Safety Manual Labor Tips with a Twist of 2D Chapter 116

Chapter 116 May all your wishes come true

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The New Year’s Eve dinner was almost finished. Outside, it was already noisy.

The sound of firecrackers, which hadn’t been heard for a long time, crackled continuously on the streets. Different kinds of fireworks filled the night sky. As soon as it was twelve o’clock, the familiar music started playing on the TV. Everyone held the dumplings they were going to eat, talking and laughing.

Lin Zhaohe didn’t expect Zhuang Lao to be good at making dumplings. The dumplings he made were very beautiful. Lin Zhaohe, on the other hand, wasn’t very skilled and ended up with a strange-looking thing. He was worried that it would leak filling in the pot, so he even used two dumpling wrappers for each. Lin Zhaohe himself found it unappealing.

Unfortunately, Zhuang Lao pointed at this thing and said with a smile that he would save it for himself after it was cooked.

“Maybe they won’t cook properly,” Lin Zhaohe muttered. “The skin is too thick.”

“No problem,” Zhuang Lao said seriously. “I love eating undercooked ones.”

Lin Zhaohe was farting.

The dumplings were put into boiling water. After cooking for a while, they rolled and floated in the pot. Each person took out a bowl. Even though their stomachs were already full from the New Year’s Eve dinner, it seemed like there was space again. They forcefully squeezed in a few more dumplings.

There was a loud explosion.

In the past, people would probably have been scared and run away, thinking that something major had happened. But at that moment, the people who had achieved peace just raised their heads and looked toward the source of the sound outside the window, marveling at the grand fireworks.

A huge firework burst open in the dark sky, releasing colorful streaks of light that fell from above. Another explosion followed, and the streaks of light turned into a shower of stars, serving as a perfect ending.

“It looks so nice,” Lin Zhaohe said.

Zhuang Lao stood beside Lin Zhaohe. He had just found the big dumpling that Lin Zhaohe had made and took a bite of it in his bowl.

Lin Zhaohe glanced at it and said, “Oops, it’s not cooked yet. Don’t eat it.”

“It’s okay,” Zhuang Lao didn’t mind at all. He swallowed a few bites and said, “It tastes good.”

Lin Zhaohe looked helpless and said, “What if you get diarrhea later?”

Zhuang Lao said, “Do I look like someone who would get diarrhea?”

“You won’t get sick anymore in the future?” Lin Zhaohe wondered, never having considered how Zhuang Lao’s divine body would be in terms of health.

“Of course I will,” Zhuang Lao lowered his voice, speaking with a tone that only he and Lin Zhaohe could hear, “Remember the first time we did it? You got sick afterward.”

Lin Zhaohe didn’t expect this guy to have such thick skin. There were still so many people around, yet he dared to whisper about that. His ears turned red, and he said with gritted teeth “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Zhuang Lao said, “I’m not talking nonsense.” He smirked, seemingly pleased by Lin Zhaohe’s embarrassed reaction, “But I must say, Xiao He’s health has improved quite a bit now…” It was quite unexpected that he could endure for so long, almost like a pleasant surprise.

Lin Zhaohe punched him directly. “Shameless!”

Zhuang Lao burst into laughter.

In his memory, Lin Zhaohe, as a deity, was synonymous with fragility. His slender body had to bear the desires of too many humans. In the later stages, he became emaciated and frail, resembling a patient with a terminal illness. At that time, Zhuang Lao felt helpless, with no way to help him, only watching as his life force slowly faded away.

Fortunately, those scenes were just terrible memories. Now, at this moment, Lin Zhaohe stood energetically in front of him, able to blush and punch him with full vitality.

The more Zhuang Lao thought about it, the better his mood became. Being punched made him laugh as if he had been kissed by Lin Zhaohe.

After everyone finished eating the dumplings, they were ready to go home. Mr. Li shamelessly followed behind Lin Yan. “Hey, slow down, Yanyan! You’re walking so fast that others can’t keep up.”

Lin Yan was disgusted by his intentional behavior and had no way to deal with him. Angered, he warned Mr. Li not to push his luck, or else he would turn ruthless.

Mr. Li: “Are you going to become villainous too? Should I add ‘(turned evil)’ after your name in my phone contacts, Lin Yan (turned evil)?”

Lin Yan: “……” You’re so despicable.

Everyone couldn’t help but suppress their laughter as they listened.

After everyone left, the room quieted down. Lin Zhaohe finished washing up and walked towards Zhuang Lao, his damp hair wiped with a towel.

Zhuang Lao lay on the bed, uncovering a spot for Lin Zhaohe, and jokingly said, “Hurry up, the bed is warmed up for you.”

With no one else in the bedroom, Lin Zhaohe finally voiced the question that had been building up inside him all day, “What did you go to get? You were gone for so long.” Zhuang Lao had left in the morning and didn’t return until the afternoon.

Zhuang Lao said, “Hey, I went to get you a New Year’s gift.” As he spoke, he pulled out a beautifully wrapped present from who knows where.

From the shape of the gift, Lin Zhaohe could tell it was a book. He was a little curious and asked, “What is this?”

Zhuang Lao eagerly said, “Open it and see.”

Lin Zhaohe hesitated for a moment and tore open the wrapping, revealing the prominent title of the book, “Holy Light.”

His initial reaction was that this was his own book, but as he flipped through the pages and glanced at the words, he realized it wasn’t his work, but… Zhuang Lao’s.

The book depicted a divine being, but it wasn’t Zhuang Lao. It was him, Lin Zhaohe.

In that world, the merciful divinity had acquired its own name..

“I wrote this book for Xiao He,” Zhuang Lao looked at Lin Zhaohe with expectant eyes, saying, “Unlike Xiao He, writing this book was quite a challenge for me.”

Lin Zhaohe laughed at Zhuang Lao’s self-congratulatory expression. “How challenging was it?”

Zhuang Lao replied, “I was tearing my hair out, constantly changing sentences and deleting parts I didn’t like. It took me over a year to barely polish this book.”

The book wasn’t thick, with just over a hundred thousand words in total. According to Zhuang Lao, he would only write a few hundred words each day.

Lin Zhaohe asked, “Was it that difficult?”

“Yes, it was incredibly tough,” Zhuang Lao said, “And to prevent any unexpected situations, only one person was allowed to write the entire text. It was so demanding for me.” He patted the bed, signaling for Lin Zhaohe to sit down.

Lin Zhaohe sat down slowly beside Zhuang Lao, feeling his body sink into the soft mattress. His fingers flipped through the pages, swiftly scanning the words inside, but the more he read, the more embarrassed and flustered he became.

It was evident that Zhuang Lao had put a lot of effort into writing this book, using almost every beautiful word he knew to describe Lin Zhaohe. He portrayed him as a unique celestial being, unmatched in both heaven and earth. Lin Zhaohe couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed, as if he and the person in the book were completely different individuals.

“Is this me?” 

“Yes. This is Xiao He.”

Lin Zhaohe flipped through a few more pages and realized that this book wasn’t like a character biography. It resembled more of a fervent fan writing about their ideal divine being. The choice of words and sentences made Lin Zhaohe blush. “I’m not that great.”

“Of course you are,” Zhuang Lao said gently, “compared to Xiao He, I fall far short.”

Lin Zhaohe wouldn’t allow him to speak so lowly of himself and said, “Come on, let’s not go there. I think you’re amazing. Can you talk to me about what happened back then? I want to hear.”

He closed the pages, intending to read them carefully another day. This book was likely written by Zhuang Lao overnight, and in this world, only he remembered its contents. Therefore, he painstakingly rewrote the words, formatted and bound them, and presented it to Lin Zhaohe as a New Year’s gift.

This book was Lin Zhaohe’s origin and the only evidence of his existence in this world.

Lin Zhaohe cherished this gift, holding the pages as if grasping Zhuang Lao’s intense love. That love had appeared as Zhuang Lao wrote down those words, and it gradually accumulated, transforming into another kind of emotion as Lin Zhaohe entered this world.

Unlike the devout fanaticism of believers, what Zhuang Lao felt was love—a love that was unique and possessive in nature.

Lin Zhaohe was the deity of the world, but he belonged solely to Zhuang Lao as his lover. While others hoped to gain something from Lin Zhaohe, Zhuang Lao wished to give everything he could offer.

However, Lin Zhaohe didn’t need any of these things. He was an all-powerful deity. Was there anything he couldn’t obtain?

Perhaps there was. Zhuang Lao turned his head and looked at the smile on Lin Zhaohe’s face. He asked, “Do you like this gift?”

“Yes, I do,” Lin Zhaohe naturally couldn’t help but like it. He lowered his gaze and said, “Thank you, Zhuang Lao.”

Thank you for your words, thank you for your wishes, and thank you for saving me.

“I should be the one thanking you,” Zhuang Lao reached out and embraced Lin Zhaohe tightly, his grip a bit firm, as if he feared Lin Zhaohe would run away. “Xiao He, you saved us.”

It was Lin Zhaohe who saved this world, but unfortunately, the beautiful divine being described in all the words had no knowledge of it. He didn’t know how terrifying the world he had saved truly was.

He arrived here without any defenses, yet his soul was at the mercy of the overwhelming malice that surged against him.

Zhuang Lao couldn’t bear to see it happen. Even a slight furrow of Lin Zhaohe’s brow would haunt him for a long time. He couldn’t bear to see him become lifeless and desolate.

So, facing Lin Zhaohe, he made the first and final wish.

Time reversed, identities swapped, allowing Lin Zhaohe to witness the beauty of the world and to bear the burden in his place, drawing a definitive conclusion to all this misery.

“Do you want to keep reading?” Zhuang Lao asked Lin Zhaohe.

“No, let’s save it for daytime,” Lin Zhaohe felt there were more important things to do. He set aside the pages of the book and looked at the person before him. “I want to spend some time talking with you.”

“Sure,” Zhuang Lao responded happily.

And so, nestled in the warmth of the covers, the two began discussing random things. Zhuang Lao spoke about the memories and experiences he shared with Lin Zhaohe. Lin Zhaohe recounted childhood encounters and asked Zhuang Lao if he had experienced similar things. Zhuang Lao said he had experienced some but not all. The two chattered away until they grew tired. Lin Zhaohe then half-closed his eyes in Zhuang Lao’s embrace, still somewhat drowsy but responding to Zhuang Lao’s words.

A gentle kiss landed on Lin Zhaohe’s forehead. In a daze, he felt as if he had transformed into that pitiful deity sitting on a meager bed. At that time, his consciousness was already fuzzy, and everything around him seemed distant, as if through a thick layer of glass. The kiss from his lover on his forehead awakened what little remained of his senses.

“Xiao He,” the voice was tender, tinged with a hint of hoarse choking. The voice of his beloved called Lin Zhaohe back from the fog. He made the wish that would change everything. “I hope time can rewind, and I will bear all of this in your place.”

The warmth of tears replaced the kiss, and Lin Zhaohe heard the sobs of his beloved.

In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse. He fulfilled the final wish of his life.

Time reversed, returning to that day, but the thin bed was nowhere to be found.

In this moment, he lay in Zhuang Lao’s embrace, with the snow gently falling outside the window. In the warmth of the covers, he was tenderly kissed.

“Happy New Year,” his beloved said. “I hope in the new year, you will continue to love me.”

“Okay,” the deity who had lost his powers replied, still half-asleep. “Okay, I will always, always love you.”

After saying those words, he drifted into a deep sleep.

The new year arrived, my dearest Xiao He. Happy New Year! I hope all your wishes come true.

End.

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The End •ᴗ•

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