MASG chapter 132

 

It was still quiet by the fish pond. Lao Gui had grown accustomed to this kind of quiet.

Now, whether he cleaned it up or not, the seawater in the fish pond would no longer turn murky. He smiled. The bugs in this world were becoming more and more. But so what if there were more? The “people” here didn’t know anyway.

“What are you thinking about?” Wang Ming opened a can of beer.

“Thinking…thinking about some other things.” Lao Gui opened a can of beer, too. “Ha! This is really good. Really satisfying. Beer tastes way better than I imagined.”

“Hahaha, what kind of nonsense is that? Don’t think that just because your name is ‘Lao Gui’ you can spout nonsense.” Wang Ming poured the beer into a glass, the foam rising to more than half full. “Tell me the truth. What are you really thinking?”

Lao Gui steadied himself and slowly spoke. “I’m thinking that I might have to change jobs. Soon, I’ll leave this place. I want to see the outside world.”

“The outside world?” Wang Ming didn’t even finish his beer. “What’s so good about the outside world? You don’t like Penghu Island?”

“I like it. I like it too much; that’s why I can’t always stay here. I have to go out.” Lao Gui gave him a smile that was neither light nor heavy. “The outside world still has a lot waiting for me.”

Wang Ming stopped talking and drank mouthful after mouthful of dull beer as if he couldn’t imagine a place more comfortable than Penghu Island.

“Then will you come back?” After a while, Wang Ming finally spoke.

“Hard to say. We’ll see.” Lao Gui smiled too hard, his eyes turning red. “What about you? Are you going to stay here forever?”

“Probably. I think this place suits me pretty well. It’s my home. It would be great if you could stay here forever too. We could fish every day and go out to sea when we’re bored. We could feel the sea breeze at night and drink beer. We could do nothing, and another day would pass. I really can’t think of a better life than this one.” Wang Ming scratched his hair, which was not too long or too short. “Where are you planning to go?”

Lao Gui kept smiling and wiping his eyes. “Qingyao City. It’s a big city. Things aren’t finished yet. There are too many things to do.”

“Oh… Qingyao City.” Wang Ming looked thoughtful. “That place is too far from here. If you leave, we might never run into each other again, right?”

Before Lao Gui could answer, footsteps interrupted their conversation, blowing out the foam on their beer. Mo An walked over slowly. The first thing he saw was the room full of flower baskets.

Unlike those bought outside, every single flower basket here was hand-woven by Lao Gui. Mo An had never known that Lao Gui could do handicrafts before this. Maybe it was because, in the real world, there were no longer any green plants or flowers. The Lao Gui he knew was a slick, sharp mercenary, sometimes even cunning. So, when he first saw Lao Gui handling flowers and plants, Mo An was especially shocked.

Those were the same hands that held guns and knives. Could he actually do this?

“Why are you here?” Lao Gui stood up at that moment.

“I have something to talk to you about.” Mo An glanced at Wang Ming, clearly feeling that he was in the way.

Wang Ming naturally understood the look. It was obviously telling him to leave. “It’s late. You talk, and I’ll head home. Lao Gui, can we still drink together tomorrow?”

Lao Gui rubbed his eyes and nodded. “Sure. When it’s time, just come over.”

“You promise?” Wang Ming seemed completely unconvinced. “Hahaha, you won’t secretly leave tomorrow, will you?”

“I promise I won’t. I promise you.” Lao Gui shook his head and waved goodbye until Wang Ming was out of sight.

Mo An sat down in the chair, rubbing his hands uneasily. “It’s a bit hard to handle. Xia Yu is probably about to remember. But he still hasn’t found the anchor point in his heart. I’m afraid his will isn’t firm enough, or his mind is dazed, and he’ll be formatted by Nuwa.”

“How do you know he’s about to remember?” Lao Gui kept drinking beer, finishing the glass that Wang Ming hadn’t finished.

“I…I kissed him.” Mo An answered honestly, as if admitting a mistake.

Lao Gui spat out a mouthful of beer. “Pff—”

“I know it’s wrong, but we couldn’t control it. He likes me, and I like him. We were lovers to begin with.” Mo An explained stubbornly. “After we had intimate contact… his reactions started getting strange. Just now, he almost had a seizure.”

“That’s bad.” Lao Gui pinched the bridge of his nose, looking equally troubled. “I’ve found that it’s not hard to make Xia Yu like you again in this world. What’s hard is keeping him awake.”

“So what should I do? He could remember everything at any time.” Mo An shoved both hands into his hair, feeling dejected and anxious. “What should I do?”

“Make all the preparations. That’s all I can say.” Lao Gui looked around, taking in each of the flower baskets he had carefully made. “I’ve already made all the preparations.”

“Make preparations?” Mo An didn’t know what that meant at that moment, but he understood when he went to school the next day.

During the break, homeroom teacher Chen Ailu called him to the office and congratulated him. “I’ve signed you up for the English competition. The senior three teaching group and the English group both agreed to let you compete. How about it? Confident?”

Mo An smiled bitterly. “Confident.”

“Good job. I knew I didn’t misjudge you.” Chen Ailu took out a thick stack of test papers. “Before school’s over, help me hand these out. This is the homework for the next two days. We’ll go over them on Friday. As for you, go home and prepare an extra assignment. Write an English self-introduction.”

“Okay.” Mo An took the papers.

“Mhm. If there’s nothing else, go back to class. Oh, right. The school swim team coach wants you to join the team. I can’t decide that for you. Go watch their training on Thursday. Whether or not you join is up to you.” Chen Ailu had already taken out a ballpoint pen, ready to grade yesterday’s homework.

Mo An stood in front of her desk. From rejecting school to helping teachers carry papers naturally, he had become a real high school student in these few months. When Chen Ailu lowered her head, he saw a white strand of hair hidden among her long hair. It had grown from worrying about her students.

Everyone here had their own life.

“What’s wrong? Not leaving yet?” Chen Ailu noticed that he hadn’t moved. “You’re so tall. Standing in the classroom, you really don’t look like a student. Haha. Hurry back and prepare properly. The competition is very important.”

“Okay, I’ll go prepare.” Mo An nodded and lingered a few more seconds before turning and leaving.

Feeling extremely restless and with a vague sense of unease in his heart, Mo An didn’t attend a single class today. He kept feeling that something big was about to happen. After school, he waited for Xia Yu at the gate, leaning against his black bicycle. He was distracted the whole time until someone slapped his shoulder hard.

“What are you thinking about?” Chen Minghao’s smiling face came close. Du Meng followed behind him, still wearing that carefree, relaxed look—clearly not planning to do homework.

“Nothing.” Mo An smiled as well. “What are you guys planning to do?”

“Boss, you’re really not loyal. When are you coming over to play games?” Du Meng stuffed a bottle of soda into his hand. “Look at Chen Minghao—no wonder he’s a top student and number one in the grade. He’s coming to my place for dinner today.”

“And supervise you doing homework.” Chen Minghao said seriously. “Your homeroom teacher already said that with your grades…”

“I’ll go to a vocational college. If I go to a vocational college, my parents will buy me a car.” Du Meng shook his head, swayed, and turned to stare at Mo An. “Boss, come to my place for dinner this weekend. I told my parents about you a long time ago, but you never showed up. They even thought I had schizophrenia because I didn’t have any friends at school.”

“Yeah, let’s go together. Call Xia Yu and Xia Xiaoxiao. First, we’ll freeload a big meal from him, and then we’ll play several rounds of games.” Chen Minghao also went all out. “Even the top student needs to relax.”

The sunset fell on their shoulders, turning their blue sports uniforms into a faint green and creating a unique high school student symbol with the shadows of the trees behind them. First- and second-years were still playing ball on the field when the teaching building rang the bell again. Mo An had already gotten used to the bell and to them.

“Okay, we’ll go this weekend. You prepare a big meal properly.” In the end, Mo An agreed. This time, he patted Du Meng and Chen Minghao on the shoulder. “We’ll go together.”

At that moment, Xia Yu and Xia Xiaoxiao took their bikes from the school bike shed. Xia Xiaoxiao twisted the key and pushed out her newly modified bicycle. “Bro, what are you planning to do tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow? Huh? What did you say?” Xia Yu was also pushing his bike; his mind was in complete chaos.

It had started last night. He couldn’t control it at all. A thread was dragging him forward in a mad rush, but his thoughts never ended. It was the same in class today. As long as he stared at black and white, those cruel, cold scenes would surface. The teaching building turned into ruins; the surrounding peace was just an illusion.

He even started having auditory hallucinations and could always hear gunshots. Yet he had never touched a gun, nor had he ever seen one.

“Tomorrow is Mom’s birthday.” Xia Xiaoxiao looked at him in shock. “Have you bought the gift?”

Suddenly, the back of Xia Yu’s head hurt as if he had been hit by a one-ton truck. “Tomorrow…”

“Yeah, it’s tomorrow. In the past, you always reminded me early and told me to buy a gift. How did you forget this year?” Xia Xiaoxiao walked over and tapped her brother on the head. “You didn’t say anything, so I thought you had already secretly prepared it!”

“Tomorrow is Mom’s birthday. A birthday?” Xia Yu murmured to himself, repeating this piece of information over and over. He looked up at the sky, trying hard to remember what day tomorrow was, but his mind was a complete blank. He tried to quickly recall what his mother looked like, but his mind was blank.

She is Mom… Xia Li is Mom… what does Mom look like?

She is…Mom?

Xia Yu shuddered. He couldn’t remember his mother’s face and began to doubt her existence. The surrounding scenery retreated at full speed once again. A whole stretch of pink rushed toward him. This time, there were no ruins. All the buildings were intact, with no sharp edges.

The ground seemed elastic. Walking on it felt like walking on a trampoline. Suddenly, he realized that he was on a trampoline. As he jumped, fireworks flashed alongside him. Happy music and laughter filled his ears. He looked at his hands and realized he was holding someone.

Who was it?

Xia Yu could only look upward, following those pale hands to that person’s face.

It was a face exactly the same as his own. Behind him, a flock of pink flamingos flew up. Clowns flew past in the sky, carrying popcorn. Teacup rides spun nonstop. The wind carried the sweetness of honey.

“I still think the outside world is better, Xia Yu.” The boy who looked exactly like him said. “This place is fake. We can’t stay here.”

This place is fake… Xia Yu blinked and, without realizing it, two lines of tears fell.

The instant his tears fell, the campus ground shook slightly.

Mo An, who had just said goodbye to Chen Minghao and Du Meng, was suddenly startled. He kept searching for Xia Yu. An earthquake? Or had the anchor point already appeared?