Chapter 122: The Beginning of Memories

"Bloop, bloop—"

The sound of bubbling echoed in his ears. In a daze, Yan Jing felt as if he had plunged into a vast ocean.

Opening his eyes, he found countless spheres of light surrounding him, stretching endlessly into the distance.

Each sphere carried a scene.

Some were still like photographs, while others played like videos.

These were the memories the Cameraman had erased himself.

Just how vast was this collection? Yan Jing felt that if his own memories were a mere handful of sand, the memories before him formed an entire beach.

Yan Jing walked forward until he found the starting point of the recorded memories.

...

"From now on, Ah Ji, you will live with these children."

The speaker was a figure holding the Cameraman's hand.

The Cameraman seemed very young at the time.

From his perspective, the person leading him was much taller than he was.

He couldn't see the figure's upper body. All he could see was the hand holding his—a hand so remarkably pale that the blue veins on the back stood out clearly, like emerald streaks through white jade.

The speaker's voice was very gentle:

"For the time being, I can't stay with you, Ah Ji. Here, these children will keep you company. You need to find the person you are most compatible with as quickly as possible—the one you are willing to spend the rest of your life with."

With that, the figure released the Cameraman's hand and turned to leave.

"Brother."

The Cameraman seemed timid back then. He called out in a childish voice and ran after the figure's retreating back with all his might.

But the Weird Energy in that person's hand manifested as a thin thread that bound the Cameraman in place. With his back still turned, the figure spoke slowly, his voice trembling slightly:

"Ah Ji... I don't want this either... but we have to find a way home..."

"Ah Ji... I'm so sorry..."

With that, he walked out the door.

The heavy door slammed shut behind him.

Inside the room, which was as bright as day, stood a group of girls slightly older than the Cameraman.

Seeing the Cameraman, the girls swarmed around him as if they had just spotted a rare species.

"Who are you?"

"Why are you covering yourself with a robe?"

"Are you like us too?"

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

"Can we see your face?"

Chattering voices surrounded the Cameraman. Seeming a bit intimidated, he pushed past the crowd and retreated to a corner.

Through the shaking of the view, Yan Jing could feel his deep unease at the time.

He sat in the corner, staring at the closed door for a long time, lost in thought.

The girls around him, as if fascinated by a new novelty, refused to leave him alone.

Before long, they crowded around him again.

In doing so, they blocked that heavy door.

"Go away."

The Cameraman mustered his courage to speak, but it only earned him a chorus of laughter from the crowd.

"What a cute voice. He sounds like a boy."

"Really? Does that mean we have to do... that with him?"

"Hahaha, he's still a little kid..."

Faced with this situation, the Cameraman was completely at a loss. He reached out and shoved hard, trying to push the others away, but it only provoked an escalated response. They reached out and started groping him haphazardly.

Some touched his chest, some touched his thighs, and some even touched more private areas.

Finally, tears welled up in the Cameraman's eyes.

Yan Jing couldn't see him crying, but the scene within the memory blurred.

Just then, a crisp voice rang out.

"All of you, move aside! Can't you see his brother just left him here? He's very sad right now!"

In the blurry scene, the figure of a girl with twin ponytails appeared. Pushing the others aside, she marched right up to the Cameraman and planted her hands on her hips:

"No crying! A real man doesn't cry!"

The girl reached out and wiped the tears from the Cameraman's eyes.

The scene then sharpened back into focus.

She was a very ordinary-looking girl. Compared to the outstandingly beautiful girls around her, she looked like a plain stone placed amidst a pile of gleaming pearls.

Yet precisely because of that, anyone looking would notice that stone at first glance.

That extraordinary stone.

She had squeezed past all the pearls and actively jumped in front of the boy, speaking words he had never heard before:

A real man doesn't cry!

The Cameraman froze. Whether he was startled or affected by the girl's words, he stopped crying.

Soon, the girl reached out and grabbed the Cameraman's hand. Pulling him as she squeezed through the crowd, she marched right up to the closed heavy door, pointed at it, and declared:

"Your brother is gone!"

"We don't know yet whether he just had business to attend to or if he abandoned you... but no crying!"

"Regardless, you have to live with us now. As the only boy here, you need to be strong!"

The girl wasn't much older than the Cameraman was at the time, but she clearly understood much more.

With that, she crossed her arms:

"If they bully you, you can come tell me, but remember, no crying!"

"If someone insults you, insult them back! If someone hits you, hit them back! If someone bullies you, figure out a way to bully them right back! Crying is completely useless, do you hear me?!"

The boy gave a dazed nod.

In the days that followed, everything proceeded normally.

Every day, meals were delivered at fixed times, and people would come to "teach" them.

They would talk about things from the outside world.

Of course, the primary focus was on matters between men and women.

As the days went by, the Cameraman's daily routine consisted of staying with that 'stone'.

He seemed to become her little shadow, entrusting his unease to this girl.

Naturally, their relationship grew increasingly close.

During this time, just as he had said, the Cameraman's brother never returned.

Seven or eight years passed.

The White House.

That was what everyone called this place.

The girls in the White House and the Cameraman began to grow accustomed to this life, and the Cameraman and that 'stone' gradually grew up.

From a young boy and girl, they blossomed into naive adolescents.

The 'stone' gave herself a name: A Si.

Compared to seven or eight years ago, she had become much prettier. Although she still paled in comparison to the girls around her, this 'stone' had at least developed a bit of her own unique charm.

At least, that was likely how the Cameraman felt.

After so many years, the surrounding girls had also realized that the Cameraman was the center of this place.

It seemed they had all been brought here solely for the Cameraman.

Therefore, the girls began to deploy their various tactics.

The passionate ones actively flaunted their best features in front of him; the bold ones intercepted him outside the washroom to ask if he was free on the weekend; even the quiet, demure ones made sure to tuck a stray lock of hair behind their ears whenever he walked past.

"Ah Ji, what are you looking at?"

A Si walked over to the Cameraman sitting in the corner. Mimicking his posture, she tilted her head up to look at the ceiling and smiled.

"Are you wondering again if your brother is secretly watching you from somewhere?"

"Yeah."

The Cameraman nodded.

Compared to when he was a boy, he had grown much taller. He was braver and appeared much more composed, but he spoke even less than before.

"Don't overthink it, Ah Ji. Didn't the 'teachers' say that we get to leave this place the day you turn twenty-two?"

The girl smiled, twirling a strand of hair around her finger:

"When that time comes, you'll have to pick one of us to be your wife."

"You're pretty lucky. We have so many beautiful girls here. I wonder who will end up falling into your lap."

"I'll choose you."

The Cameraman replied, his blunt words instantly turning the girl's face crimson.

"What nonsense are you spouting?!"

The girl reached out and lightly punched the Cameraman's arm:

"The 'teachers' said you can only be with the best one of us here."

"That's you."

The young man's words were as straightforward as ever.

And utterly devastating.

"I'm done talking to you."

The girl stood up and walked away, acting like a flustered deer as she nearly bumped into someone on the path.

A few days later, the girl ran over to tell the Cameraman some news:

"Ah Ji, the 'teachers' said they're going to assign us numbers and screen out a batch of people. Only those who pass the screening can continue staying here."

Saying this, the girl broke into a smile:

"If I don't pass this screening, I'll go outside first. I'll come back on your wedding day when you turn twenty-two."

"After so many years, I still haven't seen what the outside world looks like."

To the girl's surprise, the Cameraman reached out and grabbed her arm:

"What screening?"

"I don't know, the 'teachers' refused to say."

The girl laughed. "But they said the process is very simple and won't take much time."

"I want you to stay," the Cameraman said.

"Oh wow, so you still want to keep me tied down here for a few more years?"

The girl reached out and lightly tapped the top of his hood, then smiled:

"It's not up to me. The teachers said this screening is all based on luck. Who passes and who doesn't has actually already been decided."

"However..."

The girl gave a sly smile and said, "I'm in the second batch. So tomorrow, I'll ask Weiwei and the girls in the first batch to see what the situation is like for them."

With that, the girl stood up and clasped her hands behind her back. Her skirt fluttered, making her look as if she were dancing amidst the light and dust. Smiling brightly, she tilted her head proudly:

"Don't misunderstand, it's not that I want to stay."

"But... since it's your wedding, I just want to be the first one to know who your bride is!"

With that, the girl turned and left with a laugh.

The Cameraman never averted his gaze, watching her until she walked away and her figure vanished.

But something unexpected happened.

The following night, urgent knocking suddenly woke the sleeping Cameraman.

"Ah Ji, Ah Ji..."

It was the girl's voice outside the door, trembling and thick with tears.

The Cameraman immediately sat up and opened the door.

The moment the door opened, the girl, wearing a soaked long dress, threw herself right into the Cameraman's arms. For some unknown reason, both her knees were badly scraped and bleeding.

The Cameraman froze for a moment, then wrapped his arms tightly around her, holding the girl close.

"What's wrong?"

At the sound of the Cameraman's voice, the terrified girl seemed to calm down significantly.

She looked up, her tear-soaked eyelashes trembling:

"I went to find Weiwei and the others just now. I wanted to sneak a peek at how they did the screening. But I was late... I saw, I saw..."

The girl's voice gradually trailed off. She buried her face into the Cameraman's chest, her thoughts unreadable.

"What did you see?"

the Cameraman asked.

"I saw..."

The girl paused. Then, she suddenly looked up. With tears still welling in her eyes, she smiled:

"I saw how they do the screening. Rest assured, Ah Ji, I will definitely pass this screening."

Although he didn't understand why the girl was suddenly smiling, the Cameraman still held her tighter against his chest.

And just like that, they spent their first full night together in the same room.

And starting from the very next day, the Cameraman discovered that the girl seemed to have suddenly changed.