12: Chapter 12 Emotional Resonance
Lin Feng stared at that new skill for three days, not daring to use it.
It wasn't that he didn't want to use it.
It was that he didn't know what would happen if he did.
[Emotional Resonance (Ultimate Skill)]
Description: Actively transmit your own emotions to everyone within a 10-meter radius. Duration: 5 minutes. Cooldown: 24 hours.
Tip: If you are happy, the world is happy. If you break down, the world breaks down too. Use cautiously.
Those last two words—"Use cautiously"—made Lin Feng feel a bit apprehensive.
What if he suddenly thought of something upsetting while transmitting, and everyone in the shop broke down with him?
The thought of that scene was too much to bear.
So he hadn't made a move.
Until the fourth day.
-
A special guest arrived that day.
It was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy with tan skin and black hair, standing alone at the entrance, neither queuing nor coming inside.
Lin Feng squatted at the entrance and watched him for a long time.
The boy just stood there, head bowed, motionless.
Lin Feng stood up and walked over.
"The line starts at the back."
The boy didn't look up. "I'm not eating."
Lin Feng raised an eyebrow. "Then what are you standing here for?"
The boy was silent for three seconds, then said, "My mom said the owner of this shop is Chinese."
Lin Feng was stunned for a moment. "Where's your mom?"
The boy didn't answer.
Lin Feng's skill automatically popped up a notification:
[Emotional Fluctuation Detection—Target Emotion Value: 2.3. Emotion Types: Sadness + Loneliness + Numbness.]
Lin Feng's heart skipped a beat.
2.3.
The lowest value he had ever seen was 4.1, when Maria first arrived.
This boy was even lower than Maria was back then.
He squatted down to look the boy in the eye.
"Where's your mom?"
The boy finally looked up at him.
His eyes were red, but he wasn't crying.
"She's gone."
Lin Feng was silent for a second. "When?"
"Last week."
Lin Feng didn't ask further.
He stood up, grabbed the boy's arm, and led him into the shop.
The boy was startled and tried to pull away. "I'm not eating—"
Lin Feng didn't let go. "Who said I was giving you food? Help me with some work."
The boy was stunned.
--
Lin Feng sat the boy down in the kitchen and shoved a basket of potatoes at him.
"Peel them. I'll give you five dollars when you're done."
The boy stared at the basket of potatoes, then at Lin Feng, looking completely bewildered.
"I came here to..."
"To what? Work first." Lin Feng turned and left.
The boy stood there, stunned for three seconds.
Then he picked up the peeler and started peeling.
Nearby, the Mexican Guy leaned in and whispered, "Boss, who's this?"
Lin Feng squatted back at the entrance, chewing on a straw. "I don't know."
"Then why are you making him work?"
Lin Feng thought for a moment and said, "He needs to do some work."
---
The boy peeled potatoes all afternoon.
By the time he finished, his hands were red.
Lin Feng walked over and glanced at the basket—they were peeled unevenly, but at least they were all done.
He pulled five dollars out of his pocket and handed it over.
The boy took it, clutching it in his hand without a word.
Lin Feng pointed at the counter. "Go order some fried chicken. Use your own money."
The boy was taken aback.
Lin Feng said, "You helped me work today, it's only right."
The boy stared at the five dollars in his hand for three seconds.
Then he walked to the counter and said to Maria, "One order of fried chicken."
Maria glanced at him, then at Lin Feng. Without asking questions, she served a portion of fried chicken and handed it to him.
Holding the fried chicken, the boy stood in the shop, not knowing where to sit.
Lin Feng pointed to the table in the corner—the one the old man usually sat at.
The boy walked over, sat down, and began to eat.
As he ate, he suddenly stopped.
Then he bowed his head, and his shoulders began to shake.
It wasn't the kind of shaking where you cry out loud.
It was the kind of shaking from holding it in, enduring it, but being unable to stop.
Lin Feng squatted at the entrance, watching that back, and remained silent for a long time.
Then he made a decision.
---
He stood up and walked to the center of the shop.
He closed his eyes and activated the skill: [Emotional Resonance].
He didn't choose happiness.
What he chose was—
[Hope]
A very light emotion.
Not the shouting-and-screaming kind of excitement, but the feeling that "maybe things aren't so bad."
Like the day Maria first took a business card from his hand.
Like when Lily first saw her painting being hung up.
Like when that old man first pushed open the door and walked in.
That kind of feeling.
Lin Feng tuned his own emotions to that frequency and then released them.
Five seconds later, the shop went quiet.
The rag in the Mexican Guy's hand stopped mid-air.
Maria's fried chicken scoop was suspended halfway.
The Bald Strong Man's arm, which was maintaining order, dropped down.
The Google Girl's movements at the register paused.
The old man in the corner looked up.
Lily's paintbrush stopped on the paper.
Everyone turned their heads at the same time, looking in the same direction—
The corner where the boy was sitting.
Not toward Lin Feng.
But toward the boy.
Lin Feng was stunned.
He transmitted "Hope."
But what everyone received didn't come from him.
It came from the boy.
---
[Skill Feedback—]
[Target emotional state detected: Sadness concentration is too high. Automatically converted into a Resonance Amplifier.]
[The emotion of hope you transmitted has been enhanced by the target and spread throughout the area.]
Lin Feng stared at those words, stunned for three seconds.
Then he understood.
This skill wasn't meant to make him an emotional broadcasting station.
It was to make him an amplifier.
The true source of emotion was never him.
It was these people themselves.
---
Maria was the first to move.
She put down the fried chicken scoop, walked to the boy's table, and placed a cup of cola next to him.
The boy looked up, his eyes red and tears still wet on his face.
Maria didn't say anything; she just smiled and turned back.
Next was the old man.
Carrying his plate of fried chicken, he sat opposite the boy and said slowly:
"Young man, why are you crying? My wife has been gone for three years, and I haven't cried."
The boy was taken aback.
The old man continued, "Of course, I've cried secretly at home at night. But not during the day. During the day, one must eat."
The boy stared at the old man for three seconds.
Then the corner of his mouth twitched.
Lily walked over and placed a piece of paper on the table.
It was a sketch—a drawing of the boy with his head down, peeling potatoes.
At the bottom was a line of small text:
[Welcome to work here. Plenty of potatoes for you.]
The boy looked at the drawing and was silent for a long time.
Then he smiled.
A very light, faint smile, but a smile nonetheless.
Squatting at the entrance, Lin Feng watched this scene and suddenly felt a bit choked up.
He looked down, opened his phone, and sent a message to the system—though he didn't know if it would even go through:
[This skill is quite useful.]
The system actually replied:
[No. It's you who's quite useful.]
Lin Feng stared at those words, stunned for three seconds.
Then he laughed.
---
After closing for the night, the boy was still sitting in the corner.
Lin Feng walked over and squatted next to him.
"Where do you live?"
The boy gave an address in the East District; it was quite far.
Lin Feng nodded. "I'll drive you."
The boy shook his head. "No need, I'll take the bus."
Lin Feng ignored him and stood up to walk out. "Are you coming or not?"
The boy stared at his back, stunned for three seconds.
Then he stood up and followed.
In the car, the two of them were silent for a long time.
As they were almost there, the boy suddenly spoke:
"My mom used to run a small shop too."
Lin Feng didn't speak, just listened.
"Selling Baozi. It went out of business later."
"She always wanted to open another one. She didn't live to see it."
Lin Feng was silent for a second, then asked, "What's your name?"
The boy: "Li Ming."
Lin Feng nodded. "Li Ming, will you come back next week?"
Li Ming was taken aback. "To do what?"
Lin Feng said, "To peel potatoes."
Li Ming was silent for three seconds.
Then he asked, "Will you still pay me?"
Lin Feng laughed. "Yes. But you have to peel them better than you did today."
The corner of Li Ming's mouth curled up. "Okay."
The car stopped at the intersection.
Li Ming pushed open the door, got out, walked a few steps, and then turned back.
"Boss Lin."
Lin Feng leaned out. "Yeah?"
Li Ming stood under the streetlight, his shadow stretching long.
"Thank you."
Lin Feng waved his hand. "No need for thanks. Just remember to come next week."
Li Ming smiled and turned to run into the night.
Looking at that back, Lin Feng suddenly remembered himself three months ago.
Back then, he was also standing at some intersection, not knowing where to go.
Now he knew.
Move forward.
Leading a group of unlucky people, moving forward together.
[End of Chapter 12]