The sea breeze grew stronger, and waves surged onto the beach, seemingly about to rise, yet failing to quite reach their peak. Qingmu knew this was Xia Xiaoxiao's emotional fluctuations reflected in her dream.
"I know. I came here because he came to Wuzhong." The seawater reached Xia Xiaoxiao's ankles, and she waded barefoot in the water. "Although he warned me not to see him again, I stubbornly wanted to see him one last time."
Qingmu asked, puzzled, "Why won't he meet with you?"
"Because he's always in danger, he's capable enough to protect himself, but if he also had to protect my daughter and me, he wouldn't be able to do anything else. No one knows about my relationship with him, so he won't allow us to meet."
"You believe all that nonsense he's spouting?"
"Why wouldn't I believe him?" Xia Xiaoxiao smiled and looked up at Qingmu, her face full of confidence. "He's my husband. If I don't believe his words, who else can I trust?"
Qingmu said, "Do you know what he did at the music academy?"
"You mean those mirrors? He left them there, I know that."
"You knew all of that?"
Xia Xiaoxiao chuckled at Qingmu and said, "Do you think my husband has something going on with those female students...?" She gazed at the blurry horizon in the distance, as if reminiscing about some bygone era, "He's a proud man."
"A proud person..." Qingmu carefully considered Xia Xiaoxiao's words, combining them with what he had recently heard about Situ, and imagined what Situ was like. "I understand."
Xia Xiaoxiao withdrew her gaze and walked slowly along the coastline. "If you meet in the future, you can ask him directly why he got those mirrors. There are some things I don't know either, but as his wife, I trust him."
"You said he's in danger, is it the same kind of danger you were in back then?" Qingmu asked.
"He didn't tell me, but I guess so," Xia Xiaoxiao said. "I think his trouble might have stemmed from saving me, but he said that even without me, he would have gotten into trouble with them because of Laboratory No. 19."
Qingmu was certain he couldn't get any more information out of Xia Xiaoxiao; if he continued, she might really reveal her private matters. So he changed the subject, saying, "Would you like to go see your father?"
Xia Xiaoxiao hesitated for a moment and said, "I also want to see them, but there are two problems. First, I can't go back to the Xia Family. Xia Xiaoxiao is dead, and the Xia Family is full of gossips; it will definitely spread. If those people find out I'm still alive, not only will I be in trouble, but the entire Xia Family will be in trouble too. Second, I don't know how to explain it to my parents. The key is that I'm with Meimei. If they ask, I can't tell them who my husband is."
Qingmu thought for a moment and said, "How about this, I'll go talk to Elder Xia and Aunt Xia and tell them you can meet secretly. They'll understand."
Xia Xiaoxiao said, "Then thank you, Mr. Qingmu."
"But where will you go in the future? If you don't give us an answer, I don't think Elder Xia and the others will be at ease." Qingmu didn't know how this woman had managed for the past six months. She couldn't go home, couldn't see her husband, wandered around with her daughter, and was always worried about being recognized.
Xia Xiaoxiao: "Of course I'll go find my husband. He's worried about my daughter and me, but I'm only worried about Meimei. If my meeting with my parents goes smoothly, I'll entrust Meimei to the Xia Family, then I won't have any worries."
Qingmu said, " Meimei has been looking for her father. If her mother leaves her again, have you thought about how she would feel?"
Xia Xiaoxiao remained silent for a long time, her face shifting between a smile and a look of reluctance and lingering attachment. Finally, as if she had made up her mind, she revealed a resolute expression and said, "I would like to ask Mr. Qingmu for a favor."
"What's up?"
"I would like to ask you to take Meimei as your goddaughter."
"Huh?" Qingmu was taken aback. "Why?"
Xia Xiaoxiao smiled and said, "Mr. Qingmu, are you not happy? Meimei is very well-behaved!"
Qingmu scratched his head and chuckled, "No, it's just... I've never been a godfather before, so I don't know what to do."
Xia Xiaoxiao chuckled, "Nothing needs to be done, just a formality. If it puts you in a difficult position, please forgive me."
"Oh, it's nothing difficult, I just don't understand why you did this?"
"There are two reasons," Xia Xiaoxiao said. "One is that Meimei likes you. During my time in Wuzhong, besides her father, the Meimei mentioned most often was Mr. Qingmu. If Mr. Aoki were to adopt her as his goddaughter, giving her a second father, it might make up for the loss of her biological father. The second reason is that the Xia Family's situation is quite complicated right now. Apart from my parents, we can't let anyone else know Meimei's identity. Everyone knows about the relationship between Mr. Qingmu and my father. It's more appropriate for you to formally entrust your goddaughter to the Xia Family."
Qingmu said, "I have no problem with that, but I think it would be better to ask Elder Xia's opinion later; perhaps he has a better solution. Also, will your husband agree?"
Xia Xiaoxiao said, "I think he will agree. In his email to me, he said that with Mr. Qingmu around, Wuzhong is safe, at least the people around you are safe."
Qingmu said, "He overestimates me!"
Xia Xiaoxiao smiled and said, "But isn't that the truth?"
Qingmu smiled but remained silent. He realized he knew far too little about Situ, while the other seemed to know everything about him, which made him uneasy. Nobody likes having eyes watching them from behind, and you never know who those eyes belong to.
In my dream, the tide rises and falls on the beach, the moon moves and the stars go; I don't know how much time has passed, but in reality, it's just a fleeting moment.
Little Meimei kept her head down, saddened by her mother's scolding.
Mei Ziqing's mouth hung open. Although she had guessed in her heart that Situ Yuli's husband was the extremely handsome man she had seen, she was still incredibly surprised and even a little uncomfortable once she said it aloud. She now understood why fans cried their eyes out and even committed suicide when celebrities announced their relationships. Every woman has a Cinderella dream, hoping that her prince charming will always be single and waiting for her. Fortunately, she was a scientist, and she admired scientists. Professor Mei Yiqiu held a higher place in her heart than anyone else.
Mei Yiqiu took a few puffs of his cigarette and said, "So it's Situ. No wonder you gave me this." He was still holding the USB drive in his hand. "This experiment has been incredibly insightful for my current Space Box project. I think we'll be able to solve some of the difficulties we're facing soon. Moreover, without your reminder, our Dream Guide game might have been influenced by Internet Consciousness. It would be disastrous if players were injected with a second consciousness."
"Does the Internet really possess intelligence?" Mei Ziqing asked.
Mei Yiqiu said, " The Internet has developed into a behemoth. You can't determine whether it has intelligence by conducting a few Turing Test. Machines possessing consciousness is more terrifying than machines possessing intelligence! It's very difficult for humans to prove it based on existing theories, unless theoretical physics makes another great leap forward like it did at the beginning of the last century, or we get our hands on the chips from that era to verify it experimentally."
Situ Yuli said, "The chip is impossible to find again. All the people I was tracking are dead, and their bodies and the chips have been destroyed."
Qingmu suddenly remembered something and said, "Maybe I can find one."