31: Chapter 31 USB Flash Drive

Life in the secret realm was stable and routine; in the blink of an eye, seven days had passed.

Night gradually enveloped the entire small courtyard. Outside the walls, it was tranquil. The chickens, ducks, and geese on the other side of the river had long since returned to their nests; only the gentle sound of the flowing river was exceptionally clear in the night.

Mo Yufei knew clearly that after tonight, it would be time for the scheduled crossing again. The brief, stable life in the secret realm was about to be put on pause.

A folding chair placed in the yard counted as the only leisure area in this simple, small courtyard.

Mo Yufei had just finished cleaning up the dinner dishes when he was surrounded by the little ones at his feet, making it impossible for him to move.

The Parrot, Benboba, flapped its wings and landed on the edge of the table. Its sharp beak pecked incessantly at the tabletop, making a tapping sound, while it noisily squawked: "Watch TV! Watch TV! Happy!"

The White Ferret, Xiaobai, rubbed against his pant leg, its little paws gently tugging at his hem, joining in the fun. Little Black was curled up to the side, its tail gently sweeping the floor, its gaze also fixed on the TV. The two kittens had arrived on the sofa early.

Over these past few days, the little ones had become completely obsessed with the sounds in the living room.

There was no internet or signal in the secret realm; the TV was just for show and couldn't receive any channels at all.

Fortunately, Mo Yufei had been farsighted. Back when he was frantically scavenging for supplies in the Mall and mobile phone/computer markets in the outside world, he had specifically packed a large box full of portable hard drives. He had also rummaged through an old repair shop and found two vintage DVD players, along with a huge pile of movie discs and music CDs.

He had originally intended to play some movies to pass the time, but the little animals couldn't understand these movies or cartoons at all. Their eyes were blank, and they lost interest after watching for only a moment.

Only with various music CDs did they get exceptionally excited once the rhythm started. They would shake their heads and move their feet to the music, making a fuss for a long time every night, which actually added quite a bit of liveliness to the otherwise desolate secret realm courtyard.

But tonight was different. Tomorrow was the time for the crossing. With the road ahead unknown after the crossing, Mo Yufei couldn't help but feel a bit heavy-hearted. He really wasn't in the mood to play along with their rowdiness, and he didn't want the living room to be too noisy, so he decided to play something quieter.

Too lazy to rummage through the music and DVD discs, he got up and brought over a large cardboard box from the corner. It was filled to the brim with USB drives he had scavenged from the Mall and digital shops, of all shapes and sizes.

Previously, when he had nothing to do, he had already tried a large pile of them. The vast majority were brand new, unopened, and ready for sale; they were completely empty, with not a shred of data.

Occasionally, there were a few that had been opened. When plugged in and played, they were all Mall promotional advertisements or speaker test audio. The noisy hawking gave people a headache, though he had heard some ads were quite catchy, like "Zhejiang Wenzhou, the largest leather factory in Zhejiang Wenzhou has gone bankrupt."

Benboba would shake its head every time it heard this sound, and could even sing along.

After trying the other USB drives a few times, he lost interest, and the remaining new USB drives had been left untouched since.

At this moment, he squatted in front of the cardboard box, reaching into the pile of USB drives to rummage through them. His gaze swept quickly, and his fingertips grazed over the various colored plastic casings.

After searching for a long while, he finally dug out a red USB drive from the pile of brand-new ones.

This USB drive was completely different from the other brand-new models. The casing had some fine scratches, and the connector had signs of wear from use. It had clearly been used by someone, and he didn't even know where he had gotten it from.

Mo Yufei's eyes flickered. Holding the red USB drive, he stood up and walked to the TV, inserted the USB drive into the TV's USB port, and immediately opened the file browsing page on the TV.

A pile of messy files quickly popped up on the screen, mostly miscellaneous documents and cached junk. Mo Yufei swept his gaze over them casually; they were all useless, redundant data. Just as he was about to give up, his gaze was caught by a super-large file marked as several gigabytes.

The file name was surprisingly written as "Animal World".

A hint of curiosity arose in his heart. Who would store such a large file on a USB drive and give it such a serious name?

Could it actually be a wildlife documentary? If it was a documentary, it would be suitable to play for these little ones beside him.

Without thinking too much, he raised his hand and clicked the file's open button.

The next second, the file on the screen expanded, and a dense list of categories instantly popped out. The clear text came into view— "Island Nation Blockbusters", "European & American Uncensored"...

Mo Yufei's pupils shrank suddenly. His previously casual expression froze instantly, his mouth opened slightly, and he stood stunned in place, his throat bobbing as he swallowed.

This was no "Animal World." It was clearly someone who had deliberately used a serious name to cover up inappropriate instructional materials inside. These little ones had just gained sentience; it was not suitable for them to see this.

He instinctively turned back, glancing at the little animals by his feet and the table edge, who were staring eagerly at the screen, full of anticipation. Xiaobai was rubbing against his ankle, and Benboba was still pecking at the table waiting for the program, completely unaware of what the text on the screen meant.

Almost instantly, Mo Yufei snapped back to reality. His face remained calm, though a flash of embarrassment quickly crossed his heart. His fingers moved rapidly, violently pressing the exit button, and then he yanked the red USB drive from the TV in one clean, swift motion.

"This USB drive isn't fun at all; it's all useless stuff." He spoke nonchalantly, his tone flat, without a hint of anything unusual, as if the category list he had just seen was just ordinary junk files.

As he finished speaking, he casually clutched the red USB drive in his palm and surreptitiously stuffed it into his pant pocket. His fingertips gripped it tightly, deliberately suppressing the strange feeling in his heart. Throughout the whole process, his expression remained natural, without revealing the slightest clue.

The little ones couldn't understand complex language. Seeing that the TV wasn't playing any images, they immediately wilted. Benboba squawked twice in dissatisfaction, and Xiaobai also drooped its little head. Little Black had sensed Mo Yufei's change in mood, but it passed quickly, so it didn't pay any mind and then lay back down on the ground.

Mo Yufei composed himself, too lazy to rummage for other USB drives. He simply found a soothing instrumental music CD and put it into the DVD player.

The soft, soothing melody flowed slowly through the living room. Without the noisy rhythm from before, there was a bit more tranquility. Listening to the gentle music, the little ones also gradually quieted down, stopped making a fuss, and lay obediently on the ground, closing their eyes to rest accompanied by the music.

Listening to the soothing music in his ears, Mo Yufei let his gaze drift into the tranquil night outside the window. His fingertips inadvertently grazed the red USB drive in his pocket, and a slight ripple stirred in his heart.

He didn't intend to check the contents inside again, and certainly wouldn't reveal a single thing in front of this group of little animals. He would just treat this USB drive as an accidental little interlude and keep it for now.

He would absolutely not watch it in private; he promised all his dear readers. At most, in his spare time, he would openly examine it with a critical mindset.

The stable life in the secret realm had come to a temporary end. After the crossing tomorrow, where he would go and what he would encounter—everything was unknown.

Beside him, the few little animals gradually drifted into a deep sleep, accompanied by the soothing music. Only the soft melody remained, flowing quietly in the living room.