CHAPTER 738: CHAPTER 735: A YOUNGER SISTER

"Dou Dou, take a break."

Sitting outside the station resting, Xiao Jiang saw Dou Dou returning and immediately called out, handing over a bottle of mineral water.

The other delivery guys resting around them started to tease.

Dou Dou, however, didn’t mind and waved the half-drunk bottle of mineral water in her hand, saying, "No need, I have one."

Xiao Jiang didn’t mind either, retracting the mineral water and continuing to ask, "Are you off tomorrow?"

"No, I’m not."

"You’re really pushing yourself hard," Xiao Jiang said with a bit of admiration.

"Yeah, you’re still young, what’s the rush?" the others teased, laughing.

"It’s because I’m young that I need to push myself; waiting until I’m older to work hard would be too late," Dou Dou joked with a smile.

"Makes sense."

Everyone laughed, then looked at Xiao Jiang, "You lazy bum, don’t hold Dou Dou back."

The crowd burst into laughter, and Xiao Jiang wasn’t annoyed, joining in their idle chat.

Dou Dou didn’t bother with the group, changing the battery in her scooter and continued on her deliveries.

Just like that, she delivered orders until past 12 at night before dragging her tired body back home.

Actually, the rates were higher at night, but she knew her body was at its limit and she had to rest. If she got sick from lack of rest, all her efforts would be in vain.

So every night at 12, she would stop delivering orders punctually.

Although she’d eaten dinner, after running deliveries all night, she was hungry again.

So she got a seafood fried rice to take away from a roadside stall.

They call it seafood fried rice, but it’s really just shrimp and squid tentacle fried with rice, aptly named seafood, but at least it’s affordable.

Dou Dou no longer lived in the rundown house with the scavenger Grandma. Ever since getting her ID card, with her first paycheck she rented a place for herself.

The apartment wasn’t big, in a remote location, and cheap, but it gave her the feeling of having her own home.

As for why she didn’t stay at the scavenger Grandma’s place to save money, it was because that house wasn’t actually Grandma’s, it was an abandoned house, drafty, full of bugs, especially during the summer rainy season, hot and humid, not fit for living.

But Dou Dou still stayed there for several years, partly waiting for the scavenger Grandma to return, and partly because she had no money and no ID card.

She knew in her heart that Grandma probably wouldn’t come back.

However, whenever she had time, Dou Dou couldn’t help but go back and take a look, because Grandma was one of the few people who gave her warmth in her wandering life.

When Dou Dou got her ID card, she gave herself a name, Mei Xing, Mei from Meizi, and Xing from Dou Dou.

Though the kind-hearted sister who helped her get the ID card thought the name didn’t sound good, like "heartless," and suggested a change, she insisted on keeping it.

Dragging her tired body back to her rental, though exhausted and wanting to fall asleep immediately,

Dou Dou still finished the seafood fried rice she bought, took a shower, and then climbed into bed.

She was really too tired, her eyes could barely stay open, wet hair still dripping as she fell onto the pillow and slipped into a deep sleep.

-----------------

"She’s already asleep, she can’t see you, do you want to wake her up?" Dou Dou stood by the bed, observing Dou Dou closely.

"No," Meizi directly rejected Dou Dou’s suggestion.

"She’s very tired, has worked so hard," Duoduo said from the side.

"Yes, let her rest first," Meizi replied.

It turned out the three of them had been waiting in Dou Dou’s room before she came back.

Meizi was initially full of anticipation, constantly imagining the scene of meeting Dou Dou, feeling nervous, excited, but mostly uneasy.

But when Dou Dou entered the room, Meizi hesitated and didn’t choose to meet Dou Dou right away.

"Wait for Dou Dou to finish eating."

"Wait for Dou Dou to finish showering."

"Won’t my sudden appearance scare Dou Dou?"

...

Overall, Meizi kept finding reasons not to meet Dou Dou until she was asleep, and Meizi still hadn’t decided.

"How about we meet Dou Dou tomorrow morning," Meizi suggested.

"That’s fine; meeting her in daylight won’t be as scary as at night," Duoduo nodded in agreement.

"Right, right, that’s it."

The reason Duoduo found made Meizi very happy.

"She’s asleep, why don’t we go to her dream?" Dou Dou suddenly suggested.

Duoduo: ...

"In her dream?"

Meizi, new to being a Fan Soul, was not familiar with some abilities.

"Yes, enter the dream," Dou Dou said, directly reaching out to hold Meizi’s hand.

"Come on, let’s meet her in the dream."

Then the three little ones, one after another, turned into wisp of smoke, floating onto Dou Dou’s face.

The sleeping Dou Dou just furrowed her brow slightly, continuing to sleep deeply.

"Where is this? The sun is so bright."

Dou Dou looked up at the sky, where a blazing sun hung high, the ground steaming with heat, causing the surrounding scenery to slightly warp.

At that moment, two children with bags came from afar, searching the bins along the road as they walked.

"That’s you," Duoduo pointed at the taller one among them.

"Yes, that’s when I and Little Sister lived with scavenger Grandma," Meizi said, observing her surroundings.

At the end of the road stood a red brick dilapidated house, half of it collapsed, which was where the scavenger Grandma lived.

Meizi withdrew her gaze, took a few steps forward, seemingly wanting to meet her sister, but quickly stopped.

"What’s wrong?" Dou Dou asked curiously, not understanding why she stopped.

"Having two of me, will it scare Little Sister?" Meizi said.

In fact, another Meizi in the dream, and the real Meizi, had slight differences in appearance due to memory deviation.

Human memory tends to vilify some people, while beautifying others.

In Dou Dou’s dream, the Meizi not only had some differences in appearance, but her clothes were cleaner, her stature taller, while she herself looked like a dirt-poor little waif, which was how Meizi appeared in Dou Dou’s heart.

Before Dou Dou could explain, Duoduo pushed her hard from behind.

Meizi stumbled and fell forward, and when she came to her senses, she found herself standing in front of Dou Dou, having replaced her dream self.

"Sister?"

Dou Dou seemed puzzled by the sister in front of her.

"Dou Dou," Meizi called out excitedly.

"What’s wrong?"

Dou Dou tilted her small head, looking at her with curiosity, inherently very cute.

"I... I..."

Meizi had so much to say to Dou Dou but couldn’t utter a single word.

"You’re dreaming right now."

Just then, Dou Dou appeared beside them riding a goldfish.

Indeed, a goldfish, brightly colored, swimming in the air as if in water.

And with Dou Dou’s words, the entire dream began to tremble.

As if breaking some kind of imprisonment, Dou Dou’s small figure started to change rapidly, turning into her current adult form in the blink of an eye.

Though still in a dream, she became aware.