"Mm?!"
Xu Mo was puzzled as to why Tang Guo had suddenly gone quiet, but then he felt two small hands placed gently on his face. Before he could process the meaning of this gesture, a pair of soft, sweet-smelling lips—light and delicate, with a faint fruity taste—pressed firmly against his own!
Huh? What... what is happening?
Xu Mo never imagined that feigning unconsciousness would lead to an encounter like this. Having never been this close to a girl, he was completely stunned. His mind turned into a mushy mess, and not knowing what to do, he instinctively stuck his tongue out and lightly touched Tang Guo's lips.
His first kiss, which had been preserved for eighteen years, was taken away in such a muddled, confusing manner by an elementary school student. Xu Mo didn't know whether his life was a comedy or a tragedy...
But not all first kisses are sweet. At least for Xu Mo, his first kiss was a brutal one... A gust of warm air suddenly surged into his mouth, and unprepared, Xu Mo was nearly knocked out by the force, his eyes bulging.
"Ah-choo!"
Xu Mo immediately sat up, and his head collided hard with Tang Guo's, who had no time to react. She yelped, clutching her head as she fell backward, but Xu Mo quickly grabbed her and pulled her back. "Why'd you push so hard? You think I'm a balloon?"
"Eh? Xu Mo? You're awake?! That's great! You finally woke up! I was worried I couldn't revive you with mouth-to-mouth!"
Tang Guo was just a naive little girl. She immediately jumped up in excitement as if she had successfully revived Xu Mo. She hadn't even thought about why mouth-to-mouth had worked so effectively. But this was good—it spared Xu Mo the awkwardness of losing his first kiss.
The surrounding crowd also murmured in surprise when they saw Xu Mo wake up. But most people were kind-hearted and didn't wish for anything terrible to happen, so when they saw Xu Mo was fine, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Soon after, the traffic police and an ambulance arrived. After confirming Xu Mo wasn't seriously injured, the police took statements from the witnesses and then escorted Xu Mo and Tang Guo back to the police station to record their testimonies.
With enough witnesses and the traffic surveillance footage, the whole incident was already very clear. Although the vehicle responsible didn't have a license plate, the model was rare enough that tracing it back to the owner wouldn't be too difficult.
According to the police, this wasn't a regular traffic accident. Street racing in busy areas was considered a public safety threat, and it was something the government was actively cracking down on. The police reassured Xu Mo and Tang Guo that once they caught the driver, they would take severe action, and they took down their contact numbers to discuss compensation later.
Xu Mo didn't care much about whether they caught the driver. Since neither he nor Tang Guo had been seriously hurt, and the compensation seemed meaningless to him—he'd just need a bit of ointment for his injuries—he didn't see it as a big deal.
But Tang Guo was clearly more agitated. During her statement, she slammed her fist on the table, demanding severe punishment for the driver, determined to ruin the driver's life. It seemed the accident had really affected her.
It was nearly 11 a.m. by the time they left the police station, and Xu Mo had promised his mother he'd be home for lunch, so he couldn't stay out any longer. However, he still had to deal with Tang Guo's issue before leaving.
"Tang Guo, I need to go home now. Take this money and get a cab," Xu Mo said, handing her fifty yuan from his wallet. After experiencing such a dangerous accident, he didn't want her to squeeze onto a bus. It was a small price to pay for avoiding a disaster.
For once, Tang Guo didn't refuse. She took the money, gripping it tightly in her hand, and lowered her head, lost in thought. After a long pause, she sighed and asked softly, "Xu Mo, why did you save me?"
Xu Mo was caught off guard. Why was she no longer calling him "older brother," but instead by his name? It felt a little strange to him, even less comfortable than when she had called him "uncle."
"How should I explain? Saying I thought of heroes like Lei Feng or Dong Cunrui is nonsense. When I saw the car coming, my body just moved before my mind could catch up..."
Tang Guo nodded, seemingly agreeing with his answer.
"Didn't you think of the consequences? You could have... you could have died with me." Her lips quivered, and her pale pink bottom lip had lost all color.
"The consequences?" Xu Mo lowered his head and tugged at the torn seam of his jacket, chuckling helplessly. "I thought about it when I felt I couldn't dodge in time, but it was too late..."
"You're such a pig."
Tang Guo mumbled under her breath and turned her face away.
After hailing a cab for Tang Guo outside the police station, Xu Mo watched until she disappeared around the corner before turning to leave. They had never exchanged contact information. With over ten million people in the city, the chances of meeting again were slim.
Xu Mo couldn't help but feel a bit melancholic. Perhaps life's fate always passed us by in a hurry, leaving us to wonder about what could have been...
Just as he was about to get into the taxi, his phone suddenly buzzed with a new message.
Xu Mo thought it was his mother, checking on him. But on second thought, that didn't make sense. His mother would have called rather than texting.
Who could it be?
He took out his phone and glanced at it. He froze when he saw the message was from "Lovely Guo Guo!"
Xu Mo was completely taken aback... What was going on? If it had been an unknown number, he might have understood, but how did this girl's name end up in his contacts? Had she somehow inserted her name into his phone? Was she a time-traveling terminator from the future?
Of course, Xu Mo didn't buy into that absurd explanation. He thought back to their earlier interaction and finally realized what had happened. When they were at the noodle shop, Tang Guo had claimed her phone was dead and asked to borrow his. That was when she had set this trap, planning to get his number and adding him as "Lovely Guo Guo."
She must have feared he wouldn't give it to her, especially since he had been trying to shake her off at the time...
Xu Mo shook his head and smiled bitterly. Keeping contact with such a mischievous little girl would probably make his life far from peaceful.
Wondering what she wanted, Xu Mo opened the message. As soon as he read it, cold sweat broke out.
"Xu Mo, tricking a minor into giving their first kiss is very unethical. I'll think of a way to punish you when I get back. Wait for my call."
This... so she really did figure it out...
As expected, due to the unexplainable late-night absence, Xu Mo's father had him beaten mercilessly with the family rules that night. If he hadn't activated his "Unmovable as a Mountain" ability to endure the blows, he probably would have been bedridden for the next few days.
Terrified of his father's wrath, Xu Mo spent the next few days safely at home, becoming a reclusive hermit—eating, drinking, sleeping, and studying the pieces of the Doomsday fragments inside him. The most he did was take short walks around the neighborhood garden.
Since Xu Mo first merged a fragment with the "Gentle Touch" ability, he had gathered twelve Doomsday fragments in total, each with a variety of effects.
The majority of the fragments were the red-strengthening type—five in total—which accounted for nearly half of his total fragments. Though it wasn't clear whether the red-strengthening type was particularly rare, their higher drop rate suggested they weren't particularly uncommon.
But for Xu Mo, the most significant enhancements had come from these red-strengthening fragments. Even though three of his four attributes were only strengthened by a single Doomsday fragment, the improvements were astronomical compared to his previously average physique.