Naturally, Qimu Xi had no idea what she meant by gunfire agreement. As for Yu Jiajia, she too obviously did not know that the ‘Roddy’ she was referring to was not the same ‘Roddy’ that Qimu Xi was referring to.
Truth be told, Yu Jiajia had already taken her breakfast. At present, her eating the omelette was simply her putting on an act before Qimu Xi. After eating the omelette, she picked up the cup of coffee and sipped lightly. Next, she tried to gather information from this little girl.
Although Yu Jiajia was not a scheming type of female, she was an influential character in her school. It was only natural for her to have more experience compared to this foolish little girl sitting before her.
After a few words, in addition to the table full of food, Qimu Xi was plunged into a dazed state.
As she chewed the bacon wrapped in bread, that Yu Jiajia had personally helped her toast, Qimu Xi thought to herself: I have never eaten such a delicious breakfast before! Additionally, she had never had such a beautiful young woman treat her in such a warm manner. She thought back to all the dangers that she had to go through back in the instance dungeon. Although Chen Xiaolian did protect her, he barely spoke to her and only showed a fearsome expression when facing her. Moreover, she had spent the last two days looking for him but to no avail and was even forced to the miserable state of sleeping in the streets. At that moment, Yu Jiajia was like a life-saving angel to her.
When faced with Yu Jiajia’s questions, with the exception of matters of the game system, which she dared not reveal, she blurted out everything else to Yu Jiajia.
A while later, Yu Jiajia was left in a state of shock!
“You, you are saying… you do not have any family?” Yu Jiajia’s eyes were red. She looked at Qimu Xi with a gaze that was filled with compassion and sympathy. “Have you been surviving by yourself all this while?”
“Mm,” Qimu Xi answered in a hushed tone. “When I was young, I spent most of my time with my brother. Since we don’t have any house to stay in, my brother would go to the construction sites and meet the workers that were about to throw away the leftovers from the construction projects. He picked up the materials that they threw away and build a shed by himself for us to live in.
“During the day, my brother would go out to find work. But because he was too young then, he would be unable to find any work. He could only go to some construction sites to pick up discarded items. Sometimes, other adult scavengers would bully him.
“Later on, as time went by, the heads of some construction sites noticed that my brother was quite agile. Thus, they gave him some work, helping to lug the cement, shovelling sand etc. Some of the construction workers would also ask him to help them with some errands.
“My brother knows how to read and write. So, some construction sites had my brother help them with the kitchen. He would help out with the accounts and could earn tens of yuan and even buy up to two boxes of rice.
“Brother would work during the day while I stay at home. In the beginning, because I was too young, my brother feared that I would run around and so he tied a rope around me and tied the other end on our home’s door handle. Then, he would lock the door and leave.
“Once though, a fire broke out nearby and the fire spread toward our house. Since our house was locked and I was tied to the rope, I was almost burnt to death. Thankfully, my brother returned early from work and took me out of the house.
“After that, my brother hugged me and cried all the way until night. Since then, he no longer left me at home. He would bring me along even when he is working in the construction site and ask the family members of the construction site workers to keep an eye on me.
“But, we would always be drifting around. Wherever the construction team goes, we’ll go as well.
“As time went by, the number of people working there grew and sometimes there would be no work available in the construction sites. My brother was gradually unable to keep up.
“Sometimes, we would be able to fill out stomachs. But sometimes, we could only endure it. At seven or eight o’clock in the evening, my brother would take me to the farmers’ market to pick up vegetable leaves. We would also go to the meat shop to pick up the organs discarded by others.
“Sometimes, we would depend on them to survive. Mix the organs with the vegetable leaves in a pot and we would be able to fill our stomachs for two to three days.”
Hearing her story, Yu Jiajia’s tears flowed out uncontrollably. Looking at Qimu Xi, she suddenly stood up and moved across the table. She sat down beside Qimu Xi, hugged her and rubbed her head. She said in a gentle voice, “What a poor girl. You lived a hard life.”
Qimu Xi who was hugged by Yu Jiajia was stunned. She felt frightened. This sisterly young woman’s body was so fragrant. Additionally, her clothes were so beautiful. Qimu Xi feared that she would end up dirtying Yu Jiajia’s clothes and shrunk her body.
“Then, where do you live now? For you to come out here, why aren’t your brother caring about you now?”
Qimu Xi pursed her lips, her eyes red. “My brother… he, he is not here anymore.”
“Not here anymore?” Yu Jiajia was shocked.
“My brother is dead.” Qimu Xi began crying.
“How did he die?”
“Killed by bad fellows.” Qimu Xi was still able to retain her sense of reasoning and did not blurt out that her brother was killed by others when in the game.
Yu Jiajia was shocked and she suddenly jumped up!
Killed?!
A homicide case!
“Have you reported to the police?”
“Err…” Qimu Xi was shocked by Yu Jiajia’s question.
“Aiya, I am asking you if you’ve reported this to the police! You brother was killed! It is only natural to report this to the police!”
Qimu Xi was dumbfounded.
Although she was rather foolish, she was not a complete idiot. She understood that the matters of the game world and the real world were different. The police from the real world would likely be of no help when it came to people who were killed in the game world.
Facing Yu Jiajia’s question, Qimu Xi whispered timidly. “Reported.”
“Oh? What did they say?”
“Mm… nothing, they didn’t say anything.” Qimu Xi was not good at lying after all. After saying that, her face turned pale.
However, Yu Jiajia did not ponder too far into it. She thought that the girl was feeling saddened after bringing up such a sad matter. Yu Jiajia sighed and said, “In other words, the case remains unsolved? Don’t worry, since we’ve met, I will definitely help you with this! My family have quite some connections. Once I return home, I will ask my family member to have the police use their all to solve the case. I will surely demand justice for you!”
After saying that, Yu Jiajia pulled out a piece of tissue to wipe away her tears. Then, she suddenly recalled something. “Right, those things you told me, does Roddy know about them?”
“… err, he knows some.” Qimu Xi whispered.
That was indeed true. In her last instance dungeon, she had stayed in the base with them for a long time. During the time when they were waiting for the battle outside to end, Roddy had started a conversation with her and curiously asked her some matters regarding her life.
“He knows?!” Yu Jiajia became enraged!
She slammed her palm on the table and spat out, “Beast! He already knows how pitiful you are, yet he would still target you?! Hooking up with females on the internet is already one thing, but to target such a pitiful little girl?! Also, how old are you even? Are you already of age?”
“… I, I will be fifteen years old this year… no, sister, you are probably misunderstanding something. It’s not… he is not trying to hook me…”
“Fifteen years old?! Under aged!” Yu Jiajia was absolutely infuriated. “You animal! Animal! Damned beast! Roddy! I never imagined that you would actually be such a scumbag!”
…
“Achoo!”
Roddy who had just stepped out of the plane sneezed loudly. He also felt his ears itching.
Chen Xiaolian was beside him, both his hands snuggling inside his pockets in a relaxed manner. There was a clear contrast between him and the other passengers who were lugging large bags with them.
The two of them had gone to Nicole’s hometown in Texas to look around but had found nothing of note. Nicole was not at home either. Seeing no other option, Roddy could only choose to return home in despair. Even though it was not easy for him to drum up the courage to go meet her, in the end it was all for naught.
Roddy who was oblivious to the fact that he had just been called a ‘scumbag’ had a dejected expression on his face.
“Enough with your sighing. If you keep it up, I am going to have to go purchase the Melancholic Palms Manual from the system for you to learn [1]. I wonder if the system has such an item though.” Chen Xiaolian smiled wryly. “You can’t meet her this time, but you can still do so next time.”
“Next time. I don’t know if I’ll have the courage to do so again next time.” Roddy sighed.
He then glanced at Chen Xiaolian and said, “All right. Where should we head next? Do we head for home now or go to the fitness centre?”
Chen Xiaolian pulled out his mobile phone and waved it. “No more battery. Let’s head to the fitness centre first. Xia Xiaolei should be at the fitness centre at this hour.”
“That might not be the case. Didn’t you have that Qimu Xi go to your home to find Xiaolei? That Xiaolei appear somewhat stiff but he is also quite the shy character. Now that there is a girl at home who is about the same age as him, he might have taken her out to play around.”
Chen Xiaolian sighed. “Do you take everyone else to be a playboy like you?”
“Don’t say that. Even though I may have been a playboy back in school, since meeting Nicole, I have only room in my heart for one.” Roddy smiled and continued, “You have the final say. Let’s go to the fitness centre.”
The two of them headed to the exit passageway for the airport together. After just having stepped out, they suddenly heard a voice coming from behind them.
“Bu Leige Roddy! Ba’er Chen!”
Both Chen Xiaolian and Roddy were surprised. The familiar voice led them to turn around and they saw a figure running toward them. A gust of wind blew forth as a pair of thick and powerful arms embraced them both in a genial manner.
Considering their present level of attributes, if some stranger had wanted to embrace them, they would have dodged aside. But when they saw who it was, they became pleasantly surprised and chose not to dodge. Instead, they spread out their arms and laughed loudly together as they too, embraced each other!
A youth with towering body, dark tanned face, hair tied into pigtails and a smile on his face; the youth embraced them both tightly and said, “Ba’er! Bu Leige! I haven’t seen you fellows in such a long time! Actually, I could not be certain that it was really you. Ha ha ha ha ha! What a coincidence!”
Chen Xiaolian laughed as well before lightly hammering the youth’s chest. “Arslan, what brings you to Nanjing?”
The young man was known as Arslan. Just by listening to his name, one would know that he was a Mongolian.
This young man had quite the friendship with Chen Xiaolian and Roddy.
Arslan was nineteen years old and he hailed from Hailar, Mongolia. He was a typical male from the grasslands. Last year, an official activity organized by the education program system had Chen Xiaolian’s school and Arslan’s school help each other. Thus, Arslan became an exchange student in Chen Xiaolian’s school for one year. Thus, he stayed and experienced life here for one year.
Arslan’s family was quite well to do. His family owned a ranch with cattle and sheep numbering in the tens of thousands and was something of a plutocrat. However, he was a child of the grasslands without the haughtiness usual to the second-generation plutocrats in the city. Additionally, he had a straightforward and optimistic disposition. Thus, he was able to get along well with Chen Xiaolian and Roddy and they became friends.
This fellow had grown up riding horses and thus was quite masterful when it came to equestrian sports. However, he had no chance of showing off his skills in the city. Thus, when he was staying in Chen Xiaolian’s house for a few days, Chen Xiaolian had invited him to play FIFA and crushed him to the point where he was incapable of begging for either life or death. Next, Roddy had him play together with him in the game where he would shout “DEMACIA!” and screw him over several times. And thus, their friendship was born.
One night, they had drunk themselves into a drunken stupor after drinking a jar of wine that Arslan had brought with him. They went down the garden in Chen Xiaolian’s residential complex and used some stones to form the words ‘anda’ (close brother).
Although it was somewhat of mimic of the brotherhood in the Legend of the Condor Hero novel, the friendship between the three of them were indeed sincere.
Arslan. In the Mongolian language, his name meant lion.
He also helped picked names for Chen Xiaolian and Roddy.
Chen Xiaolian was given the name Ba’er, which meant tiger in Mongolian.
As for Roddy… this petty fellow’s name should originally meant wolf or leopard. However, he refused. He adamantly wanted to call himself ‘Bu Leige’ – in the Mongolian language, it meant eagle.
Chen Xiaolian understood that the reason he was so adamant about being called the eagle was not because of some love for the eagle’s ability to fly high. But rather… once, they had entered the toilet together to pee. Inside there, Arslan had shocked him!
Later on, the one-year exchange ended and Arslan bid them farewell tearfully. However, he swore that he would score well enough in the future to be qualified to enrol in a university in Nanjing and reunite with his brothers.
Arslan was nineteen years old, one year older compared to the two of them. He was also one notch taller than them. After returning home for one year, he had… mm, grown even more cheerful and stronger.
Naturally, seeing Chen Xiaolian made him feel happy. Then, he saw that Arslan had a big bag behind him. His mind raced and he calculated… it was presently summer and the college entrance exams had just ended… he asked in delight, “Arslan, you… this time’s arrival, could it be…”
“Ha ha ha ha! My brothers! I have finally been admitted to a university here! Although I am only to report in during September, I miss my two brothers. So, I came to find you both! There’s still one more month before my class begins. So, for now, I am going to be eating and living with you fellows!”
Roddy who was beside laughed and said, “Eating and accommodations are not a problem. You really did get admitted? Which university?”
Arslan laughed before proudly stating the name of a rather famous university.
Roddy was shocked. There was awe and respect in his voice as he said, “You capable fellow! It seems you have been working hard for the past year!”
After saying that, Roddy gave him a thumbs up and started singing, “Man lancing the horses, you are mighty and imposing!!”
The moment he heard Roddy sing that, Arslan nearly fainted from anger. He gripped Roddy’s throat and shook him angrily. “How many times do I have to tell you! It’s lassoing the horses! Lassoing the horses! Man lassoing the horses!!! [2]”
…