It actually takes three full days to update the game. Although no one knows what big move the game will make in such a long time, it is something worth looking forward to for everyone. It is also a good time to take care of your own affairs or devote yourself to the research at hand.
Even a lazy person like Yan Jue should take this opportunity to go home.
If he was going out, he would definitely need someone to protect him, not just the hidden ones. Pan Wencheng assigned one of his team leaders, who knew about the game, to Yan Jue, saying he could go anywhere he wanted for the next few days as long as he stayed in the city.
"Are you just going home? Not going to the mall, drinking milk tea, eating something?"
Yan Jue shook his head decisively: "It's too hot, I'm too lazy to move. Brother Zhou, if you have anything you want to eat, we can stop by on the way."
The person asking the questions was his personal bodyguard this time, whose full name was Zhou Taotao. However, because he thought the name was too cute, he would always call himself "Zhou Tao" when introducing himself, and never mention the reduplicated character at the end.
Zhou Taotao also waved his hand: "I don't like those things. The food in our cafeteria is the most to my liking. But Yan Jue, are you really not going to the mall? There's air conditioning and it's not hot."
Normally, he would go from the courtyard to Yan Jue's dormitory, the confidential room, and the cafeteria. He would either sit or lie down, and would never stand for more than a moment. The only exercise he could consider serious was a set of radio gymnastics. Whenever he saw Yan Jue, Zhou Taotao would worry about his health.
He couldn't help but advise: "I saw your physical examination report. You are already in sub-health at such a young age. You should exercise more."
"Who among today's workers doesn't have some minor flaws?" Yan Jue felt relaxed in front of a peer only three years his senior. The other person was so familiar, and he spoke more casually. "Isn't there a saying that life lies in stillness? I'm clearly strictly following it."
Anyway, it is not necessary. He will not go shopping in the summer, even in the mall.
Zhou Taotao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Seeing that he really didn't want to talk, he stopped talking and changed the topic. In their line of work, as long as they wanted, they could become close friends with someone they just met anytime, anywhere, and in a short period of time, let alone if they were from the same unit and wanted to make friends. Naturally, he wouldn't let them make things awkward.
After a few words, we arrived at Yan Jue's house.
The owner had not been away from home for long, so there was not much dust in the house. Moreover, when Yan Jue had to stay in the Special Management Bureau for a long time, someone came to cover the furniture in the room with dust covers.
"Brother Zhou, please bear with me for a while. I'll take my things and leave."
In this kind of environment, there was nothing to entertain. Yan Jue pulled off the dust cover of the sofa, touched it to make sure there was no dust on it, and then let Zhou Taotao sit down.
Zhou Taotao opened his mouth in a rare moment of loss of composure and pointed blankly at the wardrobe opposite the sofa. "Yan Jue, this is too spectacular."
The wall where the TV should have been installed was occupied by several neatly stacked transparent cabinets that reached the ceiling, and every small compartment in the cabinets was filled with things.
Above where a person can reach, there are all sorts of colorful boxes. Below, the grid is divided into two parts. The back is filled with cardboard boxes, and the front is used for display, where various exquisite fingertip-sized figures, toys, or models are placed.
Zhou Taotao couldn't tell them apart, but he was shocked to see so many miniature objects at once.
He took a closer look. Right in front of him was a set of twelve Western-style tea sets. Each one was tiny, but the patterns and shapes were exactly the same, practically a scaled-down replica of a real teapot. Yan Jue took one out and showed it to him. The lid on it actually opened!
It was so exquisite. He had seen people collecting figurines, but this was the first time he had seen such a small collection.
"This is probably the first time you've seen a man collect these." Yan Jue smiled and said, "Usually, girls play with them more."
Zhou Taotao touched his head embarrassedly: "I'm too inexperienced. I didn't mean to say that your hobby is bad."
Yan Jue shook his head and didn't care.
He looked at the various miniature toys in the cabinet, his eyes as gentle as if he was looking at Noel, and said slowly: "Toys are for people to play with, not for men or women. Besides, don't you think these things are cute and healing?"
Zhou Taotao nodded without hesitation. He turned his head to look at Yan Jue and wanted to ask something, but closed his mouth after seeing the other's eyes.
Like can be seen everywhere, like must have a reason. Behind these spectacular little toys is Yan Jue's own story.
Yan Jue came back to his senses: "Brother Zhou, please sit down first. I'll grab a box and take a few sets back."
"Would you like me to help put these back into the boxes? I'll be careful." Zhou Taotao pointed to the toys in the cabinet and prepared to roll up his sleeves to help.
"No, these are on display and don't need to be moved." Yan Jue pointed to a room and said, "I really like these. I bought two sets when I bought them. I can just take the other one. But there are a lot of sets in the collection room. I need to sort them out. Please wait a moment."
Zhou Taotao: “…”
Sorry to bother you.
The collection room was much cruder than the custom-made cabinets outside. Inside, it was filled with supermarket-style shelves, with three walls and the empty space in the middle filled with boxes. In this dazzling room, Yan Jue walked to a row of shelves with familiarity and took the set he needed.
Zhou Taotao's reaction just now was the most gentle and unremarkable of all those who knew about his preference since college. He didn't ask why, let alone tease, fully demonstrating what it means to "respect other people's preferences."
In fact, Yan Jue himself was surprised that he had this hobby.
After his parents passed away, many relatives and comrades-in-arms were willing to take him back to their homes, but Yan Jue did not want to live under someone else's roof. Moreover, most schools now offer boarding, so he could live and eat at the school and only go home on weekends or holidays.
His attitude was firm, so his relatives and friends had to agree. After solving the living problems, the expenses came on the horizon. In order to avoid living beyond his means, he kept looking for ways to make money.
When he was young, he picked up cardboard and mineral water bottles. When he was able to do odd jobs, he spent all his free time working. Even when he encountered strange looks from his classmates, he did not feel inferior at all. His open attitude made many classmates and teachers think that he was a poor kid who was not well fed and clothed.
The consequence of working hard to make money is that Yan Jue's entertainment life is extremely lacking. Sometimes when his classmates talk about celebrities, novels, Internet buzzwords, etc., he knows nothing about them, and he doesn't want to spend time to learn about them, which affects his speed in making money.
This has been going on for years, and by the time Yan Jue realized what was happening, he had become an extremely calm and emotionally indifferent person.
After Uncle Yuan and the others found out, they blamed themselves for not taking good care of Yan Jue and causing him to become like this, but Yan Jue felt it was okay and comforted them in return.
Things took a turn for the better one winter when Yan Jue was on winter vacation and stayed at home to hibernate.
He bought all kinds of fruits that were easy to store, and tangerines were a must. Then, at an ordinary moment, while he was arranging the fruit plate, a small tangerine fell from the bag onto the coffee table. He reached out to pick it up, but was stunned.
The tangerine was truly tiny, barely the size of a thumb. Its top was bare, devoid of a stalk, yet its body was incredibly round, its skin plump and smooth. Under the light, the orange skin was so bright that even the glandular dots were barely visible.
This is a small tangerine that is very delicious.
Yan Jue: No, he was attracted by the tangerine at first sight.
This feeling of being touched by cuteness is something that no small animals or cute human babies can give him. He couldn't explain the specific reason, but he was healed by a small tangerine.
He felt that his emotional apathy seemed to be cured.
From this tangerine to the room full of miniature toys now, all of these are the source of Yan Jue's inseparable love for Noel.
Since moving into the courtyard, he has downloaded several other baby-raising games and even the genuine version of the Plane Kindergarten, but he has never been interested in any of them. Not only is he not interested in the characters, he can't even continue playing if any function button doesn't suit his taste.
Moreover, Yan Jue also thought that if Noel was an adult mermaid in the first game he played, it is very likely that he would have uninstalled the game with incomplete functions and infuriating effects on the first day of playing, and there would definitely be no subsequent problems.
But then again, will Noel in the game grow up?
Yan Jue suddenly froze and could hardly hold the box.
No way, if this were a real world, Noel's growth rate would be normal, right? Wait, Noel is a mermaid, not a human. What if a mermaid's growth cycle is very short?
Will he still be able to maintain his attitude towards Noel when the time comes? Just because he likes Noel because he thinks he's cute as a baby doesn't mean he'll find Noel cute when he grows up!
He wasn't just saying he was emotionally indifferent; he genuinely had no interest in anyone or anything, and aside from a "Oh, so that's it," he had almost no other thoughts. He had no interest in raising a large mermaid, let alone keeping one and caring for it.
Yan Jue tried to pray that the game would be more reliable and that the word "kindergarten" would not be updated after the update.
By then, he really wouldn't be able to explain to the expert group.
After miserably imagining the terrible things that had not yet happened, Yan Jue silently scrapped his original plan of taking only a few sets and took two whole boxes of his favorites back.
He decided that if Noel in the game really became a big fish, he would rely on these favorites to adjust his mood, try not to reveal his true identity, and quietly serve as a tool.
Yan Jue came into the living room carrying two boxes of things. Zhou Taotao saw him and came forward to lend a hand. After noticing that he was in a bad mood, he tried to ask, "What's wrong? Is there something you can't find?"
It should be a happy thing to indulge in one's hobbies, right? Why does Yan Jue look a little sad?
Yan Jue thought about it and briefly expressed his concerns: "I'm just wondering, if this game binds me to my whole life, will Noel grow up too? He can't live in the game forever."
Zhou Taotao didn't understand: "What's wrong with growing up?"
Yan Jue pointed at the wardrobe, then at himself, "Do you think I'd be the type to yell at a big mermaid, 'How cute! Daddy loves you!'"
"If Noel notices my change of attitude and deducts my favorability..."
Zhou Taotao understood. He patted Yan Jue on the shoulder and comforted him, "Things will work out in due time. You only like this one from the cub..."
"Let me correct you. I don't only like cubs. I only like certain miniature things." Yan Jue said righteously, "I don't have any special fetishes. I have no interest in creatures like humans that grow up!"
Zhou Taotao apologized first, then raised the key point: "If Noel lives in the game all the time, then no matter how big he is in real life, he will only be the size of a palm in the game. His size will never change. What are you worried about?"
"You don't understand." Yan Jue said with a vicissitudes of life: "This is a feeling."
Who can control their feelings? Not Yan Jue.
He was in high spirits when he came, but looked sad when he left. After Pan Wencheng asked Zhou Taotao about it, he couldn't help laughing at Yan Jue's worry.
Unlike Zhou Taotao, he had read Yan Jue's detailed information, which also included analysis of Yan Jue's personality by several experts in the field of psychology. So he had known about Yan Jue's liking for miniature toys for a long time, and he also understood what the other party was worried about.
Living in human society, Yan Jue would present himself as a normal person, but when it came to his most fundamental preferences, he couldn't change. And when it came to the people he cared for, he could sense whether he was being attentive or not, and he couldn't lie.
However, they currently know nothing about the nature of the game, the origin of the cubs, the rules, etc. Yan Jue is just scaring himself. It won't be too late to worry when the day comes.
It’s no use for anyone else to persuade him about this matter. We can only wait for Yan Jue to adjust his mentality.
There is less than a day left before the game update is completed, and he believes that Yan Jue will be very successful.
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