The village’s annual activities were always the same: mountain climbing, weeding, and fishing. With the early spring blooming of Forsythia flowers and willow branches, Zong Yuan made a floral crown for Zong Bao. The child proudly showed it off to his classmates, wearing a head full of yellow and green leaves and flowers.
Even in the countryside, despite all the inconveniences, the air and the flora brought joy to people’s hearts.
Zong Yuan remarked, “These kinds of days are really comfortable.”
0046 teased him, “In your second world, you were particularly annoying, shouting and yelling at Jiang Shengyan.”
“Nonsense,” Zong Yuan snorted. “I’ve always been indulgent with him.”
He added somewhat guiltily, “At least, I haven’t scolded him after recognizing him.”
Just after Zong Yuan spoke, he felt something was off. “0046, I sensed it last night. My memories are too clear, aren’t they?”
0046 nonchalantly replied, “Of course, ordinary people’s brains can’t bear so much. The system will protect your memories in each world.”
It proudly continued, “See, Zong Yuan? I told you Headquarters always favors you. You should know that newbies usually don’t get their memories maintained by the system. Most newcomers have to go through a long enough time before the system treats them like this.”
Zong Yuan was stunned for a moment, “So, it’s only me who gets this treatment?”
0046 affirmed, “Only you.”
Zong Yuan’s Adam’s apple rolled as he watched Zong Bao playing joyfully. After a moment of silence, he asked, “What would happen if I weren’t treated this way?”
“Well…” 0046 hesitated, “you should know, everything comes with a cost.”
Zong Yuan frowned.
Today, he rarely wore a white shirt, standing amidst a field of rapeseed flowers. The wind rustled his clothes, and his black hair drifted in front of his eyes. Zong Yuan lifted his hair, revealing Zong Bao holding a rapeseed flower, extending it towards Yun Baizhou.
Yun Baizhou reached out, accepted the flower, and bent down to thank Zong Bao.
At the age of thirty-two, every move he made exuded a gentle and leisurely aura.
It seemed like time had a special way of slowing down around him.
Zong Yuan walked over, and Yun Baizhou’s gaze flickered, patting Zong Bao. “Pick one for your brother.”
“Brother doesn’t like rapeseed flowers,” Zong Bao still picked one. “It’s hard to please him!”
“He’ll like whatever you give him,” Yun Baizhou pinched the child’s cheek. “Zong Bao is so cute; who wouldn’t like him?”
Zong Yuan’s voice came from the front, murmuring, “Acting cute and pretending to be young every day, is that cute? Forget it.”
“…Brother!”
Yun Baizhou chuckled and watched Zong Bao run towards Zong Yuan.
A child cried ahead, and Yun Baizhou glanced in that direction. “Zong Bao, remember to stay with your brother. I’ll go and check. Teacher is going over.”
Holding his brother’s hand, Zong Bao obediently said, “Okay, Yunyun.”
Zong Yuan watched Yun Baizhou go to comfort the crying child and inquire with the parents. “Zong Bao, can Brother ask you a few questions seriously?”
Zong Bao looked at him curiously, “Sure, sure! Ask away, Gege!”
Zong Yuan looked around and found a large tree not far away. He took Zong Bao there, and they sat beneath it. Zong Bao held a rapeseed flower, nestled in his brother’s arms.
This scene felt somewhat familiar to Zong Yuan. He had once held Zhou Ning under a big locust tree, openly threatening Zhou Jin.
Recalling those memories, Zong Yuan couldn’t help but smile. He looked at Zong Bao and asked with a smile, “Why are you afraid of fish?”
There was no memory of Zong Bao being afraid of fish in his recollections.
Pouting, Zong Bao softly replied, “Just scared, that’s all.”
“There must be a reason.”
“Hmm,” Zong Bao nodded, tapping his head as he thought, “Baby forgot… but Baby used to not be afraid of fish before.”
“In the classroom, there were little goldfish. I even fed them before!” he continued.
Zong Yuan’s fingers tightened on his palm. “Little goldfish are so cute.”
After recalling the appearance of the small goldfish, Zong Bao shivered and almost couldn’t hold back his tears. “So scary, so scary…”
Indeed, it was scary. Zong Yuan vividly remembered his mother… swallowing the goldfish whole. Half of the fish’s tail disappeared into her mouth, and her fish-like eyes stared intently at the young Zong Yuan.
And then there was the pool of fresh blood.
Zong Yuan sighed, “Fear? Come on, let me teach you. Even I used to be afraid of fish, but not anymore. Now, let me show you.”
“?” Zong Bao’s curiosity was piqued, “How did Brother stop being afraid?”
Zong Yuan’s expression changed, and he said very seriously, “I met a mermaid.”
“…” Zong Bao burst into tears, “Waaah, Brother is lying to the kid, waaah!”
Zong Yuan’s forehead veins popped out, “You’re starting to fake cry without shedding a tear?”
Zong Bao halted his wailing and asked curiously, “Is there really a mermaid?”
Zong Yuan nodded.
Zong Bao looked at him skeptically. He knew these fairy tales were fake when he was five! Brother, being this old and still believing… “Then Brother has to tell me what mermaids look like!”
“Very beautiful,” Zong Yuan’s expression softened, “The eyes are beautiful, and the tail is also lovely.”
He looked at Yun Baizhou, who was lost in thought in the flower field after solving the problem, and approached Zong Bao, saying, “Just as beautiful as your Yun Yun.”
“!!!” Zong Bao jumped up excitedly, “I’m going to tell Yun Yun!!! Liar, smelly brother~”
He shouted towards Yun Baizhou, his short legs moving quickly, “Yun Yun! Yun Yun! My brother said something about you!”
When Yun Baizhou heard his innocent voice and realized what he was talking about, he felt at a loss. “About me?”
Zong Bao pointed triumphantly at the big tree, “Brother said Yun Yun is as beautiful as a mermaid!”
Yun Baizhou looked in the direction he pointed—
Zong Yuan lifted his head casually, glanced at them, and then nonchalantly turned away again.
Seeing his indifferent demeanor, Yun Baizhou couldn’t believe he would say such things. He sighed, crouched down, and said, “Zong Bao, telling lies is not a good behavior.”
Zong Bao widened his eyes, “I didn’t! Brother really said you are beautiful!”
Yun Baizhou gestured for him to look at Zong Yuan.
Zong Yuan once again noticed their gaze, and looked over with confusion, “What’s wrong?”
A truly innocent look.
Zong Bao stared blankly, “Brother is lying!”
“If Brother really said that,” Yun Baizhou smiled slowly, “then it’s okay. On the contrary, I would probably be very happy.”
He looked from the side of Zong Bao towards Zong Yuan standing under the tree. Throughout the day, he dared not get too close to him.
A 32-year-old man harboring feelings for a 22-year-old kid was quite disgusting.
—
The leisurely day passed quickly. It was Saturday today, and tomorrow, after waking up, he would tidy up his things and it would be time to leave. Zong Yuan observed Yun Baizhou, who was acting like an ostrich, avoiding him as if hiding from a wild beast.
He told 0046, “Don’t worry, don’t mind. He’s always like this, and in the end, he always can’t resist.”
0046: … What am I worried about?
“The person with the last name Qi…”
Zong Yuan, recalling Yun Baizhou’s tone from last night, said, “Last name Qi, I should know…”
He understood him; the anxiety was obvious in that tone.
Closing his eyes, he began to think.
Carefully going through it again, he still found nothing.
Whether it was the original owner or him, they both found nothing.
—
Zong Yuan and his brother’s room was next to Yun Baizhou’s.
Staring at the messages exchanged with Zong Yuan last night, the input box was unconsciously filled with words, which were eventually deleted one by one. Reason could not resist emotions, and he finally sent a “good night.”
A few minutes later, the phone vibrated, and the person on the other end replied with a “yes.”
With this “yes,” he drifted into a beautiful dream.
—
“Have you ever eaten spicy strips?” A familiar voice echoed, followed by surprise. “You haven’t had spicy strips?!”
The boy across hesitated and nodded.
“Oh my…” the speaker looked at the boy with astonishment, “you’re so pitiful.”
Yun Baizhou couldn’t see the faces of the two kids clearly, but he could hear their conversation, capturing the emotions of surprise and sympathy in their words.
He watched the emotionally rich child in the corner of the orphanage saving every penny, selling bread and buns to the store owner.
Though the store owner’s face was unseen, the compassion in his tone was evident, “Your buns and bread look like this, inedible. How about this: two cents for each bun, three cents for each loaf. I can buy them to soak in hot water for the dog.”
“Okay, okay, okay!” The child eagerly nodded, receiving a pile of dirty one-cent coins handed over by the store owner. He reluctantly watched as the store owner placed the bun in a dog bowl and offered it to the dog.
Swallowing hard, he fished out another five one-cent coins from his pocket and added them to the pile, timidly saying, “Uncle, can I exchange it for a pack of spicy strips? I want to treat my friend who has never tried them before!”
He was both happy and proud, “I have a friend now, and I want to treat him!”
Yun Baizhou’s heart felt a twinge. The boy was clearly dressed in branded clothes and had no shortage of money to buy that pack of spicy strips with a pile of one-cent coins.
However, he couldn’t say anything, as if he had been infected by the child, his heart filled with satisfaction and joy.
—
“Hehe.”
“Yeah?”
“Now that you’ve become an executive, what do you want to do?”
A long period of silence.
The man gazed into the vast white distance. “None.”
“No?” The inquirer seemed surprised. “If not, why did you desperately climb to the higher levels?”
“…I need to stay alive.”
“But,” the questioning person became more puzzled, “you can stay alive in various worlds without climbing to the higher levels. Oh, you just can’t return to your original world. So, why the insistence?”
“…”
What is my insistence?
Why do I… want to stay alive so badly?
—
The dreamlike scenes gradually faded into darkness.
Nothing was visible, including the blurry faces.
Frowning, Yun Baizhou clutched the bedding, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
—
“You’re a high-level entity; you don’t need to come to a place like this.”
“What is this?”
“This is the system. The bright lights inside are the system maintaining the memories of the task performer.”
“Maintaining… memories?”
“Oh, you probably don’t understand well. Everyone can only bear a limited amount of memories; one world is a lifetime. If left unattended, it can lead to serious consequences.”
“I haven’t attended to it.”
“Yes, but can you still remember the world when you first completed a task?”
“…”
The person responding smiled knowingly. “You can bear more than an average person, but when the burden on your brain becomes too heavy, it takes protective measures on its own.”
“For example, after completing the task in the fifth world, your brain thinks it’s the limit. Consequently, it begins to delete all memories of the first world to make space for the next one.”
“Once your brain’s self-protective mechanism kicks in, the system won’t naturally repair your memories.”
“…” The man spoke slowly. “Understood.”
—
“Sir, someone from your world has arrived again.”
“Oh.”
“His name is Zong Yuan.”
“…What did you say?”
“Zong Yuan.”
“Qi… Lord? Qi… Lord?”
“Lord Qi Zhuang!”
—
Awakening from the dream, the sky was already dimly lit.
Yun Baizhou was soaked in sweat as if he had been immersed in water. He murmured to himself, “It’s Zong Yuan.”
Then who am I?
I am Qi Zhuang.
Author’s Note:
The real name of our protagonist is revealed! It’s you, Qi Zhuang!
Qi Zhuang: Let me be pretentious for another chapter.
I’m itching to act cute and coquettish [MachoManTearingUp.JPG]
