Deeply Affectionate Male Supporting Character Topped the Protagonist 44

Chapter 44: Trapped in a Dream

In the stairwell, Xi Leng received a cold, aluminum bento box.

He took out the crude map from his pocket and pointed to apartment 507: “A carnation, symbolizing you and your daughter?”

He was currently on the sixth floor.

Wary of the elusive masked man, he pressed his back against the wall, his eyes scanning left and right, holding his breath, listening for any unusual sounds in the extreme quiet.

If room 709, marked with a skull on the map, was the masked man’s base, he should be able to hear any movement from upstairs.

But unexpectedly, the creaking sound of a door opening came clearly, seemingly from the sixth floor where he was.

The stairwell was between apartments 605 and 606. Xi Leng looked towards the source of the sound and saw the door of apartment 609 slightly ajar.

609?

Xi Leng frowned immediately, looking at the blank 609 on the map. Without time to think, he quickly went down the stairs to the fifth floor.

At this moment, Min Zhi emerged from 609, holding onto the railing and looking down, just catching the sound of footsteps on the fifth floor and the fleeting glimpse of a cameraman’s back.

Xi Leng’s movements were naturally very discreet, after all, he had a cameraman following him.

The layout of 507 was warm and inviting, neat and clean, with floral tiles, mahogany chairs, a plastic-covered dining table, and delicate lace dust covers on the air conditioner and TV.

It was a small two-bedroom apartment, and he quickly finished searching, finding no one else.

There was a photo of a mother and daughter on the TV cabinet. The little girl in the photo only reached the woman’s knees. The woman had a few strands of silver in her black hair and looked very much like the cleaning lady in the stairwell.

Below the TV cabinet, in a drawer, was a stack of cherished greeting cards. One after another, piecing together the story of a mother and daughter’s life together for over twenty years.

Nannan had always been a filial daughter. Raised single-handedly by her mother, she was full of gratitude and felt deep heartache for her mother’s constant hard work to support their family.

Knock, knock, knock!

A sudden knock brought Xi Leng out of his thoughts.

After a few light knocks, the door of apartment 507 was pushed open.

Xi Leng immediately went on high alert, quickly thinking of a strategy.

However, standing in the brightly lit doorway was a familiar, tall and slender figure with a cold and aloof face.

It was Min Zhi.

Xi Leng froze, his racing heart calming down.

Min Zhi was wearing a sponsored light gray hoodie, loose and casual, with a stylish gradient tie-dye pattern on the chest. But what caught Xi Leng’s attention was a bright green stain on his shoulder.

“How did you…”

Find me?

“And how…”

Did you get that green stain?

Xi Leng couldn’t finish his sentence.

He wouldn’t have dreamed of seeing the protagonist gong looking so disheveled.

“The masked man’s gun is just a water gun, but according to the rules, if you’re hit, you can’t move.” Min Zhi explained calmly. “Luo Jiayan and I were locked in 709, we solved the clue and found a vent, larger than the one in the kitchen, just big enough for a person to crawl through. Inside was a sloped duct, we slid down to 609.”

Xi Leng suddenly realized: “No wonder I heard someone opening a door on the sixth floor.”

He paused, then, thinking of something, asked: “Was Jiayan also caught?”

“Mm-hmm.” Min Zhi’s expression was indifferent. “The masked man came back just as I entered the duct, he helped move the bed back to cover the vent and didn’t come down.”

Xi Leng: “…”

That was indeed something Jiayan would do.

But Min Zhi seemed too ungrateful, calmly accepting the other person’s “sacrifice,” brazenly escaping through the vent to come find him.

This must be another deviation from the plot caused by his different choices from his past life. After all, something incredibly absurd had happened earlier.

Xi Leng unconsciously touched his lips.

“What is this?” Min Zhi suddenly asked.

Xi Leng was slightly startled, lowering his eyes: “…These greeting cards?”

“Mm-hmm.” Min Zhi squatted down beside him.

Xi Leng first shared the clues he had gathered: “I met a crying woman in the stairwell, she used to be a cleaning lady in this building. She raised her daughter alone, worked very hard, and didn’t have much time to spend with her.”

“Her greatest wish is for her daughter to eat her cooking again.” Xi Leng pointed at the bento box on the table. “That’s the mission I just received. This is the apartment they used to live in, the photo and greeting cards are proof.”

However, Min Zhi, looking down at the greeting cards, remained silent.

Xi Leng suddenly recalled the casually written, omniscient narration from the novel’s outline.

Min Zhi was raised single-handedly by his poor mother, who worked tirelessly day and night, even sending him to music lessons, until she died suddenly at work when he was seven…

“That cleaning lady, she died from overwork, right?” Min Zhi casually tossed the greeting cards back into the drawer, stood up, and looked around. “But there’s no one else here, how do we deliver the food to her daughter?”

Xi Leng’s gaze, fixed on the gleaming silver earrings, slowly moved upwards, until Min Zhi tilted his head slightly, his dark eyes meeting his gaze.

Suddenly, Xi Leng had a guess about the “music curse,” but he needed more observation.

He stood up and went to the bedroom to find two clothes hangers: “This door can’t be locked. I don’t know if the masked man will search the rooms, let’s lock it just in case.”

“Didn’t you say it can’t be locked?”

Min Zhi, puzzled, walked over and saw Xi Leng crossing two wire hangers, skillfully hooking them onto the door handle, creating a simple but effective makeshift security chain.

Min Zhi couldn’t help but smile: “You’re really resourceful, I bet Sheng Jiao wouldn’t even dream of this.”

The director and his team in the monitoring room: “…”

Despite all their precautions, Xi Leng always managed to surprise them in unexpected ways.

A few minutes later, the door handle, secured by the hangers, rattled. Someone was trying to open the door from outside, but the handle wouldn’t turn completely, so the door naturally wouldn’t open.

“…Is anyone there?” A female voice came from outside, sounding very young.

It wasn’t Qiaoqiao, nor the tall and burly masked man, nor the cleaning lady trapped in the stairwell, a new NPC had appeared.

Xi Leng and Min Zhi exchanged glances, a silent agreement between them, neither moving to open the door.

The woman outside knocked a few more times, her voice slightly trembling, a mixture of urgency and pleading: “Mom, is that you?”

Xi Leng froze slightly.

“Mom, open the door. It’s me, Nannan.” The woman’s voice was gradually tinged with tears. “Is that you? It must be you.”

“I miss you so much… Mom.”

The woman’s words matched all the information Xi Leng had.

He said to Min Zhi concisely: “It’s her.”

Min Zhi nodded slightly.

Xi Leng then went to open the door, removing the hangers and cautiously opening it a crack.

Outside stood a beautiful young woman in an elegant office outfit, her long hair cascading down her shoulders.

The two looked at each other, and Xi Leng felt slightly reassured, while the anticipation on the woman’s face faded like the tide, replaced by confusion: “Y-you are…?”

“Come in first.” Xi Leng said. “It’s dangerous outside.”

“Oh, okay.” The woman seemed to trust this stranger.

Xi Leng closed the door, confirming the woman’s identity through the photo in the room: “The girl in this photo, is that you?”

The woman nodded, looking at them before asking: “But who are you? Isn’t this my apartment?”

She seemed to find the situation strange, yet she accepted it readily.

The scattered pieces of the puzzle connected. Xi Leng, his expression serious, asked directly: “What is this place? What year is it?”

“This… should be Happy Apartments ten years ago, 2014.” The woman said. “But my mom… she passed away in 2013, I’ve tried many times to go back further, but I always fail.”

They were both stunned.

“Every time I come here to burn offerings for my mom, I have this dream afterwards.” The woman continued. “I always feel like it’s not my dream, I moved out after graduating university and starting work, my mom lived here alone afterwards. I think this must be another resident’s dream, a dream from 2014. I can see their dream, come home in their dream, but at this time… my mom is already gone.”

They gave her time to process her emotions, whispering by the window, analyzing the situation.

“So this is a dream.” Min Zhi frowned. “We only know it’s a Happy Apartments resident’s dream, we’ll have to find out whose.”

Xi Leng, recalling the masked killer, his expression turning serious: “Mm-hmm, I think it’s definitely related to the masked man, and it’s also a… nightmare.”

“We’re being chased by the masked man, we heard the crying in the stairwell, so we’re different. We’re not dreaming, but like the deceased members of the Green City University Detective Club, trapped in a nightmare.”

After the woman calmed down, Xi Leng silently handed her the aluminum bento box on the table.

“This, this is…”

“Since we’re in a dream,” Xi Leng said calmly, “then anything is possible, right?”

The woman took the bento box with trembling hands, slowly opening the lid.

“These are all my favorite dishes.” The woman looked up, her red-rimmed eyes filled with tears, glistening as if about to overflow with a single blink. She choked back a sob, “These are also my mom’s specialties, every time I came home during the holidays, she would make them for me…”

Then the dedicated actress picked up her chopsticks and started eating heartily.

“Thank you.” The woman sniffed, saying with difficulty, “Even if, even if it’s just a dream, I’m still very happy.”

“You’re welcome.” Xi Leng raised his eyes, which had been lowered for a long time, smiling slightly. “This is also her wish.”

The woman suddenly froze, her chopsticks hovering by her mouth, as if realizing something. In the end, she closed her mouth, saying nothing, asking nothing.

“We have some questions for you.” Xi Leng asked, “Did your mother have any close friends in this building? Like, someone who would deliver lunch to you at work for her?”

Xi Leng remembered finding the cleaning lady in the stairwell, her tearful complaints about him breaking his promise, a wish unfulfilled even after death, turning her into an eerie and mournful figure.

The woman thought for a moment, then said: “I remember now. My mom said she was once wrongly accused of stealing something, and a young female resident happened to see it and testified for her. After that, the female resident would often give her snacks and fruits, a very kind person.”

“I remember she was a housewife, always alone at home, with no one to talk to.” The woman said. “She and her husband lived in 710, they never had any children.”

710.

Xi Leng remembered this apartment number, one of the marked rooms on the map, next to the skull room, 709, with a heart symbol. It seemed the heart symbolized a couple.

The woman continued reminiscing, the expression on her face softening: “My mom said she was a very gentle and kind person, the only one in this building who would greet my mom… My mom also found her very kind, every time she saw her, she would think of me.”

“Unfortunately, I’m too busy with work, I’ve never had the time to thank her, I don’t even know what she looks like. That’s all I know.”

The clues were still incomplete, they still had to interact with NPCs in other rooms.

Thinking of this, Xi Leng took out the walkie-talkie that had been quiet for a while and turned it on.

Even a lone wolf aiming for MVP still needed to cooperate with their teammates.

Shortly after Xi Leng turned on the walkie-talkie, Luo Jiayan’s anxious voice came: “Hello? Is anyone there?”

Xi Leng turned up the volume, speaking close to it: “It’s me.”

“…Ah Zhao?” Luo Jiayan’s delighted voice came from the speaker. “Thank goodness! Where are you? I just escaped from 709, this place is a prison, don’t come here, if you’re caught by the masked man, you won’t be able to escape. He locked us in the bedroom, I even saw the detective club member’s body, we finally escaped to the sixth floor through the vent in the wall…”

“Mm-hmm, don’t go to the seventh floor yet, go to the other marked rooms on the map. The symbols represent the residents of the rooms, the carnation in 507 is a mother and daughter, 710 is a couple…” Xi Leng said. “There are still three rooms left…”

“Hello, hello—”

A female voice interrupted their conversation.

“Qiaoqiao?” Luo Jiayan said happily.

“Eh?” Qiaoqiao was stunned. “Jiayan? Are you alright?”

The five had a virtual meeting through the walkie-talkies, exchanging information.

Qiaoqiao said she and Jiang Songnan encountered a creepy little boy in room 209, which scared them quite a bit. They tried their best to figure out the child’s thoughts, playing ball with him for half an hour, but to no avail.

“We’re in 605 now, I remember the symbol for 605 was a book, I thought it might be something I’m good at.” Qiaoqiao continued. “But we’ve encountered a small problem…”

Five minutes later, the five reunited in 605.

The problem Qiaoqiao and Jiang Songnan encountered was now presented to everyone.

It went smoothly at first, entering the main door and the room inside required passwords, mathematical logic and reasoning, which was a piece of cake for Qiaoqiao. But after entering the locked room, they were surrounded by textbooks, workbooks, and exam papers, a girl wearing glasses sitting at the desk, her head buried in her studies.

When the others arrived, Qiaoqiao was huddled in a corner with a stack of math papers, struggling with the sea of questions, just like the girl.

Jiang Songnan, on the other hand, was pacing around the room with his hands in his pockets, looking extremely bored. He leaned down next to the girl and said with a sneer: “Hey, you’re just writing random answers, aren’t you? Can’t you just tell us directly what you want us to do?”

Xi Leng rubbed his temples: “…”

However, walking over to the desk, he, for once, agreed with Jiang Songnan: “She really is writing random answers.”

Jiang Songnan was pleased, his eyebrows practically reaching his hairline.

Luo Jiayan also walked over, thinking for a moment and saying: “These are high school problems, high school problems are the most difficult… Even if Qiaoqiao still remembers everything, there are so many subjects, so many questions, it would take days to finish them all.”

“This test is different.” Qiaoqiao, buried in her studies, objected, her eyes shining, her tone certain. “There’s calculus and topology, those aren’t high school level.”

“…”

Then it was even more impossible.

Seeing Qiaoqiao’s persistence, Xi Leng didn’t want to discourage her: “Then you keep working on it, we’ll look for other clues.”

After thinking for a moment, he said to the others: “Based on the 507 experience, perhaps we need to communicate with the NPC rather than just solving puzzles.”

Jiang Songnan looked annoyed: “This little girl isn’t paying attention to anyone.”

Xi Leng thought it might be because of him, and with the MVP prize in mind, he instructed: “Then Jiayan, you go try?”

Jiang Songnan’s flamboyant eyes narrowed, his voice low: “…Hey.”

Just as the situation was about to escalate, ring, ring, ring, the alarm rang.

The five of them looked towards the source of the sound, the alarm clock on the girl’s desk.

The girl was startled by the piercing alarm. Just as she recovered, she was overwhelmed by intense anxiety and pressure.

She grabbed her hair and started muttering repeatedly, like a ritualistic behavior: “Eleven o’clock, eleven o’clock, it’s already eleven o’clock?”

“There’s no time, there’s no time.”

She lowered her head again and continued working on the problems, her speed increasing.

However, no matter how fast she worked, it was just a drop in the ocean compared to the mountain of test papers.

Everyone present could relate to this scene to some extent.

The academic pressure in high school was indeed immense. Living in this era where academic qualifications were paramount, burdened with countless expectations, the only option for these once vibrant young men and women was to bury their heads in their studies and endure silently.

This was also the main reason why Xi Leng insisted on sending Rong Xingyi to an international school, even though the tuition was far beyond his current financial capabilities.

“Let’s go check outside.” Min Zhi called out. “Xi Leng.”

They went straight to the girl’s room when they arrived, they hadn’t searched the living room outside yet.

Although the girl was alone in the apartment, logically speaking, an underage high school student wouldn’t live alone.

They soon found something. Xi Leng called out: “Min Zhi-ge.”

Min Zhi immediately walked over.

Xi Leng showed him the notepad he just found, written by the girl’s parents, with the title: Good Parenting Notes.

The first page listed precautions for communicating with their child, like spending half an hour every day communicating with their child, using polite language even at home, pointing out their child’s mistakes seriously, while caring for the child, appropriate punishment was also necessary…

The parents’ intention was to raise a disciplined, polite, responsible, and law-abiding citizen, but writing it down in black and white felt cold and suffocating.

They both couldn’t help but frown.

These notes were even categorized into four sections: Studies, Life, Entertainment, and Growth, a total of over ten pages.

After finishing the notes, Min Zhi suddenly tugged at his arm, pointing at a schedule posted on the wall.

This was a schedule to remind the parents, but the content was all about their beloved daughter.

9:00 pm, pick up Xiaoxue from evening self-study.

9:30 pm, arrive home, supervise Xiaoxue’s bedtime routine.

9:50 pm, supervise Xiaoxue’s completion of school assignments.

10:30 pm, supervise Xiaoxue’s completion of tutor’s assignments.

11:00 pm, prepare milk and fruits for Xiaoxue as a late-night snack.

…

Just reading this schedule was tiring, no less demanding than Xi Leng’s days of going to school and working part-time jobs.

“Right,” he pointed at the 11 pm entry on the schedule, “Xiaoxue seemed to have mentioned eleven o’clock earlier? Let’s try preparing some food for her according to this schedule.”

The kitchen in the two-bedroom apartment, although small, was fully equipped. The program team’s preparations were also thorough, the refrigerator was plugged in, filled with various fresh fruits, vegetables, and ingredients.

Xi Leng casually took a carton of milk and an apple, returning to Xiaoxue’s room and placing them on the corner of her desk.

He waited patiently, but the girl still didn’t react, so Xi Leng could only say: “Xiaoxue, your parents prepared…”

However, the girl suddenly looked up, her eyes bloodshot, staring at him with hatred and resentment.

And then, without warning, she swung her slender arm with surprising force, sweeping the food Xi Leng had kindly brought to the floor!

Along with a furious shout: “I don’t want to eat! Get out!”

The sudden outburst startled everyone, and no one spoke for a few seconds.

After a while, Luo Jiayan softly muttered: “Wh-why is she like this?”

Qiaoqiao frowned, also finding it strange: “Perhaps… too much pressure?”

“There might be a conflict between her and her parents.” Xi Leng pointed at the door. “We found the notepad and schedule outside, she’s already under a lot of academic pressure, and her parents, out of good intentions, imposed even stricter study requirements.”

Clearly, they were still missing some clues, speculating like this wouldn’t lead to a conclusion.

After thinking for a moment, Xi Leng suggested: “Qiaoqiao, why don’t you stay here and keep an eye on her? The rest of us can go look for clues.”

Qiaoqiao nodded in agreement: “I have a feeling, I’ll finish this test soon.”

Luo Jiayan was worried about her being alone: “I’ll stay and keep you company.”

So the five split up, three of them searching the living room.

Xi Leng cautiously secured the main door with his makeshift lock. There were no clothes hangers in 605, so he used a mop and a chair instead, the mop handle wedged against the door handle, then a chair placed against the mop to prevent it from moving.

Improvising, decisive and efficient.

Jiang Songnan watched, dumbfounded.

Xi Leng, unfazed, also gave him a task: “These cabinets and drawers, we haven’t checked them yet, right? You go over there and take a look?”

The red-haired, hot-tempered man suddenly understood something, asking him directly: “Are you that short of money, you want the MVP prize that badly?”

“Mm-hmm.” Xi Leng’s indifferent face remained unchanged, answering frankly. “Why would I care about you otherwise?”

“Heh.” Jiang Songnan sneered, amusement flashing in his fierce, upturned eyes. “…Fine.”

Regardless, at least he was cooperating, starting to look for clues.

“Xi Leng, over here.”

Min Zhi called Xi Leng over to the other side of the room.

“Did you find something?” Xi Leng asked.

“No.” Min Zhi said frankly. “Didn’t find anything, that’s why I called you to help.”

Xi Leng felt slightly awkward.

Their efficiency plummeted, while Jiang Songnan, on the other hand, was the first to find something.

He found a hidden compartment in a drawer, hurriedly calling out: “I found something!”

He was holding a self-burned CD, with no labels or markings, in a plain gray-black case.

Xi Leng focused on his next target, the TV: “There’s a DVD player there.”

But this DVD player had been modified by the program team, it couldn’t be turned on normally. There was a small screen above displaying eight digits, and a button below, pressing it would increase the digits by one, from 0 to 9, like a combination lock.

Xi Leng thought for a moment, following the “eight digits” clue and deducing: “I think this might be a date, let’s look for clues.”

If one ignored the suffocating academic pressure, the family of three in 605 was undoubtedly a model “family” in the conventional sense. A loving couple, successful careers, their only daughter an excellent and obedient student, the envy of countless people.

A photo of the family of three hung on the wall, surrounded by Xiaoxue’s certificates and awards from various competitions, showcasing her achievements. Of course, the traces of “forceful parenting” were also everywhere.

“She won many math competition awards, no wonder there are advanced math problems in those test papers.” Xi Leng stood in front of a glittering display cabinet. “High school studies are already demanding, it’s hard to balance them with competitions.”

Judging by the girl’s state, she was clearly overwhelmed by the academic burden.

“Third place?” Xi Leng’s gaze suddenly fixed on something.

“What’s wrong?” Min Zhi, perceptive, walked over, following his gaze to an inconspicuous trophy among the many exquisite awards.

Driven by intuition, Xi Leng took out this unique trophy, examining it carefully.

Third place in a competition was already an excellent achievement. Most people never even got close to a trophy in their lives, but this trophy, the envy of countless people, placed in Xiaoxue’s trophy cabinet, was a symbol of failure, a mark of shame.

Xi Leng turned over the trophy, and as expected, the date of the award ceremony was engraved below.

August 13, 2012.

“Jiang Songnan,” Xi Leng looked up and said to Jiang Songnan, who was by the TV cabinet, “Enter 20120813.”

“Or 20120814.”

Jiang Songnan frowned, reluctantly doing as he was told.

When Xi Leng and Min Zhi returned, the password had just been entered.

The first attempt, incorrect.

Xi Leng said: “Enter 20120814.”

“Why?” Jiang Songnan asked as he entered the numbers.

“The 13th was the date Xiaoxue made a mistake in the competition and got third place.” Xi Leng explained. “People need time to process unpleasant events. If something really happened, it’s likely to be the next day. Let’s try this first, if it doesn’t work, then—”

Before he could finish speaking, the green power light on the DVD player lit up.

A whirring sound.

The long-silent TV also came to life.

The image on the TV was blurry and shaky, perhaps filmed with a phone by an amateur. The few people staring at the screen followed the camera’s perspective, crossing the living room they were currently in, then knocking on Xiaoxue’s closed door.

They instinctively glanced at Xiaoxue’s room now.

The door was ajar, the three people inside still struggling with the sea of questions.

And in the video, after knocking a few times with no response, the person filming reached out and pushed the door open.

A middle-aged woman squeezed past the person filming, she seemed to be the mother in the family photo.

Xiaoxue in the room, seeing her parents, shouted furiously as if seeing her enemies: “Get out! Who told you to come in!? Get out!!”

She had been quite restrained with them earlier.

Time continued to pass in the video. The shaking phone was placed on a cabinet by the door. The middle-aged man entered the frame, seemingly used to his daughter’s outburst, and together with his wife, approached her, trying to reason with her patiently.

The more they tried to persuade her, the more agitated Xiaoxue became, her resistance intensifying.

“Still not going to school? Do you not want to go to university anymore?”

“The more you act like this, the worse you’ll become!”

“We’re doing this for your own good…”

Ring, ring, ring—

A sharp ringing sound interrupted their argument.

The alarm clock on Xiaoxue’s desk rang.

After a brief silence, the couple became even more anxious: “Seven o’clock? Hurry, hurry and get changed, get ready, Xiaoxue, you’re going to be late for class!”

Xiaoxue said softly: “I don’t want to go to school.”

Her gaze towards her parents even held a sadness that seemed too mature for her age.

“Help me call in sick, just for today…”

“What nonsense are you talking about!?” the anxious parents said, their words overlapping. “It’s not like the sky is falling! Hurry up and go to school! Do you know how difficult it is to catch up after missing a day of class??”

“I’m not going!”

“Don’t force me!”

“Don’t come any closer…”

Xiaoxue retreated step by step, her increasingly desperate eyes shimmering with tears, a resolute determination.

“Don’t come any closer!!”

But her last warning was still ignored by her well-meaning but overbearing parents.

Xiaoxue, her face streaked with tears, shook her head helplessly: “I just want a little comfort, is that too much to ask?”

She muttered to herself: “I’m so tired…”

Unfortunately, her angry parents couldn’t hear her, their harsh words drowning out her weak plea.

“Xiaoxue, why aren’t you listening to us? Is this how we raised you for the past 17 years!? Do you know how much we’ve sacrificed for you…”

These admonishing words were like sharp blades, piercing the girl’s already fragile heart. Her tears flowed uncontrollably, the last trace of her longing for love turning into despair.

Whoosh!

Without warning, the girl climbed onto the windowsill and jumped.

“Xiaoxue!”

The couple’s desperate cries brought the video to an end.

The TV screen went black, reflecting the three silent faces.

Xi Leng was the first to recover: “So Xiaoxue now, she’s a ‘ghost,’ right?”

She didn’t look as miserable and terrifying as the cleaning lady in the stairwell, but they were essentially the same.

Qiaoqiao seemed terrified of these supernatural beings, Luo Jiayan’s courage also lacking. Coincidentally, those two were now in the same room as Xiaoxue.

“It’s fine, Xiaoxue probably won’t attack us, she probably needs us to do something for her.” Xi Leng stood up. “Let’s go in and see.”

Xi Leng looked at Qiaoqiao, pondering: “The option of helping Xiaoxue with her homework can probably be ruled out.”

Qiaoqiao, with her quick mind, had speedily finished a bunch of test papers, but to no avail, Xiaoxue didn’t even thank her.

“Hm? What is it?” Qiaoqiao, sensing a clue, hurriedly asked, “Did you find something?”

Looking at his teammates, afraid of the dark and even more afraid of ghosts, Xi Leng said hesitantly: “You probably… don’t want to know.”

Luo Jiayan was still helping Xiaoxue pick up the dropped test papers, asking: “What’s going on?”

“Let’s talk later, I’ll talk to her first, see if I’m right.” Xi Leng strode forward.

“Xiaoxue?”

But the girl ignored him.

Xi Leng reached out and snatched her pen.

“Are you crazy! Give it back!” Xiaoxue became agitated again, just as the alarm rang again. “Twelve o’clock… it’s already twelve o’clock? I can go to sleep after finishing my homework. I’m so sleepy, so tired, give it back…”

The weak and tired girl was naturally no match for Xi Leng.

Xi Leng easily dodged her, and before the angry girl could rush over again, he raised his hand and gently placed it on her head.

At that moment, he thought of someone, his didi, Rong Xingyi, about the same age as the girl in front of him.

This heavy love from their parents was a luxury he and Rong Xingyi could only dream of.

But Xi Leng could still understand her. This girl was just as exhausted as they were, trapped in an invisible cage.

Xiaoxue, not expecting this sudden action, froze.

Xi Leng gently patted her head, then withdrew his hand.

Looking at her, he said softly,

“You’ve worked hard.”

“You’ve already done a great job.”

“Take a break.”