“Ah, I don’t have to go to the market to buy fish today…”
Since graduating from university, Lin Ya had gradually handed over the management of the company to Shi Yi, and now he could finally relax a bit. However, as time passed, the once busy days turned into a leisurely pace, and he found it hard to stay idle. Thus, Lin Ya developed fishing as a hobby.
But hearing the system mention that advanced task worlds could not use its abilities and that the system could not provide any assistance meant that the system space also could not be utilized. He would need to make more preparations for the following days and learn some other skills.
He only had one worry:
“The assessment task shouldn’t block my memory or anything like that, right?”
123 fell silent. It was a good question, but it didn’t know the answer. It was just a new system, after all! It was its first time bringing a host…
[It… shouldn’t, right…?]
Great, with 123 hesitating like that, Lin Ya knew it didn’t have a clue either. He had to give up on probing for more information.
He decided to take things as they come and go with the flow.
When Lin Ya left this world, a heavy snow fell, marking the end of Shi Xi’s life. Although Shi Xi had not explicitly wished to take revenge on those who harmed him, Lin Ya still intervened.
The manager who had sabotaged him was sent to prison for ten years. Once released, he couldn’t find a way to survive in the entertainment industry, and his family had long since moved to another city. Even if he tried to reach out, no one would respond. As he aged, he could only find odd jobs, barely making ends meet in a rundown corner.
Those so-called upper-level capitalists, one way or another, saw their companies collapse. They ended up with nothing, went to prison, and were sent to a mental hospital afterwards, spending their lives inside.
In this era of strict law, Lin Ya didn’t want to dirty his hands; he only took things as far as that.
“Shen Zhao! Shen Zhao! Wake up! The teacher’s here!” A classmate beside him tapped on the desk, trying to rouse the boy who had fallen asleep with his head on the desk.
Shen Zhao drowsily lifted his fluffy head, gradually waking up as the class bell rang.
His handsome face bore smudges left by the paper against the desk. Blinking, he stared blankly at the familiar scene before him, looking out the window at the serene view, feeling an inexplicable sense of dissonance.
Feigning seriousness, Shen Zhao focused on the questions on the blackboard, successfully avoiding the teacher’s sharp gaze.
“You are in your second year now. You need to start preparing for the college entrance exams next year. Get your act together! If you don’t solidify your foundations now, what will you do in senior year? Where will you go to cram for exams at the last minute?…”
Below, the students sat in silence, glaring with slightly discolored dark circles around their eyes, inwardly lamenting that the teacher was just repeating tired old clichés.
Finally, after enduring until the end of class, Shen Zhao grabbed his backpack to head home.
“Shen Zhao, are we still going to the billiard hall today?” Zhang Zixin, his deskmate, reminded him, eager to continue their recent daily games.
“It looks like it’s about to rain, so I’ll pass. Better not risk getting stuck out in this weather.”
Shen Zhao gazed at the increasingly oppressive gray sky, feeling restless, so he declined the invitation and rode his bike home.
“It definitely seems like it’s going to pour… I guess I’ll head home too.” Not long after Shen Zhao got on his bike, Zhang Zixin said his goodbyes to others and left.
The school was a bit of a distance from Shen Zhao’s home; typically, riding took about twenty minutes.
Now, during rush hour, the streets were bustling with cars and people.
While waiting at a red light, glancing at the flickering red countdown, Shen Zhao felt a wave of anxiety wash over him inexplicably.
Frowning, he looked around but saw nothing unusual. Meanwhile, a nearby office worker pulled out their phone to watch a video.
“In the coming days, many coastal cities in our country will face heavy rainfall… Meanwhile… The super typhoon ‘No. 7’ is approaching… We hope all citizens follow the local government’s arrangements…”
Shen Zhao perked up his ears to listen. Just as he was about to digest the information, the light turned green.
Riding his bike into the increasingly wild winds, his loose school uniform flared out, but despite his thin frame, the boy pedaled determinedly against the force, finally arriving home safely.
Shen Zhao’s father was a police officer, and his mother was a nurse. His father had sacrificed himself many years ago, and his mother had not remarried, raising him alone. At this hour, she was still at work, leaving him home alone.
The moment he entered the house, Shen Zhao turned on the TV, then went to his room to check his phone.
All the TV showed was the storm warning and heavy rain forecast, while the comments section of a video on his phone overflowed with people joking about wanting to witness what a super typhoon looked like.
Frowning, Shen Zhao tossed his phone onto the couch and walked to the kitchen to check the pantry. Since there were few of them and everyone had their own busy lives, they rarely cooked at home; Shen Zhao mostly ordered takeout or ate out.
He assessed the supplies in the house; there was still more than half of the rice bought three months ago, two boxes of instant noodles unopened—only a few bags had been taken out—and two bottles of mineral water. The fridge still had some frozen dumplings, buns, and slices of beef.
Seeing all this, Shen Zhao felt an inexplicable sense of relief wash over him.
When he returned to the couch and picked up his phone, he noticed two messages from his mother.
[Working overtime today, will be home late. Son, buy something to eat yourself.]
Below were money transfer notifications.
Shen Zhao accepted the 500 yuan sent by his mother, contemplating a supermarket trip to buy some groceries, just in case the typhoon came, so he could cook at home.
Fortunately, the supermarket was nearby.
Changing his clothes, he went downstairs and saw the supermarket was bustling, with people carrying an assortment of items as they exited.
These were all people who had heard about the approaching typhoon and wanted to stock up on supplies. However, most were only buying enough for three to five days, but with so many customers, the supermarket couldn’t keep up with the restocking.
Seeing the situation was not good, Shen Zhao hurriedly squeezed through the entrance of the supermarket, grabbed a basket, and rushed inside.