Chapter 158

Chapter 158

Because Luo Li was a native resident of the Script, her logout point couldn’t be pinned to specific coordinates, so the World-Descent Rule placed her in the home of the person she was most closely connected to.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself standing in the yard of a house. The plaque in front of her read 572 Shanyu Road.

Luo Li was still wearing the clothes she’d casually grabbed while she was in the audience.

The girl’s face carried a maturity beyond her years. She lingered outside the house, torn between knocking and leaving. But if she left, where would she even go? Call the police and ask where Ning Shuo or Rao Lin were? She didn’t even know any of their other personal details.

Just as she was hesitating, the door opened.

The wind chime under the eaves rang softly, and a long-unseen face entered her sight without warning.

Back when Luo Li had still been a doll, her perception of the outside world had been vague and indistinct. The one thing that had left the deepest impression on her was the older brother Zhu Xiangfeng always talked about.

This older brother, who had existed only in Xiangfeng’s diary and in her stories, smiled when he saw her at the door and asked, “Hello there, kiddo. I don’t recognize your face, but I’d still really like to know… are you the good friend Luo Li that Xiangfeng talked about?”

As if someone inside had heard the commotion, hurried footsteps came from within the house.

Zhu Xiangyu called over his shoulder, “Slow down. Mom and Dad should be back soon. We’re supposed to surprise them later, so don’t trip.”

“Ge, is it…”

The face Luo Li had seen countless times in the mirror suddenly appeared before her.

The sun was bright and beautiful. This was the first time she and Zhu Xiangfeng had truly met.

—

The three of them sat quietly in the living room, and not one of them spoke.

Zhu Xiangfeng was naturally quiet and reserved, and since this was their first meeting, she didn’t know what to say. Luo Li, meanwhile, was meeting for the first time the two people who meant the most in her life. After introducing herself, she began carefully thinking about what she should say and do to leave a good impression on them.

Zhu Xiangyu looked at his younger sister, then at his younger sister’s friend. After thinking it over, he said, “Right now, the most important thing should be Luo Li’s household registr-”

The doorbell rang. A visitor had arrived.

Zhu Xiangyu got up to answer it. Luo Li hesitated for a moment and had just been about to say, “If you need anything, you can ask me for help,” when she heard Zhu Xiangfeng ask softly, “Do you… want to come see my room?”

Zhu Xiangfeng opened her wardrobe, her face flushed pink and her eyes shining. “Look!”

Many Lolita dresses hung inside, every one of them carefully maintained. It was obvious how much care their owner had put into keeping them in good condition.

Zhu Xiangfeng took out her favorite one and held it up against Luo Li. “We’re built really similarly. That’s so nice.”

Then she thought of something else, grabbed the mirror from the table, and held it up in front of Luo Li. “Look! Luo Li!”

Luo Li instinctively tried to dodge, but then froze as she looked at herself in the mirror.

That face was completely different from Zhu Xiangfeng’s type of beauty. If Zhu Xiangfeng was the refined, delicate sort, then Luo Li was the adorable, vivid-featured kind.

Those completely different looks finally gave Luo Li a tangible sense of security.

The security of knowing that Zhu Xiangfeng and Zhu Xiangyu were really alive, and that she herself wasn’t dead either.

Luo Li took the mirror, suddenly wanting to cry.

If she cried, that really wouldn’t suit number 27 on the Ranking List.

Her eyes reddened. Thinking that, she tried to force the tears back.

Just as she was on the verge of failing and hugging Zhu Xiangfeng while bursting into tears, someone hugged her from behind first.

Qi Yang’s dopey voice sounded close by. “So this is what our Xiao Li really looks like. You’re as pretty as Xiangfeng.”

—

Only then did Luo Li learn that the Zhu family and the Qi family were old family friends.

She glared at Qi Yang in indignation: So you’d known all along that I’d been in Zhu Xiangfeng’s body!

Qi Yang answered with his eyes: Hm? What are you trying to say?

Luo Li: “…”

Even though he hadn’t understood, Qi Yang still explained.

The Zhu family and the Qi family had been old family friends in real life as well. Then both sons went missing. Before the Zhu family even had time to fully grieve, not long afterward, their daughter disappeared too.

They had all entered the System. In reality, the elders of both families were drowning in grief, while inside the System, the younger generation from both families could only stare at each other.

Later, Zhu Xiangfeng became Luo Li.

The only way Luo Li could learn about their past was through what Zhu Xiangfeng had spoken or written inside the Script. Perhaps because Qi Yang had interacted more with Zhu Xiangyu, Zhu Xiangfeng had never mentioned him.

When she was driven into a desperate situation, the people Zhu Xiangfeng thought of were her brother and her family in the real world.

Qi Yang had known that Zhu Xiangyu was dead. Although he had been heartbroken when he saw Zhu Xiangyu’s name turn gray in his contacts list, he had already prepared himself for that possibility.

If their positions had been reversed-if he had died and Zhu Xiangyu had lived-then after grieving, he still would have had no choice but to accept it.

So even though Zhu Xiangfeng’s name in his contacts had never turned gray, he had never been able to reach her.

Later, Zhu Xiangfeng’s contact information disappeared entirely.

Qi Yang didn’t know it was because the Player account had reset, not until he saw a “Zhu Xiangfeng” in a livestream whose behavior and style were completely different from the name.

Or rather, she was called Luo Li now.

Qi Yang had no idea what had happened to the siblings-how one had suddenly vanished and the other had died.
He started investigating Luo Li, and the more he looked into her, the more confused he became.

At first, Qi Yang had guessed that this person called Luo Li might have taken over Zhu Xiangfeng’s consciousness. But judging from the way Luo Li acted, she didn’t seem like that kind of person.

It was in the Ancient Castle Script that he truly got to know Lolita.

A little girl with a sharp tongue and a soft heart.

Because she was only a fourteen-year-old girl, and because she was using Zhu Xiangfeng’s body, Qi Yang constantly felt an urge to take care of her.

But that ran completely counter to why he had wanted to investigate Luo Li in the first place, so he was deeply troubled.

When it got bad enough, he went to ask Ning Shuo.

The King was a Good Person. Qi Yang was sure of that.

There were no secrets between Ning Shuo and Ning Wang, so whatever Ning Wang knew, Ning Shuo knew as well.

He had no habit of spreading other people’s private matters around. Since Luo Li hadn’t told Qi Yang herself, Ning Shuo only said, “That’s Xiao Li’s business. You only need to know that Xiao Li and Xiangfeng have no conflict between them.”

After that, in the Angel Hospital Script, Qi Yang, who had been watching the Live Stream Room of the Zone F Team members, saw another Zhu Xiangfeng.

Her appearance, voice, and personality were all different, yet the NPC was still called “Zhu Xiangfeng.”

And after the explosion, what the NPC said was strange too.

But Qi Yang still understood one thing:

Luo Li was a Good Person.

—

The moment the Zhu parents saw the news that their missing children had returned, they rushed home at once. When they saw their two children, they could hardly believe it. Once they realized it was real, they pulled both children into their arms and cried.

Then came the issue of Luo Li’s household registration.

The Zhu family did not meet the requirements for adoption. Zhu Xiangyu had already thought of that problem long ago.

So when the front door opened for the second time and Zhu Xiangyu saw Qi Yang standing outside, and heard him ask whether Luo Li was at his house, his eyes behind his glasses held both amusement and calculation. “Old Qi, if I remember right, before we entered the System, your parents really wanted a daughter, didn’t they?”

As simple and guileless as ever, Qi Yang said, “Yeah. Too bad when my mom gave birth to me it hurt so much that my dad went and got a vasectomy right away…”

At that point, he broke off.

Zhu Xiangyu kept laying the groundwork. “That’s really nice. It’s just a pity about our Xiao Li. The moment she opened her eyes, she was in a strange world. Xiangfeng is her only friend, but our parents can’t take her in. What a shame. Who knows what kind of adoptive parents she’ll have in the future? What if the adoptive family has some kind of weird proclivities? What if she ends up washing clothes and cooking at her adoptive parents’ home like a Servant? What if she can’t even go to school…”

Qi Yang: !

Finally, Zhu Xiangyu wrapped it up with a godlike sigh. “How did our Xiao Li end up so pitiful?”

Qi Yang raised a hand. “Xiangyu, stop talking.”

His gaze was so resolute it looked like he was ready to devote himself to the cause. “I’m going home right now to steal my family’s household register.”

Zhu Xiangyu: “…That really won’t be necessary. Knowing Uncle and Auntie’s personalities, just talking to them should be enough…”

“No, that’s too slow. I’ll contact my parents right now and have them bring the documents over to your house as fast as possible!”

At that point, Qi Yang suddenly remembered the question he’d asked at the very beginning and said warily, “Wait, so Xiao Li is at your place, right?”

And just like that, the plan to have Luo Li adopted was settled.

The two families did not live far apart. Mr. and Mrs. Qi had never expected that with their son coming back, they would also gain a daughter. Especially after hearing that this daughter had helped their son many times in the Script, they were absolutely delighted with her.

When it was time for Luo Li to leave with them, Zhu Xiangfeng came running over with the dress she’d just held up against Luo Li. “This is for you! It’s my favorite dress. It’ll definitely look beautiful on you!”

She thought about it, then added, “I haven’t worn it before. I bought it to keep as a collectible.”

Luo Li had nothing, and she didn’t know what to give in return.

She had never given anyone a gift before.

She looked toward Qi Yang and his parents. All of them looked back at her with encouragement, as if whatever Luo Li did would be fine.

Luo Li pressed her lips together, then said to Zhu Xiangfeng, “Next time I come, I’ll bring you the lilies you like.”

The adoption procedures went quickly. After that came school enrollment.

They had originally planned to have Luo Li attend the same school as Zhu Xiangfeng, but Zhu Xiangfeng had fallen too far behind in her studies, so that plan sadly fell through.

Qi Yang had complete confidence in Luo Li’s ability to score 130 even on high school tests. Who would have thought that after his parents brought Luo Li back from the school, they said her foundations were too weak, she hadn’t passed the entrance assessment, and would need to study at home for a year first?

Qi Yang: ?

Luo Li’s grades were better than his. How could she possibly fail the entrance assessment?

He didn’t expose her. Instead, he went to Luo Li’s room and asked.

Luo Li’s answer was simple. “I want to go to school with Xiangfeng.”

Qi Yang didn’t understand why Luo Li was so insistent, and then his new little sister said, “If Xiangfeng gets bullied, I can protect her.”

The girl’s eyes were firm and innocent. Qi Yang did not object again, and instead reached out naturally to rub the top of her head.

This time, Luo Li didn’t awkwardly dodge away like she used to.

Her new older brother said, “If anyone bullies you, tell your brother or Mom and Dad. Your brother, and your mom and dad, will protect both of you.”

Because they were family.