Novel Bin Chapter 143
Chapter 143 -Unless a Miracle Happens
Tao Wan placed down her shopping basket and called loudly, “Xiao Liang, Xiao Liang, come out of the room.”
Her son, Huo Liang poked his head out of the bedroom and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“What happened to the lampshade and lightbulb that are supposed to be up there?” Tao Wan asked.
“Oh, that… our teacher gave us an assignment and I wanted to bring an electrical appliance that I was interested in to talk about in class, so I removed the lamp,” Huo Liang said.
Tao Yan placed the vegetables in a washing dish as she asked, “Are you interested in lamps?”
“Umm… Yeah,” Huo Liang said with a nod.
Tao Yan washed her hands and said, “Come here, son.”
Huo Liang hesitated slightly before walking out of the bedroom and closing the door behind him. He walked to the entrance of the kitchen as Tao Yan took a Chinese pear from her basket and washed it. She turned around and looked at her son, who was almost as tall as her, and said, “You have not dismantled the lamp before, it is very dangerous to remove the lamp holder by yourself. Tell me next time if you want to do it and mommy will help you. Here, have a pear.”
Huo Liang took the pear from his mother and hurried back to the bedroom, shutting the door heavily.
Tao Yan heard the sound of the door being locked and could not help but laugh. She remarked, “My son is also at this age now…”
——————
[Wen Junjie’s hat has been converted successfully.]
After one full day, Ren Suo finally found a way to clear the trial of the first red hat.
The trials of the hats with a red glow were different from the other hats in that the latter required the Seeker to make choices, but the former did not—the hat owners actually knew the right decisions to make, but because of their lack of “Courage” and “Warmth”, they did not dare to stand up to it. At that time, the girl shrouded in the black mist would appear and make use of her words to find a justified excuse for the hat owner’s behavior, negating their regret and remorse.
Although the Seeker was able to make physical contact with the hat owner (and only the hat owner), there was no way for her to make contact with the girl shrouded in the black mist. It was not possible for Ren Suo to make a move first.
Furthermore, although the Seeker taught Wen Junjie a lesson through “physical education” and forced him to gain Courage and Warmth, the use of violence was only applicable on very few occasions.
The final challenge of that trial of the hat was when Wen Junjie fell in love with a girl in his class in high school. She was a studious student, a responsible class president, and was pretty too. In contrast, Wen Junjie was just a poor-performing student who loved to play games and went to the internet cafe with a group of his classmates every day. Although he had a secret crush on the girl, Wen Junjie did not dare to be close to her at all.
It was not until after one physical education lesson that he became closer to her. During the lesson, the class president suddenly fainted from the heat under the sun and Wen Junjie rushed her to the school medical office without hesitation. After this, their relationship gradually improved.
On the last night of their graduation holiday trip after the end of the college entrance examinations, Wen Junjie felt that there was no chance of them being in a relationship in the future, so he wanted to profess his love.
However, the girl shrouded in the black mist appeared at that time and said, “Is it really a good idea to do that? She will soon go to university in Tianjing City, but what about you? You are not going to be able to enter university, and you do not have a job. Will you become a trainee or a temporary worker? If she accepts your love, will it end well? Would she not have wasted years waiting for you? On the other hand, if she does not accept you, would you still be able to remain friends with her? Do you really believe that both of you can still remain as friends after your confession?”
Well, although what the girl shrouded in the black mist said was not wrong, and Ren Suo similarly thought that it was not appropriate for Wen Junjie, who had not learned about warmth and care from his family, to be in a relationship at his age…
But it was obvious that for Ren Suo to pass the trial, he had to encourage Wen Junjie to do what he had not dared to do in the past. Only then would time in his memories continue to pass, or otherwise he would forever be stuck in that memory and never be able to continue.
However, what the girl shrouded in the black mist was absolutely right, and after hearing what she said, Wen Junjie did not dare to make a move at all no matter how the Seeker praised or complimented him.
Ren Suo was stuck at that point in the game for a long time, and could not pass that trial of the hat until he had dinner with Dong Chengling that night.
A girl wearing the uniform of the Heavenly Institution of Lianjiang followed Dong Chengling to the dining hall. Although the Heavenly Institution of Lianjiang was newly established, all the necessities were available. The uniforms for junior and senior high school students were quickly customized and looked very nice. The male uniform consisted of black and red plaid pants with a white shirt, while the female uniform consisted of a black and red plaid skirt with a white blouse. The uniform was designed to be more tight-fitting, and apart from some of the chubbier students who were dissatisfied with such a design and requested for loose-fit school uniforms, most of the students were very satisfied.
The moment she arrived, she bought a meal for Dong Chengling, attempting to prevent Dong Chengling from continuing to sit together with Ren Suo. However, Dong Chengling dragged her along to sit at the same table with Ren Suo instead.
“Is this your student?” Ren Suo asked curiously.
“Yes, this is Gu Yueyan. She is in the same class as Xianyu,” Dong Chengling said. She added, “She came to eat together.”
“I only learned today that Teacher used up all her points in exchange for Practice time, leaving her with no money for her meals and Mr. Ren had to spend more money,” Gu Yueyan said. She was tall and pretty and stared intently at Ren Suo as she sat beside Dong Chengling. She continued, “In the future, Teacher’s students will pay for all of her meals, so Teacher Ren you no longer need to accompany her for her meals.”
Ren Suo glanced at her and said, “Do you have enough money?”
Ren Suo used the “social disdain of the wealthy towards the poor” against the unemployed girl, which would likely be a critical blow.
But Gu Yueyan retorted, “More than you.” She showed Ren Suo the number of points she had in her wristband.
Gu Yueyan perfectly avoided the attack and made a “Counterattack”, which was a critical blow to Ren Suo.
Gu Yueyan: 1, Ren Suo: 0.
Dong Chengling laughed and said, “Xiaoyan is the fastest learning Practitioner amongst the second year senior high students. She was the first student to activate her breathing current and was also the top student in the end-of-month examination three days ago. She received 20,000 points that day.”
Ren Suo could not help but stare in awe—even he only received 8000 points a month!
Although the grades of the students would result in fluctuations in the number of points they earned, the variation was not very huge. In the case of Gu Yueyan, however, she must have earned more points than the vast majority of the faculty members.
Even though Ren Suo also received salary in the form of actual money, the total value of the money and points he received still did not match up to all of Gu Yueyan’s points!
“Oh, damn, that’s amazing,” Ren Suo said blankly. “So you are buying my meals too?”
Gu Yueyan rolled her eyes and did not reply. She remained silent subsequently but stared at Ren Suo throughout the whole meal. Ren Suo felt very uncomfortable and left quickly after he finished his meal.
However, on the way back, Gu Yueyan caught up with him. She said, “Teacher Ren, hold on.”
Ren Suo looked at her cautiously and stood at an area within the range of a surveillance camera. There had been recent reports of pretty young girls claiming that they were sexually assaulted in an area with no surveillance cameras by rich men who were passing by. The rich men were then forced to give the girl money to close the matter, and it would be even worse if the rich men turned violent—a large, muscular man would be nearby to record the entire scene on video, and when that happened, the rich men would easily lose everything. As such, Ren Suo thought that it was better to take the necessary precautions.
Although Ren Suo thought that he was handsome, only his previous dormmates were charmed by him; he had no impact on girls.
Nonetheless, seeing that it was Gu Yueyan whom he had just met, Ren Suo could not help but dream—he heard that young girls like handsome older brothers…
However, Gu Yueyan said, “Ren Suo, you are the emergency doctor of Heavenly Institution of Lian, an Awakened Practitioner with a resuscitation-type Awakened Ability and average talent qualification. You were previously a member of the Countermeasure Division and prolonged the life of a colleague who was on the verge of death. You were transferred to the Heavenly Institution of Lianjiang as you are able to use ‘Heal’…”
Ren Suo was even more cautious now—how creepy, she managed to find out so much about me after just a short period of time?!
“… To sum up, although you have a certain level of talent, you do not Practice diligently, and you do not have the talent to further elevate your abilities,” Gu Yueyan said. She continued, “For Teacher Dong’s sake, I hope that you can keep a distance from her.”
Ren Suo was stunned. He asked, “… What has this got to do with Dong Chengling?”
Gu Yueyan said, “Teacher Dong was in an obviously happier mood today. Although I know that you have been eating with Teacher Dong previously, it appears that it is merely wishful thinking on your part, so I did not care. However, I did not expect that you actually made use of the opportunity to ‘feed’ Teacher Dong to get closer to her, and she even started liking you…”
Ren Suo remarked, “Saying that I ‘feed’ her is too…”
Gu Yueyan said, “I strongly agree with Teacher Dong’s mindset. As qualified and resilient Practitioners, the Institution is merely a small part of our lives. As for Teacher Ren, this should be your endpoint.”
“You enjoy this carefree life,” she added.
Ren Suo said, “… You’re right.”
Gu Yueyan continued, “In order for Teacher Dong to not be distracted by you any longer, you should not become her obstacle. If you are truly concerned for her, you should stay silently by the side and just watch her grow and achieve greater success… Do you understand what I am getting at? The one who should remain by Teacher Dong’s side should be me, someone, who shares the same aspirations as her…”
Ren Suo subconsciously took out his mobile phone and looked at it. On the screen was a student who looked as serious as Dong Chengling standing in front of him, but that student was obviously a scheming one. He suddenly asked, “If you like a person who is far more competent than you, what would you do? In what situation would you confess so that the confession would not negatively affect both parties?”
“Wait, what… Confess?” Gu Yueyan was stunned. She stuttered as she said, “Do adults progress so fast in their relationships? You two only met just a few days ago…”
Ren Suo waved his hand and said, “No, it’s just a question. Can you give me an answer?”
Gu Yueyan looked at Ren Suo seriously and said, “If I like a person who is far more capable than me, I will definitely find a way to catch up with him. But if I have to give an answer, the only time I would make such a confession that is ‘doomed’ from the very beginning, would only be when we part and were ‘never to meet again’. As we are ‘never to meet again’, the confession is merely a blessing, and there would be no negative impact.”
Gu Yueyan deliberately stressed some of her words, but Ren Suo was hit by a sudden epiphany. He grabbed Gu Yueyan’s shoulders and shook her lightly as he exclaimed, “High school students these days truly know a lot! Thank you so much, bye!”
Looking at Ren Suo leave so happily, Gu Yueyan was utterly confused with a “???” expression on her face.
“I have to ask Xianyu when I go back… Is this guy suffering from mental issues…” Gu Yueyan muttered to herself.
When Ren Suo returned home, he immediately started persuading Wen Junjie using what Gu Yueyan said. He changed the “confession” into “blessings”, and it really sparked some conscience in Wen Junjie. The young man who did not want to become an obstacle in the good girl’s future gained 20 Courage and 13 Warmth and proceeded to confess to her. Ren Suo successfully allowed the time in Wen Junjie’s memory to continue to pass.
[Wen Junjie’s hat has transformed successfully.]
[Wen Junjie’s hat: It is easier to “confess”.]
Ren Suo was slightly stunned when a message of the hat appeared after the Seeker placed Wen Junjie’s hat down. The hat now had a green glow.
After passing the trial of the red hat, Ren Suo was able to obtain more resources by letting the automated plot sequence run, and he could even attain the special effect after each time (which was about 30 minutes).
But it was already the 4th day—he had passed 7 trials of the hats, and 10 were left. It was a new day, and another hat appeared.
I shall clear the trial of the new hat first, the red hats are too tedious to clear.
[The Seeker dons Li Xuefu’s hat.]
——————
Li Dan emerged from a room in the research institute and sat at the lounge to wait until it was time for the inspection. But only two other members appeared.
“Was it Li Xuefu last night…” Li Dan asked, quickly recognizing the member who was not there. He said, “Is it not my turn yet…”
“You might be the last one, Li Dan,” Zhang Xuedao said as he extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray. He continued, “The one who longs for sleep the most would be the last one to fall asleep.”
“Relax,” Li Dan said emotionlessly. “You two should go down and prepare the food and wine. I will be there on time.”
“I just hope that when the side-dishes downstairs turn cold, we would not have to meet,” Zhang Xuedao said.
Liang De, the big-sized man, who had remained silent from the start, said blankly, “Even ‘Ren’ could not destroy that hat, what other choice do we have except to choose whether we fall asleep laughing or crying?”
“Don’t believe in that superstition, there must be a way out of this,” Zhang Xuedao retorted.
“I would rather believe in superstition now,” Liang De said with a sigh. He continued, “Would it be you, me, or him tomorrow? The research institute has not made any progress in their research, and there is no way we can escape this fate unless… a miracle happens.”