Wan Jie Hospice Care Company

夜晚

Walking street

Xiang Yu followed An Ling, the two of them walking alone on the street. The winter wind was so cold that Xiang Yu shivered.

After such a major incident at the school, the students were quickly sent home, and the school was subsequently sealed off by the police for investigation.

Xiang Yu could only sneak out of the school with An Ling, and then they arrived here, which was on An Ling's way home.

Just then, Xiang Yu suddenly felt a garment draped over his body. He looked down and saw that it was An Ling's cotton-padded jacket.

"Ah..." Xiang Yu paused, feeling that something was off about the scene. According to those tired tropes from novels and anime, when it's freezing cold, shouldn't the boy drape his coat over the girl's shoulders, and then the girl blush and shrink back inside...?

How did I end up being the one being taken care of?

"It's okay, I don't... Achoo!" Xiang Yu sneezed. "Alright, it's pretty cold."

"It's okay, you're only wearing a shirt. I also have my school uniform jacket." An Ling tugged at her jacket and unzipped it. "I also have a sweater under my school uniform jacket, look."

Xiang Yu nodded, then very unceremoniously put on his cotton-padded coat and zipped it up.

This cotton-padded jacket is for girls, and it's really a bit short; the bottom hem only covers the navel.

If there were any passersby who saw Xiang Yu wearing a pink crop top, they would probably burst out laughing.

However, instead of looking at that, Xiang Yu began to examine the surrounding commercial street.

The buildings on both sides of the commercial street still retain the bulky architecture of the 1990s, with faded Coca-Cola logos painted on the red brick walls. Next door is a newly opened mobile phone superstore, with huge Nokia posters plastered on the exterior walls.

The snow on the ground reflected the dim yellow light of the streetlights, and only the two characters "众浴" (meaning "public bath") of the "大众洗浴中心" (public bath center) were still lit up not far away.

The music store was still playing a song, Sun Yue's "Wishing You Peace," the volume very low, as if it were coming from a very far place.

"How are you feeling now? Are you still smiling?"

The train whistle sounded in the distance, long and drawn out, until it faded into the distance.

Xiang Yu looked somewhat dazed. This world was so similar to his own, as if people on Earth more than twenty years ago had lived in such a world.

He suddenly began to doubt himself: could he really make up his mind to destroy such a world?

He and Anling continued walking, passing the greasy glass windows of the state-run restaurant, the rolling shutter door of the Xinhua Bookstore, and a clothing store with haphazardly arranged mannequins displayed at the entrance.

"Brother Xiang, what are you thinking about?" An Ling asked, looking at the melancholy Xiang Yu.

"...I'm thinking about how I can save your world."

Xiang Yu took a deep breath and told a lie.

"...Yes." Upon hearing about the end of the world, An Ling's joy at surviving the disaster was somewhat diminished.

"But there's always a way. The most important thing right now is to survive until the end of the world."

"Um!"

An Ling nodded repeatedly; now she had to place all her trust in the man in front of her.

"Brother Xiang, why don't you stay at my place tonight?" An Ling pointed to a drab gray apartment building not far away. "We're almost there."

Xiang Yu said casually, "Staying at your place? I'm a grown man, you know. Aren't you afraid I'll get lustful?"

"Even the rules of those ceramic figurines can't be enforced by Brother Xiang, so where do I get the confidence to think I'll catch your eye?" An Ling said with a simple smile.

Xiang Yu was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll stay at your place. Do you have anyone else at home?"

"There's no one here these days. My dad went to work in the south after he was laid off, and my mom has been taking care of my grandparents at a big hospital in the city."

"Laid off?"

"Hmm..." She paused, then added, as if afraid he would overthink it, "But my dad earns quite a lot, so things aren't actually that tight at home."

Anling didn't say anything else, but led the way on her own, passing through the dilapidated neighborhood, the rusty building doors, and the old cement steps.

"Brother Xiang, this is my home."

Anling pointed to the iron gate, where the green paint was bubbling and the doorknob was still wrapped with faded red rope, which seemed to have been tied there during the Dragon Boat Festival.

She took out her key, tilted it slightly to the left, and then gently lifted it up. She then heard a crisp "click" as the lock spring released.

Xiang Yu couldn't help but take a closer look at the furnishings in the room. He felt that almost every family around the turn of the millennium had a set of wooden furniture like this.

Just as the two stepped into the house, the mechanical clock on the wall rang out with a "ding".

It's twelve o'clock.

Almost at the same instant, a panel appeared out of thin air in front of me.

Main Quest Two: Assist the Child of the World and help her survive the first day. (Completed)

[Gained 5 points.]

[Unlock Main Quest 12: Help Anling survive until December 18th]

[Quest Reward: Unlock Main Quest 4 and earn 10 points.]

September 12th?

Xiang Yu turned to An Ling and asked, "What's the date today?"

"Twelve... oh no, it's past twelve o'clock, it should be the thirteenth," An Ling replied, looking at the clock.

Five more days?

What will happen in five days?

After taking off his shoes and entering the house, Xiang Yu sat on the sofa and gazed at the clock on the wall.

Five days... Could it be that another strange creature is about to appear?

"Oh right, Brother Xiang!" An Ling suddenly remembered something and hurriedly pulled Xiang Yu up, leading him to her room.

"This... is the diary I was talking about."

She pointed at the diary, seemingly still wary of it, and dared not approach the eerie object, only pointing at it from a distance.

Xiang Yu followed An Ling's gaze and indeed saw the diary on the desk. He walked over, picked it up, and began to read it.

He wasn't afraid of these things, but if the diary was really as An Ling said, then it was probably almost as strange as the supernatural.

He saw the page number for December 12th, and the contents were exactly the same as what An Ling had said at the time, so he glanced at it and skipped it.

When you turn to December 13th, the page that was originally blank now has writing on it!

"Anling, are you sure everything before that, except for December 12th, was blank?"

"Yeah, it was definitely blank. I was so scared at the time that I looked at it over and over again!"

Xiang Yu looked down at the diary again. An Ling's words didn't seem to be a lie, so this diary must be the one that generates a new day's entry at 12 o'clock every day.

"Anling, come here, let's take a look at this together?"

An Ling shuddered in fright, then said timidly, "Never mind, Brother Xiang, can you read it to me... I'm so scared of this diary."

Xiang Yu shrugged. After all, she was just a little girl; it was normal for her to be a bit timid.

He looked down at the contents of December 13th.

[December 13] [Weather: Snow]

I breathed a sigh of relief. School was closed today, so I had to study at home for the college entrance exam.

The house is safe. The man from yesterday moved in; he's a nice guy, and I don't dislike him.

[Noon, evening, and the rest of the day were normal, but I don't want to go out; the outside world is too scary.]

After hiding for half a day, someone knocked on my door that evening, saying he was my neighbor.

After learning more about that man, I trusted him even more. He told me not to open the door, so I didn't.

The neighbors to the east moved away a long time ago; the house next door is now empty.

The windows on the west side creaked and groaned, as if someone was scratching at them. I was terrified and spent the night in fear, unable to sleep a wink.

[No, there's one more thing. I've noticed I've been feeling dizzy every now and then today, and I've also been forgetting some small things.]

[Could it be that I've been too stressed lately and my head is spinning?]

【Do not! 】