Qin Feng lay on his bed, feigning sleep. However, his eyes were slightly ajar, covertly observing his aunt's actions.
Su Yan tidied up Qin Feng's room, sighed as she glanced at the old 286 PC placed in the corner of the room. That was the computer Qin Bo Yan, Feng's father, had assembled using parts from other people's PCs, purchased with the first money he earned during his schooling days. It had been decades since then.
Nowadays, even quad-core PCs were no longer considered mainstream, not to mention a 286...
Thinking of Qin Bo Yan, a faint blush crossed Su Yan's face. Her sister, Su Rou, had been dead for many years, and her brother-in-law had raised Qin Feng alone, never remarrying. Had Qin Feng not saved a girl, only to be unfortunate enough to be involved in a car accident, she might have been with him?
Seeing Su Yan stopping in her tracks, staring blankly at the old 286, Qin Feng knew immediately that she was thinking of his father.
"Is it because of my paralysis that you both have been burdened?"
A self-deprecating smile flitted around Qin Feng's mouth, "Why play the hero? Isn't the constant fighting enough to cause father concern? Yet, I had to save that girl!"
As he thought of the girl named Wu Wen, a warm look could not help but flash in Qin Feng's eyes. The girl was kind and beautiful, and she was his first love. If not, Qin Feng wouldn't have been so impulsive in saving her. But her parents...
Thinking of Wu Wen's parents' faces, and the five thousand yuan thrown in front of his father, a wave of humiliation surged within Qin Feng.
That was his dad who once stood tall and refused a million-dollar bribe, vowing to stay with his mother for a lifetime! That was his dad who donated all his money to an unknown elderly accident victim without so much as a frown! That was his upright, iron-bone father, who always carried a confident smile on his face!
His mother's death thrust the burden of his upbringing solely onto his father's shoulders.
His once great and excellent father, when faced with five thousand yuan, picked it up in silence and thanked Wu Wen's parents with a smile.
Tears uncontrollably slid down Qin Feng's cheeks.
He never regretted saving Wu Wen. But when he thought of his past years of misunderstanding his father's hardships, not understanding his early departures and late returns, not understanding the humiliation he went through to raise him...he regretted it so deeply that he wanted to tear out his hair strand by strand and stuff it into his mouth to stifle the heartache ripping him apart.
"Perhaps only death could atone for my sins," he wondered.
Qin Feng quietly wiped away the tears at the corner of his eyes, inadvertently gazing towards the corner. The computer in the corner, which his father only occasionally turned on for maintenance, and he himself never operated, caught his attention. He made a silent decision.
That computer had once been his father's pride. However, Qin Feng thought it was too outdated, he'd rather go to the internet café and play on quad-cores, avoiding even a second glance at this 286, not to mention actually using it.
Furthermore, Qin Feng didn't even know what kind of software was installed on this computer.
"A 286... such an ancient computer!" he thought.
Su Yan didn't notice the strangeness in Qin Feng. After cleaning up the room, she playfully patted Qin Feng and cheerfully said, "Little Feng, today I'll make your favorite, braised pork and sour vegetable fish for dinner. I'm heading out to buy groceries. If anything comes up, give me a call, behave, okay?"
Qin Feng managed to show a slight smile, "Don't worry, Auntie Su, I'll be fine."
"Eh?"
Su Yan found this slightly strange, sensing something wasn't completely right. "Never mind, I'll ask Ke'er to look after you a bit. It's Saturday today, and she doesn't have classes. She'll be glad to take care of you."
"No need, Auntie Su, I'm perfectly fine on my own!"
Qin Feng didn't want Xu Ke'er meddling in his affairs. That whimsical girl always managed to stir up some sort of drama every time she was around, either poking him with silver needles or insisting that certain ants could cure paralysis, forcing him to consume them. Otherwise, she'd go as far as to pour honey all over him and would let ants crawl around, claiming it would stimulate his senses.
Su Yan chuckled, "Why so nervous, could it be..."
"No way!"
Qin Feng quickly denied. He could never have any feelings for Xu Ke'er, after all, the one he liked was Wu Wen!
"Alright, then it's settled! I'm off to the market now! Behave, okay!"
Looking at his almost 30-year-old aunt who was still so cute, Qin Feng felt a wave of helplessness.
"What the—! She's not listening at all!"
Qin Feng knew, with his aunt's temper, the little brat Xu Keer would definitely come over and cause trouble.
"It's so frustrating, even dying seems hard!"
Frowning, Qin Feng started plotting how to deal with the appearance of Xu Keer at any moment.
"Bang!"
"Brother Feng, I'm here to look after you again. Tee-hee!"
Qin Feng rubbed his forehead, feeling as though he had no strength left.
Xu Keer!
Every time this imp came, she'd barge in, always barging the door open, frightening him every single time with her sweet but horrifying phrase "Brother Feng", and that reluctant laugh, "Tee-hee"!
"Oh my God! Just let me die already, I'm useless anyway!"
Xu Keer hopped and skipped her way to Qin Feng's bed. She was almost fifteen, but her outfit made her look like a young child. Her hair was embellished with fluffy accessories, it was unclear whether they were hairpins or hairbands. She wore a cute, fluffy white princess dress, half-length white socks, and a pair of white shoes. She looked just like a "kawaii" anime character.
But when Qin Feng saw her, he reacted as if he had seen a ghost, "Thanks, but I don't need your care, the door's over there. Could you kindly open it, gently walk out, and close it on your way out?"
"Oh..."
Xu Keer did as she was told, but as she reached the door she realized something was amiss and sulkily walked back, "What's going on, Brother Feng? Are you trying to trick me into leaving? I'm not leaving at all! Eh? Are you worried I'll tire myself out? You're actually worrying about me, aren't you? That's okay, tee-hee!"
"Who would care about you..."
"Ah! Why are you so dirty! Let me help you clean up! No need for thanks!"
"Stop..."
Before Qin Feng could finish speaking, Xu Kexin had already rushed to fetch water.
"Auntie, it's you who got me into this trouble!"
Heading towards the vegetable market, Su Yan couldn't help but snicker when she thought of Qin Feng and Xu Ke'er together.
"Silly girl, do you think I don't know the pain in your heart? Ke'er is so cheerful, so adorable, even though she's a bit scatterbrained, with her around, she'll surely be able to drive away the darkness within your heart! If anything were to happen to you, Brother Yan wouldn't be able to support himself either!"
Thinking about how her brother-in-law, Qin Boyan, used to be a workshop director in a steel factory but was now forced to work on a construction site to support the family due to an orchestrated car accident, she couldn't help feeling desolate.
As soon as Ke'er left, Qin Feng immediately uncovered the quilt, rolled forcefully, and successfully performed the movements he had simulated countless times in his head.
He rolled off the bed and fell to the ground with a thud.
He didn't feel the pain, even though he fell heavily. Struggling towards the antique 286 PC, his arm slipped repeatedly.
Looking at the overturned basin and the water all over the floor, Qin Feng was unexpectedly delighted: "That's good, too. It saves me having to find wire to boot up the computer. I just need to touch the wet outlet, and it'll be over!"
The 286 was powered on, launching slowly. The screen filled with MSDOS, with the system taking a long time to boot.
Looking up at the banner of MSDOS, made up of pure characters, Qin Feng's mouth twitched. He was caught in an indescribable mixture of emotions.
"What a pity - I never paid much attention to what treasures lay inside Dad's computer. No matter, if I don't act now, Auntie will be back soon!"
Qin Feng gritted his teeth, reaching forcefully towards the socket.
"Snap!"
A blue electric arc flashed suddenly, linking Qin Feng and the 286 computer together.
The powerful current successfully pierced the motherboard, a circle-like additional component of an unknown repurposed motherboard with an unknown function.
When pierced by the current, a tiny brittle sound was emitted.
Then, a peculiar beam of light centered around the circle-like component flashed abruptly.
"The photonic brain chip has been activated!"
The entire power grid of Peace District suddenly flickered as the district's electricity usage suddenly overloaded, directly causing several nearby transformers to blow.
“Ah, why is the power out?”
Luckily, it was daytime, and there weren't many people complaining—mostly office workers at home watching TV or using their computers leisurely.
Because of this, the strange light that had flashed in Qin Feng's room went unnoticed.
"Primitive 286 computer detected, host genetic judgement, 99.85% match with human standard, inline with fusion implant standards, beginning fusion implant!"
"Fusion completed… implant completed… Warning! Insufficient bio-energy in the host, unable to activate Level 1 authority, photonic brain assisting sprite unable to initiate, all functions can only be explored by the host himself!"
