Chapter 91: Husband’s Flight
Shoutout to nyanmaru for the commission!
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“Sizzle—”
Chu Feng took a step closer to the seventeen-year-old Xie Shiyu.
Soon, he felt his clothes being brushed.
Even though there was air and damp water separating them, Chu Feng felt as if he and Xie Shiyu were like two metal cars colliding, emitting a squeaky, unpleasant sound, as if there were two layers of membrane between him and the mutated 17-year-old Little Xie.
X, behind him, reached out and gently grabbed the collar of Chu Feng’s sailor suit:
“Don’t get any closer to him.”
X used his regulatory authority to project the current code negotiation diagram on the air screen:
Chu Feng could clearly see that the sailor suit code he was wearing was 18 layers thicker than usual!
The thickness of that code extended from where he was standing now to where the 17-year-old Little Xie was, causing intense friction with the red code of the mutated 17-year-old Xie Shiyu.
“Let me handle this next.”
X patted Chu Feng’s shoulder, indicating him to step back.
Chu Feng saw X take out a silver silk glove from his game backpack, put it on, apparently aiming at Little Xie—
“What are you going to do?”
Chu Feng immediately stood in front of X.
“At present, Dream City is facing a commercial hacker attack. This is a precious sample of the first wave of attacks,” X said seriously. “According to my job responsibilities, it needs to be handed over to the game company.”
As he was about to take action, Chu Feng quickly pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his backpack, clicked them shut on X’s wrist, and questioned:
“How do you plan to hand over this sample?”
X fell silent for a moment.
“This character has already mutated,” X paused, trying to be tactful. “I will make it into a data sample and submit it to the game company.”
“Isn’t that as good as killing him?!” the system spirit frowned, flapping its wings. “Making it into a data sample means breaking down the character’s body and extracting all internal codes?”
Chu Feng tightened the handcuffs, not allowing X to move freely.
X adopted a clear and uncompromising attitude, looking down at the handcuffs, then at Chu Feng:
“You know, this thing can’t hold me.”
Chu Feng remained silent.
X glanced at the virtual Little Xie standing below the steps:
“It’s just a piece of data.”
“It’s not to me,” Chu Feng insisted.
X put on a look of difficulty:
“Truthfully handing over the data sample of the hacker attack is my job responsibility. This year’s fifth anniversary conference is very important. The company specially transferred me from the Pacific to China. If I deliberately hide…”
For some reason, Chu Feng felt that X’s show of difficulty was somewhat staged, but he couldn’t find fault with him and was momentarily speechless.
Every word X said, from a legal perspective, indeed had no problem.
Dream City currently occupies the top spot in the holographic gaming market, with good user experience and high immersion, but its security issues are also a point that competitors can exploit.
If there were player casualties during the fifth anniversary conference, it would be a fatal blow to the company’s stock price.
If the original data sample was not handed over promptly to address the hacker crisis and allowed the situation to escalate… as the inheritor of a large corporation, Chu Feng knew that if such matters were not handled properly, the repercussions would quickly expand, which would be fatal for a huge multinational company.
“What about…”
Chu Feng stepped back. “I know it’s difficult for you at work. Just consider… he has already encountered a landslide now. If you can’t get the original data, you can only replicate a segment from the past.”
X fell silent.
The system spirit muttered silently, “But the replicated data… isn’t the original data after all.”
The hackers who could attack the world’s top multinational company, Dream City, had highly complex codes. Each replication would incur losses. Although only minor details were lost, details determined success or failure.
The atmosphere became tense.
The spirit reported: “There are three minutes left until the landslide.”
“Then let’s do this.” Chu Feng said, “How much does the game company pay you in a year? I can double it. You can submit your resignation to the game company, then you won’t have any job responsibilities. I won’t allow anyone to turn my character into data and hand it over to the game company.”
X didn’t respond immediately.
Chu Feng upped the ante: “Triple it, if that’s what you want.”
***
“I don’t really want the salary.” X sighed softly.
Chu Feng was stunned for a second, hearing him say:
“You know, I’ve lost my memory. I want to retrieve my past memories.”
Chu Feng seemed a bit confused. What’s the use of wanting to retrieve your past memories from me?
X continued calmly, like a hunter who had been waiting for a long time and finally caught his prey:
“I remember a fragment, being with someone downstairs in a residential building, watching swallows.”
As X said this, he stared at Chu Feng intently, never looking away.
Chu Feng’s heart beat faster, as if there were little people drumming inside.
X: “After I arrive in China, can I take a look at your childhood photos?”
***
“Why… why would you say that?” Chu Feng asked.
X: “I remember, you and your husband seemed to have watched swallows together before. Is that building still there?”
Chu Feng couldn’t connect the conversation for a moment.
X: “Or maybe, any other building with swallows will do. I want to see firsthand what a residential building with swallows looks like. This might help me recover my memory. Can I?”
“Of course… no problem.”
Chu Feng said, feeling a mixture of emotions, like soaking in the Pacific Ocean.
“There are two minutes left until the landslide,” the spirit reported punctually.
Seventeen-year-old Xie Shiyu stood still, with the rising rainwater just submerging his ankles, looking at Chu Feng in his sailor suit and X in his bandage suit, yawning.
X nodded to Chu Feng, thanking him for helping him recover his memory, then raised his right hand, fingers spread out, and a glass ball appeared in the palm of his hand wearing the silver silk glove.
“There’s still 1 minute and 53 seconds,” X said calmly to Chu Feng, “This is a recent development project I’ve been involved in, a small prop that hasn’t been officially used in the game yet. Next, I will take 20 seconds to explain its purpose and—”
“Don’t bother explaining, just use it,” Chu Feng interrupted, opening the handcuffs on X’s left hand, “I’ll ask just one thing: this thing won’t kill my character or let the game company control my character, right?”
X: “No. But… because it’s a newly developed prop, there may be some small bugs. If you can accept that…”
Chu Feng: “I can, go ahead and use it.”
X nodded, showing respect for the player’s opinion.
He made a collecting gesture towards the 17-year-old Little Xie, and quickly a blue data net appeared in the air, instantly trapping Little Xie inside it.
Bang—
The net, along with the person, shrunk into a glass-like transparent sphere.
X handed this small ball to Chu Feng.
“Miniature Shrinking Ball,” X explained, “Your character will not pose any danger to you inside it for 72 hours.”
“During this time, I will copy the code of this mutated character and submit it to the game company, telling them that the mutated character has been eliminated in the game, and no living character sample has been found.”
“The game company won’t come to seize your character, so you can rest assured.”
Chu Feng took the small ball, stunned for a moment, then realized:
“You… didn’t intend to hand him over to the game company from the beginning, did you?”
X’s initial action towards Little Xie was to put on that silver silk glove. Chu Feng stopped him, and in the end, X didn’t change the prop he was using. It was the silver silk glove that produced this small ball, indicating that this person had planned it from the beginning…
X smiled mysteriously at Chu Feng:
“Take it.”
Chu Feng held the transparent ball containing Little Xie, and the regulator X safely escorted them out of the old school building:
“My task is done here.”
X didn’t linger in the game any longer. Before leaving, he bid farewell to Chu Feng very politely in front of Little Xie:
“See you later.”
—See you in the reality where virtual data cannot reach.
***
One minute later
With a loud rumble, the mountain collapsed, completely crushing the old teaching building of the second high school.
Water splashed from the pit of the rain curtain, as if covering up some unspeakable secrets.
***
Buzzing—
Seventeen-year-old school bully, Xie Shiyu, who daydreamed during the day, was awakened by the huge collapse.
He was sleeping on the playground for evacuees. Just waking up, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket.
“You can even fall asleep while sitting, I really admire you.”
Seventeen-year-old Xie Shiyu, who doesn’t nap during the day, sat next to him and said:
“Check the class group.”
The daydreaming school bully Xie Shiyu was so tired that he yawned, opened QQ while yawning—
The first thing he saw was a conspicuous message:
[17-year-old school bully, Nighttime Explorer], re-joined [Class 16 of Grade 10] group
[What’s going on?] asked the daydreaming school bully.
[Classmates, I’m back again.] said the Nighttime Explorer school bully.
[…] said the No Afternoon Naps school bully.
[…] said the Adult Tree Planting Reserve.
[17-year-old school bully = daydreaming], [Do you feel embarrassed?]
Nighttime Explorer school bully: […]
[Why are you all so eager for me to leave?]
[Where are you now? Was Chu Feng the one who saved you? Is he okay?] asked the No Afternoon Naps school bully.
[He’s fine.] said Nighttime Explorer school bully.
[To be precise, it was another newcomer who saved me.]
[Have you guys seen him? He’s wrapped in bandages all over his body, looks very strange. He’s not young, probably around 30.] said the Nighttime Explorer school bully.
[The older a man gets, the weirder he becomes. This newcomer is probably playing a fancy cosplay. I wonder who he’s playing.] said the Adult Tree Planting Reserve.
[Impossible, the oldest in our city is the main admin, 27 years old. How could there be someone nearly 30?] said the No Afternoon Naps school bully.
[He’s wrapped in bandages all over his body, with only one eye exposed.]
[I don’t know how to say it. His temperament is… more mature than the main admin, making him seem older.]
[We’ll organize this and give feedback to the main admin later. Strange, how come we only discovered this person today?] said the daydreaming school bully.
[How were you saved by this person? How are you now?] asked the No Afternoon Naps school bully.
[It’s hard to describe.]
[I was shrunk and put into a transparent ball filled with breathable liquid by that guy. Then I just laid there like that, and he handed this ball to Chu Feng.]
[So… are you now shrunk and lying in Chu Feng’s palm?] asked the Adult Tree Planting Reserve.
Soon, [Nighttime Explorer] sent two selfies, one of which immediately became his profile picture:
[Nighttime Explorer – Little Xie] was shrunk to a few centimeters in size, placed in a transparent ball, and treasured in Chu Feng’s palm.
Chu Feng was looking at him with concern.
Little Xie laid comfortably in the transparent ball. Through the glass, he could see Chu Feng’s enlarged face and eyes, with raindrops clinging to his eyelashes, wet and watery, like the night sky reflected on black velvet, dotted with stars.
Seventeen-year-old Little Xie took several photos of this scene and quickly uploaded them to the group album.
***
Buzzing—
The phone buzzed wildly like a swarm of bees. Seventeen-year-old Nighttime Explorer Xie Shiyu, lying in the glass crystal ball, leisurely watched the whole class explode.
“Are you kidding me?!”
“@Class monitor, someone stole bamboo shoots!”
Quickly, the class monitor of Class 16 of Grade 10, Little Xie, immediately muted [17-year-old school bully, Nighttime Explorer]!
Reason: Inciting discord among harmonious and friendly classmates.
After a while, [17-year-old school bully, Nighttime Explorer] changed his group nickname to:
“Ah, cradled in Chu Feng’s palm”
Two seconds later
“Ah, cradled in Chu Feng’s palm” was already kicked out of the group chat by the administrator – the class monitor.
***
The glass sphere refracted the light after the rain.
Chu Feng looked at the small sphere in his palm and gently poked it.
The transparent ball gently swayed in the palm of his hand, and the teenage boy Little Xie rolled inside.
The system spirit reminded kindly: “Master, actually you can store it in the game backpack.”
Chu Feng held this “sprite Little Xie” ball, reluctant to let go. Little Xie, miniaturized and nestled inside, looked very cute.
***
Beep—Beep—
The system spirit’s fur stood up, vibrating twice:
“Master, there’s a new notification from [Dream City]:
“The 5th-anniversary celebration is approaching, and recently we have encountered some unlawful elements… We kindly remind all players…”
Chu Feng: “Skip.”
“Wait! Master, you can’t skip this… It seems like the game company wants to cancel accounts like yours.”
Chu Feng’s hand, poking the crystal ball, paused:
“What does that mean?”
The system spirit: “Currently, the game company has received a bunch of lawsuits for infringement of portrait rights, probably instigated by competitors.”
Currently, the latest operation method of [Dream City] is to introduce virtual characters, allowing players to create their own. However, in the early days of [Dream City], there was a wave of players who used the game system to import their own memories and be with their loved ones.
These people are not all like Chu Feng, who lost Xie Shiyu, many of the imported people are still alive in the real world, and some have even married others. But the other party is still using their image, appearance, to create virtual characters in [Dream City], which has led to many people being dissatisfied. They have been filing lawsuits against the game company for infringement of portrait rights.
The game company of [Dream City] has the strongest legal team on the surface, and ordinary people basically cannot win lawsuits. This year’s 5th-anniversary celebration, [Dream City]’s rival companies have united all the dissatisfied ordinary people, jointly sued the court, and prepared to make [Dream City] bleed heavily.
Inheriting a large corporation, Chu Feng quickly understood the operation of [Dream City] company:
“So, to deal with these lawsuits, the method adopted is to gradually reduce the old players registered in the past years, continuously reducing their character fidelity?”
Through the big data behavioral analysis of players, analyze which traits the players actually like about their imported real characters, magnify these traits as selling points, gradually abandon real characters. This way, they can retain big spenders while avoiding portrait rights lawsuits.
Chu Feng quickly recalled his previous “anti-human” system spirit, that system tried every means to reduce his character fidelity, and at the same time tried to control his character’s data. It was probably for this.
As for the players who eventually refuse to accept virtual characters, they can only be abandoned, becoming a painkiller for the transformation of the Dream City company.
“So, does that mean…” Chu Feng: “I may not be able to play this game anymore in the future?”
“Well… let me see…” The system spirit searched through the lengthy message, it kept reading down to the last line:
“Wait, master! There’s an exception clause!”
[If the player has been selected to participate in the game company’s R&D experiments, it will be judged as having made significant contributions to the company. We will do our best to ensure the player’s experience. We also hope that all players can cooperate with our work, do not infringe on others’ portrait rights, and do not engage in night-time activities with underage characters. Thank you for your cooperation!]
Chu Feng turned his head and looked at the logo of his [Dream City] app, not knowing when a “[Test]” was added on it.
The test of the experiment has joined the Dream City experimental plan.
The experimental product, the transparent shrinking ball developed by Regulator X.
Chu Feng looked down at the character Little Xie inside the small ball. So, the highest regulator X knew about the news early on, in order to protect his Dream City…
X’s initial action was to put on the silver silk gloves, saying that he would turn Little Xie into a data sample, but in fact, when he opened the gloves, he directly turned Little Xie into a transparent ball.
Chu Feng felt that even if he didn’t negotiate conditions with X at that time, X wouldn’t actually harm his character.
What’s strange now is that X clearly had decided not to harm Little Xie anymore. He even used the experimental product to fully protect his Dream City. Why did he deliberately negotiate conditions with him?
Moreover, the conditions were so… strange, wanting to see his past photos.
The reason was very far-fetched, because X had recovered his memory of swallows.
Chu Feng wondered if X… also had the same questions about him?
Chu Feng didn’t dare to think further, afraid that it would be just wishful thinking.
X had several points similar to Xie Shiyu, but they could all be explained:
His height of over 1.9 meters
(There ia not only Xie Shiyu in the world who is over 1.9 meters tall)
His amber-like brown eyes
(Brown irises are also very common eye colors among Chinese people, while pure black irises are rare)
The Pacific Ocean
(The region covered by these three words is too vast)
Shipwreck
(Both encountered disasters, X lost his memory and doesn’t remember the details of the shipwreck, he was told by others that he might have had a shipwreck after being rescued. This can be explained in the same way as Xie Shiyu’s plane crash, but it can also be explained differently.)
Chu Feng suspected that X must have recalled more than just Yanzi as a clue; he should have remembered other details, which is why he made such a request.
With today’s technology so advanced, there are very rigorous means to confirm whether one person is another: DNA.
To obtain X’s DNA, one must meet him in person, and it must be close contact.
Chu Feng suddenly had a very strong idea.
Tick-tock—[Universal Gaming Helmet] disconnected.
Chu Feng temporarily exited Dream City and returned to reality. He immediately picked up his phone, opened WeChat, and clicked on X’s profile picture.
Outside the car window, the torrential rain gradually subsided, and the long line of traffic began to move. The Lamborghini’s autopilot system was slowly accelerating.
Buzz—
Before Chu Feng could say a word, X on WeChat had already sent a large 500MB file.
“Take a look, this is the side effect I mentioned earlier.”
Chu Feng: …
X did mention that there might be some small bugs when he put Little Xie into the transparent ball. Chu Feng opened the oversized PDF file:
It had a total of 106 pages.
Chu Feng glanced roughly at the titles and abstracts; this was almost the project research report written by X. He didn’t hesitate to send this file. If he intended to collude with other gaming companies, he could use this project report to plagiarize X’s ideas.
This document included everything from project introduction to research methods, and all the data codes. There were some proprietary terms of game design that Chu Feng didn’t quite understand. He flipped through it and found a chapter specifically explaining the side effects, which was about 45 pages long.
Chu Feng glanced at a few paragraph headings. The general idea was that the product was not yet perfect, so it couldn’t be applied yet. The side effects were just some minor problems, such as causing the character to suddenly stutter, become stiff, or reverse emotions between crying and laughing…
Overall, it indeed wouldn’t threaten the life safety of the character Little Xie, as X promised. At the same time, being sealed in the mini crystal ball isolated the alienated character codes and protected the safety of the player, Chu Feng.
X: “The file is a bit long, take your time to read it.”
Chu Feng sent a [Received] expression, swiped his fingertip, and scrolled through the chat history with X.
Last time X mentioned booking a flight to China.
Chu Feng messaged:
“Is the flight booked?”
X: “Yes.”
X on the other end replied instantly, and two seconds later, forwarded him an itinerary:
MF1109, Status: Delayed departure.
Chu Feng stared at this flight itinerary, momentarily distracted.
He silently exited the chat with X, switched back to the WeChat list, and opened an account that would never come online again.
The messages stopped at 6.26 two years ago, at 1:30 in the morning, a voice call, and an itinerary card.
6.26 was their wedding anniversary.
On 6.20, Xie Shiyu went on a business trip abroad. The company had just changed secretaries and didn’t consider Xie’s family matters. They booked his return flight for 6.27, perfectly missing their wedding anniversary.
Xie Shiyu wasn’t originally a passenger on that doomed flight. But he finished everything a day early, changed his flight to make sure he returned before 6.26, and came back to Chu Feng’s side.
“Darling, I’ll be on the plane at eight in the morning, and I’ll be back in the evening.”
Chu Feng: “Wasn’t your flight on the 27th?”
In that year’s voice call, Xie Shiyu said cheerfully:
“I rescheduled it. Waiting until the 27th is too late.”
“It’s okay.” Chu Feng: “Don’t rush too much, take a rest before coming back. We can celebrate the anniversary a couple of days late.”
“Who postpones it? This kind of day only comes once a year. Wait for me for another ten hours, and I’ll be by your side.”
That day, Chu Feng, holding his phone, paused for a moment.
No one wants to spend their wedding anniversary alone. So, that year, Chu Feng didn’t persuade Xie Shiyu anymore, but said:
“Okay, I’ll wait for you.”
***
After the voice call ended, Xie Shiyu forwarded his flight itinerary card to Chu Feng:
It had the flight number, departure, and arrival times.
“Darling, wait for me to come back.”
***
Their chat records ended here.
On 6.26 that year, Chu Feng waited at the airport all night, watching as the flight was delayed, delayed again, until the official report confirmed:
The flight had lost contact.
***
Buzz—
The WeChat message vibrated, and Chu Feng lowered his head. X had sent a new message.
Seeing that Chu Feng hadn’t replied for a long time, X jokingly asked:
“Are you coming to pick me up?”
It had been two years since Chu Feng had picked anyone up at the airport. Even seeing a message like this, with a flight itinerary card, made his heart skip a beat. He once thought that he would never go to the airport to wait for someone in this lifetime.
***
“Are you coming to pick me up?”
X looked at the question he had sent.
This was a carefully set bait.
He had just done such a big favor in the game, helping Chu Feng save his character and ensuring that his Dream City wouldn’t be canceled by the company. Now, he had traveled all the way to China. Could he ask if Chu Feng could come to the airport to pick him up? Simply speaking from a human perspective, Chu Feng would find it hard to refuse him.
Moreover, if Chu Feng had ever had even the slightest suspicion of him, he would be even less likely to refuse. This was another kind of test.
X couldn’t recall more memories for now, but based on the sporadic fragments he remembered:
He went to see the swallows with a well-off boy.
(Chu Feng had been well-off since childhood and had also seen swallows with his husband)
He grew up in a poor environment, in a dilapidated and damp residential building.
(It was a coincidence that Chu Feng’s husband had also lived in a similar environment in his childhood)
He remembered a snippet of his name, confirming that it was three characters, and the last character was pronounced with the fourth tone “yu”.
(Chu Feng’s husband’s name was Xie Shiyu, three characters, with “yu” at the end)
All these details could be explained as coincidences. After all, swallows, poor living conditions, and “yu” with the fourth tone were not unique characteristics in the world.
Only the feeling between people is special.
X couldn’t recall more things, but Chu Feng had a complete memory. If Chu Feng suspected him, then it would further substantiate his speculation.
According to Chu Feng’s experience, he should have a strong aversion to airports. Unless it was extremely important, Chu Feng wouldn’t personally come to pick someone up.
If Chu Feng suspected him, he would overcome everything to come and pick him up. Conversely, he would feel indifferent. If there were any difficulties in terms of etiquette, he would send a driver instead of coming himself.
X held his phone, waiting for the result.
***
[Okay]
Chu Feng typed this word in WeChat, as if he had made up his mind:
[How long will it take?]
On the itinerary card, X’s flight information still showed a delayed departure.
***
Pacific, island country airport.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please: Check-in for flight MF1109……”
X glanced at the weather on his phone; the rain had stopped in the city where Chu Feng was.
He packed his luggage, passport, and ticket, got up, and headed towards the boarding gate—
[Arriving in 9 hours]
—to your side.
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