise them too, Lin Chubai thought to himself.
Clap, clap, clap. The dining table in the center of the living room trembled involuntarily from a sudden heavy object hitting it, and even Su Chun, who had been crying softly, was startled into stopping her tears.
Quietly resting on the table were nine bags of student milk and a stack of steamed soup dumplings. Counting them, there were also nine bamboo steamers, and the wafting aroma drilled into everyone’s nostrils.
“Brother, the system gave these.” Nan Zhi picked up a soup dumpling, gently pulled it apart, and found it was identical to the ones they ate inside the game.
Lin Chubai walked forward a few steps, checked that there was nothing unusual about them and that the meat looked fresh, and nodded: “Alright, eat up.”
The other children didn’t let down their guard just because he said that, after all, things inside the game and the real world still had their differences. Hesitantly, they clustered around the dining table.
Seeing that Nan Zhi had already started eating, and with their stomachs involuntarily growling, they followed along, taking small, cautious bites.
Lin Chubai looked back and seemed quite pleased watching their cautious behavior, slightly lifting the corners of his mouth. Rubbing his aching head, he walked toward the doorway, casually opened the game mall, and bought a discounted steamed bun.
Ye Zhou followed him out as well, watching Lin Chubai slowly curl up in the rocking chair. His thin lips covered the edge of the steamed bun, his brows furrowed slightly, while his free hand kept massaging his temples.
“Headache?” Ye Zhou slowly sat down in the rocking chair next to Lin Chubai.
“I’m fine.” Lin Chubai wasn’t lying; it was like this every day, and he was already used to it. He just liked massaging it a bit: “This game is pretty good for kids, no mandatory tasks, and it provides free breakfast.”
Why?
Listening to him as if he were asking him, yet also talking to himself, Ye Zhou thought for a moment before speaking: “Newbie protection period, I suppose.”
“Then what is its protected age range?” Seeming not to expect Ye Zhou to answer that way, the furrowed brows relaxed a bit.
“It certainly didn’t protect me, I’m only turning 18 next month.” Song Siyun’s voice came from behind. He had been awakened by the aroma of breakfast, leaning crookedly against the doorframe with a soup dumpling he had snatched from some child dangling from his mouth.
“Awake? You’re even snatching things from kids.” Lin Chubai felt the trace of sweetness brought by the starch in the steamed bun. Having half of it down, the discomfort from the churning stomach acid eased slightly.
Abruptly, a commotion broke out inside the living room.
“This is what Mom gave me!” Su Chun’s voice, still hoarse from crying, rang out.
“Mom’s gifts are pink! Don’t touch this one!” The moment the three of them walked back in, they saw Su Zhan grabbing Su Chun’s hand, while a white bear plush doll lay in the center of the dining table.
Seeing them approach, the children quickly cleared a path, except for Su Chun, who was still frantically trying to crawl onto the table, only to be dragged back desperately by Su Zhan.
Lin Chubai’s gaze turned slightly cold as he stared indifferently at the inexplicably appearing bear doll: “You guys go back to the rooms first.”
The other children obediently went back to their rooms, leaving only the stubborn little girl Su Chun, who still wanted to snatch the doll, before being promptly discovered by Su Zhan and forcibly dragged back into the room.
Right now, only the three of them remained by the dining table. Lin Chubai suddenly reached his hand out toward the bear plush doll, only to be grabbed by Ye Zhou: “Aren’t you afraid of danger?”
“I don’t know.” Lin Chubai looked back at Ye Zhou’s slightly solemn face, the corners of his mouth tugging upward slightly with a hint of determination: “But I don’t like being passive.”
The temperature on his arm suddenly cooled, and the force stopping him quietly vanished. Ye Zhou stepped back beside him without speaking further.
The moment his fingertips touched the bear plush doll, the reality in front of them shattered like puzzle pieces. At the very last moment before his consciousness faded, he saw Song Siyun lunging forward furiously: “Damn it!”
Following his cry of “Damn it,” the children in the room all poured out as well.
Song Siyun watched helplessly as the two-living people beside him turned into threads of gold, tightly wrapping around the bear plush doll. When he went to touch it himself, giant red characters appeared before his eyes.
The game is full, please try again later.
What happened afterward was unknown to the two of them, because they had already entered an entirely brand-new game.