“Oh, I see. I just thought you guys might benefit from this~”

Mingmei smiled awkwardly.

Then, she pretended to complain, as if she were just being paranoid, seeing important information in everything.

To this, Yuan Fang nodded, expressing agreement.

The two laughed and brushed it off, then lowered their heads, each concealing a flicker of darkness in their eyes.

What the other said was not the truth!

They both branded each other – “Problematic”!

Even knowing they were suspected, both sides maintained a basic level of peace.

Mingmei couldn't help but think of the shop owner NPC, a seemingly inconspicuous figure, whom she had spoken to most memorably in the past few days. He possessed clear thinking and maintained his individuality.

Even though the Enforcer said the world was entirely under the Boss's control, with the plot unfolding according to her wishes.

However, as the Enforcer said, Mona's control was strongest over the characters she envisioned and needed in her story.

But characters like this, whom you wouldn't even glance at on the street, she wouldn't remember or think of, so there were naturally fewer restrictions.

Some NPCs, while gaining consciousness, were not controlled by the Boss and were content to laze around like ordinary people.

In Mingmei's eyes, the shop owner she chatted with a few days ago was such a character.

He wasn't in the Boss's script, and in the world's collapsing plot, they were developing independently in that unattended area…

However, the completeness of the development in that area was no less than here.

Mingmei even suspected that Mona might have attended Chengdong High School before?

Thinking this, Mingmei, who had initially thought that Bai Xiao and her husband were related to Chengdong High School, felt that if there were traces of the Boss there, it would further explain why Chengdong was set up so meticulously in the game.

Also, the people who died in the fire at Chengdong High School—nearly half the total number—almost matched Mona's past misdeeds in reality.

As for Bai Xiao and Yuan Fang, Mingmei glanced at Yuan Fang, wondering why he had his limb amputated. It seemed he had never mentioned it.

All the doubts and guesses needed to be investigated by Mingmei and Mu Chen later.

Mingmei suppressed her increasingly chaotic thoughts and once again focused her attention on Lu Xiaoyao's situation.

What she needed now was more observation!

While Julian and Zhen Hu were at the parent-teacher conference, Lu Xiaoyao and Mona sat down on the playground, each holding a hot dog.

Compared to Mona, who didn't even touch her hot dog, Lu Xiaoyao was already devouring hers. With her ravenous eating, if Mona hadn't seen her eat all her food at noon, not to mention a lot of nuts and fruits, she would have thought Lu Xiaoyao hadn't eaten anything for three days and three nights.

This directly dumbfounded Mona.

“Y-you, eat slower.”

“Mmm… Er!” Just as she was advised by the Boss, Lu Xiaoyao choked. She flailed her hands in the air, searching for water. If Mona hadn't handed her a cup of water in time, Lu Xiaoyao might have created a new way to die in the game.

Player eliminated by choking to death.

“Whew—”

After swallowing the hot dog that had choked her, Lu Xiaoyao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "High-calorie junk food like this is best enjoyed with big bites!

Tsk! It’s just that this hot dog is a bit too salty, and the bread is a bit dry, affecting my performance. Otherwise, I could have shown you a one-bite hot dog!"

Mona: "..." Didn't seem very excited.

Mingmei: "..." What the hell, why are you belittling her hot dog when you swallow it in one bite?!

"But... this was bought by Dad. Isn't it bad to eat it like this?"

"Why is it bad? Can't we eat what Dad bought?"

Lu Xiaoyao continued to eat her hot dog, completely not understanding what Mona was thinking. She remembered Julian's reminder that the Boss's thought process might be different from ordinary people.

"We can eat..."

Being stared at by Lu Xiaoyao, Mona felt a bit unsure of what to say for the first time.

Just as she finished saying they could eat, and was about to say something else, Lu Xiaoyao had already turned her head to continue her battle with the hot dog. While eating, she didn't forget to say, "Yeah, we can eat it. After all, this thing doesn't have a long shelf life. If we don't eat it, it will go bad in a few days. Are we just going to watch it get moldy?"

"This shelf life isn't long?"

Mona seemed to be talking to herself, but also asking Lu Xiaoyao.

"Of course, the shelf life of food isn't long." Lu Xiaoyao was very focused when eating. If others spoke to her, either she wouldn't hear them, or she would say whatever came to mind.

Like now—

"If you want a permanent shelf life, you need something like a gem."

"Gem?"

"Yeah? Like a wedding diamond ring, a gemstone necklace. Or something durable and wear-resistant that can be preserved well, anything is fine~"

Mingmei was already covered in black lines listening to Lu Xiaoyao's explanation.

Sliding all the way from expensive gemstone jewelry to durable and wear-resistant items, Mingmei could already imagine Mona's reaction to hearing this.

"Wedding diamond ring... Can it be given even if you're not married?"

"Maybe, as long as you have money."

After Lu Xiaoyao finished speaking, she swallowed the last bite of the hot dog, completely relaxed. She turned her head and saw Mona still holding the hot dog in a daze. For a moment, Lu Xiaoyao was confused and took two more sips of water, wondering if she had said something wrong just now.

Enmmm, she didn't seem to have incited anything like murder or arson, right?

Lu Xiaoyao thought vaguely, then heard Mona reminding her, "Forget it, let's not think about this! Let's go back to the dorm and pack up first. After the parent-teacher conference, we'll go home with our parents~"

Speaking of going home, Lu Xiaoyao rarely heard a hint of joy in the other party's tone.

"Hahaha, yes, go home. How can school be as good as home~"

Lu Xiaoyao stood up, stretched, and was about to pull Mona towards the dorm, but at this moment, a student suddenly came to find Lu Xiaoyao, saying that someone was looking for her.

"Where? Who is it?"

"It's a cleaning lady, she said she's waiting for you in the east restroom on the first floor."

Hearing what the person said, Lu Xiaoyao already had a candidate in mind.

Among the people she knew, wasn't Bai Xiao playing a cleaning lady?

Without hesitation, Lu Xiaoyao asked Mona to go back first, and after dismissing her, she walked towards the place agreed upon with Bai Xiao...

"I'm very sorry, I was a little late getting off work today, I apologize."

Mingmei was concerned about what Bai Xiao wanted to talk to Lu Xiaoyao about when suddenly her shop door was pushed open. Immediately, Mingmei saw Bai Xiao walking in.

"Why are you here? Aren't you..."

The words were on the tip of her tongue, but Mingmei's expression changed, and she secretly thought it was bad!

If Bai Xiao was here, then who was looking for Lu Xiaoyao at school?

Using Bai Xiao's excuse?!