Back to the Future 1999: Raining at the Same Time

After coming out of the ward, Chen Xi walked all the way to the gate of the foundation without any obstruction, and no one stopped him along the way.

"Is it really okay to let him go like this?"

"Now is not the time."

In front of the window, Zhang Zhizhi and Constantine looked at the figure gradually moving away from the foundation.

"The reins aren't enough now. Once he has enough bonds, the Foundation will be able to completely control him and make him the second Si Chen."

"Let's spread the news that Ren Chenxi is the second Si Chen within the foundation first, so that everyone can get over it."

"This matter, Chen Xi..."

"It's okay, he won't refuse it. I just don't know if he will like this gift, hehe."

Looking at the vice president who seemed to have everything under control, Zhang Zhizhi said nothing more.

He stirred the White Rabbit candies in his pocket, recalling the scene when Verdin handed them to him.

She also developed some interest in this young man.

……

After leaving the foundation, Chen Xi made a special trip back to the wasteland.

As expected, he was questioned by everyone, but they were all fooled by the reasons Chen Xi had thought of in advance and believed them half-heartedly. Only Dao Wu looked at him with a slightly different look.

But after comforting everyone, Chen Xi still left the wasteland alone.

On the one hand, he had grown to like the freedom of being alone, but on the other hand...

The air in London is really terrible!

If we don't deal with it properly, why would we bring them out to suffer?

Calculating the time, it was almost time for the Uluru Games to begin.

In other words, you can go and see a certain arrogant and sharp-tongued Miss Black Swan!

Okay, okay, let me see:

Lubricants made from snail slime, gum arabic sap, swift saliva, and eagle feather powder;

A sleeping potion made from amaranth, elm leaves, orange, winter bear's feet, and coarse salt;

A special painkiller made from olive oil, tongue of ed, petrified resin, white crystal and dragon bone powder;

Is this all we need for daily life? Hmm, it’s really not easy.

After thinking about what Dudu Gu needed, Chen Xi bought everything and took a taxi to the entrance of the crossroads.

Meanwhile, a rumor spread throughout the crossroads: a fat sheep had arrived who wouldn't bargain! Just name your price, and he'd pay, so you could get a good meal and keep your family happy for a few more days...

Perhaps because we arrived a few months early, the atmosphere of the Uluru Games was not in the air. Everyone was busy like gears in a machine, mechanically and repetitively doing the same work day after day.

It doesn’t matter, Chen Xi’s target is not them anyway.

But perhaps his luck was really bad. When he stepped in here, he did not meet the little wake-up worker who was curious about everything.

But it's okay, he knows where to meet her, meet that cute baby, and watch her step by step walk into his little "trap"~

"But I have to say, the scenery here is really nice. It's a good place to relax."

Sitting down by the lake, Chen Xi quietly waited for the wake-up caller to come to her door.

……

In a few months, Uluru Games flyers will arrive on the wind, bringing long-awaited good news to this fog-shrouded city.

But no one knew this at the time, including Liberty Grove in the East End. She finished her job as a wake-up call girl and was walking home...as always, alone.

Then she stopped under a roof.

"Chirp, chirp."

"Chirp?"

The bird with beautiful blue feathers responded to her inquiry curiously.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp?"

“…Chirp?”

A nonchalant interspecies exchange was taking place on the street corner, which could hardly fail to attract the attention of other passers-by.

"Hey... look over there, it's Miss Why!"

A classmate in the paper letter circle laughed and pointed at her.

"Is she talking to the birds? Oh my god, that's weird."

The exaggerated tone showed their mockery and sarcasm.

"you do not say!"

Laughing and joking, the few of them seemed to be in a good mood, laughing and playing as they walked away.

Liberty withdrew his gaze and looked up at the bird on the eaves again:

"Don't pay attention to them, they always do this.

But perhaps they were right about one thing: it seems my bird language is not very good, and it is clear that you don't speak English either.

I saw you just now, and I wanted to ask, are you following me? Do you want to be friends with me?

"Chirp?"

On the eaves, the bird, which obviously couldn't understand, tilted its neck and looked at her, neither refusing nor agreeing.

"If what you want to say is 'yes,' then follow me."

The little wake-up worker seemed very happy. She turned and walked towards home, with a bird following her from time to time, marking her journey.

……

"Shh...be careful, my mom doesn't like to be disturbed when she's working, she'll go crazy."

"You can come through the window... Yes, that's it."

"Chirp."

The blue-feathered bird landed on the somewhat shabby window frame, looking curiously at everything in the house.

"You really came! It seems that I guessed right, you really want to be friends with me."

"Do you like bread?"

Liberty excitedly took a piece of bread out of the cupboard.

"This is my dinner, we can share it. Here, I'll break it into small pieces for you."

A few crumbs of bread fell from her hands, and the bird hopped over and stared at the pieces of bread with its bright black eyes...

Then, look away.

"Huh? Why don't you eat? Don't you like bread?"

"Oh! It is indeed very dry. Wait a moment, I will get you some clean water."

Liberty turned around and saw his father leaning against the door frame, rubbing his forehead, his face full of fatigue.

"Liberty...you're back."

"Dad, are you awake? Does your head still hurt?"

Last night, my father knocked on the door of our house late at night, looking drunk and like he had just gotten out of bed. Every day before his day off, he and his coworkers would get drunk and not go home.

Liberty didn't like her father smelling of alcohol, but she knew he didn't like alcohol either.

Her father did not answer her question.

"who are you talking to?"

"My new friend, look."

Liberty stepped aside with some pride and introduced the little guest standing on the windowsill to his father.

"A bird? Oh... you are such a kid."

My father felt that his headache seemed to be getting worse, and he spoke with some helplessness and exhaustion:

"Why can't you be normal like other kids?"

"Other kids don't act like you... staring blankly all day or talking to chickens and birds. They hang out with other kids."

Liberty looked at his father innocently and swayed from side to side.

“…but I don’t like playing with them.”

"You're so unsociable. I told you not to do this."

The father's tone was unusually serious, but the child in front of him obviously didn't hear it.

"What does 'sociable' mean? Does 'sociable' mean normal?"

Perhaps the alcohol was still taking its toll, but the usually affable father seemed a little annoyed and angry:

"Why do you always talk back, kid?"

"I didn't talk back, I just didn't understand—"

With a loud bang, the inner door was pushed open and hit the wall, causing the whole room to shake.

"Can you guys be quiet for a moment?"

The real boss of the Grove family stood in the shadow under the door frame, emitting invisible pressure, and the two people in the room immediately fell silent.

My father huddled up in silence, as if even his hangover headache had been cured.

“…I’m sorry, Mom.”

Liberty put his hands behind his back, not knowing what expression to make.

"Do you know that while you, the little prodigal, are happily studying, I'm working so hard?"

"I've been working with needlework and fabric since I opened my eyes! All day long! I'm going blind from all this work!"

The mother pounded the door frame angrily, and the spreading momentum made everyone afraid to look up at her.

"All I want is silence! Silence! Is that such a hard request?"

The father and daughter shut their mouths tacitly, lowered their heads and prayed that the storm would pass quickly.

——But contrary to expectations, the mother's gaze suddenly froze.

She walked closer step by step under Liberty's bewildered gaze, and finally stopped in front of the windowsill, staring at the half piece of bread and the bird standing beside it in disbelief.

"What are you doing, Liberty? Are you feeding bread...to the birds?"

Perhaps because she found it too unbelievable, the mother's tone rose several degrees in anger.

"I... I used the piece I had last night, so I can eat less! She's my new friend, and I was thinking about what I should get her to eat—"

Tears were already welling up in her eyes, and Liberty lowered her head in grievance.

"We still fed you too well, didn't we?"

The mother laughed out of anger and teased:

"Our little daughter, Liberty, is so generous and magnanimous that she would share her bread with a bird."

"But we don't work so hard to feed your birds!"

"Chirp!"

The roar and the wall-shaking sound came again, and Liberty's new friend escaped through the window.

It was a bit disingenuous, but Liberty knew better than to blame her.

"Don't get so angry... Liberty knows, she won't do it again."

The father was more inclined to protect his little daughter and quickly came out to smooth things over.

"Liberty, you can go buy food for the next week and help around the house.

Go get the money from your sister. I remember writing down what I want to buy in the blank space of the newspaper... Here it is, go quickly!

The shopping list was thrust into Liberty's hands and she was shoved out the door.

But unfortunately, the door panels of the relief housing have nothing to do with the word "sound insulation".

"This child can't always be like this, you have to talk to her..."

The mother's voice softened, filled with endless worry and concern.

"I told him, but the child didn't listen..."

My father's words were also full of helplessness.

Outside the door, Liberty listened to all their words in silence, tears welling up in his eyes.

……

(By the way, readers who have read this far, do you usually follow the plot? Now we are entering the Dudugu chapter. If you follow it, I will give a brief summary. If you don’t, I will write about it in detail.)