But now, he was responsible for raising this newborn.
When Roland got up from the bed, yawning, the ladder he used for falling was still on the side, and it was already bright outside the blinds.
He was wearing clothes when he fell, but now he only had a pair of boxer briefs. Was this caused by the inertia of his subconscious? It seemed that the Dream would continue for a while after he left, until he fell asleep normally, ensuring that every time he entered the Dream, he would wake up just at the same time... This was too formalistic!
He decided to leave at midnight this time to see if he could eliminate this unconscious action that was similar to sleepwalking.
In addition, the sequela of not having enough sleep also came. Roland did not feel like a person who had just woken up. His eyes were dry, his forehead was swollen, and he could not help yawning. Including the time on the other side, he had not slept for more than 20 hours.
Maybe he needed to take a nap later.
He put on a short-sleeved shirt and walked into the living room, where he saw the petite figure again.
"Why did you get up so early today?" Zero looked a little surprised. "I haven't started making breakfast... Wait for me in the living room, I'll go now."
It was obvious that she had just gotten up. Her long white hair was scattered messily on her shoulders, and a few strands of hair were curled up. She looked completely different from her usual nimble appearance. She was still wearing that light cyan dress and white stockings. If he remembered correctly, the little lass had not changed her clothes for three days. Judging from her clean and tidy bedroom, it was definitely not because she was lazy or didn't mind being dirty. It could only be that she did not have enough clothes to change into.
Somehow, Roland suddenly felt a surge of sadness in his heart.
Not only for her, but also for himself.
Thinking of the three hundred … no, two hundred and fifty yuan in his wallet, he felt that it was inconceivable. One was the main cause of the Dream World, and the other was the creator of the Dream World. The two people who could be called the creator of the world had fallen into such a situation, which could not be described as tragic.
He could not go on like this. Whether it was to buy books or explore this world, money was indispensable. He had to find a way to earn a stable income, or the 200 yuan was not even enough to take a taxi, excluding food and utilities.
While Roland was thinking about how to make money, Zero was already busy.
She quickly lit the stove, heated the pan with oil, broke the egg with one hand, and sprinkled the flowing egg liquid into the pan. Although she was not strong enough to shake the pan, the small spatula in her hand moved up and down, and the effect was not much worse than shaking the iron pan.
With the sizzling sound of the hot oil, the tempting smell of the fried egg soon filled the living room.
Due to the limited living expenses, there were not many changes to the breakfast. This time, two fried dough sticks and a fried egg were served, but Zero had one less fried dough stick for herself.
"You bought the fried egg yesterday?" Roland took a bite and found that it was no longer so.
"Of course," Zero muttered. "The last batch of flour sold at the end of the night was especially cheap. Sometimes the boss would even give me the unfinished flour balls, so I could make several deep-fried dough sticks with them."
He asked in surprise, "Are you like this when you're at home?"
"Almost." The little girl shook her head and did not say much. It seemed that she did not want to talk about her family. After breakfast, she simply dressed, picked up her schoolbag and walked to the door. "As usual, uncle, I won't be back at noon. You wash the dishes."
"Ah, go. Be careful on the way." Roland nodded.
Zero could not help but be startled. After a while, she responded, closed the door and left.
"Well, it's time to calculate my property."
Roland returned to his bedroom, turned over the bedside table and wardrobe from head to toe, and sorted out all his belongings.
First was his wallet. In addition to 200 yuan, there was an ID card and a bank card. It was as shabby as one could imagine. Of course, he directly threw the expired lottery tickets into the trash — even if he could win, it was already past the redemption time. Moreover, he did not believe that such a small probability event would happen to him.
Next was a mobile phone. The contact list was empty, and the only valuable information was the bank card's income and expenditure reminders. It could be seen that at the end of every month, Zero's family would send him 1,500 yuan for living expenses. Now there were only 12 yuan left in the card, and there were still four days before the next remittance date. It was not that he would starve to death, but he had no money left to do other things.
Finally, there were a few pieces of jewelry. The material seemed to be gold, but he did not know whether they were real or not. Perhaps they were prepared for his wedding? If he sold them to a gold shop, he could probably get about 1,000 yuan, which could be regarded as an emergency fund.
These were all the wealth he could freely dispose of.
It was not helpful for his current situation. Roland sighed and looked at the furnishings in the utility room.
He opened the door at the furthest end of the house and looked at the few old items placed inside.
The dusty and cobwebbed bicycle and sewing machine could be sold for 30 to 40 yuan. After all, they were made of iron, especially the latter, which was very difficult for a person to carry. And the big iron door, if it was regarded as scrap iron, could probably be sold for more than 100 yuan? Maybe he would not care about such a small amount of money in normal times, but now it was very precious.
If he went to an old bookstore to buy obsolete teaching materials, more than 100 yuan was enough to buy a set of old books on all subjects.
Thinking of this, he decided to do so.
Roland remembered that there was a number for recycling in the small advertisement posted on the stairwell. But before that, he had to clean these things.
If they looked clean, he might be able to sell them for more money.
Panting, he dragged the bicycle and sewing machine into the living room. Then, he noticed that something was wrong.
The thick iron door did not seem to be leaning against the wall of the utility room, but was built into the wall!
What the hell? Which bastard did this? The wall was the outer wall of the tube-shaped apartment. Did they put the door here to facilitate suicide?
Moreover, there was a lock on the door!
Wait... He remembered that there were two keys on the key ring.
Roland immediately took the key and inserted the other key into the keyhole. It fit perfectly.
With a click, the rusty lock bounced up and fell off the latch.
He was too lazy to pick up the broken lock. He pulled the pin and forced the iron door open.
A cold wind mixed with snowflakes rushed into the room, making him, who was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, shiver a few times.
Behind the iron door was a snowy scene!
Against the background of the rolling snowy mountains in the distance, a grey-brown city was faintly visible. It was built along the mountain walls on both sides, surrounding itself in a big gap. In the center of the city stood a towering building, like a pillar to the sky, in the howling cold wind.
Even though it was Roland's first time seeing it, he immediately knew where this place was.
"Hermes' New Holy City."
A fortress city built on the broken part of the Impassable Mountain Range.
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