Volume 12: Former Boss Reduced To A Garlic-Peeling Little Sister1
First Elementary
First Elementary School
The first day Lou Jingmo was gone didn’t seem any different from when she was there.
Except this time, no one was there to wake her up, to give her a sweet-smelling kiss when she lingered in bed.
December 31st passed, and New Year’s Day2 arrived. A new calendar hung in the apartment.
Shen Maomao wallowed for a day, then forced her spirits up and made a plan for what she had to do next.
Was she a strong person?
It was a question even she couldn’t answer.
But this wasn’t about whether she was strong or not. It was that she had to be strong—for Lou Jingmo, and for herself.
Lou Jingmo and Shang Zhou had been the best of the best among players,3 yet even they had fallen in the game. Shen Maomao had no confidence in her own abilities. She needed enough experience, needed to grow into someone like Lou Jingmo. Only then would she have a chance of bringing her back out of the game.
She contacted the vice-president of Tong Zhou’s4 guild5 and told him the news of Lou Jingmo’s failure. The vice-president only offered his condolences and didn’t ask for the cards.
Before the new year, Mother Shen and Father Shen called to ask when she was coming home. She was in such a terrible state at the time that she was afraid of worrying them, so she used the excuse of being too busy with work. Then she transferred a huge sum of living expenses to her mom, which scared Mother Shen into thinking she must be committing crimes and breaking the law to have earned so much money.
She explained it was a bonus from a big project and that she still had plenty left for herself. Only then did Mother Shen, half-believing, half-doubting,6 accept the money.
Right before hanging up, Mother Shen suddenly said, “Little Rabbit, you’re not young anymore. Isn’t it time you found a partner?7 If you really like girls, your father and I don’t object. I think Uncle Wang’s daughter likes girls, too. Why don’t you two find some time to have a meal together?”
Mother Shen remembered that she had come out of the cabinet,8 but she had completely forgotten Lou Jingmo.
Shen Maomao was stunned for several seconds. Her mother called her name a few times before she snapped out of it. “Mom,” she said into the phone, “I already have someone I like. I’m still chasing her, but once I win her over, I’ll bring her home for you to meet.”
Mother Shen was surprised. “You already have someone?! Is it a boy or a girl? Do you have a picture?”
Shen Maomao said softly, “It’s a girl. She doesn’t like having her picture taken, but you’ll definitely like her.”
…
After the new year, Shen Maomao started taking on jobs like a madwoman. She started with the most basic runs, carrying newcomers, and moved on to veterans who had cleared multiple instances.9 She beat one instance after another, cycling through wave after wave of clients. Just by selling the items10 she didn’t need, she earned more money than most people make in a lifetime.
Before entering the instance, Lou Jingmo had transferred all her assets to her. In truth, she wasn’t short on money at all. But she didn’t want to touch Lou Jingmo’s money. She had a feeling that if she spent it all, Lou Jingmo would never come back.
She rarely rested over the next year. Most of the time, she would emerge from one instance today only to rush into the next one tomorrow, like a horse not stopping its hooves.11 She didn’t want to spend too much time in the apartment. With something missing, it felt a little empty, making her feel ill at ease, like she couldn’t quite breathe. And when a person is busy enough, there’s no extra time for wild and fanciful thoughts.12
The high frequency of instance runs made her improve at a breakneck pace, and the jobs she took became progressively harder. There were a few times in instances where her life was hanging by a thread,13 but they all turned out to be a scare with no danger.14 She gritted her teeth and endured it all.
On June 1st, Shen Maomao went to the amusement park by herself and rode the Ferris wheel.15
She stared blankly at her empty nameless finger,16 going around one full circle. Her mood was the complete opposite of the last time she’d ridden it.
Without Shang Zhou and Lou Jingmo, new big bosses17 had appeared on the forums. A year was enough time for people to forget those who had once existed. Shen Maomao couldn’t accept it. She was terrified that one day she would be the only person in the world who remembered Lou Jingmo. So, she simply changed her forum ID to Xiao Lou and walked through the game in Lou Jingmo’s stead.
At first, Puck would ask her where Lou Jingmo went. Every time, Shen Maomao would tell him, “She’ll be back soon.” But every time, she didn’t come back. Eventually, Puck seemed to understand something and stopped asking.
This year, on December 31st, Shen Maomao closed the forums and sat alone in the study for the entire day, not letting Puck inside.
Puck eavesdropped at the door for a long time but didn’t hear a single sound from within, so he flew away, reassured.
The little spirit wasn’t human and didn’t have such rich human emotions. He didn’t know that sometimes, when people are in the depths of sorrow, they can’t cry at all.
The next day, Shen Maomao came out of the study. She looked as if nothing had happened, only now she threw herself into clearing instances with even more effort, more desperation.
Later, she followed through on their agreement and bought two small, adjacent villas. One was for her parents to live in, and the other she left empty for now, hiring someone to clean it regularly.
When she went home for the new year, she brought Puck with her. She asked her mom for a seldom-used bank card, had her link it to her own phone number, and then, after setting aside some money for daily expenses, transferred all her remaining funds into it. She was afraid that one day she, too, would die in a instance. If that happened, she wouldn’t be able to fulfill her filial piety18 in person, but her parents could use the money to do whatever they wanted.
She didn’t go anywhere for the entire first month19 of the new year. She didn’t enter a single instance. She just stayed in the villa, keeping Father Shen and Mother Shen company.
When her mother asked, she just said she hadn’t been in a good mood lately and had taken a long vacation. After that, her parents didn’t dare ask any more questions. They let her potter around in the garden in front of the villa, saying she wanted to get it ready so they could plant some small vegetables later.
The end of the year20 came and went. Shen Maomao returned to the apartment and continued to desperately clear instances.
Sometimes she didn’t know if all her hard work would ever amount to anything. The thought, Just give up if it’s too hard, would suddenly surface. But the moment she thought of Lou Jingmo waiting for her, she forced herself to rally her spirits and throw herself back into the endless cycle of instances.
Time flew by. She met many people and saw many things. Her ability to clear instances grew stronger and stronger, and gradually she became a big boss in the game that people knew by name. More and more people sought her out to carry them through instances, and the name Xiao Lou returned to the players’ field of vision—it was the only thing in all these years that had brought her any happiness.
Every time she heard someone in the game call her Xiao Lou, she felt as if Lou Jingmo were still by her side.
Another four years passed. One day, Shen Maomao was suddenly shocked to realize she was already thirty years old.
Thirty. No longer young. It was only one year different from twenty-nine, but for a woman, it felt like a natural chasm.21 Once you fell in, you could never climb back out.
Shen Maomao met Lou Jingmo when she was twenty-two and got together with her that same year. They walked together until she was twenty-four. For the six years after that, she carried a heavy load and moved forward22 all alone. No matter how bitter, how difficult, how much she missed her, she never shed a single tear.
Compared to six years ago, she had changed a lot. She didn’t even know if Lou Jingmo would still recognize her when they met again.
Those few cards had been sitting on the sofa for years, covered by a box. Whenever she felt her abilities had improved significantly, she would pick up one card and place it in her item bar.23 After several years of this, she was finally left with only the last card: Judas.
And Shen Maomao had a premonition about the timing of her next instance. It would be this May.
She arranged things with the few clients she had on hand, preparing to take one last job before giving herself a vacation. She would go back and spend some quality time with her parents and sort out her affairs.
This last boss24 was female, not very old, and something of a newcomer.
The reason she chose her to be the last was that Shen Maomao saw a shadow of her former self in her.
The girl’s forum name was Dingdang.25 She was a rich young lady who wasn’t short on cash, and her instance entry was in two days.
Shen Maomao linked their items and confirmed the date, then didn’t chat with her any further.
Dingdang, however, seemed to worship the great player “Xiao Lou” and sent her more than a dozen messages in a row. But Shen Maomao didn’t read a single one, nor did she reply.
On the appointed day, Shen Maomao put Puck into her item bar. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she was no longer in the apartment.
She was standing before an asphalt road. There were no cars, only two other pedestrians walking forward like her, who were most likely players.
At the end of the road was a school. The four gilded characters for “First Elementary School” hung on the main gate. They looked a bit familiar, but she couldn’t recall where she’d seen them before.
The gate was locked. Through the gaps in the bars, she could see the situation inside—the rubber playground was empty, and she couldn’t hear any sounds from within. Perhaps the game hadn’t officially started because not everyone had arrived yet.
Shen Maomao leaned against the wall, watching the later arrivals recognize their friends and exclude the newcomers. She was like a cold observer, showing no reaction at all.
In truth, she hadn’t changed. She was just too tired now, unable to muster any energy to help others. Just keeping herself alive already took everything she had.
She waited at the gate for a little while. A pretty girl walked over from a distance. From her appearance, it seemed to be Dingdang, but she was a hundred times more beautiful in person than in the photos she’d provided.
Shen Maomao paid it no mind and simply walked over to her side.
Seeing her approach, Dingdang asked, “You’re Xiao Lou?”
Shen Maomao nodded. “Mhm.”
Dingdang said, “Please take care of me for the next few days!”
Shen Maomao grunted another “mhm” and then stood beside her, saying no more.
Dingdang stared at her with wide eyes, then leaned in to whisper something to her.
Shen Maomao took a step back, putting distance between them. “If you have something to say, say it directly. I don’t like people getting too close to me.”
Dingdang replied, “I was afraid someone would overhear!”
Shen Maomao glanced at the other three players, confirmed they were some distance away from her and Dingdang, and said flatly, “Speak.”
“You’re so high and cold…”26 Dingdang muttered, then lowered her head and asked secretively, “Did you adjust your pinch face27 settings upwards?”
Shen Maomao didn’t even have the desire to answer that question. She said simply, “Don’t ask me anything that isn’t game-related. It’s pointless.”
Dingdang shrugged. Deciding that she wasn’t very easy to get along with, she stood obediently by her side without another word.
A short while later, all the players had arrived. There were a total of nine players in this game, including two newcomers, both male. They were currently standing off to the side, alone, watching the veteran players chat with lost and helpless expressions.
A few seconds after everyone had gathered, a woman came running out from the school building behind the gate. She looked to be in her forties and was wearing a dark, short qipao.28 Her makeup was a bit heavy. She smiled as she unlocked the gate for the players. “You must be the new teachers, right? Please, come in, come in. Let’s go to the office and rest for a bit, then I’ll take you to the dorms.”
Shen Maomao stared at her face for an extra two seconds. Dingdang, behind her, noticed and asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”
She retracted her gaze. “Nothing.”
They followed the stone-paved path in front of the school building and finally entered an office.
The woman said, “I’m the director of teaching at First Elementary. My surname is Liu, as in the character for willow tree.”
Dingdang immediately said sweetly, “Hello, Director Liu~”
Director Liu smiled and nodded at her, then continued, “You are all considered teachers recruited by our school. There will be a one-week observation period, after which we will likely only keep two to four of you. So, you must perform well this week and strive to stay—our school’s salary and benefits are quite good.”
After she finished speaking, she began assigning jobs to the players. Shen Maomao was assigned to be a Chinese teacher, Dingdang a music teacher. The two male newcomers were assigned to teach physical education and math, respectively. In addition, there was another Chinese teacher, two English teachers, and one art teacher.
The instance must have done a preliminary investigation of the players’ abilities. The art teacher and Dingdang had no complaints about their assignments; it was very likely they had studied related subjects in the real world.
After assigning the jobs, Director Liu gave them a tour of the campus before finally leading them to the school’s dormitory—a two-story, gray little building located behind the main school building.
Perhaps all the money had been spent on renovating the school building, because the conditions in the staff dormitory were not very good. Director Liu used a key to open a rusty lock and led them into the main hall.
The ceiling of the hall was covered in spiderwebs, and a thick layer of dust coated the floor. Although it was noon, it was as chilly as nighttime. As expected, there was no one inside. Their footsteps even echoed as they walked, a clear sign that no one had lived there for a long time.
Director Liu looked a little embarrassed. “My apologies… because all of our teachers’ homes are nearby, this staff dormitory hasn’t been used in a long time. You might have to clean your rooms yourselves. I’ll call a cleaning worker to take care of the outside area in a bit. I’m so sorry.”
The only male player besides the two newcomers said, “It’s fine. May I ask how we should divide the rooms?”
Director Liu said, “We’re planning on two people per room, but one of the male teachers might have to take a single room. We have one extra man.”
Dingdang immediately took a step closer to Shen Maomao. “We’re friends! Can we have a room together?”
Director Liu took out a string of keys. “As you wish. The first five rooms here are all vacant. You can assign them yourselves. Here are the keys. One of you hold on to them while I go make a call to have someone come and clean up.”
Dingdang reached out to take them. “Thank you, Director Liu.”
Director Liu smiled and patted her on the shoulder. “You’re a very polite young lady.”
Dingdang smiled shyly.
Director Liu walked away with her phone, tapping on the screen as she went before putting it to her ear.
Dingdang turned and asked Shen Maomao, “Which one should we live in? Do you have any ideas?”
Shen Maomao glanced at the so-called five rooms. All five doors were speckled with rust and looked quite old. From the outside, there was no discernible difference between them. “Whatever,” she said.
Dingdang tilted her head and looked for a moment, then said, “Then let’s live in number two! I quite like that number.”
Shen Maomao had no objections. She took the key for room two from Dingdang’s hand and moved to open the door.
A woman spoke up. “Wait a minute. Shouldn’t we discuss this? What gives you the right to decide everything??”
Dingdang smiled. “If you had gotten the keys, wouldn’t you have picked first? We’re all adults. You can’t possibly still expect things to be fair like a child, can you?” After speaking, she tossed the remaining keys into the woman’s arms, turned, and entered the room with Shen Maomao. Once inside, she locked the door behind them, shutting out the prying eyes of the others.
Shen Maomao was standing in the empty space between the two beds, surveying the small, ten-square-meter room. There was pitifully little inside. Beneath a dusty, old-fashioned wooden window were two beds, a large table, and two chairs. Next to the beds were two moldy wooden wardrobes. The four words “dirty and broken” were truly the only way to describe it.
Dingdang came around from behind her. “Big boss? Did you find anything?”
Shen Maomao tilted her head to look at her, then suddenly reached out a hand.
Dingdang reflexively dodged back, only to see Shen Maomao’s hand land on her left shoulder. She wiped something off it.
Shen Maomao pulled her hand back and gently pinched her thumb and forefinger together before pulling them apart. A long, translucent thread immediately stretched between her two fingers.
“Hiss—” Dingdang sucked in a sharp breath and immediately took off her jacket. “What the hell is this stuff! It’s disgusting!”
Shen Maomao said, “It was Director Liu.”
Dingdang recalled the way the woman had patted her shoulder just now and said in amazement, “Big boss, you’re amazing! How did you even notice something was wrong!”
Shen Maomao attempted a polite smile, but the expression failed to form. She gave up and just gave a reminder, “NPCs are not always on the player’s side.”
Dingdang said, “Is that how it is? I haven’t cleared many instances… I thought all NPCs were good guys.”
“Mhm,” Shen Maomao said. “Which side do you want to sleep on?”
Dingdang looked around. “It’s all so run-down, does it really make a difference which side I sleep on? This isn’t a staff dormitory… it’s practically a dangerous building.29 If this world has the relevant authorities, I’m definitely filing a complaint against their school! This is a complete disregard for the lives of their employees.”
As she spoke, the sound of footsteps came from outside. Then someone knocked on the door of the room opposite theirs and called out, “The cleaning workers are here. If you need any tools, just ask them. It’s nine in the morning now. You can tidy up your things first or tour the campus. After two o’clock, come find me in the office we were just in. No need to come out, I’ll go inform the others.”
The person in the opposite room acknowledged it. The footsteps then stopped in front of their door. Before Director Liu could speak, Dingdang preemptively answered, “We heard you, Director Liu! You can go to the next one!”
Director Liu laughed. “Alright, then you two get busy.”
After notifying everyone one by one, the sound of high heels faded into the distance. Shen Maomao stood at the table, watching the director’s blurry shadow depart through the window. She didn’t know if it was because the window was too dirty, but she thought she saw a hazy black shadow on Director Liu’s body.
…
The entire morning passed in a flurry of activity. Dingdang looked like a pampered young lady, but she didn’t slack off at all when it came to work. After tidying up her own things, she even took the initiative to borrow a mop from the cleaning workers and mopped the floor.
After they were done, Shen Maomao left the room and took Dingdang to check out the washroom and bathroom.
The cleaning workers were still busy. They had cleaned the corridor and ceiling in front of the first three rooms on the ground floor until they were spotless, but they hadn’t touched anything further in. Now they were cleaning the washroom and bathroom.
Putting aside the dust on the floor, the environment in these two places wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either. It was about the same as the one in the Jiangcheng University instance she had experienced before. Shen Maomao found it acceptable.
Dingdang had a look of slight disgust on her face but managed to hold back from saying anything. She just urged Shen Maomao, “So, big boss… should we wait for the others?”
Shen Maomao said, “No need.” With that, she turned and walked out, planning to check the school building and the playground to see if she could find anything.
Dingdang glanced back at the mirror, then hurried to catch up with her.
…
In the afternoon, the players met up in front of Director Liu’s office.
The other female players, besides the two of them, had clearly formed a clique. The three male players, however, stood apart, with no interaction between them. It seemed the veteran player had no interest in guiding the newcomers.
Seeing the two of them arrive, the woman who’d had the small dispute with Dingdang earlier asked, “Where did you two go? Why didn’t you come with us?”
Dingdang said, “Eh? Were we supposed to go together? Do you want to hold handies30 with me?”
The woman was speechless. She was clearly fuming but didn’t know what to say in rebuttal.
In the end, it was another woman next to her who said, “Alright, since you two want to act alone, then act alone. But I hope we can share the information we gather to help us escape the game faster.”
Dingdang nodded. “Okay, if I find anything, I’ll definitely tell you.”
They waited at the door for over half an hour before Director Liu, arriving late and slowly,31 smiled and apologized to them, then opened the door and let them in to sit.
“School starts tomorrow. The second grade is rather short on teachers, so you’ll start by giving a trial lecture there. I have the textbooks here. You can take them back, study them, and write a lesson plan. The first day of school you can just get to know the students, so there’s no rush. You just need to finish writing it before class starts on the second day.” Once they were all seated on the sofa, Director Liu said, “We have four classes in each grade. The Chinese, math, and English teachers will each be responsible for two classes. Physical education, art, and music have fewer lessons, so you’ll teach all four classes. Whether you can stay or not will depend on the students’ satisfaction with you.”
Everyone agreed.
Director Liu added, “We’ve only cleaned up the places you’re living in the dormitory. There’s electricity inside, but you’ll have to get other daily necessities yourselves. However, there’s a shop right at the entrance, so you won’t have to go too far.”
She rambled on and on before finally getting to the main point. “Oh, right, don’t go up to the second floor. It’s quite messy up there, with clutter all over the floor. I’ll have someone clean it up when I have time later.”
The author has something to say:
My updates probably won’t be early for a while, because I used to be able to stay up until midnight, but now I get sleepy at ten 55555532
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