Are You Going to Kill Me, Friend?

So, stopping before the finish line was meant to symbolize that his father's ghost would always be by his side?

Sitting in a taxi heading home, Lin Chuan finished reading the short essay and took a deep breath.

The child who loved Wild Racing had finally grown to his father's age.

He was beginning to face the daily grind of life.

He needed to find a job, pay off his mortgage, prepare for a wedding, and face the triple pressure of finances, family, and love.

He slowly began to realize that life's troubles couldn't be solved by a simple game console.

By chance, he opened the dusty game console.

In Wild Racing, he discovered the "ghost" his father had left behind.

He experienced the joy of fighting alongside his father in the game.

Lin Chuan could imagine it.

The protagonist of the story, after growing up, discovered his father's save data in the game console.

Every day after work, he would turn on the console, pick up the controller, and spar with his father in the game.

Slowly, he would rediscover the fun of his childhood.

Finally, one day, the protagonist broke his father's record.

However, he deliberately chose to stop before the finish line.

This way, his father's ghost would remain forever in Wild Racing.

In the future, whenever the boy encountered life's pressures and troubles.

He could confide in his father in the game.

In the future, the boy might have children of his own.

Then, he could play Wild Racing with his own child.

And tell the child that the racer who left the record in the game was their grandfather.

"What do you think? Wasn't Grandpa amazing?"

On the surface, this seemed like a heartwarming story.

But, that's not right, is it?

His father had passed away; that was an undeniable fact.

Even though playing the same game and fighting alongside his father's ghost could provide a similar experience to spending time with him.

It was ultimately just a cold piece of data.

Didn't they say the Happy Family writing contest was only for touching little stories from around us?

This was a bit over the top, wasn't it?

Damn it!

Lin Chuan took a deep breath and quickly clicked on the next short essay.

Lin Chuan was an adult, after all. With his experiences from two lifetimes, his heart was not exactly made of stone, but it wasn't easily moved.

At the same time, Lin Chuan was also very clear.

When a man talks about his sorrows, the greatest respect a passerby can show is to not disturb him.

The second short essay was better. The protagonist was an ignorant child.

[The most guilty thing I've ever done was when I was caught secretly bringing my phone to school. I was grounded for a few days. My mother didn't scold me. The morning I was supposed to go back to school, she woke me up gently with a hand-grabbed pancake.]

[Because I was already annoyed and had morning grumpiness, I got up angrily. After I washed up, she handed me the pancake. It had chili in it, so I angrily threw it on the cement ground and said, "I don't eat spicy food."]

[I walked a few steps and then looked back. My mother picked up the hand-grabbed pancake and ate it herself.]

The protagonist of this story perfectly fit Lin Chuan's stereotype of a rebellious teenager.

Rebellious, melodramatic, overly sensitive, and self-centered.

An ignorant, rebellious teenager had a great mother.

Looking back now, the protagonist had grown up and realized how excessive and absurd his actions were back then.

It was normal to feel guilty.

In reality, the mother might not have cared about her child's excessive behavior.

As Teacher Xu Xiu said at the celebration party, a mother is a child's most loyal audience.

The mother in the story, more than herself, was probably more worried if her child would be hungry without the pancake.

During late-night dorm talks, Ren Hang mentioned he had done something similar.

Once, Ren Hang found his mother's cooking too terrible and poured the food into the trash can.

However, Ren Hang was less fortunate.

After being discovered by his father, he was beaten up.

During a late-night chat in the dorm, he revealed the secret in his heart and was beaten up again by his roommate.

Later, Lin Chuan had the chance to eat the meal made by Ren Hang's Mother.

How should I put it, it really wasn't very tasty.

However, Lin Chuan couldn't stand wasting food.

Lin Chuan decided that when he awarded the author of this article, he would definitely criticize him a few words.

Treat him to two of those flatbreads from Yimeng.

Then, he would make the author apologize to his Mother.

Lin Chuan clicked on the comment section and found that the netizens' reactions were surprisingly similar to Lin Chuan's:

"I order you, apologize to your Mother right now, immediately!"

Below the comment was the author's reply:

"She has already passed away."

!!!

Lin Chuan was silent, and clicked on the next short article.

This time, after reading the beginning, Lin Chuan breathed a sigh of relief.

The protagonist of the story was still a rebellious teenager, even more insensible than the previous protagonist.

The protagonist was 15 years old, his father had passed away early, and his Mother had raised him. He was in his rebellious phase at the time.

He wanted a pair of nice shoes like everyone else, and he wanted to eat cake for his birthday.

His Mother thought he was insensible and wasteful with money, and he had a huge argument with her.

The protagonist felt that his Mother was incompetent and spoke hurtfully, yet at the same time, he felt pity for her.

She had worked hard her whole life, so why couldn't she earn money?

Why couldn't he live like other children?

Out of spite, he never answered his Mother's calls again after returning to school.

Two months later, just a few days before his birthday, he received a voice message from his Mother at school.

Seeing this, Lin Chuan took a deep breath, preparing himself.

This might be a tragic ending like the last story.

But the same trick is useless against a Saint!

Lin Chuan had already built up immunity!

Lin Chuan's heart was already as hard as a rock!

Lin Chuan clicked on the voice message his Mother had sent:

"Baby, Mom has had cancer for many years, and I'm not doing well. Your birthday is in three days, and Mom bought you a pair of sneakers, and a bank card with 260,000 on it. Use it sparingly. You can order your own cake. Mom won't be able to wait. You always ask why you can't be like other children. It's because they all have a family, and you'll have to rely on yourself from now on, baby."

In the comment section, the most liked comment was:

"Both parents passed away early, and the child is highly likely to inherit it. The days ahead will be tough."

Lin Chuan didn't believe it and continued to scroll down.

He saw an article written by a little girl, titled, Sun Moon Lake.

The last sentence of the article.

The textbook says there is a place called Sun Moon Lake, which is the tears shed by a daughter missing her Mother.

Continue scrolling down.

[He was struggling fiercely, but as soon as his Mother came over, he stopped struggling.]

Continue scrolling down.

[My Mother is intellectually disabled. The night before she left, she knocked on my door and said, "Help me get some tea." I refused to open the door no matter what. Because she's intellectually disabled, she always put in a full cup of tea, which was terribly bitter.]

[Later, I thought, if there's anything more bitter, it must be a son who wants tea but won't even open the door for you.]

The taxi was on its way to Lotus Residential Area.

The taxi driver saw the young man in the back seat put down his phone in the rearview mirror.

He closed his eyes, and two lines of tears silently streamed down from the corners of his eyes.