Chapter 82: Tricks to See the Wife
Shoutout to nyanmaru for the commission!
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Bang—hisss—woo—
On the stage below, the microphone sounded, and the next group of contestants started. Sun Bing played the saxophone with a lofty air.
The huge decibels filled the eardrums.
Thirteen-year-old Xie Shiyu clenched his fists tightly, his blood boiling, but his palms were ice-cold.
As he clenched his fists, the icy sensation in his palms felt strange, as if he were still wearing a pair of latex gloves, holding a knife.
When dismembering the body, the latex gloves tore apart, and the warm blood of the corpse, mixed with the cold rain, flowed into his palms.
The sensation was nauseating.
Thirteen-year-old Xie Shiyu slowly loosened his fists, turned his head, and faced Chu Feng—
***
Time ticked by for a second.
But Chu Feng felt as if Sun Bing had played for a whole song down there, so long and d*mn noisy. He saw Xie Shiyu turning around to face him—
The saxophone’s decibels were deafening, and Xie Shiyu opened his mouth to speak to him.
Chu Feng couldn’t hear.
The light leaking through the holes in the wooden board, moon-like light, gradually, Chu Feng could see Xie Shiyu’s lip movements.
This guy answered him casually:
[What did you just say?]
The hand holding the hem of the clothes loosened.
Chu Feng, with peach-scented lipstick on his lips, lowered his head like a dejected little kitten.
Finally, he gently replied to Xie Shiyu:
[Nothing.]
***
Xie Shiyu nodded solemnly. “Let’s go down.”
“Yeah.”
Chu Feng responded softly, not saying much.
Xie Shiyu led the way ahead, kicking away the tools and obstacles scattered along the way, while Chu Feng silently followed behind him.
They walked one after the other in the dark staircase, with the staircase handrail on the right and the curtain on the left. One curtain away was the stage, emitting a deafening roar.
The staircase was dark, with only the gap at the bottom of the curtain revealing the bright light of the stage, their only illumination.
Light, sound, color, all beyond that curtain, inside the curtain, were the dark staircase, the quiet footsteps, and the unspoken love.
***
The fingertips landed on the last note of “Sunny Day.”
Twenty-nine-year-old Chu Feng finished playing the piano. He stood up—
“Are you leaving?”
Thirteen-year-old Xie on the piano bench asked, looking at Chu Feng about to leave, his tone somewhat sour:
“Are you… going to the adults again…”
Chu Feng deliberately looked out the window. It was already late, so he nodded solemnly:
“I’m leaving. You better do your homework.”
Chu Feng stood up and left, wearing the same relaxed and indifferent expression on his face, just like the thirteen-year-old Xie Shiyu who didn’t kiss him back in the past.
Now, the thirteen-year-old Xie was not happy. He, who was now a head shorter than the older Chu Feng, reached out and grabbed Chu Feng’s clothes:
“I’m only five years away from turning eighteen, shouldn’t… I get some benefits?”
Chu Feng stopped and pretended to consider Xie’s words, then asked:
“What do you want then?”
Xie Shiyu stared at him and said:
“Give me a kiss before you go.”
Xie Shiyu thought Chu Feng would use excuses like being underage as he did before.
But today was different from any other time before.
Chu Feng turned around, bent down, and slowly leaned towards him—
Thirteen-year-old Xie immediately felt nervous, unsure whether to clench or loosen his hands. After a moment of thought, he slowly closed his eyes, waiting… and waiting—
Chu Feng got very close to him, so close that his breath touched his lips…
But he didn’t kiss him.
With his eyes closed, Xie Shiyu waited for a long time, unable to bear it any longer. He turned his face to kiss him…
Smack.
Instead of the soft lips he imagined, he received a “blow” on his forehead.
Xie Shiyu suddenly opened his eyes and saw Chu Feng smiling as he tapped his forehead:
“You’re dreaming. You didn’t kiss me when you were thirteen, and now you won’t get a chance.”
Chu Feng stood up, picked up Xie’s school bag, emptied out the papers and exercise books inside, and patted Xie affectionately:
“Go do your homework.”
***
Thirteen-year-old Xie Shiyu, unable to get a simple kiss, was now struggling with a difficult math problem he couldn’t solve.
Like an ordinary eighth-grade student.
Twenty-nine-year-old Chu Feng, watching Xie Shiyu, who was sixteen years younger than him, leaned quietly against the door for a while before finally leaving—
As he opened the door, he was greeted by a shadow:
X, who stood at over six feet tall, was standing at the door.
“Why are you…” Chu Feng was about to ask but remembered his role as the regulator and changed his tone:
“The original body has been found, and the virus has been removed.”
X nodded, indicating that he understood the situation.
Chu Feng continued politely: “Thank you for your help during this time. It must have been tiring to be on standby 24/7. You can relax now.”
Implicitly: You don’t have to come anymore in the future.
This Dream City was their paradise, belonging to him and Xie Shiyu. Anyone else who wanted to enter needed his permission. However, during the city-wide crisis, the regulator had the power to enter and exit the Dream City at will, leaving the player with no privacy.
Now that the crisis was resolved, Chu Feng hoped X would relinquish this power. The timing of X’s appearances had been relatively good so far, with both Chu Feng and Xie Shiyu in normal states. But if one time Chu Feng and Xie Shiyu were in the middle of having s*x, suddenly, Regulator X appeared…
Social death. Just the thought made Chu Feng’s scalp tingle.
The thanks he just expressed seemed too subtle. Chu Feng was afraid X wouldn’t understand his social cues, so he was contemplating how to express himself more clearly—
Suddenly, as if reading his mind, X took out a special access card for regulators from the game backpack. With a twist of his bandaged fingers, the card ignited into a silver flame, turning into data fragments and destroying itself.
“You’re safe now.”
X nodded slightly towards Chu Feng.
“I won’t disturb you anymore then. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me.”
In the next instant—
[Regulator X has exited your Dream City]
In front of him, it was empty. Chu Feng blinked his eyes.
It’s rare to meet someone so easy to chat with, who could understand his thoughts in such a short time.
Chu Feng remembered his parents. When he was young, he couldn’t understand his parents’ thoughts. He always felt his parents were very strange, as if they were heirs to a face-changing magic. Just a moment ago, they were arguing fiercely at home, glaring at each other like enemies. But as soon as they stepped out of the house and met outsiders, they spontaneously held hands, leaned on each other, joked and laughed, showing affection as if they were deeply in love, enviable to others.
Only little Chu Feng was stuck in between them, like a small mouse thrown into a jar of honey, struggling and almost suffocating, while other mice laughed and envied him, being the child raised in the honey jar.
As he grew a little older, Chu Feng understood. His parents cared a lot about their reputation. One worked in a school, the other in the government, both considered respectable people with official positions. Their lives were always adorned with a beautiful robe, but inside it was full of fleas. When facing outsiders, they spoke elegantly and behaved gracefully, but when facing their own family, they could act however they pleased.
When he wanted to marry Xie Shiyu back then, his family was in chaos. His parents couldn’t hide their disdain for Xie Shiyu. But when the New Year came, and Xie Shiyu came to visit, Chu Feng watched as his parents suddenly changed their attitude. Just a moment ago, they were cursing Xie Shiyu as worthless, but now, they could smile brightly at him, calling him affectionately, welcoming him into their home, serving him dishes and pouring wine, sitting together as a family, enjoying each other’s company, harmonious and loving.
Fortunately, Xie Shiyu was very perceptive. With just a word from his parents, Xie Shiyu could guess the hidden meanings. If it were someone else, they might have thought his parents liked him very much and were very satisfied with the marriage, leaving Chu Feng alone to suffer.
—Unexpectedly, this Regulator X was also so perceptive. Chu Feng was somewhat surprised. He reviewed what he had said, did he make it too obvious? Otherwise, how could a normal person extract “Thank you, it must have been tiring?” and interpret it as “Go quickly, destroy the access card before leaving”?
This Regulator X was too… considerate, making Chu Feng feel embarrassed instead.
He originally planned to go see the adult Xie, but now he abandoned that plan.
Beep—
Chu Feng exited the Dream City game, took off the game headset, and looked at the ceiling of his bedroom in reality.
He opened his phone, and several messages popped up on WeChat, from Lin Lan, his mom, and X.
Normally, Chu Feng would open X’s message last, but today, by some twist of fate, he opened the chat with X first:
The message was sent a minute ago:
[The entity is thirteen years old.]
[Guessed right.]
Chu Feng looked at these two messages, feeling a bit confused. Guessed right? Guessed right about what?
As if reading his mind, X sent another message:
[You haven’t forgotten, have you?]
Chu Feng’s heart skipped a beat. He immediately scrolled through the chat history with X.
Before, they had discussed the age of the character Xie being thirteen, and Chu Feng let X guess freely. X guessed thirteen and said if he guessed right, he would come to H City, China, and Chu Feng would treat him to a meal.
Chu Feng had agreed at the time, thinking X, as the highest regulator, was probably very busy and might not be able to come to H City for a long time, and even if he did come, he would probably go to the capital and might not come to H City.
[I haven’t forgotten.]
Chu Feng sent a message:
[Let me know when you come to H City. There are many delicacies here, eat whatever you like, my treat.]
After a moment, X replied:
[Okay.]
That chat ended there. As for when X would come, that was up to X, a matter of a courteous invitation to dinner from an adult in society.
Chu Feng swiped his finger, preparing to exit the chat with X—
Buzzing.
Suddenly, X sent a new message:
[Looking at plane tickets now.]
Chu Feng was startled:
[So soon?]
X sent two small emojis:
Grinning, grinning
[Waiting for your treat~]
Chu Feng looked at the chat history, feeling a bit baffled.
Regulator X, existing in the game, on the other end of the internet cable, was suddenly about to break through the dimensional barrier and enter his real life.
—All because of a casual guessing game with a reward.
Vaguely, Chu Feng felt like he had been tricked.
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