Chapter 58 Chapter 58: Wu Ming
Waiting time is always boring and hard to endure—this applies in most situations.
Like right now.
The small street did have Wi-Fi, but unfortunately, because Shu Yuxin had been too panicked over certain things last night, she’d forgotten to charge her phone. Now, just looking at the tiny bit of battery left made her anxious, so she didn’t feel like using it.
And waiting without anything to pass the time was several times more boring than waiting itself.
So after staying on the small street for a while, Shu Yuxin decided to go out for a walk.
She didn’t plan to go far—just wanted to check the abandoned woods to see whether the stray dog from before was still there. For that reason, she even went to the supermarket to buy some snacks to bring along.
The abandoned woods hadn’t changed much compared to before, except that the layer of fallen leaves on the ground had grown thicker. Shu Yuxin walked around the area once but didn’t find the dog. She stood there thinking for a moment, then headed toward the small bamboo grove in the corner.
To her surprise, behind the bamboo grove there was actually a crude doghouse made out of cardboard—yes, a doghouse. It was obvious that whoever made it had put some care into it. Shu Yuxin didn’t know how long the doghouse had been there, but it had remained in quite good condition up to now.
One side of the doghouse had no panel, presumably serving as its “door.” Through this opening, Shu Yuxin could see the little dog curled up inside, seemingly asleep. Worth noting was that the doghouse was a bit small for the dog; even curled up, it filled the entire space. It was hard to imagine how small the dog must have been when the maker first placed the doghouse here.
Compared to last time, the little dog looked much more disheveled. Its yellowish fur had been completely stained gray with dirt, and even the fur on its tail was caked with mud, dried stiff into what looked like a “dirt stick.”
Shu Yuxin squatted beside it and watched quietly for a while, then took a corn sausage out of her pocket, tore open the wrapper, and carefully placed it next to the dog. Just as she withdrew her hand, the dog seemed to sense something and slowly opened its eyes. It stared at Shu Yuxin for two seconds, then squeezed out of the doghouse, wagging its stiff tail as it circled her twice, and even barked excitedly a couple of times.
It looked like it still remembered her.
Feeling an inexplicable pang of sympathy, Shu Yuxin gently patted its head, then picked up the sausage from the ground and held it to the dog’s mouth.
The dog barely even sniffed it before taking a big bite.
Shu Yuxin just squatted there quietly, watching it eat.
After a short while, she suddenly noticed a piece of cardboard inside the dog’s nest with writing on it. The cardboard was made of the same material as the doghouse and was similarly worn. At first, Shu Yuxin had thought it was a cushion. The handwriting had faded somewhat with time, but it was still clear enough to tell that it was very neat and delicate. Shu Yuxin guessed it was most likely written by a girl.
There was only one sentence on it—
“If you can see this, please offer a bit of kindness and give it some food.”
After looking at the cardboard for a moment, Shu Yuxin put it back where it was.
She didn’t know who had left these things behind or when, nor did she know how many people had seen the note over such a long time. But none of that really had anything to do with her—at most, she was just one of the people offering a bit of kindness.
When people find something they’re interested in, or are doing something they enjoy, time always seems to pass especially quickly.
In the blink of an eye, it was noon.
After everyone finished eating the takeout they had ordered together on the small street, Jiang Zixuan and Yan Zhikai helped them check off the newly arrived packages. As promised, Brother Cheng found a group of friends who were staying on campus to help Yan Zhikai carry three VR units to the activity room at Minghai University.
Actually, when Yan Zhikai saw how many people Brother Cheng had called over, he originally planned to have them carry all seven units at once. Unfortunately, Brother Cheng wasn’t willing, and neither were his friends.
The activity room was much quieter during the holiday. The usual noise from the computer room was gone, and Shu Yuxin found herself feeling a bit unaccustomed to it.
“So… where do we put these?” After walking around the activity room once, Jiang Zixuan returned to the reception area by the entrance and asked.
“Isn’t there an empty room next to the lounge? Put them there—there’s enough space,” Yan Zhikai said, patting one of the large boxes beside him.
“Alright, then shall we start moving them?”
“Yeah, let’s move them and get to the fun unboxing already.” Yan Zhikai let out a breath, rubbed his hands together, and grabbed the sides of one of the boxes with both hands.
To reach that room, they first had to pass through the computer room. The computer room was very quiet at the moment, with only a few lights turned on. But that didn’t mean there was no one inside. Before Shu Yuxin and the others arrived, there was already someone playing on a computer there.
This person was also one of the regulars of the activity room, coming here to play games almost every day. However, Shu Yuxin knew very little about him—basically just a name: Wu Ming.
She had heard that he was a friend of Yan Zhikai’s since middle school and that the two of them were very close. Yet during all the days Shu Yuxin had been coming to the activity room, she could count on one hand the number of times she’d seen them interact.
Wu Ming had a very thin build, dressed casually, and wore a pair of extremely thick glasses on his nose. Overall, he fit the standard template of today’s frail college students. Toss him into a crowd and he probably wouldn’t even cause a ripple.
To put it simply, he was someone with an extremely low sense of presence.
At least, that was how Shu Yuxin saw it.
Side note:
As for tickets, tips, or anything like that—please don’t send them anymore.
You all know I haven’t been updating very frequently lately.
A whole month’s attendance ruined by eleven characters. It suddenly feels like life has lost its meaning.
So I’ve decided to take a more laid-back approach to writing. No need to put too much pressure on myself.
After all, this isn’t my full-time job.
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