Chapter 29
Hearing about the camping trip. Quinlyn felt a bit lost
She popped a meatball into her mouth, pulling out her cheeks, and she stared at Stanley, completely confused about what they were even supposed to do on this camping trip.
Suting next to her, Joseph explained. “Manldon International School runs a two–week camping trip every year, from elementary to high school. It’s two weeks long and includes a mix of school activities and outdoor stuff. The goal is to build physical strength and survival skills”
He paused for a second, glancing at Quinlyn before adding. “The class leaders get extra credit for joining. It’s like a bonus to your grades
Quinlyn’s eyes lit up. She perked up, now clearly more interested. But the part that really stood out to her was the extra credit. “Wait, so did you lose to Stanley?” she asked Josephs, genuinely curious.
After all, they were in the same grade. She figured they should’ve been competing against each other
Joseph gave her a calm, small smile. “No. I didn’t even sign up. I don’t need the extra credit. I’m already on track for early admission to the best college”
Overhearing this. Stanley froze. His body tensed up.
For a moment, everything in the room seemed to go still.
Not sensing the sudden tension, Quinlyn just nodded and said, “Wow, that’s impressive.”
At that, Stanley’s frustration bubbled up, his face turning bright red with a mix of embarrassment and anger.
“Hmph” Just you wait” Stanley snapped, puffing out his chest. T’m going to crush it on this camping trip! Til get the highest credit. Do you believe I can make it happen, Quinlyn?”
Quinlyn blinked, caught off guard by his sudden intensity. She stared at him, unsure of what to say. Nervously, she pushed the chicken leg on her plate toward him. “Uh, are you hungry? Want this?”
Stanley grabbed the chicken leg, clearly trying to mask his frustration. He took a big bite, mumbling to himself about how he was going to lead the team to victory this time.
After finishing their meal, everyone went their separate ways.
When Stanley and Quinlyn returned to the Anderson residence, the dining room was empty except for Tina and Maurice.
Tina spotted Stanley and waved him over quickly, her face full of worry. “Stanley, the moment Harriet got home from school, she locked herself in her room. I tried calling her for dinner, but she said she wasn’t hungry. Can you go check on her?”
Stanley didn’t have the time for this. He grabbed Quinlyn’s hand and started heading upstairs, his tone sharp as he replied. “I don’t care if she eats or not. And just so you know, Quinlyn is the only sister I have.”
Tina’s eyes widened in shock. “What? How can you talk like that?!” she shouted, about to scold him. But before she could say anything else, they were already gone, vanishing around the corner of the stairs.
Tina let out a frustrated sigh and sat back down, her worry deepening as she turned to Maurice. “Maurice, do you think this is really okay?”
She went on, “Look at her. She’s wearing new clothes again–definitely from Stanley. He’s been treating her better and better. What if, one day, Stanley finds out the truth and still decides to keep her stay?”
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Chapter 29
Her biggest fear was that Quinlyn would make it all about her in this family.
Maurice had been thinking the same thing. He frowned and said. “If we can’t let Quinlyn stay here for too long, we need to find a way to make Edwand accept Harriet. Here’s the plan 11l organize a banquet and officially introduce Quinly
everyone
“What?” Tina was stunned, her voice full of disbelief. “Are you out of your mind? She’s not even our daughter. How are we supposed to introduce her to everyone like that?”
Maurice gently placed his hand over hers, signaling for her to calm down.
Then he explained. “It’s just a title. Tina. It won’t change anything. Besides, it shows loyalty to Edward. We’re treating both kids the same. At the banquet, Harriet will have her moment to shine, and Edward’s a smart guy–he’ll figure out who’s truly
better”
Tina listened carefully and then let out a relieved sigh, her face brightening with a smile. “You’re right. Let Edward see for himself how much better Harriet is compared to that poor, parentless girl. He’ll definitely prefer Harriet.”
Both Maurice and Tina agreed this was a great idea, and before long, the word began to spread.
As soon as Harriet heard about the party, she rushed straight to the piano room. She practiced like a maniac, determined to play the most stunning piece and leave everyone in awe.
Meanwhile. Quinlyn had completely transformed into a tech geek.
Ever since her big win on the Hacker Alliance forum, she had become a household name. Her anti–tracking program had sold over a hundred copies, making her a superstar in the hacker community.
Because of her success, Stanley had started tagging along, joining a hacker esports team. He even got Quinlyn to play a few games with them
Now, they were in a gaming voice chat, communicating while playing.
“How’s that for a boss kill! Check out my flawless combo!” one of the teammates boasted.
Quinlyn didn’t respond right away. She was too focused on the game, her eyes glued to the screen.
Stanley had his character slouched on the virtual grass. His voice came through the headset, thick with boredom
“Seriously, what’s the point of this?” Stanley complained. “Every time we hit a tough level, we just crack the code and fix the bugs. How’s that not just cheating with bots?”
He regretted joining this team. It wasn’t what he had expected.
The others fell quiet, clearly a little embarrassed by his words.
“Well, what else are we supposed to do? Every game has bugs, and when we find them, we can’t help but fix them. Didn’t you do the same thing when you played?” one of them said, trying to defend their actions.
Stanley didn’t reply.
He couldn’t argue with that.
He had thought joining a hacker esports team would be thrilling. But instead of facing challenges, it felt like a never–ending game of “spot the difference.”
He found it wasn’t fun at all. In fact, it was downright boring.
“Forget it,” Stanley muttered, flipping over and sitting up. “I’d rather play ball with my sister. He was about to quit the game
20:32 Tue, 18 Mar
Chapter 29
and call Quinlyn to go shoot hoops when he suddenly heard Quinlyn’s calm, clear voice through the headset.
All done. Quinlyn said.
Stanley froze, staring at the screen. “What’s done?
“The bug.” Quinlyn replied. She pulled them into the game lobby and started a new round. “I fixed it. We can play again
The guys in the chat were skeptical. After all, the game’s code was huge and complicated, and it was a company’s confidential source file with solid anti–theft measures. The bugs were hidden in tiny, obscure details. Finding and fixing them could take months.
They’d only been playing for two days. They didn’t believe Quinlyn had actually fixed anything.
But when they got back into the game, they were stunned. The item that had been causing lag was smooth now. The monsters that used to be easy to kill were suddenly harder to defeat. Even the crack in the climbing path was patched up.
What was once a standard difficulty game had now become insanely hard. By the end, the voice chat was filled with groans and complaints.
“Ugh, I died again! Why is this so hard?!” a teammate shouted.
“Bro, help me! Help me! This game’s a nightmare! I’m gonna fix it myself! Wait! Why can’t I break through the firewall? Damn it, girl. Did you fix their company’s firewall, too?” another guy yelled.
In the end, the group was at their breaking point, and they seriously started questioning their hacking skills.
After grinding for 11 hours. Stanley died in the game. With dark bags under his eyes, he dragged himself into Quinlyn’s room and stared at her. “I asked you to make the game more fun, not turn it into a nightmare,” he complained.
Quinlyn was tucked up in her blanket, holding a Mordorian storybook. She looked up at him with big, wide eyes that were full of confusion and innocence. “But everyone thinks it’s fun,’ she said, her voice soft.
Stanley threw his hands up, slamming his palm against the desk in frustration. “Who thinks it’s fun?!”
Quinlyn pointed at the computer screen. “The server has a hundred times more players now.”
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