Every June 16th, Meng Qing would infiltrate the internal network of the North District Orphanage, leaving a greeting card, a song, or a short funny video on the computer used by Yu Laoshi, because this was her birthday.
He didn’t sign his name, but Yu Laoshi knew it was him. The first time she received the greeting card, she left a long letter on her computer, asking where he was, urging him to respond quickly and come find her.
She also left a bank account with money saved for him, saying it was there in case he escaped and needed to withdraw funds.
Meng Qing never replied or touched the account, not in any of the following years. He simply delivered his birthday gift punctually every June 16th.
Starting from the second year, Yu Laoshi would leave a long letter on June 15th each year, so he could see it when he infiltrated the next day, and continued to deposit money into that account.
In the early morning of June 16th in the eighth year, Meng Qing infiltrated the orphanage’s internal network but didn’t find Yu Laoshi’s usual letter on her computer. He left his gift but felt uneasy.
He searched her computer and found the last modified document was from half a month ago. He checked the local police accident records and hospital admission logs after that day, finding Yu Laoshi’s name in one hospital.
He could barely bring himself to open the medical record, his fingers trembling as he clicked the icon. The document showed her hospital admission and treatment information. She was hospitalized due to illness, and the last line contained only four words: Confirmed dead. The time was midnight three days ago.
Meng Qing went rigid, staring blankly at the screen. Spider, sitting across from him, noticed his unusual state and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Meng Qing forced a smile, “Lost to ‘Extreme Firepower’ several times in a row.”
Spider scoffed, “Losing a few game rounds is nothing… didn’t lose money…” Seeing Meng Qing’s increasingly terrible expression, he asked in surprise, “Did you actually bet money? How much did you lose?”
Meng Qing closed the tablet, leaned back on the sofa, covered his eyes with one hand, and whispered chokingly, “…Everything…”
Spider’s eyes widened, “What?! Everything…”
