MASG chapter 120

 

Half an hour later, Zhang Mingqiao laid a mattress on the floor next to the bed.

“You should’ve said earlier that you’re afraid of thunder,” he said. He’d finally found an opportunity for some father-son bonding and hurried right over.

“It’s fine, Dad. I’m old enough to sleep by myself. If you stay with me, I’ll be like a giant baby, and people will laugh at me.” Mo An stared lifelessly out the window. The rain was still falling, but the romantic atmosphere from earlier had vanished. All he wanted was for Xia Yu to stay with him. Later, he could make up an excuse about being scared, hold his hand, and naturally end up hugging him. But now, what was this? A heartwarming family reunion?

“How could that be? I wasn’t there for your childhood, so now that you’re grown up, I have to make up for it.” When Zhang Mingqiao said this, a trace of confusion flickered across his face. He quickly shook his head, though. “Yes, I’ll make it up to you from now on.”

“Then what about Auntie?” Mo An still wanted to drive him away. “With thunder this loud, Auntie must be scared, too. Dad, I really think you should go keep your wife company. She’s the most important person. Love is sacred—you can’t—”

“Your aunt is sleeping with Xiaoxiao tonight. She understands me,” Zhang Mingqiao said confidently.

For some reason, that sentence hit a nerve. Mo An sprang to his feet. “What? Is Xia Yu sleeping alone tonight?”

That was unacceptable. If everyone else slept alone, that was fine, but Xia Yu was the exception. What if this was Nuwa’s trap? What if he got taken in the middle of the night? What if Xia Yu’s data was erased in the middle of the night? Then, when the family woke up, they wouldn’t remember Xia Yu existed.

“No, Dad. You should stay with Xia Yu tonight.” Mo An suddenly became extremely agitated. “Or… I can go with him. I can do it, too. I’m the younger brother, and there’s nothing wrong with a younger brother accompanying his older brother.”

“You’re all acting strange tonight. Why does sleeping require company?” Zhang Mingqiao couldn’t understand his son’s logic. “Oh, I get it. You’re scared, and you’re worried that Xia Yu might be too, right?”

…That was the only way to admit it now. Mo An nodded along. “Yeah, it’s scary. Why don’t we call him over? You can sleep on the floor while the two of us sleep on the bed.”

“Don’t worry. Xia Yu’s used to it. He’s not a kid who needs special attention.” Zhang Mingqiao wanted to establish some older-brother authority for Xia Yu. “From a very young age, he learned how to live independently. He’s never been afraid of thunder.”

“What if he’s afraid now?” Mo An still refused to give up. Besides, he didn’t believe Nuwa would implant data people with memories that deep. As the ‘god’ controlling this virtual world, Nuwa only needed to tell Zhang Mingqiao: this is your wife Xia Li’s son, you must love him. That would be enough.

Zhang Mingqiao could not possibly have “Xia Yu’s childhood” memories. In other words, everyone’s connections in this world were very tenuous.

“If he were scared, he’d definitely tell us. He’s not the type to bottle things up. He’s very…mm, sunny. Very optimistic.” Zhang Mingqiao searched for the right words. “He’s a ‘Penghu Island’ kind of kid. I knew it the first time I met him. He likes the sea and a carefree life without worries. If nothing major changes, he’ll get into a nearby university next year and take the ferry home on weekends. I heard he wants to study oceanography, sigh, but I don’t understand oceanography. I’ll have to consult someone about it someday.”

Really? Mo An believed that no one understood Xia Yu better than he did.

“Later on, I’ll tell you about the two siblings’ childhood. It’s really very interesting.” As he said this, Zhang Mingqiao kept smiling, clearly immersed in his memories.

But that smile only made Mo An more confused. Could these data people really have lived their entire lives here? No, that’s impossible. They didn’t have true consciousness.

That night passed amid raging wind, pouring rain, and flashes of lightning. Zhang Mingqiao stayed with Mo An, who didn’t sleep through the night. He still retained his habit of keeping watch, waking up every two hours. It had been a long time since he’d slept a full, uninterrupted night. Perhaps only after he truly killed Nuwa would he be able to rest easy.

Waking up in the middle of the night with nothing to do, Mo An secretly went downstairs to check on Xia Yu.

Lao Gui had been right about one thing—Mo An really did sneak into Xia Yu’s bedroom. The moment he took the first step inside, Mo An became aware of another side of himself. His possessiveness toward Xia Yu filled the entire house; he didn’t want to share him with anyone, not even Xia Xiaoxiao. However, when Mo An saw the family photo on the bedside table, the lonely mermaid who had never experienced familial love felt grateful for how they took care of Xia Yu.

Still, parting would eventually come. When that day arrived, Xia Yu probably wouldn’t be too devastated. He would know that in the real world, many people loved him and were waiting for him.

Early the next morning, before school, Mo An dyed his hair. He went from being known as “the dyed-hair kid from Qingyao City” to being a “native Penghu Island teenager.” It was the first time he’d seen himself with black hair, and he felt extremely uncomfortable, as if a defining aspect of his identity had been taken away. Besides, black hair didn’t suit him. Black hair should only look good when it grows on Xia Yu’s head.

“Oh? Did you dye it black?” Lao Gui started mocking him as soon as he saw him that morning. “You’re really assimilating into the local culture, huh?”

“Shut up. One day, I’ll have Zhang Mingqiao fire you.” Mo An had a sandwich in his mouth as he squatted by the edge of the fish pond. “Can’t you change your shoes?”

Lao Gui glared at him. “Why should I? Holey clogs are perfect for coastal workers. Wang Ming gave them to me.”

“Wang Ming? That neighbor?” Mo An recalled the guy Lao Gui had been talking to that day. He was pretty tall and looked about his age. “He lives next door?”

Lao Gui casually pointed to a small wooden house. “He lives there. He just moved in not long ago. He doesn’t have many friends in the community yet, but we get along pretty well. We planned to go drinking together this weekend. He’s a decent guy.”

“Don’t chat with just anyone. There’s no need to form too many emotional ties with them,” Mo An reminded him. “Once we leave this place, all these people will cease to exist.”

“Hahaha, you…” Lao Gui stopped himself mid-sentence but turned back to look at the little wooden house once again, as if waiting eagerly for the neighbor to come over and chat.

Days passed like this—an inevitable path that Mo An hadn’t expected, yet couldn’t do anything about. Half a month flew by. He had completely adapted to the rhythm of high school life and the slow pace of Penghu Island. He even participated in his first monthly exam.

The mermaid who had never tasted the bitterness of studying finally experienced a full range of emotions. Due to his poor performance in math and other science subjects—he mostly guessed multiple-choice questions correctly, scoring only single digits—he ranked second to last in his grade. However, because his English score was outstanding—with a perfect score on the listening portion—he instantly became the school’s top scorer in one subject.

“Top scorer” means first place. This was a term that Mo An only understood after the monthly exam.

“Mo An, you’re amazing!” As Mo An looked at the updated honor roll, a hand suddenly slapped his back hard.

Mo An was suddenly startled. He turned around and performed a disarming move, crossing both hands to lock the person behind him. One second later, and he would have dislocated their joints. The boy behind him kept crying out in pain. Mo An only let go after seeing his face. “I already warned you. Don’t touch me for no reason.”

“Ow, ow, ow, ow… Were you some kind of special forces soldier before? Why does it feel like you’re killing people every time you move?” The boy was named Du Meng. He was not only Mo An’s deskmate but also ranked dead last in the entire senior class. Despite having scores in all subjects, he still couldn’t surpass Mo An.

Mo An helped him rub his upper arm. He hadn’t planned to make friends in the virtual world, but Du Meng was an exception. Du Meng was tall and sturdy with a simple mindset. His family ran a seafood shop and a small convenience store on the island. He would do the same work in the future. He didn’t worry about studying or his future and lived especially carefree and relaxed.

“There’s a swimming competition at school next month. Do you want to join?” Du Meng still wanted to get closer to Mo An. After all, it was hard to find someone in his grade with the same level of academic ability who was also a little slow.

“We’ll see.” Mo An put his hands in his pockets. Up to now, he still hadn’t learned how to swim. Through experiments at night in the bathtub, however, he had discovered one thing: once he stayed in the water for more than fifteen minutes, he would grow fish gills and a fish tail. This speed was far slower than in the real world.

“Join it! With that body of yours, you must be a pro swimmer.” Du Meng took out a soda and handed it to him. “Want to come to my place for dinner tonight? My dad just got back from fishing. We’ve got tuna.”

“No, my parents are cooking tonight.” Mo An glanced at his newly bought watch.

“What about tomorrow, then? It’s Saturday. Come to my place and play games!” Du Meng kept inviting him.

“That won’t work either. I’m going to see a psychologist tomorrow.” Mo An was really troubled by this matter. Zhang Mingqiao and Xia Li were overly concerned about his mental health, so they made an appointment for him. This doctor specialized in stress reactions and post-traumatic sequelae. Mo An had checked the doctor’s resume online and found that he would put patients under deep hypnosis.

This was troubling. What if the doctor hypnotized him and he told the truth? Would everyone think he was crazy?

“A psychologist? Do you have mental problems too? I can’t tell at all.” Du Meng gulped down his soda.

Mo An snorted with laughter. “What could you possibly tell? Look at your scores. They’re even worse than mine.”

“I might not be able to see the answers on the exam, but I can see one big thing.” Du Meng acted mysterious on purpose. “I can tell… someone in our grade likes your brother.”

Boom—thunder exploded in his mind. Did he see that I like Xia Yu? Mo An immediately grabbed his collar. “Who? Who did you see?”

“Why are you reacting so strongly? But my information is extremely accurate.” Du Meng felt as if he were an egg yolk about to be shaken apart. “It’s Chen Minghao from our grade. You didn’t know?”

“Chen Minghao… Why does that name sound so familiar?” Mo An turned his head to look at the senior year monthly exam ranking list. Sure enough, Chen Minghao was clearly written in first place! Not only that, but he was also the top scorer in math, chemistry, and physics!

“Haha, surprised, right? I was shocked too when I first saw it. After all, both Chen Minghao and your brother are guys. I’ve only seen guys liking guys in movies.” Du Meng beamed as he shared the juicy gossip with his good friend. “Maybe one day he’ll confess.”

“No!” Mo An tightly clenched Du Meng’s collar.

This scared Du Meng badly. “Why are you so anxious?”

“I…I’m anxious because if he likes my brother, it’ll affect his academic performance. That definitely won’t do. No, no. My brother won’t like him. He’s not my brother’s type.” Mo An waved his hands in panic. “Aren’t the top ten students in the grade having a small meeting? Come on! Go find them with me!”

“Alright!” Du Meng was of course happy. He and Mo An had finally become good friends. Acting together like this was awesome. The two of them ran up the stairs to the sixth floor, where the grade meetings were held. Du Meng was panting heavily while Mo An’s breathing was only slightly faster than normal.

What was going on? Why were there romantic rivals in the virtual world, too? Why would Nuwa allow people made of data to fall in love with Xia Yu? Nuwa was so despicable. Mo An ran upstairs and looked around carefully. At the other end of the corridor stood none other than Xia Yu and Chen Minghao.

They had their backpacks on and were helping a teacher mop the floor.

Mop what floor? I really want to flip it over! Mo An snuck along the wall with an extremely excited little follower.

Over here, sweat had already formed on Xia Yu’s bangs. “Congratulations! You’re first in the grade again this time. I always want to surpass you, but I’ve never succeeded.”

“It was just luck. There were several hard fill-in-the-blank math questions, and I guessed them.” Chen Minghao lowered his head, glancing at Xia Yu’s side profile from time to time out of the corner of his eye. “If you have time, I can explain the questions to you.”

“Really?” Xia Yu wanted to listen, but when he thought of Mo An at home, he dropped the idea. “I might not have much time lately.”

“It’s fine. Just meet me for half an hour after school. I’ll teach you…” Before Chen Minghao could finish, a figure slid in and crashed into him, sending him flying right in front of Xia Yu’s eyes.