Chapter 5

Yan Shun couldn't understand what others said yet, but forced by his upbringing, he could grasp the meaning behind their tones, actions, and expressions from a young age.

It was like the instinct of a small animal, naive and soft; even if covered in wounds, upon sensing warmth, it would still dare to nestle into one's palm.

...The system couldn't think of such complex matters for now.

The system was forced to become strawberry flavored cotton candy and was still immersed in the shock of "I can actually eat myself." Ten seconds later, this shock turned into "I'm actually quite delicious."

The little villain ate extremely slowly.

In fact, the first thing the little villain did upon receiving this large mass of cotton candy was to take off his clothes and hide the cotton candy in the white pocket of his Doraemon hoodie.

Mu Yu stopped him in time. After a few attempts, he guided the little villain's hand-by-hand to learn how to pinch off pieces of cotton candy.

Yan Shun discovered that Mu Yu didn't plan to leave. Like a little tail, he followed Mu Yu's every step. Driven by the sweet scent, he couldn't resist any longer, so he pinched off a piece of cotton candy, no bigger than his pinky nail, and popped it into his mouth, letting the cotton candy threads slowly melt away.

Mu Yu took a stroll and finally picked up a plastic bag full of hedge mushrooms. When he turned around, he found the system eating itself.

The large mass of cotton candy, big enough to block Yan Shun, was eaten by Little Snowball with extreme caution. Each time, he was only willing to tear off a small piece, yet the cotton candy inexplicably shrank at a visible rate.

The system was engrossed in eating when it met its host's gaze: "..."

Mu Yu hadn't really expected this development either. Holding the mushrooms, he was silent for a moment: "Is it delicious?"

System: "Good, delicious."

System: "Host, do you want to try?"

It had never been edible cotton candy before and didn't understand how Mu Yu had done it, but it was poked onto a skewer, fluffy, soft, and sweet... who could resist?

The system was quite nervous at first, but after taking a bite of itself, it unconsciously got into character. Not only did it can't help but invite Mu Yu, but it even tried to send out a signal, warmly enticing a very good-looking, big-eyed, soft and cute little white rabbit nearby to try some.

Anyway, their system's corporealization was a recently developed function, utilizing the current world's elemental decomposition, recombination, and synthesis. The method was as mystical as alchemy. As long as its host could do it, there would be no shortage of raw materials.

Mu Yu looked at the rabbit, which was not even as big as his fist, and lowered his head, tying the plastic bag with the mushrooms: "No, thank you."

Yan Shun followed him. A tacit understanding had developed between the two of them. When Mu Yu raised his hand, Yan Shun proactively turned around.

Mu Yu opened the small backpack on Yan Shun's back, stuffed the plastic bag of mushrooms inside, and then zipped it up.

Yan Shun, wearing the small backpack, bounced a little.

This action was actually an unintentional misinterpretation by Mu Yu. He had sorted and put away the treasures that the little Doraemon had poured out, and then put them back into Yan Shun's backpack. After zipping it up, he habitually gave it a little shake.

He intended to test its weight, but Yan Shun understood it as "after putting new things in, the backpack must be shaken up and down once."

The little snowman, wearing a coat that was many sizes too big, held cotton candy in one hand and clutched the strap of his small backpack. As if completing a mission, he solemnly hopped in place, spinning in circles.

...The little rabbit the system had just enticed was so charmed it stumbled.

Mu Yu had already picked out the stubbornly surviving miniature bird egg. Nothing in the backpack was fragile, so he wasn't in a hurry to correct Yan Shun's understanding. Only after the little guy finished his very ritualistic hopping did he take Yan Shun's hand.

Five minutes had long passed, and the new segment of the variety show had begun filming.

Perhaps Yan Father had said something to the production crew, as a segment was added on the spot. The children participating in the show would showcase their talents, and ingredients would be selected based on the scoring from outside the venue, filling the waiting time for the absent participants.

There were five families participating in the variety show, with one child from each family. Yan Shun was still the second son of the Yan family in name, and with Yan Xi showcasing his skills, he didn't need to get involved.

Mu Yu found a relatively quiet corner, held the little snowball, and sat down, watching the playback of previous episodes that the system had retrieved from the production crew's computer.

The variety show was called "Starting Line" and was broadcast live. Once a segment began filming, it would be broadcast live across the Star Network.

This mode placed even more emphasis on the importance of screenwriters with improvisational talent and the script.

The system didn't understand the logic: "Host, why is there a script and screenwriters if it's broadcast live?"

Mu Yu had walked quite a bit today. He stretched his right leg, relaxing his knee, and slowly massaged it, gesturing towards a spot not far away.

The five families were not only children. Excluding Yan Shun, there were nine other children, seven boys and two girls. During the filming breaks, the boys, led by Yan Xi, had all laid hands on Yan Shun.

Even when not ganging up to bully Yan Shun, the children's waiting area was extremely chaotic, with screams and quarrels erupting, and fights breaking out over a single toy.

But now, the interactions of these children were friendly and harmonious, polite and with a strong sense of propriety, showing none of the uninhibited behavior of a filming break.

Even though the variety show itself was meant to promote Yan Xi, the other children under the spotlight performed no less impressively. The two daughters from the first and second families teamed up for a performance of ice ballet. The eldest son from the third family demonstrated highly difficult skiing skills. The second son from the fourth family even created lifelike ice sculptures.

It didn't feel like a variety show, but more like a debut stage for "I Am a Child Star."

Mu Yu cradled Yan Shun, playing with the tiny snowball that Little Snowball had made for him.

The little guy probably thought Mu Yu didn't like the previous things, so he spent half the day diligently collecting snow, forming it into a ball, and then warming it in his palm, making it particularly round.

Mu Yu, now experienced, directly took both small snowballs and tucked the two little hands, frozen cold, into his embrace.

Mu Yu's hands were exceptionally dexterous. His long fingers cupped the ball of snow and effortlessly made the tiny snowball spin, gliding around his fingers like a magic trick.

Yan Shun saw it for the first time, curled up in Mu Yu's arms motionlessly, his dark eyes wide open, even his breathing light.

Mu Yu demonstrated to him "how to breathe without blowing off the small snowball," after which the little snowball let out a long breath relaxedly and clutched Mu Yu's collar.

Mu Yu played with him for a while, letting the half-melted snowball fall into his palm, reflecting the sunlight back and forth: "This world is strange..."

The system didn't have much more information than he did, so it immediately grabbed its notebook: "Host, what's strange?"

Mu Yu wasn't in a hurry to speak. He simply looked up at Yan Xi gliding on the ice.

With guidance from Yan Father, who was a figure skating coach himself, Yan Xi skated well. His movements were accurate, and his posture was graceful and fluid. He performed several difficult moves in succession, earning wave after wave of applause.

With live broadcasting, there were viewers. However, after searching, the system didn't see any bullet comments or reviews, only continually changing scores.

The score was presented as a total followed by an average and was constantly changing, indicating that people were watching and giving new scores.

Yan Xi received the highest score and left the ice, selecting a piece of high-quality salmon.

The system noticed that Yan Father's expression was not good.

Yan Father's gaze was fixed on Yan Xi. This slowly rising negative emotion seemed to stem from more than just the loss of control on Yan Shun's side.

Mu Yu knew the reason: "Yan Xi can't maintain his performance."

"Why?" the system was taken aback. "He skated very well just now."

"He's very good for his age, but his jumping ability is very limited. As he gets older, even performing a triple jump will be difficult."

Mu Yu said, "This is a matter of talent, and there's no way to solve it."

The system pondered for a while and understood Mu Yu's words.

Yan Xi was not yet ten years old, and it wasn't yet time to rely on talent at this age. As long as his movements were well-executed, he would appear quite outstanding among his peers.

But if he continued to practice, the limitations of Yan Xi's physical condition would soon become apparent. The achievements he had gained so far would quickly decline due to his lack of talent, and he would eventually become ordinary.

System: "Then he should change careers."

The small snowball in Mu Yu's hand had melted. He opened his palm, showing Yan Shun the water marks.

The larger snowball lowered his head, his small face very serious. He patted Mu Yu's hand and took out a tissue to help Mu Yu dry it bit by bit.

This action was the same as wiping the backpack with a wet wipe. Mu Yu had taught him once, and he remembered it.

Mu Yu said, "But Yan Shun jumps very well."

The system also felt that Yan Shun jumped well. It was the first time it had seen a child, bundled up like a round snowball and carrying a not-insignificant backpack, jump so high in place. The little rabbit was startled.

As the system was about to reply, it suddenly realized the implication of this sentence and fell silent.

...But Yan Shun jumps very well.

Yu Mu had painstakingly written so many scripts; it couldn't be that the Yan family was fine and simply wanted to torment Yan Shun, watching a child suffer in endless misery.

In Yu Mu's script, Yan Shun was narrow-minded and aggressive, unable to tolerate those who competed for his parents' attention, nor those stronger than him.

These traits might not have been without cause—or rather, these labels had to be placed on Yan Shun precisely because a child with these traits caused negative consequences, and someone had to bear them...

According to the data, Yan Shun was pushed off a rocking horse and hit the back of his head.

He couldn't say he had a headache and in the subsequent segments, Yan Xi forcibly pulled him onto the ice. He could barely stand steady and was so dizzy he couldn't see anything clearly.

Yu Mu seized this opportunity to have Yan Xi deliberately pretend he couldn't dodge, fabricating the script of "Yan Xi injured by Yan Shun, resulting in a fractured ankle."

More than half a year later, Yan Xi gave up skating due to his psychological inability to overcome the ankle injury.

—No one criticized Yan Xi for this.

People lamented the death of a genius under malicious harm and sympathized with an elder brother who was jealous of and targeted by his younger brother. Countless people gave Yan Shun extremely low scores.

This way, no one would ever know that Yan Xi lacked talent and couldn't maintain his performance.

...

The temporary talent show segment ended, and the process returned to normal. The families needed to use the ingredients found by the children to make lunch.

Mu Yu didn't take Yan Shun to the Yan family's area. He found a place sheltered from the wind to prepare to set up a stove. As he was leading Little Snowball in picking up stones, the Assistant Director from the production crew stopped him.

"Writer Yu... apologies for interrupting."

The Assistant Director's tone was very cautious and polite, clearly having received some news from Yan Father: "Excuse me, is it convenient for Yan Shun—is it convenient for Yan Shun to showcase some talent in the next segment?"

Little Snowball was lively beside Mu Yu, squatting nearby and imitating Mu Yu's previous actions, making a small piece of snow slide around with his fingers.

The short, soft little hands were not very flexible. Even though he copied it quite well, the snow lump couldn't stay put and started to fall after a few seconds.

Seeing a stranger, Yan Shun hid in his jacket, retreating behind Mu Yu's legs.

Mu Yu flipped through the stones in his hand, picked out one of suitable size and shape, and handed it to Yan Shun to hug for courage: "Talent showcase?"

"Yes," the Assistant Director nodded quickly. "It's for the child's own good."

The Assistant Director explained: "You haven't had children yet, have you? You'll understand after attending parenting training courses. If a child isn't outstanding enough, the parents' rating will also be lowered." As he said this, he suddenly shivered and quickly explained, "...I absolutely didn't mean to threaten you!"

Perhaps afraid that this statement would be broadcast live, the Assistant Director kept looking back and stuttered: "This way, this is also for the child's good. The higher the score they get, the better chance they have to grow up to be an adult..."

This statement contained too much information. The system choked on its own words and swallowed a large chunk of cotton candy: "Host?!"

Mu Yu helped it revert the eaten part: "Eat slower."

In the past five years, due to the lack of guidance, Yan Shun's common sense reserve was extremely limited.

If he continued to eat himself like the system, Yan Shun would probably deeply believe that "cotton candy will disappear if you don't eat it quickly."

The system quickly stopped chewing and recovered its senses, but felt that this wasn't the main point: "Host, what did he mean... what does 'chance to grow up to be an adult' mean?"

What secrets were hidden in this world...

Could it be that some children wouldn't have the chance to grow up?

Who would score these children, and by what standards?

In the script backup left by Yu Mu, there was indeed a line: "Countless people gave Yan Shun extremely low scores." Was this not a rhetorical device, but an objective fact?

The system's cotton candy threads bent into question marks, but when it looked at the emotion detector, it found that the host's emotion value remained very stable.

Mu Yu did not seem surprised by the Assistant Director's words.

He simply turned around, squatted down to support Yan Shun's shoulders, which were hidden behind his legs, bringing their gazes level.

After a moment, Mu Yu turned back and looked at the ice rink, which Yan Shun was gazing at intently.

Did Yan Shun like ice skating?

No one knew.

He hadn't even had the chance to find out—even in his short yet incredibly long fourteen years, from birth to death, he was trapped on the ice.

But Yan Shun liked to jump, liked higher places, and if given the chance, he would probably like to fly.

The Assistant Director's interlude wasn't important, but they were close to the ice rink. Yan Shun was indeed attracted by the sparkling fragments of ice reflecting in the sunlight. He hid in Mu Yu's chest, his breathing shallow.

Mu Yu stroked his hair.

The little snowball stirred, his dark eyes turning, reflecting Mu Yu's shadow like a mirror.

"Go play," Mu Yu said. "I'm here."

He didn't care if Yan Shun could understand. He simply finished speaking these words slowly, then bought a pair of children's ice skates from the system store and casually took them out as if from the small backpack, helping Yan Shun put them on.

The little guy refused to be more than three meters away from Mu Yu and skated around him. Only when he confirmed that Mu Yu's seating position was stable enough not to slip did he begin to hop around.

This was talent that could make Yan Xi's eyes burn red with envy.

Yan Shun only needed to watch for a few seconds to imitate Yan Xi's movements. The small person with short hands and legs swayed unsteadily and charmingly. Accompanied by the crystal-clear fragments of ice flowers, he jumped, yet he was light and free, exceptionally agile.

He looked like he could fly.

Mu Yu sat not far from the edge of the rink, being circled by Little Snowball holding cotton candy. Glancing sideways, he saw a figure: "System."

The system, dizzy from being jostled, its mechanical voice wavered like RAP: "Hos-hos-hos-hos-hos~ Hos-hos-host~"

"Lend me some cotton," Mu Yu said.

System: "?"

Mu Yu thought for a moment: "Candy."

Before the system could react, a small piece of cotton candy had silently disappeared.

Mu Yu drew a box of moderate size. The small piece of cotton candy was pressed in his palm and turned into a cloud filled with ice crystals.

Yan Xi stood behind the bushes.

He stared at the figure on the ice, his pupils dark, almost unable to maintain the gentle appearance demanded by his parents.

Yan Xi's face grew terrifyingly dark. He stared at Yan Shun's feet and walked directly towards the ice rink.

He had only taken one step when his shoulder was suddenly grasped with immense force. The grip was calm and cold, devoid of any warmth, easily trapping him where he couldn't move.

An invisible pressure almost squeezed out all the space around him. The more Yan Xi struggled, the colder and more stifled he became, as if he had fallen into bottomless ice water, with ice shards forming from the depths of his bones.

The crazy thought in his mind also seemed to be frozen inch by inch, and any touch felt like a needle piercing his bone.

Yan Xi abruptly retreated, falling to the ground, his face pale, gasping for air.

He stared at Yan Shun jumping on the ice.

"Don't move," the voice from the cloud was gentle, but its touch was cold. "He is my student."