Chapter 704: The Toy Giver

Back in the real world, I once again felt that overwhelming sense of helplessness.

No matter what I did, I couldn't escape that earthquake, and I couldn't save Xu Jiahua.

My dad and mom still wouldn't talk to me.

What I missed even more were the days in "Laojiao," where people paid attention to me all day long, and Siwei Jiejie was there to keep me company.

Maybe... that place was my true "family"?

But what kind of bad kid was I to have gotten so used to life in "Laojiao"?

For a long time after that, I kept traveling back and forth between the real world and "Laojiao."

And from that day on, I never saw Gu Yu Gege again.

Only Siwei Jiejie stayed with me. Our "family" was growing at an alarming rate, gathering all sorts of members, and our base kept changing locations.

I couldn't even count how many people there were anymore; all I knew was that as far as I could see, it was a dense crowd. Siwei Jiejie said the group had probably exceeded a thousand people by now.

The good news was that the "Qing Xiang" from a few members combined in such a way that we could produce mantou.

From then on, we wouldn't have to scavenge for canned food everywhere; as long as we stayed in this family, we'd have a steady supply of food.

Wan Bobo had a few more fierce-looking guys around him now. Siwei Jiejie said they were the ones Wan Bobo had selected from the members to maintain order—they were experts at fighting—and Wan Bobo gave them a lot of "Yu." They stuck to him like glue.

Every morning, just like before, Wan Bobo led the crowd in chanting slogans, then distributed food, paid respects to "Shenlong," and planned the day's activities.

As for our family, everyone in it really liked me, and that made me happy.

Our living situation had improved too; we were staying in a very tall building. They said it used to be an office building, and I wondered, could a building actually write?

Downstairs was a plaza, and next to the plaza stood a female Niu Tou Ren. Her mask looked so real, like it was part of her face.

Siwei Jiejie told me never to talk to her, and I didn't know what that meant, but I knew to listen to adults.

Siwei Jiejie, a few aunts, and I shared a room on the fifth floor. We didn't have to go out every day; we just did some logistics work, though I wasn't sure exactly what that meant.

I thought we'd all keep getting along like this forever—no worries about food or clothes, and we could play together every day. And honestly, that kind of life did go on for a while.

Until one day, five months later, everything changed.

That night, a brother sneaked into my room. He checked that everyone else seemed asleep, pulled me into a corner, and handed me a dirty toy car, asking me to help him with something.

He wanted me to say the next morning that he had "Qing Xiang" on him, so he could get some "Yu" to buy food. He said he'd been starving for days and couldn't take it anymore; he'd already saved up a bit of "Yu," and just needed a little more to get food.

I felt sorry for him, and I really liked that little car.

I wanted to help him.

But before I could agree, one of the aunts in the room suddenly shouted,

"Liu Fei, what are you doing?!"

I was a bit startled, but the brother in front of me jumped in fright.

"You're trying to bribe the little hero!?" the aunt yelled. "Everyone, come quick! Someone's breaking the family rules!!"

Siwei Jiejie, who had been woken up, sensed something was wrong and stepped forward, saying,

"Zhao Jie, don't shout yet. Let's figure out what's going on first."

"What's there to figure out?!" Zhao Jie screamed at the top of her lungs. "Someone come quick! Someone's violating the family rules!!"

"Zhao Jie..."

The worry in Siwei Jiejie's scent was very obvious.

"You're going to get him killed like this...!"

"He betrayed the family rules!!" Zhao Jie's eyes were wide open. "He's not one of us anymore!! Someone come quick!!"

Seeing she couldn't stop her, Siwei Jiejie quickly turned to the brother and said,

"Liu Fei, run! Don't come back for now!"

But before Liu Fei could take a step, heavy footsteps echoed through the entire building, and a crowd rushed toward our floor. The scene scared me a little.

Wan Bobo, wearing a coat and surrounded by his people, blocked Liu Fei, who was trying to escape, inside the room.

"What's going on?!"

he snarled viciously.

Over the past few months, Wan Bobo's scent had become even more unpleasant.

"Wan Ge!"

Siwei Jiejie stepped forward and said,

"It's nothing! Liu Fei just came to chat with the hero, and Zhao Jie misunderstood!"

"I didn't misunderstand!!!"

Zhao Jie shouted.

"I heard it with my own ears! Liu Fei was trying to bribe the hero with a toy! I heard it!!"

Wan Bobo glared coldly at Liu Fei.

"Is that true?"

Liu Fei shook his head frantically.

"Wan Ge! No, no! I was just chatting with the little hero! I found a toy car outside... and I was going to give it to him..."

He tremblingly pulled out the toy car from his pocket.

"Wan Ge! Look... look... I was just going to give this to the little hero..."

"Do you think I'm an idiot?"

Wan Bobo shot back. Immediately, the fierce guys behind him stepped forward, pinned Liu Fei to the ground, and the toy car smashed onto the floor.

"Why bring that toy car in the middle of the night? You had all day and chose now?!"

Liu Fei was shaking all over, too scared to speak. His scent made me feel awful; I could tell he was terrified.

As I stood there unsure what to do, he lifted his head from the ground and looked at me.

He was begging me for help.

"Wan Bobo..."

I sensed what Liu Fei was thinking, so I stepped forward and said,

"Could you not hit Liu Fei brother...?"

A flash of malice crossed Wan Bobo's scent, but he quickly smiled.

"Little hero, this has nothing to do with you. Go stand over there."

"But... but..."

"Are you going to lie to Wan Bobo?"

he asked sternly.

I could clearly feel a murderous intent from him.

"I... I..."

Siwei Jiejie saw what was happening and quickly pulled me behind her, saying,

"Wan Ge, the hero's just a bit confused right now. Don't get angry—deal with Liu Fei first."

Wan Bobo nodded after hearing that, then walked over to Liu Fei and gave him a strange smile.

"Liu Fei... what should I do with you? We've had rule-breakers before, but no one's been as bold as you."

"Wan, Wan Ge, I'm sorry... I know I was wrong... please don't hit me..."

"No, no... 'hitting you' is way too lenient."

Wan Bobo shook his head.

"What?"

Liu Fei was stunned.

"You're not going to hit me? Are you going to kill me?"

As he said that, Liu Fei seemed to relax a bit; he appeared more afraid of being beaten than killed.

"Killing you would be even lighter."

Wan Bobo grabbed Liu Fei's hair, forcing him to look up, and whispered,

"I've found something much more interesting to do."