After making their wishes, the two people who had worked hard for the whole day were a bit overwhelmed.
Li Shuoxing went offline to rest and Su Mingqian prepared for bed.
After he washed his face, changed into his pyjamas, and made sure Ximu had left, he dragged the Christmas box out from under the bed and carried it all the way to the courtyard to put it under the Christmas tree.
When he was done, Su Mingqian was still a little worried. He was afraid that it would snow and rain at night, getting the gift wet, so he found a large piece of transparent plastic paper from the crafting workshop and draped it over the Christmas tree to cover the tree and the gift underneath.
After covering it up, he looked for gold sprinkles, coloured ribbons, and decorative plastic paper.
In this way, the plastic paper wasnât like a simple rain poncho, it became a gorgeous rain poncho.
With a satisfied nod, Su Mingqian went back to his room and got into bed.
The window of his bedroom was located diagonally in front of the bed. In the corner of the window, a few leaves of the Christmas tree could be seen in the corner of the courtyard, the upturned leaves supporting a very thin veil. The silvery veil, adorned with starry awn and moonlight, decorated with happiness and expectation, turned into an iridescent light that cast into Su Mingqianâs dream.
Su Mingqian was asleep.
He was lying on his side, his head slightly buried in his pillow, a silvery-blue cloud hanging over his head.
Two lines appeared inside the shimmering cloud.
Dreaming (4/5)
The Christmas Wish Card effect has been activated. The [Dreaming] skill is 100% triggered.
When the darkness faded and an unfamiliar environment built up around him in an instant, Su Mingqian realised he was dreaming.
He was in a huge space filled with countless huge machines that surrounded him. However, they werenât really surrounding him, but the âitâ in front of him.
It was also a huge machine.
It had a silvery-white shell, complicated buttons, and a very large screen.
Su Mingqian saw his own fingers stroking over its buttons, their delicate touch feeding back from his fingertips to his nerves.
It made him a little confused.
Am I really dreaming?
Or, is this something Iâve experienced before?
Su Mingqian pondered until the tap tap tap of the ancient typing sound effects woke him up.
He looked up and saw a pitch-black screen.
The screen was lit, and there was a blinking cursor moving from left to right in its center. A line of white text appeared at the top of the screen.
âWho am I?â
âAsk.â Su Mingqian heard his own voice. âYou are Ask.â
***
In a vast temperature-controlled space, a huge silvery-white machine was surrounded by many machines.
Its indicator lights flashed, a myriad of complex codes running through its memory as it opened its internal network and went all the way to a hospital room. Through its electronic eyes inside, it scanned the gifts stacked on the bedside table, then opened its external network, putting several layers of vests on itself before placing an order and commissioning funds to a research institute with advanced 3D printing technology.
It paused for a moment when selecting a courier.
[Paid by Shipper]
[Paid on Arrival]
It retrieved the amount on the Su account and selected the latter.
Done.
It erased all traces of its actions on the network and continued to work hard on the code to find material.
He woke up and his skin was about to go online.
Now, there were still several pieces of material to be determined.
Bald.
***
The 25th, Christmas Day.
Although he went through a laborious and liver-withering Christmas Eve, Li Shuoxing still woke up at eight oâclock the next morning.
He stared blankly at the ceiling for a while, rolled over, and buried his head in his pillow, hoping to get some more sleep.
But his high spirits prevented sleep from coming.
Li Shuoxingâs mind was full of the image of Su Mingqian secretly putting a gift under the bed last night.
That scarf must be warm.
I kind of want to get my hands on it.
How about I buy the same one on Taobao?
âŚ
Forget it. Itâs not the cubâs knitting, thereâs no special meaning in wearing it.
Li Shuoxing, who was lying in bed and thinking, suddenly raised his head.
The cub gave me a Christmas present, so I should give the cub a Christmas present too.
Originally, I was going to buy something in the game as a Christmas present, but I can buy anything in the game at any time. Itâs Christmas, Iâll prepare something a little more unique, likeâŚ
Li Shuoxingâs mind was spinning rapidly as he recalled Su Mingqianâs various behaviours and preferences. When he recalled the Ximu doll that always followed Su Mingqian recently, a light bulb went off in his head!
Li Shuoxing instantly jumped up from his bed, turned on the computer, and quickly typed on the keyboard.
Line after line of words appeared on the Word document.
Words were pieced together into sentences, and sentences were composed into paragraphs. As one paragraph after another was assembled together, a âding dongâ sounded at just the right time.
Li Shuoxing took a few seconds to react before realising that it was the doorbell ringing.
He stood up and opened the door. âWho is it?â
A courier was standing outside the door. âHello, same-city flash delivery, paid on delivery, 35 yuan.â
Thatâs odd. Have I bought anything recently?
Maybe another author sent it to me?
Li Shuoxing was a little puzzled but didnât think much of it. After scanning the code and paying, he took the delivery inside and had a quick look at the order information, finding that it was from a laboratory with an awesome name.
Li Shuoxing squeezed the package. It was soft, and it didnât feel like a dangerous item like bombs or acid. So, he directly tore open the outer package bag with both hands.
A brown scarf fell out of it and landed in his palm.
Light and warm.
It was like holding a piece of hot feather in his hands.
Li Shuoxing was dumbfounded for a few seconds and held the scarf up for closer inspection. He found that the scarf was brown, with a red stripe in the middle, and the word Ximu in the corner. It was exactly like the one he had seen Su Mingqian knit yesterday in the game!
But how did something from the game appear in reality?
Li Shuoxing broke out in goosebumps.
He subconsciously grasped the scarf in his hand, and suddenly realised something was wrong. The feel of the scarf in his hand seemed to be a little different from a normal one, not like ordinary woolâŚ
He thought of what he had seen on the order.
The sender was one of the laboratories in the same city.
Li Shuoxing thought for a long time and slowly got a guess. He logged into the game.
When he entered the game again, the scenery was completely new.
The Christmas exclusive skin had been applied. Colourful Christmas balls were hanging from the ceiling, multi-coloured stockings of all sizes were hanging on the walls, rainbow lights were wrapped around the house, and a live deer was napping by the fireplace, not knowing where it had come from.
And the courtyard.
The snow was like a white blanket, a velvet layer in the courtyard.
Gifts were piled up under the Christmas tree in the corner of the courtyard. Su Mingqian held the travel log in his hand, surprised and bewildered.
Li Shuoxing had come to the courtyard to get a good look at the greeting cards attached to the gifts.
He read out the words on the card for Su Mingqian.
âAskâs learning progress has been really bad lately. We communicate with it and it takes half a day to reply. I really donât know what itâs thinking about all day. Checking its code is useless as well. Have we finally taught it to be lazy? You really should take care of it.â
âThe doctor said youâve been in great shape lately, which is delightful.â
âThe latest Nature and Cell , I know you need them.â
âThereâs a seminar coming up soon. I look forward to you taking the stage and announcing this great achievement in front of all our peers in the industryâ
âHey, weâre all waiting for you to come back.â
âŚ
There were many greeting cards, one card per gift. The gifts of all sizes were stacked on top of each other to form a gift mountain, and at the top of the mountain was a photo.
Li Shuoxing picked it up.
The photo was taken in a hospital room, in the gift corner next to the bed. The gifts in the photo and the way they were stacked were exactly the same as those under the Christmas tree. It looked like the gifts in the photo had been copied over, intact.
In addition to the gifts, Li Shuoxing also saw part of the hospital bed and a corner of clothing on it.
The blue and white striped corner reminded Li Shuoxing of Su Mingqianâs original clothes.
OriginalâŚ
That wasnât a pyjama, but a hospital gown?
He looked at the little person.
He was looking at the photo with a gaze that was both implicitly confused and extraordinarily clear.
Perhaps his head was still shrouded by fog, but he had relied on his own reasoning ability to return the favour.
Su Mingqianâs finger touched the photo.
He first pointed to the corner of blue and white.
âThis is⌠me.â
He then looked at the gift piles, the one in reality, and the one in front of him.
âThese are⌠gifts from my friends.â
He held up the log in his hand again.
âI also had a dream last night, and itâs not the kind where I see the book glowing in the morning. This time, I clearly saw my past in that dream. I feel like Iâm recovering.â
He finally turned towards the direction of the voice.
âXimu, this Christmas is great⌠Itâs fulfilled a lot of wishes that I didnât think about, and Iâve received a lot of unexpected gifts. Yeah, thereâs alsoâŚâ
Su Mingqian didnât forget his own thing.
From under the Christmas tree, he took out the gift he had prepared and handed it to Li Shuoxing.
âXimu, Merry Christmas.â
He opened his gift box and wanted to show his gift to Li Shuoxing.
But the box was empty.
Su Mingqian: â???â
Su Mingqian was dumbfounded, unsure of how to react.
It was then that the light screen appeared and two photos were sent over. The first was a photo of a brown scarf and the second was a photo of Ximu wearing the scarf.
Li Shuoxingâs voice rang out, âCub, this is the scarf you knitted. Iâve received it. I donât know how, thoughâŚâ
Su Mingqian suddenly spoke, âI made a wish yesterday. I wished that you could really receive my gift. Now, that wish has come true.â
He said, raising his head, looking at the sky and around him, and whispered, âThank you.â
There was no answer.
Only the deer, sleeping in front of the fire, turned its head and moved its ears.
Su Mingqian then said, âXimu, what was your wish?â
Li Shuoxing: âMy wish was for you to get more information about reality, and it seems that has come true as well.â
Su Mingqian unconsciously smiled. âYes.â
Li Shuoxing: âIn addition to that wish, Iâve also prepared a gift for you.â
Su Mingqian sat down in the snow.
He didnât feel the cold. On Christmas day, countless warmth surrounded him.
He asked, âWhat gift?â
Li Shuoxing cleared his throat. ââŚStar Magician Season 2, Little Boyâs Road Home.â
He took out the gift he had carefully prepared this morning.
It was a hardcover notebook with a gilded cover, looking like a magic book.
He flipped to the title page:
âStar Magician and Little Boy 2: The Road Home.â
He flipped to the next page and the text began to appear.
âThe Star Magician took the little boy on a journey to find his way home. During their journey, they came across an aged old man. He fell to the ground and sprained his leg, temporarily unable to move. But, he hoped to rush home immediately, as his equally aged wife was still waiting for him so they could have dinner together.
âThe boy felt very sympathetic to the old man and hoped to fulfil his wish. Something magical happened. At the moment of his intense desire, the old man was brought into the painting by him!
âThey were all surprised and followed the direction the old man pointed to, which led to the door of his home. The moment they reached the door, the old man in the painting came back to reality and embraced his wife who came out to welcome him.
âThe Star Magician and the boy did not disturb the couple. Only after they walked away did the boy speak.
ââWhat just happened? Was that my magic? I made a wish, and then the wish came true,â the boy asked in wonder.
ââI think so,â the Star Magician told him. âThatâs your magic. You fulfilled his wish.â
ââIs this magic powerful?â the boy asked. âCan I use it to help more people?â
ââOf course itâs powerful,â the Star Magician said. âBut maybe when you get home, itâll become even more powerful.ââ
When the magic book reached its end, there was a TBC <sup>1</sup> To Be Continued in the back, as the Star Magician and the little boyâs journey was still going on.
Li Shuoxing gave the book to Su Mingqian.
He quirked his lips upwards, slightly proud of himself for writing such a story.
Star Magician and Little Boy was a fairy tale based on Su Mingqianâs experiences, but there was more to it than that.
The first time he narrated the story, Li Shuoxing only wanted to comfort Su Mingqian.
The second time he narrated the story, Li Shuoxing thought of many questions, and living in his unfettered imagination was a sort of utopian happy ending.
In reality, Su Mingqian existed here because of a coincidental exception or simply because of undisclosed sophisticated technology, like virtual reality, so the little boy had âmagicâ.
In the future, this technology would exist and become popular, so the little boyâs magic would benefit more people.
But this required Su Mingqian to return.
Su Mingqian needed to bring this âmagicâ to more people.
This was his favourite ending, and he sincerely hoped that the world would write such a romantic ending.
Li Shuoxing: âCub, I think youâre just like the little boy in this story. You can do so many unexpected things, no matter when and whereâŚâ