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Boss Qian was not exactly comforting a child. A perfect clear would be highly beneficial to his newly opened branch as well. If Zhen Liu truly had that kind of ability, he would practically worship him like an ancestor.

The cool plain water slid down his throat, dispelling the summer heat.

"By the way, have you found a summer job?" Boss Qian asked another unnecessary question.

Zhen Liu nodded obediently. He had always answered every question from his elders. "I found a few, but they won't interfere with things here."

"Alright. I'll call you if I need help." The words rose to Boss Qian's lips several times. He wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing. He only watched Zhen Liu ride away on a shared bicycle. In his heart, he finished the sentence: Have you paid off the debts your father left behind?

Yes, that was why Zhen Liu had always wanted to make money.

Though he was still so young, he was already burdened with enormous debt.

Zhen Liu's family had once been quite well-off. Then his father's business failed, and his father jumped from a building to his death. Zhen Liu's life took a sharp turn for the worse and plummeted into ruin. Yet Zhen Liu had not given up on his life because of it. On the contrary, he had always worked hard to survive, to live better, and... to repay every debt his father had incurred.

A father's debts were a son's responsibility. That was only right.

Legally, Zhen Liu had no such obligation, but his personal moral standards would not allow him to do nothing.

The other uncles had not wanted to make things difficult for a child. It was Zhen Liu who insisted on repaying the money, because no one's money came from thin air. They had lent it because they were kind and because they wanted to help his father. He did not want good people to be left disheartened. As long as it was a debt his father had borrowed, he would find a way to repay it!

It might take a long time, but he would never refuse to repay it.

Of course, back then, no one had thought highly of the underage Zhen Liu. But after all these years, he had worked, repaid debts, and gone to school without neglecting a single one. He had always proceeded step by step, according to plan, and had always done well. He even carried himself with a certain calm, as though life would never be able to crush him.

Boss Qian sent his eldest nephew a WeChat message: [The matter you asked me to handle is settled. Your friend really is pretty good. If I need people in the future, I'll call him whenever I can.]

Xiao Qian, who had previously claimed to be busy, immediately replied: [Uncle! My dearest uncle! [Love you.jpg]]

Jin Zhuang was the first to emerge from his game pod, only to discover that the other players were already gone. He had not found that strange before, but now he could not help feeling surprised. He had woken up as quickly as possible just to exchange contact information with Zhen Liu. How had Zhen Liu still left before him?

When Jin Zhuang went to find the owner, the female owner smiled and said, "Sorry, the other guest has already left."

"Could you help me contact that player surnamed Zhen? I want to ask whether he'd be free to run dungeons together sometime." Jin Zhuang had long wanted fixed teammates. Unfortunately, he had looked down on others before, but now...

Jin Zhuang discovered, speechlessly, that this time, it might be others who looked down on him.

"We can leave a message for you, but whether it works out depends on what the other person wants." Privacy could never be respected too much.

"Alright, thank you."

When Xiao Zhao and Xiao Qiao woke up, they were surprised to find that they had still awakened from game pods. The plump shop owner was already waiting outside their pods, looking thoroughly practiced at answering questions and clearing up doubts at any moment.

"We didn't disappear just because our wishes had been fulfilled?"

"This isn't some enlightenment system." The plump shop owner regretfully explained that they did not offer services for guiding people to salvation. Clearing the instance based on their case simply meant it had been cleared. Life would continue as it should. The owner had only appeared because Xiao Zhao and Xiao Qiao had once been undead.

Xiao Zhao asked, "Were the others all dead people who were brought back to life too?"

"No." The owner shook her head. "There are living people and dead people. The only thing everyone has in common is that they are all suspects in one or several cold cases. You can think of this as a mutual-assistance investigation group. You help others solve their cases, and others help you solve yours. Find the truth, reconstruct the story. Let the world be filled with love."

Xiao Zhao and Xiao Qiao: "..." Forget it. The slogan did not matter. They only wanted to know whether they could still team up with Zhen Liu.

"You can't. You've already lost your qualifications." The plump shop owner looked delighted to finally be rid of these two stubborn holdouts. Maintaining undead players in an instance cost quite a lot, and any expense saved was an expense saved. "Your ending has been rewritten, which means you've come back to life. Once you leave through this door, you'll begin your lives anew. Cherish it."

Xiao Zhao and Xiao Qiao listened to this sudden turn of events in disbelief and were unable to speak for a long time. This was far better than even the best ending they could have imagined.

"Y-you mean... we're alive?"

"That's right. You can choose to retain your memories, or you can choose to forget them. I must remind you that even if you choose to retain them, once you leave through this door, you will no longer be able to discuss this matter by any means whatsoever. My suggestion is that you choose to forget. Most people choose that."

After all, dying once was hardly a pleasant experience. Only by forgetting sooner could they truly begin their lives anew.

After looking at each other, Xiao Zhao and Xiao Qiao both shook their heads. "No, we choose to remember." Because they wanted to remember Zhen Liu, who had helped them.

Some kindness should not be forgotten.

***

After locking himself in the Black Room for several days, Lucien emerged once more and said to the God of Love, "I've come up with a great idea! It'll definitely make Zhen Liu fall in love with me."

God of Love: "???" Huh? What were you talking about?

Simply put, Lucien had not given up. He was determined to make Zhen Liu fall in love with him!

But the God of Love found this utterly baffling. "If you don't want to follow fate, then don't. Wouldn't it be enough to control yourself and not fall in love with Zhen Liu? Why do you have to make him fall in love with you? You're such a boring god."