16 Alicia

When Chang Xiuying caught up to the two, she remembered every details she saw on that deathly place. The woman was stepping on a hill of corpses that were dreadful, monstrous, and more vicious than any of the species she had seen alive.

You can compare them to the Prehistoric Lifeforms that lived hundreds of millions of years ago. Despite the huge difference of power and size, she had killed them all with no wounds in her body, signifying that their battle ends to be one-sided. When you look further behind her, you can see more of such hills.

She unknowingly smiled at the scene while feeling the wild thumping of her heart. Chang Xiuying can't figure out if it's fear or... excitement.

"We're home! Auntie, let me open the door for you!" Chang Xiuying looked at the child who opened the glass door of the condominium. The little girl held the door until Auntie Zoe entered but some people followed suit. Auntie Zoe continued walking, knowing the little girl is following her.

"Oh my, what a diligent child. Thank you for opening the door for this old me." An old lady entered and patted her head before departing.

"Alicia~ so cute! Helping Sister Zoe, aiyooo~ so cute! Visit me and we'll play. I'll bake you cookies too!" A girl in her 20s pinched the little girl's cheeks with no reserve before waving goodbye.

A teenage boy in his black uniform looked at Alicia with sparkles in his eyes. The little girl stared back and tilted her head, her arms were trembling because she's still holding the glass door ever since Auntie Zoe entered. The teenage boy held the glass door and carried Alicia in his arms.

"Eh?" Alicia cutely let out a confused voice.

The teenage boy ruffled the little girl's head then kissed her forehead gently.

"Eh? Eh? EH?" Alicia expressed her confusion as she stared at the teenage boy. He closed the glass door and walked in Auntie Zoe's direction. Chang Xiuying smiled awkwardly when she saw this kind of scene. However, a realization dawned upon her. This scene never happened and the boy didn't even appear once in her previous memory.

Then, she saw the boy's looked directly at her eyes but immediately averted it. She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the boy's back.

'What the?'

But suddenly, she saw the one she's tailing earlier, the black-hooded man, entered inside and followed them. Her eyes twitched, instead of following the strange boy, she walked behind the black-hooded fellow in the opposite direction from Auntie Zoe's room.

The boy stopped walking and looked back at Chang Xiuying. His eyes saddened as he breathed out a sigh.

"Brother, why did you stop? Auntie Zoe is getting far."

The boy pinched the little girl's nose. "You don't have to pretend to be at the bottom when you are destined to be at the top." He slowly put Alicia down before disappearing, leaving a red smoke behind.

The little girl freezes before resuming as if the teenage boy didn't even exist. She quickly followed Auntie Zoe and opened the door of their room.

Meanwhile, Chang Xiuying walked closely behind the black-hooded person. Since it's just a simulation, why would she be scared to be seen or touched by another party? Then she thought about the teenage boy looking at her, thinking that it was just looking what's behind her. But the factor that the boy didn't appear from her previous memory still bugged her.

This left her puzzled until she saw the black-hooded person entered one room using a card key that identifies who is the one that is currently living in that particular room.

She habitually said "Excuse me" before entering the room. Chang Xiuying looked around and saw some familiar figures inside the room. Anime figurines, ecchi posters, a body pillow,stacks of video games with a high-grade console, 3 monitors joined together, and many necessities an otaku should have.

Chang Xiuying's mouth gaped as she realized that she followed the wrong person. But at least she had seen a typical otaku room that she hadn't seen before. She browsed through everything like a curious child as she skipped from figures to figures, cabinets to cabinets; her curiosity doesn't stop when she saw the rooms.

When she peeked in the kitchen, there's a complete set of kitchen knives in the kitchen isle, perfectly aligned spices, complete and clean appliances, and types of equipment. Her eyes sparkled and touched everything, feeling the coldness of the metal. She suddenly saw a poster by the side of the refrigerator, the name was in Japanese. She then blurted out, "Shokugeki no Souma?"

When she had seen everything that had to be seen, she coughed lightly before returning to her original poker face. She threw one final glance to the guy that's eating a piece ofPepero while playing a military video game before finally leaving.

The guy sighed and saved his progress as 'Ric' then collapsing to the soft black carpet he's sitting on.

Chang Xiuying walked down the hall as she slowly approached their room. She can already hear the babbling of a man. She leaned her back against the wall to listen while Alicia is leaning on the wall beside her.

"Zoe! I told you that kid will only make a mess! It's been 1 year and that brat's parents are nowhere to be seen! Are you planning on adopting that... that thing?! Zoe, we have 3 children! Don't make it worse by adding one!"

"Loren... we already talked about this months ago. You agreed to my conditions..."

"This kid can't live here for free! Do you know how much I can earn for a month? We can barely live peacefully, now that there's an additional baggage, it's currently insufficient! Zoe, that kid is not my own blood!"

"Our money is enough for 10 people to be fed for a month."

"10? If that's the case, how about our daily necessities? OUR children's education and lifestyle. They needed things more than that girl! OUR priority is OUR children, not other people's kid!"

"Loren! There are other things that aren't needed but we keep on buying them! They would end up in the storage, display or even be left in the dust!"

"Zoe, Zoe. Oh dear Zoe. You don't get my intention, do you? You. Have. To. Let. Go. Of. That. Child."

"Loren! No! I already see Alicia as my own daughter!"

"Just get the damn point!! Leave! I don't want to see that child anymore!"

"Loren! I'll get another job! Just let her be here! A child would need a lot of love and have to be loved. You don't want the same thing to happen to your own children! Growing up without love!"

"What do I CARE?! I'm already doing my best for our OWN CHILDREN! That kid isn't my child, so what? I'm responsible for her? NO!"

Bang!

Chang Xiuying looked at the little girl who is staring blankly to the opposite wall as if she never felt anything or she just didn't pay attention to it. The loud banging of the door didn't even startle her. The door clicked and the middle-aged woman came out with a sad expression.

"Alicia, I-"

"Don't worry, Auntie Zoe. I can sustain my own life. There's still some money left on my parent's room." The little girl stepped before Auntie Zoe and smiled warmly to the middle-aged woman.

"Alicia, that's not it..." Auntie Zoe wore a pained expression as she shakes her head.

"Do not also worry about that. I am already feeling your heartfelt love given to me, isn't it enough to receive your love?"

"Alicia..." Auntie Zoe wore a guilty expression and apologetically said, "Please do forgive your Uncle Loren, he's just very tired. Come inside, let's cook your favorite curry." Auntie Zoe held Alicia's hand but she felt the child's struggle.

"It's alright, it's already a year ever since I started living here. My parents will come back later on, I, at least have to welcome them back. Please do take care and deliciously feed my brothers and sisters." Alicia retrieved her hand and smiled childishly. She enthusiastically waved goodbye as she ran to the direction of where she and her foster parents lived.

Auntie Zoe wanted to reach out but was stopped by her third child. "Mum, I'm hungry..."

Auntie Zoe looked at the receding lonely back of the 5-year-old Alicia. "Okay, I'll prepare curry for our dinner. Just eat some snack first if your stomach can't wait." Auntie Zoe looked warmly at her child.

"Why curry? It's time-consuming. Snacks won't help either."

"It's been a while since we had curry. We should try a new dish this time, okay? I'll go and prepare it immediately." Auntie Zoe pulled her child in and closed the door.

Chang Xiuying's small stature stood straight as she stared at the door beside her with a deadpan expression. She knew that the curry is really meant for her, Auntie Zoe intended to give her a portion after those people have fallen asleep.

Her eyes soften a little as she blurted out, "Thank you" before leaving without any regrets.

Since 'thank you' is the only thing she is not able to say to Auntie Zoe in her previous life.