She opened her mouth and tried to persuade him a couple more times before she conceded. Her voice slowly trailed off, gradually getting softer and softer. Wei Yue looked down with an expression of distress as she received no response from her younger brother. Her eyes carried some grievances. A few strands of hair fell forward, making her look very pitiful.
Zhou Rongrong took a hold of her daughter’s hand, touched by her thoughtfulness. “It’s alright, Da Bao⁷.”
Wei Yue gave a small delicate smile, choosing not to speak. Her eyes were slightly wet, holding some sadness within them.
Looking at the mother and daughter sharing a poignant moment, Wei Xiao blinked. He then shifted his sights from Zhou Rongrong to Wei Yue.
It was at this time that Bao Bao received a warning from the main system. Subsequently, it was also at this time that his 'good-for-nothing' memory had finally remembered what it had previously forgotten.
His ‘good-for-nothing’ memory: … ( ꒪Д꒪ )
Bao Bao: ...I dunno you (¬_¬;)
<TMD!! Ah, Host! Bao Bao forgot to tell you, but you can't act OOC.>
<OOC?>
<Meaning out-of-character. If you commit OOC, it will most likely raise flags in the hearts of people around you, causing them to question your legitimacy. Once their suspicions reach a certain point or that they’ve concluded in their hearts that you are not ‘Wei Xiao’ and with good reason supporting their suspicions, you will receive a penalty from the Will of the World and the Main System for failing to assimilate and disrupting the flow of the world.
Although, there’s more than just their judgment that will decide whether or not you are ‘Wei Xiao’ as the Will of the World is also watching. If it determines that you have acted out of bounds based on its calculation and the action is too outrageous to believe that someone with the original’s personality would be able to commit, you will be punished. So, please be careful.>
<Okay.>
With that warning, a wrinkle formed on Wei Xiao’s glabella, showing his first expression since their arrival. Earlier, he had been slightly perplexed by a certain matter, thankfully, his expression gave nothing away. His acting abilities weren’t superb but he did know a few things and it was currently enough as the original’s character wasn't complex.
So as if he had just comprehended the situation, Wei Xiao snapped out of his dazed state. The lights discernibly dimmed in his eyes as his pupils refocused. Realizing who the figures were before him, Wei Xiao turned his head away.
Seeing his reaction made Zhou Rongrong more concerned. She gently sat down on the bed while keeping a distance from him. She glanced at his hands and lightly touched them. "Is there something bothering you, Xiao Bao? Say something to Mama, please?"
In his memories, the original Wei Xiao did not talk often. Even to his parents who loved him dearly, he wouldn't say much. Only shaking his head for yes or no, and whenever he did need to answer, it would only be a couple of words that were concise.
Flinching at her touch, Wei Xiao shied a little from his mother. His entire body was stiff. He quickly lowered his head and made himself smaller by scrunching his body closer to his core, trying to reduce his sense of existence. Leaving his hand captive, it was as if Wei Xiao couldn’t even gather the faintest amount of strength to resist—like he wasn’t allowed to say ‘no’.
Zhou Rongong froze, the corners of her mouth drooping. She could clearly sense his tenseness. Glancing at the side of his face, she saw that his lips were harshly pressed into a thin line. Her heart deeply ached as she could see that her son was intensely struggling inwardly.
Tears in her eyes, Zhou Rongrong withdrew her hands and took a deep breath, trying to act as normal as she could. She could feel the aversion from him and didn’t want to upset him even more. Earlier, she had been too hasty. One step at a time. She reminded herself.
Forcing a smile out, Zhou Rongrong tried to reassure him. “Xiao Bao, Mama is sorry if Mama made you uncomfortable. If there’s anything bothering you don’t be afraid to say it.”
Since he was young, Wei Xiao had a dislike of being touched. The doctor had recommended them to get him used to it, but she couldn’t bear to make him uncomfortable.
However, every once in a while, Zhou Rongrong would be greatly swayed by her emotions and accidentally touch him as she’s used to it, just like today. But every time, she would feel instant regret. Therefore, they would only interact with him from a short distance away. This was the only way to solace him—by showing their affection and giving constant encouragement.
Watching her mother, Wei Yue clenched her hands as her eyes turned sour.
Wei Tian clenched his jaw and reached out to placate the gloominess. As the head of the family, at times like this, he felt the most worthless and inutile.
Since a long time ago, he had been engrossed in making sure his family had enough to eat, a roof over their heads, and comfortable beds to sleep, that he did not know what to do to erase or ease the dolor.
Their marriage had been arranged by their parents when they were quite young. Luckily, neither of them was fussy and they were quick to accept the other for who they were. Both of them coped with the circumstances surrounding them at the time and came up with a way to make things work between the two of them, as Wei Tian loved his job and Zhou Rongrong also enjoyed what she was doing.
By the time the two of them noticed it, they had already been married for over ten years and had yet to have any offspring.
Seeing that Zhou Rongrong was no longer young and the older one was, the heavier the strain was going to be on their body would be if they were going to conceive, the two of them finally decided to have kids before it was too late.
Unfortunately, they had difficulty conceiving a child due to Zhou Rongrong’s constitution. After many trials and hardships, who knew that they would be blessed with two adorable little angels.
It was just that their flame of happiness was doused immediately after hearing about their son’s condition. It nearly broke the two of them after trying so hard to have a family and given this verdict. But that only made them strive to work harder.
The two of them immersed themselves in their work, trying to find a chance to allow him to live and build a remunerative future for their daughter.
They constantly battled with their work-life, their family time, and finding an opportunity for their child, making things become so chaotic. Who would have guessed that they would have ended up at this point? His wife was hurting, his daughter was in pain, and without a doubt the most inexpressive person, Wei Xiao was also suffering.
Although they weren’t perfect parents, they tried their best to be… but even so, it seemed that even their best wasn’t good enough.
As the atmosphere plummeted, Wei Xiao had been observing everything from the corner of his eyes. It was good that the original did not respond much—there were fewer chances of him making a mistake.
He lowered his line of sight. After a moment of deliberation, Wei Xiao nodded.
A smile crept on Zhou Rongrong’s lips as an indescribable feeling of joy flooded her entire body. She was surprised as she hadn’t expected a reply from Wei Xiao. Zhou Rongrong covered her mouth and hurriedly bobbed her head. “That’s good… That’s good.”
His small and seemingly insignificant response was more than enough for her and Wei Tian. The atmosphere in the room became relaxed and because their employer’s mood was infectious, there were smiles on four of the five faces.
With enough buffer time, the warnings that arouse dissipated. Bao Bao silently wiped his sweat, keeping his gaze on his host. He didn’t know if his host’s current action would account for OOC or not. The first warning had scared him already! What if the next one triggered a punishment? Ah, his old heart really can’t take these scares~
Bao Bao lamented how he wasn’t instructed on this before when he suddenly remembered that he was the one who chose not to scrupulously read the manual.
Bao Bao: Oopsies… hehe (ノ≧ڡ≦)
Taking out that humongous textbook he never wanted to ever see again, he forced himself to open the book. Bao Bao clicked his tongue. It could easily be mistaken for a missing piece of a defensive wall that was strong enough to withstand a nuclear bomb.
Bao Bao coughed and shook himself, he was getting off track again. Taking a deep breath and bracing himself, Bao Bao proceeded to search the table of contents. Within seconds, his brain started to hurt already. The words were so dense and close together, he lost his spot again.
Enduring, Bao Bao was able to force himself and locate what he was searching for. He quickly turned to the page and read the super fine instructions with a magnifying glass comparable to NASA’s telescope that was used to look at other planets far away from Earth.
By the time Bao Bao finished reading, their emotional session had gone on for almost ten minutes already.
Observing them, Bao Bao ‘tapped’ his ‘chin’. There weren’t any rules against systems assisting their hosts on acting, only about forbidding the system from directly intervening into the world, altering the protagonists’ fate, revealing their identity to anyone but their bonded host, etc. The apparatus was basically designed so that a system was unable to baby its host and do their job for them.
Thus, as soon as Bao Bao had his answer, he didn’t even want to look at the rest of the content as his brain was swelling at this point. At lightning speed, he stored away that tormenting book.
Bao Bao: Out of sight, out of mind.
Bao Bao then opened up his list of system functions and looked at the guidelines provided for the vessel’s personality. His ‘lips’ twitched. Scanning the words once again, he wasn’t sure what to think of it but quickly shrugged his shoulders.
Tossing what he had just perused to the far back of his mind, Bao Bao soon relaxed as there were no notifications about OOC. He also trusted that his host knew the boundaries of his character and if the other needed assistance, he would definitely ask him.
Unable to wait any longer, the doctor cleared his throat, "Ahem. Please excuse me, but do you feel any discomfort or pain anywhere, young master Wei?"
He didn’t want to disrupt the tender moment, but there were some urgent things that he needed to confirm.
Unknown Diary Excerpt:
The first time I met him, I wonder if he and I would get along… I’m quite afraid of him. QAQ
The author has something to say:
Ah… Another 4k word. And if you’re an old reader, you would have noticed that the contents of chapter 2 have greatly changed~! (。‾́︶ ‾́ 。) Heheh… Actually, most chapters will… (._.;) Let me know what your thoughts are so far!! ۹(ÒہÓ)۶ Trying to make things more coherent. _(:Ⅰ」∠)_
⁷Da Bao: 大寶 dà bǎo a nickname that means ‘big treasure.’
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