The main system's sound was as calm and monotonous as before, sounding like a completely emotionless machine.
It suddenly popped into Lu Shizhen's line of sight, and disappeared instantly after displaying the entire judgment.
Qiuqiu drifted over dejectedly, her voice filled with defeat compared to her previous confident and imposing manner: "I tried my best, host, but the main system rejected my appeal."
In fact, when Qiuqiu didn't show up this afternoon, Lu Shizhen realized where it had gone and was prepared to punish it.
She just didn't expect the main system to notify her at this time, suddenly striking her in what she considered a wonderful situation.
She had just felt a warmth and sense of belonging she had never experienced before when she suddenly fell into an ice cave.
It was as if the main system was deliberately reminding her that this world was just an unrealistic dream, and she shouldn't attach too much emotion to it.
Lu Shizhen paused for a moment, then asked with unusual calm, "Do you know what kind of punishment it is?"
"It should be the same as last time," Qiuqiu replied. "The main system will take appropriate measures to address the hosts' violations based on their wishes."
Lu Shizhen frowned slightly upon hearing Qiuqiu's answer.
However, she wasn't angry because the main system used her weakness as leverage; instead, she quipped somewhat off-topic, "You should update and improve your language library."
Without losing her temper or giving up, Lu Shizhen simply offered calm reminders and criticisms.
Qiuqiu felt a little scared upon hearing this, and flapped its wings to fly to her nose: "Host, what's wrong? I'm a little scared..."
Looking at the timid little ball in front of her, Lu Shizhen probably realized that she was acting too calmly compared to the past, so she couldn't help but laugh and said in a more frank voice, "What are you afraid of? Can't people grow up? Didn't I say yesterday that I'll take whatever punishment comes my way?"
“Host…” Qiuqiu heard this and her previously emotionless body suddenly felt a little sore. She awkwardly leaned against Lu Shizhen’s face as if she were embracing her. “You’ve really had a tough time.”
"You know how tough things have been for me, why don't you find out how long I'm going to be punished this time?" Lu Shizhen retorted.
“I can deduce that,” Qiuqiu immediately said. “The main system sets the time limit based on the severity of the violation, so host, I think the punishment time this time might not be very optimistic.”
"I see." Upon hearing this, Lu Shizhen's gaze darkened further.
Today is the third to last day of November, and the day after tomorrow is the 30th, as announced by the main system.
Like a fish on a chopping board, she didn't know when the executioner's knife would fall, or in what way it would sever her legs.
Amidst the comings and goings of people, Lu Shien's childish yet clear voice reached Lu Shizhen's ears.
Supported by Teacher Chen and Cheng Meiyan, Xu Shiyue walked towards the backstage dressing room, creating a warm and innocent scene amidst the noise.
She stared at the scene before her, her eyes fixed on the view for a long time, as if trying to memorize every detail.
They were racing against time, just like they were in their original world.
Just as Lu Shizhen was making this note of, Cheng Meiyan walked over to her, who was lagging behind, and cautiously revealed to her, "Zhenzhen, there's something strange about what happened in Shiyue last night."
Lu Shizhen suddenly came to her senses and turned to look at Cheng Meiyan, who had taken her arm.
Compared to the expected punishment, the "strangeness" that Cheng Meiyan mentioned was completely outside her expectations.
Cheng Meiyan didn't notice Lu Shizhen's somewhat excited reaction. Looking at Xu Shiyue walking ahead with Teacher Chen and Lu Shize who was educating Lu Shien, she whispered to her, "Your brother told me not to tell you, but I think you still need to know. We judge that it is most likely that it was someone sent by the Xu family."
Lu Shizhen frowned deeply, then seemed to understand something.
She also felt that the system wouldn't set up deliberate plots without reason or logic. If the man's suspicious behavior yesterday afternoon was connected with the Xu family, it would probably make sense.
He was looking for Xu Shiyue's room.
The most obvious thing is that even though he was the one who stood up for Xu Shiyue and taught that man a lesson, his brother knocked on Xu Shiyue's door instead of his own.
“Because we’re currently outside the province, our family can’t provide adequate protection, making it easier for them to strike?” Lu Shizhen speculated.
Cheng Meiyan nodded and carefully instructed, "Be extra careful here these next few days. I've brought all the bodyguards from home. Don't think that just because it's ostentatious, you don't need to bring them. Your safety is the top priority right now."
Lu Shizhen nodded, feeling for some reason that Cheng Meiyan's second half of the instruction was somewhat strange.
Just as she was about to offer her assurance, she noticed Cheng Meiyan's eyes suddenly fixed on her: "And..."
Lu Shizhen's heart suddenly jumped.
She stood there, facing Cheng Meiyan's gaze, and feigned composure: "W-what's wrong, Mom?"
As you walk from one side of the stage backstage, the dim light gradually brightens.
The woman's dark eyes slowly moved over Lu Shizhen from top to bottom, finally settling on her coat.
Cheng Meiyan smiled: "Is this Shiyue's outfit?"
Lu Shizhen suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help feeling a jolt of fear.
She didn't know where Cheng Meiyan got her memory from, but she actually recognized that these were Xu Shiyue's clothes.
The lights were bright, and a warm smile bloomed on the face of this stunningly beautiful woman.
Her curved eyes were bright and clear, and her playful banter was tinged with a hint of seriousness.
Even though Lu Shizhen knew that she and Xu Shiyue hadn't done anything inappropriate yesterday, she still felt a little guilty for some reason.
Not wanting Cheng Meiyan to misunderstand, Lu Shizhen quickly explained, "I ran out in a hurry last night and didn't wear warm clothes, so Xu Shiyue lent me her clothes."
"Oh." Cheng Meiyan nodded, a knowing smile appearing on her face.
She raised her hand and placed her arm on Lu Shizhen's shoulder, putting her arm around her daughter: "Is that so? Our Shiyue really knows how to repay kindness."
Lu Shizhen only understood later.
The fact that she wore Xu Shiyue's clothes was essentially a very ambiguous and intimate thing.
Xu Shiyue would never wear other people's clothes, nor would she lend clothes to others.
As evening approached, the sun hung at the foot of the western mountains, its fiery red glow filling the sky.
The opera house was teeming with people, and sparrows flew up from the bare branches that were no longer enough to provide shelter, soaring across the sky.
The first day of the symphony orchestra competition has come to a close, with Lu Shizhen School Orchestra securing first place and the top gold medal.
Ms. Chen was beaming. To reward the band members for their hard work in rehearsals these past few days, she booked a large private room at a famous local hotel, which could seat more than twenty people, filling two tables.
Lu Shizhen and Xu Shiyue arrived quite late, and there was only one seat left at the main table.
Based on the band's contributions, Xu Shiyue was the most qualified person to sit at the head table, and everyone assumed she should sit there. However, this meant that Lu Shizhen would have to separate from Xu Shiyue.
Lu Shizhen often hangs out with the band these days and has gotten to know everyone quite well. Seeing this, a few people quickly moved a chair and some cutlery from another table to give her a place.
This matter should have ended there; one more or one less person wouldn't have been a big deal.
But Sun Chenchen happened to be sitting at the main table.
She had already settled things with Lu Shizhen over that previous incident, and was quite unhappy to see her receiving special treatment. While fixing her hair, she asked with a cold smile, "If you're not part of the orchestra, why do you have to come to the main table?"
This statement was very aggressive, as if it had shut Lu Shizhen out of the symphony orchestra.
Xu Shiyue clearly felt the arm she was holding pause for a moment, and she frowned slightly as well.
There was a moment of silence in the private room, then Chen Miaomiao, who was sitting at another table, let out a cold laugh and retorted, "What's wrong with that? If it weren't for Lu Shizhen, would our orchestra's principal be able to perform so well?"
Another clarinetist, who was on good terms with her, nodded and said, "Yes, our orchestra's score for principal player is much higher than other orchestras. If it weren't for that score, we might not even have this meal today. I wonder if anyone else could have achieved such a score."
The meaning behind those words was subtle, but everyone in the orchestra understood it perfectly.
The trumpeter wasn't good at hiding his emotions and burst out laughing, saying, "I think it's probably because others pulled us so far."
Lu Shizhen felt the protection from others, and her heart warmed.
But the more this happened, the less Sun Chenchen wanted to let Lu Shizhen go. She spoke up to stop her, saying, "Teacher Chen has already calculated everything. If there are twelve people at each table, won't there not be enough food for everyone?"
Chen Miaomiao couldn't stand Sun Chenchen, and muttered in a loud voice, "Anyone who didn't know better would think she's a reincarnated starving ghost. How come one more person isn't enough for her to eat?"
"Exactly." Everyone echoed in agreement, and some even suggested to Sun Chenchen, "If you feel you haven't eaten enough, go sit over there. Teacher Chen is an adult, and she might eat more than over there."
Sun Chenchen coveted the main table seat and would never give it up.
She originally intended to make Lu Shizhen uncomfortable, but unexpectedly she was rebuffed and rendered speechless.
No one paid any more attention to Sun Chenchen, and instead asked Lu Shizhen to bring Xu Shiyue over to sit together.
Lu Shizhen didn't care much about where she sat, and after the commotion just now, she didn't really want to eat at the same table as Sun Chenchen.
The band members were so enthusiastic in standing up for him, and he just turned around and sat at another table. Wasn't that just letting Sun Chenchen have her way while hurting everyone else's feelings?
Hesitating, Lu Shizhen felt her wrist being pulled and turned.
Xu Shiyue turned and walked to the table opposite the main table, calmly declining the members' invitation: "Everyone, you don't need to move chairs for us. The doctor told me to protect my eyes, afraid that seeing dirty things would affect the treatment."
"Hahaha."
Unable to hold back, Chen Miaomiao burst out laughing.
She knew that Xu Shiyue didn't like to talk much, but when she did speak, it was always to the point, making people feel particularly uncomfortable.
"Oh, everyone's almost here?"
The brief, farcical interlude had just ended when Teacher Chen arrived at the door of the private room.
Seeing that most of the students had arrived, she said to the waiter behind her, "You can serve the food now."
"Okay." The waiter nodded slightly and was about to close the door when the last few band members arrived at the door. "Teacher Chen, we're late."
"No, that's perfect." Teacher Chen patted the girls' heads and walked into the private room.
Just then, Teacher Chen heard a familiar, cool voice calling out, "Teacher Chen."
It was Xu Shiyue who greeted her.
Teacher Chen suddenly stopped and looked at Xu Shiyue sitting at a less crowded table. Ignoring Sun Chenchen's so-called main table, he sat down next to Xu Shiyue.
"Haha." Another uncontrollable laugh escaped Chen Miaomiao's lips, and she was caught red-handed by her teacher: "Miaomiao, what's making you so happy?"
"Nothing much, I was just happy to see the teacher." Chen Miaomiao, always sweet-talking, changed the subject and said, "There is indeed something quite interesting."
Teacher Chen was in a good mood and was particularly curious about what the students were saying: "What is it? Tell me about it?"
Chen Miaomiao glanced at Xu Shiyue, then at Sun Chenchen at the opposite table, and said in a particularly clear voice, "Look, everyone's tables are the same, the dishes are the same, and wherever the teacher sits is the main table."
Teacher Chen, however, did not find this interesting. With a somewhat stern expression, she lectured, "What's with all this talk about the head table? You're just a little kid, how did you start learning bureaucracy?"
Chen Miaomiao immediately adopted a serious and humble demeanor, assuring him, "I was wrong, Teacher Chen. I shouldn't have taken this so seriously. I won't do it again."
"That's more like it." Seeing that Chen Miaomiao's attitude in admitting her mistake was good, Teacher Chen did not pursue the matter further.
While the two were talking, the dishes they ordered were placed on the table in duplicate by the waiter.
Amidst the enticing aroma, Lu Shizhen noticed that Sun Chenchen's face was even more unpleasant than the incomprehensible abstract painting hanging on the wall, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction.
She knew there was no truly pure land in the world, but she thought that at least at this moment, this band was her pure land.
She was very grateful to the band members for defending her, and also thanked Chen Miaomiao for her subtle and overt support earlier.
The air from the central air conditioning gently swept over Lu Shizhen's arm, slowly coaxing back the lingering warmth.
She thought the person she should thank the most was Xu Shiyue.
So Lu Shizhen picked up a chicken leg that Qiuqiu had its eye on and, with Qiuqiu eagerly waiting, placed it on Xu Shiyue's plate: "Try it, it smells delicious."
The girl's smile was a bit over the top, almost with a hint of deliberate flattery.
Xu Shiyue wasn't particularly interested in flattery or chicken legs. She held her chopsticks and looked at Lu Shizhen, only to notice that Lu Shizhen's bright black eyes were looking at her with a smile.
After a pause, she accepted Lu Shizhen's offer to feed her.
Qiuqiu was very dissatisfied, and as a second choice, she picked up the small crab leg that Lu Shizhen had left for her.
Although its host wasn't exactly virtuous, it still floated to Lu Shizhen's ear about what had just happened and comforted her, saying, "Host, these are all fleeting things. When you gain eternal life and see more of the world's ways, these things won't matter. Don't take them to heart."
This sentence reminded Lu Shizhen of the main system's announcement this afternoon.
In fact, from the perspective of the main god, she is no different from a system like Qiuqiu. If their systems are intelligent enough to completely simulate and replace humans, they may not need a host like her.
The reason why people cannot be replaced by mechanical systems is because they have emotions.
This kind of feeling comes from the heart and cannot be simulated by program code.
Lu Shizhen looked at the private room where everyone was chatting and laughing, her inscrutable gaze filled with tenderness.
Some people read campus novels to reminisce about their youth and make up for their regrets in the past.
Lu Shizhen looks at these things to fill her own void.
Only now did she realize that the atmosphere she was immersed in was one that she could never experience, no matter how many books she read.
But it happens in this world.
This world served as her temporary foothold, even a stepping stone.
It's hard to describe this feeling. Lu Shizhen watched Qiuqiu eating crab legs with great enthusiasm and then put several more crabs on its plate.
Just to avoid arousing suspicion, she only gave Qiuqiu the two meatiest front legs of the crab, and pretended to enjoy the rest herself.
Teacher Chen ordered many famous local dishes, including a braised beef dish that Aunt Sun had never made before.
When Lu Shizhen is in a bad mood, she likes to eat. She piled several spoonfuls of braised beef onto her rice and also mixed it with the soup to make bibimbap.
She just didn't notice that the crab Qiuqiu ate and the beef she ate both had alcohol added to them.
Whether it was because she was in a bad mood or because the two kinds of alcohol had a doubled effect when mixed together, she gradually began to feel the people in her line of sight swaying.
As night fell and the food was almost gone, the early victory celebration came to an end.
Teacher Chen glanced at the time and prepared to organize the band members to return to the hotel. Everyone got up and left in twos and threes.
Xu Shiyue sat in the chair and watched as almost everyone in the private room left before getting up.
Just as she was about to place her hand on Lu Shizhen's arm, she felt a heavy pressure on her shoulder.
Lu Shizhen's face turned red as she leaned on Xu Shiyue's shoulder and mumbled, "Xu Shiyue, I hate this world so much."
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