Spring Breeze’s Model Citizen

On the system’s backend screen, a string of exclamation marks scrolled past——

「That’s insane! Last time a player got a hidden S-rank item was… last time.」 「Which player got the item? What’s their stream number? I looked around and didn’t find any stream with an S-rank item activation prompt…」 「Could it be that a non-player character got the item!」 「Wang Xiaosi? That would make it even more interesting.」 「Asking again: will someone PLEASE share where to get Wang Xiaosi’s pink flip-flops!」 ……

Back in the alley, after burning the paper offerings, Su Lai got back on his little e-bike and headed towards Wang Chunying’s house. He’d been messing around all morning and was dead tired. In summer, humans need their naps.

Bai Ke on the back seat was a bit worried. Although the Granny Xu side quest had been very rewarding, he hadn’t had a chance to farm resident affection since last night. What if tonight’s peeper task answer was wrong again, and he ended up being the player with the lowest affection…

Bai Ke didn’t want to be “sacrificed” so soon.

“Lai-ge, the system just announced an S-rank item was activated. Who do you think got the hidden item?” Bai Ke didn’t know what this so-called S-rank item was, nor was he sure if it was Lai-ge who got it, so he asked deliberately.

This was how Su Lai found out there even was such a thing as an S-rank item. Although he was a ghost account who wasn’t even a new player, just the name told him this thing was priceless.

“More than that, I’m curious what the S-rank item is and what it does.” Su Lai pretended he had also received the system prompt.

Bai Ke: “The system only said it can change the course of the main quest. I was thinking, could this item let us leave here early?”

Their main quest was to survive in Spring Breeze Community for seven days and nights. Changing the course of the main quest could mean shortening the time limit, right?

That way, the number of players needing punishment for the peeper task would also decrease…

Bai Ke was still thinking when Su Lai had already parked the bike at their doorstep.

Hearing the sound, Wang Chunying immediately came out. “Little Four, the village committee staff called the house. They want you to go to the office in person.”

Su Lai and Bai Ke exchanged bewildered glances.

“Did the staff member say what it’s about?” Su Lai asked.

Wang Chunying shook her head. “That’s just how clerks are. Can’t explain things clearly. If they can make you run an errand, they won’t finish explaining on the phone.”

Although Wang Chunying’s eyes were murky, her mind was clear. Bai Ke gave this auntie a thumbs-up.

“Little Four, want me to come with you?” Wang Chunying said. “I’m worried those people might bully you.”

Bai Ke could see it now. After last night, Wang Chunying’s affection for this son had increased quite a bit.

Unexpectedly, Su Lai nodded. “Okay. You come with me.” He was curious if bringing Wang Chunying to the village committee as her son would produce something new.

Bai Ke looked at Su Lai, puzzled. “Cousin, then I…”

“You stay home.” Su Lai took the delivery box back from Bai Ke’s arms. “Increase your affection with Uncle Wang.”

Uncle Wang, who had come out to see the commotion, grinned his usual stiff smile. “Xiao’er, there’s freshly cut watermelon in the fridge.”

Bai Ke: “… Cousin, you really know how to look out for me.”

Decision made, Su Lai set off with Wang Chunying on the bike. Wang Chunying was still holding her two cleavers. She tied the delivery box with a cloth wrapper and secured it around her neck, where there were already obvious marks from rope.

About five minutes later, the “mother and son” arrived at the village committee office. This time, the staff member didn’t flinch at the sound of the bike. She actually came out to greet them proactively. But when she saw Wang Chunying behind Su Lai, she paused.

“Auntie Wang, what are you doing?” The staff member’s gaze shifted between the two cleavers in Wang Chunying’s hands.

Wang Chunying stated matter-of-factly. “Escorting my Little Four here.”

Staff member: “Your Little Four has hands and legs. He can come by himself.”

Wang Chunying: “But he’s kind. He doesn’t have a knife.”

The staff member, who had been “kindly” treated by Wang Xiaosi countless times, choked.

“Why bring the knives?” the staff member asked again.

“Oh.” Wang Chunying looked at the knives in her hands. A flicker of confusion passed through her murky eyes. “Just used to holding them. If I don’t, it feels empty, like something’s missing.”

After death, people repeat the behaviors of life. It’s like using habits to replace the continuation of life, a form of resistance against death.

“What did you call my Little Four here for?” Wang Chunying countered.

“Good news.” A smile cracked the staff member’s stiff, pale face. “Your Wang Xiaosi is a good kid. He did a good deed, helped someone. The neighbors sent him a banner.”

Su Lai: …? He hadn’t expected even this bizarre world to have the tradition of giving banners. Seemed like neither humans nor contaminants were beyond saving.

The staff member took out a banner with the words 「Good Neighbor of Spring Breeze」 written on it and handed it to Su Lai. “Xiao Si helped other residents in the community reunite their families, deepening harmony among the neighbors. Granny Xu specifically entrusted me to personally give this to Wang Xiaosi.”

Wang Chunying was clearly stunned too. She froze for a few seconds, then put down her cleavers, reached out, and prepared to take the banner.

Su Lai immediately took the banner from the staff member’s hand. “Mom, you’re still better suited holding the cleavers. I’ll take the banner.”

Wang Chunying asked the staff member. “Who sent this?”

The staff member pursed her lips and said in a mysterious tone. “That old scamming lady from Tofu Lane. Granny Xu.”

Wang Chunying turned to Su Lai. “Little Four, she scammed you, and you scammed her sons over here?”

Su Lai: “Something like that.”

Wang Chunying: “Did those two gamblers bully you?”

Su Lai shook his head. “They played a game of chase with my cousin, then put on a tear-jerking mother-son reunion right in front of us. They helped us have a pleasant morning.”

Su Lai emphasized the word “pleasant.”

Wang Chunying slowly nodded and finally stopped pressing.

The staff member reminded Su Lai. “This banner is very precious. I’ve worked here for many years, and no one has ever gotten a banner from the neighbors. Wang Xiaosi, you’re the first.”

The staff member’s description made Su Lai wary. He thought of the system notification Bai Ke had relayed. —An S-rank item had been activated in the instance. Such a thing was extremely rare.

“Seems neighborly relations in Spring Breeze Community are pretty bad.” Su Lai asked directly. “What’s the banner for?”

Staff member: “It’s very useful. The banner is a symbol of community honor. It can give you greater influence and appeal on Spring Breeze Street. Of course, it’s also a token of the neighbors’ appreciation. They trust you, so you must take good care of it.”

Influence and appeal. That did sound pretty good, especially in a densely populated instance like this.

“But influence and appeal can’t be abused, otherwise it’ll lose effect.” The staff member added quietly.

Su Lai mulled over this. So the banner had limited uses.

“Your Wang Xiaosi is impressive.” The staff member pulled out a dusty camera. “Auntie Wang and Wang Xiaosi, stand over there. Yes, closer together. Hold the banner and take a commemorative photo. We’ll hang this photo on the office wall for future publicity.”

Click. The photo was taken. Although Su Lai and Wang Chunying had obvious facial differences and looked nothing alike, they both wore the same expressionless face for the camera. In terms of demeanor, they did somewhat resemble mother and son.

Only the staff member outside the frame smiled, both stiff and radiant.

Photo mission complete. The staff member couldn’t even be bothered to pour tea. After praising Wang Xiaosi a few more times, she hurriedly ushered them out.

Wang Chunying didn’t say much, but she was clearly happy. She stuck the banner on the little e-bike’s handlebars, and holding her two cleavers, she got on the back seat. Because Su Lai said she was better suited holding the knives, she was even more reluctant to put them down.

At a street corner, Wang Chunying wanted to get off to buy groceries and urged Su Lai to go home and rest. Su Lai didn’t argue. He obediently headed home.

But as soon as he parked the bike at the self-built house’s entrance, he sensed something was wrong.

The house was noisy and bustling, full of unfamiliar voices.

Su Lai was momentarily stunned. As he got off the bike, several more blurry-faced strangers swaggered into Wang Chunying’s house. They looked as eager as if they were rushing to be reincarnated.

“Who are you looking for?” Su Lai took off his helmet and asked.

“Going to Wang Xiaoer’s room. He invited us.” The strangers replied in unison.

Su Lai frowned. What the hell was Bai Ke doing?

As soon as he entered, he saw Uncle Wang staring at the snowy TV. Uncle Wang ignored the strangers coming and going. He only performed his role’s duties: cutting watermelon, fixing the bike, eating, and watching TV. Without Wang Chunying’s instruction, he paid attention to nothing else.

By now, Bei Yao had left the rental to look for clues. Bai Ke stood alone outside his room, helplessly facing the strangers flooding into it. He looked bewildered at the comings and goings. His expression was no longer so lively; it was even approaching the stiffness of the original residents.

“Cousin, what’s going on?” Su Lai quickly asked.

Hearing Su Lai’s voice, Bai Ke’s head buzzed. He snapped awake as if from a dream. “Lai-ge, I…!”

This “Lai-ge” made both Uncle Wang downstairs and the strange “guests” turn their heads. For an instant, the air froze.

Luckily, Wang Chunying wasn’t home at the moment.

Su Lai reacted quickly. “Cousin, you lost our bet and you’re actually calling me ‘ge’ now?”

Hearing this, Uncle Wang and the strange guests slowly averted their eyes and went back to whatever they were doing.

Bai Ke suddenly realized he had slipped up and almost broke character. He immediately corrected himself. “Cousin, you’re finally back.”

“What’s going on?” Su Lai lowered his voice.

Bai Ke’s gaze wandered. He still seemed a bit distracted. He shook his head blankly. “At the time, Uncle Wang and I were deepening affection in the living room, eating watermelon chummily. Then these aunties and uncles appeared out of nowhere. They didn’t even knock. They just walked in and headed straight for my room, moving super fast. Didn’t say a word. Laughing and chatting like they were going to a market fair.”

“I froze. Didn’t react at all. Next thing I knew, they were treating my room like their own house—opening my wardrobe, using my fan, squatting on my toilet, sleeping in my bed, even using my toothbrush to rinse their mouths…”

Su Lai peeked into the room. Just as Bai Ke said, these blurry-faced original residents had no sense of boundaries. They were treating Bai Ke’s room like their own bedroom. Now they were even using Su Lai’s drinking cup to get water.

Su Lai asked. “When you were eating watermelon with Uncle Wang, did you break any rules?”

Bai Ke shook his head blankly. “Same as always. Uncle Wang cut the melon, I ate. My resident affection was steadily increasing. I swear I didn’t break any rules.” “These original residents suddenly showed up. I was afraid of breaking the village committee’s rules, so I didn’t dare stop them…”

Village Committee Guideline 2 clearly stated: Neighbors should live in harmony. Please do not refuse a neighbor’s (any) request to their face.

If he stopped these boundary-less neighbors, it would be equivalent to refusing their request to “take over your home,” which would be breaking the rules. No serious player wanted to face the consequences of breaking the rules.

Bai Ke might be a 996 corporate drone, but he never slacked on his appearance. He always carried toner and lotion.

Now, these boundary-less uncles and aunties were smearing his toner on their faces and slathering his lotion on their skin. A perfectly good bottle of lotion was almost gone.

The most bizarre part was that this “self-service sharing” happened in complete silence. The uncles and aunties didn’t exchange a single word. In silence, they tacitly occupied Bai Ke’s room and personal belongings.

As if this act of taking over was the most natural thing in the world.

Amidst this silent invasion, Bai Ke’s mental stability began to drop. His state became a bit strange.

Deep down, he clearly wanted to stop it, wanted to resist. But both his body and mind felt like they’d been anesthetized, docile and numb.

Su Lai stared at Bai Ke for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the neighbors performing this silent takeover. “Cousin, if you don’t refuse, they’ll just keep taking more advantage.”

“I don’t know what to do… I’m afraid to break the rules…” Bai Ke’s voice trembled slightly. His eyes suddenly widened, pupils shrinking to pinpoints in an instant.

Su Lai narrowed his eyes. “Cousin, you’ve been affected.” His tone was still that same casual lightness, as if nothing serious had happened.

Bai Ke was stunned. “What do you mean?”

Before Su Lai could answer, the neighbors performing the silent takeover seemed to think time was up. They started walking out with Bai Ke’s personal belongings.

Like ants moving house. They not only used Bai Ke’s things in Bai Ke’s room, they were also taking the unused stuff out without asking the owner’s permission. Truly treating someone else’s home as their own. Using and taking.