The Hand of Confession – Chapter 427

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Game World (Part 2)

The current situation of friends

Fortunately, Chen Meihan hadn’t grown taller in the past few years, and her IQ hadn’t increased either.

            

In the end, Shen Maomao managed to coax her out of it with her great art of bullshit.

She told Chen Meihan that she and the Little Black Umbrella could be bosses together, playing a game where players had to guess which one was real and which was fake. Guess wrong, and they get kachak-ed.

The innately playful Chen Meihan was instantly captivated. To prevent players from recognizing the Little Umbrella too easily, she even took on the task of teaching it how to speak.

            

The two bosses, who had fought for years without a clear winner, were now sitting together affectionately. The sight made Jinmao exclaim in professional admiration, “Tuzi-jiejie, you’re really something.”

Shen Maomao dusted off her sleeves and left, hiding her contributions and fame. “You need to have some parental authority. Don’t always wait for me to wipe your ass for you. I’m very busy.”

Jinmao said gloomily, “I heard you were pretending to be a ghost to scare newcomers just yesterday.”

            

Shen Maomao said, “Right, there’s something else over there. Lou-jiejie and I will go check on the situation first. Take your time and have fun.”

“Hey! Don’t ignore my words!” Jinmao yelled.

Shen Maomao grabbed Lou Jingmo and turned to run. As they were leaving, Peng Xiaorui was still on the ground, crying, “Administrator, please give me a chance! I know I was wrong! I’ll never litter again!”

            

Seeing her reminded Shen Maomao of Bai Lu, who was still struggling in an instance. She couldn’t help but ask, “How has Bai Lu been recently?”

Peng Xiaorui straightened up and said seriously, “She can probably hold on for a while longer. I went to see her specifically before, and she actually still remembers me!”

Shen Maomao narrowed her eyes. “You went to see her?”

            

“I remember the confidentiality agreement!” Peng Xiaorui said quickly. “She just thinks she had a dream.”

At this thought, a smile appeared on her face. “She told me a lot. She’s working at a big company now with a good monthly salary. There’s a handsome and rich man at her work pursuing her, and she quite likes him too, but she hasn’t made up her mind about being with him yet.”

Shen Maomao patted her shoulder. “Stay strong.”

            

Peng Xiaorui sighed. “I’m fine. We’re people from two different worlds, and she’s a straight girl, I get it. It’s not like I like her so much I can’t live without her, I just had a bit of a crush. It’s been so many years, it’s not like I’m still hung up on it. Anyway, I just feel that it’s best if she can escape the game. If she can’t, she can come be an NPC with me. I don’t think her Sin Value is that high. I’ll help her soar then.”

Lou Jingmo shot her down. “You should take care of yourself first. I heard you didn’t meet your kill quota​¹ this month?”

Peng Xiaorui jumped to her feet. “Is there something wrong with you two?! One plays good cop, the other plays bad cop?​² Can you even count NPC matters as a quota?! Do you think I’m easy to bully?! I’ll fight you, I’m telling you!”

            

Shen Maomao said, “Throw the trash in the trash can. If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving. Bye-bye, good luck.”

Peng Xiaorui’s shout came from behind her: “I curse you to have instant noodles with no seasoning packet!”​³

Shen Maomao turned her head and said to Lou Jingmo, “Look at this woman, so vicious. Add one point to her Sin Value.”

            

Lou Jingmo couldn’t help but laugh. “Stop clowning around. Where are you planning to fool around next?”

“What do you mean, ‘fool around’?” Shen Maomao said seriously. “I’m conducting an inspection.”

Lou Jingmo pursed her lips.

            

“Anyway, since we’re already out, let’s go see Faye and Xiao Cun,” Shen Maomao said.

Faye was the most special card. She was one of a kind, unique, with data different from everyone else’s, belonging solely to Shen Maomao. Shen Maomao couldn’t bear to confine her to a card, so she gave Faye her freedom and let her choose her own world to belong to.

In the end, she chose this instance.

            

This instance was the place of her birth, and it was her home. She had adopted the little boy Shen Maomao had swapped out from the apocalyptic lab world, naming him Xiao Cun.

Shen Maomao’s feelings for Faye were complicated, but no matter what, Faye was a special existence to her, like a mother and a friend.

Lou Jingmo wasn’t about to get jealous of her mother-in-law, so she had no objections and agreed.

            

The two arrived before a kindergarten in the city center. The guard at the gate was an ordinary NPC who didn’t recognize the Administrator or the Administrator’s wife. He just stared warily at the oddly dressed Shen Maomao, afraid they were human traffickers.

It wasn’t long before the kindergarten would let out, so Shen Maomao wasn’t in a hurry. She chatted idly with Lou Jingmo at the gate, waiting for school to end.

Before long, the dismissal bell rang. Faye led a line of pale-faced children out of the building, opened the gate, and let them go, not caring where they went next, nor worrying about their safety.

            

After sending off the little ghosts, she walked over to the two of them, holding a chubby baby of about one year old. She said softly, “Maomao, you’re here?” Then she looked at Lou Jingmo, and they nodded to each other as a greeting.

Shen Maomao took the big, chubby boy. “Aiyo? Has our Little Ancestor​⁴ gotten fatter again?”

The little boy patted her, but without much force, so it didn’t hurt.

            

Faye liked children, so she had opened a private kindergarten here and hired a few players as teachers to hold classes for this bunch of little ghosts. She was living a pretty good life.

“Chen Meihan and Little Umbrella got into another fight and collapsed Jinmao’s house. I came over to restore it,” Shen Maomao said, bouncing the Little Ancestor in her arms, making the child giggle.

Faye showed her trademark gentle smile. “I was wondering why there was a sudden loud noise this afternoon. I thought it was an earthquake.”

            

Shen Maomao chuckled and explained the cause of the incident.

“That’s quite similar to me,” Faye said in surprise. “I’ll go take a look when I have time.”

Shen Maomao thought that was a good idea. “You can, but don’t feel like you have to give me face. If those two brats don’t behave, just give them a good slap.”

            

A look of disapproval appeared on Faye’s face. “Maomao—”

“I know, I know,” Shen Maomao said quickly. “Girls should be ladies.”

The two chatted about daily life for a while longer. The sky had darkened without them noticing. Shen Maomao put down the Little Ancestor, said goodbye to Faye, and left with Lou Jingmo, preparing to go to another world to freeload a dinner—of course, she would pay.

            

The life of an Administrator was just that dull, boring, and plain.

Just a few days ago, Su Han had mentioned that a particularly delicious restaurant had opened near her home. The chef’s skill with hibiscus shrimp was unparalleled—Shen Maomao’s uncooperative tears began to flow from the corners of her mouth.

Su Han had died in the game two years ago. Shen Maomao checked and found her Sin Value was neither high nor low, so she pulled some strings and sent her to another world to be an NPC for over a year. After Su Han had suffered quite a bit and her Sin Value had dropped, Shen Maomao finally met with her.

            

Su Han couldn’t believe that the person who had cleared instances with her had transformed into the Administrator of the entire game. She also couldn’t believe Shen Maomao still remembered her, and almost thought she was a fraud.

Later, she chose an ancient-themed instance to settle down in and became the young lady of a wealthy household, enjoying the treatment of a Mary Sue​⁵ protagonist. She couldn’t be happier.

However, Shen Maomao had no intention of hanging out with her. Su Han liked to speak in Mary Sue protagonist lines, which both Shen Maomao and Lou Jingmo found cringey,​⁶ so they didn’t really want to hang out with her.

            

The two got a private room and ordered a table full of dishes.

The shrimp at this restaurant was indeed excellent. Shen Maomao ate two, then focused on peeling shrimp for Lou Jingmo, doting on her girlfriend so much that anyone who saw would approve.

Lou Jingmo looked at the shrimp being offered to her mouth, understanding that Shen Maomao was sucking up​⁷ for not having been home for two days. She didn’t play hard to get for too long and ate it from the chopsticks.

            

Shen Maomao breathed a sigh of relief and put some other dishes on her plate. “Here, here, Lou-jiejie, eat up! You’re too thin, you need to nourish yourself.”

Lou Jingmo glanced at her. “You think I don’t know you?”

Shen Maomao: “…”

            

Lou Jingmo nonchalantly picked up some food with her chopsticks. “Spit it out. Where are you planning to go play next?”

Shen Maomao rubbed her hands together. “Well, you see, isn’t Shang Zhou researching alchemy recently…”

From the moment Shen Maomao met Shang Zhou, she felt he had a scholarly air about him. She later learned that he was in academic research, a graduate student at a very prestigious university. His advisor stole his research results, so in a fit of anger, he used a special method to poison his advisor. To this day, everyone thought his advisor died of a sudden heart attack, but the final research paper still didn’t have his name on it.

            

After Shen Maomao took over, she threw Shang Zhou into the game to be tormented for a few years. His Sin Value was only cleared the year before last, and he chose a magic world to conduct his research.

Lou Jingmo put down her chopsticks.

Shen Maomao sat up straight. “Actually, we could go together. What do you think?”

            

Lou Jingmo raised an eyebrow. “Fine, we can.”

Shen Maomao grinned and leaned her head on Lou Jingmo’s shoulder, nuzzling her. “Anjing and Mingyue are getting married in a few days. What should we get them as a wedding gift?”

Lou Jingmo said, “Let’s take them to see the real world.”

            

Game NPCs had many restrictions and weren’t as free as Shen Maomao, so they would naturally miss their former lives in reality. Shen Maomao had the ability to travel to the real world and could take them to see their family and friends who no longer remembered them, which could be considered a way of resolving some regrets.

She thought it was a very reasonable idea and decided on the spot. “Okay! It’s settled. We’ll give them their gift after they get married.”

After dinner, the two went home.

            

The lights at home were on. Puck was hugging a bag of chips and watching cartoons. The moment he saw Shen Maomao, his entire sprite-body trembled, and he scrambled into the TV in fright, shouting, “Why didn’t you take the stairs?!”

Shen Maomao said, “I can teleport, why would I climb stairs?”

Puck huffed. “Hmph! I was just secretly watching a little bit of cartoons. It doesn’t mean I’ve made up with you. You’re not allowed to scold me. I’m not your little sprite anymore.”

            

Shen Maomao said pitifully, “You’re right, I can’t scold you anymore. You’ll only get dumber if I do.”

“You are scolding me! You’ll regret this!!” Puck roared in fury.

The next second, with a loud BOOM, Puck blew up her TV as revenge.

            

Shen Maomao fished him out of the shattered television, and she and Lou Jingmo delivered a round of mixed doubles.​⁸

That night, Puck’s cries traveled far and wide, audible to neighbors for miles around.​⁹ The misery of it was enough to sadden any who heard it and make any who saw it weep.​¹⁰

It seemed the Administrator was angry again. Alas, why was Puck so insensible!

            

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The author has something to say:

I’ll probably post another chapter the day after tomorrow _(:3」∠)_ I’ll write about Father Shen and Mother Shen. If there’s anything else you want to see, leave a comment

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