The live broadcast room was in chaos. Xu Xiaoxiao's message was like a drop of water flowing into a rushing river. It was swallowed up in the blink of an eye. No one noticed it at all.
[What's the situation? ]
[Where's Pepper? Why isn't he talking? ]
[It didn't land! Did it fly higher? It looks like it's far away from Route 66.]
[What happened to Pepper? Did his ability fail? ]
…
The people in the live broadcast room were not aware of the specific situation. They just saw from the perspective shared by Hu Jiao that the exhausted dark golden network cable was becoming thinner and farther away, and the sound of the wind in their ears was getting louder and louder.
Zheng Siyao and two other people who were standing on the side of the road witnessed the whole process.
They didn't know what was going on at the time. They just saw a tall and thin girl walking quickly out of the Childhood Tuition Center and looking up at the sky.
The three of them also looked up. Night enveloped the city, and the lights blurred the boundaries, making it impossible to see the situation above with the naked eye.
Only Zheng Siyao's face suddenly turned pale, and she cried out in a choked voice: "Someone jumped down!"
She heard a somewhat peculiar heartbeat, falling from the sky, dull, heavy and weak.
“Hoo—Hoo—”
Xiaomei's skirt suddenly flipped up, and she didn't have time to reach out to hold it down. The sudden strong wind blew the three of them back two steps. When they came to their senses, they saw huge black wings spread out behind the girl.
They followed her gaze and saw that the strong wind lifted the falling boy into the air.
In a moment of distraction, they only saw a huge shadow covering the boy.
Then, he was picked up and flew away by the girl who flapped her huge wings.
Xiaomei's sugar-roasted chestnuts rolled all over the floor. The three people present had no intention of paying attention to it. They quickly walked to the Childhood Tutorial Center and asked Xu Xiaoxiao who was slumped on the floor.
Xu Xiaoxiao grabbed Zheng Siyao's wrist and stood up, brushing off the dust on his pants. "The boy was a live streamer, and he stayed in our store for a long time in the afternoon. No one would have thought he would have such thoughts, and the one who caught him was the store owner. I don't know where the two went, but his live broadcast room is still online."
Zheng Siyao, Xiaomei, and Du Haoling immediately took out their mobile phones and logged into the live broadcast software.
Hu Jiao's live broadcast room was already the most popular one a few minutes ago, and now millions of viewers are pouring in, and the number of online viewers is still increasing.
It was a bit difficult to get in, and it took the three of them some time to squeeze into the live broadcast room.
At this moment, the scenes that the audience see are all the scenes in Hu Jiao's vision. In the distance, there are bright lights, like a sea of fire.
The sound of wind whistled in their ears, and they were moving away from the bustling area.
Pepper was struggling, his white sneakers occasionally appearing in the spotlight, the rustling of his clothes and his rapid breathing - all very obvious in the quiet night with only the sound of the wind.
The hands holding Pepper were long and thin, but Pepper couldn't break free. In the end, he could only speak in a hoarse voice angrily: "Let me go! Why do you care about me!"
The netizens in the live broadcast room were so excited when they heard the voice.
[Pepper is fine! ]
[It’s okay! This damn kid scared me to death! ]
[Am I the only one who wants to know who is holding up Pepper? ]
[He must be a big boss with great superpowers! ]
[I think I saw wings! ]
[Is it an animal-type ability like Pepper? ]
…
"I want to take you to the highest place. We are almost there."
The owner's voice came along with the sound of the wind, and the live broadcast room became lively again.
[This is!!!]
[If I heard correctly, it's the boss of the Childhood Tuition Center? ]
[It's her! Her voice is soft and her tone is indescribably calm, yet reassuring. Once you hear it, you'll never forget it.]
[Aren’t you guys doing reading comprehension here?]
[I didn’t see you guys being so talkative when Hu Jiao was talking to the store owner this afternoon.]
[With such a gentle voice, who would have thought she was so awesome? ]
[I remember now! Ever since the Childhood Tuition Center opened at the intersection of Sanhua Road No. 66, I don’t think I’ve seen any news reports about bridge collapses nearby.]
[Do I need to tell you that? Who can fall into the energy net floating in the air? ]
[… Is there a possibility, I mean, that the energy net might have been laid by the store owner? ]
[But her ability is not an animal-type ability? A high-level skill like 'laying a suspended energy net in the sky' should only be possible for a natural-type ability, right? ]
…
In just a few minutes, Lu Yao had brought Pepper to the destination.
She gently placed the pepper on the top floor of Building 66.
The transparent diamond-shaped glass has uneven patterns and is embedded in the metal frame piece by piece, reflecting the moonlight like pieces of ice tiles.
The candlelight was dim under the glass greenhouse, and dozens of faces that had lost the ability to control their expressions were like sunflowers basking in the sun, staring exaggeratedly at the two people who suddenly stopped.
Lu Yao folded his wings, pulled Jiao Hu to sit down, and started chatting: "Tell me, why do you do that?"
Pepper fell into the glass greenhouse and calmed down. He tapped the glass tiles with his fingers and whispered, "Someone is watching below."
Lu Yao was wearing a balancing ring on his index finger. He tapped it lightly, and the transparent glass was infected by the darkness and temporarily turned into opaque black glass.
Pepper blinked in shock, "Is this your ability as well? Aren't you more than just an animal type?"
Lu Yao answered them one by one: "Well, this is also one of my abilities. What is the animal system?"
Pepper was even more surprised: "You have wings, isn't that a bird ability?"
The audience in the live broadcast room saw Lu Yao through Huo’s eyes.
It was just a very dark night, and in Huojiao's eyes the shop owner only had an outline like a border, with a soft light golden light all around him, and his specific appearance could not be seen.
Her voice is more recognizable.
Lu Yao chuckled and grabbed the wing-shaped necklace pendant on his chest: "The wings you mentioned are not my ability. Well, you can actually say that. It should be considered a derivative of my ability. The reason I can fly is actually because of this prop - the flying toy that the Childhood Tutorial Center is currently developing. Wearing it can give you the feeling of flying like an insect or a bird, or even like a dragon in a Western fantasy novel."
The manager of the Glass House Restaurant received a report from the foreman and was rushing over from the office to deal with this huge gaffe.
The foreman said the situation is complicated, but there is currently a live broadcast online.
The manager opened his mobile phone with the idea of getting to know the situation in advance, and when he saw the store owner introducing the flying toys, his pace gradually slowed down.
When the guests in the glass restaurant discovered that the ceiling was blocked, they took out their phones and began to watch the live broadcast.
Pepper's eyes widened, "No way, how can there be such an outrageous toy? You are lying to me, right?"
Lu Yao couldn't help it, he raised his hand and blew on the back of Huo Jiao's head, almost knocking him off, then immediately pulled him back, "What's the benefit of lying to you? You are such a bad guy, not only did you climb the overpass, you also cut my energy network."
Having said that, Lu Yao finally remembered something that he had been thinking about but hadn't remembered.
She held down Pepper, fished her cell phone out of her pocket, and made a call.
The phone rang only once before it was quickly picked up. Lu Yao asked, "Xiao Xiao, are you still in the store?"
Xu Xiaoxiao: "I'm still here."
Lu Yao: "I have something to do right now and can't come back. Please help me."
Lu Yao asked Xu Xiaoxiao to use the special bubble gun placed behind the shelf to add two layers of energy nets outside the store.
This kind of thing happened one after another, and she would feel uneasy if she didn't take proper precautions.
The energy grid was cut today, so we have to come up with a new plan when we get back.
Zheng Siyao and the other two watched the store owner making a phone call on the live broadcast, and the clerk found the bubble gun according to her instructions.
Xiao Mei looked incredulous: "Using this toy gun to lay an energy net?"
It was also Xu Xiaoxiao's first time using it, and she completed the task easily following Lu Yao's instructions.
Du Hao Ling took out a monocle with a special lens from his pocket and looked through the lens at the sky above the cram school. "It has indeed been made up."
Xiaomei didn't believe it, "Really? Lend it to me and have a look."
After Xiaomei finished reading it, Zheng Siyao took it and took a look at it. "Maybe the owner has never lied. The Childhood Tutoring Center really wants to tutor the childhood of adults in need."
There was no time to think deeply. The number of people watching Hu Jiao's live broadcast room online was increasing, and it had already exceeded eight million.
After receiving a call from Xu Xiaoxiao saying that the energy network had been re-laid, Lu Yao felt relieved and looked at Huo Jiao again: "Okay, let's talk about your problem."
Pepper was covered in thorns and looked away, "I have nothing to talk to you about."
This kid hasn't calmed down yet.
Lu Yao's tone was the same as before, talking to him casually: "You may not have thought about this - if I hadn't noticed something unusual a few minutes ago and let you succeed, my store might have to close tomorrow. Even if it doesn't close immediately, with no customers, it will eventually go bankrupt. A new clerk came to my store today, the young girl you saw this afternoon. She just finished tutoring today and decided to start over. You may have chatted with her for a few minutes and may think she is a nice person. But you can never imagine what she has been through. I admire her and like her very much, and I have promised to support her in starting a new life. If my store goes bankrupt, she will be unemployed. Now, do you think we can talk?"
Pepper pinched the hem of his sweatshirt with both hands, pulling wrinkles out of the elastic fabric.
Maybe more than ten seconds passed before Pepper spoke slowly: "What do you want to talk about? Don't ask me why, I just feel that I've had enough of life. I just didn't choose the right place, I'll be more careful next time."
Some viewers in the live broadcast room couldn't help themselves.
[This bastard!]
[My fist is hard! How did this guy's parents teach him? He is rude and stubborn! ]
[The shop owner has such a good temper, I'll beat him up first! I'll talk to him after he's convinced!]
…
Perhaps it was because the location was high enough, under the thick night sky, the faintly twinkling stars also became brighter and gathered into a galaxy.
Lu Yao looked up at the sky, his voice as clear as the night wind: "A writer once wrote that when a person dies, it is like water disappearing into water (1). Another writer wrote that death is not the loss of life, but simply the departure from time (2). Death and aging are as common as the stars in the sky. Everyone will encounter them. When the time comes, no one can avoid it. But for a young person like you, I think it is a little too early."
Pepper bit her lip tightly, still looking stubborn.
Lu Yao sighed and said in a helpless tone: "Sometimes I think that death may just be the transition of life from one stage to another. Life steps out of the time of being alive and steps into the time of death. In another world, your body becomes very light, you have infinite time, you will no longer age, but you will no longer be able to feel the vitality of the world's changes. You can't smell, taste food, or feel cold or hot. You are as eternal as time, and you are as silent and lonely as time."
Pepper couldn't help but say, "You have a very rich imagination."
Lu Yao shrugged: "I am also surprised that humans have acquired superpowers, but their imaginations have dried up like old loofahs in autumn. They have degenerated to a level even more boring than the ancients thousands of years ago."
What the store owner said was all personal experience, but I'm afraid no one will believe it.
Pepper glanced at the shopkeeper with his invisible eyes, "What are your abilities?"
Lu Yao turned his head and looked over. "Interested?"
Pepper curled her lips: "I just haven't seen this before."
Lu Yao: "My ability is nothing special. If I have to say, it's probably that I can give matter the qualities I want."
The system couldn't help it: [Hey! Your abilities haven't even awakened yet, don't act like it's custom made here. ]
Lu Yao shook his head: "You are boring too. Am I not adding to the setting? It will be much easier to sell toys in the future."
system:[…]
Hu Jiao was a little surprised: "Just like that? Not a super strong nature type, or an ancient fantasy beast type?"
Because I guessed wrong just now, Hu Jiao thought that the owner's superpowers were a rarer system.
Lu Yao shook his head: "People always like to distinguish between strong and weak things, and mistakenly believe that the person with the strongest attack power, the most flamboyant or superpower is the best. Few people understand that the real long-lasting and vital strength comes from the heart. I already know that you don't really want to die."
Pepper's face turned ugly.
Lu Yao continued, "You may have encountered difficulties, failed to find a solution, and had no idea how to rescue yourself. You got deeper and deeper into trouble and finally got lost."
"You lack the courage to support yourself." The owner's voice was soft, but it was like a sharp blade piercing Pepper's heart.
I don’t know what Pepper Boy recalled, his shoulders trembled violently, and the picture in the live broadcast room was cut off at this time.
Nearly ten million people saw their own confused faces on their devices at the same time.
The live broadcast room displayed "The host is on the way", but until dawn, the live broadcast room was not reconnected.
Pepper grabbed the shopkeeper's hand, her voice even hoarser and rougher than before, "You're right, everything you said is right. I did everything, but I still can't get away. I'm so tired of it."
Pepper was very excited, her bloodshot eyes fixed on the owner, and some images from deep in her memory came to her mind through empathy.
Lu Yao was shocked, "That's enough."
Pepper's expression was somewhat relaxed.
Only by empathizing can human beings understand each other.
He only shared one thousandth of the pain he suffered, and she was in so much pain that she was about to cry.
Lu Yao grabbed Huo Jiao's wrist with his backhand and pulled him up. "I already understand your situation. Let's go back to the store and arrange the nearest tutoring time for you immediately."
black pepper:"???"
What is this woman thinking
Lu Yao activated the flying necklace and took Huo Jiao back to the cram school.
-
In the live broadcast room with a gray screen, millions of viewers were reluctant to leave.
At the Super Energy Research Institute, An Yan put down his phone and called to the experimental subject beside him: "Okay, continue the test."
The experimental subject was engrossed in watching the live broadcast just now. After the live broadcast was disconnected, he became obsessed with reading the comments. When he was interrupted, he woke up as if from a dream.
Just before the test began, the experimental subject couldn't help but say, "Teacher An, I want to take half a day off tomorrow."
An Yan: "What's the matter?"
Subject: "I want to go to the cram school on Sanhua Road."
An Yan: “?”
The subject lowered his head, a little shy: "I just think her words are interesting, I want to go to the store to take a look."
"..." Without naming anyone, An Yan's eyes unconsciously lowered a little, and his voice became two degrees deeper: "Finish today's ability value test first."
If you still have the energy to go out tomorrow, feel free to ask for leave.
In the single apartment, Xiao Ze read the messages for a while, felt that the live broadcast room would no longer be connected, and so he logged out.
[When a person dies, it is like water disappearing into water.]
[Death is not the loss of life, but the departure from time.]
Xiao Ze began to think about death uncontrollably, and couldn't help but think of the night when he met Lu Yao.
If he hadn't met her, he would have been a drop of water disappearing in the water.
When you are alive, you are confused. When you die, you are in chaos and are swallowed up by time in the blink of an eye.
Fortunately, fortunately, Xiao Ze suddenly felt fortunate.
Meeting her was just the beginning of everything getting better.
Tomorrow is the time he and the store owner agreed to check the tutoring results.
Xiao Ze was surprised to find that his poor heart seemed to have accumulated some courage at some point.
Even if there is no one who loves him in the end, he should be able to move forward alone.