Ultimately Fake

Move out of that house? Rent a better one?

Xiao Xiao keenly noticed some issues with this statement, glancing at his father with some surprise.

Since divorcing his mother, his father had moved out of that house, purchasing property elsewhere, leaving the old house for him and his mother to live in.

He was right about one thing: that house was indeed too old, with decades of history, and the water supply and other infrastructure weren't great.

But the key was the house's location. Even Yang Jia, after visiting the house before, had praised it, saying that houses in the old city were actually very valuable.

Just think, across the street was the commercial center, where every inch of land was precious.

The old house not only had a large space, but even a small yard. How much would that be worth?

In addition, after Xiao's father moved out of that house, although he didn't say it explicitly, he actually left it to Xiao Xiao and his mother, for Xiao Xiao to inherit in the future.

But now he wanted them to move out and rent one instead.

Could a rented place ever be one's own?

Meeting Xiao Xiao's surprised gaze, Xiao's father was somewhat unwilling to look him directly in the eye, turning his head to clink glasses and drink with others, while the woman sitting next to him glared at Xiao Xiao with an arrogant air.

Xiao Xiao remained silent, knowing that someone had taken a fancy to the house.

Although he was an Outsider and didn't care about these things, he still felt it wasn't right to just give it away for nothing.

At this time, the atmosphere at the banquet gradually became lively, and no one paid attention to what their family was saying, only clinking glasses, talking and laughing, and chatting about business.

Xiao Xiao was also forgotten in the corner, watching this world like an outsider.

However, the five-year-old boy next to that woman, unwilling to sit still, climbed out of the woman's arms and rummaged through Xiao Xiao's backpack without any politeness.

Xiao Xiao glanced at him, but didn't stop him, and the woman next to him also turned a blind eye, letting him rummage around.

The child turned Xiao Xiao's bag upside down, even climbing next to Xiao Xiao and reaching directly into Xiao Xiao's pocket, as if he knew everything on Xiao Xiao belonged to him.

When he took out a gun, his expression clearly became excited, fondling it, holding it in his two small hands, and pointing it at everyone present.

He muttered "bang," "bang."

When the woman next to him saw that the child suddenly had a gun in his hand, she knew it had been taken from Xiao Xiao, but she didn't care, just a little disdainful:

"How old are you, still playing with guns? Are you addicted to games?"

"..."

During this process, the father didn't try to stop him, just thinking that the younger brother was close to the older brother, and it wasn't a bad thing.

But suddenly, his gaze swept over the gun in the child's hand, making a "bang" sound as it pointed at others, first frowning slightly, and then suddenly, his face changed drastically.

The texture of the gun was wrong.

That heavy weight, the dark paint, and the obvious metallic luster and refined parts...

...It looked too real.

Just as this thought flashed through his mind, the curious child had already lowered his head and fiddled with it, accidentally opening the gun's safety, making a slight click, and then excitedly raised it.

At this moment, Xiao's father's face suddenly changed drastically, and a breath was stuck in his throat, almost passing out.

"Whoosh!"

At the same time, Xiao Xiao suddenly reached out, took the gun back from his younger brother's hand, silently closed the safety, and put it back in his pocket.

"Wah..."

The younger brother was having fun, but was suddenly snatched away, and immediately cried out in dissatisfaction: "He's stealing my things..."

And the father suddenly gasped for breath, feeling a sense of relief, his eyes faintly empty, looking at Xiao Xiao in disbelief.

"Mom hasn't had it easy these past few years."

Xiao Xiao then met his father's horrified gaze as if nothing had happened, and said softly, "It's okay if you want to take the house back, but buy her another one, write it in her name, don't make it too small, and it's best to have an elevator."

Saying that, he thought for a moment, and then said: "It's best to give her some compensation, she goes to work in the mall every day, and does housework, it's really too tiring."

Meeting Xiao Xiao's calm and quiet gaze, Xiao's father only had deep suspicion and fear in his eyes, and he didn't dare to refuse, trembling, "...Okay, I'll consider...consider it."

Hearing this, the woman's face changed drastically, and she pulled the little boy over to Xiao's father and said, "What are you talking about?"

Xiao's father suddenly became furious and roared, "Shut up."

The woman was taken aback, looking at Xiao's father in disbelief, seemingly not expecting him to lose his temper in this situation.

The guests at the table were also startled, and the atmosphere was silent and awkward for a while.

"Okay, take your time to consider it."

Xiao Xiao then packed up his backpack, and then smiled and stood up and said, "I have to get up early to go to work tomorrow, so I won't wait for the cake, that..."

He pondered for a moment, and after all, he couldn't call a monster by those two words, just smiling and nodding: "Happy birthday."

After speaking, he didn't stay any longer, carrying his backpack and leaving the hotel box, able to feel that behind him, in a piece of incomprehensible gaze, his father's gaze was especially horrified.

These monsters who play as humans are quite attentive.

They are indeed actors, they act very seriously, and they are also very invested, but, it is indeed difficult for him to cooperate with their performance.

Taking the subway home, Xiao Xiao looked at the bright lights and bustling neon lights along the way, and suddenly felt particularly unfamiliar.

It was all fake in the end, wasn't it? Otherwise, how could he be so indifferent?

"You're back so early?"

Back home, his mother seemed to be in a good mood. Her own dinner was clearly leftover dumplings from lunch. As she cleaned up, she complained to Xiao Xiao:

"Your dad still has some conscience. He even called to ask if you'd gotten home and how we two were doing."

"..."

Xiao Xiao knew this was probably a side effect of his father being scared by his gun. Not wanting to dwell on it, he simply smiled and asked, "He didn't mention buying a house?"

"Buying a house?"

His mother looked surprised. "Why buy a house for no reason? It's nice living here..."

"Don't think our house is old and dilapidated. The location is great! We're surrounded by tall buildings, and we have a courtyard. It's worth a lot of money."

"When you get married, we'll renovate it and use it as your new house. Your wife's family will definitely be happy."

"..."

Mom is too naive...

Xiao Xiao thought. The house was in his father's name, and he was already thinking of taking it back. She still thought she could live here forever.

However, Xiao Xiao didn't feel like discussing these things with her right now and just quietly returned to his bedroom.

He found it hard to describe the feeling he had at the dinner. Perhaps his father was genuinely frightened by his gun, but his own experience wasn't pleasant either.

Amidst the smiling faces around the table, he felt no sense of belonging.

He knew very well, and so did they, that he was just an Outsider. Every gaze directed at him wasn't exactly friendly.

Even if they smiled warmly, he could still feel the bone-chilling cold.

This cold made Xiao Xiao feel very lonely.

Perhaps it would only ease when he was with Yang Jia or Ruan Ruan.

But everyone had their own lives, and how could they always be together?

So, what could bring him a sense of security?

He looked up and leaned out the window, seeing three dog heads lined up neatly on top of the wall, sticking out their tongues as if they were smiling.

Xiao Xiao smiled back at the Three Adorable Hounds across the fence:

"Maybe I really could strengthen them once?"

"..."

Although it was a bit risky, it wouldn't hurt to gamble once in a while, right? What if he won?

Besides, if he wasn't in a hurry to return those one hundred Points to Yang Jia, then he could not only strengthen the Three Adorable Hounds once, but also have the possibility of buying other things?

If, the next time he faced a distorted creature or some oppressive atmosphere, an old record player started playing appropriately melancholic music...

...the experience probably wouldn't be too bad?

At the same time, in a high-end apartment, Xiao's father's young and beautiful wife, Aunt Wang, was also throwing things around with a cold face.

She was in a bad mood, not only because her husband had scolded her in front of so many people about his ex-wife's affairs, but also because Xiao Xiao had made her darling cry, and he hadn't even said a word.

"Stop throwing a tantrum."

After she had been throwing things for a long time, Xiao's father, who was sitting on the sofa smoking, frowned and looked over, saying, "Didn't you see it today?"

"See what?"

Aunt Wang said with a cold face, "See that you still can't forget them and are still thinking about buying a house for that old hag?"

"That's the house the Shepherd wants, and it's in your name. What's wrong with just taking it?"

"Stop talking."

Xiao's father frowned, feeling uneasy. After a moment of silence, he said, "I told you about his illness before, right?"

"What illness?"

Aunt Wang got angry as soon as she heard it, saying, "He was just pretending, afraid you'd divorce that old hag."

"Now look, heh, he pretended to be sick for four years and completely ruined himself."

"..."

"You..."

Xiao's father felt it was difficult to communicate. After a long while, he shook his head and sighed softly, "I thought he was pretending too. Children's minds are hard to guess, but..."

After hesitating for a while, he whispered, "I think he seems a bit... strange?"

Begging for votes, begging for care during the new book period.