thefictionvixens Chapter 99: An Old News Story
Chapter 99: An Old News Story
Unlocking with his fingerprint, Qi Te dragged his tired body and pushed open the door to his home.
Then, in the small living room, on the small sofa, lay a plump woman whose body could contract and expand, stretch and shrink, her torso from the neck down wrapped tightly around the bald man several times, like a thick, powerful python.
The bald man held an apple in his hand and shouted in a chilling tone, "My darling, come on, open your mouth."
Qi Te was completely stunned, feeling as if his eyes were covered in wasabi, almost blinding him.
The middle-aged couple on the sofa were instantly petrified.
"Ouch~"
The plump woman exclaimed in surprise, and the two hurriedly separated.
The plump woman blushed deeply with embarrassment, and before she could fully turn around, she swayed and slipped into the kitchen.
The middle-aged man touched his shiny bald head: "Little Te, let me explain."
"Don't explain."
Qi Te closed the door, walked to the dining table, and looked at the bald uncle with a stern face.
"I'm so sorry, Little Te, we didn't do anything...we didn't do anything shameful in your room. We just...we just kissed a few times..."
"Stop it, you can't be so lovey-dovey."
Qi Te couldn't help but laugh and said, "It's almost the New Year, why don't you two get married? It would be a double celebration."
The uncle was stunned for a moment, then his face turned red.
"I heard from Aunt Lin before that you two have been wanting to get your marriage certificate for a while. I just made a little money recently, and the room next door is empty anyway, so I'll rent it for you as your wedding room, as a wedding gift."
"No, no!"
The plump auntie who had just slipped into the kitchen rushed out again: "You're just a student, you haven't even started working yet, how much money can you earn? We can't take yours, we'll figure out the house ourselves."
The bald man nodded in agreement: "Yes, yes, Little Te, don't worry about us."
Qi Te took out his phone, opened the app, and placed an order in a second.
"Anyway, I've already rented it. Whether you live there or not is up to you."
After saying that, Zit went into his mother's bedroom.
The small two-bedroom apartment was furnished with very inexpensive furniture, but it was decorated in a very cozy style.
A cup of water was warming in a thermos on the bedside table, and a star-shaped nightlight next to it rotated slowly. The projected image, like starlight, slowly swept across the wall, the headboard, and the sleeping face of the mother.
Qi Te closed the door, tiptoed to the bedside, squatted down, and turned to look at his mother.
"Mom, I'm home!"
.........................
The fat aunt and the bald uncle both came from the lower class, had little education, and their superpowers were of little use, so they could only do odd jobs.
When I was young, I was always busy making a living, working myself to the bone, and I never even dared to think about buying a house.
The biggest advantage of working in the cafeteria at Haicheng University is that room and board are provided for most of the year. During the three-month holidays, I would find four or five people to share an apartment with.
Qi Te is joining a gathering team and needs to leave the city, so he urgently needs to find a temporary caregiver to look after his mother.
The two sides hit it off immediately. The plump aunt saved a considerable amount of money, and Qi Te didn't have to worry about hiring a stranger who might abuse his mother without him even knowing. It was a win-win situation.
The aunt sends Qi Te videos of her mother every morning, noon, and evening.
It wasn't just for show; the middle-aged couple genuinely took good care of their mother.
Having gained the ability to sense things, how could Zite not feel the kindness and gratitude these two people held for him?
Perhaps because they had already exhausted all their energy just to live, they had no free time or money to talk about marriage, so the two of them remained single and had no children.
After the academy hostage incident, the fat aunt treated Qi Te like her own son.
In fact, there are countless middle-aged people like the two of them who are living alone.
These days, rich people can have as many children as they want, while those at the bottom of society avoid having children if they can.
Even though the federal government has introduced a number of favorable policies to salvage the declining birth rate, most young people today are determined to become "widows".
Shortly after placing the order, Qite received the rental contract and door access code from the platform.
The plump auntie said it was a waste of money, but her actions told a different story. She happily took the bald uncle's arm and walked into her own little home.
Although it was rented, even if it was brief, it was a rare moment of happiness for the two of them in their hard-working lives.
"That kid, Te, really..."
The plump woman had barely uttered half a sentence when tears streamed down her face.
"It's all my fault. I'm useless, and you've suffered with me." Uncle Baldy said remorsefully, "Yingzi, I'll find a few more odd jobs around the New Year to earn some money to give Xiao Te a lucky money gift."
"well..."
Qi Te shook his head and smiled, adjusting his auditory perception to avoid accidentally hearing any unpleasant sounds.
The two spent the night there, sleeping on the sofa in the living room. Before leaving, the plump aunt carefully cleaned the living room and Qi Te's bedroom again.
While showering, Zite noticed that the strand of hair on his forehead was not pure white, but rather a silvery-gray with a metallic sheen.
This strand of silver hair appeared during the third playthrough and did not disappear during subsequent playthroughs.
Therefore, this is undoubtedly related to the death in the second playthrough.
Back in his room, Qi Te sat down in the computer chair at his small desk, turned on his tablet, and opened the cloud drive.
Sure enough, the first thing he did after rewinding the third playthrough was to record a voice message.
That memory has faded, but recording and saving important information via voice has become a habit for him.
"South China Sea water area index, boundary level?"
Qi Te frowned in confusion and then searched for keywords.
However, all the entries that appeared were related to anime, novels, or holographic games.
Quickly browsing, Qi Te's gaze landed on a news article.
"Recently, high-altitude waves appeared in the South China Sea, reaching a maximum height of 600 meters."
Clicking on this news article reveals three images captured by a surveillance satellite, along with an 11-second video.
It is clear that the towering waves, like mountains, instantly submerged several islands.
Since there were no cities along the southern coast, there were no casualties, missing persons, or destroyed buildings.
As he continued reading, Qi Te's eyes suddenly narrowed.
The date of this news report is surprisingly February 12th, eighteen years ago.
I was only four months old at the time.
"So, could this be a sign that the index is about to break through a key level?"
"Mom's name is Qi Xiu, she took her maternal grandfather's surname. En Xiu, is that Mom's nickname?"
"Xiao He and Lao Qi, who are these two? They also have the surname Qi, could they be Mom's older brother, uncle, or great-uncle?"
"That man should be my father. Logically, he wouldn't refer to my maternal grandfather as 'Old Qi'."
"No, no..."
My grandfather was just an ordinary person with no special abilities or particularly strong physique. It was impossible for him to have worked in any secret department.
Qi Te shook his head, his thoughts a bit confused.
Perhaps, could it be that the father's surname is also Qi?
Realizing this, Qi Te quickly typed two words into the search bar: Qi Lin.
Only three results were found: one was the company's legal representative, one was a lawyer's license, and the other was a financial fraudster who had been arrested and imprisoned.
Qi opened the previous voice message and listened to it again.
Although both memories have disappeared, the audio recordings are very clear. The first time was during the Fang Shu incident, when I almost walked into that portal of light and saw a blurry image.
The second time was when I chose to die, and during the flashback, I heard that conversation.
"What exactly were the terms of the exchange with the minister? Which department was involved? Why the exchange, and what was exchanged?"
"My mom and I both have markings on our bodies...what does it mean?"
The amount of information was pitifully scarce; apart from that old news, there were no other clues to be found online. Qi Te closed his eyes in frustration, still completely clueless.
No matter where you are in the world, I will be able to find you.
However, eighteen years have passed.
Where are you?
........................
Three days after returning to the city.
Liu Baichuan finally reached an agreement with Oasis Company that the ownership of the 89 samples collected this time would still remain in his hands.
Oasis Corporation made concessions on the condition that it assign three biological experts to participate in the entire process of testing the Sequence 0 sample.
Liu Baichuan's personal laboratory is fully equipped, but Oasis Corporation possesses the world's most advanced micro-molecular stripper. This device is quite large, requires a significant amount of energy to start, and, most importantly, is expensive.
It's not that Haida can't afford it, but the frequency of use is too low, so it's not worth it.
Taking all factors into consideration, Liu Baichuan finally agreed to this condition.
During these three days, Zite enjoyed a few rare days of free time.
The plump aunt and the bald uncle got their marriage certificate and officially became husband and wife. The two cooked a sumptuous meal, which Qi Te ate with gusto, his mouth greasy. His mother also praised the pancakes made by the plump aunt.
Qi Te was sunbathing on the balcony when her mother came to complain, saying that Aunt Lin wouldn't let her eat candy, but she had perfectly good teeth and wasn't afraid of cavities.
While Qi Te was organizing data in his room, his mother sneaked in and reported that the couple were kissing while cooking in the kitchen, shamelessly. This amused Aunt Lin and Uncle Baldy, who were both amused and embarrassed.
I can sleep until I naturally wake up every day, and there will be hot meals waiting for me. I can be by my mom's side anytime.
Qi Te felt that this was the wonderful life he wanted.
Although our home is small and our food and clothing are very ordinary, it is enough for us.
At 15:00 PM, Qi Te put on his down jacket, a fleece-lined baseball cap, picked up his large-capacity, temperature-controlled hiking backpack that he had bought online at great expense, and headed out to meet his appointment.