She frankly admitted to the camera: "Yes, I like girls, but I don't think that's something to attack. Yes, I didn't go to college, but I've never stopped learning."
"As for Sun Chengcheng, I have never done anything to her that can be criticized; it's all completely fabricated." After Liang Shi finished speaking, he played a recording.
It was Sun Chengcheng who revealed it when she went to Sun Chengcheng's house that day and tried to get information out of her.
Sun Chengcheng's voice was shrill, filled with boundless hatred.
She retorted, "In what way am I inferior to you?"
She cried out, her voice hoarse, "I don't want to see you doing so well."
"People are doing things." After playing the recording, Liang Shi said before the reporters could react, "Heaven is watching. I am very grateful to the friends who spoke up for me when I was seriously ill, and I also thank the fans who believed in me. But now I may have to disappoint you."
"I hereby announce that I am retiring from the entertainment industry indefinitely, effective today." Liang Shi smiled at the camera: "I will no longer appear on any public platform, including live-streaming e-commerce, and my public accounts such as Weibo will also be deactivated starting today."
The audience erupted in uproar.
Liang Shi smiled contentedly: "May we always live under the sun."
//
On the way back, Xiaobai chattered away like a magpie.
You can constantly hear online comments coming out of her mouth.
Most people expressed regret over Liang Shi's retirement from the entertainment industry, but many also offered their blessings.
There was even a daring celebrity who took advantage of Liang Shi's popularity to officially announce his relationship with his same-sex friend.
Liang Shiyong's still-active account commented and liked her post.
Then select to cancel the account.
She also sent the artist a message on WeChat: 【Wishing you a long and happy life together.】
The weather was lovely; the sun shone warmly on the earth, making people feel lazy and relaxed.
The peach blossoms outside have just bloomed, clustered on the branches, a sight that brings joy to the eyes.
After getting off the bus, Liang Shi planned to go home, but he ran into Qi Jiao at the entrance of the residential area.
With her hands behind her back, she smiled and approached Liang Shi after seeing him.
"Congratulations on becoming a normal person again." Qi Jiao said, taking out an iris from behind her back.
The iris symbolizes freedom.
Qi Jiao said, "I saw what you said online. Thank you for speaking up for our group."
Liang Shi:
Qi Jiao smiled and said, "Actually... I like girls too."
"But don't misunderstand, I sent you flowers not because I like you. Nor..." Qi Jiao was speechless for a moment, and after a long while, she tapped her head and said, "I'm such a blockhead, I just... I've always thought of you as a little sister."
Liang Shi chuckled: "Is that so?"
Qi Jiao nodded: "Of course, although I like girls, I've never been in a relationship. My family is quite open-minded; they think as long as I'm happy, that's all that matters. But I've always been pursued by boys since I was little, and I'm scared when I see them."
Liang Shi and Qi Jiao stood by the roadside and chatted for a while, then they heard someone call Qi Jiao's name.
The two turned around at the same time and saw a couple walking towards them with a slightly roguish man and a woman dressed in a professional style.
Qi Jiao immediately beamed with joy and almost ran over, calling out, "Dad, Mom, Brother, Sister!"
Liang Shi felt quite gratified to see the family standing together.
She also had lunch with Qi Jiao's family. Perhaps because Qi Jiao's family knew about Qi Jiao's sexual orientation, they didn't look at Liang Shi with friendly eyes, even though Qi Jiao repeatedly emphasized that Liang Shi was just an ordinary friend of hers.
Liang Shi was also forced to drink some alcohol.
When she got home in the afternoon, she browsed the online comments, which were mixed.
As evening approached, it rained again in the city.
The irises Qi Jiao gave her were placed in a vase, while the peach blossoms Liang Shi picked when he returned in the afternoon lay peacefully on the coffee table.
Liang Shi was nestled on the sofa watching TV; it was an old movie he had seen many times before.
The pattering rain fell on the window, forming lines of rain.
This house used to be the most comfortable place for her. No matter how noisy it was outside, she could create a warm little world for herself.
But now the house feels very empty.
Even with a movie playing, it still felt quiet.
Liang Shi took out another piece of paper to sort out the clues.
She and the original owner were artificially swapped, so their previous exchange was to set things right. The opportunity arose when she was frustrated on this side, while the original owner wanted to harm others on the other side.
Qi Jiao is kind by nature, but her life is painful, so it's like giving her a chance to be reborn.
Sun Chengcheng, on the other hand, gained the ability to travel back and forth, so she couldn't stay in Utopia forever.
She still has to stay here most of the time, and this place causes her pain.
What allowed her to temporarily escape her pain was another world. But without comparison, there is no harm. The beauty of that other world made her want to indulge in it, so she became increasingly depressed in the real world and her life was exceptionally bad.
Just like what Liang Shi saw when he went there that day.
So this is likely some kind of balancing mechanism.
Liang Shi felt like he had pieced together a clue, but suddenly, as if pricked by needles, a strange crackling sound of electricity rang in his mind, "crackling..."
Liang Shi pressed his temples as the static and eerie mechanical sounds continued to emanate from the air.
[Connecting... *sizzle*...]
[Under repair... *sizzle*... Under repair... *sizzle*...]
A few seconds later, her mind returned to normal, and the mechanical voice unique to that damn system came through: [Phew! Finally fixed! Sorry, host, due to atmospheric obstruction causing spacetime chaos that day, the program was damaged, resulting in a deviation during transmission.]
[But host, you're really clever! You were even able to guess the balancing mechanism of the dimensional world. Applause for you!]
Liang Shi: "..."
Faced with the system, Liang Shi only had four words: "Send me back."
Chapter 131
The room remained quiet for a long time.
When Liang Shi realized that An Jing was quiet, she tried to communicate with the system again: "Are you there?"
The crackling of electricity was gone, as was the eerie mechanical sound.
It all seemed like Liang Shi's illusion.
Looking out from the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the brightly lit modern city is spread out before your eyes, with stars twinkling in the distant sky and newly sprouted green branches swaying in the wind.
The world suddenly seemed shrouded in a fog in her eyes.
Gradually, it becomes less clear.
Liang Shi continued, "Take me back, do you hear me?"
The system did not provide any feedback.
...
After a few calm minutes, Liang Shi was disappointed again.
She curled up on the sofa, the old movie on TV still playing on its previous progress bar, and the peach branches on the coffee table told her that it was springtime, a time of renewal, with the fragrance of flowers and swallows flying in from the south.
It's not that seaside city where you can drive an hour to the beach and see the boundless blue sea.
It wasn't the place she wanted to go.
She had drunk some alcohol at lunch with Qi Jiao's family, and some more when she got home in the evening. Her consciousness was gradually fading when she heard the abrupt mechanical voice again: "[Sorry, sorry, host, I'm back.]"
Liang Shi: "?"
This time, there was no chilling electric shock; everything was peaceful.
Liang Shi, however, found it hard to believe, and she remained silent.
System: [Host! This time! I'm really back!]
Even when the mechanical voice gets excited, it doesn't change its eerie nature; a sudden increase in pitch doesn't evoke any emotion.
It's unbelievable.
After a long silence, Liang asked in a deep voice, "Can I still go back?"
System: [Yes! Absolutely! There was a system malfunction due to atmospheric errors during transmission...]
“I don’t want to hear why you’re having problems,” Liang Shi said. “I just want to know if you can solve them.”
system:【……】
After a moment of silence, the system said very seriously: "I hope so."
Liang Shi: "?"
This system is garbage; it's completely unreliable!
The system panicked. "Host, let me explain. In our universe, countless dimensional worlds exist. If a dimensional world deviates from its course, it triggers a butterfly effect. The God Administration Bureau, responsible for managing these dimensional worlds, has many gods, each with their own duties. For example, the God of Luck bestows luck values upon certain individuals in each dimensional world, and the God of Wind is responsible for controlling the wind direction in each dimensional world."
Everything in the universe is governed by natural laws, but over billions of years of development, deviations are inevitable. The Supreme God exists to correct these deviations.
During the correction process, occasional errors may occur, requiring the intervention of various management departments to resolve them. However, we will adhere to a law—the conservation of energy. This is the balancing mechanism that the host previously anticipated, striving to ensure that everyone's life is not static, regardless of favorable or unfavorable circumstances.
Liang Shi: "..."
After a moment, Liang Shi countered, "So Qi Jiao came here because she was suffering over there. You gave her a chance to be reborn, compensated her with a warm family, but deprived her of her memories and intelligence, right?"
The system is silent.
After a few seconds, the system said: [Sorry, host, to respect others' privacy, individuals can only view their own personal timelines and cannot view the fates of others.]
Liang Shi: "...Oh."
She was completely speechless about this system.