When Meng Wenzhou and Xia Xianxian left the Xia house, both of them had mysterious smiles on their faces, though it was a mystery what kind of bad ideas this young couple was brewing in their hearts.
But they soon found themselves unable to smile.
The sky suddenly turned from extremely bright to dim, and a dull rumble of thunder echoed in the distance—a sign that it was about to rain!
Sure enough, not long after, raindrops began to fall sparsely, hitting the ground and kicking up puffs of dust.
With nearly half the distance still left to get back home, Meng Wenzhou could only speed up his pedaling. In an era plagued by a lack of supplies, falling sick was a very dangerous thing.
The rain grew heavier and heavier, with large, fast-flowing drops that felt somewhat painful when striking the hands and face.
Suddenly, Xia Xianxian, who was hiding behind Meng Wenzhou, spotted something, her eyes widening as if to confirm what she was seeing.
Tugging at Meng Wenzhou’s clothes, she leaned forward and said to him, “Look, there’s a straw hut over there. The rain is getting heavier, let’s go take shelter first.”
Feeling the warm, damp breath against the back of his neck, a shiver ran down Meng Wenzhou’s spine, and the hand holding the handlebar wobbled subconsciously.
Xia Xianxian remained entirely oblivious, her mind completely focused on the straw hut. Thinking Meng Wenzhou hadn’t seen it, she anxiously pointed in its direction again.
Slapping the riding Meng Wenzhou in front of her, she anxiously guided his direction.
“Why are you wobbling? Look to the left, it’s that hut right there!”
At the edge of the nearby fields stood a small, low straw hut. It was typically used in the summer for guarding melons and was usually left vacant at this time of year.
The entrance of the small straw hut was built very low, requiring Meng Wenzhou to bend his waist just to get inside. Dried straw was piled within, mixing a grassy odor with a musty smell, but fortunately, taking shelter from the rain was not much of a problem.
The clothes of both individuals were somewhat soaked. Xia Xianxian’s bangs had clumped into separate strands, and rainwater steadily dripped down along her hair.
Meng Wenzhou turned his body aside, took off his relatively dry white undershirt, and handed it to Xia Xianxian.
Then he walked to the entrance, wrung out his blue outer shirt a bit, and put it back on.
The rain outside the straw hut grew even heavier, making a pitter-patter sound as it lashed against the ground. Yet it could hardly mask the commotion behind Meng Wenzhou. With his ears flushed red, he stood at the entrance watching the rainy scenery outside, remaining completely motionless.
Xia Xianxian also felt a rare wave of embarrassment.
The clothes on her body bore Meng Wenzhou’s scent, mixed with the smell of soap, sunlight, and a faint hint of sweat.
As the scents of the two blended together, it inexplicably created the illusion that they were embracing each other.
With one of these childhood friends at the entrance and the other inside the room, separated by several large steps, the atmosphere grew subtle.
Xia Xianxian felt a little flustered. Feeling that it would be best to say something to break this awkwardness, she lightly cleared her throat.
“What bad idea were you brewing today? You were smiling so happily when we left the house.”
Meng Wenzhou turned his head and saw Xia Xianxian wearing his clothes. His heart stirred slightly, and his fingers rubbed together subconsciously.
Only then did he counter-question her: “What about you? I saw that you looked quite happy too.”
With a pfft, both of them burst into laughter at the same time.
With this question and answer, followed by a shared smile, the previous romantic atmosphere was naturally broken.
That was exactly why they were childhood friends; a single glance was all it took to know that the other had harvested plenty today.
Xia Xianxian’s harvest was certainly bountiful, but she was currently more curious about what Meng Wenzhou had done.
Stepping back in time to when they were still at the Xia house.
Meng Wenzhou had always been thick-skinned and dark-hearted. After finishing his appeal regarding the system mission, he continued to strike up a conversation with the system like nothing had happened.
“System? System?”
A blanket of silence filled his mind; not even a faint sound of static current appeared.
Tsk, it seemed it was angry.
“System, I filed this appeal for your own good too. We are in a symbiotic relationship. This mission is highly difficult, yet the reward is only this small; the points distributed into your hands certainly won’t amount to much either.”
…Sizzle…
Seeing a reaction from the system, Meng Wenzhou continued his bluffing.
“I know you must feel aggrieved right now. This Spicy Cold Rabbit was requested by us, and you went to great lengths just to put this mission together, yet we didn’t show any gratitude.”
The electronic voice in his mind simulated a young boy’s voice, questioning Meng Wenzhou with an air of deep grievance.
[Then why did you still file an appeal?]
“If I am not mistaken, you traded with another system to get this mission, right?”
After a brief silence, the system replied.
[Yes, how did you know?]
“I suspected it before. The fact that we could pick up a missed loophole proves that there must be many systems in the main computer space, and it cannot manage so many trivial matters. As long as no major mistake is made, it should turn a blind eye and avoid fussing over it with us.”
Having confirmed his initial hypothesis, Meng Wenzhou then continued to explain.
“You didn’t have the specific mission on hand but wanted to handle it well, so you sought out another system. Originally it was a win-win situation, but that system was too dark-hearted, demanding so many requirements while only allocating a tiny bit of benefit to us. This is bullying you, and it’s also looking down on us.”
[But it is an experienced system; it has even assisted in training newborn systems before.]
“Look, that is exactly where you are short-sighted. Think about it yourself, is this mission fair? Moreover, we are just filing an appeal. As long as it wasn’t excessively pocketing the price difference as a middleman, the main computer definitely won’t punish it either. We are just letting everyone know that just because we have less experience, it doesn’t mean they can casually fool us.”
The system felt that Meng Wenzhou’s words made some sense, but for some reason, it kept feeling that something was not quite right.
Seeing that the system remained silent, Meng Wenzhou went on to say.
“By the way, I notice the color of your light-screen panel has always been blue. Can we change it to something else?”
[This is the initial skin. Other skins require points to purchase.]
“Ah, then let’s look for more high-point missions in the future. You should save up more too, so you won’t lose face when interacting with other systems later.”
By this time, the young system was entirely immersed in the pie Meng Wenzhou was drawing for it, truly believing it had misunderstood him.
“Right, I just filed an appeal. Is this mission frozen now?”
[Let me check.]
[The mission is still here. If the appeal succeeds, the main computer will grant us corresponding compensation.]
……
“So, it was an unknown system outside that shortchanged us on our supplies? I previously thought our own system had made some kind of blunder!”
Meng Wenzhou nodded his head: “Correct. Judging by the previous hypothesis, the main computer is still relatively humanized and very fair.”
“Both we and the system should be able to gain some benefits this time…”
Xia Xianxian understood the unspoken words clearly, and she felt a second of pity for the little system.
It was precisely this second of kindness that allowed her to discover a surprise.
“Look, a rainbow!” Xia Xianxian shouted, pointing outside.
The rain was gradually tapering off, and a rainbow faintly appeared in the sky, spanning across the upper reaches of the fields.
“It’s so beautiful!” Xia Xianxian lamented as she looked at the rainbow outside the straw hut, the colors of the rainbow reflected within her eyes.
Looking at Xia Xianxian’s profile, Meng Wenzhou said, “Yes, it’s so beautiful!”
The sunlight emerged from behind the dark clouds, spilling over the wet grass, and the entire world brightened up.
It rendered Xia Xianxian’s profile exceptionally beautiful.
Meng Wenzhou swallowed hard, pursed his lips, and finally spoke up: “The rain has slowed down, let’s head back.”