Chapter 18 Spend the Night
Shoutout to nyanmaru for the commission!
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X sat in the wheelchair, looking at his hand.
He had just come out of Chu Feng’s Dream City, and there was still a lingering sensation of…water on his arm.
—But it didn’t quite feel like water.
X pondered over that sensation. It seemed to be stickier than water…but what could it be?
Thinking for a moment, X opened WeChat and sent a message.
Ding—
Chu Feng entered the Dream City and walked into the hospital to see how Little Xie, who was bitten by mosquitoes, was doing.
The hospital corridor was lit with a cold white light, casting Chu Feng’s shadow sharply against the darkness.
Buzzing.
His phone vibrated in his pocket twice. Chu Feng took it out and checked:
X: [Have you returned?]
Chu Feng wanted to finish checking on Little Xie before replying, but just as he was about to put away his phone, buzz—
Another message:
X: [You seemed to be dripping water just now.]
“…”
Chu Feng almost crushed the screen of his phone.
It seemed like X also realized that his previous message was inappropriate, so he retracted it and sent another:
[Your bottom was wet.]
Chu Feng: “!”
On the other end, X finally grasped that his words might have sounded like harassment, so he retracted the message. The chat box showed that the other party was typing…
After a long time of typing, nothing was sent out. It seemed like he was carefully considering his words. Buzz—
X sent a message:
[Are you okay?]
[I’m fine.]
Chu Feng replied, but after sending it, he felt that the two words sounded a bit too cold. He opened the chat with Lin Lan, stole a cute peach cat emoji, and forwarded it to X.
“Chu Feng—!”
Creak, the door of the ward opened, and 5-year-old Little Xie came out with a small water gun in his hand.
“Why aren’t you sleeping, it’s so late?” Chu Feng squatted down and patted him.
“I can’t sleep because the mosquito bites are itching!”
“We can’t sleep either!”
The four 5-year-old Little Xies rushed into Chu Feng’s arms.
Chu Feng reached out and hugged the four Little Xie bundles, his voice gentle, “Didn’t Dr. Xie give you mosquito repellent incense?”
“We did! But it didn’t work! They still bit me!”
“Me too!”
Chu Feng checked their conditions one by one, their foreheads, necks, ankles, all had big mosquito bites that looked red and itchy.
The previously bitten Little Xie with the popsicle didn’t get bitten again, but the mosquito bites on his arm hadn’t subsided at all.
Green ointment was applied to those swollen bumps. The smell of mosquito repellent filled the ward. Electronic mosquito repellent lamps blinked at each Little Xie’s bedside.
—It seemed that Dr. Xie had already come to deal with it.
Chu Feng gently comforted the Little Xies to sleep, telling them a few bedtime stories.
“Chu Feng, will you come and tell us stories every day from now on?” Little Xie stretched out his hand, grabbing Chu Feng’s sleeve, as if afraid he wouldn’t agree, and added, “Just during the time we’re in the hospital, it won’t be long.”
“Okay.” Chu Feng touched each Little Xie’s forehead and smiled, “Then you all sleep well tonight, and I’ll come again tomorrow.”
The four Little Xies got into bed, turning into obedient Little Xie bundles. Because they listened to Chu Feng’s bedtime stories, their mood improved to 95.
The Little Xies entered dreamland. Chu Feng walked out quietly and gently closed the door to the ward.
Just as he turned around—
“You’re back?”
Chu Feng turned around to see Dr. Xie silently appearing behind him.
“Yeah,” Chu Feng smiled, “Heard you got bitten by mosquitoes?”
Dr. Xie’s expression stiffened.
They walked in the hospital corridor, Chu Feng getting a bit closer to Dr. Xie, holding his hand: “How’s the swelling? Let me have a look.”
— When he heard about Little Shiyu being bitten, Chu Feng looked distressed, but hearing about Dr. Xie being bitten, Chu Feng was like: So, you have your moments too.
Dr. Shiyu glanced at Chu Feng, then raised an eyebrow with a sudden smile, “Really want to see?”
Chu Feng nodded.
Click.
Dr. Xie’s slender fingers reached for his pants’ belt buckle to undo it…
“Wait, what are you doing?” Chu Feng quickly reached out to stop him from unfastening his belt.
“Aren’t you trying to see the mosquito bite? It’s on my thigh.”
Dr. Xie smoothly grabbed Chu Feng’s hand, pulled him closer, and whispered in his ear:
“It’s swollen into a big bump, all puffed up. Do you really want to see?”
“I don’t want to see!” Chu Feng swiftly withdrew his hand, turned around to leave, but Xie Shiyu hooked his waist from behind.
“Coming to the hospital occasionally, won’t you spend the night with me?”
It would indeed be a bit much to dump Dr. Xie now and spend the night with some other Xie Shiyu in the East City. Chu Feng lowered his head, murmured softly:
“I already… did it… with you… today.”
“So you want to spend tonight with someone else?”
Chu Feng felt Dr. Xie was not pleased; he was held tightly from behind, feeling Xie Shiyu’s arms as hard as iron, tightly encircling him, trapping his whole being in his embrace:
“Like the one waiting for you downstairs today?”
— X?!
Suddenly, talking about someone else in such an intimate context, Chu Feng’s face felt a bit hot: “I told you, he was just here to put out a fire!”
“You’re blushing.”
“I’m not.”
Dr. Xie raised an eyebrow, silently adding Firefighter Xie to the same blacklist as CEO Xie in his mind.
Chu Feng wanted to explain further: X wasn’t his city’s little Xie, but before he could say anything, Dr. Xie picked him up from behind, took a long step, and headed straight to the third-floor consultation room, spending the night.
***
Buzz…
In the deep night, in the deserted ground floor lobby, a mosquito was flying slowly.
It had sucked enough blood, its belly swollen, with eerie red spots on its abdomen. It hovered in the air for a while, then flew out of the hospital gate…
Heading to other areas.
***
The next morning.
Chu Feng woke up in Dr. Xie’s embrace, the air filled with the smell of milk and baked cocoa chiffon cake.
“Good morning,” Dr. Xie kissed Chu Feng’s cheek gently, “Let’s go have breakfast.”
“You baked… a cake?”
Chu Feng sat up groggily, sniffing the sweet aroma of cocoa cake, as delightful as in his memories.
— Shiyu is really good at cooking. Even in high school, he could only make home-cooked meals, but after becoming an adult, he can even bake desserts like cakes.
Next to the third-floor consultation room was Dr. Xie’s private rest area, quite spacious, basically equivalent to a home, with all the kitchen appliances including an oven. Chu Feng sat at the dining table, eating cocoa chiffon cake, with Xie Shiyu sitting opposite him. Their figures were reflected on the glass table, with the morning sun shining outside, as beautiful as a honeymoon.
After breakfast, Chu Feng stepped out of the Dream City’s gate, ending his “honeymoon”.
Ding—
Chu Feng took off his gaming headset, tiredly opened his eyes, returning to reality.
Next to the bed was a photo wall of two people, but on the bed was only him, facing the blank ceiling.
Chu Feng got out of bed, feeling dizzy and aching. Sleeping in the game kept his brain waves connected, like continuous dreaming, so the quality of sleep was poor.
Ding, ding—opening his phone, a series of messages popped up, mostly work-related, but four were from X:
[Good morning]
[I wonder if it’s morning where you are]
[Have you seen that your system reported that your system has anti-human consciousness?]
[Is everything alright?]
Chu Feng sent a morning greeting emoji and added, “[Nothing’s wrong.]”
Last time, that white system spirit got singed in the fire because Chu Feng reported it. The game company immediately froze the system’s activity rights and dispatched a new, human-friendly system for the players. The old system was locked in a corner of the screen for observation. If any evidence of anti-human behavior was found, the game company would dismantle it immediately, like a public execution.
Now, that white spirit seemed dead. It didn’t move even when clicked.
—Even better if it’s dead, Chu Feng thought. He never liked that system, always felt like it was up to something shady. Today, a new system would come to his Dream City. He’d let the new one investigate the old one.
Once he had concrete evidence, he’d execute the old system. Anything that endangered Little Xie behind his back was something Chu Feng couldn’t tolerate.
Buzz—
A message from X popped up on WeChat:
“[Glad you’re okay.]”
Chu Feng replied with a cat emoji and was about to end the conversation—
Buzz buzz buzz—
Smack.
Chu Feng slapped at his ear. There was a mosquito in his bedroom!
Summer mosquitoes, from morning till night, darted around. Chu Feng caught a glimpse of a dark shadow in front of him before it disappeared.
Chu Feng was about to grab the electric mosquito swatter when he suddenly remembered something.
Just in case, he asked X:
“[If a character in Dream City gets bitten by a mosquito, will… anything happen?]”
X replied instantly:
“[Do you know what species of mosquito it is?]”
Chu Feng thought for a moment. Little Xie had mentioned it was a:
“[Flower mosquito.]”
X: “[With white patterns? Then it’s an Aedes albopictus. If it’s confirmed to be this species, it’s no different from being bitten in reality, no big deal, but be careful as it can transmit diseases.]”
Chu Feng: “[What diseases?]”
X sent a brief explanation:
“[Mosquitoes are vectors for many diseases, transmitting pathogens into the host’s bloodstream through bloodsucking. They can rapidly spread diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile virus, among others.]”
Chu Feng: “[Can characters… get these diseases too?]”
X: “[No, they won’t. Dream City is a game, and both characters and players are just data programs. There’s no actual biological structure. Typically, they’ll only feel lethargic, feverish, and uncomfortable in the game. Buying some items from the store should do the trick.]”
“[Alright, thanks.]”
Chu Feng paused before typing another question:
“[What if we’re not sure what species the mosquito is?]”
X: “[Then first confirm if it’s a normal species of mosquito. In the game, only black mosquitoes and white-patterned mosquitoes are normal. Any with other colored patterns are mutants, especially those with red patterns, which are the most poisonous, carrying vast amounts of bacteria and viruses, potentially causing a city-wide infection crisis.]”
X added:
“[This bacteria and virus are just convenient terms. In essence, in the game, they don’t have a biological structure, just abnormal proliferating and replicating program data. If you quit the game, you’ll be perfectly fine.]”
“[Because there’s no biological structure, you can’t use real-life infection scenarios to infer their effects. After being infected, characters or players won’t simply fall ill and die, or turn into zombies like in movies and TV shows.]”
Chu Feng: “[Then what would happen?]”
Regulator: “[Not sure. Different bacteria and viruses have different modes of transmission and infection conditions, as well as completely different methods of removal. Did you discover any mutant mosquitoes?]”
Chu Feng: “[No, I was just asking.]”
X: “[Your new system should be arriving soon. Let it conduct a city-wide inspection. There are a lot of mosquitoes in summer.]”
“[Okay.]”
Chu Feng ended the chat.
He then opened a text message: [Dream City] Game Company reminds you that your new system is on its way! Enter your Dream City tonight at 8:00 PM sharp for service!
There are a few more messages from the work email notification. Chu Feng checked them one by one. There seemed to be some issues with the projects the company was following up on.
“Lin Lan.” Chu Feng put on his suit jacket as he stood up. “Don’t order my lunch or dinner for today. There might be some issues at the company, and I might not be able to come back.”
“No problem, cousin!” Lin Lan was playing games in the living room. His elder cousin’s house was big and spacious, and there was no one to nag him about not playing games. Lin Lan had stayed over at his elder cousin’s place yesterday to have some hotpot and wanted to stay for a few more days.
***
Office
Ding—
The clock on the desk turned to 20:00.
Chu Feng was still looking at documents. If this project could be successfully negotiated, the company’s profits for this year would increase significantly.
—Actually, the inheritance he had was already more than enough. He didn’t need to bother with the affairs of the company himself. But Chu Feng didn’t want to let the company left by Xie Shiyu become a mess.
Ding Ling Ling—
[Your new system is online!]
A black spirit appeared on the phone’s desktop, its little feet stepping on the white spirit:
“Dear master, I am your…”
Chu Feng clicked to skip the system’s self-introduction and set the command: Search for violations by the old system—Scope: entire city—Depth: deep—Standard: strictest.
“Understood, dear little master!” The black spirit stood up straight with its antenna raised:
“We have started searching for anomalies. Estimated time: 45 minutes.”
20:30
Chu Feng glanced at the remaining documents. He was afraid he would have to stay until past nine o’clock. He would probably return home around ten, and Xie Shiyu and the others would already be asleep.
—He had just promised Little Shiyus’ yesterday that he would tell them bedtime stories.
On one side was Xie Shiyu’s company in the real world, and on the other side was the Xie Shiyu in the virtual game. Chu Feng sighed and called his cousin: “Lin Lan, do me a favor.”
“Cousin, just tell me!”
“I suppose you have the key to Dream City, right? Enter the game, go to the hospital in the West City, second floor, room 208, and visit Little Xies for me.”
“Huh? But…” Lin Lan hesitated. “Big… cousin, I… I’m a bit scared…”
“What are you afraid of?”
“I’m afraid of Older Brother Xie. He’s tall and strong, 1.9 meters tall. What if he doesn’t like me and beats me up? They didn’t like me on the bus last time. cousin, I’m scared if you’re not around…”
“Even the Xie Shiyu from kindergarten scares you?”
“Oh! The one from kindergarten! That’s fine!” Lin Lan cheered up. Imagining the 1.9-meter-tall Older Brother Xie turning into a small ball, bouncing around his knees, Lin Lan immediately felt better:
“Do I need to bring them any toys?”
“No need. If possible, tell them a bedtime story, then tell them I have something to do today and might not be able to come. Let them sleep well, and I’ll come back tomorrow night.”
“Okay, no problem!”
Lin Lan entered Chu Feng’s Dream City.
***
20:45
Chu Feng finished dealing with the documents in advance. Closed the office, went downstairs, entered the B1 parking garage.
Just as he sat in the car, his phone beeped, and the black spirit popped up with a system notification:
[System has completed the search and found violations by the old system: 1]
Chu Feng frowned. Sure enough, the old system had something up its sleeve and hid something from him.
[Click—View—Violations]
The black spirit obediently projected a screen into the air outside the phone.
The riverbank, the highway, an abandoned bus…
Chu Feng’s brow furrowed even tighter. This was footage from after the bomb on the bus had been defused. It should have been recorded by the system’s camera.
The camera zoomed in and zoomed in again, focusing on the floor of the bus:
Chu Feng saw the shattered windows lying on the ground, reflecting the faint golden sunlight.
Suddenly!
From the cracks in the floor, a newly hatched mosquito crawled out.
Its legs had normal black and white patterns, but its abdomen had a hint of red!
Chu Feng immediately remembered what X had said: The ones with red patterns were the most poisonous mutants!
Ding.
A prompt appeared on the screen:
Detected: Red Abdomen Mosquito –
Rare mutant species –
Carrying >13,000 types of bacteria, >34,000 types of viruses –
After being bitten…
Condition unknown, no known cases of recovery found in searches.
[Extremely harmful to characters.]
[Hazard level: Deadly.]
The red abdomen mosquito fluttered in the wind, flew out of the window, buzzing, heading towards the West City Kindergarten…
Swipe—
The old system wiped out this most crucial piece of information from the backstage notification, without informing him.
Chu Feng clenched his fists tightly, wishing he could drag that white spirit out of the screen and crush it.
The new system’s black spirit: “The red abdomen mosquito belongs to a highly dangerous mutant species. I have reported this situation to the regulatory center. There may already be viruses spreading in your Dream City, and many characters may have been infected. I suggest you refrain from playing games for a few days… Hey, adorable little master, are you listening to me?”
Chu Feng was too busy; he was on the phone with Lin Lan:
“Hello? cousin…”
“Lin Lan! Exit the game immediately!”
“Huh? What’s wrong, cousin?” Lin Lan’s leisurely voice came through the phone, “I just finished telling stories to the five Little Xies, and they’re all sleeping well.”
“…Five?”
Chu Feng immediately asked, “The Xie Shiyu in kindergarten only has four! What’s the extra one?”
Click.
The phone suddenly sounded as if it had been disconnected by something.
“Lin Lan!”
“…Lin Lan?”
Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep…
A series of busy tones came from the other end of the phone.
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