The mascot of the wishing shop is a cat.

Chapter 168 Two Flowers Bloom

After accepting Xi Yue's candy, Melos reached out and ruffled her round little head.

Then, seeing Xi Yue's bewildered expression, he pulled her into his arms, turned around, and spoke to the dean beside him.

"I want to adopt her. What procedures are required? Don't worry, I will continue to sponsor your orphanage."

"Uh...this..."

Dean Zhao hesitated for a moment.

"What? No?"

Melos frowned, looking at Dean Zhao with some dissatisfaction.

"Ah, no, that's not it."

Dean Zhao nervously rubbed his hands together. After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said.

"Our laws here prohibit young single men from adopting children. Because we're afraid of... afraid of..."

Dean Zhao's words became even more vague.

What are you afraid of?

Meros simply couldn't understand. Much of his knowledge about humanity came from books and materials, and some of it was taught to him by Lin Xiyue during this time. So he really didn't understand what he was afraid of. Wouldn't it be better if someone adopted a child?

"I'm afraid of perverts harassing children!"

Seeing the impatience in Moros's eyes, Dean Zhao didn't care whether he would offend the wealthy bigwig. He gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and shouted it out loud.

"???!"

Meros was taken aback at first, then realized that this person was worried about him.

He suddenly felt both angry and amused. He was angry because he didn't seem like a freak at all. He was amused because this Dean Zhao was really honest and just said it like that, without even worrying about offending the investors.

"Don't worry, I... never mind, I'll have someone call you, just wait a moment."

Moros initially wanted to say that he was not young, but then he thought that if converted to human age, he would probably be too young to adopt, so he could only send a message to Ye Qingwan and ask her to handle it.

Not long after, Ye Qingwan called Dean Zhao.

Through their phone call, Ye Qingwan managed to persuade Dean Zhao to reluctantly agree to Mo Luosi's request to adopt Xi Yue. He also emphasized that they would visit her frequently.

So, after so many twists and turns, Meros finally got his wish and took his little girl home.

Instead of choosing the apartment he had previously selected for Lin Xiyue, he bought a large single-level apartment and moved in with the young girl.

He thought that he could discuss the house he had chosen for Lin Xiyue with her, decorate it together, and then move in together.

..............................

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

Over there, Meros is working hard to learn how to raise children, while over here, Lin Xiyue has just returned to the timeline she should be in.

"Cough cough cough, why is my whole body still aching so much even after I got back? o(╥﹏╥)o"

As soon as Lin Xiyue regained consciousness, she found herself leaning against the wall of a small alley, her whole body aching terribly, unable to move at all.

[Well, there's nothing we can do. You came back early this time, and you already had some physical damage. Time travel isn't like being resurrected; how could we possibly repair your body? It's a miracle you weren't split into several pieces when we teleported you back. ┐(￣ー￣)┌]

The system's tone was full of "You should be content," and perhaps because it had returned to the original timeline, it spoke with much more assertiveness.

"What do I do now? Also, I remember I was in the store when I left, so where did this take me?"

After resting for a while, Lin Xiyue felt a little better and began to tentatively stand up while asking the system questions.

[Well, you have to allow for some margin of error. Even missile launches have errors, so it's normal for something as big as time travel to have some. As for where you are now... let me check...]

After saying that, the system disappeared. It seems it went to look up some information.

Lin Xiyue, of course, couldn't be foolish enough to stand there and wait for the system to return, since the surrounding environment was absolutely terrible.

She looked up, and the first thing that caught her eye was the dirty red brick wall covered with thick moss. The moss seemed to have draped the wall in a dark green coat, making it look particularly eerie.

Looking around her, there were several bulging garbage bags haphazardly placed, emitting a nauseating stench.

What's even more terrifying is that just now, a gray mouse, about the size of a kitten, brazenly scurried past her! It was incredibly fast, leaving only a gray afterimage and a series of soft footsteps.

The scene here is nothing like the spotless environment of a safe zone, where robots clean regularly every day.

All signs indicate that she is very likely in a slum at this moment. For a frail woman like her, whose entire body is in excruciating pain, being in such a place would undoubtedly be extremely dangerous.

Despite the pain, Lin Xiyue struggled to walk out of the alley and into the light-filled area.

"Hey boss! Look what we found! A hot chick! And dressed so provocatively, isn't she just trying to seduce us?"

A sleazy, unpleasant voice rang out behind Lin Xiyue.

The words spoken by that voice not only disgusted Lin Xiyue but also made her uneasy. Judging from the footsteps, there were at least four or five people. Given her current state, where even standing and walking was difficult, it would be hard for her to protect herself.

When the first sound rang out, Lin Xiyue stopped trying to move her feet. If she showed weakness now, she would be completely at their mercy.

Therefore, even if her previous actions were seen by others, she cannot appear to be defenseless.

So Lin Xiyue straightened up and leaned slightly against the wall to look into the alley.

There were about six people approaching, all dressed in punk jackets, their bodies covered in a jumble of self-modified metal accessories that jingled as they walked. However, because they were backlit in the alley, she couldn't make out their faces.

"Don't talk nonsense. She's obviously a rich girl. I don't know what a rich girl like her would do in our dirty and chaotic slum. But since she's here, we should show her the unique features of our slum."

A voice that should have belonged to their leader rang out. This voice was noticeably more composed than the previous flippant one, but the ruthlessness in his words indicated that he was no pushover.

"Yes, yes, the boss is right!"

Another thug immediately started flattering their boss.

……