Chapter 243 - A Perfect New World (VII)
Chapter 243 – A Perfect New World (VII)
It was not until Zhu Shoucheng waved goodbye to the boy that Chi Xiaochi closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around the back of Lou Ying’s neck, the strong scent of foreign wine spilling out of his breath and the setting sun on the back of Lou Ying’s neck.
Lou Ying put one hand on his shoulder, took out his wallet with one hand and asked the owner of the spicy skewer stall, “How much is it?”
The owner didn’t know XO and just assumed it was a fancy alcoholic drink bought by a child from elsewhere: “It’s not mine, the others total 11.50.”
Taking the money, the boss inquired curiously, “What’s wrong with the lad?”
Lou Ying picked Chi Xiaochi up on his back and put his hands on the back of his knees: “He didn’t want to go to school, so he skipped it. I’m his brother, now take him home.”
Chi Xiaochi leaned over Lou Ying’s back and whispered, “Lou, I’m not drunk, I can walk.”
Lou Ying put his wallet away and said without looking back, “Do you want me to carry you in my arms?”
Chi Xiaochi imagines that image and chooses to shut up.
Lou Ying turned around and saw Zhu Shoucheng, who had put his official Wen bag in the basket of his bicycle, in the middle of the crowd.
He didn’t see Lou Ying and Chi Xiaochi, kicked off his bike and greeted a few passing students with a smile, like a kind and friendly old man.
Lou Ying looks at the data panel in front of him.
The target of their mission was Zhu Shoucheng.
Zhu Shoucheng vs Chi Xiaochi , Good Sense value 80, Regret value 0.
He watched Zhu Shoucheng for a moment in silence, then left the place with Chi Xiaochi on his back.
The alleys of the small town are as misshapen as the wires overhead and can lead to anywhere.
The daytime sun scorches the rubber of the wires, while the warming sunset slows down the heat as tiny sparrows bounce around on the clothes-drying wires with great glee.
Lou Ying chose a road that was not too crowded, as “Lou Ying” remembered, and it was quiet enough not to disturb Chi Xiaochi and enough for him to collect his thoughts.
Just now, Lou Ying was still in class and couldn’t suddenly disappear in public, so he spent the next half of the lesson reading through the world line.
…… He regrets that he did so.
Every second Lou Ying spent looking at it, he was tormented by an unbearable heartache, a chill radiating from his chest to his whole body, blood rushing through his head, and his left hand tingling so much that he could only clench his fingers over and over again to use the pain to ease something.
He wanted to find Chi Xiaochi and say nothing, think nothing, just hold him.
After class, he found the teacher.
As an exceptionally gifted student, Lou Ying’s ease in calling in sick to her class teacher was unimaginable.
Even if he said “I’m a bit depressed today, I don’t want to study and I want to go home”, the class teacher would only tell him to take a good rest, not to mention that he did look pale and the class teacher, seeing the bad situation, immediately released him from his sick leave and even told him not to come tomorrow.
On the way to Chi Xiaochi, Lou Ying had a lot on her mind.
Lou Ying can be sure that this time they have arrived in a parallel world to Chi Xiaochi’s original world.
In the previous world, Lord GOD classified Jiao Qingguang as a “scum”, which was already a stretch for Lou Ying, but in this world, Zhu Shoucheng is directly targeted?
What’s the point of talking to a scumbag about attacking and receiving, other than to be disgusting and ridiculous?
It seems that Lord GOD is doing everything he can to keep Xiaochi around.
After all, Lord GOD must have gone to a lot of trouble to find a parallel world that just barely fits the bill.
On top of that, Lord GOD has an ironclad violation this time around.
Because while reading the world line, Lou Ying can also read the memories of another person.
…… the memory of the original ” Lou Ying” on this world thread.
This means that, like Chi Xiaochi, he has now become the host of “Lou Ying”.
The pact between Lou Ying and Lord GOD never included taking the bodies of people who already existed in the normal world line and using them for their own purposes.
Even in the book-dressing world of The Shark Immortal, Lou Ying only occupies the name and identity of ” Wen Yujing” who is out on a trip.
At the time, 061 was eager to reveal himself in front of Chi Xiaochi, borrowing people’s identities for the very purpose of being dismantled in the first place.
As for Yan Jinhua’s design, it was just a ploy to get him to do so.
Lord GOD has already crossed the line once before.
In Shi Tingyun’s world, he left Lou Ying with the option of a sickly body and delayed the release of the world line so that he couldn’t start a normal quest, and this time, Lord GOD threw him right at Lou Ying herself, which is a serious breach of contract.
Lou Ying has secretly recorded all the anomalous data.
His original plan was to submit the data to the watchdog as soon as Xiaochi was gone and Lord GOD could no longer make things difficult for Xiaochi.
But now Lou Ying is really getting worried.
At the point in time when they were currently transported here, nothing had happened yet.
Chi Xiaochi’s fourteen-year-old summer has just begun. They have an endless future, endless possibilities, endless summers, endless sunlight coming through the windows, beating on the teenager’s bones, urging him to grow up with each passing year.
Fourteen years old, what a great age.
The firm belief that good grades will change everything and the future; the biggest worry is that a certain problem the teacher draws him to the board is too difficult; jumping up and touching the basket makes him feel he has touched the sky.
Most importantly, he was there, and so was Lou Ying herself.
His own home was just below his house, no need to travel from the south of the sky to the north of the sea, no need to wait for him to finish ten more tasks, it was just a distance to be reached with a lift of the leg and a bow of the head.
…… who can resist such temptation.
The sunset light falls on the two children, the temperature is just right, the youth is just right.
With the faint scent of wine spewing from her back, Lou Ying felt like she was carrying a boozy chocolate.
He decided not to think about the future, but to look after the immediate future.
The strength of the wine was so strong that a little bit of it went to Chi Xiaochi’s head and he started to feel dizzy.
It’s a good thing Chi Xiaochi doesn’t like to go crazy even when he’s drunk.
He coiled his arms around Lou Ying’s neck in a regular manner, his feverish face resting on the exposed skin of Lou Ying’s school uniform collar.
Lou Ying could feel the blink of his eyelashes, a delicate brush against his neck, not at all restful.
He sighed helplessly, “Don’t look at me, close your eyes and get some rest.”
Chi Xiaochi, in the tone of someone who has discovered a new world, says, ” Brother Lou, you are so small.”
Lou Ying : “…… eh?”
Chi Xiaochi looked at him seriously from the side: “I’m all grown up, how come you’re still so small.”
Lou Ying took a step and tightened her fingers around his knee, “Yes, I’m trying to grow up.”
Chi Xiaochi stamped his chest with his fist, “Here’s your little red flower.”
Lou Ying : “Thank you, Mr. Chi.”
As soon as the name was out of his mouth, he realised that he could look at him and call him by his name this time.
Light and square, not bound by any contract.
Lou Ying tries, “Xiaochi?”
Chi Xiaochi was confused: “Hmm?”
”Xiaochi.”
”Well ……”
Lou Ying inclined her head, ” Chi Xiaochi ?”
Chi Xiaochi felt herself slipping a little and, like a wombat, she climbed up onto Lou Ying’s neck, her forehead just touching Lou Ying’s.
The two heads rested against each other, and the mere contact was enough to make one feel at ease.
Chi Xiaochi breathed in softly as her skin, scorched by the alcohol, touched the coolness, before responding obediently, “Yes.”
Lou Ying tilted his forehead lovingly and carried Chi Xiaochi, who was whispering in his sleep, a few steps further.
Chi Xiaochi’s dream is a jumbled mess, bouncing from side to side as he mutters a few lines from a film he’s spoken and whispers “Lucas, I want to take that play”, grabbing his shirt by the chest.
Lou Ying’s heart palpitates.
He remembered the chandelier that had accidentally come loose when he sent Chi Xiaochi into the system.
Lou Ying’s memory of the old theatre is still there.
The town is about an hour’s cycle ride from the town and countryside where they are located. The town is known as the home of Wenhua and has hosted several theatre Wenhua festivals. The theatre, which doubles as a cinema, is on the edge of the town and has only done a handful of small plays and countless films.
When they were little, Lou Ying and Xiaochi, saw Titanic and Cinema Paradiso here.
In the summer cinema, with its whirring fans and the faint smell of sweat, young Lou Ying buys Xiaochi plums and allows him to spit the cores into his palm.
Lou Ying wondered what kind of mindset Chi Xiaochi had when she took on that play.
Had it not been for that play, they might not have seen each other again, let alone come full circle like this and come back to the same place.
Lou Ying would like to ask a question.
A question he had asked a long time ago, but never received a clear answer to.
After reading the world line, he understood part of it, but not all of it yet.
He asked, “Xiaochi, at that time, how did you come up with the idea of being a star?”
Chi Xiaochi grunted, not sure if he heard it clearly or if it was just a drunken murmur.
Lou Ying asked him, “Why did you drop out of school when your grades were so good?”
…… Yeah, why?
Chi Xiaochi has a hazy memory of a time when he was hiding in a stairwell after a commercial show, smoking a cigarette, when he accidentally met an old man with a pair of glasses.
He borrowed the old man’s fire.
The old man put on his cigarette and said gently, “Thank you, Xiaochi.”
Chi Xiaochi was curious: “You know me?”
”I was just downstage, in the first row.” The old man said, “I was invited by a friend to watch the show as a side trip, and I didn’t expect to see you. …… Your appearance and temperament are very much in line with the person I imagined.”
Chi Xiaochi, hearing this oddly, clutches his cigarette and raises his eyebrows lightly as he looks him up and down.
”I’m sorry, don’t misunderstand.” The old man also sensed that he hadn’t said that very well, smiled apologetically and handed over a business card, “I did ask around and came to see you on purpose, but I assure you, I have nothing else in mind. I’m a director and I’m currently working on a film. I wanted to see if you were interested, and if so, could you come and audition for it next Sunday.”
It’s not uncommon in the modelling world to be picked up by a director who is not bad looking.
What’s rare, though, is that this man played the lead role right out of the gate and has since dropped out of school, working his way up to the top, with the occasional low point often reversed with a single blow.
Anyone would think he was worth dropping out of school.
No one is going to ask him why.
Handsome, well endowed, talented and privileged, it’s only natural that you should be in this business, what’s the objection?
But Lou Ying still wants to know why.
He knew that Chi Xiaochi had studied so hard to get into the high school Lou Ying was attending, to get into the university Lou Ying wanted to attend in the future, and to live, step by step, instead of him.
…… What made him choose to give up.
Chi Xiaochi, who was lying on Lou Ying’s back, gave the answer in a low voice: “…… Brother Lou’s sister-in-law and aunt are moving away.”
With just one word, Lou Ying understood and closed her eyes in disbelief.
”My home is going to be gone.” Chi Xiaochi murmurs as she buries herself in Lou Ying’s back, “I don’t have the money to buy my whole home. Modeling and not having enough money. I need money.”
Lou Ying is lost for words.
He wanted to ask Chi Xiaochi why he was being so stupid, but he swallowed his words.
Chi Xiaochi wants to keep the last traces of a dead man, so he doesn’t even want his own future.
Who knows if Chi Xiaochi will be able to live on this in the future until the first film is finished and released?
Chi Xiaochi doesn’t know it himself.
Luckily, fate treated him well.
Later, he bought every room in the ramshackle silo and whenever he could, he would come back and live in it.
He was the last tenant in the entire silo.
And now Lou Ying is standing in front of the silo with Chi Xiaochi on her back.
A middle-aged man sat bare-backed at the mahjong table, idly lifting the scattered mahjong on the table one by one to look at it, with a half-eaten old popsicle in his hand, if he didn’t grab a seat.
The corridors on the ground floor are bustling with boys wanting to take pictures on the concrete floor, girls wanting to jump on the concrete floor, and Malan blooming twenty-one.
On the first floor, the old man with the back of his ears is shaking his karate, shaking it with great vigour, his partner standing beside him, watching him with a smile.
A few women who have finished cooking dinner are standing at the entrance to the building, chatting. The children and their husbands have not yet returned and they are making the most of the time they have, enjoying a rare moment of leisure in their day.
Lou Ying, with Chi Xiaochi on his back, was quite conspicuous and a woman with a keen eye soon spotted him: “Oh my, what’s wrong with Xiaochi?”
Lou Ying approached and gave a polite bow, “Out with friends, had a few drinks.”
The woman shook her head, “What kind of wine is that for such a young child? At such a young age, you won’t know how to regret it until you have a bad stomach when you are older.”
A slightly caustic female voice rang out with laughter, “What do people say, things gather in groups, people are divided by groups, and when you hang out with thieves, you inevitably have a bit of the barbaric air of the jungle.”
Lou Ying, who had turned to leave, paused briefly, but after only a moment he looked as normal as ever, carried Chi Xiaochi to his door, took the key and opened it.
It was customary that Lou Ying’s sister-in-law would not return if she did not return at this time.
Lou Ying put Chi Xiaochi, who had slept on his back for a while and had woken up, on the bed, unscrewed the fan, tucked in the covers and said, “You rest first. I’m going out.”
Chi Xiaochi, still a little dizzy, only knew that this Lou brother in front of him was his 061 : ” Lou brother, where are you going?”
Lou Ying stroked his sweaty hair, “I’ll go find Aunt Chu and set the record straight.”
Chi Xiaochi winked, “You said before, leave them alone.”
Lou Ying laughed softly, “Before? Is that what I said?”
Chi Xiaochi drifted off, pulling the covers up over her mouth and shaking her head, “I don’t know, I don’t know.”
Lou Ying, amused by his appearance, pinches his face, takes his mobile phone out of the cubby and pushes out the door.
Chi Xiaochi pricked up his ears and listened to the commotion outside.
Aunt Chu didn’t expect Lou Ying to return and was clearly coming for her, standing quietly in front of her, she faded twice before she did.
She braced herself, “What are you doing?”
Lou Ying said, “Auntie Chu, who did you mean by the phrase “thief”?”
The two older sisters beside Aunt Chu glanced at each other and shut up collectively, ready to watch the fun.
Aunt Chu was not alone, and in front of so many people, she knew Lou Ying would not be violent, so she stuck her neck out, “What, you have the guts to steal but not the guts to admit it?”
”Do you mean me?”
”That’s where I found the semiconductors in your house, who else would have stolen them if not you?”
”Good.” Lou Ying gave a polite nod and handed the phone out.
Aunt Chu was stunned, “What is this for?”
Lou Ying : “Aunt Chu, didn’t you say something was missing? Call the police.”
Aunt Chu: “……”
Seeing Aunt Chu’s face turning blue and red, Lou Ying flipped the phone cover open, “If you don’t report it, then I will.”
Aunt Chu did panic a little and her voice instantly rose, “What did you call the police for? You still want to catch a thief crying out?”
”You go on. I have your words on tape.” Lou Ying said, “You know very well whether I am a thief or not. If you call me a thief again, you will have to pay a thousand dollars more in court. Why do you think it’s necessary?”