life copy game

Chapter 1637 Time Flies (Long Chapter, Requesting Monthly Tickets)

A violent spatial-temporal tremor reverberated within the iron gate, and the phantoms of the walls and buildings seemed to collapse rapidly at that moment.

And this collapse is now spreading rapidly outwards from the iron gate along the tremor of the space.

The torrential rain poured down on the ground, soaking everyone's clothes in an instant.

He watched all this quietly, placed Reed on the ground, and felt his connection with the vibrating space.

The reset begins inside the orphanage; the 'outside' world will be reset later.

Reed reached out and grabbed Heo, trying to back away.

He turned around and looked at the street behind him.

At this moment, the alleyway that was originally covered in mist has become clear and bright, and the street structure outside the alleyway can be clearly seen through the narrow entrance of the alleyway.

Some panicked 'children' were walking around outside the alley, while two 'children' were standing in the center of the alley, directing the actions of the 'children' around them.

“The influence of this orphanage is spreading outwards; we must leave immediately.” He grabbed He Ao and pulled him away with a slight force.

But He Ao did not move. Instead, he gently raised his hand, turned the crystal ball in his hand, and returned it to its original position.

The whole world seemed to tremble at that moment.

Reed looked up at the space outside.

The pervasive fog quickly appeared at the edge of the street, and then, as if time had reversed, it rapidly receded.

In the blink of an eye, the mist swept over the buildings, the outer streets, and the narrow alleys.

It brushed against everyone's bodies.

The crystal ball in He Ao's hand gradually dissipated along with the passing mist, merging into the thick fog and disappearing behind the swaying iron gate.

He gazed into the depths of the mist.

In that cracked, crumbling building, the shadow of a blond boy standing by the window, gazing out, is reflected in the light-drenched windowpane.

The boy looked at He Ao, smiled, and waved to him.

Everything in the darkness collapsed completely at that moment.

The surrounding light and shadow seemed to change at this moment, and the narrow alley was rapidly 'stretched' like a twisted noodle.

Amidst the spatial tremors, He Ao reached out and grabbed the somewhat bewildered girl with braided hair who hadn't yet reacted. He then took Reed's hand and leaped backward.

Their bodies passed through the mist that rose behind them, and the long corridor receded rapidly, like compressed light and shadow, merging into the darkness.

boom--

Everyone fell to the ground.

The dense sound of rain stopped in their ears in an instant, as if the rain had never fallen at all.

Reed turned to look at the rain-soaked streets outside.

The 'water droplets' that covered the entire street were now disappearing and vanishing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

It was as if that sudden downpour had never happened.

He Ao looked down at his own hands, which were rapidly becoming thicker and wider.

"Hey big guy! The cracks on my body have disappeared!"

Siwei lay on He'ao's chest, excitedly watching her small porcelain hands, the fine cracks of which were visibly healing and becoming smooth.

As the abnormal rules disappeared, their bodies were returning to their original form.

At that moment, Reed also stood up and looked ahead.

The narrow alleyway had completely disappeared, leaving only a wisp of mist, which was dissipating from the world along with the rain outside.

He sighed, "Will everything inside be reset? Restored to the way it was before we went in?"

"Will the people inside still remember us?" Siwei turned her head, looked at the disappearing mist, and scratched her head. "But I don't think I came into contact with anyone in there."

Then she turned to He Ao and asked, "Big guy, why aren't you saying anything?"

At that moment, He Ao raised his head and looked to the side.

The direction of the girl with braided hair who had just come out with them.

Siwei also turned around and looked at the girl with braided hair.

The girl with the seemingly cute braided pigtails was now rapidly 'growing taller,' then 'matured,' and finally 'aging' in her field of vision.

The marks that time leaves on a person seem to take shape at this moment.

In the blink of an eye, that nimble girl turned into an old woman.

"Ah, I was so much healthier when I was young." The old man slowly got up and looked at He Ao beside him. "Loren, you're back."

"Hmm," He Ao smiled, stood up, patted the dust off his clothes, and said with a smile, "Grandma, you're so quick."

“Of course,” the old man turned around, glanced at the completely disappeared mist, and smiled, “When I was in the orphanage, I was the one who was specifically responsible for opening the door.”

At that moment, Reed also looked at the old man, "You're the one from the bakery..."

“Hello, young man,” the old man looked at Reed and laughed, “You were quite cute when you were a child.”

Reed blushed.

He Ao then turned to the old woman and asked, "Grandma, how are you feeling right now?"

"I haven't quite recovered yet," the old man chuckled. "It feels a bit surreal."

She gazed at the spot where the fog had completely disappeared. "When I was little, I loved reading those magical fantasy stories. I never thought I would experience such a fantasy story myself."

"By the way, shouldn't you be outside?" Reed looked at the old man with some curiosity.

“I was stopped outside,” the old woman smiled, turning her head to look at the bakery next to her. “But it was too chaotic just now. I still have a lot of bread in my shop. If someone steals it, my wife won’t have anything to eat this month. I walked in and saw the orphanage, so I came over.”

"Didn't you buy store theft insurance?" Reed was taken aback.

“It’s no longer possible to buy it,” the old man shook his head. “More than ten years ago, there were no insurance companies selling theft and robbery insurance in this neighborhood.”

"Reed! Loren!" At that moment, two figures quickly walked over.

It was the man with the mustache and Charn.

"What just happened? An abnormal force is spreading?!" Reed looked at them and asked quickly.

“The coverage area is too large,” Charn sighed. “It has caused a lot of riots, and we can only try to control the crowds and prevent them from getting over here.”

He looked at Reed and Howe, "You solved the problem? What happened inside?"

“The situation inside is a bit complicated, and it’s hard to explain in a short time,” Reed shook his head and looked at Heo, “That orphanage director—”

“Dead,” He Ao interrupted before he could finish speaking.

“Okay,” Reed didn’t ask any more questions. He turned his gaze to Chan and the man with the mustache. “Now is not the time to review this. Go and call people right away. We need to quell the riot as soon as possible.”

"Ugh--"

At this moment, Siwei, who was squatting to the side, suddenly sighed.

Everyone's attention was instantly drawn to it.

Reed, in particular, frowned instantly.

He knew about Siwei's 'identity' in the orphanage.

"What's wrong?" He Ao asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Big guy,” Sisley looked up at Heo, “I’m so hungry.”

The entire night fell into a brief silence.

At this moment, the old man next to him finally noticed the little doll.

Siwei's words seemed to frighten her a bit, but after what had just happened, she had become more accepting of such 'fantasy' events.

She looked at the adorable Siwei, took a deep breath, lowered her head, and smiled, "Want some cake? I have plenty in my shop. I'm about to bake some for breakfast, fresh out of the oven."

"Okay! Okay!" Siwei stood up excitedly, then grabbed He Ao's still relatively intact trouser leg and quickly climbed up, soon reaching He Ao's shoulder. She turned to He Ao and said, "Big guy, let's go eat cake!"

“You can go ahead,” Reed said with a smile. “The rest is our responsibility.”

This street will definitely remain closed, but since Reed said so, the bakery can still stay open.

Moreover, the bakery owner himself was also involved in the incident.

“Okay,” He Ao glanced at Siwei, who was reaching out to grab her hair, and then looked at the old man. “Thank you for your help.”

“By the way,” Reed suddenly realized something at that moment. He walked over, looked at Heo, and asked slowly, “Has the anomaly been completely reset?”

He saw Heo manipulate the crystal ball and knew that Heo might have interacted with this anomaly to some extent, and he knew more about it.

“The reset will take a while,” Heo said slowly, looking at Reed. “The accelerated process just now caused a leak of power from the orphanage, and the internal structure may be somewhat unstable, so it may take a little longer to recover.”

He looked at the puzzled Reed, sensing the invisible connection, and continued, "It might take a few hours."

“Okay,” Reed nodded, glancing at Sylvie whose eyes were practically glued to the bakery display case, and smiled. “You guys go get something to eat.”

“Okay!” He Ao nodded, said goodbye to the others, and followed the old man to the front of the bakery.

The old man slowly unlocked the bakery's mechanical lock with his key and pushed open the door.

A strong fragrance immediately wafted out through the open door.

As if supported by the scent, Siwei tilted her little head forward and then fell off He Ao's shoulder with a thud.

He Ao immediately reached out, grabbed her collar, and caught her.

"Don't rush." ​​The old man smiled, walked unsteadily behind the display case, took out a small, exquisitely packaged cake from the cabinet, and then took out a small, long loaf of bread.

She handed the small cake to Siwei.

He Ao raised his hand and placed Siwei on the glass display case.

Sisi held the small cake up to her and said excitedly, "Thank you, Grandma!"

The old man handed the long bread to Heo, saying, "Loren, here, this was your favorite when you were little. This is the last one, it's been sitting out for a while, so it might not be as crispy anymore."

He Ao paused for a moment, then took the bread and smiled, "Thank you."

He brought the bread to his mouth and took a bite.

After biting through the crispy outer shell, the inside is soft and fluffy, with a hint of wheat aroma, followed by a subtle sweetness.

These small breads sold in the Xiluo market are often loaded with a lot of icing sugar, making them very sweet. You can only taste the sugar and not the aroma of the flour itself.

This is the only bakery that makes bread with virtually no icing, a subtle sweetness and aroma, and baked to the perfect crispy exterior and soft interior.

However, this is also a market choice. This kind of fragrant synthetic flour is biomimetic flour, which is much more expensive than ordinary synthetic flour.

Therefore, from a cost perspective, buying cheap synthetic flour and adding a lot of icing sugar would actually reduce the cost.

"How is it?" the old man asked He Ao cautiously.

“It tastes like it did when I was a kid,” He Ao said with a smile after taking another bite. He looked at the old man and said, “You didn’t even recognize me when I last came here.”

“You’ve changed so much,” the old man said, gesturing with his hands as he looked at He Ao’s tall and robust figure. “You were only this tall when you were little. You were skinny, didn’t talk much, and didn’t play with the other children.”

She spread her arms and compared He Ao's shoulder width, "You're so tall now!"

“After leaving the orphanage, I went through some things,” He Ao leaned against the glass display case, looking at the old display case and the dull stainless steel display rack, “but this place is still exactly the same as when I was a child.”

He turned his head with some curiosity and looked at the old man. "Are you also a child from an orphanage?"

“Of course,” the old man sighed, glancing at the staff outside who were dispersing the crowd again. “This orphanage has been open for many, many years.”
"My director was a very kind old man, though sometimes a little stern. He treated us very well. I stayed at the orphanage until I was eighteen and got into university."
“I worked in Wellens for many years. When I came back, the old man had passed away. His son took over the orphanage. The new director looked a lot like his father. He was kind and serious.”

"Then I opened a bakery at the entrance of the orphanage, and when children came, I would give them a few loaves of bread."

The old woman sighed slowly, "Later, the new director became the old director, and I became an old woman. The subsidies from the municipal government became less and less, and the orphanage became increasingly difficult to operate."

“A conglomerate once coveted this land and wanted to buy the orphanage, but he refused.”

"Later, the second dean fell seriously ill, but he couldn't afford treatment and passed away."

"The orphanage was passed down to the grandson of the second director, but instead of running it, the grandson sold it off."

"The person who took over is the 'dean' I know?" He Ao asked slowly.

“Yes,” the old man sighed softly, “They are quite wealthy. I originally thought they would tear down the orphanage, but I didn’t expect them to rebuild it and even enroll quite a few children.”

"So when we were kids, we played in your shop, and those breads were purchased from the orphanage under a pre-arranged agreement with you?" He Ao asked curiously.

This was also a question that Loren had when he was a child.

“Actually, I gave it to them,” the old man smiled as he looked at the empty shop. “I was afraid they were short of money and would sell the orphanage. I don’t have much ability to do that, so I can only occasionally give the children some bread.”

So, when the orphanage organized outings, it was always at the bakery near the entrance, not only because the bakery was close, but also because it saved on the cost of a meal?

“You’re a good person,” He Ao sighed.

"I wouldn't call myself a good person," the old man said with a smile and a shake of his head. "I just run a small shop and barely make ends meet. I'm just glad you don't dislike my bread."

"delicious."

He Ao took a bite of the soft bread, looked at the night outside, and smiled.

The accumulated water droplets on the street had completely disappeared by now.

Siwei held a small spoon, scooped out a large piece of cake, brought it to her mouth, took a big bite, and a happy smile appeared on her cream-covered lips.