ID Card

Hong Mo had always thought he wasn't the type to miss home. Back when he was in college, he rarely thought about his parents. Especially after obtaining the meteorite and awakening his superpowers, he thought of them even less.

Even after entering the research institute, Hong Mo rarely thought of his parents. Whenever the thought poked its head out in his mind, he forced it back down into the depths of his heart.

Hong Mo knew he was afraid—afraid to imagine what his parents' lives had been like. He truly was an unfilial son. Covering his eyes with one hand, Hong Mo stood silently on the street.

"Daddy, are you crying?" Lingyin looked up at Hong Mo and noticed the wet traces on his face. Lingyin had never cried, because crying got her nothing in the research institute. She didn't know how to vie for affection, much less act spoiled.

"Come on. Let's look up some information first." Hong Mo wiped away the tears on his face, unwilling to let Lingyin know what he was thinking.

Did he regret it? Hong Mo didn't know whether he did or not. He wouldn't stubbornly insist that he had no regrets, because he truly felt uncomfortable inside. Hong Mo didn't know if this was what regret felt like, because some things could never be done over.

After searching for a long time, Hong Mo finally found an internet café by the roadside. It was quite formal, and quite luxurious. Ten years had passed, and internet cafés had become rare. Most people had computers at home now, leaving small internet cafés with no room to survive. Still, some people liked lively, crowded places, so there was business to be found in that.

"Welcome. Are you here to use the internet? Please show your ID card," said a pretty internet café cashier to Hong Mo.

An ID card? Hong Mo froze for a moment before remembering that. Where was he supposed to find one now? He didn't have one at all. "I'm here to find a friend, so don't trouble yourself." Hong Mo waved his hand, then wandered around the internet café for a few laps. After pretending he hadn't found his friend, he left looking disappointed.

After leaving the internet café, Hong Mo spotted a sheet of paper pasted to the utility pole across the street, with a "*" written on it and a phone number below.

This kind of thing still existed, huh? Hong Mo stood before the utility pole, laughing in surprise. But first, he needed to buy a phone.

At the phone store, Hong Mo and Lingyin each bought a phone and activated various services. The two phones cost a total of 600 yuan. It had to be said that phones were really cheap these days.

Hong Mo dialed the number on the paper...

Following the other party's instructions, Hong Mo brought Lingyin to a shop on a street corner. A young, fat man with a rather sleazy appearance sat behind the counter, tensely working the keyboard.

The guy seemed busy, so Hong Mo didn't interrupt him right away. Instead, he looked around the room with interest. This * place looked fairly legitimate.

Legitimate? No problem there, right? A bitter smile flashed through Hong Mo's mind. He was here to get forged documents, after all.

"Damn it, lost again." The fat man shoved the keyboard forward in annoyance, then yelled at Hong Mo. "What are you here for?"

"Can you make ID cards here? Forged ones." In the end, Hong Mo asked directly. He knew that asking like this made him look incredibly foolish. But he genuinely didn't know the ins and outs of this business.

"Huh?" The fat man across from him froze.

"ID cards. Forged ones. Can you do it?" Hong Mo repeated.

"Come on, man, do you have to be like that? At least be subtle. Subtle," the fat man said, apparently driven nearly mad by Hong Mo's attitude. "Wait, you're not * , are you?" He suddenly seemed to think of something.

"Do I look like it?" Hong Mo looked at the amusing fat man as well.

At that, the fat man seriously began sizing Hong Mo up. Then he saw Lingyin behind him, and his eyes lit up as though he had discovered a priceless treasure.

"A loli! A real-life, three-dimensional loli! Is she cosplaying Feles Bell? She definitely is! Those are clearly the usual clothes Feles Bell wears in Superpower Legend..." The fat man scrambled out from behind the counter so urgently that he slammed into the huge counter, making it shake.

Hong Mo reached out, caught the fat man by the shoulder, and held the fat pig in place so he couldn't pounce forward.

"What are you talking about?" Hong Mo was somewhat confused.

"Feles Bell! You don't even know that? Then why did you dress this girl up like this? She's practically a real-life version of Feles." As he spoke, the fat man felt the immense strength in the hand on his shoulder and stopped forcing himself forward. Instead, he turned and spun the computer monitor around.

"Look, look here." The fat man opened the D drive, then opened a folder containing wallpaper files and audio files. Then he clicked open the wallpaper folder.

Feles Bell!

Hong Mo took a look. Sure enough, the appearance of this anime heroine was eighty percent similar to Lingyin's. From that alone, the fat man wasn't lying. It truly was a very... strange coincidence.

He couldn't tell, but this fat man was an anime-obsessed shut-in. Hong Mo looked again, then shook his head.

"What do you mean by that? What does shaking your head mean? Are you looking down on Feles?" The fat man seemed to feel that his idol had been insulted and spoke fiercely.

"Not at all. I just think all these anime characters look pretty much the same. So many years have passed, yet it doesn't seem like much has changed."

"What do you mean?"

"Actually, I think Feles's original model looks more like Remilia Scarlet."

"Remilia Scarlet? Who's that? Why haven't I heard of her?" The fat man scratched his head in confusion.

"It's normal that you haven't. She was an anime character from more than ten years ago."

"More than ten years ago? An antique? Bro, how old are you? You don't look that much older than me," the fat man asked, but Hong Mo didn't answer.

"Let's not waste time on this topic. I'll ask you again: do you make ID cards here? Forged ones."

"Hey, don't act so high and mighty. You're the one asking me for help now, got it? If you don't explain it clearly, I'm not taking this job." The fat man squared off against Hong Mo, gave Lingyin a regretful look, then returned behind the counter.

"From your tone, it sounds like you can make forged documents here?" Hong Mo probed.

"Of course I can. Our usual business is helping people apply for all kinds of documents, legally. Of course, if customers have special needs, we can accommodate them too—like your request." As he spoke, the fat man typed several characters on the keyboard.

"Which characters are used for Remilia? I'm afraid I'll type it wrong and won't be able to find it," the fat man suddenly asked, poking his head out from behind the monitor.

Hong Mo didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It seemed this fat man was doing it on purpose. If he didn't explain things clearly, the man might really refuse to help him.

Ten years later, Baidu was still the most commonly used search engine. Hong Mo typed in the characters for Remilia and clicked search. There were only a handful of results. It was clear that after ten years, these anime characters had nearly been forgotten.

"So this is Remilia. She really does look a lot like Feles. But it's a shame there are so few pictures—just these few." The fat man looked through the images, still wanting more.

"It's been ten years, after all. It's not strange for her to be forgotten." Hong Mo spoke faintly, his words carrying a trace of melancholy. Ten years... It was already 2024. The New Year was coming soon, and it would soon be 2025. Ten years—the most important ten years of his life had been spent in that cold research institute.

"What is this Touhou Project thing?" the fat man suddenly asked.

"A series. The Touhou series of games." Hong Mo's mood suddenly turned somewhat low, and he answered casually. Then he saw the fat man searching Baidu for information.

"Damn, so there was a loli concentration camp like this ten years ago—all 2D beauties. Every one of them had so much character." The fatty had somehow dug up a large group photo from the Touhou Project, with dozens of game characters rendered lifelike within it.

"Alright, Fatty, you can keep searching on your own later. Right now, help me get an ID card." Hong Mo's tone was somewhat cold.

The fatty turned, about to complain, but the moment Hong Mo's eyes fixed on him, a chill immediately ran up his spine. After ten years of cold life in the research institute, Hong Mo had gradually acquired an eerie, icy presence. It normally did not show, but whenever Hong Mo became serious, ordinary people could definitely feel an uncomfortable pressure.

"Sure. Let's take a photo first, then I'll get your ID made. It should be done in about a day. The fee is ten thousand yuan."

"Mm. We take the photo here?"

"Come with me. There's a small room specifically for taking pictures." The fatty led the way, opening a little door amid a pile of clutter.

Hong Mo took Lingyin's hand and walked in. It was a cramped room with a camera.

Click! It was over just like that.

"Isn't this little girl getting one too?" the fatty suddenly asked.

"Mm? My daughter is only six. Does she need a photo too?" Hong Mo asked doubtfully.

"Uncle, what era are you from? Years ago, the state reissued the law: anyone over five years old can get their own ID card. It has to be renewed every two years to update the photo." The fatty explained.

"Oh, then take one for her too."

Perhaps it was an illusion, but after the fatty took Lingyin's picture, he seemed a little delighted. Hong Mo could not see anything wrong, so he let it go.

A day later, Hong Mo brought Lingyin back and collected their ID cards.

"Uncle, here are your IDs. Let me make this clear first: although these are no different from real ID cards, they're still fake. Ordinary places won't be a problem, but you'd better not go anywhere genuinely operated by the state," the fatty said as he handed them over.

Hong Mo nodded and looked at his ID card.

Qin Feng. A very ordinary name. Then Hong Mo looked at Lingyin's ID card.

Remilia Scarlet!

Hong Mo was certain he had not misread it. What the hell? Was this guy messing with him? Hong Mo glared at the fatty coldly.

"What is it?" the fatty pretended not to understand.

What is it, my ass, you fat bastard. "What's with this name?" Hong Mo pointed at the name on Lingyin's ID card.

"Oh, that? I couldn't think of a suitable name at the time, so I used that one. It's a fake ID anyway. If you go somewhere strict, they'll check you no matter what name you use. Other places won't care what your name is." The fatty's gaze wandered.

Hong Mo did not know whether to laugh or cry. This shut-in's words did make some sense, but Hong Mo still felt extremely irritated.

Forget it. He could not be bothered to argue with this guy. Hong Mo turned to leave.

Once the fatty saw Hong Mo walk out the front door, he let out a sigh of relief, then hurried back to the counter and turned on the computer. "This is real cosplay! Too bad it's not a photo together. Those animals are going to be jealous to death." The fatty stared greedily at the screen.

On the screen was an enlarged photo of Lingyin.