"Thank you, everyone... I hope everyone will please respect the co-mayor as if I were here.
She's working hard for everyone. And believe me when I say, without her, this town will not function."
The crowd remained silent as Xiaoyun ended his speech, signalling Yuqi to take over again as he handed over the microphone.
"Thank you, Mr.mayor... Ahem, the five booths at the administration building are now open.
They will give you twenty food stamps as an allowance alongside a tag with the cabin number and a key.
Some of you may be sharing with another person, but we'll continue expanding the cabin numbers in the future.
Also, they will ask for your occupation and assign you the job that matches the department."
The moment Yuqi finished the announcement, the crowd still looked a little confused and lost until she added one last thing.
"The twenty food stamps are enough for a week of canned food, and the cabin you are staying in will be free for a week, as mentioned earlier.
Please stand before Major Yiming if you want to join the army... He will determine whether you are fit enough to be a militia or a soldier.
Thank you, everyone, for your cooperation. You may now go ahead to the booth. Please remain single-file lines."
---
With the speech finally ending, Yuqi could turn off the microphone before putting it back down on the podium.
"Good job, darling! That was amazing!" Xiaoyun congratulated her as they excitedly hugged each other.
"Thanks... But I'm never doing this again. I'm going to write all this down in a book and print it out."
"That's fine... By the way, when did we create the names of all these departments? I don't recall making it."
Xiaoyun curiously asked, watching people heading down the sidewalk towards the administrative booth in the distance.
"Well, while you were away on your trip, I felt like we needed to reorganize everything into a more formal process.
Everyone didn't know who their superior was or who was below them. Like Yezi didn't know what department he led until I handed the script earlier."
"That's very smart of you... I should have thought of that."
As the atmosphere became much more lively with people already coming back from the booth, Xiaoyun suddenly had a question in his head.
"That's a lot of people... Are you sure we have enough housing for them?"
"There are enough cabins for each of the family units if the eighty of them are just sixteen different families."
"You know that ain't gonna happen."
Both of them fell into silence until Yuqi spoke up again.
"That's what I said earlier, some might need to share. Those people who are single and have no family are going to be put with a stranger."
Turning to the other side, the two could see quite a long line in front of Yiming as well, all wanting to be a part of the army.
Some of them were staring at the soldier's rifle, clearly showing the real motivation that made them want to join.
"Geez, looks like people really wanted to join the military," Xiaoyun commented.
"Probably because they have experienced what the outside is like... They want to control their fate——"
"Hey, what are you two talking about?"
Yueyue interrupted as she walked over to the two of them, with her militia units heading down to manage the line sizes.
"I was just talking about the crowd that was standing in front of Yiming... Anyway, where's Leyan right now?"
Xiaoyun asked after noticing she was nowhere to be seen, not in the backstage area or anywhere within the lines.
"I think she was walking home with some women... I forgot what they were called, but they looked a little familiar."
As soon as Yueyue answered it, Xiaoyun's brain immediately realized who she was talking about.
"The woman you're talking about is probably Wuli and Shuli..."
----
When the three of them arrived home, Leyan was already sitting on the sofa, along with the two new guests to the house.
"Hello, Miss Wuli and Miss Shuli."
Yuqi immediately said out loud, running up and giving the two of them a hug as she instantly recognized who they were.
"Hey, Yuqi and Yueyue! I haven't seen you two for so long!"
As Yueyue realized who they were and went up for a hug, Xiaoyun awkwardly stood back as he locked the door behind him.
"Um, hello."
As Xiaoyun waved his hand, both Wuli and Shuli stared towards his face in silence before speaking up again.
"This is your long-lost son? He is so much like your husband... I thought you would never find Xiaoyun." Wuli commented.
"Yeah, that hair and height... He looks exactly like him when he was still in university. You sure he's your son and not Songming?" Shuli questioned.
The living room fell into silence as Leyan didn't say anything back at all. Neither did Yuqi and Yueyue.
Xiaoyun himself stood by the sofa, awkwardly standing there as he didn't know how to really explain it to them.
"Xiaoyun, he... he is Songming."
"What are you talking about? Isn't his name Xiaoyun? Why are you saying he's Songming?"
As Wuli asked her question, Shuli looked just as confused, as she couldn't understand what Leyan meant by it.
"Yeah, if he's Songming, wouldn't he look much older by now? He barely looks to be past his twenties."
Seeing Leyan shyly looking at the floor and not speaking up, Xiaoyun finally decided to chime in to speak for himself.
"I know this sounds confusing, but I really am both Xiaoyun and Songming at the same time. If you don't believe me, let me say something that only he will know."
"Like w-what?" Wuli asked nervously.
"Leyan, do you remember our wedding night when they were watching us losing our first——"
Before Xiaoyun could finish, Wuli instantly ran up and covered his mouth, preventing him from leaking any further.
"Okay! Enough! I believe you now... But how is this possible? How can you be two different people at the same time?"
Wuli raised her question as she slowly let him go. Both her and Shuli's faces blushed red as if some memories had triggered in their head.
"Here, let me start explaining it from scratch. It's a long story..."
---
Half an hour later...
As Xiaoyun wrapped up his story to the present, both Wuli's and Shuli's minds were completely blown.
"You telling me a time machine exists... You can't be serious."
Wuli murmured, her face in disbelief. It just sounded straight out of a fantasy movie plot in her head.
"It doesn't make any sense. The time paradox breaks this scenario in every single way possible..."
Shuli murmured next, as it went against all scientific facts she had learned since getting her teaching degree.
"Wuli, you still remember how I pulled explosives out of your bag? Even though your bag has no explosives inside it at all?"
As Xiaoyun pointed out, Wuli's mind quickly realized it while Shuli looked a little confused by what he was talking about.
"Wait, yeah. How did you do that? I remember my bag was emptied inside." Wuli curiously asked.
"Well, you two see my hand here, right? It's currently empty with nothing but air."
After getting both of their attention to stare at his left hand, he began imagining a water bottle. Suddenly, a water bottle appeared, full of water inside.
"Huh?"
Both Wuli's and Shuli's jaws dropped in disbelief once again. It was even more ridiculous than the time machine story.
"D-Did you just create things out of thin air?" Wuli curiously asked.
"Yep, it's exactly what you think of it... Here, catch."
Xiaoyun quickly threw the bottle of water into Wuli's hand before creating another one, throwing it into Shuli's hand next.
As they both examined the water bottle in their hand, they could feel how real it was. Opening it and taking a sip, it was just normal bottled water.
"This... This is a miracle. No wonder this town has so many people... You're the reason behind it!"
Shuli's mind instantly connected the dots, realizing why Xiaoyun had no problem taking in so many people at once.
"Mhm... Ahem, you guys might wonder why Leyan looked so young, too, right?" Xiaoyun suddenly asked.
The two of them immediately turned their attention to Leyan, carefully examining every part of her face down to her body.
All of the wrinkles were gone, with her skin looking silk-smooth. It was completely different from what they had met together.
It was almost as if she had never aged after her marriage to Songming, despite the fact that a few years ago, her face looked much older.
No makeup could have changed someone this much, not to mention they knew how much Leyan hated using makeup.
"Well, I can do the same and revert your body to a younger state... If you want, of course. I won't do it if you just want to stay the same."
After a short consideration, the two of them nodded before excitedly grabbing onto Xiaoyun's hand.
"Hell yeah, I'm doing that! My back hurt so much from sitting in the office. Please make me younger again!"
Wuli complained as she pressed her right hand onto her back, aching in pain as a crack sound could be heard.
"M-me too... I-If it doesn't cost you anything." Shuli shyly replied next.
"Okay then, let me do Wuli first."
As Xiaoyun closed his eyes, his mind instantly ran into a small problem. He didn't know which version they wanted.
After a short consideration, he just picked one that he thought looked the best in, back when they were babysitting his kids.
Right before their eyes, a sudden glowing light appeared on Wuli's body, covering her from head to toes.
By the time the light vanished, it had been less than ten seconds.
All four of the girls were still in shock despite Xiaoyun already telling them what he was capable of.
It was just too drastic for them. She looked way younger, with shorter hair that gave her a much more energetic look than before.
"You feel better now? Does your back still hurt?"
Xiaoyun curiously asked as Leyan quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe the sweat off his forehead.
"Thank you so much! It doesn't hurt anymore! I-I can't believe it! You're a miracle worker!"
Wuli excitedly gave Xiaoyun a warm hug before letting go, her eyes instantly taking out her phone to check on the selfie.
"No problem... Ahem, Shuli. Don't worry, I can always reverse it if you don't like it."
Xiaoyun reassured, noticing her looking a little nervous. She slowly nodded as she reached her hand out.
The moment their hands touch, a glowing light starts appearing on Shuli's body. After a few seconds, it slowly faded away.
Right before them was a way younger Shuli, one who looked even slightly nerdy with a 90s haircut that looked way out of fashion.
"Thank you!" Shuli bowed down in gratitude after looking through the selfie in her phone camera.
"No problem——Shit."
Before Xiaoyun sat back up, he suddenly collapsed onto the coffee table face-first, instantly scaring Wuli and Shuli.
Meanwhile, Leyan and Yuqi seemed much calmer, with Yueyue already getting down to help him get back up.
"I-Is he okay?" Shuli nervously asked.
"He's just a little tired. How could he forget his limit again... Can you two lift him back to his room?" Leyan asked.
"Sure."
As Yuqi and Yueyue supported Xiaoyun back upstairs, Wuli and Shuli still looked a little worried until they turned their attention to each other.
Their hand just couldn't help but squeeze each other's faces to check if it was real.
The soft, smooth feeling told them it was real, but their minds still couldn't believe how young they looked.
It wasn't just their looks that changed. Every part of their body had changed for the better.
"You two, stop touching each other's faces... It's not going to go away no matter how hard you squeeze it."
As the two blushed and let go of each other's faces, a loud stomach-growling sound echoed in the living room.
"Oh, right, you two haven't eaten yet. Let me cook dinner right now. You two can just wait here on the sofa."
---
After Leyan leaves the living room and enters the kitchen, the two new guests are left alone in the living room.
"Wuli, do you believe all the things they said?" Shuli curiously asked.
"Well, he really made us both look all the way back when we were still babysitting Yuqi... Let's be real here for a second.
Is time traveling really that crazy when he can just create things out of thin air? I don't think so."
After Wuli made her point clear, a question popped into her head.
"Hey Shuli, did you notice Yuqi and Yueyue are a little bit too close to Xiaoyun?"
There was a moment of silence as they didn't want to say anything until Shuli slowly nodded in agreement.
"Well, they are brother and, um, father... Yeah. It's only normal for them to be close, right?"
"You know what I mean... Actually, now I think about it, I still can't believe someone can make their mom pregnant and give birth to themselves."
"That's what I thought earlier, too. It just doesn't make any logical sense whatsoever. Like, how could two copies of him exist at the same time?"
As the two of them shared their opinion, an idea popped into both of their heads.
"Leyan... Is she technically married to her son, then?" Wuli raised her concern as she quietly spoke it out.
"Yeah. It's technically incest——"
Just before Shuli could finish, the sound of the door being knocked quickly drew their attention.
Seeing that Leyan wasn't coming out of the kitchen to answer it, Wuli decided to head over to open it herself.
To her surprise, it was two girls standing outside.
One was very short, and the other was a slightly taller girl who looked slightly similar to Leyan.
"Um, who are you?"
The slightly taller girl asked curiously as she looked over to Wuli, unable to recognize the face of the person in front of her.
"I'm Wuli, your mom's old friend... You're Nami, right?"
The slightly taller girl froze for a second before she excitedly jumped into Wuli's arms, hugging her.
"Miss Wuli! I miss you so much! I thought I would never see you again!"
"I thought I would never see you again, either... You had been a good girl to Leyan, right?"
"Yeah!"
As the three of them walked inside the house, Nami instantly noticed Shuli on the sofa. She quickly ran up to her before hugging her.
"Miss Shuli!"
"Hey Nami... Long time no see."
Shuli was able to instantly recognize Nami, accepting her hug before they slowly separated.
"Where's Mom right now?" Nami asked curiously after noticing the living room was empty.
"She's cooking dinner right now. Can you not hear the fan running in the kitchen?"
Yuqi answered before Wuli and Shuli could, as she and Yueyue had finally come back from upstairs.
"Oh, hey, Nami, how's work today?" Yueyue curiously asked as Nami rolled her eyes towards Yuqi.
"Busy as hell. I was supposed to leave work an hour earlier, but I had to keep going to the storage and restock everything.
I even had to call a few volunteers to help me carry things to the store in the administrative building."
Nami complained as she stretched on the sofa, her body looking a little tired as she leaned down.
"Well, you're going to be even busier tomorrow... There are a lot of new people who have moved in."
As Yuqi brought the bad news to Nami, her brain froze for a second, and she quickly glanced over to Yueyue.
"Oh my god! Yueyue, you have to come to the store and help me. You will be retiring from the militia soon, right?"
Nami urgently asked as she held onto Yueyue's arm as her last hope, looking at her with teary eyes.
"I still have three days before I'm retired from active duty. I still have to patrol the street for now."
Yueyue's reply crushes Nami's hope, causing her to turn to the last person she wants to look for help.
"Qiqi! I know you have always loved me the most. Can I hire more people to help me? I don't have enough volunteers."
Nami pleaded as she ran to Yuqi's chest before grabbing her arms, not letting her go until she accepted her demand.
"Fine, fine. You can hire someone. Just make sure they are trustworthy and bring them to me tomorrow." Yuqi folded.
"Thank you!"
After Nami finished speaking, she quickly ran upstairs with the little girls following right behind.
"Geez, does she ever learn any manners?" Yuqi murmured as she facepalmed in embarrassment.
"It's okay. She's still very young. You can't expect a high school student to start acting so professional." Yueyue replied.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."
As the two of them sat down on the sofa, Wuli and Shuli smiled the whole time as they watched it unfold.
"Miss Wuli and Shuli, can you guys tell me what, um... Dad wanted to say earlier? Like, what did you guys interrupt him?
I had been curious about it ever since I went upstairs... Can you tell me about it?" Yueyue curiously asked.
"W-we can't tell you that. It would be an invasion of their privacy," Shuli nervously replied first.
"Yeah, you can ask them instead if they want to tell you. But it's probably best not to ask that."
Wuli looked even more nervous as both of their faces blushed red from embarrassment, unable to look back at them in the eyes.