If it were just a piece of junk, that would be one thing; you could just treat it like a pet for decoration! But Baozi always manages to cause a few mishaps every now and then—one minute it'll eat, the next it'll poop, then it'll devour memories, and then it'll talk about memory extraction! But giving hope only to disappoint you is the worst thing ever!
Stone felt the little flame in her heart start burning again. Hmph, she might as well just bring it up directly. Anyway, she, a lonely soul from Earth, could never be the owner of that good-for-nothing!
Thinking of this, Stone suddenly perked up and quickly pulled the black diamond out of his shoe: "Baozi, come out! I have something to say!"
But the black diamond didn't react at all.
Stone was not giving up. She put the black diamond to her lips and was about to shout when suddenly a smell of sweaty feet wafted into her nose.
OTZ! Stone was stunned. She never knew her shoes smelled so bad! "You little brat! If you don't come out, I'll throw you into the furnace!" Stone shouted, holding her breath, and quickly moved the black diamond far away.
The black diamond trembled twice, but still did not break.
Stone was truly enraged this time, and threw it into the corner: "You stupid bun, let me tell you, I'm not your master at all! Go back to where you came from!" After saying that, Stone let out a long sigh of relief. It felt so good to tell the truth!
The black diamond, tossed into the corner, finally couldn't hold back any longer and turned into a big steamed bun: "Giggle, Master! The bun was wrong! Master can't throw the bun away!"
Stone, who had successfully made Baozi cry again, felt no sense of accomplishment. She pouted and decided to tell the truth: "Baozi, I've thought it through. I can't be your master. You should go find your master!"
Baozi was completely stunned by Shi Tou's cold and distant tone, speechless for a long time. Shi Tou, on the other hand, felt an unprecedented sense of relief, having finally spoken what had been weighing on his mind. You know, if it were for a powerful pet, suffering from a guilty conscience would be understandable, but for such a… useless…
"Gurgle," this time Baozi didn't jump, but rolled towards the stone. As it rolled, it bumped its head against the edge of the bed and stopped. "Giggle, Master! Baozi remembers!"
"What?" Stone was momentarily confused and asked, "What did you remember? Did you realize that I wasn't your master at all?"
"Gaga, no! Baozi remembered how Master used to extract memories from Baozi! Master! Isn't Baozi amazing?" Baozi said obsequiously, its wrinkles jiggling.
Stone was immediately exasperated. She didn't believe Baozi had suddenly remembered! It probably only revealed it because it realized she didn't want it anymore. Thinking this, Stone became even more annoyed: "Fine, fine, I have absolutely no interest in your memories. Go cool off somewhere else!"
Shi Tou thought Bao Zi would throw a tantrum after hearing this, but instead, she fell silent. Shi Tou wondered if she had accidentally hurt Bao Zi's fragile little heart. Frowning, Shi Tou hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Bao Zi, I'm serious, I'm not your master. I think you've probably got the wrong person."
Baozi remained silent. Shi Tou peeked out at Baozi, who lay motionless by the bed, just like a real steamed bun. Shi Tou felt a little guilty, reached out and scooped Baozi up, patiently explaining, "Baozi, I didn't mean to lie to you. At first, I just thought it would be fun, I just wanted a pet. But..."
"I found you useless so I wanted to throw you away... Uh, I absolutely can't say that, otherwise it wouldn't be comforting, but deliberately provoking you: "I think you probably really want to find your master, so I've decided to tell you the truth. Now, you can go find your real master."
But the steamed bun still didn't move. Stone curiously put the steamed bun in front of his eyes, wanting to take a closer look. But at that moment, something unexpected happened.
☆, Chapter 45: Baozi's Family Translator
Before Stone could react, everything went black.
What's going on?!
Upon arriving in this strange world, Stone was terrified for the first time. Had Baozi blinded himself in a fit of anger?! He reached out in horror to touch his eyes, but little did he know that something even more terrible was yet to come.
She couldn't feel her hands! Upon closer inspection, Stone was truly terrified. She felt like a ghost, her entire body vanished! At that moment, Stone felt an unprecedented despair. Was she really going to die?!
"Gaga, Master! Welcome back!" Just as Stone was about to cry in despair, Baozi's familiar yet annoying voice rang out all around Stone.
"Baozi! Where are you? I... what's wrong with me? Are you going to kill me?" In both her past and present lives, Shi Tou had never encountered anything so terrifying, and she became incoherent. But as soon as the words left her mouth, she wished she could bite her tongue off. If Baozi hadn't originally had such thoughts, would her reminder have led to...?
No, no, Baozi is definitely a kind and good Baozi! Now, this is the only way Shi Tou can comfort himself.
"Gaga, Master! What are you saying? How could Baozi kill Master? Baozi just ate Master!" Baozi's voice was full of innocence and naivety, but it didn't sound like that to Shi Tou.
"What?!" Stone couldn't believe his ears. What did the bun say? It...ate her! Suddenly, Stone realized. He had just brought the bun close to his eyes to examine it closely when everything went black. So that damned bun had swallowed him whole, just like those books! "Then...then will you still...drag me out?"
Although he resented the word "pull," at this point, Stone couldn't care less about that. He just kept praying in his heart that he would be "pulled" out intact!
"Gaga, Master... what's wrong?" Baozi's voice was more confused than Shitou's, making Shitou feel a wave of despair.
"You damned steamed bun! Let me out!" People say even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone someone as short-tempered as Stone. Realizing he had no hope of getting out, Stone was furious: "You heartless, damned steamed bun..."
After cursing non-stop for ten minutes, Stone finally vented all his pent-up resentment. Tsk tsk, being in a soul state has its advantages, at least you don't have to breathe, so you can curse without needing to catch your breath.
Baozi remained silent for a long time before innocently speaking, "Gaga, Master! Have you forgotten? Baozi isn't a big meat bun, Baozi is a soup dumpling! The most amazing milk soup dumpling in the world!"
Suddenly, the melody of the song that Baozi had named "The Milk Soup Dumpling Song" echoed in Shi Tou's mind: "Over the mountain, over the sea, there's a big steamed bun..." Shi Tou shook his head violently and cursed again: "You damn steamed bun! I don't care what kind of bun you are! Just let me out right now!"
"Gaga, but Baozi wants to give its memories to its master!" Baozi's voice was still innocent. Suddenly, a bright light appeared, and the stone's eyes were filled with light.
Looking around, Stone found himself in a square room. The room was small, about six or seven square meters, but it was completely sealed off, with smooth walls all around, and even the ceiling and floor were smooth.
Suddenly, Stone looked down at himself. He still looked like that small, chubby boy, but his body was blurry, as if it were made of a wisp of green smoke: "What's going on? Wait, could it be that only my consciousness has entered?"
Just then, the smooth wall directly in front of the stone suddenly shimmered, and a huge steamed bun appeared on it. The stone glared fiercely at the wall: "You damn steamed bun, what do you want?"
Baozi still looked as fair and adorable as ever. It shook its pleats and said, "Giggle, Baozi will help Master extract Baozi's memories!"
It's memory extraction again!
Stone really didn't want to hear this, but given the current situation, it seemed she couldn't say no: "Fine, tell me, what do I need to do?"
"Giggle, Master, look closely!" Baozi twisted its body, and suddenly, the whole room changed. Except for the wall where Baozi's appearance appeared, the other three walls were covered with dense writing, even at the foot of the stone.
Completely bewildered by this sudden situation, Shi Tou stumbled back several steps before regaining his balance: "What... what should I do?"
"Gaga, Master, you choose! Just pick out the memories you want and put them into your head!" Baozi bounced up and down happily, "Hurry up, Master!"
Stone's lips twitched. She looked around speechlessly. There were dense words everywhere, including under her feet. Unfortunately, she couldn't recognize a single one: "Baozi, did you bring a translator?" Sensing that Baozi didn't seem to have any ill intentions towards her, Stone's tense nerves relaxed a little.
"Gaga, what's a translator?" Baozi stopped jumping around and asked curiously.
Shi Tou suddenly stopped talking. How was she supposed to explain this? "Um, um, I mean, Baozi, I don't recognize the words on this!" Waaah, what a shameful illiterate!
Baozi curled up into a ball, replying with utter depression, "Hehe, Baozi can't read either!"
"What should we do then?" Stone said helplessly. "How about I give up these memories and you let me out first?"
"Hehe, no way!" Baozi said hesitantly, "Baozi still remembers the old characters, why don't you take a look and see which one you recognize?"
Huh? Could there really be a translator? Stone's eyes widened as he watched the words on the wall change continuously. First, it was the script of this dwarf kingdom, winding and incomprehensible. Then it changed to a script with round circles, quite artistic; Stone thought the person who wrote this script must have a solid foundation in art. Next, the wall changed to a script entirely composed of horizontal lines and dots of varying lengths, making Stone's eyes water.
After trying more than twenty different languages, Stone had already given up hope. It was clear that the languages Baozi used were drawn from various regions of this world, and she, a lonely soul from Earth, would never recognize them.
"Gah gah, Master! There are so many characters, and you don't recognize a single one?" Baozi slumped down in disappointment, asking with endless grievance, "What should we do?"
"Wait! Baozi! That one from before! Back up, back up now!!!"
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Extra chapter tonight~~~
☆, Chapter 46: The Heartbreaking English
Good heavens! At that moment, Stone felt as if she had been blinded. What did she see?!
“ABCDEFG…” The nursery rhyme that he had known since childhood came to mind, and Shi Tou couldn’t help but open his mouth wide, his face full of shock.
"Gaga, Master! Master, you recognize this script?" Big Bun's voice sounded unusually cheerful. Instantly, all the script on the wall changed to the first universal script on Earth—English...
Shi Tou was immediately captivated by the power of language. Back when she was still on Earth, almost every young person knew at least a few words of English. As someone born in the 1980s, and a university graduate at that, she was naturally very familiar with English.
But! So familiar, she was extremely familiar with those twenty-six letters, but when the entire wall was covered with dense English words, Shi Tou had only one thought: Damn it, she had wasted her time on the CET-4!
"Gaga, Master! Hurry up and choose! Once you've chosen, Baozi will transmit these memories into your mind!" Baozi, completely unaware of Stone's current mood, cheerfully urged, "Hurry up, hurry up!"
Hurry up my foot!
Stone was filled with grief and indignation. Just moments ago, she had been thinking that it was impossible for this world to have its own language and writing system, but then Big Bun gave her a "surprise." It was just this "surprise" that left Stone feeling both grief and indignation.
"Baozi, I've only seen this kind of writing before, I... don't recognize it." Although Shi Tou had studied English for quite a while in her previous life, she wasn't a foreign language major, and she barely passed the CET-4 (College English Test Band 4) back then. It would be fine to use everyday phrases to strike up a conversation with a foreigner. But if it turned into a screen full of technical English vocabulary, and she was asked to translate it all by herself...
OTZ!
"Giggle, doesn't the owner recognize me?" Baozi stopped jumping and looked sadly at the stone through the large screen on the wall, its mournful tone impossible to hide: "What should we do?"
Stone was even more distressed than Baozi: "I don't know either... Wait! Something's not right!" Stone suddenly slapped her forehead, but unfortunately, she forgot that she was in a very strange state. Her hand was raised, but it went straight through her head.
Stone shook her head, trying to shake off the strange feeling. This was clearly another world, so how could there be English here? Staring wide-eyed, Stone intently examined the English words covering the walls. Although she couldn't understand most of the vocabulary, some of the most basic words told her that it was indeed English.
"Baozi, where did you get this kind of writing from?" Shi Tou rubbed her eyes hard, confirming her suspicions. Could it be that she wasn't the only time traveler in this world?
Baozi twisted its body sadly and answered hesitantly, "Giggle, it seems that the owner has already given Baozi food!"
"I fed you? Impossible! There shouldn't be such a script in the Dwarf Kingdom!" Stone looked at Baozi in confusion. She had only fed Baozi twice. Once was when Baozi was locked in a dark room at the Wise Man's Academy, where she ate a pile of garbage. The second time was yesterday at Elder Red Stone's place, where Baozi ate a lot of books, but Stone was certain that there were no English books among them.
"Giggle, no, that's not it!" Baozi shook its head decisively and said with certainty, "It wasn't recently! It was a long, long time ago, when my master gave me this food! Back then, my master was so good to me, he would find delicious things for me every day..." Seemingly remembering the past, Baozi's mood became a little down: "Now my master doesn't like me anymore..."
Stone was in no mood to comfort a big bun that had inexplicably become melancholic. He pursed his lips and carefully examined the writing on the wall. The owner the bun was referring to must be its real owner, right? He wondered where that owner had gotten the English book from: "Bun, do you remember if we have this kind of writing?"
Stone stretched out her finger and wrote a Chinese character in the air: "Have you ever seen this kind of writing before?" Seeing Baozi deep in thought again, Stone looked uneasy and nervous. She hadn't held out much hope of finding the Chinese character, but seeing the familiar English words suddenly gave her a glimmer of expectation.
"Gah gah, there it is!" Baozi suddenly jumped up, and in an instant the words on the wall changed to a screen full of Chinese characters.
At this moment, the stone was in tears. Oh, dear Chinese characters, she had never felt such warmth towards them before.
"Gaga, Master! What's wrong with you now?" Baozi stared blankly at its master, who was staring excitedly at the words on the wall, his eyes burning with the same fervor as when he saw Theramore bathing in the Cloud Pool back then...
Shi Tou was deeply moved. After three years, seeing those familiar Chinese characters again, Shi Tou felt that China's five thousand years of civilization was truly remarkable. The characters, the strokes, the lines... all revealed an amazing cultural heritage and a stunning aesthetic.
Luckily, Baozi didn't know what Shitou was thinking. If it did, it would definitely think its owner had gone mad. Staring blankly at its owner, drooling for a long time, Baozi finally couldn't help but speak up: "Hehe, Master! Are you going to choose a memory or not?"
"Huh?" Shi Tou was brought back to reality by Bao Zi. She blinked and finally remembered Bao Zi's intention in showing her the languages from all over the world: "Um, let me take another look."
Swallowing hard, Shi Tou began to carefully read the words on the wall. But the more she read, the more alarmed she became.
What Baozi showed Shitou was clearly the junk he'd eaten at the Wise Man's Academy a year ago. Oh no, it couldn't really be called junk. Because besides the dwarves' basic textbooks, Baozi had also absorbed some memories of the desks and chairs, and those memories were the real key.
Think about it, a table, a chair—would anyone deliberately hide them? So, some private matters… well, everyone knows what's going on.
"Baozi, are all of these real?" Stone's eyes widened.
Baozi bounced around smugly: "Hehe, of course it's true! Memory never lies!"
"That's true." Stone nodded in agreement: "I need the memorization of those basic textbooks. Yes, those, especially the part about the Dwarf Kingdom's script."