Chapter 54

Chapter 54

◎ An Outlet for Emotions. ◎

The live-in housekeeper had left, and Ren Suiyi was gone too. The four-bedroom, two-living-room apartment suddenly felt empty. Meng Qi lay on the sofa staring at the ceiling, thinking that if he shouted right now, he might actually hear an echo.

This apartment was really big, and exceptionally comfortable. The central air conditioning maintained a steady temperature of around 25-26 degrees Celsius—not too hot or cold, not stuffy or humid. It felt perfect. Compared to the sweltering heat outside, it was like living in a place with eternal spring.

This was his dream home, infinitely better than that tiny, dilapidated room he remembered with only a creaky, oscillating floor fan... It had even been a life goal he'd set for himself in the past.

For three years in high school, he studied relentlessly. He answered exam questions meticulously during the college entrance exam and carefully wrote down his desired university on the application form. All of this was his effort to achieve that goal.

Of course, what kept him going was the thought of his grandparents. He pushed himself relentlessly to achieve his goal, wanting his grandparents to live a good life with him, free from constant hardship and struggle.

Putting aside whether things were good or bad now, it seemed his goal had been achieved, even surpassed. How wonderful it would be if his grandparents were here with him now.

But on second thought, maybe it wasn't so great. If his grandparents were here, although they wouldn't have to struggle for a living, they would have to worry and work themselves to the bone to keep him alive. Stress takes a greater toll than hard work. He couldn't bear to let his grandparents suffer that for him.

Meng Qi had no idea what he was even thinking about. Ever since Ren Suiyi left, his mind hadn't stopped, thoughts swirling chaotically without any order. In the end, tears streamed down his face.

Loneliness brings on tears, easily making the tears flow.

Meng Qi raised his hand to wipe his face, trying to dry the tears, but fresh ones immediately welled up, impossible to wipe away completely.

If only someone could talk to him right now, help distract him. As he thought this, he suddenly felt something moving on the top of his foot—a cool, slippery sensation, oddly pleasant and unpleasant at the same time. Startled, he jerked his right foot onto the sofa. After catching his breath, he dared to look down.

Oh my god, Meng Lingzhi had escaped!

How did it get out of such a tall glass tank? Did it fly? That was just bizarre. Meng Qi looked down at Meng Lingzhi, then turned to look at its glass tank, utterly baffled about how it managed to escape.

However, thanks to Meng Lingzhi's interruption, Meng Qi successfully snapped himself out of his funk. Seeing Meng Lingzhi determinedly trying to climb up his left pant leg, its silly, clumsy appearance growing more adorable the more he looked, he couldn't help but open his camera and take a bunch of photos of it.

After he was done taking pictures and admiring them, he still wasn't satisfied. He wanted to post them on social media to brag about his well-behaved pet to others. But thinking of the list of familiar strangers in his WeChat contacts, he quickly dismissed the idea.

After some thought, Meng Qi finally chose to download a brand-new video app from the app store. After registering an account, he posted the video of Meng Lingzhi.

The caption read: It knows I'm sad, so it's comforting me in its own way.

He originally just wanted a place to show off his pet. To his surprise, in no time at all, many people left comments:

——: The world can't be without turtles! I love turtles! Here, let me show you mine. .jpg

——: Such a cute turtle! May I ask what its name is? I'd like to know it~

——: Reply to the above, the one in the video seems to be a softshell turtle, not a turtle. Was the OP tricked by the aquarium? "Puzzled"

——: What's the difference between turtles and softshell turtles? They're both precious, no discrimination against softshell turtles allowed! Besides, maybe the OP just likes softshell turtles, right, OP?

——: Are those Chanel limited edition slippers? They look so familiar "Star-eyed"

Meng Qi paused, looking down at the slippers on his feet. So they were brand-name?

But he really hadn't paid attention to whether these shoes were branded or what brand they were, because he never thought slippers needed to be brand-name.

Well, the bigger reason might be that how these slippers felt on his feet wasn't much different from the pairs he used to buy for a few bucks. That's why he hadn't noticed their specialness.

But once noticed, it was noticed.

Meng Qi shook his left foot and continued looking down at Meng Lingzhi, still diligently climbing.

Not bad, Meng Lingzhi's charm was greater. It had gained fans so quickly.

Meng Qi replied to a few comments under the video, not mentioning Meng Lingzhi's name, only saying it was indeed a softshell turtle, one that was almost braised.

Then he watched as the follower count on his newly registered video account skyrocketed from 0 to over 1300, and it was still growing when he turned off his phone. Some came for Meng Lingzhi, some for his kindness, and perhaps some for his slippers. It was quite amusing.

After browsing his phone, he picked up Meng Lingzhi, put it back in the glass tank, and fed it a few turtle pellets. When it shook its head to avoid the food offered to its mouth, he stopped feeding it and went to feed Ren Baizhi instead.

Speaking of this Ren Baizhi, it was cute, even quirky and clever. Meng Qi liked it too. But because its ownership didn't lie with him, Meng Qi had mixed feelings of affection and resentment towards it. Feeding it was rather depressing; the face of its true owner, Ren Suiyi, would always appear before his eyes...

But not feeding it wasn't an option either...

The conclusion was, he really was raising a little ancestor.

Although he had a plan to renovate the room, ideas were one thing, action was another. Meng Qi temporarily had neither the mood nor the time to turn his ideas into action. He could only tidy up the things in the room for now, clearing out a space for reading and writing.

Right now, it was the university exam week that Kuang Hui had mentioned.

He had learned all the key and difficult points Kuang Hui talked about last time. Additionally, he had read through the notes Kuang Hui left him from start to finish. He understood most of it, and marked the parts he didn't understand. This afternoon, he planned to tackle those marked knowledge points again, trying to see if he could figure them out.

The reality was he overestimated himself. Not only did he not figure them out, but he also ended up falling asleep over them.

When he woke up, the city lights were already on. Looking out the window, he could see the hurried figures of people returning home at night.

Because someone was waiting for them at home, they walked briskly, and gladly so.

Not like him, from morning till night, he could only keep company with an empty room. No one waited for him, and he had no one to wait for.

If only his grandparents were here...

Just as he thought this, that cool sensation returned to his foot. This time, Meng Qi wasn't startled. Instead, he called out Meng Lingzhi's name while looking down.

Sure enough, Meng Lingzhi had escaped again.

"You're amazing, Meng Lingzhi. You found me even when I'm here." Meng Qi bent down to pick up Meng Lingzhi, holding it in his hand for a closer look, wondering if this little guy really had invisible wings.

Of course, it didn't. After the founding of the People's Republic, animals couldn't become spirits, and it was impossible anyway.

"How on earth did you climb out of such a tall tank? Can you teleport?" Meng Qi rubbed his right cheek, which had gone slightly numb from being pressed, against his shoulder. Then he stood up, holding Meng Lingzhi, and walked towards the living room, chatting with it along the way. "Why did you come all this way to find me instead of playing with Ren Baizhi? Are you hungry? Or do you just not like Ren Baizhi?"

"Let me tell you, it was specially bought to keep you company. You should try to accept it. You can't bully it just because you're much bigger. Even though I don't like its owner, problems between humans shouldn't affect the relationship between you turtles. So you can go play with it; I won't mind."

Meng Lingzhi blinked its bean-sized eyes, tilting its pointed head to look at Meng Qi.

Meng Qi smiled and said, "Do you like Ren Baizhi's diamond tank? If you like it, nod your head. Even if I have to sell the pots and pans, I'll get you one. Our turtle family shouldn't be raised differently; what it has, you should have too."

Given the status and position of "Meng Qi" in the book, buying a tank like that probably wouldn't require selling pots and pans. Maybe he had a friend, or a friend of a friend who owned an aquarium, who could give him one. Meng Qi thought ruefully, but didn't dare voice his thoughts to Meng Lingzhi. He was afraid he might actually need to sell the pots and pans...

Meng Lingzhi didn't nod or shake its head, just kept staring at Meng Qi, blinking its eyes, as if it could really understand what he was saying.

This made Meng Qi much happier. He chattered away with Meng Lingzhi for a long time, only stopping when they reached Ren Baizhi's diamond tank. Then, together with Meng Lingzhi, he looked at Ren Baizhi, who was sleeping—or perhaps sleeping—on a green gemstone inside.

Unsure if Ren Baizhi was asleep, Meng Qi softly called its name twice. Hearing his voice, Ren Baizhi actually poked its head out of its shell to look at him.

The moment those eyes, with a ring of white like light bulbs, shone brightly towards him, Meng Qi felt as if he'd been jolted by electricity. Suddenly, the more he looked at the little creature, the more pleasing it became. So he said to Meng Lingzhi, "Hey, look, it's actually quite good-looking, isn't it?"

Meng Lingzhi wiggled its limbs in response, though it was unclear whether it was agreement or disagreement.

Then Meng Qi placed Meng Lingzhi into the diamond tank, next to Ren Baizhi. He took out his phone, snapped a couple of photos of this "friendship across ages," selected the best ones, and posted them on the video app.

The caption reads: "Living together in the same tank, two little ones, thick as thieves."

Sorry, Meng Lingzhi, you'll have to play the part of the innocent young thing for once.

After feeding the two turtles, one big and one small, Meng Qi checked the video app again and found many more comments, each one dropping punchlines, which was particularly amusing, and it made Meng Qi laugh.

—: Yo, algorithm, where have you taken me? Someone actually uses diamonds to raise turtles? Is this something someone with a 45k salary should even be seeing? "Scared"

—: Buddy, with *that* money, let's not even talk annual salary... Here with my 98-a-day wage, watching with zero fear!

—: Pops, you still need help over there? Let me help you raise the turtles! No pay, no need to feed me, just let me keep any diamonds that fall off. "Pleading"

—: Upstairs, I can hear your scheming from here. Please compensate me with diamonds, or I won't forgive you. "Angry"

—: Is that blue stone aquamarine? That stuff is super expensive, that goes for 500 grams a pop!

—: If blue is aquamarine, then what about green? Tourmaline or emerald? "Confused"

—: Don't know what the blue or green ones are, but I can confirm that yellow one is raw amber, because I have an identical piece at home. "Proud face"

—: Alright, alright, finally found a rich person's account. Gotta follow right away, my ticket into the upper class, secured~~

—: This big snapping turtle and little swamp turtle really hit the jackpot with their reincarnation. So jealous. "Drooling"

—: Please, OP, don't stop. Keep up the update frequency. Thanks, I want to see how rich people raise turtles.

—: Blocking this account manually. Can't let my turtle see it. I'm afraid it'll disown me. "Humble"

—: Dogs don't despise a poor home.

—: But I'm not raising a dog, I'm raising a turtle. Thanks.

Meng Qi: ...

Watching it felt like catching a live online talk show. Meng Qi found an emotional outlet here, and his mood improved a lot. Because of this, he really did have the idea to continue updating.

"Author's Note"

Oh my god! Who understands the feeling of seeing ten bottles of nutrient solution while walking in the dark night?!!!!!!! I'm so excited! Thank you, thank you, my treasure!!!!!!!!!! Mua~~~~~~~

Thank you all so much for your support. I will continue to work hard!