Chen Yang spoke softly, afraid to disturb the boy's sweet dream: "Your screen saver..."
Chao Jian was stunned and quickly hung up the phone.
The light was gone, and Chen Yang's vision dimmed. He touched Chao Jian's ear, which was very hot: "Did you write it yourself?"
Chao Jian lowered his head.
"My classmate Xiao Chao's handwriting is very beautiful." Chen Yang smiled in praise.
"This is not good enough. I'm practicing a new font and will change it when it's well practiced." Chao Jian lowered his head and rubbed it against Chen Yang's leg.
Chen Yang heard Chao Jian's restrained smile, and he knew without even looking that the corners of his lips must be curved.
The child got full marks and was very happy.
Chen Yang silently recited those two sentences in his heart, storing them deep in his mind. He asked a question without thinking: "Are you studying liberal arts or science?"
He stopped rubbing his legs against Jian's: "Learn literature."
Chen Yang's expression was a little subtle. Chao Jian was actually a liberal arts student. Then he said before that the reason why he could calculate the overlapping points of space was because others had taught him similar things, and he could draw inferences from one example...
Could that “someone else” be me
As Chen Yang was thinking this, Chao Jian grabbed his clothes and said, "Brother Yang, I know you are a science genius. Although I study liberal arts, I am good at theoretical problem solving and so on. I am also studying on my own. I will catch up with you."
“…” Chen Yang had a blank expression on his face. Oh, I’m not a liberal arts student, I’m a science student, and a top student at that.
The second reset took away not only his memories, emotions, and mission experience, but also a large amount of theoretical knowledge, and his sensitivity to science questions was also modified.
Of course, the second reset also left him with some things, such as physical agility, marksmanship, driving skills, and blind trust and dependence on Chao Jian.
"You don't look like a liberal arts student, and you don't like liberal arts." Chen Yang lowered his eyes and looked at the person lying on his lap, waiting for the verdict.
"I really don't like it." Chao Jian chuckled.
Chen Yang just asked casually. He thought that he would not get an answer this time like before. Unexpectedly, Chao Jian quickly said, "My family wants me to study literature."
"Why?" Chen Yang asked.
Chao Jian put the other shoe on Chen Yang: "A family of literature."
Chen Yang was surprised. He frowned and said, "You don't like liberal arts, but you accepted the choice your family gave you. Is that right?"
Chao Jian hooked Chen Yang's gray shoelaces and tied a knot flexibly. He curled his lips childishly: "Arguing is too troublesome, it's endless and it gives me a headache. I don't want to argue, forget it."
Chen Yang remembered that Chao Jian later said that his family was gone and that his uncle who had passed the customs had no emotional ties with him. He was silent for a while and said in a hoarse voice: "In fact, for the tasker, both arts and sciences have their advantages, and the effects are not too great."
"The things I told you during the mission are not in the textbooks." Chen Yang said involuntarily.
She knelt down on her knees, looked up and smiled at him: "Yeah."
Chen Yang looked at the smile on Chao Jian's face. He felt sad every time. He quickly put on his shoes, tied his shoelaces, put on his backpack and said, "Let's go."
"Brother Yang, can I..." Chao Jian stood up and scratched his head. He forgot that he had tied his hair into a bun, so his hair was a little messy. Chao Jian quickly fixed his bun and stammered, "Kiss you."
Chen Yang's breathing quickened: "Doing the mission."
Chao Jian slumped his shoulders, arched his back slightly, and let his tail droop behind him: "Oh."
After walking a few steps, Chen Yang turned around and asked, "Are you going or not?"
Chao Jian stood there, looking at him eagerly.
Chen Yang's waist felt numb: "... Okay, just for a moment."
Chao Jian smiled happily: "Yeah!"
"For a moment" lasted more than a minute.
Chao got what she wanted, and after the kiss she pursed her lips to savor the taste, and almost bumped into the window.
Chen Yanghong shook his head with red eyes, "Silly child, so silly."
More than 20 people merged into the mall, deliberately moving lightly, so Chen Yang could hardly hear the noise made by his teammates. He and Chao Jian entered a men's clothing store, which had a relatively complete range of clothing, including clothes and shoes.
Chen Yang stood at the entrance of the store, looking at the model on the left. The model had European facial features and body proportions, but her eyes were dull and lifeless.
Chao Jian just wanted to keep Chen Yang warmer, so he started looking for clothes as soon as he entered the store.
“Brother Yang, this one can…” Chao Jian took a long-sleeved shirt from the shelf.
Chen Yang suddenly shouted: "Come here!"
Chao Jian immediately dropped his clothes and ran towards him, his body agile and strong like a gust of hot wind.
Chen Yang was stunned for a moment, and then he sneezed.
Chao Jian rubbed his wet arms: "I found a piece of clothing for you, change into it, and I'll find you something else."
Chen Yang said in a deep voice: "No need to change it, let's leave it like this."
Chao Jian looked up at him: "Did you find anything?"
"No, it's just a hunch." Chen Yang said, "Be safe, we shouldn't touch the clothes in the mall." He corrected, "Wrong, it's not that we shouldn't touch them, it's that we shouldn't wear them."
Just as Chao Jian was about to speak, several people with flashlights walked in.
The ones who came were Bai Tang and three girls.
Chen Yang looked over.
Bai Tang met his gaze, pointed at the three teammates beside him and explained, "They are here to look for their classmates."
"When my partner and I came in, there was no one else in the store." After Chen Yang finished speaking, a burning gaze locked onto him and his clothes were grabbed.
The girls were neither curious nor opposed to homosexuality, they just thought the two protagonists were tall and handsome, so they looked at them a few more times without any malice.
"No?"
"We were here a few minutes ago. He changed his clothes in this store. Then I wanted to go to the bathroom. He and two of my classmates accompanied me. Then he waited for us outside. When we came out of the bathroom, we didn't see him."
The tall and thin girl spoke on behalf of her companions, using the catchphrase "then" and inserting several "then" in one sentence, "Then we thought he had left something here and ran back to get it. We hurried back to look for him and met Mr. Bai on the way. He brought us here."
"Luckily we have Mr. Bai, otherwise we three wouldn't dare to come over." Another round-faced girl said fearfully.
Chen Yang understood what happened. He looked at the three girls and saw many teammates of similar age. Their colorful lives almost turned gray. He asked a question: "In this context, if you found that you had left something in a store, would you go back to look for it?"
The three girls shook their heads.
Won't!
This is not about shopping in a mall, this is a real-life life and death game where people will die. Nothing is more important than life!
"If it's something I have to retrieve, like my ID card, I'll ask my friends to come with me," the tall and thin girl said. "I definitely won't go back alone to look for it."
Chen Yang sighed: "So your classmates won't do that either."
The girls shuddered and looked at each other. They thought that boys should be braver. Just because we don’t dare, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t dare either.
Chen Yang saw what they were thinking: "In the mission world, gender advantage is basically only reflected in physical strength, not courage. There are many grown men and boys who are scared to tears at the beginning."
The girls began to panic and whispered to each other anxiously.
"Where did he go?"
"I don't know. Is he with other people? Please don't get into any trouble!"
"… "
Chen Yang noticed that Bai Tang was about to leave, so he stopped him and said, "Mr. Bai, have you found anything?"
Bai Tang stopped and said, "No."
Chen Yang invited him to join a team, but was rejected on the grounds that he was used to working alone.
But Chen Yang could see that Bai Tang was holding on. This was probably his second or third mission, and he didn't have much experience, so he wasn't sure about this mission.
Chao Jian thought Chen Yang wanted to make friends with Bai Tang and was very unhappy about being rejected. He whispered to comfort him, "I am Bai Tang's old teammate, and he didn't get close to me. Some people are the slow-moving type."
"You are so obedient." Chen Yang touched Chao Jian's little nose.
Chao Jian blushed: "Yeah."
Chen Yang was about to leave the store with Chao Jian. He looked back at the three girls sitting on the chairs and reminded them that they should be worried no matter which store they entered to search for clues.
The three girls didn't want to stay in this men's clothing store any longer, so they quickly stood up and followed Chen Yang and the others outside.
The bag of the little round-faced girl was suddenly hooked by something. She turned back subconsciously and swallowed the scream before it came out.
"I was scared to death."
The girl pulled her bag off the hanger and complained to the tall figure next to her: "Why are you not talking here? Is it interesting? It's okay at other times, but now you're really like this, you're crazy."
Her voice attracted the two girls who had ordered in front of her. They turned around and found that the boy they were looking for was in the store. They hadn't noticed him before because he was blocked by clothes and the light was not bright.
"Fuck, Lao Zhang, at this hour, you still want to pretend to be a ghost and attack us! Do you think this is a haunted house?"
"Lao Zhang, you are really not a human being. We were worried about you and came back to find you."
The tall and thin girl hit him.
The boy didn't say anything, just looked at her quietly.
She didn't know if it was a psychological effect, but she felt a little scared and hammered twice more unconsciously, complaining a few words while raising her other hand to take a picture.
The light illuminated the boy's pale face. He had a smile on his face, but his muscles were stiff and cold.
"ah!"
When Chen Yang walked to the door of the store, he was shocked by a scream from inside the store. Immediately afterwards, he heard several more screams of terror.
"ah-"
“Help! Aaaaah!!!”
There were no customers in the mall, making it look eerie and empty. It was unclear where the screams were coming from, as if they were coming from all directions, making it sound like one was in a horror movie.
In fact, there is only one difference between this place and the filming location of horror movies. Everything is real and there are no special effects.
"Gather!" Chen Yang walked out of the store quickly, stood in the middle of the first floor, raised his head, and shouted at the top of his voice, "Everyone, gather here!"
Everyone had just dispersed not long ago, and when they gathered together this time, the atmosphere of panic and despair in the team was even stronger.
A few people were crying, cursing, and shouting, but the majority were silent. It’s not that they weren’t afraid, they just didn’t show their emotions outwardly.
Some people were frightened by the faceless doll, while others casually waved their phones and captured a face with staring eyes and a bloody mouth.
Another one accidentally bumped into a model and knocked the model's head off. When he picked it up, he found it was his teammate.
The worst case was a couple. The wife took off her clothes that had been soaked in the rain and put them aside, changing into the set she had chosen. The husband just looked at his phone, and when he looked up, she was dead. He died wearing clothes of a brand that he usually couldn't afford to buy.
Everyone originally thought that the mannequins in the mall were scary, but after a few minutes, they realized that what was really scary were the real models.
Less than ten minutes into the game, the first digit of the team's number changed from 2 to 1.
No clues have been found yet, and eight teammates have already died. This has made some of the taskers, who were already going crazy, even more frustrated. They don't want to continue and want to give up their lives now.
It was at this time that Chen Yang spoke up. He sorted out his analysis and speculations and shared them.
1: The dead taskers all became models. The common thing about them was that they changed their wet clothes and put on new ones.
2: The place where they were standing was originally where a model stood, but the model disappeared, and someone wearing the same clothes took his place and became the model.
The taboo is that if you wear the same clothes that the disappeared model wore, you will die.
"The key is the model. Follow this line to find it." Chen Yang started coughing after he finished speaking. Chao Jian took him to the supermarket in the mall to see if there was a pharmacy.
The others who stayed where they were were still digesting the information. They walked into the mall wet and saw so many stores and so many clothes. According to normal thinking, wouldn't they all want to change into clean clothes first
This is a trap.
Those who died were the ones who died quickly. The reason they didn't die was that they were always cautious and slow in doing things.
If they were quicker, they would have changed their clothes.
"Mr. Chen, as long as the clothes you change into are not worn by the missing model, everything will be fine, right?" someone shouted at Chen Yang.
Chen Yang didn't look back: "How do you know what the missing model was wearing?"
Everyone waiting for the answer: "..." That's right, for safety reasons, it's better not to change and just wear wet clothes. Getting sick and feeling uncomfortable is nothing, the most important thing is to save your life.
Chen Yang walked for a while, then noticed something was wrong with Chao Jian. He stopped and turned around to look over.
Chao Jian's world was filled with lightning, thunder, wind, rain and darkness.
"Chao Chao, what are you thinking about? The clothes you picked for me are not the same as the one that boy wears." Chen Yang patted his back.
"What if?" Chao Jian condemned himself, "I shouldn't have been so careless."
"Malls, models, clothes, these things are obvious. Putting them together can give a lot of clues. I should have thought of it earlier." Chao Jian's brows were furrowed, his lips were pale, and his face was full of frustration and fear. "If I happened to get the same clothes for you to wear..."
Chen Yang interrupted, "Okay, humans are emotional animals, not machines. Emotional fluctuations will affect their brain waves, causing changes in judgment, observation, and thinking abilities. It's just a mistake. I have it too."
Chao Jian didn't feel relieved at all: "But I almost got you into trouble." He bent down, grabbed Chen Yang's hand, and made a low sound in his throat, "Brother Yang, if we can go back alive, I will write you a self-criticism, one thousand words more than last time."
Chen Yang: “…”
I even asked Chao Jian to write a self-review. What a formulaic teacher this is.
"Okay, go back and write a self-review."
The moment Chen Yang finished speaking, he lay on Chao Jian's back, his whole body felt weak and his body temperature was very high.
The mission point was still a large shopping mall. The mission was almost completed, and everyone found that there were vacancies in the model areas of many stores. They searched around the models and finally found an old security guard in the mall.
The security guard's residence was filled with models, taking up an entire room. They were wearing all kinds of clothes, playing the roles of his father, mother, wife, children, neighbors, colleagues, relatives and friends.
A room full of dummies.
Just put the model back where it came from.
Chen Yang put his hot face close to Chao Jian's neck and sprayed his fiery breath on him again and again.
Chao Jian's breathing became heavier, and the fingers that were supporting Chen Yang's legs tightened.
"Brother, don't sleep!"
A hoarse growl came from his ears, and Chen Yang moved his eyes. He was still wondering why Chao Jian was so panicked when he just had a high fever. The next second, he smelled blood.
Chen Yang suddenly opened his heavy eyelids. He was still lying on Chao Jian's back, but they had changed to a new mission point. The river was rushing and the mountains were covered with snow.
What he wore were not wet clothes, but bloody clothes.
There were also several people walking in the river. They supported each other. They were all injured to varying degrees and looked miserable.
Chen Yang caught a glimpse of Bai Tang's figure out of the corner of his eye. He pursed his bloody lips. This was their second collaboration.
Just cross the river, climb the mountain ahead, and open the altar to complete the mission.
Chen Yang hugged Chao Jian’s neck and his eyelids drooped.
Chao Jian called him over and over again, his throat was cracked and his breath smelled of rust. His own leg was injured, but he didn't care and limped along with Chen Yang on his back.
"It's almost there..." Chao Jian panted, "Brother, it's almost there."
Chen Yang tilted his head, his lips touching his sweaty neck: "There is still a snowy mountain to climb."
"Very quickly, I'll run over." Chao Jian said as he suddenly sped up and left his teammates behind. He rushed to the other side of the river in one go and ran up the mountain with Chen Yang on his back. The skin below his knees had turned purple from the cold river water and his muscles were aching.
Chen Yang got down from Chao Jian's back with a tough attitude and let him support him while walking.
Chen Yang was injured on his back. The wound was deep and long, and the bleeding could not be stopped. He was defending his old teammate Bai Tang at a critical moment, and his breathing and walking would affect the wound.
Chen Yang glanced at Chao Jian, who looked like a lost dog, and said, "It's not like I won't let you carry it on my back anymore. I'll let you carry it on my back later."
White air blew out of Chao Jian's mouth: "I want to carry you on my back forever."
"That won't work. You'll fall down before you even get over the mountain." Chen Yang said.
"I won't. I won't fall if I carry you on my back." Chao Jian said with a serious face. The scabbed wound on his jaw was oozing blood and was about to split.
"Okay, okay, as long as you carry me on your back, you will be an invincible cockroach." Chen Yang hurriedly coaxed Chao Jian.
"I can't be Xiaoqiang, otherwise you will be Xiaoqiang's wife, which is not good." Chao Jian muttered.
"..." A panting voice suddenly sounded from behind Chen Yang, "Mr. Chen, let me carry you for a while."
Bai Tang passed Chen Yang and stopped in front of him.
Chen Yang went to see Chao Jian first, it was completely a conditioned reflex.
Chao Jian did not get angry or scornful because Chen Yang was injured because he blocked for Bai Tang. He just frowned and told Bai Tang worriedly, "Then don't let him fall."
Chen Yang was stunned for a moment, and he quickly closed his eyes so that Chao Jian would not see the emotion in his eyes.
How wonderful his youth had been.
How painful it was afterwards.
Bai Tang was not seriously injured. He was not as frail as he was later. His physical fitness was still good and he was able to carry Chen Yang on his back.
Chen Yang lay on Bai Tang's back with mixed feelings. He really didn't expect that the other party had carried him on his back before.
"Mr. Bai, please come this way. It's easier to walk here." Chao Jian dragged his injured leg to lead the way. He was looking for an easier way for Bai Tang for Chen Yang.
Chao Jian was afraid that Bai Tang would lose his balance and bump into Chen Yang, causing his wound to be hurt.
"Mr. Chen, I envy you." Bai Tang walked along the path Jian found and couldn't help but say something.
Chen looked up at the tall boy walking in front, his vision gradually blurred, and I even envied myself.
Bai Tang asked as they walked: "What is it like to fall in love with a tasker?"
Chen Yang said: "No different from ordinary people."
"No? That's impossible." Bai Tang didn't believe it. "Although colleagues have common topics, colleagues like you are different from colleagues in other industries. You are not working, but playing a life-and-death game. Negative emotions come quickly and violently, and people are prone to collapse and can't care about the people around them..."
He paused, not knowing what he recalled, and his already pale face paled even more: "When a tasker falls in love, they will be exploited by the rules, and all their emotions will become the material for the illusion."
"To be honest, before I met my child, I had never thought about finding someone to fall in love with, and I thought I would never do that." Chen Yang's back was sticky, and he said in pain, "When I really met someone, I didn't think about anything else. That's not something I can control."
"Out of control... having all my joys, sorrows, anger and happiness controlled by others, isn't that scary..." Bai Tang murmured.
Chen Yang said: "How could that be? That's the right fate."
Bai Tang vaguely understood, but he still asked, "What is true love?"
Chen Yang saw Chao Jian turning back, he looked into those dark and gentle eyes, curled his lips and said, "It's destined."
Bai Tang didn't say anything else. He recited a passage from Chen Yang before saying that he had fallen in love with someone, but he didn't dare to confess his feelings because he felt that the other person wouldn't like his type.
Chen Yang asked: "Is the other party also a tasker?"
"Yeah." Bai Tang's voice became much softer. "His name is Xiangdong. I wonder if Mr. Chen knows him."
Chen Yang: “…”
How to say it, Chen Yang is now experiencing the nodes and illusions of life. He will get the relevant information of each step according to his progress, so his memory is not coherent and sequential. He doesn't know whether his past self knew Xiangdong at this point in time. He only knows that his later self knew him and was very familiar with him.
When Bai Tang put Chen Yang on Chao Jian's back, he seemed to have made a decision and smiled lightly: "If I can see that person again next time, I want to give it a try."
Chen Yang's throat moved: "Then I wish you all your wishes come true."
As soon as Chen Yang finished speaking, the scene in front of him changed again. He was standing in the equipment room of the gymnasium, with a lot of blood on his clothes, but the blood was not his. He was not injured, but just sweating a lot. The background of Chen Yang's mission was a spring sports meeting organized by a company.
When more than thirty taskers came in, some of the hundreds of employees had already been infected with the virus, and now there was a phenomenon of cannibalism outside.
Everyone needs to escape from the stadium.
Chen Yang was sitting on a mat in the equipment room, next to him were several dying teammates. They all had external injuries but were not infected.
Someone was coughing. Chen Yang followed the sound and saw Bai Tang in the corner. He was not surprised.
For Bai Tang, Chen Yang said that he wanted to confess his love to the person he liked during a winter mission, and now it is spring.
A season has passed.
However, for Chen Yang, it was just a moment.
Chen Yang was afraid that this was a farewell to Bai Tang, and his premonition caught him off guard.
"Bai Tang, how are you?" Chen Yang walked to the corner, squatted down and looked at Bai Tang.
"You, you shouldn't be so close to me." Bai Tang panted, and every rise and fall of his chest was laborious. "If I get infected, I will attack you."
Chen Yang looked at his pupils: "You are not infected."
"Just in case. You are an old senior, you can't know less than me." There was a large piece of flesh missing from Bai Tang's shoulder. He didn't know what had scraped it off. His shirt was all red and he was lying there motionless.
Chen Yang couldn't sense Bai Tang's will to live, and a bad premonition suddenly grew. He said hoarsely, "Have you confessed to the person you like?"
"I confessed my feelings." Bai Tang said, "But he didn't hear it."
A smile appeared in Bai Tang's peach blossom eyes: "I told him secretly while he was sleeping."