Chapter 159

Chapter 159

017 humbly accepted the proposal from the luminous cluster.

"Thank you, I'll give it a try when I get back."

"No big deal," the luminous cluster replied. "Well, I gotta go."

"Wait—"

As soon as the luminous cluster finished speaking, it vanished from 017's sight.

017 felt a twinge of regret. Running into this system colleague twice at the transit center was pretty rare. He had wanted to ask for the other’s ID number.

Shortly after, he headed to the service point and picked up some desserts and cat toys.

"Zero Eight, can we add cakes to the exchange list at the service point? My host is about to celebrate a birthday soon."

Zero Eight paused, then said, "I’ll think about it."

017 nodded. "Thanks."

A few days later, Lou Sheng landed a decent tutoring gig thanks to his solid grades in Beiyang over the past year.

*

He asked to be paid daily, which caught the parents off guard. They were surprised that, despite his age, he didn’t hesitate to talk money. Most kids his age would be too shy to ask for that.

Lou Sheng’s request was fair, and the parents eventually gave in.

Two days before Lunar New Year, Lou Sheng got an unexpected call.

When he saw the caller’s name, his face stayed blank, and he hung up without a second thought.

Two minutes later, the phone rang again, but Lou Sheng still didn’t pick up.

017 asked, "Why’d you ignore that?"

"It’s last year’s boss. I’m not in the mood to talk."

About thirty minutes later, they tried again for the third time.

After letting it ring for thirty seconds, Lou Sheng finally picked up, frowning.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

Whatever they said, Lou Sheng’s face suddenly went blank.

"Today?"

After he hung up, 017 asked, "What’s up?"

"They said they’re gonna pay me for last year’s lessons..." Lou Sheng furrowed his brow, puzzled.

A sudden change of heart? Lou Sheng wasn’t buying it.

"Really?" 017’s voice perked up a bit.

He realized that the system colleague’s approach had actually worked.

It was the tenth day that 017 had been playing horror movies at Lou Sheng's former employer's house, and it worked in less than half a month. At first, 017 was worried about scaring them, so he took it slow.

That night, Lou Sheng went over to his former employer's house.

Both adults were there.

When the female employer saw Lou Sheng, she shuddered, her face pale.

She carefully listed all the lessons from the previous year and paid Lou Sheng every penny owed.

Four thousand five hundred in total—a huge sum for Lou Sheng back then.

"Take a look and see if anything’s off."

The couple looked awful, with dark circles under their eyes, like they hadn’t slept in days. Lou Sheng, already uneasy, frowned harder at the sight.

He took the list from the woman, did the math in his head, and said, "It’s fine."

They let out a sigh of relief.

The husband explained, "We had an accident at home last year, so we had to put off paying you."

An accident? Lou Sheng didn’t buy it.

The way they’d shamelessly refused to pay before didn’t match up with "had no choice."

"Times are tough, don’t take it personally," the husband said with a forced smile as he walked Lou Sheng out.

Lou Sheng didn’t say a word, turned, and left. The two watched him leave, still shaken, and collapsed as soon as the door shut.

...

"017, did you do something to them?"

"..."

017 was too embarrassed to admit he’d been going to their house every day for the past ten days to play horror movies...

It felt wrong.

When 017 stayed quiet, Lou Sheng didn’t push, already knowing the answer.

With a thick stack of cash in hand, he suddenly felt like buying something.

Lou Sheng took the bus to the busiest part of Beiyang City, wandering aimlessly around the fancy mall, his steps slowing until he finally stopped.

017 asked, "What’s up?"

—Nothing much.

Lou Sheng realized he’d impulsively come here wanting to buy 017 a gift.

But it was impossible—017 couldn’t receive a gift.

"Just wandering around," Lou Sheng said.

When he got home, the once dusty gray cat had transformed, its fur clean and back to its pure white.

Lou Sheng had taken advantage of the hot midday sun a couple of days ago to give it a bath. In just over ten days, the previously skinny cat's belly had started to fill out a bit.

It had grown a bit closer to Lou Sheng recently and was finally willing to come out from under the bed. At first, it wouldn’t let Lou Sheng touch it, but Lou Sheng bribed it with a few dried fish and lured it into his arms. After being held once, it stopped resisting.

The white cat was curled up in its cat bed and looked up as Lou Sheng walked in.

"Dinner time, stinky cat," Lou Sheng tapped its cat bowl.

Only then did it budge, immediately trotted over, and nuzzled affectionately against Lou Sheng’s pant leg, letting out a couple of meows.

"Aren’t you going to name it?" 017 asked.

For the past week or so, Lou Sheng had been calling it things like "stinky cat" or "dumb cat."

017 worried the cat might think its name was "stinky cat," and it would be hard to change later if it got a new name.

Lou Sheng thought about it and nodded.

He thought for less than two seconds and came up with a name: "What about ‘Fortune’?"

017: "Sure."

"Nah, that’s too cheesy."

017: "...Didn’t you come up with it?"

"I just threw it out there, why do you go along with everything?"

"..."

Lou Sheng said, "You’re the expert, you name it."

"Me?"

"Yeah."

017 was silent for a while.

"Well, how about ‘Chang Sheng’?"

"Chang Sheng?" Lou Sheng laughed, "It’s not any better than mine."

017 also realized it was a bit tacky and chuckled, "You should come up with one."

"No," Lou Sheng lowered his eyes, looking at the white ball of fur by his calf, "Fine, we’ll go with Chang Sheng."

Lou Chang Sheng.

017’s mood suddenly felt a bit strange. His host was so easygoing... why did he just go along with it?

*

Lou Sheng’s birthday was shortly after the Spring Festival.

On this day, Lou Sheng had gone out to teach his students for the whole day, and when he returned home, he caught a faint sweet scent.

His gaze instinctively went to the table, and sure enough, he saw a large white box with a ribbon tied into a bow.

Chang Sheng had jumped onto the table at some point, its belly noticeably rounder these days, and its paws kept scratching at the box. Unfortunately, its strength was limited, leaving only a few scratches on the surface.

The box was opaque, and Lou Sheng couldn’t see what was inside. "What’s this?"

017 didn’t respond.

Lou Sheng suddenly recalled something, glanced at the date on his phone, and pressed his lips together.

He put down his backpack, set Chang Sheng down, and opened the box on the table.

Upon opening it, the sweet, milky scent grew stronger.

There it was—his birthday cake. Next to it sat a "17"-shaped candle for his seventeenth birthday.

Lou Sheng didn’t mention this was his first birthday celebration.

Lou Sheng’s gaze dropped as he said, "How does the service point stock everything?"

"If you need anything, I can request it from the service point," 017 replied. "Happy birthday, little host."

Lou Sheng stayed quiet for a while.

Chang Sheng tugged at Lou Sheng’s pant leg, and seeing that his owner wasn’t paying attention, leapt onto the table.

He wasn’t after the cake, just curious, peering into the cake box.

After a few curious looks, Chang Sheng was about to reach out his paw to grab the two strawberries on top when Lou Sheng suddenly grabbed him by the scruff.

Lou Sheng declared, "This is mine."

He stared at his cake, wishing he could snap a photo. He wished he’d gotten a smartphone, even a used one.

Lou Sheng looked at it for a long time, as if memorizing every detail of the cake.

"017…"

"Little host?"

Lou Sheng wasn’t sure why he called 017’s name—it just happened.

He lit the candle, gazing at it as he made a wish.

017 wanted to laugh.

Little host, you’re supposed to close your eyes when making a wish.

"017, when will you leave?"

"…Do you want me to leave?"

"Of course not. I’m just asking, how long will you stay?"

"Probably until the day you no longer need me."

That meant staying forever. Lou Sheng curved his lips, the candlelight flickering in his eyes.

He heard his own heartbeat, abnormally fast. Lou Sheng still didn’t understand what it meant.

The cake 017 brought back was eight inches—service point cakes only came in eight inches, and it was something Zero Eight had just added recently.

Lou Sheng couldn’t possibly eat it all by himself. Birthday cakes are meant to be shared with family and friends. Now, there was only one person, one cat, and one system at home, and Lou Sheng was the only one who could eat it.

017 suggested, "Share it with the neighbors?"

"No."

"Huh? Can you finish it all?"

"I can't."

Lou Sheng held onto his cake box.

He couldn't finish it, but this was something he didn't want to share with anyone.

He said, "It's cold out, so it should keep until tomorrow."

017: "It's better not to keep it overnight. Besides, birthday cakes are best shared with others."

Lou Sheng lowered his eyes and reluctantly cut off a third of his cake, giving it to the middle-aged couple living next door.

The woman who answered the door was pleasantly surprised by Lou Sheng's cake.

They expressed their gratitude...

The couple owned a restaurant. They had just returned from their hometown after Chinese New Year, speaking with a charming, accented Mandarin. To show their thanks, they gave Lou Sheng some local specialties they'd brought back.

Just by sharing a cake, people who had never even greeted each other before suddenly became friendly.

Because Lou Sheng was young, the couple treated him warmly, making a pot of stew and giving him a big bowl. They were incredibly warm and welcoming.

Lou Sheng headed back to his place with the steaming stew and local treats, feeling a little overwhelmed.

Chang Sheng caught the scent of the meat and came over to nuzzle him.

Lou Sheng cradled it with one arm and polished off the rest of his cake while enjoying the hot stew.