Volume 10: Days of Cultivating in the Republic of China1
The Republic of China2
Charge into the new instance!
Compared to Shen Maomao’s instances, Golden Retriever’s was less difficult.
Because he had entered fewer instances, his level was relatively low, making it more suitable for Shen Maomao to practice and get used to the days without Lou Jingmo.
Thinking this, Lou Jingmo didn’t express any clear approval or disapproval of the two’s secretly crossing to Chencang3.
To prevent Shen Maomao from backing out, Golden Retriever immediately took out the item and personally watched Shen Maomao bind it. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and say to her with a wide smile, “Well then… I’ll be in your care, Rabbit-jie!”
Shen Maomao said, “Keep it up, work hard. You’ve got a bright future, young man.”
Golden Retriever was speechless. “…”
But no matter what, the result was good; he finally had a partner again.
His art school entrance exam4 was in just over a month, but he wasn’t worried about it at all. He even had the leisure to run around everywhere with his little nephew. Besides being quite confident in his own abilities, this was also due to his trust in his family’s financial situation.
Even if he couldn’t get into a good school, he could still rely on throwing money to get in. A certain person, Liao5, didn’t find this the least bit shameful.
He had come to find Shen Maomao and Lou Jingmo today mainly to report on the situation and gains from his last instance, but it was clear he was met with 10,000 points of disdain from Lou Jingmo.
At noon, as usual, the big boss Golden Retriever treated them. The four of them had a sumptuous lunch nearby, then slowly ambled back along the road.
Xixi ran happily ahead, his feet stepping on the soft leaves like a carefree little bird.
Golden Retriever watched with considerable envy. “Once, I was as happy as him…”
Shen Maomao rolled her eyes at him, took Lou Jingmo’s hand, and chased after Xixi, clearly not wanting to listen to him grieving for spring and sorrowing for autumn6.
Golden Retriever helplessly chased after them. “Can you guys give a certain person, Liao, some face? I’ll treat you to ice cream?”
It was as if Xixi’s ears were equipped with receivers. Hearing this, he immediately turned his head and shouted, “Little Uncle, I want strawberry flavor!”
Golden Retriever said, “You can’t. If you get diarrhea after eating it, your mom will fly a plane over here to beat me to death!”
Xixi’s eyes widened in surprise, a hint of eagerness actually showing in them.
Golden Retriever said, “Your mom is very busy. She’s so tired and could have been resting at home, but because some little brat got sick, she has to painstakingly rush over from far away. She might even get sick from exhaustion herself.”
Xixi bit his lower lip. “Then I won’t have any. You guys can eat.”
Shen Maomao reached out and pinched Xixi’s chubby little face. “We won’t eat either. Adults don’t like ice cream.”
Xixi puffed out his chest. “Then I don’t like ice cream either. I’m an adult now too!”
Shen Maomao laughed heartily. “You little adult, run a bit faster and Big Sister can buy you a lollipop.”
Xixi shook his head. “Let my Little Uncle buy it for us. My Little Uncle is rich!”
This angered Golden Retriever so much he was about to hit him. “You thing that eats from the inside and climbs out7!”
The uncle and nephew shrieked as they ran several laps around the plaza, getting so hot they were drenched in sweat. In the end, they had to part ways with Shen Maomao and the other early to go back to the hotel, shower, and change clothes.
Shen Maomao, on the other hand, continued to stroll with Lou Jingmo, chatting idly as they walked.
“What should we have for dinner?” Shen Maomao was the first to speak.
“Didn’t you just finish lunch?” Lou Jingmo retorted, not to be outdone.
Shen Maomao was puzzled. “Isn’t holding what’s in the bowl while looking at what’s in the pot8 a normal part of the human condition? What does me thinking about dinner have to do with whether I ate lunch?”
That was very reasonable. Lou Jingmo was speechless. “What do you want to eat? We can go browse the supermarket in a bit.”
Shen Maomao began to recite a list of dishes9.
Lou Jingmo’s eyes glazed over, pretending she was listening very intently when in reality, she hadn’t heard a single word.
When they got to the supermarket, Shen Maomao asked her, “Do you remember what dishes I said?”
Lou Jingmo was silent for a second, then suddenly said, “Do you want to go buy a cup of milk tea?”
The topic changed so quickly that Shen Maomao was stunned for a moment before catching up. “I want a Full Cup of Passion Fruit, but I’ve gained a lot of weight recently…”
Lou Jingmo was telling lies with open eyes10. “You haven’t gained any weight at all. Look at that little face, it’s almost wasted away to nothing.”
Shen Maomao gave her two eye-rolls.
In the end, however, the milk tea was bought, and the groceries were bought too. All that was left was for Lou Jingmo to personally whip up a delicious dinner for her, and then, while wearing an apron, ask her whether she wanted to eat dinner first or eat me first.
Shen Maomao chose to eat dinner first. You only have the energy to exercise and lose weight after you’re full. She heard about a fat person who lost dozens of jin11 by frantically clapping every day. Maybe she could do it too if she nourished her kidneys12.
…
Golden Retriever’s instance was in two days.
As usual, he sent his nephew back to school and took up long-term residence in a hotel to ensure that if some accident were to happen, he could still ask Shen Maomao and the other to collect his corpse.
When the day arrived, he rang the doorbell of Lou Jingmo’s home bright and early.
The moment Shen Maomao opened the door, she was dumbfounded. After a long pause, she finally said, “Who are you, beautiful?”
The person before her had long, brilliant golden hair and was wearing a soft pink windbreaker. But when they spoke, it was a familiar male voice. “It’s me, Rabbit-jie!”
Shen Maomao, in a daze, let him… her? in.
Lou Jingmo, on the sofa, craned her neck to look at the doorway, curious. “What’s… holy shit!”
To make Lou Jingmo curse, Golden Retriever was truly a goddamn talent.
The three of them sat on the sofa. Shen Maomao and Lou Jingmo circled Golden Retriever, observing him as if he were some rare and exotic animal.
Shen Maomao asked him, “What kind of act are you putting on?”
Golden Retriever said, “I thought about it for a long time, and I feel like the game gives preferential treatment to women.”
Shen Maomao: “How can you tell?”
Golden Retriever: “Like that hotel instance we cleared together last time. That so-and-so guy clearly said he doesn’t kill women.”
Shen Maomao retorted, “But you were still the main personality.”
Golden Retriever added, “But in my last instance, the ghosts inside specifically targeted men to kill. I was almost done for!”
“That’s all just a coincidence, right?”
Golden Retriever shook his head, firmly believing in his own judgment. “No, it must be like this. This time I’ll go in disguised as a woman. Maybe I won’t be targeted anymore!”
Lou Jingmo smiled but said nothing.
The kid had still cleared too few instances to have such a naive idea.
But since the rich kid himself had already decided on his costume, Shen Maomao and Lou Jingmo naturally had nothing more to say and just let the child be.
The two of them sat nervously on the sofa, waiting for the instance to descend. Lou Jingmo sat beside Shen Maomao, helping her organize her items and incidentally explaining some things to pay attention to. She was like an old mother whose child was leaving home for the first time, worried about every little thing.
But a child needs to grow. She couldn’t possibly accompany Shen Maomao forever.
For a moment, Lou Jingmo’s heart was filled with a thousand emotions, and she felt a rare sense of reluctance and sorrow.
Shen Maomao glanced at her, inexplicably feeling that the way she was looking at her wasn’t quite right—in any case, it didn’t seem like she was looking at her wife, but rather at her granddaughter.
Before long, the hour hand of the clock pointed to ten.
Shen Maomao’s vision blurred. Lou Jingmo’s face spun and disappeared before her, followed by a patch of darkness.
…
A wave of moisture rushed to her face. Before she even opened her eyes, she heard the sound of raindrops hitting the surface of an umbrella and the water, a pitter-pattering sound like a little tune.
She seemed to be sitting on the ground, and the ground was rocking rhythmically, like a small boat in the middle of the ocean, swaying aimlessly without end.
Shen Maomao opened her eyes and found that she was indeed sitting on a small boat. However, the boat wasn’t sailing on the sea, but on a long, narrow river.
The water flowed through a small alley, flanked by rows of small buildings with green tiles and white walls. The boatman13, wearing a straw rain cape14, was unhurriedly rowing the oars, humming an unknown melody. The sound of his singing mixed with the sound of the rain, achieving a strange harmony.
She was holding an oil-paper umbrella15 and sitting at the bow of the boat. The long hem of her skirt covered her ankles and was now completely soaked by the rain.
A Jiangnan water town16, during the plum rain season17.
She widened her eyes to survey her surroundings. There were many buildings on both sides, but hardly any people, making it look like an empty city.
She couldn’t see Golden Retriever anywhere nearby; she had no idea where he had been sent.
As she was looking around, the boatman in front suddenly said, “Close the umbrella! We’re about to pass under the bridge arch!”
Shen Maomao quickly came back to her senses and only then realized the boat had already reached an arched stone bridge.
She closed the oil-paper umbrella, used her hand to shield her bangs, and lowered her head slightly, passing through the damp and slick bridge arch.
The moment her vision widened again, a cacophony of human voices flooded her ears. Figures dressed in non-modern attire suddenly appeared on both sides of the path. They came and went, hurrying along, each one so vivid, each one so natural, yet it made Shen Maomao frown.
She opened her umbrella and turned her head. She discovered that several pedestrians holding umbrellas had also suddenly appeared on the bridge.
The small boat moved further and further away. She couldn’t see the faces of these pedestrians clearly, but she could feel a line of sight landing right on her face. She didn’t know if it belonged to a person or a ghost.
“We’re here!” The small boat stopped by the bank, and the boatman said to her, “Little girl, be careful getting off. Don’t fall into the river.”
Shen Maomao said thanks, held her umbrella, and jumped from the side of the boat onto the bank.
The small boat behind her gradually receded into the distance. The boatman belted out a couple of lines of a song, then scattered a river full of cheerful laughter.
She was a bit dazed, not knowing where to go.
The surrounding buildings were arranged in a well-proportioned manner, but as far as the eye could see, they were all the same shade of blue-green and white, like a monochromatic painting. On closer inspection, there didn’t seem to be much difference between them.
She looked down at her own clothes.
She was wearing a sky-blue short jacket18 on top and a long, dark-blue pleated skirt below. The hem of the skirt reached her calves, and on her feet was a pair of black high-heeled leather shoes. She looked like a female student from the Republic of China period.
It seemed the background of this game was likely the Republic of China; otherwise, they were filming a movie.
After standing for a while, a person dressed just like her suddenly walked over from under the eaves holding an umbrella and struck up a conversation with her. “Hey! Do you like to play games?”
Shen Maomao had a moment of insight and immediately replied, “You’re a player too?”
That person breathed a sigh of relief. “I am, and I should be the first one to arrive. I observed from the side for a long time before daring to come over. Let me introduce myself, my name is Sisi. And you?”
“My name is Rabbit,” Shen Maomao said.
The author has something to say:
Your imaginations are running too wild. Ren Yue’s family got rich simply from a car accident settlement. Non-instance players can’t see the cards, nor can they hear anything related to the game!
Also, I saw a comment saying Liao Shi19 is great like this. I was stunned for a few seconds and thought for a long time about who Liao Shi was, hahaha. I’d like to apologize to Golden Retriever here, I’m sorry!
【Sincere】
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