Chapter 142: Beloved 03

Chapter 142: Beloved 03

Confronted by the dazzling spectacle before him, Yu Bai almost thought he was dreaming.

But the heavy, icy sensation in his palm felt so real.

He blinked his eyes in a daze, then raised his head to look at his two human companions.

And there he saw Li Nanxiao and Qiao Jinli, who were usually mature and steady, blinking their eyes in disbelief as well.

...Alright then.

So it wasn't a dream or an illusion.

Li Nanxiao gasped in disbelief, "A pile of gems fell out of the bun?!"

Qiao Jinli's eyes widened with excitement, "It spat out so many gems! Clearly more than its original filling capacity! Could it be that inside is an endless space? That's too cool—"

Yes, this was a steaming cold gem-filled bun.

And the inside was bigger than the outside.

...

This was no longer the world of nonsensical cartoons; could we please have some logic here?!

Yu Bai, feeling complicated, sighed deeply and wanted to cover his face to calm himself down.

Unfortunately, his hands were occupied by the dazzling gems, leaving him no room to do so.

The light reflected off the gems in his pale palms, blindingly bright under the sun's rays. Even passersby walking by shielded their eyes instinctively from the glare, then curiously looked over.

Seeing this, Li Nanxiao suddenly snapped back to reality and quickly stepped forward, trying to block the prying eyes of others.

"Xiaobai, what's going on?"

"...I don't know, I want to ask," Yu Bai said helplessly, trying to recall what had happened earlier, "The last time I saw the ruined filling, it was countless fragments of deep blue, like a broken galaxy gathered together."

The gems flowing out of the bun now, although colorful, were mainly blue, in all sorts of shades, beautiful and magnificent, like a sky full of stars solidified and quietly docked in his palm.

"So," Yu Bai suppressed the urge to seek help from a certain surreal existence and tried to reason alone, "Could it be that the star dust in Wandi's belly sprouted and bore fruit?"

Li Nanxiao struggled to digest this absurd reasoning, "...Sprouted and bore fruit?"

Qiao Jinli quickly proposed a possibility favored by the otaku, "It might also be its way of pleasing you, like a dog that doesn't want to be abandoned by its owner, so it specially brings bones back for you. If these gems are real, they must be very valuable, right?"

It seemed reasonable.

After all, he had just wanted to settle accounts with Wandi, and Wandi had conveyed urgent apologies.

"It should be real."

With Wandi's abilities, creating a pile of precious gems out of thin air, which were rare to humans, didn't seem strange.

Yu Bai thought for a moment, "Moreover, they seem more beautiful than the gems I saw in the studio that day."

The last time he had seen so many precious gems was in the studio where Xie Wufang shot the jewelry advertisement.

That day, the jewels used as props not only had safes but also a group of bodyguards guarding them.

And now, he was holding more gems than that day, alone, making him feel somewhat at a loss.

Yu Bai pondered for a moment and looked at Li Nanxiao, "Uncle Li, does this count as unexpected wealth from heaven? Do I need to hand it over to the police?"

"...This, this." The police officer was somewhat lost, "Uh, probably not?"

Qiao Jinli strongly disagreed, "How can you hand it over to someone else? It will be heartbroken!"

Yu Bai: "..."

It wasn't a pitiful little dog, but a bun that acted recklessly!!

Yu Bai frowned and agonized for a while, then sighed again.

Forget it, he wouldn't turn it in.

Because they were indeed beautiful.

He was a bit reluctant to give them away.

Facing this sudden unexpected event, Yu Bai muttered to himself, "What should I do now?"

"How about this, put it in a box first, these gems are too eye-catching."

Under the curious gazes behind him, Li Nanxiao handed over the black square box originally intended for Wandi and asked worriedly, "Now that it suddenly produced a pile of gems, will there be other abnormalities later?"

After Yu Bai poured the gems in his hands into the box with a clatter, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head, "I'm not sure."

Xie Wufang probably wasn't sure either, because he had previously said that he couldn't predict Wandi's actions.

So he hadn't asked Him.

...Not because he was temporarily a bit afraid to talk to Him.

Absolutely not.

"If that's the case..." Li Nanxiao mused, "Then I think you should stay in a safe place as much as possible these few days, pay attention to its movements, and remember, don't show your wealth. Even if something like gems falling out happens again, it would be dangerous if you were outside."

Translated, it meant don't randomly take this thing out to harm the public or yourself, and stay home honestly with Wandi under house arrest.

Upon hearing this, Yu Bai hesitated.

If it were before, he would have definitely done as Uncle Li had suggested, fearing not the ten thousand possibilities but the one unlikely scenario.

But now...

The man who had remained silent all along watched his reaction with quiet intensity.

After a moment, Yu Bai nodded and said softly, "I'll keep an eye on it. After I return tonight, I won't go out for a few days."

But right now, he really wanted to avoid a certain neighbor just on the other side of the wall.

...Even if it was only for one night.

As his words fell, the faintly shimmering gray-blue eyes dimmed.

Seeing Yu Bai's awkward response, Li Nanxiao didn't push further. He glanced subtly at the person whose presence was strong despite his silence and reminded them again, "Just be careful then."

Yu Bai: "...Understood."

He was just going out for a meal!

No matter what Wandi might do, there was no way it could drag him into another dimension so soon. So there was no need to worry too much about safety.

In short, since the moment Earth exploded, his mind had been in turmoil, and he truly couldn't care less about these matters anymore.

"That said, I'm really tired after this trip, and a bit sleepy."

Yu Bai stuffed Wandi and the gemstone box into his backpack, adopting a 'what's done is done' attitude to escape. "I'm going home to sleep first. If anything comes up, get in touch. See you later!"

Accompanied by the sound of the gems rattling in the box, he slipped away without looking back or at anyone's expressions.

Bearing the scorching sun that felt like needles piercing his back, Yu Bai rushed into the residential area at top speed, took the elevator alone, returned home, and quickly closed the door.

The heavy sound of the door closing echoed in the cold and desolate hallway.

After the loud bang, the air grew even more eerily quiet.

And amidst it all, the loud thumping of his heart continued.

...It was so noisy.

Yu Bai ran into the bathroom for a shower, turned on the TV, drew all the curtains in the house, wrapped himself in a blanket, and buried himself in the soft sofa, only leaving his fluffy head and a hand holding the remote control to increase the volume of the TV exposed.

Until he could no longer hear the sound coming from deep within his chest.

Then, he began staring seriously at the TV program, not knowing what it was about.

And then, Yu Bai really fell asleep.

He was indeed exhausted.

And he simply didn't know what else to do.

Unconsciously, he fell into a series of surreal dreams.

In the dream, everything was bizarre and fantastical. There was the smooth and pleasant voice of the TV broadcast, whose content was unclear, colorful and dazzling gems rolling everywhere, and the continuous sound of rain...

And there was that word that should have never crossed paths with him, lingering faintly in the depths of the distant clouds, as if it would carve itself into his heart alongside the lightning, never to be erased.

He clearly wouldn't fall in love with anyone—

Boom.

Like falling from great heights into an abyss, Yu Bai woke up to a sudden sense of weightlessness, and the chaotic dream suddenly dissipated.

In the quiet living room, the clear sound of his phone ringing echoed.

Interrupted from his sleep, he rubbed his eyes in confusion and instinctively answered the call, saying drowsily, "…Hello?"

"Yu Bai, you haven't left yet, have you?"

The male voice on the other end paused after speaking, seemingly sensing something from his voice. "Did you just wake up?"

Still in a daze, Yu Bai responded instinctively, "Yeah, what's up?"

He hadn't realized who was on the other line yet.

"That's good," the person on the other end sighed in relief and said earnestly, "The weather isn't good, so you shouldn't come out."

The weather isn't good, don't come out?

Holding the phone, Yu Bai walked to the window and casually pulled aside the curtain, only to see the sky outside was dark, with torrential rain and thunderstorms raging. The trees in the residential area swayed violently in the wind and rain, and the howling wind could be heard even through the glass. It was almost like the end of the world.

At some point, the originally clear city sky had been replaced by a violent storm with thunder and lightning, forcing people indoors.

...So the sound of rain and lightning wasn't entirely a dream.

With his head still muddled, Yu Bai gradually came to his senses, remembering the previous arrangement and realizing that the caller was Zheng Zhiyu.

He hadn't expected the weather to turn like this, as if even the heavens were preventing him from keeping his appointment tonight.

Forget it, this kind of weather really wasn't suitable for going out.

His plan to evade had been thwarted halfway.

"So we'll just—"

Yu Bai was about to cancel the appointment as suggested when he heard the other party hesitate for a moment before preemptively saying, "I've already met with Old Yan, and it just so happens that we're near your place."

"Why don't we bring some food over to your house? You'll have to eat dinner anyway, and with this weather, there's no way you can order takeout."

...True, with the heavy rain, what would he eat for dinner?

This proposition sounded quite tempting.

So Yu Bai didn't immediately refuse but said, "Wouldn't it be too... for you guys to come over?"

"It wouldn't be any trouble."

Seeing that he wasn't being rejected, the other party's words carried a hint of amusement, his tone certain as he said, "Then it's settled. See you in a bit. I'll hang up first."

"Ah? Oh... see you in a bit."

The receiver transmitted a tone that seemed to brook no refusal. Yu Bai put down his phone and stared at the screen after the call ended, scratching his messy hair, still a little dazed from sleep.

Then, he snapped fully awake.

Wait, what did this guy just say?

Instead of going out to eat, they were coming to his house?!

A chill ran down Yu Bai's spine, electrifying him, and with an incredulous look, he turned his head stiffly to stare at the wall beside him.

And at the neighbor who, though unseen at the moment, certainly existed.

...on the other side of that wall.

...

Great, the forbidden thrill of secretly meeting with another company's HR behind his boss's back had intensified.

Because his boss was right next door!!!