Chapter 116: Extra 16 – Sweet Chu Feng Sugar
Shoutout to nyanmaru for the commission!
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
On the king-size bed sat a lonely Xie Shiyu.
He was opening his laptop, listlessly writing some work plans, preparing to implement his acquisition of [Dream City] step by step.
In the past, Xie Shiyu would never have worked in bed.
This bed was meant for things of significant life importance, not work.
—Chu Feng had been away from home for 3 days and 16 hours.
[Ding —]
A message popped up on the web version of WeChat. Xie Shiyu clicked on it languidly, assuming it was from the company group…
Chu Feng: [I’m coming back today]
[Honey!!]
Xie Shiyu quickly sent several running dog emojis: [What time will you arrive? I’ll pick you up]
[No need]
Chu Feng sent a screenshot of his train ticket: 14:17-17:46
[It will be rush hour then, too much traffic.]
Xie Shiyu: [What do you want to eat?]
Chu Feng: [Chongqing Chicken Pot]
Xie Shiyu: ?
Chu Feng: [I suddenly feel like eating it.]
Xie Shiyu paused for a moment. Chongqing Chicken Pot was the takeaway they had at the hotel when he and Chu Feng were 17.
He remembered it well because he had changed the recipient’s name and phone number to Yan Wenbin and made sure the killer saw it.
Xie Shiyu: [Why the sudden craving? / Puppy dog eyes]
Chu Feng didn’t reply, maybe busy heading to the train station. Fifteen minutes later, ding, a new message popped up on the web version of WeChat.
Chu Feng sent a message:
[I want to relive the past]
Attached was a gif of a kitten with rabbit ears nodding its head.
Xie Shiyu: …
In the 26° air-conditioned room, Xie Shiyu suddenly felt a slight chill.
***
Ding ding…
The phone rang. Xie Shiyu answered; it was his assistant, probably reporting on the [Dream City] acquisition plan:
Xie Shiyu: “Hello, how’s the progress?”
Assistant: “Hello, Chief Xie. Chief Chu just rejected the plan you submitted in the company backend.”
Xie Shiyu: “…Let me check.”
He opened the company’s internal network. The plan he had just submitted was marked with a big red ×. He clicked [View Details].
Chu Feng’s rejection reason was: Too long, suggest shortening the timeline.
Xie Shiyu was a bit surprised. His plan estimated the acquisition would be completed in three years, which meant taking over the largest company in the current holographic game market within three years. Other directors had privately called him unrealistic, and now Chu Feng thought three years was too long.
In the [Reason and Analysis] section, Chu Feng only wrote one sentence: Experience [Dream City] yourself.
Xie Shiyu puzzledly opened the bedside table and took out the Dream City game headset. He hadn’t logged in at all while Chu Feng was away these past few days.
Beep—
Brainwave connection successful.
As soon as he entered, ding ding ding, several notifications popped up before his eyes:
【Player CF4088 invites you to interact】, 【Player CF… invites you to interact】, 【…interact】
Chu Feng was inviting him.
In dual-player mode, all characters in Dream City could be controlled by Little Xie at his will. He could inhabit any character or control multiple characters simultaneously. If Chu Feng wanted to interact with a specific character, Xie Shiyu would receive the interaction invitation.
There were too many invitations, so Xie Shiyu didn’t pay much attention to what interaction Chu Feng wanted and clicked [Accept All].
**
【Welcome Player CF4088 and Player X to Dream City】
【Dual-player mode successfully loaded】
【Enjoy your interaction~】
The surroundings turned into a rapidly changing scene. Xie Shiyu found himself standing at a school gate, wearing a black T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers, with a tattoo showing on his forearm, looking every bit the high school delinquent.
He turned and saw the gleaming aluminum fence of the school gate reflecting the bright sunlight, showing a youthful face.
Suddenly back at 17, thirty-year-old Xie Shiyu felt a bit out of place. The next second, he heard a familiar voice behind him:
“Late for class again?”
Teacher Chu Feng, in a white shirt and black trousers, stood behind him, holding a lesson plan in one arm and lightly poking Xie Shiyu’s left shoulder with the other:
“Blood, not going to wash it off?”
Xie Shiyu froze entirely. The next second, the game program quickly executed the next [interaction invitation].
A piano bench, black and white keys, Chu Feng sat beside him, holding his wrist. There was a red scarf on the piano keys.
Xie Shiyu, now inhabiting 13-year-old Little Xie, was already stiff all over.
Chu Feng said nothing, unfolding the red scarf in front of him and pulling out a blood-stained blue ribbon.
***
He used to do these things with ease, even smoothly, as if he was born a part of the darkness.
Afterward, Xie Shiyu never had any psychological burden. Hearing police sirens, news reports, or people around him discussing the cases he was involved in, he was neither nervous nor panicked and could even chat idly with them.
But at this moment, with everything exposed by Chu Feng, Xie Shiyu felt for the first time in his life a sense of being doomed by the light.
He wanted to explain but couldn’t find the words.
These were ironclad facts, irrefutable.
Chu Feng didn’t flee like a normal person would. He came back, but in silence.
Xie Shiyu’s heart felt like it was on a roller coaster in an amusement park, uneasy and restless. In the next instant, the light and shadows changed, and another [interaction invitation] took effect. Xie Shiyu smelled the scent of disinfectant, and when he opened his eyes, everything was white.
White walls, white tiles, white coat—a 24-year-old Doctor Xie.
Chu Feng didn’t say a word. He poured a glass of wine in front of Xie Shiyu.
The second hand in the consultation room ticked away, and Chu Feng silently poured another glass. By the fourth glass, Xie Shiyu couldn’t hold back anymore and made a surrender gesture:
“I confess!”
Chu Feng lifted his head, chuckled at Xie Shiyu, and there was a hint of cunning in his bright eyes:
“Confess to what?”
Xie Shiyu: “Everything. Actually, we wanted to tell you the day we got our marriage certificate…”
“Shh.”
Chu Feng leaned closer, pressing his index finger against Xie Shiyu’s lips. “Don’t say it.”
You know, I know, that’s enough.
***
Xie Shiyu was stunned, suddenly fully understanding Chu Feng’s meaning.
In the real world, there was no longer any evidence related to him. Over the years, not to mention conclusive evidence, even traces of his existence might have disappeared.
Even Chu Feng wouldn’t be aware of those things without the Dream City game restoring his memories.
In other words, this Dream City was the only place in the world where traces of him remained.
And this Dream City game was not under his company’s ownership.
Chu Feng: “I set this game with 100% fidelity from the beginning. I hold complete control over Dream City, and the data cannot leak out.”
If Chu Feng hadn’t set it at 100% fidelity and compromised at 99%, the game system could manipulate Chu Feng’s Dream City.
Generally speaking, such a large company like Dream City wouldn’t specifically target a player to steal their data. But technically, they could obtain players’ privacy information through the game system if they wanted to.
“Although, even with the information in Dream City, it’s not possible to convict me.”
Currently, the law doesn’t recognize audio evidence, let alone so-called memory restoration in holographic games.
“But just in case,” Chu Feng said, “let’s hurry up and acquire Dream City.”
***
“So…”
Xie Shiyu stood up and hugged Chu Feng. Sunshine poured in through the clinic window, and he smiled:
“Is that why you rejected my acquisition plan, saying three years was too long? Afraid some mishap might expose my information?”
Chu Feng looked at him: “What else could it be?”
Xie Shiyu stood still, stunned for two or three seconds, then suddenly burst into laughter.
Chu Feng: “What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing, really.” Xie Shiyu smiled and waved his hand, suddenly feeling emotional:
“Just… thinking that my twenty-year-old self was really foolish.”
He actually argued with Chu Feng at the civil affairs bureau over this matter and had been scared and worried for many years. He feared that if Chu Feng wanted a divorce in the future, he might do something uncontrollable. After getting married and obtaining the certificate, he even deliberately found a small notebook and drew several doodles of fluffy birds, implying self-restraint.
But in reality…
Chu Feng didn’t mind at all.
He wasn’t the gentle, considerate, and understanding good husband that Chu Feng imagined, nor was Chu Feng the normal, positive, sunny, and progressive model student that he thought he was.
They both had sides unknown to others, and now, they could embrace even those sides.
Click.
Chu Feng opened his game backpack, and Xie Shiyu watched as he took out one item after another. There was a black T-shirt with blood on the left shoulder, a blue ribbon hidden in the red scarf, and a small note thrown into the trash by Doctor Xie in the game, with indecipherable drug abbreviations: RP, G, 0, Fly.
Snap. Chu Feng lit a lighter and, right in front of Xie Shiyu, burned them all.
Crackling…
Xie Shiyu watched as these items, deeply connected to him, crackled and burned, quickly turning into fragments of data in the flames, dispersing in the air, disappearing completely.
— Malicious destruction of evidence, harboring criminals.
“Darling.”
Xie Shiyu took a step forward, his hands embracing Chu Feng’s waist, leaning close to Chu Feng’s ear and whispering softly:
“Doing this might get you charged with harboring a criminal, you know.”
Sunlight streamed in through the window, filling the room with a warm brightness. Chu Feng gazed into Xie Shiyu’s eyes, those hazel pupils shimmering champagne-colored in the sunlight.
Chu Feng had seen eyes like these countless times before—on the playground under the blazing sun, amidst fireworks at night, wrapped in snow-white bandages. And just like countless times before, he felt his heart skip a beat.
Chu Feng tilted his head back, gently cupped Xie Shiyu’s face, and kissed him:
“I’ll harbor you for a lifetime.”
***
A warm breeze lifted the white curtains. The brilliant light resembled a melting orange, flowing over their intertwined figures, intimately close.
Outside the window, the sunlight passed through their unspoken, yet unnecessary to be said, little secrets.
Want to show your support? Come donate at Paypal or Ko-fi to show your appreciation! :)
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
