Entertainment: A song that brought his deceased wife back to life.

In the first week after Jiang Yue left, the Sunshine Welfare Home did not stop operating because of the loss of one child.

The sun rises as usual, and the alarm clock rings as usual at 6:30 in the morning.

The food cooked in the canteen was still undercooked and half-cooked, mixed with the smell of rotten vegetable leaves.

Only Xu Qing's world stopped.

He stopped scrambling for food and stopped playing hide-and-seek in the boiler room.

He was like a real mute, or a walking corpse, spending his days just staring blankly.

The older sister who used to protect him is gone.

The person who would give him big white steamed buns, orange-flavored candies, and cover his ears saying "Don't be afraid" turned into a pile of ashes, was put into a small box, and buried in the mass grave on the back mountain.

Without her protector, Xu Qing became the perfect punching bag for the orphanage.

The big guy who led the bullying was called Er Lei.

He was tall and burly with a fierce face, and was the most capable fighter among the kids besides Jiang Yue.

When Jiang Yue was around, Er Lei had been beaten up several times, and he had been holding back his anger ever since.

Now that Jiang Yue is dead, all the anger is being directed at Xu Qing.

That noon, the cafeteria served cabbage stew with vermicelli, and there was hardly any oil in it.

Xu Qing sat in the corner, holding the chipped enamel bowl, without touching it.

Er Lei and several of his followers surrounded them.

"Hey, little mute, on a hunger strike?"

Er Lei placed one foot on Xu Qing's long bench, looking down at him condescendingly, "Missing your rotten sister, huh?"

Xu Qing didn't look up or react.

"I'm talking to you! Are you deaf?"

When Er Lei saw that he was ignoring him, he got angry, grabbed Xu Qing by the collar, and lifted him off the stool.

Xu Qing swayed like a rag doll.

"You're not going to eat, huh? Are you looking down on the food at our orphanage?"

Er Lei grinned maliciously, picked up the bowl of cold cabbage soup on the table, mixed it with leftover rice, and poured it all into Xu Qing's mouth.

"Eat! Give me some!"

"With that brat Jiang Yue gone, I'm taking care of you from now on!"

The cold soup flowed down Xu Qing's neck and into her clothes, leaving her feeling greasy and uncomfortable.

Rice got into his trachea.

Several henchmen held Xu Qing's hands and feet down, Er Lei pried open his jaw, broke the rock-hard steamed bun into pieces, and shoved it into his mouth.

Xu Qing did not resist.

He didn't chew it either.

He just left his mouth open, letting the food fill his mouth until his cheeks were bulging.

Until it can't be stuffed in any more.

Er Lei released his grip and pushed him to the ground.

"Swallow it! If you dare spit it out, I'll beat you to death!"

Xu Qing lay on the cold cement floor, a lump of food mixed with saliva and the smell of mud in her mouth.

He didn't swallow.

He didn't vomit either.

Like a hamster that has hoarded too much food, staring blankly at the mold on the ceiling.

The food slowly softened, turned sour, and fermented in my mouth.

Er Lei and the others left cursing and swearing, thinking that the kid was an idiot and utterly boring.

Xu Qing just lay there.

I lay there until the afternoon school bell rang, and until the sun went down.

The food in my mouth stayed there for a long time, but it eventually spilled out from the corner of my mouth, covering my face completely.

But he just wouldn't chew it.

It's as if as long as he doesn't chew or swallow, he'll still be that little mute who gets loved and fed candy.

It was as if by refusing the food of this world, he could get closer to the dead person.

……

This situation lasted for five days.

Xu Qing had visibly lost weight; his eyes were sunken, and his cheekbones were prominent, making him look like a skeleton.

The director was a kind woman in her fifties who was busy applying for supplies for the welfare home. She would occasionally witness bullying and would sternly stop it, but she did not notice that he was secretly going on a hunger strike until she saw that he could not even stand steadily, and then she panicked.

That evening, the dean took Xu Qing to his office.

A bowl of steaming hot steamed egg custard sat on the table, drizzled with sesame oil; it smelled wonderful.

"Child, have something to eat."

The dean took a spoon, scooped up a spoonful, blew on it to cool it down, and brought it to Xu Qing's lips.

"If Jiang Yue knew what you were doing, she wouldn't be at peace in heaven."

Xu Qing's eyelashes trembled slightly when Jiang Yue's name was mentioned.

But he kept his mouth shut and clenched his teeth tightly.

The dean sighed, and tears fell from his eyes.

"I know you're suffering. That child's death was tragic; even I didn't dare look at him for long..."

"But the living have to live on."

"You're still young, you have a long road ahead of you..."

road?

Where is the road?

Xu Qing stared at the dean's opening and closing mouth, his ears filled with a buzzing sound.

With Jiang Yue gone, his path was cut off.

Ahead lay a pitch-black cliff, with no path at all.

The dean forced the spoon into his mouth.

Xu Qing suddenly began to gag violently.

He pushed the dean away, leaned over the trash can, and vomited up the steamed egg custard he hadn't swallowed, along with the acid in his stomach.

My stomach was empty, and I was dry heaving, which made my chest ache. There were traces of yellowish-green bile on the corners of my mouth.

The headmaster was terrified. He patted the boy's back and cried, "What a tragedy... this child is trying to starve himself to death..."

Xu Qing wiped the corner of her mouth.

He stared at the filth in the trash can with an eerily calm expression.

He doesn't want to die.

But he couldn't find a reason to live.

This world is too cold, too dirty, and too smelly.

……

Three more days passed.

It was a moonless night.

The welfare home lost power, and it was pitch black all around.

The wind was strong, making the windows rattle as if countless hands were slapping against them.

Xu Qing climbed up from the communal bed.

He walked barefoot on the cold cement floor, step by step, towards the outside.

Nobody paid any attention to him.

Everyone was asleep, their snores filling the air.

Xu Qing arrived at the end of the corridor on the second floor.

There was a section of railing that had been in disrepair for years and was broken off. Below it was a cement playground, and there were piles of rubble and steel bars left over from the renovation of the welfare home.

The height wasn't too high, only four or five meters. It wouldn't kill an adult, but for someone who had suffered from long-term malnutrition, a fall would either kill or maim him, enough to free him from his suffering.

Xu Qing stood at the gap.

The wind blew into his thin shirt, making him sway unsteadily.

He looked down.

It was a dark, gaping mass, like a gaping mouth.

Afraid?

Somewhat.

But he was more afraid of the morning sun, more afraid of Er Lei's fists, and more afraid of a world without Jiang Yue.

"elder sister."

Xu Qing silently recited a sentence in his heart, his fingertips clutching the crumbs of paper with Jiang Yue's writing on them that he had kept hidden for a long time.

He still couldn't make a clear sound, but he felt that Jiang Yue could hear him.

"I've come to find you."

"Don't find me annoying... I remember you wouldn't let me look at you, I kept my eyes closed... Just let me hold your hand, I can't take it anymore..."

Xu Qing closed her eyes.

Lean forward.

The center of gravity slowly shifted.

Just as his feet were about to leave the ground.

Just when he thought he could finally be free.

A voice suddenly exploded in his mind without warning.

【Ding--】

It was a crisp, mechanical sound with a hint of electrical current.

But that voice, that tone.

That was slightly playful, yet also carried a hint of disdain.

He was just like Jiang Yue, who would stuff candy into his bed and cover his ears to say "Don't be afraid".

[God-level entertainment system successfully activated.]

[Host's vital signs are weak; strong suicidal intent detected.]

[Forcibly binding...]

Xu Qing's body stiffened.

The wind was still blowing, but he couldn't hear it anymore.

He could only hear the voice in his head.

"Sister..." His lips trembled, and he squeezed out a breathy sound from his throat, hoarse and broken, almost inaudible, but it was the only sound he could muster.

The system did not answer his question.

The voice that sounded exactly like Jiang Yue continued to broadcast in a completely emotionless tone.

[New player welcome pack has been distributed.]

[The host has been detected to be in a state of extreme hunger. It is recommended that the host eat immediately.]

[Mission issued: Survive.]

[Reward: The older sister's voice (permanently retained).]

Xu Qing froze, thinking it was a hallucination before she died. She stood there for several seconds before she could hear the mechanical voice in her head.

He slowly retracted the foot he had stepped out with, his legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, tears streaming down his face like a burst dam.

My sister's voice.

Even if it's just a system, even if it's just a cold, impersonal machine.

As long as it's that voice.

As long as I can hear that voice again.

He can do anything.

"I will not die..."

Xu Qing hugged her knees, huddled in the corner, and cried like a fool, facing the air.

"I'm not dead..."

"As long as you don't leave...as long as you keep talking to me..."

"I'll eat... I'll be good... Sister, don't leave me..."