The setting sun cast long shadows, painting the horizon in shades of deep red.
For the children in the school district, today was a special day. To mourn the children who suffered in that war, the government had designated this day every year as Seedling Day.
On this day each year, teachers at the school would take them to participate in garden fairs, cultural performances, and various parent-child interactive games. Today, these children could freely reveal their innocent side.
At dismissal time, the school gates were already surrounded by various street vendors, their shouting constant. Children running out in small groups shared the joys of their day with parents who had been waiting at the gates for a long time.
"Mom, look at my paper-cutting! The teacher and my classmates were all praising me."
"You did a wonderful job..."
In a small noodle shop on the street, a little girl quietly watched this scene, watching the woman at the school gate pick up her daughter and twirl her in the air, resulting in silver-bell-like laughter.
...
It was a scene that couldn't be more ordinary, yet the little girl watched it with focus and sincerity.
Only when the mother and daughter had walked away did the little girl lower her head, hugging her legs as she sat on the steps and rocked back and forth, holding a small twig in her hand to draw white marks on the ground.
Lines were slowly traced and connected, gradually taking shape and outline against the backdrop of the shadows of green leaves.
It was a very childish drawing, with simple and naive lines.
In the drawing, a young girl carried a little girl with ears on her back, walking slowly, slowly...
"Anya, if you don't eat now, it'll get cold," Xu Xiaoyou said.
Anya's ears twitched. She stood up, reluctantly put down the small twig, and returned to the young girl's side.
The young girl and the little girl drawn on the ground were also caught by the rising wind, drifting into the air as if finally heading toward a distant place.
Slurp, slurp.
Anya held her bowl, her entire small face buried behind the large vessel. After finishing the noodles, she drank the broth from the bowl.
Xu Xiaoyou noticed that Anya had been somewhat gloomy. Although the other girl didn't show it on her face, after spending time together these past few days, she could judge her current mood by the arc of her ears' twitching or the angle at which they drooped.
Ever since taking a hit from Bai Youyou's hammer three days ago, Anya's mood had remained low, continuing until today.
As if her language button had been broken, she followed silently behind her during the day and trained with the Substitute at night to increase her attributes.
After a few days, Anya's strength and agility attributes had increased to 30 and 45. She had mastered three skills: two active skills, 【Swift Pounce】 and 【Bite】, and one passive skill, 【Danger Sense】.
Even though Anya worked very hard, training until dawn almost every night and often ending up covered in bruises, Xu Xiaoyou still noticed that the speed of her attribute growth seemed to have slowed down.
Anya's talent in this area wasn't particularly good. In games with massive stat inflation, some characters simply had inferior base attributes; it was something that couldn't be helped.
Since she was an off-banner character card after all, Xu Xiaoyou didn't have overly high requirements for Anya.
As long as she could help her get through the difficult early stages, that would be enough.
As if hearing the bubbling thoughts in her mind, Anya suddenly pulled on her clothes.
"What is it?" Xu Xiaoyou asked.
Anya didn't speak, but pointed toward the large tree in the distance.
A black car had pulled up into the shade of the tree, and several figures of lions stepped out, heading toward the school gate.
"Finally, they're here."
"It wasn't in vain that I waited here for three days."
"It's time to go, Anya. It's been so many days."
"The timing is ripe; the conditions are met."
Xu Xiaoyou stood up, took out her phone, and dialed a string of numbers.
"It's time to ask for this money back."
...
Inside the elongated business car, the deer-man was dressed as usual in a well-fitting, decent brown suit and wore an exquisite, expensive watch.
However, his face looked much more haggard than before.
"Boss, regarding Chen Yifeng... should we send someone to take care of him?"
Scarface, sitting in the driver's seat, kept his hands on the steering wheel while observing the deer-man through the rearview mirror.
"He knows quite a bit about us. Having him in the guard bureau is like having a ticking time bomb. If we leave him be..."
Mr. Hao didn't speak; he just leaned against the seat. The comfortable, soft touch of the leather seat didn't reduce the haggardness on his face even slightly.
He looked at himself in the car window, then looked at a figure not far outside the glass, his gaze flickering slightly.
It was a boy. He also had a pair of deer antlers and was happily jumping around a puddle with his classmates, looking carefree, like a little deer in a forest.
After several burly figures of lion-men appeared beside him, the boy's classmates all ran away in fear.
Only the boy looked up. Facing those fierce-looking lions, the boy not only wasn't afraid but instead said with an innocent face:
"Uncle Saro, Uncle Qiao Si, why are you here today? I'm waiting for my mom."
The two lions glanced at each other, their gazes complex as they scratched their heads, not knowing how to speak to the boy.
After a long while, an old lion spoke up:
"Your mother... won't be coming anymore."
"Come with us."
Seeing the heavy expressions of the surrounding lions, no matter how innocent the boy was, he realized something.
It was as if he suddenly lost control; tears cascaded down as he actually rushed out from between the group of lions and onto the main road.
He ran toward the slums—the direction that was home to him.
The lions lost their footing at the sight and quickly chased after him.
"Boss!" Scarface in the car looked anxious.
"Go, don't let him get hurt," Mr. Hao said. "Also, regarding Chen Yifeng's matter, handle it properly."
"He is an old friend, after all..."
"Make sure his wife and children are well-compensated. Do the job cleanly; don't leave any loose ends."
After a moment of silence, Scarface nodded, opened the door, and left.
The car door was pulled shut, leaving him alone.
The setting sun cast his shadow in a way that emphasized his loneliness.
He had done countless wrong things in his life. To walk the path of the underworld, one had to step over the bones of countless people.
He had done far too many things involving the betrayal of trust.
Friends with whom he had once agreed to make a name for themselves had either been sold out by him or had become stepping stones on his path.
Just like now, with a single sentence, he had decided the fate of the last old friend he had in this world.
Who could tell whether letting an elderly old fox choose to turn himself in was a debt of gratitude or a threat?
He was no longer the high-spirited youth who had just stepped out of the slums; time had left too many marks on him.
Counting the sins one had committed was something only losers did.
He had never reflected on himself; for him, everything was merely a necessary means to reach a high position.
That day, the woman had indeed crushed his pride and self-confidence, but he asked himself, after all these years, how much guilt actually remained in his heart regarding that woman?
He couldn't tell whether bringing back the woman's son was compensation for her or if he just wanted to cultivate a successor to replace him in advance.
Even though he used various iron-fisted methods to make those lions submit to him, he knew very well how many people were eyeing his current position like hungry tigers.
A phone call pulled his thoughts back.
Answering the phone, a flippant and playful voice came through: "Mr. Hao, do you still remember? You previously took out a loan from us at Universal Heavy Industries."
"That loan is nearing its repayment deadline."
"My capital is tied up. Maybe next month," he said.
Mr. Hao hung up the phone.
A few seconds later, the phone rang again. It was still the same string of numbers from before.
"I told you! My capital is tied up, wait until next month..."
Just as he answered the call, his tone impatient, the car window was lightly tapped.
A blonde girl stood by the window at some unknown time, a suit draped over her shoulders, maintaining the posture of taking a call. Like an opponent delivering a checkmate on a chessboard, she seemed to be smiling faintly.
This time, that flippant and playful voice echoed right by his ear.
"Mr. Hao, you should understand this principle."
Xu Xiaoyou's fingertip tapped lightly on the glass of the car window. A flipped coin reflected the sunlight, mirroring the utterly astonished face of the deer-man inside the car.
"Repaying debts is only right and proper."
Rate on N.U.
