Chapter 48 Stay-at-Home Dad (12)
Bai Ye took the child home, feeling completely dazed and confused.
I never imagined that being a full-time stay-at-home mom would result in a child with depression.
Even though the doctor said it was only a mild case, Bai Ye still felt very bad.
At that moment, he had no thought about service quality and no concern about negative reviews due to depression caused by raising a child.
All he could think about was: What did I do to make Bai Jin like this?
Bai Ye walked to the children's room and stood at the door peeking inside. The children were playing with dolls, which was one of the few childish games that Bai Jin could accept.
From the outside, Bai Jin looked perfectly normal; she appeared intelligent and adorable.
"How can someone have depression?"
"Where does the frustration lie?"
Bai Ye couldn't figure it out, so she simply followed the doctor's advice and had an open and honest talk with her child.
We chose to talk in the afternoon, sitting on the balcony, chatting while basking in the sun.
He had thought of many ways to start the conversation, but when the words came out, he could only awkwardly ask, "Xiao Bai, is something on your mind?"
"Why did Dad ask that? You look terrible." Bai Jin was drinking juice, the subtle sweetness filling her with happiness.
Bai Ye was silent for a moment, then became more direct, "The doctor told me about your situation. It seems you're learning too fast, leading to overdevelopment of your brain and causing you to fall into a deep contemplation phase."
"What does Dad want to say?"
"Xiaobai, if you have something on your mind that you can't figure out, you can tell Dad. Hmm, although Dad isn't particularly smart, I should be able to give you some advice?"
Bai Jin bit her straw, the little girl's smile faint. "Then I asked Daddy to stay. Can Daddy do that?"
Seeing that Bai Ye did not answer, Bai Jin turned her face away. "See, Dad can't do it. So Dad can't help me."
"So your depression is because..."
"Yes, because of you, Dad can't be with me forever."
"But you know my situation. Someone like me can't stay here forever."
"Then why did you have to be nice to me in the first place?"
Bai Jin suddenly became agitated, and with a wave of her hand, she overturned all the fruit plates and cups on the coffee table to the ground.
"You're good to me, you drive away the observers, and you focus on taking care of me alone."
“You patiently cook delicious meals for me every day, secretly cry while memorizing articles just so you can tell me a smooth story at night, and are tormented by my little games every day but never get angry.”
"You named me Bai Jin, which has the same surname as yours. It sounds so nice. Everyone will know that I am your daughter as soon as they hear it."
"But Dad, you'll soon not want me anymore."
As Bai Jin spoke, she began to cry.
Large drops of bright red blood fell from the corners of his eyes.
This was the first time Bai Ye had ever seen a real child shed blood and tears; before that, they were just dolls.
He was terrified and frantically tried to wipe it off, but ended up burning his skin and causing blisters.
The pain made him retreat, and he could only watch helplessly as his child cried.
As Bai Jin cried, she suddenly couldn't shed any more tears, and her face slowly contorted in pain.
"As expected, it's impossible to stay with Dad forever. We're different, not at all. My tears will burn you."
"noob……"
"If you absolutely have to leave, then Dad, don't go. I'll go instead."
The one who leaves first will not suffer.
Bai Jin glanced at Bai Ye, then vanished on the spot.
The child ran away from home; this time, it was a real runaway.
Even with the mysterious Anxinbao provided by the ghost, Bai Ye was still unable to pinpoint the child's exact location.
"This is weird! I spent 500 yuan to buy it, and this is the piece of junk you provided? You should sue me for fraud!" Bai Ye was furious and started cursing at whatever she could find.
The more he cursed, the more uncertain he felt, and his voice gradually weakened, "Strange, where is Xiaobai? Don't you really have any way to help me find her?"
[Our client's growth has exceeded our detection capabilities. Players are advised to search for them independently. If they cannot be found within 24 hours, the police will intervene immediately, which will severely impact service quality.]
"At a time like this, you still have the mind to think about the mission. You truly are a strange, cold-blooded machine."
[Attention players! A rift is about to appear in the instance's small world. Please find your client immediately. If your client leaves the instance, the quest will fail immediately.]
"What?"
Bai Ye had never heard of such a thing before. "There are rifts in the dungeon world? What's going on? Are they spacetime rifts or spacetime distortions?"
[Attention players! A rift has appeared in the instance's small world. Please contact the client immediately. If the client cannot be found within 24 hours, the police will intervene immediately, as this will severely impact service quality.]
“Strange, you’ve already said these words once.”
However, no mechanical voice followed up with a reply.
Bai Ye called out several times in a row, and the mechanical voice seemed to have completely disappeared.
He felt uneasy and immediately checked the screen. What he saw revealed an unbelievable phenomenon.
In the information panel, after the original number 2, a new bright red instance is gradually forming in the completed instance.
The handwriting was faint, but Bai Ye could still tell at a glance that this was the third instance he was experiencing: "Mom works, Dad takes care of the kids."
This has never happened before. Aren't dungeons only marked after they've been completed and cleared?
Why does the instance automatically condense even though the player is still inside the instance's small world?
"What would happen if it solidified?"
Bai Ye's premonition grew increasingly ominous, and she felt she should do something to ward off this unknown.
"Yes, we must find Xiaobai first."
Bai Ye was still worried about the child, and immediately set off to search for him after leaving home. Every place was one they had played in: playgrounds, shopping malls, supermarkets, parks...
No, none at all.
"I can't find it. Little White can attach itself to objects and even transform into living things. It has no specific location, so I can't find it at all."
Bai Ye stood in the park on the street corner, surrounded by people coming and going. He saw everyone as Bai Jin, yet he also felt that no one resembled him.
His little white dog likes to be clean, so it won't get covered in mud.
His little white cat isn't afraid of heights and won't cry on the slide.
His little white dog loves to laugh, and when it laughs, it has two sweet dimples.
None of these children are.
As darkness fell, Bai Ye searched for most of the day, but to no avail.
But she still held onto a sliver of hope that Bai Jin would come to her senses and go home on her own.
When the key unlocked the door, Bai Ye couldn't help but hold her breath. After opening the door, she walked on tiptoe.
I walked silently to the bedroom, which was dark and quiet.
Bai Ye walked to the children's room full of anticipation, squatted down among a pile of dolls, and couldn't help touching them.
"Xiaobai, Daddy really likes you. Really, really, really likes you. You're such a smart and lovable child, it's hard not to like you."
"Sometimes I wonder, if I have children in the future, will they be like you?"
"Well, that's impossible. You're already dead, what future is there? To be precise, you're alive, I'm dead, I'm a hopeless, lifeless being, I can't possibly bring you anything."
"You want me to stay in the instance and stay with you forever, ha! I've thought about that too, but I'm sorry, I can't lie to you, I still crave life."
"Xiaobai, you hate lies the most, you know that, and I hate lying to you the most..."
Bai Ye arranged the dolls one by one, according to Bai Jin's preference.
When she got to the last one in line, she picked up the first doll and went back to her bedroom.
He lay in bed, holding his doll, and began to sleep.
A spatial rift has appeared; Bai Jin should have left the instance world by now. Twenty-four hours will pass quickly, the police will intervene, and I will be taken away.
Where will they be taken? What kind of punishment will they receive?
It doesn't matter anyway, the mission is destined to fail, and failure will immediately deduct 30 health points.
Thinking about his remaining life points, Bai Ye couldn't help but laugh, "It seems that after accepting the inevitable outcome of failure, there's nothing to be afraid of."
That's enough. It's been "alive" for a long time already, so consider it a perk.
"Little Bai, it's time for bed. Daddy will tell you a bedtime story..."
Bai Ye patted the doll's back and began telling a story as usual, but as she continued, she fell asleep first.
In her dream, Bai Ye seemed to see the bedroom door open and a figure walk in from outside.
The figure was faint and indistinct, yet strangely familiar.
Is it his Xiaobai?
Bai Ye wanted to open her eyes and take another look, but her eyelids felt heavy, as if they were filled with cement, and her body was stiff.
He stretched out his hand, trying to grab that figure, but he was always just a little short.
Push harder, push harder... Got it!
Bai Ye was overjoyed and hugged the figure tightly.
"Are you kidding me?! You're molesting a dead man in broad daylight! Just because I'm newly deceased doesn't mean you can be so rude!"
"I'm so sorry, my brother is having hysteria."
"What kind of player is this? So unreliable, I hate them. What a terrible place! There's only one building, how are we supposed to live here..."
"Hey bro, what's wrong with you? Where's your soul? Bro, where's your soul? Come back to life!"
Bai Ye was jolted awake from his sleep by a heavy pat on the shoulder.
Opening his eyes, he found himself standing at the entrance of Night Moon Town.
He stood straight with his arms outstretched in a grasping position.
Before him, I was the strongest, but strangely, the blurry face in front of me disappeared.
Bai Ye could clearly see the other person's appearance; he was a handsome young man who was looking at him with a worried expression.
"Is surviving the best?"
Bai Ye recognized the voice, but upon seeing the face clearly, she couldn't help but confirm it again.
The person opposite nodded, pulled Bai Ye inside, and said as they walked, "You almost molested a new player who just died. It was his first time in Nightmoon Town, and he was so frightened. I had to talk to him for a long time to calm him down. But speaking of which, you've been out doing dungeons for quite a while this time. You must be numb by now."
Bai Ye turned his head to look.
Although they knew they couldn't see each other's faces, "Survival is the strongest" still looked uneasy. "Ahem, well, I was just thinking of watching the show. But I promise, I'll make my move before things get serious."
Thank you.
Bai Ye nodded, still not saying much.
"Hey, no, this isn't like you. You used to be such a chatterbox, always calling me 'brother' when we met. Something's not right today."
Survival is my greatest strength. After thinking it over, I can only think of one possibility: "You were severely injured in the dungeon?" Did you damage your brain and become stupid?
Bai Ye's consciousness was still in a state of confusion. He didn't understand how he could have woken up in Night Moon Town when he was just sleeping in his bed at home.
And what about Bai Jin?
"Excuse me, I'd like to get treatment first."
Bai Ye casually made up an excuse, setting aside the idea that "surviving is the best," and went to the front desk to rent a room from the illusory figure.
It was still 201, but after entering, Bai Ye was not in a hurry to lie down in the intensive care unit.
Instead, the screen was turned on in a relatively private and independent environment.
He had a strong premonition that his information panel had definitely changed.
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