AYLS -Chapter 166

Su Weizhen wasn’t clear on the exact details either. She only knew what had happened during this period through some history books and memoirs she had read.

Especially the matters concerning the Gu family.

She actually didn’t know exactly when the Gu family got into trouble, nor did she know the exact reason. She could only infer from the historical timeline that the Gu family must have been implicated in the major historical incident of that period, which was why they were later sent to the farm.

It wasn’t until the 1980s that the Gu family members were released.

She described everything she knew—the parts of history she understood, and the fragments she knew about the Gu family—bit by bit.

Xu Yuanzheng, Gu Huayuan, and Xiao Qiao all grew increasingly heavy-hearted.

All because of the events that were about to unfold.

Su Weizhen sighed. “Comrade Gu Huayuan, you really need to find a way to help your family avoid all of this.”

Gu Huayuan shook his head helplessly. “This probably isn’t something I can stop.”

He knew his father too well. To be precise, people of that generation were all like that.

Once someone had been on the battlefield, retreat was no longer an option.

Even if they knew the outcome, they would still rush straight into it.

Xu Yuanzheng felt the same.

Su Weizhen asked anxiously, “Then are we just going to let things develop the same way they did in the original history?”

Lin Qiao also looked at Gu Huayuan with worry.

She didn’t want Father Gu to run into trouble either.

Gu Huayuan didn’t speak. It seemed he was deep in thought.

Xu Yuanzheng sighed, pulled Su Weizhen along, and left.

At times like this, he felt it was better to leave Old Gu alone to clear his mind. If it were him in this situation, he would be conflicted too.

Thinking of what would happen in the future, Xu Yuanzheng felt like a heavy stone was pressing down on his heart.

After the couple left, Lin Qiao tugged at Gu Huayuan’s hand. “Are we really not going to do anything about Dad? Even if Dad is stubborn, we can still find ways to avoid things.”

Gu Huayuan sighed. “Xiao Qiao, this isn’t just about our dad. It’s about many people.”

He was weighed down at this moment.

It wasn’t fear of death—he wasn’t afraid of that. How could he feel distressed just because his father might suffer a bit at the farm?

Honestly, the hardships his father had endured in his youth were more severe than anything at the farm. And things had ended well in the end.

So that wasn’t enough to burden him.

What weighed on him was the overarching direction of future events.

What he had been thinking about just now was whether history could be changed.

“Xiao Qiao… do you think history can be changed?”

Xiao Qiao immediately asked Fat Cat.

Fat Cat pointed at itself. “How should I know? In the original storyline, Gu Huayuan doesn’t die. He even becomes Su Weizhen’s benefactor. But Su Weizhen never revealed her secret, so Gu Huayuan didn’t have all this distress. And the question of altering history never existed.”

In short, the original author hadn’t changed the flow of history at all.

Everything developed exactly as it originally did.

After all, that world had only one protagonist—Su Weizhen—so everything followed her life and career. And Su Weizhen had never considered altering history.

Fat Cat was honestly annoyed now. How had a romance-style game turned into this?

Hearing this, Lin Qiao felt annoyed as well. She sarcastically called Fat Cat useless, then expressed her own thoughts: “I don’t know whether history can be changed or not, but Gu Huayuan, aren’t we already doing things that change it? Those documents weren’t supposed to appear here, but we’ve already brought them out, haven’t we?”

Her words were like a slap that woke a dreamer.

Gu Huayuan’s eyes lit up.

Then he chuckled and tapped his own forehead.

Right—he had been overthinking.

He had been considering everything far too carefully, worrying about affecting future development, worrying about influencing future generations, even worrying that this world might be pushed toward an unknown direction.

But the future of the world was unknown by nature.

If the original history could develop positively despite the unknown, then there was no reason this altered scenario had to develop worse.

But… how should he influence things?

He contemplated the possibility of altering this historical event. Many historical events happened due to underlying inevitabilities—contradictions in the course of societal development.

Could an individual really change that? What could he do?

For this matter, Gu Huayuan was weighed down. Even though he hid it well, Lin Qiao could still sense it.

After holding back for two days, she finally couldn’t stand it anymore. “Why think so much? If you really want to do something, then just do it. Don’t let yourself regret it.”

Gu Huayuan explained what he’d been thinking about.

Lin Qiao said, “You’re just overthinking. Since we don’t know how to handle it, then just leave it to the people who actually can.”

Gu Huayuan: “…”

This was the difference in their educational backgrounds. Gu Huayuan had been taught from childhood that he must shoulder everything himself.

He mustn’t cause trouble for the organization.

But for Xiao Qiao, if something went wrong, there would always be someone taller to hold up the sky. Besides, she couldn’t get involved in such major matters anyway. It was better to raise pigs properly, raise chickens properly, then cry a little to increase Fat Cat’s energy, send some materials over, and contribute what she could.

After the two discussed it, Gu Huayuan finally agreed with Xiao Qiao’s view. They should leave this matter to people capable of resolving it.

They decided to have Fat Cat deliver a message—by directly sending over a history book.

But getting that history book was not easy.

The moment Fat Cat heard they wanted to hand over so much historical information, it instantly became displeased.

“What do you mean it’s hard? Isn’t it just some knowledge?” Lin Qiao didn’t believe Fat Cat.

Fat Cat rolled its eyes. “Every world has its own rules. Once you, as a player, pick a faction, that faction becomes the player’s faction. The technology I provided before at most counts as you paying to buy gear. But nobody said you can pay to buy the game’s lore. If you play a game and already know what’s coming next, that’s a serious bug. How are you supposed to play? It could cause a crash.”

Lin Qiao said, “But doesn’t Zhenzhen also know about historical events?”

“That’s because she’s an NPC, and she naturally has that ability. And haven’t you noticed she never knows specifics? That’s the boundary set by the game. Everything she can do is within the rules.”

Lin Qiao said, “What about me then? The game didn’t set limits on my ability.”

“She’s an NPC, you’re a player. If you have the knowledge, that belongs to your player ability, so of course it won’t be restricted. But… do you actually have it?”

“…” That was hurtful!

Fat Cat added, “Also, when selecting players, we deliberately avoid choosing overly capable people. That’s also part of the game’s design.”

For example, if they picked someone like Gu Huayuan as a player—would the game even be playable?

Lin Qiao felt stifled. “So when you told me and Gu Huayuan that you could spoil the future—that was a lie?”

“Ahem, back then you two had already figured out my bottom line. To protect myself, I had to tell a few lies.” Originally it planned to feed them fake spoilers to get them into trouble, but they never fell for it.

Lin Qiao gritted her teeth. “You even lied to me before, saying that if I completed your tasks, you could tell me how the story would unfold!”

Back then, that damned fat cat tempted her to go against Ermie, to be enemies with Zhenzhen, using that promise. She remembered it all.

Fat Cat licked its paws. “I didn’t lie about that. As a task reward, I can let you know. But only after you complete a task. That’s the only way to activate the reward mechanism. And all it does is let you know.”

Lin Qiao stormed out and told Gu Huayuan everything.

After a moment of silence, Gu Huayuan asked, “If you learn the information, can you tell others?”

“Oh!”

Lin Qiao immediately ran back in to ask Fat Cat if she could share the information once she knew it.

“You’re a player—you have that permission.” Fat Cat spread its paws.

“Then if I write everything down myself and you help me copy and paste it, that should work, right?”

Fat Cat nodded. “Of course. But you can’t pay for spoilers. You must complete tasks. The reward mechanism only activates after you finish a task. I issue the task, you complete it, and I’m required to tell you a certain period of this world’s historical progression.”

Lin Qiao asked cautiously, “You’re not going to make me play the villainess, are you? I’m warning you, I’m not compromising my morals.”

Fat Cat immediately projected a bunch of options onto the screen—things like cleaning the toilets, sleeping in the pigsty, scheming to harm others… including the one where it previously asked Xiao Qiao to harm Li Ermei. Basically, everything that would put her in a tough spot.

“You choose. These were all designed by the dog-brained game developers. Only by completing one of these tasks can you trigger the reward.”

Lin Qiao: “…”

She went out and told Gu Huayuan about Fat Cat’s restrictions—without mentioning anything about the game—only that Fat Cat was man-made, and its creator had set limitations.

After hearing all this, Gu Huayuan tested Fat Cat a few times. Fat Cat still insisted on its logic.

So Gu Huayuan told Lin Qiao to give it a try.

Fat Cat huffed, “Look at him—he doesn’t feel distressed for you at all. Why do you give so much for him? He’s nowhere near as good as the men in those stories!”

It had listened to too many tales of revolutionary heroes lately, so its standards had risen.

But Lin Qiao ignored it completely.

If Gu Huayuan truly abandoned the greater good for her sake, then he wouldn’t be the Gu Huayuan she admired.

That night, Lin Qiao accepted a task—to run a three-kilometer cross-country trek the next day. To build up her strength, she went to bed early.

She woke up before dawn since she still had to work during the day.

Unexpectedly, Gu Huayuan had gotten up even earlier.

He put on her shoes and socks, then lifted her onto his back and headed out.

“Hey—Gu Huayuan, what are you doing?” Lin Qiao clung to his arm, not understanding what he was up to.

“Cross-country,”

Gu Huayuan said with a smile.

Lin Qiao: “…”

Fat Cat: “…” You can do that?!

Gu Huayuan didn’t know whether this would work, but he wanted to try.

He didn’t want to leave this kind of task all to Xiao Qiao alone.

He never intended for Xiao Qiao to face difficulties by herself.

He had to at least try. Games were created by people—any set of rules would have loopholes.

The weather had gotten cold, and a chilly morning wind was blowing.

Lin Qiao shrank back a little, wiped her eyes, and lightly thumped Gu Huayuan. “Gu Huayuan, put me down.”

“No.” Gu Huayuan was firm.

He even ran faster.

The sweat on his forehead dripped down, falling straight into Lin Qiao’s heart with every drop.

She said to Fat Cat, “Fat Cat, did you see that? He’s not lacking in anything. He’s wonderful.”

Fat Cat: “…”

Three kilometers wasn’t much for Gu Huayuan, but carrying someone still made a difference. After finishing, his clothes were soaked with sweat and he was breathing hard, but his eyes were bright.

“Xiao Qiao, is this okay?”

Lin Qiao glanced at the task progress and saw it had been completed. Joy bubbled up, and she was just about to say “yes,” but then something occurred to her. She shook her head. “No.”

Gu Huayuan frowned. “No?”

Lin Qiao nodded. “That’s right. It looks like this one has to be completed by the person themselves. You can’t substitute.”

Gu Huayuan’s face instantly darkened.

Lin Qiao said, “These tasks are really simple. They’re not hard at all. You don’t need to interfere.”

“I’ll think of another way,” Gu Huayuan exhaled deeply.

Fat Cat asked, “Why did you lie to him?”

“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.” Lin Qiao pressed her lips together.

She had never felt that helping the country was something she did because of Gu Huayuan, so naturally this task wasn’t something Gu Huayuan needed to handle.

Since it was something she wanted to do, she should complete it herself. How could she let Gu Huayuan do it for her?

Gu Huayuan wanted to protect her, but she also wanted to protect him.