Genshin Impact: Please don’t bully me, fellow stragglers

The reunion with Mu Baijing was an unexpected and impressive memory for Nan Ke.

She had just returned to City A at that time.

Like a highly domesticated house dog, it has lost the supervision of its master and is alone under a strange and overcast sky, not knowing where to go.

Do you want to go see Mr. A-Liu and Mr. Ayato?

But she unilaterally cut off contact with them for a year. Are they still in City A? Will they want to see her?

Or go to University A?

I heard that her dormitory has been arranged long ago.

Nan Ke was undecided and stood under the traffic light on the street dragging his suitcase, hesitating for a whole hour.

The autumn wind mixed with raindrops fell down, but Nan Ke did not feel it. When she came to her senses, a shadow suddenly enveloped her.

"Hello?" The young man holding the umbrella tilted his head slightly, frowning as he looked at her. "Are you... a freshman?"

The strange scent of the opposite sex hit him in the face, and Nan Ke clenched the lever in his hand, but his previous conditioned reflex had long been erased and the dodging action no longer existed.

"...I guess so." Nan Ke looked at the enthusiastic man calmly, "Hello, senior?"

The other person clearly had the badge of University A on his chest, but when he heard her words, he suddenly couldn't help laughing, as if she had just told a big joke.

"I'm Mu Baijing," he explained to her with a smile and a cheerful tone, "Nan Ke, don't say you didn't recognize me."

Only then did Nan Ke look at his face.

Compared to his appearance, the name "Mu Baijing" was more familiar to her.

When she was a child, she lived in an old neighborhood in her hometown. An aunt named Mu next door often invited her to play. She also happened to have a son named "White Whale".

"Long time no see." Nan Ke lowered his eyes and looked at the traffic light across the street, "Shall we go?"

"Let's go," Mu Baijing pulled the suitcase from her hand, "I'm from the recruitment team, I'll take you to the dormitory."

Nan Ke followed him passively and walked towards the school.

……

Thinking back now, Nan Ke couldn't help but reflect on whether she should not have followed Mu Baijing in the first place?

If he hadn't taken her away.

Now, she would not be taken to the school's External Relations Department by him, and would not sit in a taxi, feeling the cold wind while gazing out the window at the dark night road, while listening to Mu Baijing in the passenger seat repeatedly jumping back and forth between "Master, drive more steadily" and "Ugh".

"The young man is so young, his physical fitness is not good!" The driver has seen too many big scenes, and he said calmly, "Will you be able to take your girlfriend on a roller coaster in the future?"

Mu Baijing was wearing a mask of pain and couldn't speak.

"Master, please stop for a moment," Nan Ke looked towards the next turn ahead, "I'm going to the pharmacy."

"Okay." The driver looked at Mu Baijing with pity.

This street is very close to the south gate of A University. Nan Ke knew the way and hurriedly went to buy motion sickness medicine and mineral water. He handed them to Mu Baijing through the car window: "I'll buy some things and get off here. Be careful on your way back."

"Sorry." Mu Baijing felt extremely uncomfortable. He took the medicine and water with a grateful expression.

Nan Ke waved at him, stood up, and watched the taxi restart and disappear into the night with Mu Baijing.

"Huh." Nan Ke lowered his other hand which was hidden behind his back inconspicuously, revealing a brown paper bag with the pharmacy logo printed on it.

I hope Mu Baijing doesn't misunderstand.

She did have something to buy.

However, it’s not convenient for him to see it.

Tomorrow is the beginning of winter.

There was a beginning of chill in the air, which condensed Nan Ke's breath into a thin mist that then dispersed in the wind.

Nan Ke was walking back to the South Gate while checking the weather on his phone when he suddenly saw a convenience store. After hesitating for a few seconds, he turned in and bought a bunch of canned food and a dark blue nylon umbrella.

The weather forecast says it will snow at midnight today.

Winter is coming with full force. There is a stray cat den nearby and Nan Ke is worried about the conditions of the cats there.

In fact, Nan Ke was not the only one feeding the cats there.

On several occasions, Nan Ke found that familiar cats had their ears clipped, a sign of sterilization, and empty cat tags were thrown in the corner, which was also a brand she would not buy.

However, Nan Ke has never met the other party.

The alleys far away from the downtown are long and narrow. The old road surface is illuminated by the street lights in the distance, making it gloomy and cold. Just looking at it makes people stay away, so it has become a place where stray cats live.

Nan Ke walked through the alley, picked up the scattered cat bowls and put them neatly back in place. As the sound of opening cans was heard, cats' meows could be heard from all directions.

First, there were a few cats that were familiar with Nan Ke.

Next came the cat, which had noticed someone coming and had been keeping an eye on the situation.

Then there are some who are more vigilant.

The cat's tail, with its tail raised high, quickly approached and gathered in front of Nan Ke's knees.

Only such innocent little creatures would respond with the utmost enthusiasm to the little help from humans.

There were piles of cat ears right before his eyes. Nan Ke rubbed them with satisfaction and picked up the plastic umbrella beside him.

"Everyone, it's winter already," she opened the umbrella and placed it on her shoulders, covering the cat bowl and the stray cats eating in front of her. "The youngest among you is only a few months old. You must take care of each other and spend this winter safely."

Nan Ke looked serious and gave instructions earnestly.

"I'll be away for the next few days. If the food runs out and the other person doesn't come over, you can go to A-School. There's a feeder there."

"But the cats at A are quite fierce, so you'd better not fight with them."

"…Especially you."

While muttering to himself, Nan Ke reached out and touched a black head in front of him that was busy eating.

This is a dark, half-grown cow cat with long fur that has white hair floating on it, like a layer of snow. When it grows up, it will probably be a beautiful long-haired black and white cat.

When Nan Ke touched it, the cow cat growled softly, but because of the food in its mouth, it stretched out its claws two beats slower than usual and was easily avoided by Nan Ke.

Nan Ke tried to find several owners for it, but all failed because of its bad habit of guarding its food.

"When can I get rid of this bad habit?" Nan Ke said helplessly.

When it grows up a little bit, it will be even harder to find someone to adopt it.

"..."

In the alley where only Nan Ke's voice was heard, there was a sudden movement.

The first to notice was the cat.

Those that reacted quickly stopped chewing immediately, stared in a certain direction with eyes wide open without blinking. By the time Nan Ke's ears caught the sound, they had already jumped and fled deep into the alleys.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer, and seemed to be leading directly to where Nan Ke was.

The cats dispersed, and Nan Ke stopped talking and looked towards the alley entrance. It was a very slender figure, male or female. As the figure approached, she silently withdrew her gaze and fell on the only cow cat in front of her who was still eating.

You are really hungry.

Nan Ke stared at it and thought.

The person's steps were light and quick, and they slowed down when passing behind Nan Ke. Then, a half-long humming sound with a young boy's voice was heard.

The cows still eat.

Nan Ke dug his toes into the ground and wished he could shrink into the umbrella.

Maybe, possibly, probably - she guessed that he heard her nagging at a group of cats.

Fortunately, no matter whether the boy would laugh at her or despise her next, he was interrupted by a sudden harassing phone call.

He was standing behind Nan Ke. It took only two seconds from the time his phone started vibrating to the time he decisively hung up.

Although the call was hung up, the harasser followed to the entrance of the alley.

A girl stopped at the entrance of the alley angrily, waving her right arm: "Stop right there! Do you think you can avoid the notice by leaving this thing behind? I will chase you to the ends of the earth!!!"

The girl yelled at the top of her lungs, then put her hands on her hips and gasped for breath.

The alley was dimly lit, and Nan Ke didn't know whether she saw him or not.

In short, the two of them pretended she didn't exist and stared at each other for five seconds - the young man let out a heavy "tsk" and chose to return the same way he came.

The girl at the alley entrance smiled triumphantly.

When the boy's footsteps left the alley, Nan Ke moved his umbrella away and looked towards them, just in time to see a girl being hit on the forehead by a knife.

From the speed at which the boy waved his hands and the girl's action of squatting with her head in her hands, it can be seen that the boy showed no mercy and expressed his dissatisfaction to the fullest.

The boy left after beating her. The girl recovered from the severe pain and followed him with anger and resentment: "It hurts so much! Just wait, one day I will let you experience the majesty of a manager..."

Nan Ke placed the open umbrella next to the cat bowl, stood up, and heard the girl continue:

"The country collapses——!"

Nan Ke’s brain was a little lacking in oxygen because he had been squatting for too long.

"The country...collapses...?"

Nan Ke repeated the story in a daze.

These two syllables were like fishing line, thin and transparent, crackling out a long string of countless memories from her silent mind.

The tail end of the shout left Nan Ke almost instantly.

Without the time to think deeply, Nan Ke walked towards the direction where the two people left: "Wait a minute...!"

A faint light suddenly appeared in the alley.

The cow, whose belly was round with food, was frightened. Its hair stood on end and it jumped into the wall, screaming.

Nan Ke stopped and looked back, and saw the cow cat running away in panic, leaving only the cell phone lying quietly on the ground with its light on.

It was Nan Ke’s cell phone that was placed on the ground together with the brown paper bag.

The tail end of the shout completely disappeared in just a breath.

wrong.

Nan Ke frowned, closed his eyes, and raised his hands to grab his hair.

Whether it's a cat or a human, it's wrong.

Did she get it wrong?

Did I hear it wrong?

In any case, Nan Ke hesitated for a few seconds and missed the opportunity to catch up with them and ask them.

Nan Ke returned to where he was, picked up his phone, and saw two messages scrolling on the lock screen.

Mu Baijing: I'm in the dormitory, thank you for the medicine. Have you gone home?

Mu Baijing: Tomorrow is the beginning of winter, which is your birthday. Do you want to eat the longevity noodles cooked by my mother?

Nan Ke leaned against the wall with his head down, looked at the medicine bag on the ground, bit his lips tightly, and replied word by word:

—Sorry, I have plans tomorrow.