AYLS -Chapter 146

At night, when Lin Qiao checked her progress bar before going to sleep, she noticed it had jumped quite a bit. Previously, it had been just over forty percent—now it was almost fifty.

She didn’t understand what exactly had triggered this sudden jump.

“How is this possible? Fat Cat, what does this progress bar even want me to do? I haven’t done anything today. Could it be because Ermie arrived? Does the progress bar like her?”

The fat cat lay there, unwilling to move.

It had been out of energy for a long time and had no interest in this useless player, especially now that the task progress bar had moved…

The fat cat felt like tearing its hair out.

Lin Qiao spent a long time trying to figure out what had triggered the progress bar to advance so much, but she couldn’t.

Unable to solve it in the middle of the night, she dozed off, half-awake.

That night, she had a pleasant dream: she, Su Weizhen, the children in the courtyard, and the old soldiers were all raising chickens together.

The entire yard was full of hens, roosters, and chicks. Bending down, she could pick up fresh white eggs.

She laughed out loud in her dream, feeling so happy.

The fat cat tried hard to cover its ears.

Li Ermie had come with a mission. After handing it over, she left the next day to report back.

The eggs she brought kept Lin Qiao, Su Weizhen, and the hens at the chicken farm busy.

To take care of Su Weizhen’s health, Lin Qiao willingly took on more work. She was busy from morning till night, but deep down, she looked forward to it.

If all these eggs hatched, it would be a strong start to the year.

Within half a year, they would lay eggs, and by the end of the year, there would be a huge harvest. Just imagining the scene of abundance made her happy.

Director Hao also took this seriously. As soon as the snow melted, he arranged for the logistics team to begin expanding the chicken farm. After all, the eggs would hatch in just a month or two, so everything had to be prepared in advance.

Lin Qiao worked busily, growing more energetic the more she did, and her progress bar slowly increased each day. The fat cat was getting extremely anxious.

“You’re really raising chickens here? Have you forgotten your previous world? Life was so good there, and your father’s company… Are you really going to leave it to his illegitimate child?”

Now it understood. This player had truly turned the game into a base-building simulation. Wherever she went, she raised chickens—it didn’t seem like she had any intention of finishing the game.

Lin Qiao said, “No rush. I’ll finish the work here first, and then I’ll try to complete the game. Besides, Gu Huayuan isn’t even at home right now—who would I be completing the game for? Also, I noticed that raising chickens seems to move the progress bar too.”

The fat cat replied, “…That’s not because of the chickens. There’s another reason.”

“Who cares why? As long as it progresses, that’s enough. I’ll just do it this way.” Lin Qiao wasn’t in a hurry to leave, so she felt no sense of urgency at all.

“You’re not avoiding leaving because of Gu Huayuan, are you?” the fat cat deliberately asked.

Lin Qiao pouted. “Not at all! I’m doing this for many people! For my dreams.”

The fat cat didn’t believe her. If Gu Huayuan weren’t here, it wouldn’t believe Lin Qiao could be this happy.

If Gu Huayuan weren’t here…

The cat’s remaining energy was low. Changing someone else’s fate would bring enormous consequences, and the energy cost would be huge.

But now this player was becoming increasingly uncooperative, which made it feel a sense of crisis.

The mission progress bar was already halfway full. Later, once she figured out the patterns, progress would be even faster.

It had to admit—the player didn’t follow the usual rules, making controllability nearly zero.

It now had to find a way to earn a bit of negative energy first.

After carefully calculating its remaining resources and potential gains, the fat cat decided to use the little negative energy it had left to stir up some trouble.

After the snow melted, many soldiers who had been stationed at the outposts would start returning for shifts.

These soldiers had been deployed before the Spring Festival. Coming back this time meant they could take a few days off to visit their families.

Even with the handover approaching, no one slackened off. Everyone stood their posts seriously for the final watch.

Gu Huayuan personally led the incoming shift in patrolling and reconnaissance around the area.

He went to several outposts himself to inspect.

When he was checking the last outpost, he began the handover with the incoming personnel. While giving instructions, someone shouted, “Company commander, we’ve got a sighting!”

……

“Xiao Qiao, Xiao Qiao, hurry to the hospital, your Xiao Gu is in trouble!”

Lin Qiao was busy working, sweating from her efforts. Wiping her sweat with the back of her hand, she saw Sister-in-law Sheng rushing in anxiously.

Hearing that Gu Huayuan was in trouble, Lin Qiao froze, “What happened? Did he make a mistake?”

“He was injured, beaten. They’ve sent him to the hospital. You need to go see him immediately.”

Lin Qiao was stunned by the news, “Injured? Gu Huayuan?”

Beside her, Su Weizhen dropped the water cup she was holding. She thought she might have remembered the time wrong—Gu Huayuan getting hurt now? No way, her Elder Xu was still at home.

She was about to comfort Xiao Qiao when Lin Qiao, eyes red, ran out. Sister-in-law Sheng quickly followed.

Su Weizhen couldn’t stay either, afraid a tragedy might replay. She worried that her presence might have prematurely affected Gu Huayuan’s fate.

Just thinking about it made her dizzy and nauseous. She hurried to find Xu Yuanzheng.

Meanwhile, Lin Qiao rushed to the hospital. The army, aware of her situation, had arranged a vehicle to take her there. She cried uncontrollably in the car, anxiously asking the fat cat if Gu Huayuan would be okay.

The fat cat didn’t respond at all. It lay limp in its chair as if utterly drained. When Lin Qiao called it, it just raised an eyelid.

As Lin Qiao’s anxiety intensified, its energy slowly began to recover, but it was still far from its usual state.

It knew Gu Huayuan would be fine. Its energy wasn’t enough to completely alter his fate yet. For now, it could only severely injure him, causing the player to generate more negative energy, which it could then absorb.

It naturally didn’t say anything to comfort Lin Qiao.

Seeing it like this, Lin Qiao felt even sadder. So much had happened today—Gu Huayuan was injured, the fat cat was in this pitiful state. She felt isolated and helpless.

Upon arriving at the hospital, she saw several soldiers anxiously standing outside. She recognized them—they were from Gu Huayuan’s reconnaissance company. She had met them before.

Seeing her, they all called out, “Sister-in-law!”

“Don’t worry, Sister-in-law. The company commander will be fine.”

“Yes, yes, don’t cry, Sister-in-law.”

Lin Qiao pressed her lips together tightly, sorrowful. “Don’t lie to me. He’s already in the hospital. How could he be fine? What’s his condition now?”

The veterans from the recon company were unsure what to say.

It had all happened so suddenly—no one saw how the company commander got injured. Even in combat, with his skills, he wouldn’t have been hurt like this. It was as if he had been hit while standing there.

At this moment, Gu Huayuan lay in the operating room, dreaming.

In his dream, he relived past experiences. Someone reported illegal border crossings.

Such incidents were common at the frontier. The borders were long, and some people risked crossing illegally.

Gu Huayuan’s unit had sent troops. The intruders’ identities were clear—they were soldiers from a neighboring country conducting reconnaissance.

Naturally, they didn’t surrender easily, and conflict broke out.

The reconnaissance company were experienced veterans, battle-hardened. Their combat ability was formidable. They quickly suppressed the intruders.

Gu Huayuan was skilled—taking on two at once was no problem. But as he subdued them, his body suddenly went out of control, paralyzed for a moment, and then he got hit on the head.

The dream ended, and he opened his eyes.

In front of him were Lin Qiao’s red, tear-streaked eyes.

“Xiao Qiao,” Gu Huayuan smiled at her.

Lin Qiao cried, “And you’re smiling? Do you even know how badly you’re hurt? The doctor said if it were any worse, you would…”

Her tears fell uncontrollably, each drop piercing Gu Huayuan’s heart.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing. We’ve seen bigger battles on the battlefield before.”

“Stop lying,” Lin Qiao didn’t believe him. “You used to brag about your skills, and yet you got hurt.”

“…”

Even Gu Huayuan felt embarrassed about that.

Being injured by someone like that was truly humiliating.

“It was an accident.”

“What accident? Can there be accidents on the battlefield? You were just careless. I heard they said you got distracted. What were you thinking? Fighting while distracted—really makes me furious.”

Listening to their account, Lin Qiao felt both sad and angry.

Gu Huayuan didn’t know how to explain what had happened, and didn’t want excuses, so he simply admitted, “I was wrong.”

“If you make a mistake, you have to correct it. You can’t get hurt like this again. It’s too worrying.”

Gu Huayuan smiled. “You’ve been worried, Comrade Xiao Qiao.”

“As long as you know… I didn’t sleep all night. I was just watching over you… I was afraid you wouldn’t…”

As Lin Qiao spoke, the panic she felt before returned, and she broke down in tears.

It was truly terrifying. A perfectly healthy person suddenly lying in a hospital bed, their head tightly bandaged. The once spirited face suddenly so haggard.

Just like her grandparents—good people, and one day, suddenly gone.

She was afraid Gu Huayuan would leave her too, that he wouldn’t want her anymore.

If this world lost Gu Huayuan, she didn’t know what she would do.

“I’m not going to die. Stop crying. Your crying is giving me a headache,” Gu Huayuan said, showing discomfort on his face.

Lin Qiao quickly wiped her eyes. “Then I won’t cry. Don’t hurt.”

Hearing that, Gu Huayuan couldn’t help but smile and reached out to wipe her face. “I wasn’t hurting, just seeing you cry made me feel bad. Comrade Xiao Qiao, your tears are even stronger than an enemy’s fists.”

“…” Lin Qiao blushed, pursed her lips, and then said indignantly, “When are you going to stop saying these things?”

“You’re my wife. There’s never a wrong time to say this.”

Seeing the redness in Lin Qiao’s eyes, Gu Huayuan felt genuinely distressed and told her to go rest first.

“No, I’m staying here with you,” Lin Qiao protested.

“Then lie down and sleep for a while.”

Lin Qiao wasn’t at ease. “I’ll have a doctor check you first. If everything’s fine, then I’ll sleep.”

“Okay.”

The moment the doctor heard Lin Qiao say Gu Huayuan was awake, he hurried over to examine him.

Once all his vital signs were normal, he finally relaxed. “You’re safely through it.”

Lin Qiao asked, “So there won’t be any aftereffects, right?”

The doctor replied, “No.”

“That’s a relief,” Lin Qiao finally felt reassured.

Gu Huayuan smiled. “Go eat something first, wash your face. Seeing you like this gives me a headache.”

Feeling a bit slighted, Lin Qiao huffed and left to get herself freshened up.

As she left, she still worried, “You won’t fall asleep again, right?”

Gu Huayuan sighed. “I won’t. Or do you want to ask the doctor?”

The doctor smiled. “Don’t worry, Comrade Xiao Qiao.”

Only then did Lin Qiao leave, finally reassured.

Once she was gone, Gu Huayuan asked the doctor, “Doctor, is there nothing else wrong with my body? Any hidden illnesses?”

The doctor looked surprised. “Why would you think that?”

“I just feel like something’s wrong with my body. Suddenly, it felt like my whole body went numb.”

Hearing this, the doctor became serious. “There’s this too? Then we need to do a thorough check. If it’s real, it could be serious.”

Gu Huayuan nodded. “Sorry to trouble you.”