[The queue for the Heavenly Gates is 6,000+. Fortunately, I ran fast.]

[Wake up, I just queued up with an alt account, and it’s already 8,000. I guess there’s no hope.]

[Me too (T . T)]

[I ran fast too, but I was no match for the people faster than me, ah! Mommy, the way up the mountain is so long…..]

[Can those on the mountain die faster? The line hasn’t moved in a long time, and I’m so bored I’m fishing in the ditch.]

[You think I don’t want to? I lose 10,000 life points when the baby NPC hits me. The problem is, I have 300,000 life points! Calculate for yourself how long it’ll take me to die ten times!]

[Oh my god, are you serious?]

[I knew this scheme wouldn’t be kind enough to let us get a title easily, hahaha]

[I hate that this crappy game doesn’t sell upgrade props, otherwise I would crowdfund 10,000 golden elixirs and stuff them into his mouth!]

[His level was 15 just now…..and now it’s 16…..why do I see an NPC leveling up?]

[And check out his equipment. I’m blown away!]

[Could it be that the site is testing new technology? NPCs that can grow?]

[I don’t want to worry about new technology. I just want to ask if there’s any way to be killed faster by the baby NPC!]

[Isn’t there still 001 next to him? He’s at level 150 and has good equipment, so he can definitely kill quickly. Let him do it, ah. One stab for each little friend.]

[You think I didn’t think of that? But 001 doesn’t do anything! I went to him, but he wouldn’t bother with me.]

[His objective is always the baby NPC.]

[What’s he doing? Does he think he’s the baby’s guardian, ah?]

[In the vicinity] : [Humanoid Player NPC No. 001] gently pats [Humanoid Player No. 002]’s head.

[In the vicinity] : [Humanoid Player NPC No. 001] gently rubs [Humanoid Player No. 002]’s face.

[……]

[……]

[My silence is deafening.]

[Isn’t it strange how these two interact with each other? ? ?]

[He’s really a guardian? Bull.]

[NPC 001 is just for decoration! Stupid planners, aren’t they embarrassed to create an under-leveled NPC just to torture us?! Who actually cares about them giving away bad special effects titles for free?!]

[Bro, if you don’t care, can you make some room for me? I care. [blushing] ]

[ I care. [blushing] ]

[ I care. [blushing] ]

[ I care. [blushing] ]

. . . . . . 

[Those on the mountain, have you taken off your equipment?]

[I took it off a while ago. Only my underwear is left.]

[Stand closer and take group damage to increase efficiency.]

[Lying down in a row is already very gay.]

[Bro next to me, move back. The distance between us is too suggestive [blushing] ]

[Frickin’ blushing?! Can you change your flirty purple color to a straight color first?]

[You’re clipping through me, Bro, your head is stuck in my chest.]

[Is there group damage at level 17?]

[Yes? I remember it being there at level 8.]

[But the baby NPC doesn’t seem to be able to use it.]

[Let’s see, he’s using single attacks and he’s still learning skills! OMG ! ! ! ]

[Today is the day I would also like to greet the planner family.]

[Humanoid NPC Player No. 001, don’t just stand there! Quickly teach your baby!]

[Humanoid NPC Player No. 001, don’t just stand there! Quickly teach your baby!]

[Humanoid NPC Player No. 001, don’t just stand there! Quickly teach your baby!]

. . . . . .

Humanoid NPC Player No. 001: [Don’t rush me. I’m teaching.]

[ …..? ]

[ ? ? ? ]

[ ? ? ? ? ? ]

[what ? ? ? ? ! ! ]

[How the hell is he talking? ? ? ]

[No way, have you all been ignoring the word ‘player’? ]

. . . . . .

He Chuzhou showed Pei Xi in slow motion how to use the skill to carry out group attacks.

Pei Xi carefully took note. He took back his phone and repeated He Chuzhou’s actions. The second after pressing the skill, uniform red numbers appeared above the heads of the naked men lying on the ground:

[ -3888 ]

His eyes lit up.

It could actually hit ten at a time, which was indeed more useful than the single-target skill!

He Chuzhou, hiding his talent and fame, leisurely operated his character to walk up to Pei Xi.

The swordsman in black, wearing a bamboo hat, stood behind the little swordsman with a broadsword in his hands like an all-powerful spirit, or a cold and taciturn bodyguard.

Or that would have been the case if there weren’t crazy words such as “touch,” “pat,” and “rub” popping up now and then above his head.

Accompanying Pei Xi to complete another batch of skills, He Chuzhou suddenly looked sideways at Pei Xi and asked: “Xinxin?”

Pei Xi: “En?”

He Chuzhou: “Are you feeling better now?”

Pei Xi’s fingertips paused on a skill. His attention, which had originally been focused on reaping heads, easily dispersed.

He looked at the rows of players laying on the ground waiting to be killed, looked at the long queue that had spontaneously formed at the Heavenly Gates, looked at everyone cheering for him after he learned how to use group attacks, then looked at the swordsman in black who had been at his side from beginning to end…..

The corners of his mouth curled up in a happy arc. He nodded honestly and said in a soft voice: “I’m okay.”

He Chuzhou’s lips curved, and he raised his weapon too: “So now can you tell me why you were upset before?”

Pei Xi’s eyes flashed slightly, and he lowered them. He Chuzhou waited patiently before finally saying in a soft voice: “I…..saw the news that your father and the others are preparing to return to China.”

“Just this morning.”

Pei Zhen’s condition had stabilized after several years of treatment. Logically speaking, as long as he didn’t receive major mental stimulation and cooperated with his drug treatments, there would basically not be future occurrences.

Therefore, Pei Yansong had been seeking various resources and connections to send Pei Zhen to university, get his life back on track, and integrate him with normal society.

At the same time, because he feared Pei Zhen would be anxious or uneasy, Pei Yansong specially took him and Jiang Ting on vacation to a city on the other side of the ocean, to relax and adjust Pei Zhen’s mood in preparation for school life.

Now, a few months later, they were coming back.

The flight took off at three o’clock in the morning, capital time. Pei Yansong had made a rare post on Moments, which contained a photo of the three of them at an aquarium.

In the background was a glass partition with placards in English, behind which schools of colorful fish swam by.

They were standing in the spacious aisle in front, with Pei Yansong and Jiang Ting standing on either side of the expressionless Pei Zhen.

Jiang Ting was holding her son’s arm and smiling brightly, while the usually stern and unsmiling Pei Yansong had a rare curve to his eyes.

Of course, his so-called unsmiling nature might just be Pei Xi’s perception of his father.

“I’m actually not upset, I’m just…..”

He wracked his brain, unable to find the words to perfectly describe how he felt. He could only say: “I’m just a little unhappy.”

Without waiting for He Chuzhou to react, he muttered: “Why am I talking nonsense?”

Amused, He Chuzhou reached out to grasp the back of his neck: “It’s not nonsense. It’s very clear. I get it.”

Pei Xi was doubtful: “Really?”

But even he himself didn’t know what he was talking about.

He Chuzhou: “Of course. Don’t you believe me?”

Pei Xi shook his head, then suddenly realized: “Chuzhou, did you do all this for me?”

His sensitivity made it difficult to focus on two things at once. If he focused on himself, he would easily lose focus on the people around him.

Only now did he realize He Chuzhou had been attempting to coax him.

He said he would take him out to see a movie and asked him what he wanted to eat. He accompanied him to play a game, from beating strange-looking creatures and riding on mounts, to using privileges to help him “kill innocent people indiscriminately” with great fanfare.

At the thought of his, the smile on his face immediately vanished and was replaced with self-blame: “Did I tire you out or upset you?”

“Who said that?” He Chuzhou instantly cried out in grievance: “I’m extremely happy. I love playing games with you.”

Pei Xi: “But I can’t play well.”

He Chuzhou was puzzled: “Is the point how well you play?”

Pei Xi was also puzzled: “Is it not?”

He Chuzhou: “Shouldn’t the point be playing with you? What fun is just a game?”

Pei Xi pursed his lips in silence, staring at him.

He Chuzhou: “What do you think? If you have any opinions, you can put them forward. I’m very free now, so I can rectify them for you slowly.”

Pei Xi: “……”

Pei Xi worked hard to hold down the corners of his mouth: “Unreasonable.”

He Chuzhou spread his hands: “You’re my wife, not an opponent in a debate. Why should I be reasonable?”

……Okay, he wasn’t quite able to hold them down.

Pei Xi cut off the skill. He didn’t want to be seen, so he simply threw himself into the other’s arms and hid his face: “Mr. He, if Wancheng holds a coaxing contest one day, I’ll definitely vote for you to get first place.”

A coaxing contest?

He Chuzhou asked himself, why would I participate in such a thing? I’m not interested in coaxing others, but I could coax you in a competition. No one but me will be allowed to participate, and I’ll win first place from the start.

Moving his long arms, he simply hugged Pei Xi and sat face to face with him: “Do you want to see something fun?”

Pei Xi slowly raised his head: “Like what?”

He Chuzhou: “Open the game backpack and find the feather inside.”

Pei Xi located the backpack and opened it.

Feather…..feather…..

“Is this it?” He turned his phone and asked He Chuzhou, pointing to the golden feather icon on the screen.

He Chuzhou: “Yeah, that’s it. Press and hold to view the description.”

Pei Xi pressed the feather, and a description box quickly popped up on the left.

[Item name: Golden Feather]

[Item description: The most eye-catching feather on the tail of a Jin Ling. Pulling it out will make the Jin Ling curse at you. It also carries half of the creature’s good luck.]

[Item level: Blue]

[To use: Try using it on a friend. Perhaps it will help realize an unexpected wish.]

Pei Xi was surprised: “Where did this come from?”

He Chuzhou: “Do you remember the Jin Ling I took you to kill on top of Wutong Mountain when we first entered the game?”

Pei Xi thought about it, but was unsure: “You mean that big chicken that looked like a dog and crowed like a duck?”

“ ? ”

“What do you mean it looked…..it crowed?”

He Chuzhou recalled the Jing Ling model in astonishment, and couldn’t refute.

“Okay…..well, it did look like a chicken. I’ll have the modeling team change it.”

“But that’s not the point. Try selecting me and use the feather on me.”

Pei Xi clicked to select the feather. He looked up at He Chuzhou, then down at the feather, then up at He Chuzhou—

Then he hesitantly touched the other’s forehead with his index finger: “Like this?”

After a brief silence, He Chuzhou couldn’t help but lower his head, laughing so hard that his shoulders and body shook.

Pei Xi didn’t understand, and was at a loss.

When he finally realized what he’d done, his head spun around and his face went hot. He retracted his hand in silence and went back to the game.

After selecting the swordsman in black to use the feather on. The character flashed with a golden light, and a 24-hour blue-framed buff appeared on its body: 

[Golden Feather Possession: It seems you were chosen by someone to become his wishing tree~]

“Okay.” He Chuzhou suppressed his smile and said to Pei Xi: “Now you can make a wish on me.”

Pei Xi: “What kind of wish?”

He Chuzhou: “That’s up to you, of course.”

Pei Xi: “Anything is fine?”

He Chuzhou: “Anything is fine.”

Having heard this guarantee, Pei Xi looked straight at him.

There was hesitance, uncertainty, and unbearable hope: “If I want you to go to an aquarium with me…..would that be okay?”

. . . . . .

[Why isn’t the baby moving?]

[Huh? What’s going on? Is he stuck?]

[NPCs can get stuck too ? ? ?]

[Baby, I can’t live without you, ah! Baby ! ! ! ]

[Ahhhh I want to be killed so much! (becomes a monkey) (swings on vines with other monkeys) (throws away pants) (continues to swing regardless) (pisses on the other monkeys) ! ! ! ]

[Hey, he’s moving, he’s moving!]

[NCP 002 used a prop on NPC 001? What the hell? What are you two doing!]

[001! I’m really gonna get angry! Are you here to be an NPC and give out benefits or to coax your wife?!]

[/angry/angry/angry]

[Eh ? ? ?]

[No way, why are they gone?]

[…..Did they rage quit?]

[That can’t be. Are there too many people here and it caused a network lag?]

[ ? ? ? ? What the hell?]

[Why do I feel they were showing off?]

[I have a reasonable suspicion that this is the shameless behavior of a big boss skipping work and sneaking around to coax his wife. (lights cigarette)]

[Come on, the big bosses are busy buying buildings by the river to invest in. How could they have time for wife-chasing? How could they have time to light a beacon fire^[1] for their girl?]

[I am a pig.]

[I am a monkey.]

[What the hell! I would be happy to skip work with my boss!]

[So when will the boss come back and skip work with me? I’ve died 9 times! I really want a special effects title ahhhhhh!]

[System Announcement: Due to the popularity of the event, the excessive enthusiasm of the knights frightened [Humanoid Player No. 1], and he lost his ability to fight. Event NPCs are offline, and today’s killing event has ended. We hope all knights will accept this magnanimously.]

[ ? ]

[ ? ? ? ]

[Damn! I’ve been waiting in line for so long!]

[I send my special greetings to the entire family of this hot chicken scheme]

[System Announcement: Special effects titles will be issued later to all knights who entered the Heavenly Gates map during the event time. Hoping that when all knights go to the courier to receive their reward, they dress appropriately so as not to scare the cute courier NPC.]

[Relief~]

[It’s getting cold, remember to tell your family to put on more clothes to keep warm.]

[/love/love/love]

. . . . . .

There were still five minutes until work ended.

When he finished up, Pei Xi glanced at the time and pressed the curled edges of a paper with his fingertips. He was a bit inexplicably disconcerted.

It had been a long time since he’d woken up and felt embarrassed about what he’d done during his confusion.

Unexpectedly, he was experiencing it again today.

After saying he no longer cared about the past, he’d done an about-face because a photo had completely broken through his guard.

What would He Chuzhou think of him?

Would he think he wanted to save face even at the cost of his life, and didn’t mean what he said?

Even though he knew He Chuzhou wouldn’t mock him for this, as soon as he considered how He Chuzhou might unconsciously label him, he grew restless and couldn’t calm down.

Particularly when He Chuzhou send a message a couple minutes later saying that he would stop by to pick him up for dinner after work.

For dinner.

…..Pei Xi didn’t want to face him at all.

Perhaps it would be possible to explain to He Chuzhou during dinner that the truth was not as he imagined.

To tell him that he wasn’t unbalanced or envious of Pei Zhen, that he didn’t want Pei Yansong to take him on vacation like he’d done for Pei Zhen, nor go to an aquarium and look at the fish.

With this idea in mind, the second he got into He Chuzhou’s car on the way to the restaurant, he carefully considered his words.

But He Chuzhou kept bringing up irrelevant topics, so he never got the chance.

When it came time to order and He Chuzhou carefully selected dishes according to his tastes, he finally couldn’t help but speak up: “He Chuzhou.”

“En?” He Chuzhou looked up. “What is it?”

Pei Xi met his gaze. After several failed attempts to speak, the courage he had finally mustered up failed him.

“…..It’s nothing. I just don’t want you to order drinks that are too sweet.”

He still couldn’t tell him.

For the first time, he regretted pretending not to remember anything when he was in his right mind. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t be in this dilemma today.

How on earth did one bring up a topic one wasn’t supposed to remember?

He’d even hoped once that He Chuzhou would take the initiative to mention it, even if it was told as a joke.

But he also knew there was little hope of that happening.

He Chuzhou was always so considerate of his feelings, and almost never told him what Pei-calico had done so as not to embarrass him.

As expected, He Chuzhou didn’t say a word about it the whole time.

With no choice but to accept his fate, he could only hope He Chuzhou would forget his so-called wish or discard it as a joke.

He ignored the subtle feeling of loss in his heart and prayed for He Chuzhou to forget quickly.

When they left the restaurant, there was a light rain falling outside.

The door attendant gave them an umbrella, which He Chuzhou opened and tucked Pei Xi beneath.

On the way to their parking spot, He Chuzhou muttered to himself about how to take He Xingxing out later.

Pei Xi was absently listening when suddenly, a call from nearby interrupted his wandering thoughts.

“Dear, let’s go home quickly. Dad just called and said he bought you a cake.

He stopped and looked up. It was a mother calling to her child.

“Wu.”

The child responded while squatting beside a closed shop. In front of him was a small stack of cardboard with a little milk cat lying on top.

The cardboard must have been placed there long ago. It was originally beyond the covered awning above, but even though the child had moved it farther in, it could still be seen that it was half-wet from the rain.

“Mama, I feel so sorry for it.”

The child said: “The mama cat only took the other two kittens and forgot about this one. It looks so cold. Can we take it home?”

“No, Dear.”

His mother denied him altogether: “Have you forgotten that Dad is allergic to cat hair? Dad will get sick if you bring it home. Be good, just let it wait here. The mother cat will remember it.”

“But it’s been waiting all day…..”

The child touched the kitten silently. It could be seen that he was struggling to make a decision. In the end, he helped move the kitten under cover more and reluctantly got up and left.

As Pei Xi stared at the shivering kitten that couldn’t even stand up after many attempts, he heard the person beside him say: “Do you want to raise a cat?”

He subconsciously started to nod, but quickly realized that the person asking was He Chuzhou.

He was currently living in He Chuzhou’s home. Even if he wanted one, he could only keep it there. But he recalled that He Chuzhou had once said he didn’t want a cat—

“I would quite like one. He Xinxing can be its companion.”

Pei Xi was stunned. He raised his head just in time to see He Chuzhou look away from the kitten. He looked sideways at Pei Xi and asked with a hopeful look on his face: “How about we take it home?”

---

[1] This refers to an ancient Chinese story, where a king lit the beacon fire to cheer up his wife, and the princes came running to the rescue, thinking it was an emergency. Like these players, they felt very stupid when they realized what had happened. ⮐

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Chapter 47 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 49