Sui Yingshi closed the door carefully.
Sui Zhengfan wanted to display his professional qualities as an elite agent and peek through the crack of the door again, but his father pulled him back and dragged him downstairs by the collar.
Compared to this couple who can't go home once a year, Sui Yingshi is more familiar with Zhan Chen than them.
This child is not as gentle and good-tempered as he appears to be.
…
When Zhan Chen was first brought back to the Sui family, Sui Yingshi was also worried whether he would be bullied.
The Sui family has its own specially hired instructors, all of whom are retired elites. The family's children have received top military training since childhood, and the survival of the fittest has always been commonplace.
Sui Yingshi was afraid that he could not take good care of Zhan Chen, so he specifically told the instructor that if any of the family members disliked Zhan Chen and picked on him to tease or bully him, he should go to him to seek justice at any time.
After more than half a month, the instructor did not look for Sui Yingshi once.
Sui Yingshi was worried that the instructors were neglecting their duties, so he called a few instructors over for questioning, but was instead asked to go back to the training ground by the overwhelmed instructors.
Sui Yingshi failed to see Zhan Chen at the training ground.
The boys in the family, who are usually more difficult to manage than the other, and who would jump up and down on their high heels to talk back to their father unless they were beaten so hard that they couldn't get out of bed for three days, actually gathered together in a rare group, and there was no hugging or throwing of people around, but rather a fight.
The flat training ground had completely changed. There were many makeshift defense works, some people were holding shotguns, and there was even a decent electromagnetic mortar on the "position".
The Sui family does not allow children to carry weapons at will. Sui Yingshi frowned and asked the instructors who broke the rules.
"No one violated the rules. They made the guns themselves, using civilian-grade materials."
The instructor smiled bitterly: "At the beginning, they were the simplest ones. I don't know who brought the blueprints, and then it became like this."
When he first came to the training ground, there were people who bothered Zhan Chen.
Zhan Chen had never received any professional military training, so it was inevitable that he would suffer some hardships when he met this group of family children who had grown up practicing fighting.
The instructors kept a close eye on him, secretly monitoring him, ready to find Sui Yingshi at any time if he went too far.
In just three or four days, the situation changed.
For some reason, those troublemakers who always picked trouble with Zhan Chen changed their nature and started to hang around Zhan Chen all day long.
At first there were only a few people, but later on, somehow, more and more people came to look for Zhan Chen.
Next, at Zhan Chen's suggestion, these people actually transformed an empty training ground and conducted a proper combat exercise.
The exercise is divided into two sides, red and blue, and lasts for one month. The goal is to pull down the pants of the other side's commander.
"We heard they were conducting an exercise, but we didn't take it seriously."
Instructor: "Until yesterday, they even developed a precision-guided electromagnetic cannon. We checked the serial numbers of the raw materials and found that someone secretly dismantled the microwave oven in the kitchen..."
These weapons were still very crude, and were basically usable. The upper limit of the damage they could cause was limited to destroying a hornet's nest.
It is completely enough to get these boys, who are roaring with passion, excited.
The confrontation between the two sides satisfied the competitive spirit of the teenager to the greatest extent. All the excess energy that was usually used to cause trouble was absorbed by this. Even in the middle of the night, some people tried every means to sneak into the opponent's position and dig down the corners of the defensive works on the opposite side.
Sui Yingshi listened and gradually became interested: "Did that Zhan Chen make it?"
The instructor nodded: "It was his idea, and he made these simple weapons according to the blueprints."
Sui Yingshi looked at the immature exercise layout in front of him and asked, "Which side is he on?"
The instructor shook his head and pointed upwards.
Sui Yingshi was stunned for a moment, then looked up and followed the instructor's instructions.
Zhan Chen did not join either side in this game-like confrontation.
He traded some small gadgets he made for the drawings of weapons from the Sui family members, and then used these drawings to make new products that were more attractive to these half-grown boys. He even organized a proper offensive and defensive battle.
As a result, these boys have become very convinced of Zhan Chen.
Zhan Chen has more books and better fighting skills than them. They exchange weapons with Zhan Chen, and the outcome of the battle is also judged by Zhan Chen.
Zhan Chen hasn't really learned how to fight yet, nor has he done anything impressive to impress others, but he has already become the core of this group of boys.
If he properly controlled the distribution of weapons and was slightly biased in his decisions, he could gather a group of people on his side - he was Sui Zhengfan's adopted son, and if he performed well enough to convince the others, he might be considered as one of the options for the Sui family's successor.
But at this moment, Zhan Chen no longer cared about anything.
Sui Zhengfan put his hands behind his back, squinted his eyes, and looked at the boy who ran to hide in the tree and slept with his arms as a pillow at this time.
… What kind of child is Zhan Chen
Sui Zhengfan had been thinking about this question before his memory was forcibly erased and he completely forgot about Zhan Chen.
He deliberately set up many levels to test Zhan Chen. It seems that he is a talented and independent-minded young man who can do all the requests of his elders and has his own plans. He will not bow down and compromise to the elders of the family.
This seems like the most typical "other people's child": gentle, rational, smart and excellent enough.
He was so outstanding that the Sui family barely considered any other candidates and gave the position of successor head of the family and a name that had been prepared long ago to Zhan Chen.
…
Sui Zhengfan was stunned: "Isn't he such a child?"
Sui Yingshi knocked his cane twice, glanced at him, and sighed in disappointment.
Beside him, Sui Zan was speechless and reached out to hold her husband's arm: "No."
After realizing that the young man was actually her child, she had repeatedly recalled every scene in which they had seen Zhan Chen in the game world.
The game world was forced to compress and then backfired. Zhan Chen suddenly appeared to pick up the unconscious Yu Tang and reminded her to beware of people like herself.
In the orphanage, Zhan Chen's digitized body was safely penetrated by the Secret Service Director's bullet, and he took down the Secret Service Director's gun with his bare hands.
The "elevator" squeezed out the last bit of space. Zhan Chen stood in the narrow gap that was constantly closing and stretched out his hand to Yu Tang who jumped down.
…
They couldn't keep that child.
His fate was sold as the highest quality commodity. He was repeatedly stripped of his rightful place, and finally he could no longer find a place to stay.
He did not consider himself a member of any family. He easily chose to be a spy alone. Faced with the well-kept secret about the electronic storm, he chose death without much consideration. In the narrow future that seemed to be inevitably suppressed and destined to collapse, he seemed to have given up all possibilities of escape.
Among all of them, Zhan Chen is the craziest one.
Only a completely crazy person would reverse the seemingly unchanging reality over and over again.
Only a completely crazy person can remain calm and gentle after having eliminated all the despair that leads to nowhere.
"If it weren't for that light..."
Sui Zan did not go downstairs. She went up the stairs and smiled: "With him here, the child can be considered to have returned."
Sui Zhengfan still couldn't understand the riddle his wife and father were playing.
He just felt that his child had suffered so much that he wanted to have a good talk with Zhan Chen no matter what, and tell him how proud he was of him as a father: "Can't I go up and hug him?"
"It's not appropriate now." Sui Zan patted her husband's shoulder, "He's not ready yet."
That ball of light was the only connection between Zhan Chen and their world. If it weren't for Yu Tang, Zhan Chen might have already completely turned himself into a ball of cold data.
"Tell them to stay for a while."
Sui Zan said: "It's time for them to be together for a while without being disturbed by anything."
Yu Tang tried to climb up the bookshelf for the third time and finally took down Senior Zhan’s childhood photo album.
Next to the study is Zhan Chen’s private kitchenette. Zhan Chen went there to bake egg tarts for him and left Yu Tang in his room to rest.
Yu Tang really had nothing to do, so he turned on the system's broadcast and listened to the Sui family's conversation for a while, then he set his sights on the photo album.
…There aren’t many images of Zhan Chen left behind.
Yu Tang lay on the bed, flipping through the photos page by page, looking for the young Zhan Chen among those group photos.
The system and Yu Tang huddled together and asked in a low voice: "Host, host, is Mr. Zhan that kind of person?"
Yu Tang asked, "What kind?"
The system hesitated a little: "Just like what Mrs. Sui said..."
Yu Tang closed the photo album and stuffed it under his pillow.
"Senior Zhan once said something, and I still remember it." Yu Tang said, "Electronic Storm will rewrite the rules, and no one can stop this."
The system was stunned.
Zhan Chen had indeed said this before, but it couldn't figure out what was different about this sentence: "Mr. Zhan—"
"Mr. Zhan..."
Yu Tang imitated the system and slowly bit the words with interest: "Maybe it is indeed like what they said."
No one can remain unchanged in such a cycle. It is more difficult than anything else for Zhan Chen to stay sober and rational.
Perhaps it was just like what Team Doctor Sui said, Zhan Chen had already given up all the deduced possibilities - because in several reincarnations, he had personally witnessed the failure of these possibilities.
As long as there is a new ability and a little hope that has not been extinguished, Zhan Chen will try it.
Even if this possibility allows the electronic storm to rewrite the rules.
Since he has made up his mind to do this, his stubborn senior Zhan, who will not change his mind once he has made up his mind about something and will not do it if there is more than a 10% chance of failure, will also place his trust in him without reservation.
"Speak out." Yu Tang made a mysterious gesture, "I'll give you the real Senior Zhan."
The system immediately turned off all speakers.
…
Yu Tang jumped off the bed and quietly walked out of the bedroom.
He was still in the shape of a child and was particularly good at hiding. He tiptoed to Zhan Chen's small kitchen, tiptoed to look inside, then opened the door and went in.
Zhan Chen rolled up his sleeves and watched the progress of the oven.
The boy's shoulders and back had not yet grown and widened, but they were already straight and tall. The warm light from the oven shone through the glass and reflected between his eyelashes, which were drooping in concentration.
He seemed not to have heard the noise at the door at all. He adjusted the temperature and time, then lowered his head to check his watch.
After Yu Tang gently touched his waist, he counted one, two, three silently with the system, and suddenly jumped up.
The next second, Zhan Chen had turned back without a second's delay.
A smile overflowed from Zhan Chen's eyes. He stretched out his hand, steadily caught the boy who jumped over, and hugged Yu Tang in his arms.
He produced a piece of candy with his left hand, opened the candy wrapper with one hand, and touched it to Yu Tang's lips: "Are you impatient?"
Yu Tang arched his back in a comfortable position at Zhan Chen's collar, held the candy in his mouth, and squinted his eyes in satisfaction.
He was not in a hurry at all, as they still had plenty of time - he just wanted to come and look after Senior Zhan and cause some trouble for him.
Yu Tang thought of the photo he had just flipped through, of the boy hiding in the tree, taking a nap in the sun with his arms resting on his head.
What did Senior Zhan dream about at that time
…
Yu Tang realized something was wrong, came to his senses, and looked up with his face turned into a calico cat.
Zhan Chen held him in his arms, and seriously drew some flour on Yu Tang's face, which finally caused the electronic storm to come to its senses and fight back.
Even the system and the game world have never played such a childish game.
Yu Tang had not had time to grow up yet, and his arms were too short, so Zhan Chen held him far away, his flour-covered hands babbling and drawing circles in vain.
Zhan Chen stretched out his arms, holding the boy at a distance where he could not get hurt, and pursed his lips: "Teacher Xiao Guangtuan..."
Yu Tang uttered an "ah" and withdrew his hands to cover his eyes.
Zhan Chen was startled. He was worried that Yu Tang might get flour in his eyes, so he hugged Yu Tang back and said, "Fuck you, I'm fine."
He lowered his head, leaned close to the boy's dark eyes, and suddenly realized something was wrong.
Zhan Chen tried to withdraw quickly, but it was too late, as a hand covered in flour pressed firmly on his face.
The two of them were playing this childish game with great interest. They couldn't stop laughing and were choked by the rising white smoke and coughed for a long time.
Zhan Chen coughed so much that he sat down on the ground and put Yu Tang on his lap. A bright smile appeared in his eyes as he looked at the little cat with a white beard in front of him.
"I dreamed of you." Zhan Chen said softly.
Yu Tang rubbed his sore face: "What?"
Zhan Chen smiled and shook his head. He folded his arms and kissed Yu Tang on the forehead.
It was a very quiet and long dream.
In his dream, he saw the most beautiful star in the entire universe, which blinked at him every 0.75 seconds.