***
Bonus chapter! Thank you to Chocco for the donation! ^^
***
After Ning Su left, Ling Xiao still didn't understand.
What was he happy about? Happy that he existed?
At the thought of this possibility, the only nerve that existed in his physical form twitched.
The frayed nerve once again appeared in his hand. He stared at this twitching nerve for a long time.
After learning about the alternate story that originally belonged to Ning Changfeng and Shi Tianzhu, Ning Su looked forward to this gathering even more.
Before, whenever he saw Shi Tianzhu and Ning Changfeng, he would feel anxious, genuinely believing that their past together might have been an accident, and that it was unlikely for them to be together now.
But he no longer thought that way.
He was very confident that Shi Tianzhu and Ning Changfeng would come together through mutual admiration and affection.
He would soon be able to call her "Mom."
***
A happy Ning Su couldn't stay in bed early in the morning. He got up early to prepare for the afternoon gathering, giving his small courtyard a thorough cleaning.
After finishing, there was still plenty of time. Remembering what Manman had said yesterday, Ning Su decided to go to Yinhua Primary School ahead of time to quietly check on the situation.
In the game world, where tomorrow's survival is uncertain, running a school isn't as structured as in the real world. There are no kindergartens or preschools—just a primary school that starts from the basics and teaches all the useful knowledge for the entire elementary level.
Other children could come to class as they pleased, but Gui Sheng and Manman were different. They had missed some lessons due to entering a dungeon.
Manman was smart, and Ning Su wasn't worried about her studies at all. What worried him was Manman's interaction with others.
Gui Sheng's studies were his concern—the child was already slow to react and had missed several days of class.
Ning Su quietly appeared outside the classroom window, peeking in like a stern homeroom teacher.
There were only about ten children in the classroom, so the teacher could easily teach each one individually.
Today, a gentle female player was serving as the teacher, and they were having a math lesson.
After reviewing Manman's homework, she was very satisfied. "Excellent! Manman should be at about a third-grade level now."
Manman said calmly, "Thank you, teacher. You've worked hard."
Gui Sheng proudly lifted his little head. "Sister is the smartest!"
The teacher reached out her hand. "Then let me take a look at little brother Gui Sheng's homework."
Gui Sheng: "Huh?"
His little head drooped again.
Ning Su: "..."
The gentle female teacher knew to protect the children's fragile self-esteem and dignity. "Alright, I won't look at Gui Sheng's homework. Instead, I'll ask a few simple questions to see how your math learning is progressing lately."
Teacher: "What's one plus one?"
Gui Sheng: "Equals two!"
The teacher nodded with satisfaction. "What's one plus two?"
Gui Sheng: "Equals three!"
Teacher: "Then what's two plus three?"
Gui Sheng hesitated a bit.
The teacher gently guided him, "If you can't remember right away, you can count."
"Make a little fist, first extend two fingers, then extend the remaining three fingers, and count how many there are in total."
Gui Sheng lowered his head, counted on his little fingers, then obediently looked up at the teacher and said, "Four! Equals four!"
Ning Su: "..."
The teacher said patiently, "Gui Sheng, count again."
Gui Sheng counted once more. "It's four!"
Teacher: "How could it be four? Take your hand out slowly and count one by one."
Gui Sheng raised his grayish-white little hand. Four small fingers grew unevenly on his palm like little sprouts, while the other one was nowhere to be found, leaving only a gap.
Teacher: "..."
Ning Su: "..."
Gui Sheng straightened all the fingers on his left hand, carefully pointing at each one with his right index finger as he counted for the teacher. "One, two, three, four. Teacher, it's four!"
Ning Su: "........."
Manman looked around, picked up a little finger from the ground, and pressed it onto his hand. "Five."
Gui Sheng counted again, astonished. "It's five!"
Teacher: "........."
Ning Su apologized to the teacher. "Gui Sheng has been malnourished since he was in the womb, so he's a bit fragile and a little forgetful sometimes. But he doesn't have any bad intentions. Please don’t question your brief teaching career. When facing these children growing up in the game base, aren’t we all just feeling our way along in education?"
Teacher: "..."
There's just too much to unpack here, I don't even know where to start.
Gui Sheng trailed behind Ning Su, his little head hung low.
Manman comforted him, "Little Brother Gui Sheng believes in seeing is believing. He values practical experience."
Ning Su: "..."
Gui Sheng cheered up a little. "What's practical experience?"
Had he really been focused on some high-level concept without even knowing it?
Ning Su: "..."
Ning Su ruffled his hair. "Practical experience is a very great thing. It's the opposite of just hearing about something from others. It means doing and changing things for yourself."
Gui Sheng happily: "Ah~"
When Shi Tianzhu came downstairs and saw how happy Gui Sheng was, she asked him, "Gui Sheng, you're so happy. Did you do very well at school today?"
Gui Sheng: "Yeah!"
Ning Su: "."
When he went to pick up the two kids and Shi Tianzhu to go home, Ning Changfeng and Ling Xiao had already arrived.
Ning Changfeng had the key Ning Su had given him. He opened the door and invited Ling Xiao in first. The two of them were setting out dishes on the table in the small courtyard.
Ling Xiao was wearing a shirt again today, his most common type: an abyssally black one. Its deep, dark hue immediately made one think of hellish, underworld spaces.
As he set out the dishes, his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. His cold, pale skin starkly contrasted with and seemed to split apart the darkness, much like his own inner world—using darkness as a vessel, yet filled with pure white memories.
He noticed Ning Su the moment he arrived, immediately lifting his gaze to look over.
Ning Su felt his gaze land on his face, then quickly drop to his collar.
Ning Su: "..."
No tie.
Was he really supposed to wear a tie embroidered with his own name in front of his parents?
Wouldn't that be a bit... stimulating?
Wait, stimulating how? Why would it be stimulating?
Ning Su's mind suddenly echoed with the words Dark Ling Xiao had said to him.
"A twisted sense of possession."
"Are we in a relationship?"
Ning Su walked over to Ling Xiao's side, opening his mouth only to close it again, then finally saying, "You're acting a bit strange today."
Ling Xiao: "?"
Ning Su: "You've changed. You're not even dressing properly anymore."
Ling Xiao: "..."
Ning Changfeng: "What nonsense are you spouting? I think you're the one acting strange today!"
Ning Su: "..."
Ning Su rolled up his sleeves and went off to cook.
He had promised to personally cook for Shi Tianzhu. Even though Ning Changfeng had brought plenty of delicious food, Ning Su still personally prepared several dishes.
Shi Tianzhu couldn't cook at all, and neither could Ling Xiao.
As Ning Su cooked, Ning Changfeng assisted him. Shi Tianzhu and Ling Xiao offered to help but were politely declined, so the two stood by the window talking.
They had been in a dungeon together, but hadn't had much chance to speak during the game.
The current top-ranked player in the game base, the leader of the number one guild, Silver Birch, and Ning Su's mother, said to Ling Xiao, "I saw you when I was a child. I don't know if you still remember?"
Ling Xiao: "..."
Ning Su: "..."
Ning Changfeng's knife paused mid-chop as he sensed something off. He whispered to Ning Su, "Ling Xiao is my friend. Isn't it inappropriate for Shi Tianzhu to speak to him like he's an elder? Wouldn't that mess up the generational order?"
Ning Su: "..."
He didn't know how to answer that question.
But one thing was certain: "The generational order is indeed messed up."
