Chapter 320: Underground Air-Raid Shelter Discovered

Chapter 320: Chapter 176: Underground Air-Raid Shelter Discovered

「January 10th.」

Five days had passed since Xu Huo proposed the “domestic” concept.

At eight in the morning, Xu Huo was sitting at his computer desk when a series of voices sounded in his ear.

[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for scripting the ‘Ghost Messenger Case’ plot. Calculating reward.]

[Calculating reward…]

[Plot immersion for this script was 75%. Reward granted: ‘Worry Body’.]

[Worry Body: You can now more easily perceive a target’s emotions. Alternatively, you can attempt to use deductive reasoning to reconstruct a crime scene in your mind.]

[Note: When using this Skill, you may need to first distinguish between the world in your mind and reality.]

“Worry Body?”

Xu Huo muttered to himself.

“Deductive reasoning, building a mind palace in my head?”

“And then using it to deduce things… that’s a pretty good Skill, actually.”

A “mind palace” was a term used in most works of suspense and science fiction.

You could think of it as building a reality-based structure in your mind, then placing a few people inside it, giving them personalities and conflicts to run a sandbox simulation.

A very useful Skill.

Of course, that was provided you didn’t run into a dead end. Otherwise, you could genuinely get lost in there and never find your way out.

And if you couldn’t get out, you’d go insane.

However, Xu Huo had been dreaming his whole life; telling the difference between dream and reality wasn’t a problem for him.

‘It’s a decent Skill,’ he thought. ‘I’ll save it for later.’

With that thought, he smacked his lips a little, got out of bed, and started getting dressed.

Today was January 10th.

Five days had passed since the case ended.

These five days had been quite pleasant, without too many troubles to bother him.

Xu Huo went about his morning routine. Just as he stepped out of the bathroom, he bumped right into a dazed-looking girl.

It was Chu Xi.

Her eyes were bleary and her hair was a mess. Her pajama buttons weren’t done up properly, revealing large patches of fair, smooth skin.

She stood in front of the bathroom as if she were sleepwalking.

“Fix your clothes,” Xu Huo said, clearly displeased.

“Oh.”

Chu Xi roused herself a little, straightened her clothes, and then went to wash up.

Seeing this, Xu Huo just smacked his lips, said nothing, and sat back down on the sofa.

Chu Xi had been living at his place for a long time now and was used to it.

Actually, she was even more familiar with it than Xu Huo was.

She truly treated this place as her own home, taking care of everything, big and small.

She even had plenty of time to go to the bakery, either to teach dessert-making or just to work.

All in all, her life was simple and didn’t involve much overthinking. It was truly enviable.

“Time to eat.”

A moment later, Chu Xi emerged, having finished washing up. She was no longer so disheveled; her hair was straightened, and she looked a bit more alert.

She walked out of the kitchen carrying three dishes.

“We can’t finish all this food so early in the morning.” Xu Huo was a bit stunned, looking at the three dishes and a soup.

“Eat more so you can grow.”

Chu Xi replied, which made Xu Huo fall into deep thought.

‘Who’s eating? Who’s growing?’

‘Niuniu?’

‘Niuniu was at kindergarten for now. She wouldn’t be on break until before the new year, she ate breakfast at school, and besides, she couldn’t eat this much…’

‘Then who?’

‘It can’t be me, can it?’

‘It must be for Chao Zi!’

‘When in doubt, blame Chao Zi. It’s never wrong.’

Just as Xu Huo was lost in thought, a voice suddenly spoke up.

“Do… do you know what marriage is?”

As if in a daze, Chu Xi looked at Xu Huo, tilted her head, her eyes filled with innocence.

“Marriage?”

Xu Huo was taken aback. He thought for a moment before saying:

“Marriage is when a man and a woman live together until they die. If they get divorced, they separate, and then find someone else to live with.”

“During that time, they might have one child, or multiple children.”

“Why are you asking about this?” Xu Huo asked, confused.

Chu Xi nodded thoughtfully.

Then, she asked another question:

“So, are we considered married right now?”

“PFFT!”

Xu Huo, who had been drinking congee, couldn’t help but spit it out, followed by a fit of coughing.

“COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!”

“…No, we’re not married,” Xu Huo reminded her.

“Marriage is a legal matter. We have to go get a license. Only after we get a license can we be married.”

He tried to explain the concept clearly to her.

However, Chu Xi said, “Then let’s go get a license!”

Xu Huo: ?

“Huh? Xiao Xi, you have to understand, marriage is a very serious thing. You can’t treat it so casually. You have to be solemn, and you have to think about it.”

Xu Huo suppressed his racing heart and calmly explained again.

“Do I have to think about it?”

Chu Xi tilted her head, a pained expression on her face.

Thinking was just too torturous for her. Staring into space was much better.

“Yes, you have to think about it.”

Xu Huo nodded. “And both people have to be willing.”

“For example, if we got married, if you…”

“But I am willing.”

Chu Xi tilted her head again, blinked, and asked in confusion:

“Ah Huo, don’t you want to marry me?”

For a fleeting moment, Xu Huo’s heart began to race. The girl in front of him seemed more and more beautiful.

In the end, however, his morals won out over his desires.

‘Tricking someone with autism, taking advantage of them… I really can’t bring myself to do it.’

“Ahem, it’s not a matter of being willing or not,” Xu Huo said hurriedly. “The main thing is, you still don’t understand the true nature of marriage.”

“But you told me marriage is just two people living together, and then having a child.”

Chu Xi said, her brain feeling a bit short-circuited.

“Aren’t we already living together?”

“And Niuniu is a child, isn’t she?”

Xu Huo was speechless.

His inner angel and inner demon were locked in a fierce battle.

The inner demon said: ‘She’s vulnerable, so get that license! Just trick her into going to the courthouse!’