Chapter 20 Jinjiang first release V three-in-one
Group name: Experimental High School Class 2 (10)
Time: 08:22
Deng Yuliang: [Brothers, are you there?]
Gong Bo: [We're eating. If you have anything to say, please speak up.]
Deng Yuliang: [Hey, Brother Bo, you're up so early? Did you stay up all night again last night?]
Deng Yuliang: [Have you guys packed your things? What did you bring for tomorrow's summer camp? Share it with me so I can see what you're bringing.]
Deng Yuliang: [My parents insisted I bring my summer homework along, it's only three days...]
Gong Bo: [I didn't sign up when Lao Zhang recommended it. I didn't understand what was so fun about it. If I really wanted to get closer to nature, why didn't I just go back to my grandma's house?]
Gong Bo: [Idiot!]
Shi Sijia: [Be careful, the teacher is in the group!]
Gong Bo: [Withdrawn.]
Lin Shanfeng: [Isn't it voluntary? I told my mom, took the money but didn't sign up [laughing]]
Lin Shanfeng: [I plan to hang out at an internet cafe when the time comes. I can't wait to have fun playing for a few thousand bucks!]
Gong Bo: [Good job, you kid...]
Deng Yuliang: [I have no choice. My dad signed me up personally, and he gave the money to the teacher. It never went through my hands. There's no chance!]
Gong Bo: [Hahahaha good]
Deng Yuliang: [Stop laughing. I'm so panicked right now. Am I the only one in our class who signed up?]
Zhuang Hai: [No, there’s also me.]
Liu Qingqing: [Me too.]
Wu Chao: [+1]
[…]
【I. 】
Zhuang Hai: [Who's that last one? Why hasn't he spoken in the group? Remember to change the note. If you're not from Class 10, please leave the group...]
Deng Yuliang: [Holy crap, a learning machine like you signed up for summer camp? I thought you'd be cramming practice questions 24/7 during your summer break.]
Zhuang Hai: [Who's that trumpet up there?]
Deng Yuliang: [Li Zhuo.]
[…]
*
Putting down his phone, Li Zhuo picked up the glass beside him and drank the last bit of fresh milk in it.
It tastes good, exactly the same as what I drink morning and night at school. Did you order it from the same milk station?
He had checked before but couldn't find the same packaging on the official website. He then took the time to chat privately with customer service and learned that it might be a more expensive customized milk.
Although it sounds incredible, it seems very normal when it comes to Mo Liang.
But just because Li Zhuo said the food was delicious, he would cook for him three meals a day for an entire semester without interruption, rain or shine.
Because Li Zhuo said the dormitory was too hot, he donated an air conditioner to the dormitory. Because Li Zhuo casually said that he signed up for a summer camp worth thousands of yuan, and because Li Zhuo's new house was simple, he took the initiative to invite him to live in a house in the same community.
Yes, it just so happened that he also had a house in Swan Bay. It wasn't a bare-bones house, but a fully furnished and decorated house with all the necessary appliances...
They even gave him a house to live in, so in order to let Li Zhuo drink healthier and more nutritious fresh milk, choosing to spend a lot of money to customize the milk source does not seem to be a difficult behavior to understand?
To be honest, this was the first time he had seen a guest room that was bigger than the master bedroom...
Whether it is the four-piece set with a fresh fragrance on the bed, the sets of clothes that are exactly the right size in the closet, or the well-decorated leisure corner on the extra-large open-air balcony, everything is just what you want.
It's as if it exists just for Li Zhuo.
"Just tell me if there's anything you don't like." The owner of the house took the initiative to put the key in his hand and said to him with a smile, "...It's still a bit empty, but just live in it for now. I'll buy some more later..."
Li Zhuo used to be the type who was very sensitive to environmental changes, but the day before yesterday he slept very well. Not only did he not have a nightmare, he also fell asleep very quickly.
"What's wrong?" the figure opposite him who had been watching him asked worriedly, "Is the breakfast not tasty? Or is it because of the summer camp?"
"No, I was just daydreaming." Li Zhuo drooped his eyelids, and his thick eyelashes just happened to hide the myriad thoughts in his pupils. "I just checked the group message. There are about twenty people in our class participating in the summer camp this time..."
Mo Liang hummed.
He has always been like this. Apart from matters concerning Li Zhuo, he has no interest in other people or things.
In just a short while, other students in the group who were participating in the summer camp started to speak, and the content of the conversation ranged from the list of items they were bringing to their expectations for the summer camp.
In fact, the five-day schedule was clearly listed on the summer camp flyer long before registration.
From arriving by bus on the morning of the first day to leaving by bus on the fifth day, the opening ceremony, stargazing, crab catching, handicrafts, bonfire parties, hiking and picnics, picking vegetables, feeding poultry and other activities all have clearly marked times and leading teachers.
Although each mid-term schedule can list several hidden educational meanings, for current students, it is just fun and novel.
The group message was swiped 99+ times without me noticing.
"bite--"
A conspicuous little red dot appeared at the top of the message list. As soon as Li Zhuo scanned it, several more messages were added.
It’s a private message from Deng Yuliang.
Is this true or false?
【Did you really sign up?】
[Before the holiday, I asked you if you wanted to sign up, and you told me you'd think about it.]
Li Zhuo began typing a reply:
I didn’t know it at that time.
As soon as the reply was sent, the other party sent a lot of messages, including pictures and emoticons. The typing speed was so fast that Li Zhuo could not compare with it at all.
What does it mean?
【You didn’t know when you signed up? 】
[Could it be that Teacher Mo signed you up?]
Li Zhuo: [Yes.]
[Tsk tsk tsk, you must be his biological son who's been living away from home. If not, I'll wash your hair while standing upside down!]
[Everyone else is only worthy of seeing his cold face, or even not seeing him, his warm face is all on you!!]
[Hey, that's not right. He doesn't seem to be one of the teachers accompanying the team this time? ]
"That's weird, why? Shouldn't he be wherever you are?"
Li Zhuo: [He didn’t register his own…]
Li Zhuo: [I'll go this time.]
Li Zhuo: [I don’t know either.]
Li Zhuo didn't read carefully what new messages the other party sent. He just replied, "See you tomorrow," and then directly exited the dialog box between the two.
Not far away, Mo Liang had already changed his shoes and was standing patiently at the entrance waiting for him.
They were going to the mall to buy some daily necessities they might need for summer camp, including school supplies, medical kits, and even snacks.
Originally, Li Zhuo meant that there was no need to go through so much trouble. He already had a suitcase and toiletries, so he could just take two notebooks and stationery. But Mo Liang refused.
He is very keen on taking care of Li Zhuo, including shopping, which Li Zhuo thinks is boring. He also likes it very much, which can be seen from the fact that he bought clothes during the month-long vacation.
It's obvious that Mr. Mo's own clothes are always the same, and he doesn't care about his appearance at all. But he stubbornly thinks Li Zhuo is not good enough, and even his accessories must be the latest models...
not understand.
Li Zhuo walked to the soft stool to change his shoes. As soon as he sat down, a black shadow enveloped him from top to bottom.
Before he could feel the suffocating pressure, a familiar figure squatted down in front of him naturally, took off his indoor slippers and pinched his ankles to help him put on his shoes.
To be honest, Li Zhuo felt extremely uncomfortable the first time he saw Teacher Mo squatting. He felt like ants were crawling all over his body. But after a few times, he got used to it.
Teacher Mo's care for him became more and more "comprehensive" day by day. If Li Zhuo had not explicitly refused, he would even want to feed Li Zhuo!
"Does this look good when shoelaces are tied like this?"
Li Zhuo stared at the whorl on the man's head for a long time. Under the thin scalp, it seemed that something black flashed quickly like a swimming fish.
He looked away as if he saw nothing.
"Let's go, the sun will be bright at noon."
*
The summer camp bus came to pick us up at 9:30 in the morning. The sun was not very hot at that time, and the driver parked very accurately, so we could see it as soon as we left Swan Bay.
Mo Liang was carrying the heavier and larger suitcase, and it was he who carefully stuffed the large suitcase into the luggage compartment under the car. Li Zhuo only carried a lighter black backpack.
Before getting in the car, he said goodbye to Mo Liang: "Teacher Mo, I'll be leaving first."
Compared to yesterday's chattering, Mo Liang seemed unusually quiet. He didn't say much, just smiled and nodded at him: "Okay."
After getting on the bus, Li Zhuoli checked the figure outside through the glass in the aisle. As if noticing his gaze, Teacher Mo waved at him.
The staff of the summer camp checked Li Zhuo's ID before he got on the bus. After he got on the bus, he recited the words he had said countless times as if he were reciting a line from a script.
"Find a seat, fasten your seat belt, and don't walk around in the car while it's driving..."
Perhaps due to the different model, the interior of the bus was much more spacious than a typical passenger bus. Since it was still early, many students hadn't been picked up yet, so only seven or eight people were sitting there scattered around.
Li Zhuo sat down casually in a window seat in the back row, put his backpack at his feet, and when he looked up, his eyes met the tall figure outside again.
The man was so serious and focused, looking at him without blinking, as if Li Zhuo was the only one left in his whole world.
The car started, and Mo Liang's figure became farther and farther away until he became a blurry little black dot.
But he didn't know if it was an illusion, but Li Zhuo always felt that the faint, sticky, and extremely strong gaze did not seem to leave when the car started.
He took out his cell phone, clicked on the contact with the note "Teacher Mo", and found that the last chat between the two was still last night.
The other party sent a lot of notes in the chat box. The dense text gave me a headache. I thought I would say a lot today, but... nothing?
“…”
Ignoring the strange feeling in his heart, Li Zhuo took out the Bluetooth headset from his pocket, put it on, and closed his eyes to take a nap.
The bus was shaking, stopping and moving from time to time, and gradually picked up many students from the same school who were attending the summer camp. The originally empty seats were filled up bit by bit.
Deng Yuliang got on the bus shortly after Li Zhuo got on.
Li Zhuo saw Deng Yuliang's parents through the car window. Blood relationship is really a magical thing. Some similarities can be seen just from their eyebrows and eyes.
Deng Yuliang has the same eyes and eyebrows as his mother, and the same features as his father. Both of them have a strong body type, very healthy, neither fat nor thin.
I don’t know what the middle-aged couple and Deng Yuliang were talking about. The latter was obviously absent-minded. His eyes quickly locked onto Li Zhuo in the carriage.
"Hey!!"
After getting in the car, he went straight to Li Zhuo's seat.
"I'm telling you, I played games too late last night, and I overslept this morning. I almost missed the bus, and my mom scolded me all the way..."
Li Zhuo nodded in understanding: "No wonder, I didn't reply to your message."
"Ah? Did you send a message? Let me see..."
The car continued to sway forward. With Deng Yuliang around, it was almost impossible for the surroundings to be quiet. Only Li Zhuo remained silent throughout the whole process and did not participate in any topic.
After picking up all the students along the route, the car began to move steadily towards the ecological base. The students in the car were noisy in the first half, but it became much quieter in the second half.
Everyone else fell asleep, and Deng Yuliang, with no one to talk to, started to bury his head in playing games. Li Zhuo had no habit of playing games, so after adjusting the angle of his chair, he closed his eyes and fell asleep while listening to music.
"Hey hey...we're here."
*
How could he use so much force!
Looking through the system screen, Mo Liang frowned unhappily.
The ball of light paused, as if scanning something. Soon, it produced a report on the force with which Deng Yuliang had pushed Li Zhuo.
[His strength did not exceed the safe range...]
Mo Liang, however, acted as if he hadn't heard anything. It was obvious that he didn't like this primitive human who often stayed around his child.
Especially last time, his unintentional behavior touched Li Zhuo's emotions, and the memory that Mo Liang had painstakingly blurred became clear again.
During his first conversation with Li Zhuo in the counseling room, Mo Liang quietly blocked out some of the conversation, allowing him to calm down. Later, he slowly began to recall some of it, but Li Zhuo no longer bottled it up like before. As a psychology teacher, Li Zhuo would always monitor his condition.
Of course, apart from Deng Yuliang, Mo Liang really disliked all the students and teachers in the school who had a bad opinion of Li Zhuo.
It was just that due to the restrictions he had signed in order to unlock Li Zhuo's past memories - not harming other people's lives, and the fact that he himself was not in a complete form, his performance was really affected...
Mo Liang couldn't really destroy them at will in the way he wanted, but he could still make their lives a little worse.
"He's still sleeping. Why can't he sleep a little longer? This is abusing my child!"
The 0255 system sighed very humanely: […Because they've arrived.]
*
Li Zhuo had a dream.
A bizarre dream.
The scenes in dreams are constantly switching, with no continuity between them. Often, before I’ve even grasped the previous scene, the next one has already forcibly dragged my consciousness into the new one.
The first scene in the dream was blurry. He seemed to be in a country of giants, and everything in his eyes was incredibly large.
"Zhuo means outstanding, but it also means exceptional, outstanding, and extraordinary. How about calling me Li Zhuo?"
A blurry figure poked Li Zhuo's face with a finger, "You must not let me down."
The blurry image through a layer of frosted glass changed immediately as Li Zhuo blinked.
This time, the scene was clear. Li Zhuo, now a thin child, dressed in old, dusty clothes, sat alone on the hillside of Pingshan Village, silently watching the orange sunset slowly being swallowed by the distant peaks. Beside him were a backpack and a sickle, and blood was oozing from his little finger.
Deep in the woods, birds are singing, and a gust of wind is blowing.
It seems like someone is calling him?
Li Zhuo turned around and found himself dressed in an expensive custom-made suit, exchanging pleasantries at a banquet filled with clinking glasses. The middle-aged man he was talking to was all smiles, flattering him in a fawning and earnest manner.
"Mr. Li is really young and promising..."
When Li Zhuo wanted to listen more carefully, he found that his whole body began to turn cold and he appeared in the dark river water. The resistance of the water gradually reached his chest. He had difficulty breathing, but he still stepped forward resolutely, determined to die.
The dirty and smelly river water rushed into his ears, nose and throat, and he felt suffocated. He subconsciously wanted to struggle, but the remaining consciousness in his body was lifeless and continued to sink resolutely.
When Li Zhuo opened his eyes again after everything went dark, he was no longer in the middle of the river. Instead, he appeared in a dark and strange world.
Does this world seem to be without light?
Oh no, it's completely blocked.
What he thought was a "tall building" began to wriggle under Li Zhuo's gaze. This thing was actually alive! It actually had life! It could actually move!
Li Zhuo's existence was too insignificant in front of such a huge monster, like a tiny grain of rice.
As the "giant mountain" moved, Li Zhuo finally saw the sun of this world. It had a strange shape, and its halo was a strange reddish hue. The whole world was desolate.
The monster in front of it was not so much a giant mountain as it seemed to be made up of an indescribable black material. It was difficult to describe what it was at the moment.
It communicated with Li Zhuo in a completely incomprehensible language. The black branches of varying thickness on its body kept trembling, and each one seemed to have life. When one of them gently slid across Li Zhuo's face, he felt a moment of coldness and then a constant temperature that was the same as his body temperature.
And "it" is wiping his tears?
Wait, when did he cry?!
Li Zhuo should not have been able to understand those sound waves, but strangely, his consciousness in the dream seemed to understand that the mud-like thing was actually comforting him.
“…Danger…Go back…”
“…Don’t cry…child…”
"My...child..."
"To protect you..."
"Love you…"
"forever…"
When he woke up, Li Zhuo could still feel the unusual infrasound waves in his ears. He stared blankly at Deng Yuliang who pushed him awake, and then slowly looked around at the faces around him, some familiar and some unfamiliar.
Oh, he is not in Pingshan Village, not at the banquet, nor in some weird world. He is attending summer camp and should be on the bus now.
"We're right up ahead. What are you doing?" Deng Yuliang waved his hand in front of Li Zhuo. "This is the first time I've seen you so slow. Are you sleepy?"
A classmate from Class 10 who rarely interacted with Li Zhuo quickly chimed in: "I always thought he only had one expression on his face."
Someone in the front row laughed first, and then the others followed suit, talking at once. Some echoed in agreement, some made jokes, and some even wondered if Li Zhuo was from Class 10?
"Come to think of it, that transfer student has been here for about half a semester now, and I don't think I've seen him outside of class. He's also not around during lunch breaks..."
"How can it be the same? They have relatives above them... It's different from us..."
Seeing that the direction of the whispers was getting increasingly wrong, another voice rang out: "...Alright, stop talking. Are you all stuck in the car and won't get off? Hurry up, the leader outside is yelling, grab your stuff and get off first!"
Li Zhuo looked at the last person who spoke, it was the study committee member Liao Guang, who was sitting in the first row. After the car stopped, he began to organize everyone to get off in an orderly manner.
"Be sure to check your seat before getting off the bus to make sure you don't leave anything behind!"
*
Perhaps he was really sleepy. When Li Zhuo got off the bus and reached the last step, the tail of his shoulder bag got caught somewhere and he leaned forward uncontrollably.
“Be careful!”
A classmate behind him pulled his arm hard. Li Zhuo turned around and saw that it was Deng Yuliang.
"Thank you so much."
"Hey! It's okay."
This little episode did not affect the progress, but I don’t know if it was a psychological illusion, but during the subsequent dormitory allocation, Li Zhuo was absent-minded when he was eating in the lobby and listening to the team leader explain the base rules.
I recalled the moment of weightlessness when I got off the car over and over again.
Perhaps in the eyes of others, he was saved from falling because Deng Yuliang behind him pulled him in time, but Li Zhuo knew that was not the case.
Before Deng Yuliang pulled him, he clearly felt a force on his waist supporting all his weight, and he actually felt a brief moment of suspension in the air!
The object holding him up was like a soft vine, or something else that was hard to describe. The movement was so gentle that one could feel the coolness through the layer of cloth.
Is it... an illusion?
Probably not. This wasn't the first time he'd experienced such a moment. Back in school, he'd felt a basketball swerve in the air as it was thrown at him, and then feel an inexplicable buoyancy holding him steady as he fell...
Are these all illusions?
Teacher Mo once said that no matter what happened, whether it was a worry or a question, you could tell him anything, but Li Zhuo did not ask him about this matter.
At this time, the students had finished lunch and were being taken by the summer camp staff to visit some historical and cultural sites near the base.
Li Zhuo slowly fell behind the group. The students ahead of him were either following the guide and listening to the explanation, or chatting with their good friends, or looking down at their phones...
Everyone was busy with their own things and no one paid attention to him. Li Zhuo inspected them one by one and finally stopped his gaze on an open space behind him.
*
[The host just reacted really quickly...]
Almost as soon as the system's warning signal was issued, Mo Liang began to take action, relying entirely on instinctive protective behavior.
Mo Liang himself was quite surprised. What he projected into the small world through self-dimensional reduction was just a wisp of consciousness. The scope of his territory, perception, reaction, etc. should have been greatly weakened.
[Wait, is he looking in our direction? Didn't you say your paint is absolutely invisible?]
[…He must be in a daze.]
As if to confirm the system's words, about three or four seconds later, Li Zhuo slowly shifted his gaze and took a step to catch up with the large group in front.
I'll just say it.
【The paint is absolutely fine...】
The faint light of the light ball flickered.
[This is the latest optical mimicry...]
Mo Liang ignored the system's boasting and carefully checked Li Zhuo's indicators again.
If the lunch prepared for the summer camp was prepared according to Mo Liang's standards, many of the ingredients would not be fresh enough, the nutrition would not be balanced enough, and the tableware used would not be properly disinfected. Naturally, he would worry that his children would have problems eating it.
Fortunately, the scan results showed that everything was normal.
【Receive a message. Do you want to check it?】
Without even checking, Mo Liang could guess who was on the other side just from the familiar ripples.
He was nothing more than a colleague in the laboratory. He had been chasing him for his genes, wanting to study why his rejection reaction was getting weaker and weaker. Later, he also wanted Li Zhuo's DNA. How was this possible!
Mo Liang joined the laboratory not to get better treatment or status or to pursue his dreams like other people of the same tribe, but just to find a child.
And now that he has found his child, he naturally has to protect the child from all prying eyes, whether good or evil.
【From now on, such information will be rejected. 】
[Raisers have an obligation to protect their children’s safety.]
[Even those of the same race are no exception.]
*
Hai City has experienced high temperatures for three consecutive days. The tall buildings have been twisted and deformed in the heat wave, and the leaves of the trees along the road have been wilted and drooped listlessly due to the sun.
The whole city seemed to be shrouded in an invisible heat network, and even at night, the heat showed no signs of subsiding.
Aunt Liu only stayed outside for a while longer. When she returned to Li's house, her back was already soaked with a layer of fine sweat.
She took her little daughter who came to visit her before the summer vacation, and walked along a bluestone path through a courtyard with a classical garden style.
The stream flows gently through, and the rocks stacked in an orderly manner seem to be naturally formed, like a beautiful landscape painting.
After all, the little girl was young, and it was her first time coming to her mother's workplace, so she couldn't hide the excitement on her face.
"It's so hot outside, but it's so cool here. I'm feeling a bit cold. Are there a lot of air conditioners on? But why don't I see any..."
"Yes, there are many, but they are hidden underground, so of course you can't see them."
"Does it usually run like this all day? How expensive would the electricity bill be?"
Electricity bills? They need to consider that?
Aunt Liu didn't know much about garden design. She only heard that the whole garden was designed by a feng shui master, and every decoration in it, even a small, inconspicuous piece of moss, was shockingly expensive.
Aunt Liu was just one of the Li family's employees, so naturally she couldn't understand the meaning of it. She only vaguely felt that the master seemed to be extremely concerned about some details.
Just then they arrived at the nanny's room. Without further explanation, she smiled, touched her daughter's head, and led her into the one-bedroom apartment where she usually lived.
The fruit that was put in the refrigerator before going out was now perfectly chilled. Seeing her daughter enjoying the meal, Aunt Liu felt much better from the sticky sweat on her back.
"I'm on vacation today, so I won't be able to accompany you starting tomorrow. Don't run around, just stay here."
As the mother and daughter were talking, there was a knock on the door and two middle-aged women wearing uniforms similar to those worn by Aunt Liu squeezed in.
One of them hadn't even stepped inside when he started talking non-stop: "Didn't the master mention the young master this morning? He said he wanted the eldest master to bring the person back..."
Aunt Liu responded: "And then?"
This news was no secret and had already spread among the Li family's employees. They all believed that if nothing unexpected happened to Li Zhuo, he would soon return to the Li family for the summer vacation.
The servant in charge of cleaning the room specially cleaned Li Zhuo's room inside and out at noon. The housekeeper also prepared for the next week and added dishes and desserts that Li Zhuo liked to eat in the past to the menu.
"What do you mean by coming back? I'm not coming back!"
Another hired worker who was in charge of maintaining the garden plants said, "The eldest young master called today and said he'd asked the school about the summer camp the young master attended, and he's no longer in Changyang."
"So summer camp will eventually end, right?"
“But the gentleman’s attitude is very…”
Like Aunt Liu, the employee who was also responsible for purchasing and cooking usually spent more time with Li Huachuan than other employees. She sighed softly.
"He seemed to just mention it casually, not really caring whether Master Zhuo would come back or not. When he heard that he had already gone to summer camp, he didn't mention the pick-up again..."
Just like the young master's life and living expenses in Changyang, he only mentioned it briefly, and after knowing that it was Li Xuan who was in charge, he never asked about it. Whether he beat her or how much she beat him was none of his business.
It's not like there haven't been any employees who've secretly discussed this: What if the fight doesn't happen?
"What about the wife?"
"Madam wants Master Zhuo to come back, but you all know that Madam always listens to her husband..."
A hired worker cracked some melon seeds and said, "Why didn't the young master go to summer camp earlier or later? It's such an unfortunate coincidence, eh..."
"Yeah, it would be better if I hadn't gone."
The youngest daughter, who had been listening quietly the entire time, suddenly interrupted, "Since you're going to pick someone up, why are you asking during the holiday? Shouldn't you have asked before the holiday?"
The other two employees had different expressions. Aunt Liu slowly said, "Maybe... Although I care a little, it's not much. I was just asking casually."
The others also fell silent.
There are not many members of the Li family, and the work of hired workers is relatively easy. Among them are young and beautiful ones, and naturally there are also those who have entered the company with their excellent skills like them.
The shortest of the three of them worked at the Li family for five years, and the longest for more than ten years. They almost witnessed the entire process of Li Zhuo from coming to the Li family to leaving the Li family.
Especially Aunt Liu. When Li Zhuo was still in the Li family, she was responsible for his food, clothing, and daily life, and she spent the most time with him on weekdays.
“That kid is actually quite good…”
"yes."
"Why."
The three employees of the Li family gathered together and unknowingly talked about the two years when Li Zhuo was still in the Li family.
A teenager from a remote mountain village came to the city for the first time and didn't know how to use many smart appliances at home. The Li family was his home, but he was at a loss in his own home.
A child who was so sensitive and fragile that he couldn't look directly at others when talking to them, and who would feel helpless because of a few casual compliments, became like that in the constant disputes and misunderstandings.
In the week before leaving the Li family, he rarely spoke and rarely smiled, as if he didn't know how to face it, so he chose to push everyone away and hide in a corner.
They didn't understand his grades and performance, nor did they know what impact the jokes he made had on the Li family. They just thought that the child had a good personality, and his simple eyes were so clear that they seemed to see the soul inside.
"Are you not coming back in the future?"
A hired worker lowered his voice and said, "I heard that Li Xuan is also Mr.'s son."
“But it’s not very similar.”
"Maybe it's from her mother? Who knows?" The servant said casually, "Last week, the master fired another maid..."
"I knew this a long time ago, but I'm still too young. How would it sound good if I said it out loud like that? Sir, you care about face the most. You're as stupid as that Chen Xiao'e before..." Aunt Liu said disdainfully.
"What happened to Chen Xiao'e? She had already left when I came to work at the Li family. I heard that she sold Master Zhuo because the wife fined her 500 yuan, and she went to jail last year..."
Aunt Liu took out a bag of melon seeds from the drawer and said as she divided them:
"She was young and beautiful at the time. She went on a trip with her husband and had forgotten her last name. She thought she was the legal wife and was caught secretly hiding the wife's jewelry. The wife deducted her salary and fired her..."
"Originally, this was nothing. My husband secretly gave her some money, but she wasn't satisfied. She really thought he would marry her. How could that be possible? She's so stupid that she believes everything a man says..."
The other two hired hands each grabbed a handful of melon seeds and chatted about some trivial things from the past.
Chen Xiao'e was pregnant at the time, so she was so confident, but she suddenly miscarried for some reason; her husband had been having affairs outside for the past few years, but there was no movement in his belly;
The wife might be completely unaware of these matters, but she might also be aware. It wouldn't do her any good to bring them up. Would she, just to prove herself, cause a scene and ultimately give up her position? It would be better to play dumb, pretending to know nothing. At least she could preserve her own gains.
After talking for a long time, the topic shifted from the old story between Li Huachuan and the maid to the new things that had been discussed a few days ago: Li Huachuan went out a few days ago and was inexplicably hit, perhaps because he didn't check the almanac or something, and he was in the hospital for a few days. Young Master Xuan went to visit him as soon as possible.
As they talked, the topic, which had been winding around for a long time, unknowingly came back to Li Zhuo at the beginning.
"In the end, Master Zhuo is the one who deserves our pity. They keep fighting among themselves, and in the end, the innocent children suffer... Alas... He is also guilty."
"I don't know how he is doing now..."
"Why……"
The three of them fell into a brief silence.
“It’s really hot this year.”
"Yeah, it's a little too hot..."
"Your daughter will be in junior high school in three years, right? Time flies..."
*
"Time goes by so slowly."
"How long will it take?"
The ecological base is located far away from the urban area and the temperature is much lower than outside. There may be a little hot water during the day, but you need to cover yourself with a quilt at night.
The summer camp schedule has entered its fourth day. After some performances in the previous three days, Li Zhuo has inexplicably become a popular candidate for the team.
It's because he is really too skilled.
The theme of the summer camp is to get close to nature. The purpose is to allow students to experience nature, practice teamwork and grow through personal participation in various activities.
Yes, that's what they said in their promotion, it's just about eating, drinking and having fun, but...
The first day was fine, after all, we were in the car the whole morning, and just walked around in the afternoon. In the evening, we followed the staff's instructions to observe the stars. Everyone saw their own constellation, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.
Something was wrong the next day. The students who were taken to the fields looked confused as they looked at the hoes and other farm tools assigned to them.
"Does this mean...that we should farm?"
"Are you kidding me?!"
Many students who grew up in the city may have seen how land was cultivated for the first time. Because they were novices, they did not master the techniques well and were exhausted with back pain.
Among the students present, only Li Zhuo was very familiar with these things, so his group's progress naturally left the other groups far behind.
No matter what happened in the first two days, the summer camp at least provided meals, so even if I procrastinated and just did the so-called tasks, I wouldn't go hungry. But on the third day, they didn't provide meals at all.
When the leader wearing a hat announced the news to everyone using a loudspeaker, the students did not believe it, but all they got was the repetition over and over again.
Because they were too far away from the base, they had to prepare their own lunch. Coincidentally, there was a stream nearby. It was the fishing season, so the meat was delicious and a rare delicacy.
Students can form teams to touch crabs, and the number of crabs is used to calculate points. The team with higher points can exchange them for other food, other seasonings, etc.
It’s okay if you have a stomachache, there’s a doctor with you.
Li Zhuo had performed outstandingly the day before, and he was still very skilled when it came to touching crabs. While others were still searching blindly, there was already a layer of crabs in his bucket.
Some students came to ask for tips, and he did not hide them. He taught them a lot of tips on how to judge which nests have crabs and how to catch them without getting bitten.
People tend to follow the crowd. Perhaps I had misunderstood Li Zhuo before because of his indifference, but now that there is the first one, there will naturally be a second and a third...
As the day went on, Li Zhuo had spoken to more people his age than he had in the entire semester combined. These included classmates, students from other classes, and even a few from other schools.
For those city students, learning how to hold a hoe and how to distinguish between rice and wheat is an unfamiliar experience. For Li Zhuo, such communication is also a novel experience.
In Pingshan Village, he was so busy that he had no time to play or make friends, and he was always running back and forth in the fields.
When he arrived at the international school, he was eager to have friends with whom he could talk and chat, but his enthusiasm was only met with some incomprehensible ridicule.
Back to the experiment, after what happened before, he began to fear socializing, fearing that he would reveal anything wrong.
But does answering someone's questions count as making friends? Does teaching them some common sense tips count as making friends?
Li Zhuo didn't know.
He never thought that the skills he had learned without a teacher due to poverty and hunger in Pingshan Village would come in handy one day and be praised by so many peers.
On the fourth day, the summer camp stopped performing and went straight into the mountains for an adventure.
No one believed it at first, until the station's destination became increasingly remote and the trees grew taller.
Only then did the others realize, is this for real?!
According to the team leader, within one day, they have to look for water sources, observe animals and plants, learn to identify common plants and insects, divide into groups to build a tent, and spend the night.
Although the summer camp also added that there are staff following them, they will only appear in times of crisis, so they still have to rely on themselves.
"Didn't we agree to come here to have fun? Why do I feel like I've been cheated? Is it too late to quit now?"
Deng Yuliang followed Li Zhuo, looked up at the dense jungle around him, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and complained with a sad face.
"We only had a good meal on the first day, and then we were digging and going down the river. This isn't summer camp, it's wilderness survival."
Another frail student wearing glasses behind him also complained: "I've been wondering if I've been sold. There's still no signal here."
“Time passes so slowly…”
"Yeah, when are we going to leave?"
"Complain! Wait! Once I get out and have a signal on my phone, I'll definitely complain to them!"
"That's too much! How can this be possible?"
Because Li Zhuo's previous performance was so outstanding, he invisibly established a banner in the hearts of other students, resulting in people following him no matter what he did.
Seeing Li Zhuo find a straight wooden stick and use it as a path-finding tool, the others also followed suit and looked for a similar stick.
Seeing Li Zhuo squatting down with an expressionless face, his fingertips brushing across the moist humus soil, they also squatted down and followed his movements to touch the soil.
This picture looks quite humorous.
*
Is this all right?
Why is this so?
On a high slope, Mo Liang's figure completely blended into the surrounding jungle.
His consciousness was like an invisible net, quietly covering the entire jungle. Every trembling leaf, every gentle breeze, was felt in his perception.
His attention was particularly focused on Li Zhuo.
Every breath of Li Zhuo, the rise and fall of his chest, the subtle changes in body temperature, the flow of blood, and even every tiny particle of skin falling off were clearly visible in his field of vision.
The ball of light floated in the air, communicating silently with Mo Liang in his consciousness.
[As the guide states, the target has been hurt in social situations in the past and is currently in a state of social phobia. He needs to rebuild his confidence.]
Weren't you wondering why Li Zhuo's abilities weren't mentioned in the introduction? Because he's just a minor character, his true interests, hobbies, and strengths are completely blank. Of course, a small scope should be planned to allow him to slowly regain his confidence.
What's the point?
【Isn’t he very happy now? 】
Mo Liang fell silent.
The system explained again:
[After the summer vacation, a key plot point will be reached. Li Zhuo is still looking forward to the coming-of-age ceremony his parents had casually promised him, but in reality, they had long forgotten about it. It can even be said that his expectations will inevitably be dashed on that day.]
[In the original novel, Li Zhuo spent over a year at Experimental Middle School, constantly dwelling on this. Therefore, upon learning the truth, he was deeply shocked, leading to the farce at the banquet and, in a daze, an accidental drowning.]
He didn't have any friends at the time, and he had no one to talk to. It would be helpful to let him make some friends his own age to distract him.
[In my last mission, the target's friend was very helpful...]
Humans are such complex creatures that simply providing them with enough food and a suitable temperature to make them happy and content is not enough. They also have high spiritual needs and self-worth...
[The method you thought of before definitely won't work. I have records of failed cases...]
The system was still chattering about the specific benefits behind doing this, but Mo Liang suddenly said:
[Are all systems like this?]
[Of course not. I'm an advanced system with an emotional template installed. My thinking is highly realistic, so I can communicate with you like this...]
Different systems have different purposes and require different core templates. Some are specifically designed to collect energy, and these systems offer the highest returns...
[There is a type of observer system that doesn't have a guide plate installed, doesn't need to collect energy, and doesn't interfere with the host in any way. It's only responsible for recording. This type is generally used to collect materials...]
[There is also a test system without a host. Its purpose is to collect more emotional changes to optimize the emotional template. These systems will have their memories erased and placed in a simulated world to experience the ups and downs of life as humans...]
And more...
Mo Liang was not interested in what types of light balls there were or what the specific differences were. He just stared at his child closely.
Although there was no obvious expression of joy on Li Zhuo's face, his micro-expressions and hormones did increase when he was teaching other students.
Although he didn't understand, and although he still hoped that the whole world would die and only he and Li Zhuo would be left, when he really saw his child happy, Mo Liang was happy too.
His children do have many undiscovered talents. First, they learn things quickly. Second, they are quiet and have strong adaptability.
He also has a soft and clean heart!
Calculating the time, the poor and lovely child has already taken several summer camp staff members around his route several times. It is time to let this hardworking child find the clean water source he wants.
Although according to Mo Liang's idea, he didn't want the child to suffer so much and just wanted to give him everything he wanted, the system said that it was too fake.
In the past, Mo Liang was not a person who listened to opinions patiently. If he disliked someone, he would just crush the other person roughly. Spending even one extra second was a luxury. But now he had to consider more.
Everything is for the growth of children.
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