Why did the system take my request to take photos with a cosplayer seriously?

"What else?"

"Hmm...it doesn't seem like a big deal."

"That's it."

Ding Heng yawned lazily.

"But they did offer me such a high salary..."

The room fell silent, and Long He waited a long time for Ding Heng's response.

"Ding Heng?"

She called out, but Ding Heng didn't respond.

"Ding Heng?"

He shouted again.

Still no response.

Long He turned his head.

Ding Heng closed his eyes and breathed evenly.

My brother is already asleep...

-

The next morning.

Ding Heng sat by the floor-to-ceiling window in the executive lounge, quietly enjoying his breakfast, and casually sent a message to Zhao Yanxi explaining why he had spent the night out.

"Up so early?"

Long He yawned, sat down, and took a bowl of porridge, stirring it.

What are the plans for today?

"How would I know? You didn't tell me you were coming back beforehand, so I didn't have time to make any plans."

Longhe was speechless and a little unconvinced.

Give me the car keys.

"what?"

"If you won't make the arrangements, I'll do it myself!"

After leaving the hotel, we drove through the old town, making many turns, and finally arrived at an old-style residential building.

Longhe turned off the engine, pushed open the door, got out of the car, and looked up to examine the surroundings.

This is her family's old house, which was considered quite trendy in the early 2000s.

Longhe didn't actually stay there for very long, and he doesn't have many deep memories of it.

Since her father ran away, her mother, Yang Sijie, has been focused on building her career, and Long He spends most of his time at Ding Heng's house.

Later, when I went to Shanghai, the house was completely vacant.

Ding Heng asked curiously, "What are you doing here?"

Long He didn't answer, but buried his head in his bag and rummaged around for a while before finally pulling out a set of keys.

She walked up the steps, stood in front of the unit door, and finally managed to open the lock on the third try.

Upon reaching the third floor on the left, Long He raised his hand and pushed the door open, the hinges creaking open.

The two looked around and saw that the furniture, which was over ten years old, had all aged considerably...

Sunlight streamed in, and dust particles floated slowly in the air.

Longhe wandered around for a moment, then wiped a thin layer of dust off the TV cabinet with his fingertips.

She suddenly spoke up: "My dad contacted my mom."

"what!"

Ding Heng exclaimed in surprise, "Your father isn't dead yet!"

The words were quite impolite, but Long He didn't seem to care at all.

"It should be almost done."

"What do you mean?"

“A while ago, he asked someone to pass on a message to my mother, saying that if she didn’t send him money, he would go to the media to expose her. He would expose how my mother kicked him out of the country, expose how she used any means to get ahead at the TV station, expose me… he would expose everything he could.”

Ding Heng couldn't help but laugh out loud after hearing this.

"That's it?"

He wasn't worried at all about what trouble a mere Runren could cause. He guessed that Runren had just happened to find out Yang Sijie's contact information before being killed and had chosen to act desperately.

"That's it!"

Long He shrugged: "My mom is worried that if he really goes crazy, there will be some public pressure, which is kind of disgusting."

Do you know where he is right now?

"Working illegally in Xinxiang's Chinatown, it doesn't really matter anyway, even someone like him..."

Long He was taken aback: "Why are you asking this?"

"Just asking."

Ding Heng patted her shoulder, "Alright, stop worrying about it. The person has already gone overseas, across the Pacific Ocean, they can't possibly swim back to bite you, can they? Let's go fishing later."

"fishing?"

"Anyway, I'm pretty free..."

The two returned to the convenience store's warehouse, secretly took the grandfather's treasured fishing gear, and drove to the pond they used to frequent as children.

Ding Heng set up the chair and began to bait the fishing hook.

Longhe stepped forward to help, and also helped to secure the other fishing rod by placing it in the crevice between the rocks.

"It's still the same here. You used to bring me here all the time when I was a kid."

"It was you who insisted on coming along!"

Ding Heng cast his fishing rod, the float bobbing gently on the water: "Every time I go back, I get covered in mud, my mom nags me, and you gloat!"

"Damn it! You were the one who insisted on making me do the hard labor, and then you tricked me into giving you money to buy bait!"

The two of them chatted back and forth, exchanging words intermittently.

The water was calm, and the float remained motionless.

Ding Heng suddenly stood up.

"You keep fishing, I'm going out for a bit."

Where are you going?

"Go to the toilet."

"Eh..."

Long He waved his hand dismissively: "Go away, go away, stay away!"

Ding Heng's figure disappeared at the end of the dirt road.

Long He withdrew his gaze and continued to stare blankly at the water.

A chilly wind blew in from the valley entrance, and she pulled her hoodie up tight and hunched her neck.

The next second, the float suddenly sank.

Long He reacted quickly, flicking his wrist.

"Bait, bait, bait!"

She shouted excitedly, frantically reeling in the line, and pulled a palm-sized crucian carp out of the water, its scales shimmering silver.

"Ding Heng! Look!"

Long He turned his head and then remembered that Ding Heng was not there.

More than an hour has passed. Does it take that long to go to the toilet?

I hope I wasn't bitten by a snake...

Snakes are probably hibernating this season, but there's no guarantee that some won't be asleep.

Longhe took the fish off the hook and threw it into the plastic bucket. Just as he was about to get up to check, he heard footsteps behind him.

Ding Heng handed over a bottle of mineral water.

"Give."

"Where did the water come from? Weren't you going to take a dump?"

"Who's taking a dump in the wild! I drove back to the convenience store and just wanted to grab a couple of bottles of water."

Ding Heng bent down and glanced at the fish in the bucket: "Oh, you actually caught one."

"Of course!"

Longhe looked incredibly spirited!

Ding Heng didn't respond; he sat down and cast his fishing rod out again.

Just as Long He was about to boast a bit more, his phone suddenly rang. It was his mother, Yang Sijie.

"Hello, Mom? What!"

The smile on Long He's face slowly disappeared. He murmured "hmm" twice and then hung up.

Ding Heng asked casually, "What's up? Does your aunt need to talk to you?"

"call……"

Long He didn't answer immediately. He let out a long sigh, his emotions remaining unsettled for a long time.

“My dad was hit by a truck as he was crossing the road. He was already dead when the ambulance arrived.”