Chapter 130 A Belated Confession: Xing Lin tells Shi Wan his thoughts...
“Look here,” Xinglin pointed to the graph on the screen, “the repurchase rate of cat food is very high, especially the postpartum mother cat nutrition food, which reached 78%. This shows that the product is indeed effective and customers have a high level of recognition for us.”
“Then we can filter potential customers from our existing customers,” Shi Wan continued. “Customers who buy premium pet food, place orders frequently, and whose pets are between 1 and 5 years old are all our target customers.”
“Yes, and…” Xinglin operated the computer, pulling up another set of data, “These customers’ delivery addresses are mostly in upscale residential areas or villa districts, and their spending power matches.”
Looking at the two working together so well, Su Qing couldn't help but say, "With your work ethic... why don't Xinglin stay at the farm permanently from now on? You're very efficient; you can finalize the framework in half an hour."
Shi Wan was taken aback and subconsciously looked at Xing Lin.
Xing Lin also looked at her, his eyes filled with a gentle smile, "If Shi Wan needs it, then I'd be happy to."
His voice was calm, but Shi Wan could hear the seriousness in it.
Her heart skipped a beat. She looked away, cleared her throat, and said, "So...it's settled then? We'll do a feasibility study on the 'Growing Bones and Flesh' project first. Xinglin will be in charge of data analysis and system setup, I'll be in charge of formula development and raw material control, and Su Qing, you'll be in charge of market liaison and customer communication?"
“No problem!” Su Qing readily agreed. “I’ll leave the contract with you. Have a lawyer take a good look at it. I’ll handle the negotiations with the pet hotel and try to secure the first order.”
It was almost noon when the meeting ended.
Su Qing packed her things and prepared to leave, but when she reached the door, she turned back and winked at Shi Wan, "By the way, are the clothes for our farm's data engineer a bit small? Should I order a few men's clothes? I added quite a few sales assistants when I ordered clothes for my male companion before."
With a hint of teasing in her tone, Shi Wan had already given up and was ready to give up. She waved her hand weakly, "Just send it to Xing Lin and see if he needs it. Although I think he really needs it."
"Okay, I'll send him my contact information directly," Su Qing said with a smile and waved her hand. "I'm going to discuss the collaboration now!"
After the door closed, the living room suddenly became quiet.
Shi Wan stood there, her mind still a little dazed.
It feels like it's been running efficiently for a long time after being forced to boot up.
She turned around and saw Xinglin standing by the dining table clearing away the dishes, his profile particularly clear in the afternoon light.
"Um..." she began, her voice a little dry, "thank you for breakfast, it was delicious."
"You're welcome." Xinglin turned to look at her, a faint smile on his lips. "You can do this often in the future."
These words were spoken so naturally that Shi Wan didn't know how to respond.
She went over and helped him tidy up. The two stood side by side by the kitchen sink, the water gurgling.
The sound of Jin Dian scratching at the fence and his pitiful meows came from outside the window.
Shi Wan dried her hands and walked to the window. She saw Jin Dian staring longingly in the direction of the activity room, Rou Rou lying on her side by the window sunbathing, and four kittens playing around her.
"Is he Jin Dian? Does he come every day?" Xing Lin walked to her side and looked out the window as well.
“Almost every day.” Shi Wan opened the window and handed out a few freeze-dried fruits. “Although Rou Rou is still in a carefree state, only caring about herself and the kitten eating and sleeping well, Jin Dian still insists on coming.”
Jin Dian carefully took the freeze-dried food, then looked at Xing Lin with curiosity in her bright green eyes.
He sniffed the air, tilted his head, as if trying to identify the stranger.
"He doesn't seem to mind me," Xinglin said softly.
“Animals are very sensitive to kindness.” Shi Wan watched Jin Dian eat the freeze-dried food in small bites, and the corners of her mouth turned up. “Of course they know who is genuinely good to them.”
Xinglin didn't speak, but just quietly looked out the window.
The sunlight shone on his face, giving his pale skin a warm hue.
Shi Wan turned her head to look at him and suddenly noticed the faint bluish shadow under his eyes.
"Did you sleep well last night?" she asked softly.
Xinglin turned his head and met her gaze.
They were very close, close enough that Shi Wan could see the fine lines in his pupils and the shadows cast by his eyelashes in the sunlight.
“Very good,” he said softly. “I haven’t slept this soundly in a long time.”
His voice carried a sense of relaxation after exhaustion, a sense of peace as if he had finally found his place.
Shi Wan's heart softened, and she blurted out, "Then...why don't you want to take another nap? There's nothing urgent this afternoon, and you seem very tired. You should rest more. Nothing else is in a hurry."
Xinglin looked at her, his eyes so tender they seemed to melt her heart, "Okay, but before that..."
He paused, then spoke even softer, "It's really good to see you again."
Shi Wan's heart suddenly started racing.
She opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end she just smiled and said, "Me too, welcome home, Starfall."
Sunlight streamed in through the window, warmly bathing the two of them.
Outside the window, Golden Spot finished its freeze-dried food and licked its paws contentedly.
In the activity room, Tangyuan jumped onto the cat tree, put her hands in her pockets, squinted her eyes, and started "driving a motorcycle".
Shanfeng was still resting under the porch, its ears twitching slightly and its tail swaying gently.
The sound of running water stopped, and the dishes were neatly arranged on the drain rack, making a crisp clinking sound.
Shi Wan dried her hands, turned to look at Xing Lin, who was still standing by the window, his gaze fixed on the kittens playing on the lawn outside. His profile appeared calm and gentle in the light and shadow.
"Would you like some more tea?" Shi Wan asked softly. "The new jasmine tea that arrived this year smells wonderful."
Xinglin turned her head, her eyes reflecting the greenery outside the window, and smiled slightly, "Okay."
The two sat down on the sofa in the living room.
Shi Wan brought out a teapot and two white porcelain cups. Amber-colored tea was poured into the cups, and the fragrance of jasmine filled the air.
Tangyuan jumped onto the sofa armrest at some point, its heterochromatic eyes curiously observing Xinglin, its tail swaying gently.
Xinglin picked up the teacup, his fingertips tracing the warm rim, but he didn't drink it immediately.
He lowered his eyes to look at the tea leaves unfurling in the cup, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly spoke, "You... don't you have anything you want to ask me?"
Shi Wan's hand tightened slightly as she held the teacup.
Of course, there are many questions I want to ask.
I want to ask him what he's been through these past two months, I want to know the ending of the main system, I want to know if it went smoothly, I want to know if he has to pay a price for appearing in this form now...
Too many questions are accumulating in my heart, like a tangled mess of threads.
But in the end, she simply shook her head and said softly, "You'll tell me when you want to."
Xing Lin raised his eyes, his gaze gentle. "Now I want to tell you, are you willing to listen?"
The afternoon sun shone through the gauze curtains, casting soft shadows between the two of them.
The cicadas chirped incessantly outside the window, mingling with the soft sounds of kittens playing in the distance.
Time seemed to slow down at that moment.
"Of course I'm willing." Shi Wan sat up straight and looked at him seriously.
Xinglin placed the teacup on the coffee table, clasped his hands together, his posture relaxed yet carrying a certain solemnity.
He looked out the window, his gaze seemingly piercing through time and space, returning to that cold and long world of data.
"The core of the main system collapsed in that final impact." He spoke slowly, his voice as calm as if he were telling someone else's story. "Zhulong, Bailing, Tiebi, and many other mission takers, together we cleaned up the remaining architecture. The new protocol is now running stably and will no longer plunder or extract anyone's emotions, nor will it create any new tragedies."
Shi Wan held her breath and listened intently.
“However,” Xing Lin paused, his gaze returning to Shi Wan’s face, “the damage that has already been done cannot be erased. Thousands of lives have been lost because of the system’s greed. Their lives have come to an abrupt end, and even the memories of many relatives have been tampered with, erasing all traces of their existence.”
There was a hint of suppressed pain in his voice, very soft, but Shi Wan keenly noticed it.
“So,” Xinglin continued, “I started doing something that, without affecting the overall operation of the world, could provide some compensation to their loved ones, allowing their lives to continue as long as possible. It might be a fairy tale book that suddenly appears, a packet of seeds hidden in a corner, or a sunflower that blooms in the morning…”
He described it very briefly, without mentioning the hardships of those things, without talking about how he repeatedly overexerted himself, and without confessing those moments when he was on the verge of collapse.
He simply recounted it calmly, as if it were just an ordinary job.
“In the eighty-ninth coordinate world, the victim was an old teacher.” Xinglin’s gaze drifted into the distance again. “She loved teaching children to sing. She was a kind and lovely old lady. I left a sound imprint outside the window of the classroom where she used to teach. Whenever the afternoon breeze blows, the wind chimes by the window will make a tinkling sound like a nursery rhyme.”
He spoke of each point one by one, his tone calm, but his eyes were so tender they were heartbreaking.
Shi Wan listened quietly, her fingers unconsciously stroking the rim of her teacup.
She could imagine those scenes: the mother's tears welling up when she saw the sunflowers, the child's surprised smile when he discovered the rainbow, and the crisp sound of the wind chimes.
Those subtle discoveries will illuminate a corner of the living's memory in the long, dark night.
As long as someone remembers you, you're not truly dead.
“One hundred,” Xinglin said softly. “I set myself one hundred goals. Only after I finished them did I feel… a little more able to face myself.”
When he said "face yourself," his voice was very soft, yet it seemed to land heavily in Shi Wan's heart.
The living room was quiet for a moment, with only the increasingly noisy chirping of cicadas outside the window.
Tangyuan jumped off the sofa at some point, squatted beside the coffee table, looked up at Xinglin with her eyes wide open.
Xinglin picked up his teacup and took a sip of the slightly cooled jasmine tea.
Then he put down the cup, clasped his hands together again, and gently rubbed the back of his hands with his fingertips, looking inexplicably a little awkward.
“Shi Wan,” he raised his eyes and looked directly at her, “there’s something I want to tell you.”
His tone suddenly became serious, causing Shi Wan to sit up straight.
“It happened before I entered the system,” Xing Lin said slowly. “Back then, things were not peaceful, and there were wars everywhere. My family was relatively well-off and could protect me.”
Shi Wan slightly widened her eyes.
“Back then, I was studying in Beiping. I studied a wide variety of subjects, including Western literature and classical Chinese poetry,” Xinglin said with a faint, nostalgic smile. “There was an old locust tree in my yard that was covered in white flowers in spring. When the wind blew, the flowers would fall like snow. I would often sit by the window, swaying my head as I recited my lessons. My older brother would always laugh at me, saying I looked like a little old man.”
His voice carried a distant, scholarly air, gentle and refined, yet also possessed a unique quality of that era, a mixture of melancholy and romance.
"Later, as the war intensified, my health deteriorated, and I became very ill. Then I met that person again, and eventually became a mission taker." Xing Lin paused, his eyes darkening.
Shi Wan opened her mouth, wanting to comfort him, but didn't know where to begin.
“Those days of completing the mission, in the system’s time measurement, were about tens of thousands of cycles. I feel like I’m gradually becoming numb.” Xing Lin’s voice was very calm, so calm that it was almost cruel. “I gradually became without ups and downs, and I couldn’t feel any emotions.”
He raised his hand and gently touched his chest with his fingertips. "It's become empty here."
The afternoon sun moved slowly through the room, gradually shining on his face.
Looking at Xing Lin's pale and serious face, Shi Wan suddenly realized that the person sitting in front of her had lived much longer than she had imagined and had experienced a deeper loneliness than she could comprehend.
"Later, I met Mo Tuan." Xing Lin's eyes softened, and her voice became warm. "At night, it would curl up at my feet to sleep, snoring loudly. In the morning, it would paw at my face to wake me up, and I started to feel happy again."
Shi Wan recalled Tang Yuan's occasional mentions to the former clan leader that Mo Tuan had passed away before Shi Wan took over the farm, leaving behind only a litter of kittens and a group of cats who still missed him.
“MoTuan taught me a lot,” XingLin said softly. “It reminds me of how I felt when I was still human. I would feel sad for a fallen leaf, happy for a blooming flower, and warmed by the company of a cat. It was the first piece of driftwood I grabbed onto during the long, cold hours of data processing.”
“What’s even more fortunate after that,” Xing Lin looked at Shi Wan, his gaze gentle and focused, “is that I met you.”
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