Tan Xiao, chastened by the outburst, quietly asked Teacher Cheng beside him: “Isn’t a rugby ball round?”
Li Li overheard and said with disdain: “A rugby ball is obviously olive-shaped!”
Tan Xiao did a double take, then puffed out his chest with righteous indignation and turned back to the snow globe. “Did you hear that? Olive-shaped! And olives are round, aren’t they? Don’t tell me you’ve never seen an olive!”
Li Li was rendered completely speechless. “An olive is oval! Oval!”
Tan Xiao glared at him angrily. “Whose side are you on?!”
“This has nothing to do with sides!”
The snow globe: “……”
It went quiet for a few seconds, then muttered with undisguised disdain: “Players of this caliber somehow managed to survive this long… that’s practically a miracle by any metric…”
Bai Youwei decided to add fuel to the fire: “Dung beetles roll balls too, you know~”
Ball: “……”
Everyone: “……”
Tan Xiao: “HAHAHAHAHAHA — hic!! “
He laughed himself into a fit, then looked around and saw that no one else was laughing. He stopped, eyes wide: “How are none of you laughing? Don’t you find this funny? It’s dung! It’s DUNG — “
“Laugh, laugh~ laughter shall be the overture to your suffering.” The snow globe gave a cold sniff. “The game begins now… hey, you — the one who was giggling just now. Come here.”
Tan Xiao blinked blankly. “What for?”
The snow globe gave a little twist — the snowflakes inside swirled with it. “See my winding key? Come over and wind it a few turns, and then I can announce the game rules.”
Tan Xiao: “Why do I have to wind it? That’s a lot of trouble — just tell us the rules directly!”
“This is called ceremony! Do you understand ceremony?!” the snow globe said in frustration. “You players never cooperate! Not even a little! Not at all!!”
“Allow me.” Yan Qingwen stepped forward, pinched the gold winding key on the side of the music box, and turned it several times.
He let go, and the golden key slowly rotated. A melodious tune rang out once more —
Ding ding dong dong…
Ding ding dong dong…
As the music drifted through the air, the childlike voice recited a cheerful nursery rhyme:
*”In spring the bear awoke,*
*Oh how frantic — it lost two children, can’t find them anywhere;*
*In summer the rain poured down,*
*Pitch black darkness — nowhere to see where the treasure hides;*
*Autumn — who comes calling?*
*Look, the nail-toothed monster opened its mouth, but where did its teeth go?*
*Winter, winter, winter has finally come~*
*Which little one will be the first to see the snowflakes fall?”*
The rhyme ended, and the music stopped with it.
The snow globe spoke again: “The theme of this game is ‘The Doll House.’ The rules are quite simple. Every 8 hours, the season will change. During the three seasons of spring, summer, and autumn, the Doll House will receive one guest each. Players must satisfy the needs of each guest. When winter arrives, the game will end.
“It should be noted that if any guest’s needs go unmet, time will remain frozen in the season corresponding to that guest.”
The snow globe laughed, and the snowflakes inside it swirled and drifted.
“Everyone understand? As long as winter doesn’t come, none of you can leave~”
Yan Qingwen asked: “What are the guests’ needs?”
The snow globe gave a mischievous giggle but did not answer directly. Instead, it recited the nursery rhyme once more:
*”In spring the bear awoke,*
*Oh how frantic — it lost two children, can’t find them anywhere;*
*In summer the rain poured down,*
*Pitch black darkness — nowhere to see where the treasure hides;*
*Autumn — who comes calling?*
*Look, the nail-toothed monster opened its mouth, but where did its teeth go?*
*Winter, winter, winter has finally come~*
*Which little one will be the first to see the snowflakes fall?”*
Yan Qingwen pondered for a moment, then walked to the side and picked up a stuffed teddy bear lying on the floor.
“The spring bear has lost its children — so the guest is a bear? Its need is to find its children back?”
—