Lu Yao thought that Xu Xiaoxiao might come, but he didn't expect that their next meeting would be like this.
She was drunk and unconscious, leaning against the door frame, shouting that she wanted to see Alfred.
Lu Yao noticed two or three men standing on the side of the road, with their heads tilted as if observing this side. His heart skipped a beat and he immediately helped Xu Xiaoxiao into the store.
She placed Xu Xiaoxiao in the glass tea room, picked up her cell phone and planned to call Xiao Ze, but gave up because she thought it was too late.
Xiao Ze just finished a tutoring class today, and because the effect was so good, he might not have noticed the mental fatigue.
But after tutoring, both students and tutors feel very tired.
It’s best to take a day or two to rest.
Seeing a few men still wandering outside the store, Lu Yao simply closed the door and returned to the teahouse.
Xu Xiaoxiao leaned on the chair with her eyes closed and her hands and feet curled up. The wine bottle had already rolled to the ground.
Lu Yao poured hot water, forcibly woke Xu Xiaoxiao up, fed her some hangover medicine, and went back to the shopping street to get a blanket.
The hangover medicine brought from the nail salon was very effective. When Lu Yao came back, Xu Xiaoxiao had already woken up and was sitting in a chair in a daze.
Lu Yao covered her with a blanket, made two cups of hot soy milk, sat on another chair, let Er Xin rest on his legs, and tilted his head to look at Xu Xiaoxiao.
Xu Xiaoxiao should not be very old. Her facial features are not extremely delicate, but she is young and beautiful. She was wearing a beige dress, like a swaying wild peony.
"I think I've fallen in love with Xiao Ze." Xu Xiaoxiao said emotionally.
Perhaps the paralysis of her thinking caused by alcohol had not completely worn off, or perhaps she really needed someone to listen to her. Without waiting for the owner to respond, Xu Xiaoxiao continued to talk about the past in a halting manner.
The topic jumps around. The previous sentence talks about childhood events, and the next sentence talks about Xiao Ze. The previous sentence talks about the customers met at work, and the next sentence starts talking about Xiao Ze again.
Lu Yao took a pack of tissues and handed it to her, listening to her vent quietly.
After an unknown amount of time, Xu Xiaoxiao felt dry in the mouth. She grabbed the soy milk on the table and took a big gulp. She looked at Lu Yao with red eyes and said, "I'm so tired."
Lu Yao: "Take a nap if you are tired."
Xu Xiaoxiao rolled up the blanket and curled up in the chair, closing her eyes. Soon, she began to breathe evenly.
System: [I thought you would take the opportunity to let her take the test and sign a tutoring contract.]
Lu Yao: "Do you think I have such a lack of professional ethics?"
System: [… Not really. It’s just that apart from Xiao Ze, there have been no new customers. I thought you would be anxious.]
Lu Yao stood up and tucked in Xu Xiaoxiao's quilt, dimming the lights in the tea room, leaving only a lily of the valley bud-shaped night light on the table. "I really want a new customer, but she is not sober, how can I induce her to sign a contract? Tutoring childhood is not as simple as you think, and I don't want to waste time. Tutoring will only have a positive effect when the customer is willing to face the past and wants to change."
Even without taking any tests, she knew a lot about Xu Xiaoxiao's situation.
But whether to take tutoring is still up to the customer to decide.
.
The next day, at the Childhood Tuition Center.
The noise of human voices mixed with cat's meowing continued in her ears. Xu Xiaoxiao frowned and resisted for a while, but was still annoyed. She opened her eyes irritably and found herself in an unfamiliar room.
Xu Xiaoxiao panicked and her first reaction was to check her body. She was wrapped in a blanket and her skirt was properly put on.
She exhaled slowly and relaxed. She vaguely heard a familiar female voice. She raised her eyebrows and wanted to get up and go out, but she hesitated.
As consciousness gradually returned, Xu Xiaoxiao vaguely remembered some fragments of last night.
After leaving Xiao Ze's house, she felt inexplicably depressed and went to a nearby bar alone to drink. After relying on alcohol to free her consciousness, she came to the Childhood Tutorial Center in a daze.
Later, she seemed to be drunk and said a lot of things to the owner.
Xu Xiaoxiao covered her face with both hands, heat spreading all over her face. A few vague scenes were enough to make her want to move to another city immediately.
Lu Yao had been keeping an eye on Xu Xiaoxiao's situation. When he heard the noise, he took the time to come in and take a look. "Are you awake? There is a bathroom in the cram school room. I bought a new toothbrush and towel this morning. I put them on the shelf. Feel free to use them."
After thinking for a while, Lu Yao bowed her head and called Erxin: "Erxin baby, take your sister to the bathroom, I will open the can for you later."
Erxin was very smart and went to supervise Xu Xiaoxiao.
Xu Xiaoxiao came out after washing up. On the table in the glass tea room was a steaming hot breakfast, which included porridge with side dishes, fried eggs and beef cubes. It was rich and warm.
Because she had taken hangover medicine, Xu Xiaoxiao did not feel very uncomfortable after the hangover. She swallowed her saliva attracted by the smell of food.
Er Xin ran to Lu Yao to ask for cans, and the owner knew Xu Xiaoxiao had come out, and said across the shelf: "Have breakfast first, and wait for me to finish this busy period."
It was past nine o'clock, the morning rush hour was over, and there were not many customers.
Lu Yao came in. Xu Xiaoxiao, who was leaning on a chair reading a comic, immediately put down the comic book and sat up straight, holding the hem of her skirt tightly with both hands, "What I said last night, you..."
Lu Yao said: "Well, I won't tell Xiao Ze."
Xu Xiaoxiao blushed and felt uneasy: "I'm not... I..."
The plates on the table had been washed and stacked.
Lu Yao poured a glass of water, took away the dinner plate, and brought a snack box to put in the middle, and sat down opposite Xu Xiaoxiao: "Xiao Ze has had two tutoring sessions at the tutorial center, and your feedback is very meaningful to us."
Xu Xiaoxiao: "Why do you say that?"
Didn't the shop owner understand what she meant
Lu Yao: "You know what you are thinking. Last night you said that you seemed to like Xiao Ze. I think this may need to be verified."
The shop owner's tone was too calm and impartial, which made Xu Xiaoxiao feel unhappy.
Xu Xiaoxiao: "Why do you say that? Don't I know my own feelings? How else do I need to verify it?"
Lu Yao gently waved his hand and soothed him, "I'm just saying there's a certain possibility. You said a lot last night. Xiao Ze is not your only male companion, and you haven't made any progress for a long time. The timing of your feelings for him was very subtle, just after he received two tutoring sessions. I guess you saw something different in him yesterday, and that trait happened to be what you liked."
Lu Yao was quite happy to receive tutoring feedback from the outside world so quickly.
After making money from selling bubble water and glutinous rice balls, Lu Yao asked Li Xiaoguo to help him buy a new mobile phone.
Her identity was verified by the system, and she successfully obtained a mobile phone number in this world.
The development of information technology in this world is no less than that of the shopping street and the Night Light City of the Sea of Eden, and various historical materials can be easily found on the Internet.
According to Lu Yao, since the first super-powered person appeared in the world sixty years ago, humans have fortunately obtained the power of evolution, and then the whole world began to enter a stage of rapid and efficient development.
People's pursuit and dependence on superpowers are becoming increasingly intense, and they are endlessly pursuing "maximum efficiency".
Where human power is unable to reach, we rely on super powers to make up for it.
The assessment of superpowers began to crush all cultural rules and became the greatest standard for measuring a human being, gradually erasing a person’s personality traits, values, interests, hobbies, and life ideals, forcing everyone to pursue the same power (1).
The whole society began to become slaves to super powers.
Just like the unbridled pursuit of money and power, people in this world excessively pursue the sense of superiority brought by superpowers.
And superpowers themselves seem to carry rules that can be called "talents."
Some people can awaken powerful abilities beyond imagination, while more people only get free gifts like "finger flashlights".
Human beings all over the world have become blind boxes of super powers. Ordinary people who cannot unlock powerful abilities will eventually become like worn-out parts of the social machine, and will be replaced again.
Sanhua City is just a very small city in this world, and even belongs to a somewhat backward area.
The impact of superpowers is far less than that of a bustling metropolis, but even in such a small city, many humans have gradually become abandoned parts, and there is even a holy place of death like No. 66 Sanhua Road.
Most of the humans who fell from the pedestrian bridge can be said to be failures who were forced into inhumanity by the increasingly mechanized society, and they are also the human touch that has been devoured by this city.
Lu Yao thought a lot and stopped in time. The most important thing at the moment was that Xiao Ze had changed after tutoring.
And that change not only affected Xiao Ze himself, but was also noticed by others.
Lu Yao looked at Xu Xiaoxiao again, "Don't you want to see Alfred? He is our tutor here, but he only appears when he is tutoring students."
Looking at her with the shop owner's clear and gentle eyes, Xu Xiaoxiao felt like an ugly fighting cock.
The owner always gives people the impression of being gentle and calm, and he does not show any embarrassment even when he is rejected or refuted to his face.
The shop owner concluded that her feelings for Xiao Ze were just a temporary thing. Xu Xiaoxiao was extremely dissatisfied. Her desire, which had not been so urgent, was aroused again. She was so excited that she said, "How can I get tutoring? I'll sign up for a class."
Lu Yao stood up with a smile and led Xu Xiaoxiao to the tutorial room in the back.
After taking finger bones and making the mind key, Xu Xiaoxiao finally realized that the owner might be an extremely powerful superpower person, and she felt more and more uncomfortable.
As soon as she got the key, she asked, "When does the tutoring start?"
Lu Yao: "If you are in a hurry, it will be ready soon. But please wait for two minutes. I will ask a colleague to come and check on the store."
In less than two minutes, Ji Feiming came over.
Lu Yao simply told him and Erxin to look after the store together, and started tutoring Xu Xiaoxiao.
The first tutoring coordinates located by the time machine were not the place where Xu Xiaoxiao's earliest childhood memory occurred, but the school where she was in the fourth grade of elementary school.
Xu Xiaoxiao was born and lives in a remote town in Daimao City.
Lu Yao and Xu Xiaoxiao stood in an empty corridor with a classroom on the left.
But it was empty inside, there were no students and no teachers.
Xu Xiaoxiao looked around and was very surprised. She grabbed Lu Yao and said, "Are we really back to my childhood?"
Lu Yao: "This is your memory, you should know it better than me. Is it after school? There is no one around."
Footsteps came from the stairs behind her. Xu Xiaoxiao was startled and pulled Lu Yao to hide behind the door of the classroom next to her.
The little girl with a red schoolbag and two pigtails ran through the corridor like the wind, not paying any attention to them at all.
Lu Yao was still observing the furnishings in the classroom when Xu Xiaoxiao pulled him outside.
She asked, "What's wrong?"
Xu Xiaoxiao's face didn't look good: "The one who just ran over was me."
Lu Yao concentrated and followed Xu Xiaoxiao, walking slowly and quietly to the restroom next to the Grade 4 Class 1 classroom.
They were standing against the wall. Lu Yao wanted to lean over to look, but was stopped by Xu Xiaoxiao.
Lu Yao heard faint cries coming from the women's bathroom, followed by a man cursing. Soon after, there was a loud bang and a man ran out of the women's bathroom in panic.
The restrooms in the elementary school are divided into boys' and girls' areas. The fourth grade floor is the girls' restroom, which is at the end of the corridor and is divided into two areas on the left and right.
Lu Yao and Xu Xiaoxiao had already hidden in the restroom opposite the scene of the incident. Lu Yao looked through the crack in the door and saw a short and fat figure in a gray shirt fleeing in panic.
Xu Xiaoxiao leaned against the wall, lowered her eyes and said coldly: "My superpower is that I am a little stronger than others. When I was in elementary school, I could easily lift more than 200 kilograms. Unfortunately, whether in the past or now, this ability is of no use at all, and it even ruined my life."
Outside the door, little Xu Xiaoxiao came out supporting a little girl with tears on her face, and they left together.
The girl's clothes were wrinkled and there were bruises on her face.
After they left, Xu Xiaoxiao led Lu Yao down the stairs. Standing at the window at the corner of the stairs, she looked at the two small figures leaving the playground and said with a hint of resentment, "The small town where I was born is far away from the urban area of Daomao City and is underdeveloped. Whether it is a conservation center or a school, it is far inferior to the well-developed big cities. But the people who live here are just as busy. So are my parents. Because I am strong and brave, my parents are usually relieved.
I left my pencil bag in the classroom that day, and I rushed back to get it even though I was almost home. I put a Superman eraser that I really liked in my pencil bag, and I couldn't help but take it out to play with it every day when I was doing homework. I got my pencil bag and was about to go back. When I was going downstairs, I heard crying coming from the bathroom. I pushed the door open and saw the man holding a girl from Class 3 against the wall. I didn't really understand what was going on.
But the girl asked for help when she saw me, and the man started swearing at me. I thought he was a bad guy, and I thought this was a good opportunity to use my superpowers, so I took off a piece of the door and threw it at him, and the man was scared.
After he ran away, I sent the girl from Class 3 home before I went back home. In the evening, I even boasted to my parents that I had saved a classmate with my super powers.
At this point I didn’t know I was in big trouble.”
The next day, strange rumors began to spread in the school that some girls were harassed by unknown persons.
A day later, a flyer with Xu Xiaoxiao's black and white photo was posted on the school bulletin board.
Rumors spread everywhere and everyone believed that Xu Xiaoxiao was the victim.
Later on, there were even rumors that Xu Xiaoxiao took the initiative to get along with the other person.
Lu Yao: "Is there no surveillance?"
Xu Xiaoxiao shook her head: "At that time, only the school gate had surveillance. I was too young and didn't understand anything. In the end, I somehow became the victim who was abused. Even my parents thought so."
Lu Yao: "What about the girl from Class 3? Didn't she help you explain?"
Xu Xiaoxiao shook her head blankly. "I don't know. The rumor completely destroyed me and my parents. My mom came home and slapped me twice, saying I was shameless. My dad and I had an argument when he got home from get off work, and we even had a fight. The school almost expelled me, so my mom took me to beg for help. I finally got through elementary school, but by the time I got to middle school, the impact of the incident hadn't been eliminated, and no middle school was willing to accept me."
Xu Xiaoxiao's family later paid a lot of money and went to a middle school far away from home.
But her parents divorced before she finished high school.
Xu Xiaoxiao barely managed to graduate from high school, but she didn't go to school again and no one cared about her.
Xu Xiaoxiao looked at Lu Yao, her expression full of confusion: "Did I do something wrong that day? If I hadn't meddled in other people's business, would my life have been completely different?"