Chapter 308: Everything is Purely Fictional, Please Do Not Take It Seriously
Chapter 308: Chapter 308: Everything is Purely Fictional, Please Do Not Take It Seriously
"S-Sister, you’re here." Liu Yaozu’s voice was strange. He cleared his throat and put on a fawning expression. "Sister, I did a really good job sorting the seeds today. Absolutely no mistakes."
Shen Lu ignored him and looked at Yang Jing, who was silently wiping away tears. "Mom, why are you crying?"
Liu Qiang shot Yang Jing a warning glance. Yang Jing pouted aggrievedly. "I... got some sand in my eye."
"Oh."
Hearing this, Shen Lu instantly lost the desire to press the issue.
After checking the sorted seeds with a blank expression and confirming there were no issues, Shen Lu assigned the next day’s work.
"We’re done with sorting seeds for now. Tomorrow, Mom, you’ll go sow a plot of onion seeds."
"What about me and your brother?" Liu Qiang suddenly asked.
"If you can move, you can plant onions with her. If you can’t, then don’t bother."
Liu Yaozu’s heart leaped with joy. ’Does this mean I don’t have to work and can still get good food?’
"However, if you don’t work, there’s no reward the next day. You should understand the concept of ’more work, more reward.’"
Liu Yaozu’s face fell, but he quickly returned to normal.
’It’s not a big deal, really,’ he thought. ’It just means eating a few bites less. Besides, his mom can still work, and she’d never let him go hungry.’
Seeing Liu Yaozu’s sneaky, gleeful little expression, Shen Lu knew exactly what he was scheming.
She glanced at Yang Jing, who was staring at the ground in sullen silence, then turned and left.
Since the shop wasn’t open today, there was no revenue to count and no Lottery Tickets to draw.
After washing up, Shen Lu curled up on the sofa to watch TV, munching on sunflower seeds. CRUNCH, CRUNCH.
But... for some reason, something felt off.
She tilted her head and looked around. The person who had watched TV with her yesterday wasn’t there.
Shen Lu pouted, slipped on her slippers, and went to the spare bedroom.
Fu Cheng had been feigning sleep with his eyes closed. Sensing her presence, he slowly opened them.
"I’m negotiating for the military armored vehicle," he said.
He thought she had come to ask about that.
"I’m not here to rush you about that." Shen Lu tilted her head. "Fu Cheng, how are you feeling now? Does your head still hurt?"
"Much better."
"Do you have any strength back?"
"Some of it has returned."
Shen Lu’s eyes darted. "It must be boring just lying there. Want me to watch some TV with you?"
Fu Cheng: ?
After a moment of surprise, he seemed to understand something and nodded obediently.
"Okay."
Shen Lu pushed the TV into the room. "What do you want to watch?"
"Anything is fine."
He wasn’t interested in this stuff anyway, so it didn’t matter what they watched.
Shen Lu picked a highly-rated movie. The plot was incredibly cheesy: the main story was about a human female lead and a mutant beast male lead who meet by chance. They develop feelings for each other, but neither will admit it. After a series of misunderstandings, they finally end up together.
"Are there really mutant beasts that are this handsome?" Shen Lu asked curiously.
"No, all mutant beasts are ugly." Fu Cheng shattered her fantasy without hesitation. "Besides, mutant beasts are controlled by their animalistic instincts. With the exception of a few highly evolved ones with intelligence, the moment a mutant beast smells human flesh, its only thought is to eat."
A scenario like in the movie, where the mutant beast lead bites the human heroine’s neck but forcefully restrains his instincts and doesn’t bite through, would be virtually impossible in reality.
The moment a mutant beast’s teeth touch human flesh, the only outcome is being torn apart and devoured.
Shen Lu clicked her tongue. "So it really is ’all purely fictional, please do not take it seriously.’"
Halfway through the movie, the male lead’s best friend discovered his relationship with the human heroine. When he failed to persuade his friend to end it, he tattled to the male lead’s father.
The father was furious and devised a scheme to gravely injure the heroine. The male lead had a huge fight with his father and ran away from home.
The male lead took the dying heroine to a hidden paradise, wanting to spend her final moments with her before killing himself.
Then, something magical happened. In this paradise, there was a miraculous spring that could heal the heroine’s injuries.
Under the male lead’s meticulous care, the heroine gradually recovered. Soon, the conflict between humans and mutant beasts reached an irreconcilable point, and a great war was on the verge of breaking out.
Just before the war began, the hero and heroine chose to return. They prevented a massive catastrophe, and from then on, mutant beasts and humans coexisted peacefully, bringing the planet into an era of great harmony and prosperity.
After finishing the movie, Shen Lu felt like she was about to cough up blood, but couldn’t decide if she should or not.
"Seriously, how does a trashy movie like this have a 9.9 rating?"
Shen Lu just couldn’t understand the plot’s direction. ’Can love really conquer all?’
"Perhaps reality is too bleak, so they wanted to create a more beautiful story when they filmed it?" Fu Cheng didn’t understand either and could only try to analyze it.
"There’s another possibility: the people who rated it wanted more people to suffer through this movie with them." Shen Lu brushed the crumbs from her hands and cleaned up the sunflower seed shells. "The movie’s over. I’m going to bed. You should get some rest too."
"...Want to watch another one?"
"Better not. If we watch another, it’ll be midnight."
"Okay."
After a good night’s sleep, Shen Lu woke up to a sky even darker than the day before. Rain mixed with sand pelted the window glass as if it were free, quickly making a mess of things.
’Well, no point in expecting any customers today,’ she thought. ’Another day of lazing around.’
Shen Lu slowly brushed her teeth, washed her face, and changed her clothes before peeking into Fu Cheng’s room.
Fu Cheng was also awake, trying to prop himself up to move into his wheelchair.
Shen Lu went over to help him, straightening his rumpled clothes in the process.
"Thank you," Fu Cheng said.
"You’re welcome. Ready to go down?"
"Yes."
The two of them went downstairs together. As they passed the kitchen, they heard Xin Yu speaking.
"You guys eat this well every morning?! Damn, what do I do? I kind of want to move in now."
"Brother Xin Yu can move in! There are still two empty rooms in the dorm!" Xiao Lang said adorably.
Xin Yu chuckled, said no more, and helped Xiao Lang carry the breakfast out.
Breakfast this morning was steamed buns—one kind filled with braised pork and the other with pickled vegetables—served with a bowl of cornmeal porridge and a few small dishes of pickled side dishes. Simple yet delicious.
As soon as Xiao Lang came out, he spotted Shen Lu and Fu Cheng. He ran over, PITTER-PATTER, holding a basket of buns. "Sister Shen, Brother Fu Cheng, good morning!"
"Good morning, Xiao Lang." Shen Lu patted Little Douding’s head.
Fu Cheng just gave a slight nod in response.
Xiao Lang didn’t mind Fu Cheng’s slightly cold attitude and looked at him with admiration. "Brother Fu Cheng, you were the one who healed me yesterday. You’re so amazing!"
Before, Xiao Lang had seen Fu Cheng as being just like him—sickly and bedridden. Later, as he slowly got better, Fu Cheng also slowly improved.
But he recovered faster than Fu Cheng. By the time he could run and jump, Fu Cheng was still spending most of his time in bed.
Now, he had awakened his superpower, while Fu Cheng had only gained a wheelchair to help him move around.
Xiao Lang had never thought Fu Cheng was particularly amazing; in fact, he believed Fu Cheng was weaker than he was.
But to his surprise, after he had recklessly overused his superpower yesterday, the one who stabilized his turbulent Spiritual Sea was none other than Fu Cheng.