Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 27: Reward
The afterglow of the setting sun spilled into the room, the color of the burning clouds. The warmth of the sunset quietly climbed up the bed, dyeing the corners of the eyes and brows of someone deeply asleep, like a mischievous child blowing air, warm and ticklish, determined to disturb peaceful dreams.
After turning over, Wu Sheng woke up leisurely, and upon lifting his eyes, he saw the familiar sleeping face on the opposite bed.
Xu Wang lay on his side facing this way, straddling the blanket, sleeping deeply and sweetly. The evening sunlight outlined his facial features more distinctly. His usual clever spontaneity was still present, yet now accompanied by a bit more docility and tranquility.
Wu Sheng lay there, quietly watching, feeling like there was a calm and peaceful sea inside his heart—blue, vast, and serene.
Time passed, unknown how long…
“What are you doing?”
Xu Wang had been awake for a while and opened his eyes to find Wu Sheng staring intently at him. If one must stare, then let it be, but his gaze wandered, seemingly pondering over something delightful, with genuine joy and cheerfulness deep in his unfocused eyes.
Startled back to reality, Wu Sheng calmly met Xu Wang’s gaze. “You were talking in your sleep. I was debating whether or not to wake you.”
“Talking in my sleep?” Xu Wang raised his eyebrows in skepticism. “What did I say?”
Wu Sheng, with a straight face, replied, “Class monitor, save me…”
Xu Wang narrowed his eyes with complex emotions, warily scrutinizing the speaker, unwilling to believe in his heart yet unable to find evidence otherwise…
“Class monitor, I can’t do it without you,” the speaker added another sentence.
Xu Wang exhaled in relief, and his heart settled down, finding the completely out-of-character “sleep talk” unconvincing. “Wu Sheng, do you know what it means to collapse one’s persona?”
The class monitor, absorbed in his “script”, was stunned. “Hm?”
Xu Wang sighed and glanced at him. “Next time you make up stories, don’t use your own voice for the dialogue.”
They went to bed at five and woke up at five. Having slept for twelve hours, they simply washed up, feeling refreshed and revived. There was no movement next door. Xu Wang was worried that the other two teammates were still asleep, so he sent a message in the WeChat group first—
Wangwang*: [Are you awake?]
*Different [Wang] (旺) that’s a homophone for his name Xu [Wang] (徐望). This [wang] means to be prosperous, flourish, thriving, ect.
In the four-member group named “Unlucky Kids”, responses appeared instantly—
Love Money: [No.]
Tea Sage Lu Yu’s Little Fan: [Yes.]
Xu Wang was amused and was about to reply when someone was quicker—
Sheng Ge: [Lao Qian, you keep sleeping. We’ll go eat first.]
The response from next door was immediate, but this time it was a voice message. “Who’s sleeping? I’m already dressed! Where are we eating?”
Ten minutes later, the four met in the corridor and headed to a restaurant.
In the evening, Beiyue Temple Village was lively, with children playing under the buildings and smoke rising from the houses. Cars, electric scooters, and donkey carts coexisted peacefully on the road. The setting sun stretched their shadows, creating a busting and comfortable scene.
This time, they ventured a bit further and found a seemingly decent Shaanxi cuisine restaurant. As soon as they entered, they were greeted by the pungent aroma of chili oil. Wanting a good chat, they took a private room. No sooner had they sat down, Qian Ai declared, “This meal is on me.” So, when the waiter brought the menu, he naturally took charge of ordering.
With swift efficiency, they finished ordering, and the waiter left, leaving the four alone. Qian Ai leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Ah, it’s evening again. Happy times are always so fleeting.”
He was energetic while ordering, but now his voice carried a hint of resignation and fatigue.
“Are we going to keep up this night-and-day reversal?” Kuang Jinxin asked, propping his head with one hand.
“Probably.” Xu Wang sighed almost inaudibly, reaching for the teapot to pour hot water for his teammates.
Kuang Jinxin quickly intervened. “Wait.” He then pulled out a small bag of individually packed tea leaves from his pocket, distributed some into each cup, and only then took the teapot from Xu Wang to fill the cups with water.
The steam rose gently from the top of the cup, carrying a faint, almost imperceptible fragrance.
“Green tea.” Kuang Jinxin chuckled. “Refreshes the mind and relieves fatigue.”
There’s a saying that if you want to compliment someone for being resourceful, you’d say you could always get meat when following them. But when it comes to Kuang Jinxin, “meat” should be replaced with “tea”.
Xu Wang and Wu Sheng were used to it, but Qian Ai was surprised to see it for the first time, exclaiming, “You carry tea leaves with you?”
Kuang Jinxin scratched his head a bit shyly. “My family grows tea, and I studied this in university.”
“There’s a major for this?”
“Yes, Tea Science.”
“I’ve learned something new. It’s never too late to learn…”
Qian Ai nodded and then ran out of words. For such an unknown field, he really didn’t know what to say.
After pondering for two seconds, he kindly asked towards the half-open door of the private room, “Waiter? Is the food ready?”
It seemed like Qian Ai was more comfortable in the catering field.
His shout probably reached the kitchen directly, as the waiter soon began serving dishes, and eventually, the whole round table was filled with dishes.
Xu Wang looked at the table full of dishes, then at Qian Ai. “Did you order all these?”
“No worries.” Qian Ai patted his chest. “I said it’s my treat. I definitely won’t dine and dash!”
Xu Wang sighed inwardly. “That’s not the point. The question is, can we finish all these?”
Twenty minutes later, Xu Wang regretted his naive question.
“Alright, biangbiang noodles are done. What’s next? I’ll follow your lead!”
“Water basin mutton? Paomo stir-fry? Egg tofu sandwich?”
“Ah, thanks to ‘Lao Shan in Hainan’ for the rocket*. I’ll be eating the water basin mutton then, haha—”
*One of the gifts that users can give a live streamer during broadcast that can be exchanged for cash.
“Slurp—slurp—”
“This soup is so aromatic and rich, but not greasy, and doesn’t have a hint of mutton smell…”
It was a world of two halves around one round table.
The phone was propped up by a selfie stick. The camera was facing half of the table, showing Qian Ai and half of the dishes. The other half of the table, not captured by the camera, had Xu Wang, Wu Sheng, Kuang Jinxin, and the rest of the dishes. The dishes for Qian Ai alone equated to the portion for the three of them.
But this wasn’t about pushing oneself for the live stream. It was evident that Qian Ai was genuinely enjoying the food, as every smile line on his face was brimming with love and satisfaction for the food.
After finishing the water basin mutton, perhaps due to some fans leaving the live room, Qian Ai suddenly said earnestly to the phone, “For those who like Shaanxi cuisine, please watch and cherish it. I probably won’t be able to eat this tomorrow…”
“What will I eat tomorrow?” Qian Ai read from the scrolling questions on his phone screen, sighing sadly. “I only know tonight. The rest is up to fate…”
‘Live streaming is really a magical thing,’ Xu Wang thought. Not just the audience in the live room, but even he, sitting behind the phone, was tempted to interact with Qian Ai and send him flowers and stars.
As he watched, Xu Wang suddenly felt envious. For this trip to Northern Shaanxi, he had quit his job and might not be able to work until he completely left the “Owl” behind. But this didn’t affect Qian Ai, who could continue working as usual. How nice.
One way to cure melancholy was to find like-minded companions who were also feeling a sense of loss.
In this private room, that naturally meant Wu Sheng and Kuang Jinxin. One had just started a business, working on an extremely important project, and the other was interning in college, supposed to be accumulating professional experience. But then the “Owl” appeared, and all projects and internships were…
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
The sudden rapid tapping sound broke Xu Wang’s thoughts. Turning his head, Wu Sheng had somehow produced a laptop and was typing at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
Xu Wang sneaked a peek and saw a messaging app open with a bunch of codes he couldn’t understand on the screen.
Probably not to disturb Qian Ai’s live stream, Wu Sheng was communicating by typing in the messaging app—
[This isn’t right. This is different from what was initially expected. I’ve said many times, solve the problem when you find it. Trying to skirt around the issue will always lead to a degraded user experience…]
Xu Wang only saw this much before the screen was completely switched back to code, with Wu Sheng continuing his “rush work”, likely addressing the “avoiding issue leads to a degraded user experience” problem mentioned in the messaging app.
Xu Wang wasn’t too happy because now the only one left in the same boat was Kuang Jinxin.
Turning his head, he saw that kid was playing on his phone.
Xu Wang moved closer, about to say something, when he saw the other person writing an answer on Zhihu. The question was about how to differentiate good from bad Pu’er tea.
Kuang Jinxin’s answer wasn’t finished yet, but from the current length, it already resembled a mini thesis.
Good. The only one not focusing on what he should be was himself.
Xu Wang looked out the window. His low spirit was cleared away, and a fiery passion ignited in his heart, burning with the zeal of life!
Student Xu’s zeal lasted until midnight. After the Owl’s call, he was the first to jump into the purple circle, valiant and spirited, as if ready to fight a life-and-death battle.
However, as they handed in their papers, they became idle here. The perilous terminal of yesterday, once entered again today, was just bustling with activity.
Passengers passing by, smiling ground staff, various eateries, and brand stores—everything was just as it was last night.
But the alerts that rang were no longer urging them to the counter for boarding, but the awaited 3/23 new coordinates—three people looked uniformly at Wu Sheng.
After a moment of contemplation, he looked up. “Shandong.”
Xu Wang held his forehead. His first thought was that they had to buy plane tickets. “Isn’t the travel cost too high?”
Qian Ai was stunned for a second, then nodded. “Got it. Next stop, eat multigrain pancakes.”
Kuang Jinxin was calm about where to go; since coming in, he had mainly been looking around, until now.
“Xiao Kuang, what are you looking at?” Xu Wang asked.
“I always feel like someone is watching us.” Kuang Jinxin frowned.
His words immediately put the other three on alert. The relaxation post-submission almost made them forget this level was open. It was very likely that no matter whether they submitted their papers or not, as long as they were in the level, there would be others.
They had learned their lesson about being exposed.
Thinking this, the four hurriedly entered a cafe, choosing a corner spot that allowed them to overlook the terminal through a hollow fence, yet was secluded enough.
As soon as they sat down, the waiter came over to ask what they’d like to drink. They symbolically ordered three cups of coffee and one tea, only to find that the waiter, very politely taking their order, never returned.
“I knew it was all for show.” Qian Ai couldn’t hide his disappointment.
“Don’t get your hopes up.” Xu Wang had anticipated this. “If we could eat and drink anything we wanted upon entering, who would bother going through the challenges?”
“Right,” Kuang Jinxin agreed. “If you could come in every night, eat and take away, there’d be no need to work. You’d be set for life.”
“Forget the coffee.” Wu Sheng redirected the conversation, lowering his voice. “Did you all receive your rewards?”
Kuang Jinxin nodded, showing his [Stationery Box]: [(Defense) Candy House1], [(Offense) Hit Me If You Dare2].
1This is referring to the story of Hansel and Gretel (though in Chinese it’s called Candy House).
2This is referring to a meme. I believe it comes from the movie Hail the Judge. There’s a scene in there where some guy is basically saying, “Common, hit me (if you dare)” …to which they actually did. You can see the scene here (it’s in Chinese though).
“Hmm..” Wu Sheng looked at the two icons and pondered for a while. “Why don’t you introduce them yourself?”
Kuang Jinxin scratched his head in distress. “For defense, it should be similar to [A Clever Rabbit Has Three Burrows]. Maybe it can create a hiding place?”
Qian Ai raised his hand. “I’m more curious about the offense one.”
Xu Wang and Wu Sheng nodded in agreement.
With his teammates’ expectant eyes on him, Kuang Jinxin really wanted to give a perfect reading comprehension answer, but this question was too hard. The phrase “Hit Me If You Dare” was brimming with provocation, making it hard to decipher.
“Xu Ge, Wu Ge.” Kuang Jinxin decided to turn the question around. “What did you guys get?”
This was a very wise decision.
Because Xu Wang, who had been eagerly awaiting Kuang Jinxin’s reading comprehension, instantly deflated, listlessly showing his own arm.
Three teammates peered at it: [(Defense) I Urge You to Have One More Drink1], [(Offense) Chang’e Flying to the Moon2].
1This is referencing a line in the poem “The Song of Weicheng” by Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei. The full line is: “I urge you to have another drink, there will be no old friends when you leave Yangguan in the west.”
2This is referring to the story of Chang’e, the moon goddess. Basically, the story goes, she was the wife of Hou Yi, who was rewarded an immortality elixir for shooting down nine suns. Not wanting immortality without his beloved wife, he gave her the elixir. To prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, she consumed it, which made her weightless. She flew upwards past the heavens to the moon, where she currently resides. Today, the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated based on this legend.
Kuang Jinxin’s [Candy House] was at least imaginable, but Xu Wang’s…
“Let’s not talk about the defense for now. It’s definitely some kind of protective mechanism. No matter how strange, it can’t be too outlandish.” Qian Ai leaned in, intently looking at the antiquely designed icon of the beauty flying to the moon. “What the hell is this [Chang’e Flying to the Moon]?”
“Since it’s an offense…” Wu Sheng tried to relate to past experience. “It’s probably similar to [Beyond the Nine Heavens], sending the opponent straight to the moon.”
Qian Ai: “……”
Kuang Jinxin: “……”
Xu Wang: “Isn’t that a bit too romantic…”
Wu Sheng: “A place with no oxygen, no food, no life, and no liquid water—sending someone can only be said to be brutal. Where’s the romance?”
Xu Wang: “Let’s check out your rewards then.”
With the topic forcibly shifted, Wu Sheng, oblivious, naturally showed his own Stationery Box: [(Defense) Cloak of Invisibility], [(Offensive) Deep Gaze of Death].
“A cloak!” Kuang Jinxin was the first to excitedly respond, then, realizing it might not be appropriate, quickly covered his mouth, but still, strong envy seeped through his fingers. “[Cloak of Invisibility], that’s so cool…”
Xu Wang was also a bit envious, but not because the [Cloak of Invisibility] was cool; rather, it was rare to encounter a stationery that could be understood just by reading the name.
But on the other hand…
“I urgently need one of you guys to explain,” he said, but his eyes were clearly fixed on Wu Sheng. “How does this [Deep Gaze of Death] work as a weapon?”
Wu Sheng didn’t speak and just gave him a “deeply affectionate” look.
One second.
Two seconds.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds…
“……” Using all his willpower, Xu Wang managed not to look away.
This is a fucking weapon of mass destruction!
Compared to Xu Wang, Kuang Jinxin, and Wu Sheng, who all had at least one perplexing stationery, Qian Ai was much more relaxed. His two rewards were [(Defense) Mr. Thirteen of the Middle Ring*], [(Offense) Invincible Hot Wheels]. [Mr. Thirteen of the Middle Ring], as the name suggests, is about racing, while the [Invincible Hot Wheels] is naturally a weapon.
*This is referring to a mysterious drag racer who (apparently) managed to drive around Beijing’s 2nd Ring Road in just 13 minutes. The 2nd Ring Road is about 20.3 miles… so to drive around it in 13 minutes, he would have to be going about 94 miles/hour.
If understanding rewards was a test, then Qian Ai was answering an open-book exam.
“Coincidence, mere coincidence.” Classmate Qian didn’t forget to humble himself a bit to balance his teammates’ moods.
“With this comparison, the first challenge was really straightforward.” Kuang Jinxin suddenly sighed. “Use sleighs to escape, use the Fishnado to deal with bears, and Xu Ge got skate shoes at the ice waterfall. What tools to use at each stage was crystal clear.”
“It’s to familiarize us with the process,” Wu Sheng said. “Without these hints, we wouldn’t even know what to do, and the program would fail as countless users would crowd at the entrance without truly accessing the internal application.”
Kuang Jinxin blinked at Xu Wang.
Xu Wang patted his shoulder. “If this is a game, the first level is a warm-up stage, specially designed for us to get used to the rules so we can better engage in the game later.”
Kuang Jinxin apologetically glanced at Wu Sheng, then faced Xu Wang, sincerely saying, “Xu Ge, I like your explanation.”
Wu Sheng, feeling dejected, turned his head to look outside the café. His gaze suddenly fixed in a certain direction, his eyes narrowing slightly, flashing with alertness.
“What’s wrong?” Xu Wang whispered. Sensing something amiss, he leaned in and looked out the grille with him.
“Counter 9,” Wu Sheng said. “There’s a team there checking in.”
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