Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

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

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Chapter 166: Hesitation

“The boss told me there’s a local saying here, ‘Three days without sour food, and you’ll find yourself hopping around while walking.’ So, my iron buddies, if you come to Guizhou, you must order the sour soup fish!”

“What? There’s a location now? You must have just started following me… Ah, thanks to ‘Chop Off My Hands If I Order Takeout Again’ for answering for me. Yes, I, Lao Qian, have already broken through Beijing and ventured across all of China…”

“Back to the point. I ordered two kinds of fish today. The one on my left hand is a carp, and the one on my right hand is a catfish…”

At a large round table for ten, Qian Ge occupied the southern hemisphere alone, while Xu Wang, Wu Sheng, Kuang Jinxin, and Chi Yingxue all stuck to the northern hemisphere.

Having been through levels together up until now, everyone had become accustomed to automatically entering “live broadcast mode” whenever they ate.

Xu Wang and Wu Sheng discussed the next level among themselves, completely undisturbed; Kuang Jinxin, on the other hand, ate while watching Qian Ai’s live broadcast, clearly a loyal viewer.

Kuang Jinxin used to like sitting under the TV in the school cafeteria because he found it made meals more enjoyable. If there was no TV, he’d watch his phone. But since starting the levels, watching Qian Ai during mealtime sufficed; Qian Ai alone was more entertaining than a TV drama. Watching Qian Ai eat while interacting with his buddies, Kuang Jinxin found it particularly joyful, sometimes even sneaking into the live broadcast as an anonymous little fan.

Chi Yingxue was indifferent to the “background music” of eating. As long as he didn’t want to participate, everything around him might as well not exist, unable to disturb him at all.

But today, for the first time, he became curious.

Because Kuang Jinxin was watching Qian Ai. Whenever Qian Ai cracked a joke with his buddies, he laughed along, looking very amused. From Chi Yingxue’s perspective, he could only see his side profile but still found it very attractive.

So, Chi Yingxue became curious to see what this “live broadcast” was all about, even seriously considering starting his own “Chi Yingxue Eats Across China” if it could make Kuang Jinxin smile at him every day.

Once Chi Yingxue sets his mind to something, he does it.

In the blink of an eye, he had gotten up and moved closer to Lao Qian to take a serious look at the phone.

For the fans of “Lao Qian Eats Across China”, a stranger suddenly dropped from the sky and entered the frame in a second.

Then, the live broadcast went wild.

[Ahhh, what kind of celestial beauty is this!]

[Three minutes. I want all the information on this man!!]

[Lao Qian, if it weren’t for you for comparison, I would have thought a perfect filter was turned on!!!]

[……]

That night, Qian Ai first learned that he had so many female fans lurking for years.

That night, Chi Yingxue unexpectedly became the substitute host. He didn’t even need to speak; just eating fish was enough, thus bringing the highest traffic and donations to “Lao Qian Eats Across China” since its creation.

Back at the hotel, Chi Yingxue was still dazed. He didn’t remember the taste of the sour soup fish or whether Xiao Sijin had looked at him or smiled. He only remembered the dizzying array of gifts and the frenzy of comments, feeling more than ever that live broadcasting is an unfathomable field.

It was then that Chi Zhuolin’s call came.

“Where to next?” Chi Zhuolin got straight to the point as soon as he spoke.

Chi Yingxue quickly recalled the information their team had bought from Mr. Fan. “Jiangxi.”

12/23, in Jiangxi.

Chi Zhuolin had already adapted to this hopscotch style of travel. “When are you leaving?”

Chi Yingxue: “Not decided yet.”

Chi Zhuolin: “Okay, send me the details once you’ve decided. I’ll arrange the hotel and the pickup.”

Chi Yingxue: “Oh.”

Never pushing away things that could make him comfortable was a virtue of Classmate Chi.

Normally, this would be the end of the call, and Chi Zhuolin, as always, waited for his younger brother to hang up first. But after waiting for a long time, the other side was still there.

Chi Zhuolin keenly raised an eyebrow. “Hmm?”

“Chi Zhuolin…” Sure enough, the other side began speaking in a low voice.

Chi Zhuolin, who had already gone to bed, unconsciously sat up straight, then heard the question from the phone asking, “Am I lonely?”

“……” The formidable President Chi was stumped by the question.

If Chi Yingxue had asked, “Are you lonely?”, he could perhaps introspect a bit, but his younger brother was asking, “Am I lonely?” which was a question too profound for an immediate answer.

“Did something happen to you?” Unable to answer such a mystical question, President Chi instantly saw through to the essence.

Lying in bed, Chi Yingxue raised an arm to his forehead, blocking the glaring light from above. “I want to date someone, but he doesn’t want to date me.”

President Chi’s hand shook, causing him to drop his phone onto the bed. Luckily, due to the soft landing, it made no sounds.

Taking a deep breath, he picked up the phone again, asking calmly as if nothing had happened, “Why doesn’t he want to date you?”

“He says I don’t like him, that I’m just lonely.” A hint of indiscernible grievance colored the voice on the other end.

“Is that true?” President Chi was already finding it hard to remain seated, asking while beginning to pace back and forth in the bedroom.

After a pause, Chi Yingxue admitted, “I don’t know.”

Pacing helped President Chi regain some composure. The sharp thinking he was known for in business slowly returned. “Okay, then let me ask differently. Why do you want to date him?”

Chi Yingxue: “If we were dating, he would always be by my side.”

President Chi: “Why do you want him always by your side?”

Chi Yingxue: “It’s comfortable.”

President Chi: “Is it comfortable for you or for him?”

Chi Yingxue: “……”

President Chi: “If you make him feel comfortable too, then he will be yours.”

After a long silence, Chi Yingxue asked, “How do I do that?”

President Chi was stunned, hearing such a vulnerable tone from Chi Yingxue for the first time since their father’s death.

As much as it pained him, President Chi still didn’t give in. “You have to figure it out yourself.”

As a brother, he could give his sibling the best of everything, but more than that, he wished for his brother to become a man who knows how to fight for what he wants.

Chi Yingxue had been trapped in his childhood for too long. It was time to grow up.

At the end of the call, President Chi asked, “What’s his name?”

“Xiao Sijin.” Chi Yingxue’s tone seemed to brighten with these words.

President Chi immediately thought of the young man he had met a few times, who wasn’t very talkative but had a warm smile… For a moment, he was stunned. He didn’t know whether to worry about how his brother’s orientation had gone astray or to be relieved that it wasn’t someone strange.

As Chi Yingxue hung up, Chi Zhuolin was still in turmoil. The last thought that crossed his mind was that Chi Yingxue’s habit of giving nicknames for things he likes, a habit he’s had since childhood, might never change.

……

While Chi Yingxue was trying hard to think of “how exactly to make Xiao Sijin comfortable”, separated by a wall, Captain Xu was taking inventory of the team’s remaining stationery supplies with Advisor Wu.

“Let’s go to the Endless Sea for a few more days,” Wu Sheng suggested, looking at the list of stationery on the paper.

The stationery was running low, and they were about to face 12/23. They preferred to wait a few more days rather than retreat and start over.

Xu Wang had the same thought. “Let’s communicate with them. If everyone agrees, we can leave tomorrow.”

With more than two hours left until midnight, Xu Wang washed up and went to bed to catch up on some sleep. However, after lying down, he felt something was off. Turning his head, he found Wu Sheng on the next bed, propping up his arm and looking at him with a face full of deep thought.

Feeling uneasy under the gaze, Xu Wang hurriedly asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Wu Sheng said, “I’m wondering if I’ve caught up with you?”

Xu Wang was puzzled. “Huh?”

Wu Sheng seriously asked, “I said I would pursue you, so have I caught up? Are we dating now?”

Xu Wang: “……”

They had kissed eight hundred times, and now he’s asking if they’re dating?!

“I think we should be. You felt it when I kissed you,” Wu Sheng said, looking at his face and smiling reminiscently. “You would hug me, respond to me…”

“We’re dating! Consider it dating!” Xu Wang decided on the spot to prevent this bastard from saying anything more embarrassing!

“Really?” Wu Sheng’s eyes lit up, almost as if a magpie was dancing on his eyebrows.

Curious, amused, and feeling a bit of happiness and sweetness, Xu Wang said, “Really.”

Wu Sheng immediately got out of his bed and, with the speed of someone using acceleration gear, squeezed onto Xu Wang’s single bed.

Xu Wang only felt a whoosh of wind, and then he was being hugged tightly. Any movement from him, and the other person hugged even tighter, as if afraid he would run away.

“I won’t do anything. I just want to hold you and sleep for a while,” Wu Sheng whispered in his ear, his lips lightly brushing against his earlobe.

Xu Wang shivered.

Although Wu Sheng wasn’t a dawdler, being so assertively proactive was rare for him. Xu Wang always felt he was inspired by something or someone, but the atmosphere was too good, and he didn’t want to ask.

After quietly holding each other for a while, Wu Sheng felt his breathing become heavier, but it was almost time to enter the Owl, and he also didn’t want to scare Xu Wang, not intending to take any further action for the time being.

He somewhat regretted overestimating his willpower, but since he had already squeezed onto the bed and hugged him, there was no reason to give up now. So, he tried to divert his attention, raising his hand to touch Xu Wang’s head. “If you can’t sleep, let’s talk.”

He knew Xu Wang wasn’t asleep.

Xu Wang’s head gently rested on his chest, murmuring, “Talk about what? How bad your personality was in high school, how annoying…”

Wu Sheng smiled. “Yet you still like me. You must have poor taste.”

Xu Wang scoffed. “I’m sacrificing myself, so you won’t trouble others…”

Wu Sheng: “What do you like about me?”

Xu Wang: “……”

Wu Sheng: “Hm?”

Xu Wang gritted his teeth. “Classmate, it seems like you were the one pursuing me…”

Wu Sheng wisely shut up, not challenging the captain’s authority further. After a while, he slowly said, “About that choice, what do you think?”

Upon hearing this, Xu Wang knew what he was asking.

Since buying the intel from Mr. Fan, no one had talked about it again. It seemed everyone tacitly agreed, “It’s possible to leave early”, but it also seemed like everyone couldn’t help but think more about it.

Facing Wu Sheng, Xu Wang didn’t want to hide. “I haven’t decided yet.”

Wu Sheng understood. Hesitating meant consideration. “Do you want to close the pathways to the first thirteen levels?”

Xu Wang said softly, “Mm. I hope no one else will be drawn in, but I don’t know… what the cost of making this choice would be…”

What if it meant they had to stay in the Owl forever? What if there was an even more terrible cost?

Not knowing is why it’s frightening and why there’s hesitation.

“Then stop thinking about it. When we get to 13/23 and have everything figured out, it won’t be too late to consider.” Wu Sheng decisively made the decision for him.

Pausing, he added softly and seriously, “No matter what you choose, I’ll be with you.”

…..

A week later, the five friends, having gathered some stationery, left the Endless Sea and arrived at 12/23.

According to Mr. Fan’s intel, they would enter a small town celebrating Halloween. Amidst a “trick or treat” festive atmosphere, they were to capture five fierce ghosts with different backgrounds, forms, and skills and then take them to the town church for a collective exorcism ceremony.

The types of fierce ghosts are frequently updated. Mr. Fan encountered the “plasma type” in his year. In recent years, through exchanges with those coming for intel, there have been “ghost type”, “monster type”, “werewolf type”, “vampire type”, “urban legend type”, “high-tech type”, and the like. It was truly a wide variety and endless emergence.

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