If Wen Zheng remembers correctly, the neighbors along that line also suffered the same fate; it was a pure accident from any perspective.
For other families, it's simply a matter of how much compensation they receive for damaged property. But for Wen Zheng, what was destroyed was his unique study. The paper books inside, the room's layout, and the documents tucked away—all could potentially hold clues.
That wasn't a place that Wen Zheng could simply copy and paste a list of books to restore; he couldn't even remember what books were there.
The only thing that survived was Ms. Liu's small notebook used for keeping track of her grocery shopping expenses. It was placed on the entryway cabinet and escaped the wreckage. It was rescued by the firefighters and returned to Wen Zheng.
That was his thought.
Unfortunately, there were no "clues" in that notebook; it was only for Xiao Wenzheng to remember his mother.
He was ten years old then, far too young, and spoiled by his parents, with absolutely no capacity for doubt. In his mind, the fire was an "accident," and if Bei Sining hadn't brought it up now, he still wouldn't have had any suspicions.
"...I was just saying." Bei Sining said regretfully, "Don't be upset, your parents will blame me if they see this."
“No.” Wen Zheng came to his senses: “I was just thinking, if your guess is true, who would do this and for what purpose?”
To avoid falling into a cognitive trap, Wen Zheng found a coffee shop at the foot of the mountain and recounted in detail to Bei Sining what had happened before and after the fire.
He hadn't recalled things from so far ago while fully conscious in a long time; usually, his memories were filled with distressing dreams, which now seemed somewhat chaotic when he thought about them.
The day my parents left was an ordinary school day.
Before I could even ask what we wanted to eat when I got home, I saw my parents coming out with their luggage, their faces serious.
When Ms. Liu saw him, her eyes softened, and she hung a pendant that was still slightly warm to the touch around his neck, telling him to keep it safe.
If we don't come back, insert the chip into the main unit; it contains our message to you.
Ms. Liu wanted to say something more, but in the end she just smiled.
Wen Zheng remembers her last words were, "Be good, and wait for Teacher Chen to pick you up tonight."
What Wen's father said was, "I'll bring you roast chicken when I get back."
Mr. Wen and Ms. Liu have many colleagues and friends at Rongcheng University. Among them, Mr. Chen, Ms. Xu, and a school worker named Grandma Zhang are close friends. Mr. Wen has met them all, but they are not particularly familiar with each other.
He stayed anxiously in his empty house until Teacher Chen came to take him home.
Teacher Chen has a son and a daughter, who are two years younger than him. Wen Zheng doesn't talk to them much, but he occupies a room by himself.
The next day, through some unknown negotiation, he was picked up and taken home by another acquaintance, Teacher Xu.
That's Xu Ji.
Xu Ji was twenty-nine that year, still single, lived in a spacious house, and was an important person in charge of the subspace project. He usually had a very good temper, was always smiling, and personally cooked for Wen Zheng, even better than Ms. Liu.
After living like this for more than a month, Xiao Wenzheng watched the news every day, peeked out the window, and often spaced out at school, just waiting for the day his parents would pick him up and take him home.
However, what awaited them was devastating news.
Ten years old is too young. Even if he cries and insists on going back to live with us, it's definitely not okay for him to be without a guardian to take care of him.
Xu Ji couldn't refuse him, so he accompanied him back to Wutong Garden for a few days.
The research institute was busy, and Xu Ji often worked overtime. Wen Zheng learned to heat up buns and make dumplings by himself.
He had forgotten how he felt at the time, only remembering the sadness and crying every day. By the time he finally remembered that he was wearing a pendant around his neck, several days had already passed.
What did his parents say to him? He suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to see, so he did as Ms. Liu instructed and inserted the chip into the host computer.
A string of gibberish appeared, leaving him completely baffled.
What does this mean? Xiao Wenzheng slowly remembered the password that his father had taught him.
“The fire happened a few days later,” Wen Zheng said, holding a glass of lemonade with ice. “My master was working overtime that day, and I was home alone. It was nighttime, but no later than nine o’clock, and none of the neighbors went to bed that early.”
He suddenly reached out and slapped Bei Sining's hand away: "What did I tell you? You're not allowed to drink anything cold."
Bei Sining reluctantly withdrew her hand from adding ice to her milk tea.
"As soon as the fire was discovered, the neighbors quickly called the police. I was so scared that I ran out first, and then I remembered the books in the room. I tried to rush in, but I didn't succeed."
That night haunted Wen Zheng as a nightmare.
Nightmares are like being burned to ashes, while good dreams are like parents, teachers, or instructors transforming into various strange identities to shower him with sweet rain or spray him with water.
In short, it's impossible to leave that fire site.
"And that's about it," Wen Zheng said. "The house needed renovations, so I moved into my master's house, studied for two years, and then went to the Beihai base. I had no clue about the code and didn't know how to solve it, so I gave up at one point."
Bei Sining remained silent for a long time after listening, her brows furrowed.
"Don't be angry, but isn't there something wrong with your master?"
Wen Zheng nodded after a long pause: "If it weren't for you, I would never have thought this way. He used to be an important member of my family. I thought... he would always be important. But assuming the fire wasn't an accident, and he was involved in it, why would he do something so unprofitable?"
Wen Zheng emphasized: "I was only ten years old that year."
The café was bustling with people; many had finished visiting graves and were now sitting down to relax in the air conditioning. Wen Zheng, who had been keeping his hat pulled low to avoid being recognized, now had wide eyes, his gaze fixed upwards, a strange blend of sharpness and innocence that Bei Sining found rather endearing…
"There's no profit to be made!" he gritted his teeth. "You're ten years old, you must be incredibly cute, that pervert must have his eye on you!"
Wen Zheng: ? ? ?
The two looked at each other, then Wen Zheng suddenly stood up: "Let's go."
"Huh?" Bei Sining caught up with him and said dejectedly, "Why did you leave? I haven't finished my milk tea yet."
"Don't drink it if it gets cold."
Although Bei Sining emphasized countless times that the dantian, the stomach, and the abdomen were two different things, seeing how uncomfortable he was at night, how could Wen Zheng feel any better? He set a standard and forbade him from eating anything cold or icy.
Even if he made up the excuse that cats' tongues are afraid of being burned, it wouldn't work.
Bei Sining was not happy. When she went out with Wen Zheng, she saw that his earlobes and auricles were red.
"?" Bei Sining was stunned.
Is she... shy?
I'm shy!
Fireworks were set off in broad daylight.
Author's note: Ningning: You were so cute at ten years old, why are you blushing now?
(End of this volume!) (Turn to the next chapter!) (This is the last volume! It will resolve the issues with the master and the companion stone, and also show off their love! You guessed it!)
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Volume 4, Chapter 100 of the Fourth Code
The atmosphere at Rongcheng University is unsettled.
Jianming rushed into the classroom as the bell rang, panting heavily.
"Does our department even have this many people?!" He looked around in horror. "How come there aren't even any empty seats?"
"Hahaha—" The three girls in the front row burst into laughter: "Let's go get some chairs from the lecture hall next door? Look, there's already a row of them in the middle..."
Jianming was on the verge of tears. He temporarily placed the thick stack of documents on the desks of several girls, turned around to leave, and unexpectedly bumped into the professor.
"I'm so sorry, Professor Zhou, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." Jian Ming covered his red nose and hurriedly squatted down to pick up his things. The chubby calculus professor looked at him with a smile: "Just got here? Overslept again?"
Jianming blushed with shame, thinking to himself, "Which bastard is spreading rumors that he's always late?! It doesn't happen that often!"
It's all Zhang Zhenghe's fault!
Don't wake him up early!
The old professor hesitated for a moment, walked to the podium, looked down, and was stunned.
"Wow," he exclaimed in surprise, "What's going on today? Why are so many unfamiliar faces suddenly showing such a passion for mathematics?"
A burst of laughter erupted from below.
One of the bolder ones shouted, "I heard Wen Zheng came to our school!"
When is he coming?
"Yes, we all want to see him!"
The old professor avoided answering, only smiling, and waited for Jianming to bring the chair back before delivering a solid advanced mathematics lesson based on his prepared content.
"Jianming." Someone nudged him from behind. Jianming, who was taking notes, turned around with displeasure: "What?"
The girl who poked him was from his class.
"Have you heard about Wen Zheng? Didn't you say you'd met him and even had his WeChat?" The girl suppressed her excitement, her eyes gleaming with fervor.
Jianming immediately became smug: "Yes, I even lent him my library card."
"Wow..." the girl said enviously, "Do you know when he's coming?"
Jianming suppressed his smile and continued taking notes, coldly saying, "How am I supposed to know?"
Although he said that, Jianming actually knew, but he just didn't say it, otherwise wouldn't he be bothering other people?
Last year, when Wen Zheng was still a live streamer, he helped Jian Ming by taking down the "Mountain Rain Is Coming" incident, indirectly giving Jian Ming a huge boost. Jian Ming considers him a great benefactor. After the apocalypse, Wen Zheng's true identity was revealed; he was no longer just a live streamer, but also an "idol" loved by people all over the country.
Handsome, good at fighting, and miserable.
Countless girls cried their eyes out for him.
Jianming felt both proud and slightly disappointed, thinking that Wenzheng was now as far away from him as an insurmountable chasm, and that he wouldn't even bother to send him New Year's greetings in a group chat.
Not long after, he received a call from Wen Zheng, who was consulting the Department of Mathematics at Rongcheng University.