Volume 2: Tokyo High School
Not long after Tsukiyuki Rio posted that picture of her and Gao Sijin holding hands, their wrists bound together by silver handcuffs, Gao Sijin’s QQ group Deep Sea World was abruptly disbanded without warning.
Gao Sijin’s novel hadn’t been updated since that day either.
Readers flooded Gao Sijin’s comment section with messages. The comments were as follows:
Blue and White Striped Panties: Why was the group disbanded?
Borrowed Knife: Perhaps the Master doesn’t want to write anymore.
Assassin: The Bishop must have had his kidney cut out by that bad woman. I told him to be careful.
Setting Sun: Amen.
Eternal I Pray: Little Ai…
Under the Snow: That night, Little Ai’s fiancée sent a picture of two hands cuffed together. Could he really have been kidnapped by a yandere beauty?
Feng He: Something must have happened to him, otherwise he would never go on hiatus like this.
In the Pudong District of Magic City, China, a female secretary in a tailored suit closed her phone. This was none other than Feng Xiaohe. Yu Qingxue had kept her word, and now Feng Xiaohe had a very stable job. Compared to her past job in Bincheng, her current position was a bit more demanding, but the salary was far higher.
Back in Bincheng, even during good times she could barely earn over five thousand; when business was slow, it was about three thousand five hundred a month. Now, Feng Xiaohe’s base salary was eight thousand. Most importantly, as someone recommended by Yu Qingxue, the company’s leadership dared not neglect her, treating her with great courtesy. No more gossip about her being a sullied woman either.
After work, Feng Xiaohe went to the market and bought two Napa cabbages and half a jin of pork, feeling incredibly content and happy.
Once, even cooking had to be carefully budgeted, but now Feng Xiaohe could even afford some black pork.
“Big Sister!”
At Jincai Middle School, Feng Xiaona ran toward Feng Xiaohe with her schoolbag on her back.
After arriving in Magic City, Feng Xiaohe had bought a house. It was currently being renovated and would take about half a year before they could move in. For now, the sisters rented a place close to both the school and the company. After receiving that one million from Yu Qingxue, their lives were finally filled with hope, stepping onto the right track.
“It’s so nice,” Feng Xiaona said, bouncing up and down.
“What’s so nice?”
“No more of those lecherous uncles picking me up from school.”
“Honestly, Big Sister hated those disgusting creeps too.”
Feng Xiaohe carried the vegetable basket in her left hand and held Feng Xiaona’s small hand in her right. She was more like a mother than an older sister, though a “mother” with such a youthful, beautiful face and slim figure was rare indeed.
“No one is bullying you at school?”
“No, Big Sister. Everyone is very friendly, and the teacher likes me a lot.”
“Can you keep up with your studies?”
“Absolutely, no need to worry.”
“That’s good.”
Just thinking that in half a year, she and her sister would have a home of their own brought Feng Xiaohe unimaginable satisfaction.
The two sisters had drifted like rootless leaves for far too long. After paying the down payment with that one million, there was still over sixty thousand left. Feng Xiaohe planned to save the rest for emergencies. As for a car, she had no plans for one yet.
From what she observed, taking the subway in Magic City was far more convenient than buying a car; at least there was no need to worry about traffic. Once Feng Xiaona graduated from university, the saved money would come in handy. Feng Xiaohe planned to send Xiaona abroad to study and broaden her horizons, so that she could say “no” to the 996 and 007 work culture, and have the ability to choose the life she wanted to live. After all, in this world, no worker ever became a coal mine owner simply by hauling bricks faster and better.
At present, the Feng sisters lived in a rented apartment of about seventy-five square meters. The building had an elevator and the interior decoration wasn’t outdated. Feng Xiaona loved it, but Feng Xiaohe often told her, “In half a year, we’ll live in an even better place.” Feng Xiaona was very much looking forward to that.
“Then I’ll go cook. You finish your homework first, and when you’re done, go over some English vocabulary.”
“Okay, Big Sister.”
“If you get tired, you can watch TV or play on your phone.”
“It’s fine, Big Sister, I’m not tired at all.”
Such a well-behaved little sister made Feng Xiaohe immeasurably happy; even the hardest work couldn’t breed complaint.
She brought today’s groceries into the kitchen, then opened the Pineapple Bun Light App. Gao Sijin still hadn’t updated today’s chapter.
She picked up the kitchen knife and hacked the pork on the cutting board with force, as if venting some dissatisfaction. Normally, when he didn’t update, he would say something in the group and then in the comments section, telling the readers who had been waiting so long not to wait anymore. But since the day before yesterday, it was as if he had vanished from the face of the earth.
“Damn eunuch! Gao Sijin, you damn eunuch!”
The sharp cleaver sliced the pork clean in two.
At that moment, her phone buzzed. Feng Xiaohe remembered the person who had added her on QQ; it was Borrowed Knife, one of Little Ai’s devoted readers, a fairly active member of the group who regarded “The Way of the Maid’s Service” as a life principle. Just looking at the screen name, he seemed like a guy. And Feng Xiaohe generally didn’t have a good impression of men.
Feng He: What do you want from me?
Borrowed Knife: I want to form a group in place of the Master, and I hope you’ll join. I absolutely refuse to believe the Master would just abandon his novel.
Feng He: Of course he wouldn’t abandon it! But why should I join your group?
Borrowed Knife: Didn’t I say? This is to replace the one the Master created. I suspect that when the Master disbanded Deep Sea World, it wasn’t his own will.
Borrowed Knife: So we must carry on the Master’s legacy and keep living on.
Feng He: He’s not dead!
Borrowed Knife: Wronged.jpg.
Back in Bincheng, Yu Qingxue had given her one million to leave Gao Sijin, and Feng Xiaohe had agreed, also quitting Gao Sijin’s group chat. Now, if another reader created a pseudo group, it probably wouldn’t be against the rules, right? Besides, Feng Xiaohe truly missed the atmosphere of the past.
At that moment, Feng Xiaohe suddenly smelled something burning.
“Oh no!”
The dish was now completely charred to a crisp. It was all that damn eunuch Gao Sijin’s fault; otherwise, she wouldn’t have burned the food. She walked to the living room and said to the girl buried in her studies, “Xiaona, what do you want to eat tonight? We’ll order takeout.”
“I want Pizza Hut!”
After ordering a flame-grilled Australian beef pizza, Feng Xiaohe joined the pseudo reader group chat.
Borrowed Knife: Welcome!
Nima Galloping on the Grassland: Welcome!
Super Cute: Welcome!
Chestnut Rice and Kamehameha: Welcome!
Feng He: lewd picture 1, lewd picture 2, lewd picture 3, lewd picture 4…
Although Gao Sijin wasn’t in this group, Feng He still posted many lewd pictures. Originally, she collected them not for her own viewing but purely to motivate a certain lazy author to update. But now, posting lewd pictures seemed to have become her instinct. Oh well, think of it as a public service.
