Chapter 42#
How Could He Possibly Retire?#
In the laboratory, at least someone would need him. He had his own value.
In a completely strange world, without these things, he didn’t know what his significance would be.
There had to be something to support him in living on.
Experiments were one way to support his will to live.
He couldn’t stop working.
“I’ll send you the electronic document after the report is finished,” Wang Zhifeng said. “I haven’t watched the school anniversary for a long time. It’s rare to come across it; will you accompany me to see it?”
He changed his phrasing, and Mo Xuzhi agreed this time.
“Remember to close the door for me later; just leave the key with you. I’m leaving now.”
Mo Xuzhi took the suitcase handed over by Wang Zhifeng, checked the time on his phone, and then waved his hand, saying:
“Wait for me to come back.”
Wang Zhifeng nodded: “Waiting for you to come back.”
Mo Xuzhi went out the door.
A fine breeze blew toward him, causing the shadows of the trees outside the balcony to sway constantly.
The young man’s silhouette appeared both ethereal and vibrant under the sunlight.
His back was straight like a pine tree, like a June morning breeze, carrying endless vitality and freshness.
When he returned after leaving this time, he would never leave again.
Wang Zhifeng stood on the balcony, watching Mo Xuzhi appear downstairs, seeing him greet the students along the way, his figure disappearing at a corner of the teaching building.
Mo Xuzhi took a taxi directly to the amusement park.
It was quite a coincidence.
Mo Xuzhi stood at the entrance of the amusement park for a long while before finally realizing that this was the same amusement park he and Luo Wenyun had visited before.
“Is that Teacher Mo?”
The program crew’s staff had been waiting at the entrance. Seeing a taxi drive over, they originally thought it was just a passerby and didn’t mind. When someone got out, stared at the gate for a long time, and held a suitcase, they finally realized.
It wasn’t their fault; it was mainly because Mo Xuzhi was wrapped too tightly—wearing a hat and a mask, with only his eyes showing. It was normal not to recognize him instantly.
Hearing the staff member’s voice, Mo Xuzhi took off his hat and nodded. His voice came through the mask, sounding a bit muffled. He said, “It’s me.”
Two or three staff members immediately ran over. Someone wanted to help him carry the suitcase, but he smiled and politely declined: “The suitcase isn’t heavy; I can do it myself.”
The staff member led Mo Xuzhi into the amusement park, introducing it as they walked.
“This area hasn’t been completely renovated yet; finishing work is still in progress. You can go in in a few days.”
“That area is accessible; it connects to an indoor swimming pool. You can try it if you want later.”
“…Over there is the resting area. The others came in two separate routes and are still stuck on the road. Filming will start after everyone arrives. Teacher Mo can go to the resting area to play for a bit or look around.”
Mo Xuzhi directly chose the resting area.
The resting area was a building similar to a modern villa, with a minimalist technological feel, clearly designed with effort.
The others hadn’t arrived yet. After Mo Xuzhi found the room assigned to him by the program crew and briefly packed his things, he returned to the living room. He took out the cakes and cookies Wang Zhifeng had packed for him and shared them with the staff.
Wang Zhifeng seemed to have a major misunderstanding of his appetite, having packed quite a lot of cakes and cookies for him.
Not long after, the others arrived.
The director had all the guests gather in the living room after they had finished packing their luggage.
Mo Xuzhi sat on the sofa playing ‘Xiao Xiao Le’ (Match-3).
This was a small game recommended to him by others in the research institute. Although a bit boring, it was perfect for passing time.
Mo Xuzhi ate a small cookie and started a new level.
He could mix this with Tetris later.
The others also finished packing and came down.
The seat beside him dipped slightly; someone sat down next to him. Mo Xuzhi didn’t turn his head and took another small cookie.
Someone saw him take a cookie and reached out for a small cake as well.
“Is everyone here?”
The director sitting on the other side counted the people and nodded to himself, “All here.”
“Mhm!” Li Jing, holding a cake, widened her well-shaped eyes and said indistinctly, “So good.”
She swallowed the cake in her mouth, turned to the director and asked, “Where did you buy this cake?”
This cake was different from the ones they usually ate. She couldn’t say specifically why, but it just inexplicably felt tastier.
The program crew actually deigned to buy them snacks.
“I didn’t buy it,” the director also grabbed a cookie and put it in his mouth, then turned to ask the staff, “Where did these come from?”
The staff answered truthfully: “Teacher Mo brought them.”
The others looked at Mo Xuzhi.
Mo Xuzhi looked down at his phone.
He had played too fast just now and was out of energy, so he switched back to Tetris.
Various blocks on the phone screen fell at an incredibly fast speed.
The cameraman patted his shoulder.
The block wasn’t placed in the right spot in time, and the subsequent blocks fell one layer after another, quickly exceeding the designated range.
Game over.
A trace of regret appeared in the eyes of the people next to him, and they withdrew their gazes.
Mo Xuzhi put away his phone and looked up, asking, “What’s wrong?”
“Just wanted to ask where you bought the cake and cookies.” Li Jing couldn’t help but take another cookie, saying, “They’re surprisingly delicious.”
“If you like them, in the future you can…”
Mo Xuzhi’s words paused abruptly.
The others looked at him.
He continued, “These were made by a family member. She’s gone to learn Sichuan cuisine now and said she won’t be doing baking anymore.”
The cakes and cookies were made by the aunties and uncles in the Academy of Sciences’ small cafeteria. Their usual cooking was required by the higher-ups not to be oily or salty but light and healthy—their abilities were greatly restricted, so they had to pour their enthusiasm for the Academy’s researchers into baking.
The cakes and cookies they made were unexpectedly delicious, even becoming a culinary feature of the Academy. When people from other research institutes came for exchanges, they liked to take a couple back.
Usually, he and Wang Zhifeng also liked to take a couple when they went on business trips.
It wasn’t hard to get cookies and cakes; you just had to ask. But this time, and including in the future, there would likely be no chance to bring some for them.
After the plot ended, he would probably no longer have any contact with this colorful mixing bowl that was the entertainment industry, nor with anyone sitting here now.
His meaning was that there would be no more.
Li Jing sighed in disappointment.
Afterward, the director stopped the topic in time and brought the theme back to the main point.
“This is the final location of our first season. The arrangement for these few days is…”
While the program crew was having its meeting, the second episode of the variety show was officially broadcast on major video platforms.
The view count surged rapidly.
The previous first episode had stopped just before the start of the song adaptation competition, showing the preparation stage of several guests, with several ambiguous scenes and a direct CP mix-cut. The content was substantial and had explosive points, yet it was still scolded into the trending searches.
The reason was that the footage of the person singing in the trailer, who hadn’t been identified yet, didn’t appear in the first episode at all. Much content that seemed exciting was artificially cut, and the program crew directly won the “Worst Editing Award.”
Netizens waited for the second episode while scolding.
The second episode covered the competition process, including the entrance of several guests. The camera focused on the unprecedented activity of fans when the guests appeared, as well as Mo Xuzhi’s line “Retiring after playing for a bit longer.”
[My legs are numb from squatting. Standing for a bit (lighting a cigarette mournfully). Where is the program crew’s conscience? Where is the person I saw singing ‘Whale’? Two episodes and I still haven’t seen them.]
[Mo Xuzhi said he’s retiring?? Hahahaha, you’re killing me. If he retires, I’ll wash my hair while doing a handstand.]
[“Retiring after playing for a bit.” Gross. How long has he been ‘playing’? I don’t know how he became famous; he doesn’t even have any decent work, just knows how to film variety shows to leech traffic.]
[Don’t you think Shen Le and Luo Wenyun are a good match?! Them being together is killing me with sweetness! Reunited old friends are the best!]
[Ah? I actually think handsome Du and a certain Mo are very ship-worthy?]
[Mo Xuzhi retiring, you’re killing me. I’ll put one yuan here; if he really retires, I’ll directly perform a New Year’s greeting to everyone.]
Just tens of minutes after the program was broadcast, the hashtag #MoXuzhiRetiring# directly shot onto the trending searches.
No major events happened today. Half an hour after the program was broadcast, the top three trending searches were all related to the program, and #MoXuzhiRetiring# hit the top of the trending list.
[#MoXuzhiRetiring# The biggest joke I’ve heard today. Mo Xuzhi actually said he’s retiring.]
[Is he really retiring? Really? Don’t lie to me; I’m prepared to go downstairs and buy firecrackers!]
[Laughing my head off. Although that’s the case, don’t be too optimistic. The possibility of a certain Mo retiring is not large at all. Besides, he just said it casually; just listen and move on, don’t be happy too early.]
[That’s exactly right. Following the same ‘black and red’ path, Mo Xuzhi outlasted KSX’s retirement, outlasted a certain idol group’s collective fake donation scandal retirement, and outlasted that movie king’s retirement. He’s outlasted three waves of people; outlasting a few more shouldn’t be a problem at all.]
[Putting my words here: if he really retires, I’ll come back and treat everyone to Bobo Chicken.]
[No work, no strength. He’ll fade sooner or later. When there’s no more money to be made, he’ll naturally retire.]
Almost no netizens took this matter as a serious topic.
They were used to it. Every once in a while, a trending search about “Mo Xuzhi suspected of preparing to retire” would pop up. After seeing it many times, they had developed immunity and would just treat it as a joke and check in.
This time would surely be the same as before. The only difference was that the word “retiring” came from Mo Xuzhi’s own mouth.
His relaxed and casual posture, which looked like he was joking, made it hard for people to believe the truth of his words.
“These netizens really believe everything people say.”
After the temporary small meeting ended, the director went to have a meeting with other staff members. Several guests were sitting in the living room, huddled with their phones in twos and threes, looking relaxed.
Zhang Xuanxuan leaned on Li Jing beside her, smacked her lips, and said, “How could Teacher Mo possibly retire?”
She looked at Mo Xuzhi, “Right, Teacher Mo?”
Meeting Luo Wenyun’s gaze, Mo Xuzhi looked up and smiled.