Chapter 3 – Laughter and Victory – Jian Mei

After sending this message, Lu xing wang decisively blocked and deleted the person.

The medicine given by the Healing Priest could only quickly suppress toxins but couldn’t alleviate the pain of the poison spreading. The sunlight outside the window gradually slanted westward. He sat on the ground, cold sweat soaking through his clothes. The young man lowered his head, exerted force in his legs, trying to stand up, but he only managed to create a small distance between him and the ground.

His black robe fell heavily back to the ground, and his body felt so weak as if his bones had been disassembled and rearranged. This body was incredibly frail.

Even without looking in the mirror, he could imagine how wretched and miserable he looked right now. The warm yellow sunlight was within reach not far away, but he could only sit in the shadow, silently watching the light recede inch by inch.

“Ding!”

The sound of a message notification broke the silence.

Lu xingwang raised his eyes and was surprised to find that the account he had blocked and deleted had somehow reappeared and was continuously sending him messages. Out of curiosity about this unexpected turn of events, he opened the message:

“You’re really alive!”

“Thank goodness, you scared me QAQ”

“Are you the owner of the phone?”

“I saw you on WeChat, so I decided to send you a message!”

Phone? WeChat?

Lu xingwang furrowed his brow almost imperceptibly. His dark eyes were calm, dismissing these unfamiliar terms and focusing on the core question: [Who are you?]

The security level of his information terminal was S+ grade, so it was impossible for a strange account to appear. Moreover, the notification sound of this message was something that only occurred when someone of immediate family importance sent a message. Eliminating the possibility of being poisoned and hallucinating, it could only mean that there was an extraordinary person with special divine powers capable of breaking through his established security defenses.

However,

Why would the other party do this? Whose person are they? The Crown Prince or the Second Prince, or perhaps someone from another faction testing him?

He certainly didn’t expect the other party to honestly answer. They went to great lengths to invade his information terminal, so it couldn’t be just to exchange a few meaningless words. Clearly, they were reluctant to reveal their identity. If they were truly a cunning opponent, they would most likely try to conceal themselves from now on.

“Ding”

The sound of a reply message came at this moment.

Lu xingwang’s thoughts settled, and a sarcastic smile formed at the corner of his mouth. He opened the message and read the words that appeared before his eyes:

“Hello, my name is Jian Mei.”

“I’m from San Taishan, Xiao Zhang Village.”

“What about you?”

…

The air fell into a deathly silence.

Perhaps because the other person didn’t follow the usual script, Lu Xingwang was momentarily taken aback. Moreover, it was too easy for the other person to disclose their own background without any familiarity between them. Either they were genuinely naive or highly skilled and unafraid of exposure. However, he quickly regained his composure and didn’t answer the question. Instead, he counter-questioned, “How did you get my account information?”

Even if their methods were extremely clever, it would be extremely difficult to provide a convincing and rational explanation.

Even if the excuse was absurd, could one possibly claim that their account appeared out of thin air in his hands?

“Ding!”

The other person’s response came quickly:

“Oh my, you might not believe it when I say this, but your account mysteriously appeared at the top of my WeChat!”

“I was wondering why someone’s account would be completely blank.”

“I got quite a fright. Luckily, you’re alive. Hehe.”

…

Lu Xingwang stared fixedly at the words on the message panel, and even the veins on his forehead twitched. If it were said that Lu Wei had gone to great lengths but failed to catch his attention, then the person in front of him effortlessly achieved it. Leaning against the wall, the elegantly dressed youth paused for a moment before chuckling. After reading those words, he was actually amused by Jian Mei’s words.

“Are you still there?”

Another new message came through.

“Are you the owner of the phone?” he asked. “Because your contact information is the only one here.”

The room was quiet for a long time. Lu Xingwang sat up and replied, “No,” he said. “You’ve got the wrong person.”

Perhaps because this reason was truly absurd, with incomprehensible terms and an absurd timing, even the appearance of Jian Mei himself was absurd. But recently, his life had experienced so many absurd things. With his already messed up days, what difference would a few more absurd incidents make?

The pain from the poison gradually subsided because of Jian Mei’s interruption. His initial resolute and extreme thoughts also gradually settled down. Although it might have been accidental, this person unexpectedly helped him get through a difficult time.

“From now on, don’t easily give your information to strangers,” he typed as he pressed the block and delete buttons.

Regardless of whether the other person was genuinely foolish or pretending to be, he couldn’t be bothered and didn’t want to deal with it. After all, they wouldn’t meet again from this point on.

On the other side,

Jian Mei looked at the advice sent by the other person with some surprise. He didn’t expect this person to speak in such a cold manner, but deep down, they were unexpectedly kind to give him advice. However, if he wasn’t the owner, then whose phone was it? Or rather, who would buy such a strange phone?

Just now, he took a look and found that this phone didn’t have an app store. It didn’t even have basic internet browsing software. The entire phone, apart from basic functions and an empty WeChat, was simply unusable by any normal person.

While Jian Mei was contemplating, a pop-up window suddenly appeared in the previously blank WeChat chat window. The golden pop-up box displayed the words: “Daily mission completed. Please click to claim the reward.”

?

Jian Mei’s round eyes widened, staring at the pop-up window in disbelief. Unconsciously, he clicked to claim the reward.

The pop-up window flashed and changed to a new interface:

Daily mission settlement:

• Exchange more than five messages with him successfully √

• Accumulate sending 50 messages √

Below the pop-up window, there were ten shiny little gold coins that could be claimed. Jian Mei clicked to claim them, and the pop-up window automatically switched from WeChat to a large shopping page, asking, “Congratulations on receiving ten gold coins. You can now unlock application software.”

!!!

Jian Mei looked at the shopping page that the system had opened for him in shock. It was filled with various applications, including the most popular games he had heard of and some with unfamiliar names that seemed intriguing. It was a wide range of unheard-of software.

However…

The download buttons for these software are all gold coins.

Even the cheapest music software requires 10 gold coins to download and install!

Jian Mei let out a sigh. This world is too magical. What exactly are those strange tasks? What makes these software so special that they require gold coins to download?

“What a strange phone…”

Once you click on the pop-up, there’s no way back, and there’s no chance to ask Lu Xingwang. Jian Mei had no choice but to randomly select a music software to download and try it out. The download and installation of this software were quick, and when he opened it, it was no different from the music software on his own phone. Just when he thought that the software he downloaded for 10 gold coins was nothing special, he unexpectedly discovered…

All the songs downloaded from here can be listened to for free!

And you can find any song you want!

There are even some songs in languages he doesn’t understand on the homepage charts, surpassing his imagination in terms of the size of the music library.

Jian Mei: “Is this for real?”

He tried clicking on the download, and the system immediately displayed a pop-up message: “Sorry, your balance is insufficient. Please complete more tasks to unlock this software.”

?!

Jian Mei was stunned as he held his phone. Just when he was shocked, he heard his mother’s voice from downstairs: “Mei Mei, come downstairs. It’s time to eat!”

Jian Mei replied and quickly put down his phone, running downstairs, saying, “Coming, coming.”

The aroma of the food filled the air downstairs, whetting his appetite. Jian Mei saw the cooked dishes on the table but didn’t rush to grab the chopsticks to satisfy his craving. Taking small steps, he walked into the kitchen and saw his mother busy. He quickly went over to help: “Mom, let me take the plates.”

Shen Meina was afraid he would burn himself and said, “Don’t just stand there. Go to the backyard and call Grandpa for dinner. He’s drying herbs.”

The kitchen was filled with heat, causing a rosy flush to appear on Jian Mei’s round face. He nodded obediently, saying, “Okay.”

After saying that, he walked over and turned the fan in the kitchen, which Shen Meina used to cool down, to a higher speed. Then he quickly ran out, disappearing into the small path that led to the backyard beyond the wooden threshold in the living room.

Shao Huo, Jian’s father, glanced at him with some concern. He asked, “If you run so fast, what will happen if you fall?”

Shen Meina replied indignantly, “Forget about running, he even went to the river to rescue a dog today. Our son is becoming bolder and bolder!”

“Is that so?” Father Jian is easy-going and wore a gentle expression and smiled. “It seems that Meimei has become much more lively.”

Shen Meina glared at him.

But soon, her expression grew solemn. “Have you arranged everything for his school?”

“I found a good junior high school,” Father Jian said. “It has a high enrollment rate and a nice environment. Don’t worry.”

Shen Meina looked up. “You know that’s not what I’m worried about.”

Jian’s father looked at his wife’s worried face, sighed, and stood up. He put his arm around her shoulder and comforted her, “Alright, don’t worry. The doctor said that Meimei’s bone marrow transplant surgery was very successful, and he has recovered well. He hasn’t had any complications in the past two years. Look at him now, jumping around like any other healthy child.”

Shen Meina’s expression softened a bit.

Father Jian smiled even more. “Just relax. Our son will definitely be healthy and live a long life.”

Author’s note:

Day One:

Lu Xingwang: We probably won’t see each other again in the future.

Day Two:

Jian Mei: Are you surprised or not? Are you thrilled or not?