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Time stood still, just like it did at some point on the overpass.
Emmanuel sat in front of the ramen stall, smiling and waving at Gao Kui: "Good evening, that's me."
"You little brat, you really got away with all my hard work and sweat."
Gao Kui looked Emmanuel up and down and said, "Damn it, I put in a lot of effort to train and get this great physique, and you just got it by as soon as you got involved with me."
Are you a Platinum Star?
With just the phrase "it's a Stand of the same type," she gained free access to the world's time stop. In the game, it's even more outrageous: Dio painstakingly evolved into Beyond Heaven, while Star Platinum, relying on "a Stand of the same type," instantly leveled up and also instantly reached Beyond Heaven.
It has been a long time since I last met Emmanuel.
When Emmanuel last appeared, he was very thin, just like Gao Kui was. Now, through hard work and sweat, Gao Kui has developed a strong and muscular physique, and Emmanuel has naturally also achieved a good physique.
Gao Kui was genuinely envious of this kind of good thing—being able to bind yourself to someone and level up effortlessly.
Chapter 139 Never Look Back
Does that count as hard work and sweat?
Emmanuel was both amused and exasperated.
From a skinny stick to a man with a physique as agile as Kazuma Kiryu, even the NBA doesn't go that fast. If this is what you call hard work and sweat, then there would be no one in this world with a bad physique.
Why be so formal between us?
Emmanuel laughed and said, "You are me, and I am you. We are one. How could you be jealous of yourself?"
Sometimes.
Gao Kui put on a stern face and said in a serious tone, "Many times, I would look at my own face in the mirror and fall into deep thought. How could there be such a handsome person in the world?"
Even I'm jealous of my own beauty.
After a brief pause, the seriousness on Gao Kui's face vanished, and he looked around with great interest, taking in the surrounding scenery.
The noodle soup served by the shopkeeper next door hangs suspended in mid-air, birds perch on the eaves of the red gate, and the folds of newspapers fluttering by the roadside are clearly visible, while the unfolded cicada wings are crystal clear.
All pedestrians became silent sculptures; vendors with open mouths and couples strolling hand in hand were frozen in place. The neon signs continued to flash, but they were silent; even the wind ceased to move.
This was the first time Gao Kui had ever witnessed a world where time stood still. He had experienced time stand still once before on the overpass, but he hadn't had time to appreciate it then.
"It's a pity it didn't rain."
Gao Kui recalled the episode of "Kamen Rider Kabuto" with its explosive budget, where Tendou Souji used Clock Up to almost stop time, causing all the raindrops to hover in the air, and then Kabuto, after transforming, fought with Worm, who had become Kagami's younger brother, in the rain.
"There was actually a blooper in that episode. In a world where time was almost frozen, the treetops in the background were still swaying at a normal speed, but the flaw didn't detract from the overall quality."
Emmanuel points out the minor blooper in that episode, then points to the motionless treetops around him: "And I am the real time stop, you see, they are completely still."
However, if you wish, I can normalize the flow of time at the treetops and even make it rain beautifully from this night sky.
"I hope I won't make things too difficult for you?" Gao Kui asked in a somewhat polite tone.
Emmanuel smiled and shrugged: "It can't be harder than stopping time."
"Let's just forget about it. This kind of world is fine too."
Withdrawing his gaze from the street, Gao Kui looked at the uninvited Emmanuel: "What do you want to tell me this time? You've made such a big fuss, with so many people looking up at me. It's unbearable."
Gao Kui naturally assumed that the auditory and visual hallucinations he had just experienced were shouted out by Manelli, and that this charlatan just liked to create some mystical, religious, and atmospheric things.
Emmanuel smiled and said, "Can't I catch up with you unless there's something special? Strictly speaking, we're the same person. There's no friend closer or more intimate than us."
"Then can I, my closest and dearest friend, roll away smoothly?" Gao Kui mouthed "singing and dancing" to Emmanuel.
roll!
Don't bother me unless it's important, and get the hell out of my way.
"I've come to tell you that a girl who looks like Yuzuriha Inori has appeared next to you. Look."
Emmanuel pointed to the still Aso Makoto: "Look at the way this girl looks at you. Do you see the unyielding love and infatuation in those beautiful eyes?"
You can easily read her emotions and thoughts from those eyes: Wow, Mr. Gao Kui looks so handsome when he's deep in thought. I wish I were Mr. Gao Kui's girlfriend, so I wouldn't have to be held in his arms every day and fall asleep looking at that irresistible face.
I bet you 100 yuan, that's definitely what she thinks.
Gao Kui took a 100-yen coin out of his pocket and tossed it to Emmanuel, expressionless: "So?"
Emmanuel could read Aso Makoto's thoughts, and so could Kawaii. This girl was too naive and superficial; her thoughts were written all over her face.
If Chen Motong is an obscure and difficult-to-understand world classic, and Ordinary Girl is a mindless online novel, then Aso Shin is a poster comparable to a Brain Gold advertisement.
It was so simple and superficial, so cheap, that it gave Gao Kui an extraordinary sense of security: in this alienated, strange and complex world, Aso was one of the few people he could understand and "grasp".
"So aren't you two a perfect match? A mentally ill person and a love-struck person, aren't you a match made in heaven?"
True peace of mind is a feeling of confidence, security, and freedom that comes from being free from fear and anxiety. The world is too complex; everyone has their own role to play and their own thoughts to express. Your panic and anxiety stem from the unknown and uncontrollable nature of the world and its people.
But this girl was an exception; she was incredibly simple and quite superficial. Yet, if she fell for someone, she would give her all for that person without thinking, even if that person would never care about her.
Some people might laugh at this kind of girl for being love-struck, thinking that her affection and devotion are cheap, but I believe you definitely won't.
You know better than anyone how profound this affection is for you.
Gao Kui was well aware of how profound this affection was.
To put it bluntly, Gao Kui even felt a sense of "motherhood" in Makoto Aso.
Not all mothers love their children unconditionally, but for most people, mothers are the ones who give the most love and care, and want the least in return.
Therefore, maternal love is often regarded as a symbol of selflessness.
How selfless are they? Perhaps many parents have said something like this to their children: If you ever kill someone or commit a serious crime, you must tell me immediately and I will find a way to help.
To date, Gao Kui has only felt that deep, genuine, and simple love and kindness from the mothers at the orphanage before he left.
That love and kindness was far purer and more genuine than the kindness shown to him by Chu Zihang, Angers, or anyone else.
As a result, Gao Kui has not dared to return to the orphanage since he left four years ago, and he doesn't even dare to go near the orphanage.
He was terrified of losing it.
Children are always innocent and view their parents through a lens of innocence. In their hearts, parents are pillars of strength, providing for their basic needs without expecting anything in return, or only hoping for future rewards. But who really cares about empty promises of future returns?
They will remember the good things their parents do for them, but they rarely take their parents' shortcomings or indifference to heart.
As people grow up, they come into contact with more things and meet more people. Their memory and observation skills improve, and they develop their own ideas. They will notice details about their parents that they had not paid much attention to before: for example, their father is addicted to alcohol, and their mother is petty and greedy.
Through continuous observation and growth, the filter I had for my parents was shattered.
They may not necessarily not love their parents, but they have learned and seen more, and their minds are no longer simple. They know the dangers of the world and the complexities of people, so their perspective on their parents is broader.
In any case, the perfect filter of parental love that I had during my childhood has finally been shattered.
Gao Kui's impression of his "mother" is still from four years ago, when he was an ignorant boy, a beautiful young man with a youthful appearance.
Over the past four years, he has been going in and out of mental hospitals and schools, gradually realizing the complexity of human beings, and his mind has finally become more open than when he was a teenager.
The more he understood, the less Gao Kui dared to return to the orphanage. He was afraid that if he met "Mom" again, he would see more things in "Mom" that he had never noticed in his childhood, and he was even more afraid that he would find impurities in the kindness that "Mom" gave him that he had never seen before.
Then refuse, then never go home again.
As long as he never looks back, that pure love, the love that brings peace of mind to Gao Kui, will remain forever in his heart.
But now, Gao Kui actually sensed a kindness in the eyes of Asou Makoto that was similar to the love he had always held in his heart.
How did this liking and goodwill come about?
It was simply because he was in a bad mood and kicked over a low-class fat guy, and because of his melancholy demeanor as he looked at the toilet with deep affection, and his good looks, which had been certified by all the girls at Shilan Middle School and Kassel.
That's so superficial, it's fucking ridiculous.
It's even more ridiculous than when he was little and asked "Mom" why he liked me, and she said, "Because you are the child I picked up, that's why I like you."
“But she is not Yuzuriha Inori after all.” Gao Kui said expressionlessly.
"If you think she is, then she is."
Emmanuel suppressed his smile, his expression equally blank: "Why must we see Yuzuriha Inori as a personified figure? Just because this girl can't be the Yuzuriha Inori from two or three years ago, is it not ridiculous to reject her?
In your heart, Yuzuriha Inori is more of an abstract concept than a concrete person.
Gao Kui fell into deep thought, because Emmanuel was right.
In his mind, "Yuzuriha Inori" was closer to an abstract concept. Otherwise, he would have turned back when Xia Mi boarded that plane back to Yanjing.
Xia Mi could not ignore his unprovoked kindness; there were many suspicious points about that girl, points that suggested she might be the real Yuzuriha Inori.
But Gao Kui was always unwilling to think in that direction, because in his mind, "Yuzuriki" as an abstract concept should be a sincere person.
Xia Mi is a good person, but she's not sincere enough.
Don't do things you'll regret.
Leaving behind a word of advice, Emmanuel vanished, and time began to flow.
Aso Makoto snapped out of her daze and realized that Gao Kui, who had been lost in thought, was now looking at her, his melancholy and broken eyes filled with her image.
The girl lowered her head, her cheeks slightly flushed: "Mr. Gao... Mr. Gao Kui, why are you looking at me?"
Oh dear, Mr. Gao Kui actually discovered that I was spying on him. I hope he won't be angry. I hope he won't think I'm a girl without self-awareness. But Mr. Gao Kui is indeed very handsome. When he was deep in thought just now, in addition to his melancholy, there was also an indescribable sense of holiness about him...
“Because you are beautiful.” Gao Kui’s answer was not casual.
Although she may not be as beautiful as Chen Motong and the others, Aso is indeed very pretty. The descriptions used to describe the background heroine Kato Megumi can be used to describe her exactly.
"You can say anything on the way back."
Uesugi patted Takagi on the shoulder and winked, "Didn't you hear the girl's grandmother already make a phone call? Hurry up and take the girl home. Of course, if you're capable..."
"If you're capable, you could easily take this girl to a love hotel in Shinjuku," Uesugi Etsushi said without uttering it aloud.
He thought Aso would most likely agree.
In Japan, there are many frivolous, carnivorous girls who will go to a hotel with a guy on the very day they meet. Asou Makoto isn't that kind of frivolous girl, but she's very superficial, naive, and love-struck.
In the end, Gao Kui took Aso Makoto into a taxi. The destination was Adachi Ward, a place where civilization supposedly did not exist. That was Aso Makoto's home address.
The girl was slightly disappointed.
She's already a second-year high school student. Her so-called innocence isn't pure; she understands many things, such as what Uesugi Kotsugu didn't finish saying earlier.
……