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墨書 Inktalez
Bai Tang turned on the television—she didn't use the computer because it was still broken—and as she had guessed earlier, the passage of time was different in the two worlds. She had lived for two years in the Red Mansion World, while only a month had passed in the real world. Hmph, what research institute? Get out of here! I won't be discovered by you.
Bai Tang picked up the phone and immediately dialed her mother's mobile number.
"Mom—" Bai Tang tried her best to keep her voice steady. It had been two years since she last heard her parents' voices, and she missed them terribly. As soon as she heard her mother's voice, tears began to flow uncontrollably.
"Tang Tang, have you finished your work handover? When are you coming home?" Bai Tang had told White Mother and Bai Dad early on that she would return to her hometown, but she hadn't specified a date. White Mother and Bai Dad had already prepared her room, eagerly awaiting their daughter's return.
"Mom, I've completed the handover. I'll book my flight shortly, and I should be home by late afternoon at the latest," Bai Tang hurriedly replied. She wanted to go home as soon as possible, but the matters here couldn't be resolved in just a day or two; she could only delay for a bit longer. There was nothing she could do; everything had been planned so well, who knew she would suddenly cross over? It was an unavoidable factor beyond her control!
"Call me and your dad when you arrive; we'll come pick you up!" White Mother instructed her daughter.
"Okay!" Bai Tang readily agreed. She knew that even if she refused, her parents would still come to pick her up. Since they wouldn't know her exact arrival time, they would likely arrive early at the station anyway. It was better to inform them of her arrival time so they wouldn't have to wait in the scorching sun. It was June now, and the sun was particularly harsh.
"Tang Tang, have you resolved your personal issues? Will you bring someone back with you this time?" White Mother asked hopefully.
Here we go again! Bai Tang silently lamented; she wasn't even thinking about finding a boyfriend right now! Bai Tang had been in two relationships: one during college where her partner was dating another girl at the same time, which Bai Tang discovered and promptly ended; the second was with a foreigner, but unfortunately, long-distance relationships rarely end well, especially international ones. That relationship ended without any resolution after he returned to his country.
"Mom, these things depend on fate!"
"Don't try to fool me with that! How old are you now? Almost thirty? Shouldn't you hurry up and find someone to marry? Are you really going to become a battle-hardened monk?" White Mother was quite trendy and more familiar with internet slang than Bai Tang herself; such phrases often slipped out of her mouth.
"Mom, I'm only twenty-six! I still have four years until thirty!" Bai Tang protested; even her own mother couldn't just add years to her age. She was still a vibrant young woman in her twenties, not part of the leftover women club approaching thirty.
"Your Aunt Yang's daughter is only a year younger than you, and her son can already run errands," Mother Bai said discontentedly. She wanted to have a grandchild!
"Mom, the last time you called, you had just attended Aunt Yang's grandson's one-month celebration. It's only been two months; that child can't even sit up properly yet, how can he run errands?"
Mother Bai was at a loss for words and huffed, "You girl never lets me rest easy. Hurry back home; I'll have my friends help out, and you just get ready for blind dates! The sooner you find a good son-in-law, the sooner we can stop the matchmaking!"
"Mom, you can't be so cruel!" Bai Tang wailed.
Mother Bai didn't care about her daughter's lamentations and hung up the phone with a snap. Listening to the busy tone coming from her phone, Bai Tang felt like crying; was it really impossible not to go home?
It definitely wasn't going to work out. If she didn't return home, Mother Bai would surely chase her down with a kitchen knife to wherever Bai Tang was living now.
With a sigh, she ended the call and decided to go downstairs to buy some delicious food to comfort her wounded spirit.
Bai Tang lived in an urban village where all the buildings were high-rises constructed by locals for renting to migrant workers. The nearby residents were very diverse, coming from all over the country, and there were many eateries offering various flavors: Lanzhou beef noodles, Northeast sauerkraut dumplings with pork ribs, Sichuan spicy hot pot, Guilin rice noodles, Guangdong meat porridge with glutinous rice chicken... Bai Tang bought a portion of braised pig tongue, a serving of pork ribs, and packed some cold noodles, carrying two bottles of ice-cold cola home to enjoy. On the third floor, she ran into her landlady.
"Bai Tang, having dinner?"
"Yes!" Bai Tang smiled in response.
"You've been quite the homebody; you haven't gone out in almost a month. Eating instant noodles isn't good for your health; ordering takeout is just a phone call away. Take care of yourself!" The landlady had a good relationship with Bai Tang and occasionally offered her some advice.
"Thank you for your concern, Sister Le!" Bai Tang expressed her gratitude, feeling relieved that she had once told her landlady about wanting to live a reclusive life so that during her month-long absence, the landlady hadn't reported her missing. "Sister Le, I'm leaving soon. You can handle the appliances and furniture in the house; do you want to keep them or dispose of them as junk?"
"Of course I'm staying!" the Landlord laughed, "With these furniture and appliances, I can charge an extra hundred yuan for renting out the place!"
"Heh, does that mean you won't collect my rent for this month?"
"That won't do!"
"…"
After chatting with the Landlord for a while, Bai Tang returned home, her stomach already growling. She picked up a piece of pig tongue and put it in her mouth, but then spat it out. Why did this pig tongue taste so foul? She took another bite of cold noodles and continued to spit it out. It was so awful; there was too much alkali, and it had a bit of a bitter taste. She picked up a bone with meat on it, took a bite, and put it down. This food was simply inedible! How could she have ever thought these things were delicious? It seemed that two years of living in another world had spoiled her taste buds!
Bai Tang threw the food she bought into the trash can and took out the food she had brought back from the Red Mansion World from her game backpack. The pigs, cows, and sheep fed with pure grains had no lean meat additives or gutter oil; they were delicious and safe to eat. However, her stock in the backpack was running low. What would she do when it was gone? Would she have to eat those unpalatable things whose safety was uncertain?
While gnawing on a chicken leg, Bai Tang opened the system panel to study the Time-Space Gate above. The label for the first Time-Space Gate had changed to "Leads to Red Mansion World." At this moment, the Time-Space Gate was no longer glowing, and its status showed that it was charging, with a progress of 0.1 percent. Wow! That speed was way too slow!
She closed the system panel, finished her chicken leg, and began packing her luggage! After living in this place for five years, there were too many little personal items that she couldn't bear to throw away. Bai Tang picked through this and that but ultimately decided not to discard anything.
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