Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 100: Guessing Each Other

After giving the first-aid kit to Kuang Jinxin and closing the door, only Xu Wang and Wu Sheng were left in the room.

The window wasn’t open, and the lack of circulating air in the somewhat cramped standard room made the already quiet atmosphere even more silent.

Silence was bearable, but the stillness was unbearable.

Facing the door, Xu Wang turned around before the awkwardness reached its peak and slapped Wu Sheng’s backpack, which had just been put down, trying to be natural and joking. “Still carrying it. Aren’t you tired?”

After saying this, he walked past the other person, went to the table, put down his own backpack, and started searching through it.

Wu Sheng, holding his backpack at the entrance, stood for a while longer, watching Xu Wang busily rummaging with a flickering, unsettled emotion in his eyes.

“Chi Yingxue should be fine, right?” Unable to wait for a response, Xu Wang had to bite the bullet and carry on the monologue alone.

If Wu Sheng didn’t speak again, he really wouldn’t know what to do.

Fortunately, there was finally a sound from the other side.

“He’s still able to walk, so it shouldn’t have damaged the muscles or bones,” Wu Sheng said, walking over to Xu Wang, placing his backpack next to the other’s. “If you’re worried, you can go check it out.”

The backpacks were placed close together, and so were the two of them. Their arms occasionally touched each other while rummaging, but neither moved away.

“No need. If it were really serious, Xiao Kuang would have come over already.” Xu Wang finally charged his phone. Logically, he should have left the table by now, taken off his jacket, or gone to the washroom to wash his face. But he didn’t move, still pretending to search his backpack, feeling the closeness of their shoulders and bodies.

He also felt silly doing this, but who made Wu Sheng tell such a ghostly story. The feelings from ten years ago had long been dormant. Even upon reuniting, he had kept it well, but this person had to come and stir things up.

Stirred up, but with no follow-up.

C regretted and wanted to hug B tightly. Did Wu Sheng also regret it? Then why didn’t he say it to his face?

As he was thinking about it, Wu Sheng, who had finished taking his daily necessities, turned and went to the bathroom first.

The surroundings suddenly felt empty and a bit cold.

“Shall I take a shower first?” In the bathroom, Wu Sheng asked about the use of the shower.

Go ahead and shower and wash away all your thoughts!

Xu Wang mentally scolded the person a hundred times but said out loud, “Mm.”

The bathroom door closed with a not-so-loud sound, but it was clearly heard.

Xu Wang threw himself into bed, feeling a surge of old blood stuck in his throat, wanting to spit it out but couldn’t, wanting to swallow it but unwilling.

The words “inexplicable” burned like a fire in his heart.

You told the story. Shouldn’t you give some indication whether it’s alive or dead?

In the bathroom, Wu Sheng leaned against the door, looking at the dim light above, adjusting his breathing bit by bit.

But his heart was still in chaos, like another self inside him, crazily typing code making constant tap tap tap, tap tap tap sounds. But what he was typing, what kind of program he wanted to compile, and what problem he wanted to solve were all unclear.

Some words could be conveyed in a letter or a story, but face-to-face, they seem to grow legs and run away.

It was true ten years ago, and still true ten years later.

But then again, he had told the story, so shouldn’t Xu Wang have some reaction?

Even if it was to blame him for bringing up things that had been turned over, getting angry would be better than pretending now as if nothing had happened.

Pretending nothing happened seemed to be Xu Wang’s default defense stationery.

After that rainy night ten years ago, he never mentioned being pushed away, and at their reunion ten years later, he never mentioned the confession. It was he who started it, and it was he who cut it off. Now that he wanted to bring up the past again, Xu Wang acted as if he didn’t see it.

Wu Sheng sat down, leaning against the door. He touched his lips with his hand, his eyes gradually clouding over.

If time could turn back, when they first met in the Owl, he wouldn’t let Xu Wang, who tried to kiss him, leave unscathed.

At that time, he was truly overjoyed, but his other thoughts said it was just a prank.

His retaliation was just a snowball—too light. He should have pinned the person down in the snow, pressed hard, and made him understand that some things are not to be joked about.

When the bathroom was filled with steam, Wu Sheng stood under the shower, thinking that after he got out, he would go along with Xu Wang as if nothing had happened. After all, from beginning to end, Xu Wang only did one thing, which was at the moment of his utmost emotional breakdown, a moment of daze and confusion, on that rainy night. The rest was all his own imagination and the self-righteous feelings based on these imaginations.

But when he finished the shower and returned to the room, seeing Xu Wang sleeping soundly on the bed, the thought of “it’s all my fault” immediately flew to the Endless Sea, leaving only the indignation of “can you be more heartless?”

Wu Sheng roughly and perfunctorily wiped his hair twice, then threw the towel aside, and then quietly walked to the bedside of Xu Wang, squatting down, and very childishly blew air on Xu Wang’s face.

“Hoo—”

Xu Wang’s eyelashes trembled slightly due to the sudden breath, but he didn’t wake up.

Wu Sheng mischievously got closer—so close that the water dripping from his hair wetted the other’s pillow.

“Hoo.”

This time it was lighter, not like a prank, but with a touch of tenderness.

Xu Wang still didn’t move.

Wu Sheng unconsciously raised his hand, but just as his fingertips were about to touch the other’s cheek, he stopped.

A centimeter away, his hand traced the other’s hair, eyes, nose, cheek, and mouth, gently caressing down, immersed in it, joyously as if he really touched it, happy like an IT mogul who advanced human life with technology.

“Buzz buzz buzz—”

The phone vibrated on the table with a noise not unlike a ringtone.

Wu Sheng quickly retracted his hand, stood up, and went to the table to pick up the phone, subconsciously not wanting the vibration to last too long and wake up the sleeping person. But with the lingering guilt of a thief, he moved too quickly, and just as he was about to reach the table, he kicked the leg of a chair, which let out a wailing sound. Wu Sheng inhaled sharply from the pain, then limped to the door while picking up the phone, saying “Hello” in a low voice, sounding pitiful.

“Sleeping” Xu Wang opened his eyes, feeling lost and disheartened.

He only pulled the blanket over his head and shrank into the darkness after confirming that there was no one in sight near the entrance.

He couldn’t bear it anymore.

He had only one heart, which couldn’t withstand such ups and downs; it would fall apart.

“Alright, I’ll head back now.” Outside the ajar door, Wu Sheng’s voice came through.

Xu Wang hadn’t really heard what Wu Sheng was discussing on the phone, as it seemed he had gone out to the corridor. But this particular sentence, due to Wu Sheng’s sudden seriousness, came clearly to Xu Wang under the blanket.

Xu Wang frowned. This tone didn’t sound like it was about a “small matter”.

After hanging up, Wu Sheng returned to the room to see Xu Wang, who had already sat up and thrown off the blanket.

“What happened?” Putting aside those tangled and messy feelings, Xu Wang was now full of concern.

“There’s a bit of a situation at the company. It’s nothing serious,” Wu Sheng said nonchalantly. “But I need to go back personally to handle it, so the round trip might take a few days.”

Xu Wang knew Wu Sheng too well. If it really wasn’t serious, he wouldn’t have emphasized it like that.

But he didn’t intend to probe further, merely saying, “I’ll go back to Beijing with you.”

Wu Sheng was startled for a moment, then shook his head. “No need. It’s too much trouble. Wait for the new coordinates tonight, and we’ll meet at the next level.”

Xu Wang pondered for a moment, then found a legitimate reason. “I want to go back and cancel the lease on my rented apartment.”

“Cancel the lease?” Wu Sheng was surprised.

Xu Wang nodded. This was something he had actually been considering for a while and wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment decision. “We don’t know how long we’ll need to tackle levels in the ‘Owl’, and with the apartment empty, it’s a waste of rent.”

Wu Sheng smiled. “Even without the rent, you’d only save a few thousand a month, which isn’t even enough to buy a page of the badge manual.”

“A few thousand a month adds up to tens of thousands in ten months. Every little bit counts, don’t you understand?” Xu Wang looked at him unamused, suddenly wishing the whole team could have the thrifty spirit of their Classmate Ai Qian. “A manual costs two hundred thousand, and if you count secret manuals, Easter eggs, strategy notes, and so on, we could go bankrupt in minutes.”

Xu Wang spoke lightly, but Wu Sheng caught a hint of reluctance in his eyes.

It wasn’t about giving up the apartment, but once the lease was canceled, it meant completely cutting off his past life. Those busy yet solid, hard yet stable days, even a place to look back on, would cease to exist.

“Think it over.” Wu Sheng didn’t object, only hoping Xu Wang understood. “Once you cancel the lease, you’ll be completely adrift.”

Both person and heart could only stubbornly move forward in the “Owl,” with no way back.

Xu Wang looked at him, and after a long while, his lips curled up with a hint of pride. “I have you guys. I’m not afraid.”

……

Wu Sheng originally planned to go back to Beijing alone, but after telling Xu Wang, it turned into a trip for two; Xu Wang initially wanted to accompany Wu Sheng back to Beijing, but after telling their three teammates, it became a journey of five.

Moreover, their friends had very convincing reasons—since they were originally going to take a green train and rest for a few days before entering the next level, they might as well go back to Beijing to recuperate and enjoy some lamb spine hotpot, Peking duck, soybean juice, and fried dough rings.

Well, this particular reason mainly came from Classmate Qian.

Kuang Jinxin agreed, and Chi Yingxue was indifferent.

The four friends accompanied their advisors and bought the nearest flight. That evening, they arrived in Beijing.

As soon as they left the airport, Wu Sheng was picked up by his partner in such a rush that everyone could see the urgency of the situation.

But since even the team captain was unclear about the details, Qian Ai and Kuang Jinxin didn’t speculate wildly, only hoping everything went smoothly for their advisor.

The four took a taxi, planning to go to Xu Wang’s home, but on the way, Xu Wang suddenly remembered the address on Chi Yingxue’s ID was in Beijing. After pondering for a moment, he cautiously asked, “Xiao Xue, your home is in Beijing, right?”

“……” Chi Yingxue didn’t know how his nickname had become fixed but was too lazy to protest, simply responding briefly to Xu Wang’s question, “Mm.”

This was a very minimal yet subtly telling reaction.

Xu Wang could sense that Chi Yingxue wasn’t very enthusiastic about this topic.

He didn’t know the family situation of his teammate, but as the team captain, worrying seemed to have become an instinct. So after thinking it over, he swallowed the question of “do you want to go home?” and instead said gently, “Your brother sounded quite worried when he called last time.”

Chi Yingxue tugged at the corner of his mouth in a way that seemed like a smile but also like mockery. “He’s just doing his routine duty to check if I’m still alive and kicking.”

Xu Wang: “……”

This was a “minefield”, so Xu Wang decided to end the topic there.

This wasn’t about a lack of brotherly love, but rather Chi Yingxue’s words clearly carried “hostility”. If Chi Yingxue wasn’t hiding it, perhaps one could even hear… hatred.

Was it a struggle over family inheritance?

Or was it the brother couldn’t accept having a sibling with split personalities?

Or was there some unknown family secret?

While his head ached with these thoughts, Xu Wang realized how nosy he was. He hadn’t sorted out his own issues yet, worrying about others’ brotherly drama. It was no wonder no one loved or cherished him.

---

The author has a message to say:

It’s already 100 chapters, and still no sugar has been delivered. How about, for now, we just enjoy a sweet teaser? (Run away!)

Also, the secret box lying in the closet, hugging its knees in the corner, whimpering in loneliness and coldness _(:з」∠)

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>