Following the address Chang Ning had given him, Ming Po descended into subway Line 5.
Swept up in the gray stream of commuters, he scrolled through his phone out of sheer boredom.
Unfortunately, without an internet connection, there was absolutely nothing to look at.
He could only re-read his old chat histories to pass the ti.
In a sense, modern society's addiction to smartphones was actually an addiction to the internet. If you couldn't connect to the web, the device was practically useless.
'Next ti I get a signal, I need to cache so stuff on this thing,' Ming Po thought.
He got off at Xidu Station and looked around.
Since he couldn't use navigation apps or ask anyone for directions, he had to rely entirely on his mory to find his destination.
Fortunately, he had been here before—and at least he hadn't left the city limits.
In truth, when Ming Po heard Gu Tao ntion being on the municipal team, and later heard Chang Ning say that he and Ke'er were trying to get into the provincial team, he had already guessed they might be from the sa area.
After all, the Shanghai municipal team was practically on par with a provincial team.
Although Gu Ke'er was a Shanghai native, Xidu Station was located in the FX District—an area where housing prices were considered cheap for the city.
Ming Po rembered that when he first moved to Shanghai as a child, apartnts here could go for as low as two hundred thousand.
Not per square ter, but for an entire apartnt!
At the ti, Ming Po had been absolutely stunned—how could Shanghai have such cheap housing?
But now, the developnt in this area was actually quite impressive. He had heard about a campaign promoting a culture of virtue over the past few years, and various infrastructure projects had already been completed. It had everything one could need, making it quite a comfortable place to live.
Contrary to Chang Ning's worries, if Ke'er lived around here, her life wouldn't be too bad.
After all, the sense of community in older neighborhoods was much stronger than in newer ones. In many modern complexes, you might not even know how many people lived across the hall. But in older districts, you could still ask your neighbors to watch your kids when you were busy, just like with "Yueyue" across the hall from his old place.
As long as Gu Ke'er hadn't been completely preyed upon for her inheritance, she would at least have neighbors looking out for her.
In tis like these, the saying that a distant relative wasn't as helpful as a near neighbor rang true.
At the very least, when people weren't struggling to make ends et, they were rarely stingy about showing kindness. That kind of self-satisfaction was a powerful form of psychological healing in itself, capable of soothing the wounds inflicted by society.
The residential complex wasn't far from the subway station, so Ming Po arrived quickly.
"...Building three, third floor," he murmured.
Standing at the door, Ming Po pondered whether he, in his current state as a ghost, could actually go inside.
He tried, but quickly realized it was impossible. Although he had no idea how his existence as a Deceiver of the World was currently classified, he couldn't pass through walls or doors.
While he couldn't pick up most objects, he still had to wait for doors to open before he could enter things like elevators or subway cars.
It felt less like a physical inability to pass through doors and walls, and more like so invisible rule.
Because of this, he couldn't just casually drift into soone else's ho.
But Ming Po soon had an idea.
He knocked on the door.
Knock, knock, knock!
An abrupt sound echoed out.
Just as he thought—
Ming Po broke into a cheerful smile.
Since he couldn't phase through the door, it only made sense that he could knock on it!
The cheerful chatter and laughter inside the apartnt ca to an abrupt halt. Due to the building's layout, sounds heard from the hallway weren't always from the imdiate apartnt... but now he was certain the laughter had co from Ke'er's unit.
However, the person who opened the door completely defied Ming Po's expectations—
It was a girl only slightly shorter than him.
She had long, straight black hair with blunt bangs across her forehead, the rest cascading all the way down to her waist. She wore a black sweater and jeans that flared out near the ankles, accentuating a terrifyingly long pair of legs.
It was the familiar neighborhood kid, the girl called "Yueyue"!
The mont she opened the door, her brow furrowed tightly as if facing a formidable enemy.
The girl looked left and right, yet she saw no one.
However, the instant she opened the door, Ming Po slipped right past her through the gap.
She only felt a sudden chill, completely unaware that a "person" had just phased through her.
"Who is it, Sister Ti Key?"
A confused and slightly uneasy voice ca from inside the room. "Is it a delivery? Or..."
"...No, nobody's here."
The girl called "Ti Key" peered out cautiously for a long ti, even checking the stairwell landing to see if anyone was hiding, but she saw absolutely no one.
Filled with suspicion, she slowly closed the door.
anwhile, Ming Po had already walked into the inner room.
There was a boy and a girl inside.
The girl had to be Gu Ke'er.
She had a brown or auburn bob cut; the curved short hair made her look like a cute apple. Even through the black-and-white filter of his vision, he could still barely make out her hair color.
Dressed in a sailor uniform, she sat on the bed, sowhat clumsily plucking at a bass guitar.
The other teenager was a boy about 1.7 ters tall. He sported dark hair of a slightly different shade—despite the monochro filter, Ming Po could guess it was likely so shade of red. This was because the ssenger bag slung over his shoulder bore an Exusiai charm from Arknights, and its color and hairstyle matched his perfectly.
He looked quite young, probably not even a college student yet. His head full of red hair clashed wildly with his boyish face, giving off a distinct old-school alternative vibe.
He watched with trepidation as Gu Ke'er enthusiastically plucked a tuneless lody, constantly begging the little miss to put his bass down.
"Stop playing my bass, Ke'er... There's nothing fun about a bass. If you want to play sothing, go play Sister Key's guitar."
"What are you saying?"
Ti Key walked back in and glared at him. "If Ke'er wants to play, let her play."
Then, her expression softened as she turned to Ke'er.
Sitting down beside Ke'er, Ti Key asked, "Do you want to learn how to play the bass or the guitar, Ke'er?"
"Just... a little bit."
Ke'er extended her right hand, pinching her thumb and index finger close together, and emphasized with complete seriousness, "Just a tiny, tiny bit..."
"Then you want to."
Ti Key said decisively, "Hesitation ans you want it, and if you want it, you should have it—I'll teach you how to play the guitar."
"I do know that a band can have two guitars..."
Ke'er shook her head. "But if you ss up on the guitar, everyone notices. I need to focus on singing, so I might not have the concentration for the guitar... It's better to learn the bass. If I make a mistake, no one will even notice."
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Hearing soone insult the bass, the red-haired boy imdiately voiced his dissatisfaction. "It's not like you can just learn the bass because you feel like it, okay?"
But it was glaringly obvious that he had very little say in this room.
"Did you take that seriously?"
Ke'er laughed, handing the bass back to him. "I'm just kidding... Besides, I don't have money to buy an instrunt. I can't afford a guitar or a bass.
"Don't worry, I didn't break it. I was just checking if it was in tune. If it's not, I can tune it for you."
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