I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 497
Chapter 497: The Snow Dog and the Rabbit
Continuing up the slope to the end, we arrived at a small plaza, with the main building of the orphanage in front of us.
You could also call this building the “office” or “classroom building.”
The children at the orphanage usually don’t attend kindergarten, so the director and staff use this largest building as a “classroom” to provide preschool education.
It’s said that this location used to be the teaching building of the Internet Addiction Rehab School, but after it was blown up, the Shenzhen City government funded the construction of this new building on the ruins.
Initially, the director planned to use this building as a dormitory, but considering that the slope is right in front, there was a concern that if any children misbehaved, they might fall and roll down, leading to an accident.
So, the building was repurposed as an office. Besides serving as a place for preschool education, it’s where the director handles various tasks, like counting food supplies or provisions sent by the city, or dealing with emergencies when a child gets sick or suddenly feels unwell.
Though… even if the dormitory was far from this slope, children could still fall and get hurt due to various accidents.
Like me, back then.
According to the director, at that time, I couldn’t even walk on my own. Like some of the other abandoned children, I needed a walker to help me learn to walk. One day, the staff took me out of the third-floor dormitory. I was strapped into one of those round walkers that help you learn to walk. The staff member placed me outside the door and then turned back to lock it. Meanwhile, I started “toddling” towards the stairwell.
And, as expected… I rolled down the stairs, walker and all.
At that time, the dormitory staircase was similar to those in some residential buildings today, a spiral staircase. After I fell from the third floor, the round walker bounced off the wall of the staircase on the third floor, and then I rolled down to another set of stairs, tumbling all the way from the third floor to the first.
Almost all the staff thought I was done for, but when they rushed down from the third floor and found me at the bottom of the dormitory building, I was just crying in the overturned walker, with only minor scratches on my head and face. My body was otherwise unharmed.
Thinking back now… maybe I had already started to show the “Goddess of Life” ability, but no one realized it.
Decades later, seeing this office building again, I can’t help but feel a bit sad.
In the middle of the staircase in the office building, there was a line of text that had become so faded it was almost unreadable, but to me, it was very familiar—
?For the children, everything for the children, everything for all the children.?
Looking up, there were some famous quotes—
?The ideal of life is for the sake of a life of ideals.?
?Man’s nature at birth is good. Their natures are similar, but their habits make them different.?
Now, the building before me was dilapidated, even older and more worn than I remembered.
Judging by the trash near the entrance and the decayed scene visible through the windows, it wasn’t hard to tell… as the security guard had said, many things had indeed been taken away from here.
“Xiao Mo, I once dreamed about some things from your past…”
Walking with Xiao Mo to the base of this building, I softly said, “I dreamed of you alone… walking to the foot of a very tall snow-capped mountain, with snow falling heavily all around, and many snow leopards and rabbits.”
Xiao Mo was silent for a moment. “There were also some snow dogs.”
“Snow dogs and rabbits?”
“Probably… yes.”
Xiao Mo helped me tidy the hair behind my head. “It happened thousands of years ago, so long ago that I can barely remember.”
I see…
The hero who once accompanied Xiao Mo, though “he” was my “past,” initially, I had almost no memory of it. But… I believe that as I spend more time with Xiao Mo, the memories of the past will slowly come back, right?
Whether in dreams or… hearing it directly from Xiao Mo herself.
A day in the other world is longer than on Earth.
As a human, the hero had his lifespan forcibly extended to over a thousand years by Xiao Mo and the others using various rare treasures and advanced magic, but in the end, he still passed away.
During the five thousand years since then, Xiao Mo has been alone.
Five thousand years… can change a lot of things.
For Earth, five thousand years ago, humans were likely still using stone tools. In the other world, time passes a third more slowly than on Earth, which means… Xiao Mo has actually been separated from the “hero” for nearly seven thousand years.
In such a long time, even if Xiao Mo buried the hero on some snowy mountain, the tombstone has likely eroded away by now. In other words… Xiao Mo, just like me, needs to learn to face a new life.
I left the orphanage, entered society, and eventually, Xiao Mo turned me into a girl, making me the manager of a cafe in the Nanqi District.
Xiao Mo came from the other world to Earth, met me, and eventually learned how to navigate life here, becoming the owner of Moon Orchid Island.
I believe that in the near future… the cafe will become a landmark and tourist attraction in the Nanqi District, and possibly all of Shenzhen City. My story will spread and become exaggerated on the internet.
Once Mianyun District is completed, Shenzhen City will become the only city in the country with a large artificial water district, leading to rapid technological development. Xiao Mo’s island, Moon Orchid Island, will become the most mysterious private island.
But those are matters for the future.
Originally, I came here today just to visit the little garden where Xiao Mo once pushed me down. I didn’t expect to hear the news that the orphanage was merging with the elderly activity center, so I instinctively brought Xiao Mo along.
“Ding-ling-ling-ling—”
As I stood in front of the office building, looking through the small window at the empty rooms inside, the phone in my skirt pocket rang.
It was an unfamiliar number.
“Hello?”
After pressing the answer button, I turned on the speaker.
“Lulu! Is that you, Lulu?”
A familiar voice came from the other side of the phone. It was Ewen.
“We’ve finally learned how to use this forbidden spell. It took us a full two months! Now we’ve finally arrived at this… this Earth you mentioned!”
The environment on Ewen’s end sounded a bit noisy, as if they were near the cafe.
“Sister Fei Luo flew us over! Earth is so beautiful, even though there’s almost no magic here, it’s so amazing. There are so many things we’ve never seen before!”
“Is that so?”
I smiled. “Well, you and Sister Fei Luo can play over there for a bit. Xiao Mo and I will be back soon.”
“Okay, bye-bye.”
After hanging up the phone, I took Xiao Mo’s hand and walked towards the security booth we had passed earlier. “I want to visit one more place. Can you come with me again?”
“Of course.”
Xiao Mo smiled. “Nuo’er is free to go anywhere she likes, because I’ve already carried you in my heart.”
“Where did you learn these cheesy lines?”
I laughed awkwardly, pulling Xiao Mo towards the security booth.
“Excuse me, could you tell me where Director Yin is currently living? We’d like to visit him.”
“……”
……