Soul Patch

Chapter 256 Is the system broken?
"I'm not leaving. You guys can leave if you want!"

Jia Nan heard her mother's voice before she even entered the yard after school.

This is……

Jia Nan recalled what her brother had talked about on their way to school.

Could it be... that my brother told my mother about leaving?

Jia Nan hurriedly went into the room. Her mother was sitting on the edge of the bed, having already put down the needlework she was holding.

She glared at Jia Song, repeating each word with fury: "I... won't... leave!"

At this moment, Jia Song also lost his usual nonchalant demeanor. His brows furrowed high, and he yelled at his mother:
"Mom, what kind of life are we living here? We're always being bullied!"
That village chief never has any good intentions, and his kids are always causing trouble. Sometimes I really want to stab him!

The mother jumped up from the bed and scolded, "Xiaosong! What nonsense are you talking about! How have I raised you! How could you even have such a thought?"

"A life for a life! You killed him, you'll spend your life in jail! Did I give birth to you, raise you, and educate you just so you could go to jail?"

After saying that, she started sobbing: "If you really go to jail, how am I going to explain it to your dad when he comes back!"

"You want your father to be unable to hold his head up in the village, is that it?"

"When...when has he ever cared about us! Mom, if you ask me, just pretend he's dead."

It's better not to mention his father; the moment his father is mentioned, Jia Song gets even angrier.

He stormed into the inner room and slammed the door shut.

"boom!"

The door slammed against the door frame with a loud thud.

Upon hearing this, both Jia Nan and her mother shuddered.

Jia Nan was most afraid of his mother and brother arguing. Whenever they argued, he felt suffocated in the room.

He tugged at his mother's sleeve and whispered, "Mom, why...why don't you listen to my brother?"

"Shut up! Jia Song's gone mad, are you going to go mad too?" The mother said, tears streaming down her face.
“I’m looking forward to you growing up, hoping you’ll be successful. Your brother will be taking the college entrance exam next year, and you’ll be starting junior high school this fall. At this crucial juncture, where do you think you’re going?”

At this point, the mother shouted sternly into the inner room, "Jia Song, you better study hard and get into university! Don't think about anything else!"

Jia Song, who had locked himself in the inner room, buried his head under his pillow upon hearing his mother's words.

This damn life is a complete mess, it's like a pile of dog shit, making him feel disgusted and helpless.

A voice inside me kept repeating: Leave here, leave here, I must leave here!

I can't let my whole life be ruined here!
But he couldn't abandon Jia Nan, nor could he abandon his mother!
Hey!
The image of that vibrant, smiling girl from the morning resurfaced in Jia Song's mind, which made him feel much better.

After a while, the door creaked open.

Jia Nan poked his round head in and tried to look inside.

After the sun set, the room gradually darkened. Without the lights on, you could vaguely see Jia Song lying on the bed.

He tiptoed in, unsure if his brother was asleep, and didn't turn on the light rashly.

He sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Brother, brother, Mom told me to call you for dinner!" He gently nudged Jia Song.

"I'm not hungry!" Jia Song's voice sounded distant and cold.

Jia Nan knew her brother was still sulking, so she changed the subject: "Brother, didn't you go to school this afternoon?"

Jia Song sat up and said casually, "I went. I only skipped two classes."

"Brother, you're taking the college entrance exam next year, you can't skip classes anymore!"

Jia Song pretended to be angry and said, "You brat, you're just like your mother. Who was it that promised me I could leave this place this morning?"

These words struck a chord with Jia Nan, who was caught in the middle, making his position the most difficult.

He didn't want to upset his mother, nor did he want to disappoint his brother.

He sighed and said, "But you've seen Mom's attitude. She refuses to leave, and we can't just abandon her."

Jia Song smiled slightly and asked solemnly, "Jia Nan, I'm asking you, are you sure you want to leave here?"

Jia Nan looked at her brother and met his eyes, which were exactly the same as her own.

In the dimly lit room, both of their eyes were so bright; for them, life shouldn't be like this.

Jia Nan nodded vigorously: "Confirmed!"

Jia Song seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, hugged his younger brother tightly, and said in a deep voice, "Okay!"

Jia Nan understood that her brother's certainty meant he must have come up with a good idea.

He rolled onto the bed as well, wanting to go over and ask his brother what good idea he had come up with.

"Oh, you dare to squeeze me!" Jia Song tickled him all over.

He hates being tickled the most, so he immediately curls up into a ball, laughing and joking, completely exhausted.

"I...I'm laughing so hard I can't breathe, bro! Bro, stop tickling me!" Jia Nan quickly begged for mercy.

Unbeknownst to them, the mother, having set out the dishes in the outer room, paused for a moment upon hearing the playful sounds from the inner room before finally breaking into a smile.

My son is under a lot of academic pressure, and his mischievous boys are always causing trouble...

See, it'll be fine in a little while.

Inside the room, Jia Nan leaned close to her brother's ear and whispered, "Brother, what method have you thought of to persuade Mom?"

"...Well," Jia Song smiled mysteriously, "it's a secret for now!"

……

Beside the mound at the village entrance, Andy looked up at the moon in the night sky, then angrily flung his hand away: "I'm not waiting anymore! I can't wait any longer. You wait if you want!"

"Hey! Andy, wait a minute!"

During the day Andy stayed here, he packed three meals and a late-night snack for Tie Hanhan.

When she's bored, she'll chat with Tie Hanhan for a bit.

Tie Hanhan learned that her name was Andy, and that she was going to break up with her philandering boyfriend when she got back.

Everyone knows the reason for the breakup: her boyfriend went to a nightclub and when he was caught, he denied it to the death.

Of course, during this mission, she met Jia Nan by chance, which further solidified her idea of ​​breaking up.

She wouldn't tell Tie Hanhan this. Tie Hanhan listened with great interest, thinking that Andy trusted him.

Little did they know, women love gossip and topics related to relationships.

"Let's wait a little longer. We've already waited all day, what's a few more hours?" Tie Hanhan advised.

"But we waited all day and didn't see a single person! I really don't know what we're waiting for."

Tie Hanhan looked blankly toward the village, and Andy's words made sense.

The moon is already up on the rooftop; it must be around 8 or 9 pm.

Unlike M City, where lights shine brightly even in the dead of night, the countryside is completely dark in the villages at this hour.

Let alone single teenagers, you can't even find a single bachelor or an elderly man anymore.

This certainly doesn't seem like someone who's capable of causing trouble.

Andy, on a sudden inspiration, suggested, "Why don't we give it a try?"

"Try...what?"

Tie Hanhan looked completely bewildered.

"Try releasing a patch!"

Do you think I'm stupid? All we do all day is eat, and all we do is release patches!
If eating and drinking could change the course of one's life, that would be something else entirely!
"No...it's not appropriate!" Tie Hanhan's refusal was still relatively tactful.

My mother said that girls need to be coaxed, and the prettier the girl, the more she needs to be coaxed.

Andy is so beautiful, so whatever we say goes, and no arguments are allowed.

If what I'm saying is really too outrageous... well, let's just say something vague and leave it at that.

Anyway, whatever he says, the other party won't listen.

Sure enough, Andy said confidently, "Let's give it a try. If it fails, we can go back and ask Wenjie if he remembered the time and place wrong. We've wasted a whole day waiting."

Look, I've gotten a tan!

Tie Hanhan looked at Andy with a puzzled expression.

Before the sun set, Andy was trying to find shade, while she herself was basking in the sun.

As he spoke, he looked down at his black clothes. His face was probably as dark as his clothes from the sun.

However, he doesn't care about getting a tan; he's only worried about the injuries on his body.

When I'm exposed to the sun, the sweat seeps into the wound, and the wound hurts terribly!
It's all thanks to his regular exercise that he's so physically strong and can withstand all that.

I reckon if he spends a day in an air-conditioned hospital room, his injury will be fine.

Now, though, the wound is still throbbing slightly.

Now is not the time to complain, and what Andy said is not impossible.

They tried, and if it didn't work... well, it's very likely it won't work.

They can start over.

It's rare for someone to successfully correct their life trajectory on the first try. At least in all the online missions he's participated in, each one required several attempts.

His previous objection stemmed from the fact that they hadn't even seen a single person.

Even if they fail, at least they should have a chance to fight the other side and find out what their tactics are so they can discuss countermeasures.

Before he could react, Andy activated the system interface with a thought:
[Refactoring Patch Released]

[Deployment Successful]

Andy opened his mouth, about to say something to the simpleton beside him.

Tie Hanhan shouted, "Hey? Andy, is the system malfunctioning? Did you see the system notification just now?"

"..." Andy rolled his eyes at the simpleton.

What an idiot! What do you mean the system is broken? We clearly completed the mission!

I... I actually completed the mission!
Andy got a little excited for a moment.

She's just a bystander, she's never actually completed a task!

Moreover, in terms of contribution points, she went back and forth to pack food for Tie Hanhan, and she went into the village several times. She worked much harder than Tie Hanhan!

Is she going to get the system reward based on her own abilities?
At this moment, Andy was completely immersed in the joy of completing his mission.

She was even somewhat looking forward to what reward the system would give her.

She temporarily forgot about her vow to destroy the system herself.

Soon, a feeling of weightlessness enveloped Andy and Tie Hanhan.

Once everything returned to normal, they had exited the online mission.

——Revision Successful Divider——

When Wenjie opened his eyes, he found himself in the mezzanine space between the 12th and 13th floors.

But the hidden door in front of them had been burned through, leaving a charred hole, and the inside of the hole was completely burned away.

"Cough cough cough..." The pungent smell of smoke and dust made Wenjie cough.

I was puzzled: How...did it catch fire?

The phone in his pocket buzzed, and he pressed the answer button: "Xiao Liu, it's me. What's up?"

He slapped his forehead as soon as he finished speaking.

What is it?! Look at your brain, Xiao Liu is waiting for him in the underground parking garage!
Xiao Liu on the other end of the phone was indeed taken aback, and said in a muffled voice, "Mr. Wen, you've been upstairs for half an hour... I wanted to ask, around what time did you arrive..."

"Oh, I'll go down right away!"

Wenjie hurriedly took the elevator to the underground parking garage.

Xiao Liu had already gotten off the bus and was waiting for him. He smiled happily when he saw him, thinking to himself: "Oh my god, you're finally here! In the middle of the night, can't a person get any sleep?"

He cursed Wenjie in his heart, but remained extremely polite on the surface: "Mr. Wen, what's the code?"

"Hmm... what code?" Wenjie asked in surprise.

Xiao Liu was both amused and exasperated, spreading his hands and saying, "How would I know? You only said we'd exchange a secret code when we came back..."

(End of this chapter)