Chapter 64: A Boy and a Girl Alone Together… I Don’t Even Dare to Imagine!
Ye Qiu picked up his phone and glanced at the caller ID. It was an unfamiliar number. He instinctively answered.
Immediately, a familiar voice came through the phone.
It was indeed Uncle Su’s voice on the line!
Before Ye Qiu could say anything, Uncle Su hurriedly continued, “Don’t put it on speaker, don’t let Tongtong — my daughter, Su Xintong — hear this!”
Ye Qiu looked over at Su Xintong standing not far away. She was still gripping her phone, calling again and again.
“Mm, she’s been trying to call you this whole time,” Ye Qiu said in a lowered voice.
A heavy sigh came through the phone. “I’m at the police station right now, using someone else’s phone to call you.”
“What happened?” Ye Qiu was stunned. “Uncle Su, don’t tell me you got caught… at a foot massage place? Need me to come bail you out?”
In his mind, he was already imagining such a scenario!
Uncle Su immediately spat a few times, and then said, “It’s because of the gasoline incident! That old friend of mine from the gas station reported me, so the police tracked me down!”
Ye Qiu froze for a moment, then quickly said, “It’s my fault, Uncle Su. I’ll call the police and explain everything. They should come after me!”
Yesterday, Ye Qiu had asked Uncle Su for help to buy some gasoline at an old friend’s gas station, planning to use it for making Molotov cocktails.
He thought it wouldn’t cause any trouble, but clearly, he had been wrong.
Uncle Su, however, spoke in a relaxed tone, “Don’t worry. I’ll be out by tonight at the earliest, and no later than three days. No need for two people to get dragged into this. Plus, you’re a student without a car. It would be hard to explain why you needed gasoline. It could leave a record and seriously affect your future.”
Ye Qiu was touched but insisted, “But I can’t let you take the fall for me! I’ll go turn myself in. Maybe they’ll lighten the punishment.”
He wasn’t afraid of getting a criminal record. After all, in just eight days, the game world would start merging with reality. Crimes, criminal records, all of it would become meaningless. Everyone would enter a brand-new era.
“Makes no difference!” Uncle Su said firmly. “Even if you turn yourself in, I’ll still be implicated. I took you there myself, remember? Besides, you must have needed the gasoline for something important. I won’t ask what. You just stay home, look after my daughter, and leave everything else to me!”
Ye Qiu was speechless.
Uncle Su went on, “If I don’t get out today, just let Tongtong stay with you for the time being.”
“Huh?!” Ye Qiu blurted out.
“What are you huh-ing for?!” Uncle Su scolded, “Don’t you dare get any funny ideas! Just focus on the upcoming exams. After the exams, you kids can do whatever you want!”
Ye Qiu didn’t even know how to respond anymore.
He was about to say something when Uncle Su hurriedly added, “Alright, I have to come up with an excuse to text Tongtong. I’ll hang up now!”
And with that, the call ended.
Ye Qiu stared at his phone, utterly speechless.
Had my actions — buying gasoline — actually altered the timeline?
He glanced again at Su Xintong.
She seemed to have seen a new message and was now staring at her phone, her face much calmer, even letting out a breath of relief.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Anlong City…
On a street outside a foot massage parlor, a young officer in uniform looked at a middle-aged man and sighed, “Finished your call?”
The man scratched his head awkwardly, handing the phone back. It was Uncle Su, Su Huari!
If Ye Qiu and Su Xintong had been here, they would’ve been stunned.
The young officer, Officer Liu, was familiar with Uncle Su since he often rode in Uncle Su’s taxi.
“So how long are you locking me up this time?” Uncle Su asked sheepishly.
“At least three days!” Officer Liu replied.
“Three days? That long?!” Uncle Su’s face fell.
Normally, it was just a fine or a single day’s detention.
Three days sounded serious!
Officer Liu said, “Because of the unidentified creature attacks today, the city is enforcing a three-day lockdown. Everyone involved in disturbances will be held.”
Hearing this, Uncle Su was shocked.
“The whole city’s under lockdown?”
Uncle Su immediately thought about his daughter and Ye Qiu.
Two young people, boy and girl, left alone for three days?!
He didn’t even dare imagine what might happen!
He had just been worrying about how to convince his daughter to stay with Ye Qiu.
Now he was worried they might get too close!
Looking around the lobby of the massage parlor, Uncle Su saw a bunch of men and women huddled together, many barely covered with sheets.
Among them was his old “acquaintance” — Cuicui.
After his divorce, Uncle Su hadn’t remarried.
Being a man with natural needs, he often came to such places.
But today, of all days, disaster had struck.
He sighed, shaking his head.
“Whatever! Why worry so much? When I was in middle school, I already had a girlfriend. These two kids are almost about to graduate high school. What’s there to be afraid of?”
Still, he couldn’t help but mutter, “Just… just don’t let her get pregnant!”
His standards kept lowering.
After all, the boy with his daughter was his family’s lifesaver.
If it were anyone else, he wouldn’t have been this lenient!
Back at the residential neighborhood…
Ye Qiu saw that Su Xintong had calmed down and asked, “Did your dad text you?”
Su Xintong finally smiled and nodded.
“Thanks to your good luck, he’s fine. He said he ran into an old friend and went to their house. Then the lockdown started…”
She trailed off mid-sentence, realizing she was now in basically the same situation.
She immediately fell silent.
Ye Qiu, still lying on the bed, waved and said, “Relax. I know Uncle Su really well. Since you’re his daughter, you’re basically my… well, my friend too. Just treat this place like your own home. Make yourself comfortable.”
After all, Uncle Su was taking the fall for him.
The least he could do was look after his daughter properly.
“At least… at least help me get home tonight,” Su Xintong said, still looking a little uncomfortable.
But after some hesitation, she finally sat down on a nearby chair.
“Sure,” Ye Qiu agreed readily.
Then he remembered something and asked, “By the way, what level are you now? Did you reach level 10 yet?”