Chapter 293: Chapter 291: The World Is Changing, So What?
It was more than just shock.
It was a thrill.
Before joining this show, Zhao Qi’s life had been monotonous, a world of gilded excess.
The people in his life flattered him to his face and mocked him behind his back.
Of course, he had some genuine friends as well.
Day after day, his life had been the same. Joining this show introduced the first uncontrollable variable into his life.
But as he learned more about Doctor Wen and Little White, he began to realize that what he thought he knew was just the tip of the iceberg.
He used to think that while he couldn’t change the world, he was at least freer than most people.
Now, however, he had completely come to terms with Doctor Wen.
’A little girl who just popped out of nowhere thrashed a Siberian tiger?’
’What a joke!’
But the person on the phone wouldn’t lie to him.
Zhao Qi’s Third Grand-uncle was an outlier in the Zhao family. He had spent half his life in the military before finally becoming a forest ranger in a forest in the Northeast.
No one in the Zhao family could understand their Third Grand-uncle’s decision, so many of them began to forget he even existed.
But Zhao Qi remembered the stories his Third Grand-uncle used to tell him.
Incredibly exciting stories, like something out of a novel.
Those stories added a splash of color to Zhao Qi’s life, so he would occasionally go visit his Third Grand-uncle. After learning about his work, Zhao Qi, though not fond of the job itself, came to admire the man.
Some jobs just need someone to be there, holding the line. If it wasn’t his Third Grand-uncle, it would be someone else.
So why couldn’t it be his Third Grand-uncle?
Just because he was from the Zhao family?
Zhao Qi remembered his Third Grand-uncle’s words about that forest—the forest he treated as his own life.
’After all these years, he’d actually found a successor?’
Xu Jiali and Song Jiayan could tell something was wrong with Zhao Qi. Xu Jiali gave a meaningful look, and Song Jiayan spoke up, "Zhao Qi, are you okay?"
Zhao Qi didn’t answer. Or rather, he hadn’t heard Song Jiayan at all.
Song Jiayan asked twice more, but Zhao Qi still didn’t reply.
Losing her patience, Xu Jiali reached out and grabbed Zhao Qi’s arm. "Zhao Qi! What is wrong with you?"
Startled, Zhao Qi looked at Xu Jiali, his mind a complete blank.
The world suddenly felt like a dream, yet Xu Jiali was real. The people before him were real.
"I... Xu Jiali, do you believe a little girl—one even thinner than Doctor Wen—could thrash a Siberian tiger?"
Xu Jiali didn’t know what Zhao Qi was getting at, but she answered his question, shaking her head. "No, I don’t believe that."
"What if someone you trust told you it was true?"
"Then I’d believe them."
Zhao Qi was exasperated. ’Did she really just change her answer that fast?’
"So, don’t you feel like the world is becoming less and less like the one we used to know?"
"Is that what this is about?" Xu Jiali asked, a little curious.
Zhao Qi nodded honestly.
"We can’t control how the world changes. All we can do is live each day to the fullest and be good to the people around us, right? So what if the world has changed? Are we supposed to start living in constant anxiety? Look at you. Does a changing world mean we should just stop living?"
"Song Jiayan, you tell him!"
Xu Jiali looked toward Song Jiayan.
Song Jiayan fell into an awkward silence. But seeing that Zhao Qi was truly in a funk, he nodded. "I think Jiali is right."
"I love singing, and I’ll still love it even if the world changes. So what if things are different? We’re still here on this reality show, still waiting for Doctor Wen and Little White. Our life plans might change, but the rhythm of our lives is the same. Why throw ourselves into a panic?"
It was rare for Song Jiayan to say so much.
But Zhao Qi was still insistent. "Don’t you guys think this is a world that ordinary people can’t possibly understand?"
"I know you two are close with Doctor Wen, but her methods... do you think they’re normal?"
"And what if they aren’t?"
Song Jiayan’s retort left Zhao Qi stunned.
"Then what about Little White? Is Little White’s existence normal? It’s not human."
This time, Song Jiayan didn’t speak. Neither did Xu Jiali.
"Do you two know something I don’t? It just suddenly feels like the world has changed. It’s like the world we knew is slipping away, and the one we’re in now is shrouded in fog. You can’t see what it’s becoming or what other changes are coming. That little girl thrashing a Siberian tiger is probably just one example. There are so many things happening that we’ve never seen before... It makes me feel so lost."
"Then what if you’re right about Little White?" Xu Jiali asked tentatively after a moment of thought.
"’Right about Little White?’"
Zhao Qi didn’t understand what she meant.
’Right about it?’
’What did he think?’
’That he thought Little White wasn’t just a fox?’
’That he thought Doctor Wen understood the language of beasts?’
’But if Little White isn’t a fox, then what is it?’
’Little White is obviously a fox.’
"You mean Little White isn’t a fox?" Zhao Qi looked at Xu Jiali in shock, then turned to Song Jiayan.
"Little White is a fox."
"..."
"Forget it. Let’s not think about this. Doctor Wen’s mission for us was to go have fun in town. We have a mission to complete."
It had to be said, Zhao Qi’s moods came and went quickly.
Since Zhao Qi was no longer dwelling on it, Xu Jiali and Song Jiayan naturally didn’t say anything more.
The three of them headed toward town.
Still, they couldn’t help but worry about Doctor Wen.
Zhao Qi was right. In truth, Xu Jiali had felt it for a long time.
Especially after what had just happened to her.
Sister Wen Ying had never met her older sister, yet she had drawn her likeness perfectly.
Sister Wen Ying had told her that her sister was doing very well, and that very night, Xu Jiali dreamed of her.
Xu Jiali remembered that Sister Wen Ying had used that ballpoint pen to draw it.
The pen that netizens had nicknamed the Divine Pen.
Whatever it drew would come true.
’So, could Sister Wen Ying possibly be a mortal?’
This was something that science couldn’t explain, something that science couldn’t achieve—at least, not the science of the world as it was today.
The dream had been so real, even containing scenes from her and her sister’s past.
Even though her sister in the dream hadn’t recognized her, Xu Jiali wasn’t sad.
She felt very happy.
Her sister’s happiness was her greatest happiness.
And it was all because Sister Wen Ying had used her mysterious ability to fulfill a wish she’d had for years.
She had helped her resolve an inner turmoil that Xu Jiali thought she would carry for the rest of her life.
These weren’t things that even a master could accomplish.
If someone were to say Sister Wen Ying wasn’t of the mortal world, Xu Jiali would be the first to agree.
Sister Wen Ying was a fairy descended to earth.
But normally, Xu Jiali couldn’t say these things out loud. Some things were best kept to oneself, with no need for others to know.
Just as Xu Jiali was lost in these thoughts, her phone rang.
It was the director.
After answering, her expression grew anxious.
