25: Hey, sister

The driver, a talkative middle-aged man, glanced at Lin Yu in the rearview mirror and, without asking further, stepped on the accelerator.

“Going to that place? It’s deserted now, but it used to be so lively, a big factory with tens of thousands of people.”

Lin Yu just hummed in response.

“Young man, your accent doesn’t sound local? Coming here for work? Don’t go to that area; it’s all shady stuff now. Who would a respectable person go there?”

Lin Yu didn’t reply, just watched the streetscape rapidly receding outside the window.

The car quickly entered the desolate development zone, half the streetlights broken.

“We’re here. This is it. The road further in isn’t good.” The driver stopped the car outside the old factory gate.

“How much?”

“Thirty-eight.”

Lin Yu habitually pulled out the black card, specifically for the black market, from his chest and handed it over.

Then he immediately realized!

This card was an internal currency of the black market, physically encrypted, and completely unusable on any external terminal.

What a foolish mistake.

“Can you scan a QR code?” The driver didn’t even look, his expression a little impatient.

Lin Yu retrieved the card, put his hand into his pocket, pretending to search.

His mental energy stirred slightly, and a brand new hundred-yuan bill appeared between his fingers.

He handed over the bill.

“Keep the change.”

The driver took the money, held it up to the light, and then rubbed it between his fingers. The crisp newness made him look at it again, but he eventually put it away.

“Thanks.”

Lin Yu pushed the door open and got out. The taxi quickly turned around and left, leaving him alone on this abandoned land.

He returned to the container he had lived in for five years.

The huge granite stone pillar lay shattered to one side, like a dismembered giant beast, silently narrating what had happened that day. The bloodstains on the ground had been washed away, but a faint smell of rust seemed to linger in the air.

He pushed open the creaking iron door.

A familiar scent, a mix of rust, dust, and cheap materials, assailed him.

This was his cage, and also his sanctuary.

He stood in the center of this cramped space, five years of memories flooding in like a tide. Those desperate, frenzied, obsessive days and nights felt as if they had happened just yesterday.

Just then.

“Buzz buzz buzz — buzz buzz buzz —”

His old-fashioned phone in his pocket, now free from the black market’s signal jamming, vibrated violently as if it had gone mad.

On the screen, dozens of missed calls and hundreds of unread messages popped up frantically, all from the same person.

Lin Yao.

Lin Yu clicked on the latest message.

“Reply upon seeing this. If no reply in three days, I’ll call the police.”

A short sentence, carrying an undeniable tone of command.

Lin Yu was startled at first, then found himself laughing and crying at the same time.

He understood.

This girl... she must have seen the shattered stones and bloodstains at the entrance and thought something bad had happened to him.

He didn’t know how long Lin Yao had struggled after seeing the fake money before suppressing her urge to call the police and setting that three-day deadline.

What in the world was all this?

Lin Yu thought this.

Yet, a warm current spread through his heart.

In this world, there really was someone who cared for him so desperately, in such a clumsy yet earnest way.

He quickly typed on the screen.

“I’m fine. I was in a place with no signal before. Everything you saw was a misunderstanding.”

He thought for a moment, then added another sentence.

“Don’t worry, I’ve moved past it, and everything is getting better.”

He had wanted to say he succeeded, but considering the reality, he thought it best to keep it a secret.

This infinitely replicable card deck... it was ridiculously buggy.

One careless mistake could lead to a fatal disaster.

He wasn’t strong enough yet.

Message sent successfully... In a residential apartment in Linzhou City.

At the dining table, Lin Yao distractedly poked the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks, her beautiful face filled with an lingering worry.

“Yao Yao, eat properly when you’re eating. What are you poking?” Mother Lin put a chopstickful of vegetables into her bowl, her tone full of tenderness.

Father Lin glanced at his daughter, put down the tablet he was using to browse the news, and sighed.

“Still thinking about your awakening?”

Lin Yao didn’t speak, just nodded.

Just then, her phone on the table suddenly lit up.

Lin Yao’s body trembled violently; she grabbed her phone as if electrocuted.

When she saw the familiar name and message on the screen, her breathing hitched.

“I’m fine...”

“Everything is getting better...”

The fear, despair, and worry that had accumulated for two days burst forth like a dam breaking at this moment.

Tears instantly blurred her vision.

He was alive!

Lin Yao frantically wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, her fingers trembling from excitement, pressing the wrong keys several times.

“Where are you?! Where are you right now?!”

“Are you hurt? What exactly happened that day?!”

A barrage of questions was sent.

On the other side, Lin Yu watched his sister’s rapid-fire questions, as if he could see her stamping her feet in anxiety on the other end.

He replied: “At home, in that container. I’m really fine, not a scratch. Don’t worry, and don’t overthink things.”

In the dining room.

When Lin Yao saw the words “container,” she instantly sprang out of her chair.

“Dad! Mom! I’m full!”

She shoved her phone into her pocket, picked up her rice bowl, and, with almost frantic speed, quickly shoveled the remaining half-bowl of rice into her mouth.

Mother Lin was startled by her.

“Oh, child, eat slowly, don’t choke!”

Lin Yao didn’t listen at all, finishing her meal in a few seconds and placing her bowl and chopsticks heavily on the table.

“I’m going out! It’s very important!”

She yelled as she rushed towards the door like a gust of wind, fumbling to change her shoes.

Father Lin and Mother Lin exchanged glances, both seeing helplessness and surprise in each other’s expressions.

“Do you think our daughter is... in an early relationship?” Father Lin picked up his tablet but couldn’t read a single word.

“It shouldn’t be...”

“Go check?”

“No, no, no, how about we ask her later?”

“It seems our daughter needs a special talk.”

“Bang!”

The security door was forcefully shut.

Lin Yao’s figure had already disappeared down the hallway.

Lin Yu looked at the new message that popped up on his phone, only a short sentence.

“Stay where you are, don’t move! I’ll be there soon!”

He put down his phone and looked around the cluttered container.

It seemed an interrogation was inevitable.

But it was fine; as long as he handled it carefully, Lin Yao would definitely be bluffed by him.

He leaned against the cold corrugated iron wall, waiting.

Not long after, a series of urgent, messy footsteps approached from outside the container, growing louder until they stopped at the door.

“Bang!”

The rusty iron door was roughly pushed open from the outside, slamming against the wall with a deafening crash.

A figure rushed in, covered in dust and urgency.

It was Lin Yao.

She stood panting at the doorway, her chest heaving violently, the wisps of hair on her forehead damp with sweat and clinging tightly to her skin.

Her gaze quickly swept across the dim room, finally locking onto Lin Yu, who was standing in the corner.

There was no anticipated questioning, no scathing scolding.

Lin Yao just looked at him.

She looked at his body, still thin, but standing straight.

She looked at his face, no longer having that sickly paleness; his complexion, thanks to the Life Serum, was much better than when she last saw him.

She looked at the clean cloak he wore, instead of his old, oil-stained work clothes.

Most importantly, he was no longer fiddling with those useless little pebble cards.

Lin Yao’s tense body suddenly relaxed at this moment.

The fear and despair accumulated over two days seemed to find an outlet.

She suddenly rushed forward two steps.

Whoosh.

Lin Yao opened her arms and, with all her might, hugged Lin Yu tightly.

Her soft body crashed into his embrace, trembling slightly.