Yan Linjian felt like he had turned back into that high school student who would secretly turn on his computer at midnight to check in-game messages. Ever since God Yuè took the initiative to acknowledge him, Yan Linjian’s mood had become very strange, and he would start grinning like an idiot every time he logged into the game.
As soon as the loading screen ended, God Yuè was always there, standing under the peach tree in front of his house, silhouetted against the moonlight with robes flowing gracefully and a light blue ribbon fluttering behind their head.
It was as if they had some kind of mysterious connection. God Yuè always appeared by his side whenever he came online.
【What a coincidence.】 Yan Linjian greeted awkwardly.
【Good evening.】 Moon God wasted no words and sent him a duo team invitation.
Yan Linjian hesitated before clicking “Accept” and asked: 【Not bringing anyone else this time?】
Lú Biān Rén Sì Yuè: 【No.】
Yé Dú Bà Tiān Xià: 【But earlier, you always…】
Lú Biān Rén Sì Yuè: 【It was for you.】
Ah!
Yan Linjian’s heart felt as if it had been whipped by the dazzling peach blossom branch from the screen. He could only regret that the game couldn’t display shy expressions, so the two characters could only stand there awkwardly.
【How did you recognize me?】
【Your name, outfit, and faction are exactly the same as before… only your gender changed.】
【I’m actually a guy. Back then, I used a female character because the starting gear came with a fan I liked. I didn’t mean to deceive you on purpose.】
【It’s fine.】
A gift notification popped up on his screen: 【Lú Biān Rén Sì Yuè】 has gifted you 【Light Gauze Long-Handled Fan】. Click 【Accept】.
Ever since the game had been updated, the starting equipment for male, female, and gender-neutral characters have all been standardized. This long-handled fan had become a discontinued item, with one being sold for thousands in the forum.
This isn’t right…
Yan Linjian had just typed out two words when more gift notifications flooded his screen:
【Lú Biān Rén Sì Yuè】 has gifted you 【Shanhai Spiritual Beast: Ta Yue】
【Lú Biān Rén Sì Yuè】 has gifted you 【Golden Silk White Robe】
【Lú Biān Rén Sì Yuè】 has gifted you 【Seven Treasures Golden Blade】
……
Yé Dú Bà Tiān Xià: 【Wait! This isn’t right. These are all limited edition items…】
Lú Biān Rén Sì Yuè: 【It’s fine. I don’t need them.】
【Do you like them? You once said you wanted to collect all of these.】
【I do. Thank you.】
Yan Linjian tapped the accept button, his eyes stinging slightly.
【I had a reason for quitting back then. I was in high school, and my parents caught me playing. Since my account was registered with my dad’s phone number, he wouldn’t let me continue, and I forgot to tell you.】
【It’s fine.】
In the game, the character’s expression remained indifferent, swaying slightly. That androgynous face, with its striking peach blossom eyes, stared directly at Yan Linjian’s character. For a moment, he felt as if he was truly locking eyes with the person behind the screen.
【Have you been playing the game this whole time?】
【Mm.】
【Do you really like this game?】
【Not really. I just thought that maybe, one day, you’d come back.】
【… What if I never played again?】
【Then I’d wait until the day the game shuts down.】
……
Yan Linjian felt a mix of emotions in his heart, but above all was sadness.
This game didn’t allow duplicate names. The fact that he was able to register this username again meant that his old account had already been deleted. He couldn’t imagine how the other person must have felt, staring at his long-dimmed avatar, and eventually seeing it turn into “Account Deleted.” Even so, he had still waited all this time.
【… How’s your grandma doing?】
Yan Linjian, in a moment of impulsiveness, blurted out the question that had been weighing on his mind.
The other person remained silent for a few minutes before replying: 【She passed away two years ago.】
【Sorry. My condolences.】
The words felt too cold, unable to convey the turmoil in Yan Linjian’s heart. He covered his face, searching desperately for the right words to offer comfort.
【I’m not sad anymore, but thank you.】
【The surgery was a success back then, and I got to spend two years accompanying my grandma in doing many things she wanted to do. She passed away peacefully and content.】
【I’ve been waiting for you all this time, also because I wanted to return that money to you.】
At those words, tears welled up in Yan Linjian’s eyes. He knew it! There was no way his first love had been a scammer!
【You don’t have to, really. It wasn’t that much, and I’m just glad I could help. Please continue to live well, your grandma would have wanted you to have a great life.】
【I have to pay you back. It wasn’t a small amount.】
Both of them fell into silence. Yan Linjian picked at the corner of his desk, pondering the meaning behind those words: there are basically only two ways to repay money, which is online transfer or cash. Back then, he had directly mailed his bank card and PIN to God Yuè. But now that communication was much more advanced, an online transfer should work too, right?
So, are they going to add each other on WeChat?
Isn’t this progressing a little too fast?
Lú Biān Rén Sì Yuè: 【You’re in Jingdu too, right? If we get a chance to meet, I’ll return the money to you.】
“Huh??” Yan Linjian let out a startled cry, drawing the attention of Shen Yang and Miao Xin across from him. He waved a hand to say it was nothing, then pulled down his bed curtain.
“Qi Jingzhi!” Yan Linjian called out softly to Qi Jingzhi, who was just on the other side of the curtain. When Qi Jingzhi poked his head over, Yan Linjian said anxiously, “What do I do? They want to meet up with me!”
“And what about you?” Qi Jingzhi asked, staring at his face.
Yan Linjian didn’t even know where to look: “I-I’m not ready yet. We only just reconnected yesterday. Isn’t this a bit too fast… I think we should take it slow and wait until we’re more familiar with each other.”
Qi Jingzhi lowered his eyes and said indifferently: “Then just tell him that.”
“But… but I do want to meet them too,” Yan Linjian said, covering his face.
Qi Jingzhi froze for a moment, his ears turning red as well: “Cough, so what do you want to do?”
Yan Linjian pressed his lips together and burrowed back into his bed curtain: “I’ll think about it some more!”
The curtain swayed gently. Qi Jingzhi smiled helplessly and opened his laptop. On the screen, Yan Linjian, with his long white hair, was staring blankly at a peach tree.
【But it’s a bit inconvenient for me right now, so you might have to wait a few months.】
Since Yan Linjian was struggling with the decision, Qi Jingzhi helped him with it. He couldn’t figure out how Yan Linjian felt about him. Towards “Lú Biān Rén Sì Yuè”, there was longing and nostalgia, but for “Qi Jingzhi”, he was merely a university roommate.
A sense of melancholy welled up in Qi Jingzhi’s heart, and he let out a silent sigh. Just then, he saw Yan Linjian’s reply.
【Sure! I’m always in Jingdu.】
Imagining the expression on Yan Linjian’s face as he typed those words, Qi Jingzhi couldn’t resist reaching out and tapping the screen, right on that tuft of white hair.
The screen was cold and hard, but Qi Jingzhi’s fingertips were burning. He sent Yan Linjian a team invite, played through two dungeons, and then logged out of the game. Then, as a specially invited tester, he also reported the latest bugs to the developers.
At first, Qi Jingzhi had only got into gaming as a booster for hire. Back then, his grandmother had been hospitalized, and he desperately needed money. However, no one wanted to hire a child under fifteen as a labourer. While accompanying his grandmother in the hospital, an older brother in the next bed noticed his gaming skills and told him he could make money as a booster, even recommending a few popular games.
So Qi Jingzhi borrowed a shabby secondhand computer and used his grandmother’s ID to complete the real-name verification, and from then on started working as a game booster in various games.
He knew he had talent, and wasting it on boosting services was a shame. But this way, he could stay by his grandmother’s side while earning money in a short period of time. During that time, he threw himself into one game after another, playing day and night. He made money, but it was still far from enough for the surgery. As the deadline given by the hospital approached, both his mind and body were under immense pressure. At that time, he even thought maybe it would be better to just go with his grandmother. After all, he had no other relatives in this world.
His parents had divorced and started new families of their own, never once coming back to visit him in over a decade. He didn’t even remember their names or faces. Even the grandmother he had now wasn’t his biological one. Back then, his father had planned to bring his biological grandmother south to live out her retirement and, finding Qi Jingzhi a nuisance, had abandoned him at home when he was only five years old. If the grandmother next door hadn’t discovered him, he might have died long ago.
There are always people who give birth to children but never raise them, yet still feel that bringing them into the world is the greatest gift imaginable. No one ever asked if he wanted to be born into such a family.
One night, Qi Jingzhi went home and searched for the bottle of herbicide his grandmother used for weeding, and hid it in the hospital. When the day came that his grandmother couldn’t hold on any longer, he would have no reason to stay either.
With no hope of affording the surgery, his grandmother voluntarily suggested giving up. That night, Qi Jingzhi clutched the bottle of pesticide and cried outside the hospital for two hours. Then went back in as if nothing had happened, cancelled all his boosting orders, and used his own account to take his grandmother on a scenic tour in the game.
She had spent her entire life in the suburbs, so being able to see vast rivers and mountains in the game was, at least, a glimpse of something new.
It was that night when he met Yan Linjian, an impulsive, talkative fool with a cringy username, who almost managed to die in the easiest dungeon. Qi Jingzhi had only saved him out of kindness, but the guy stuck to him ever since, chattering non-stop. Not only did he insist on adding him as a friend and asking to be his apprentice, but he even brazenly asked to be his partner.
Qi Jingzhi had originally wanted to block him, but his grandmother found him to be amusing. That pale face revealed a rare smile, so Qi Jingzhi softened and added him. That tiny concession opened the floodgates, and Yan Linjian barged right in, seeking him out for dungeon runs whenever he was online, sharing every little detail of his daily life as if they had always been close.
From Yan Linjian’s perspective, even the smallest things were worth being upset about. Whether it was being scolded by his dad, having his pocket money deducted by his older brother, or losing an argument with a classmate. What seemed like the biggest issues to Yan Linjian were the very things Qi Jingzhi had never experienced in his own life: a life of stability.
Yan Linjian was completely unguarded online. Within just a few days, Qi Jingzhi had figured out his age, gender, number of family members, the fact that he was in high school in Jingdu, came from a wealthy family, and perhaps even a distinguished one. He was a naive young master who had never been exposed to the real world.
People like him should be easy to deceive. Qi Jingzhi briefly entertained such a thought, but his conscience quickly shut it down. He continued playing games and chatting with Yan Linjian as usual, gradually becoming more talkative. He began to find enjoyment in the games, even as his real life was waiting for an inevitable end.
He subtly began to say his goodbyes to Yan Linjian, but the kid suddenly became sensitive, questioning him persistently. In the end, Qi Jingzhi had no choice but to reveal that his grandmother was sick.
The very next day, he received Yan Linjian’s bank card. Although the other said it was just his New Year’s money, Qi Jingzhi was still shocked by the over one hundred thousand in savings. He tried to return the card to Yan Linjian, but after that, Yan Linjian never logged into the game again.
That money became a lifeline for Qi Jingzhi and his grandmother, but it also represented a debt, a debt of gratitude he would forever owe to Yan Linjian.
He was willing to spend his whole life paying it back, whether as a friend or just a simple roommate. At first, he only wanted to repay the kindness, but in the day-to-day interactions, that feeling slowly transformed. Fortunately, Qi Jingzhi was always patient and strong-willed enough to suppress his emotions.
If Yan Linjian hadn’t looked at him with those expectant eyes, saying he wanted to get back his first love, if he hadn’t seen Yan Linjian cry for him, this feeling might have never seen the light of day, perhaps it would have stayed locked away forever.
But now, he found himself starting to have expectations for Yan Linjian, starting to develop desires he shouldn’t have… He didn’t know whether it was right or wrong.
“Qi-shen, what are you thinking about?”
From under the bed curtain, Yan Linjian stretched out a hand and waved it in front of him, pulling Qi Jingzhi back to reality.
Qi Jingzhi reached out and gently patted the back of his hand: “I’m just coding.”
“Then why is there no sound? You’ve been completely silent for a long time. I thought something happened to you.” Yan Linjian smacked his pillow angrily, “I was just trying to be nice and check on you, yet you hit me!”
“I’m fine.” Qi Jingzhi lay beside his hand, his gaze fixed on the hand that was causing trouble on his pillow, carefully keeping his distance.
“Who would believe that. Anyway, are you going to stay in the dorm during this year’s Cultural Month too? How boring.”
“I’m not interested in that stuff.”
“But they’re interested in you! Our department’s organization department is hosting a Western pub culture event, they spent a lot of money to rent out a place for a meal, and now they’re looking for waitstaff.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
Yan Linjian’s hand was about to pull back, and for a moment, Qi Jingzhi had the urge to stop him. His hand had already risen, but in the end, reason won.
Qi Jingzhi received a screenshot from Yan Linjian: “They said to earn back the costs, they need to recruit all the handsome guys in the department to be waiters to attract customers. Of course, I, this handsome guy, have to go help.”
Yan Linjian: “As the second most handsome guy in our department, they asked me to bring you along too. Don’t just stay in the dorm all the time. You’ve got to experience some new things in these four years of university.”
This semester, the people in their department have got smarter. If they needed Qi Jingzhi for something, they’d definitely go to Yan Linjian first.
They had no choice, because there was no other way around it. He wouldn’t refuse Yan Linjian.
“Alright, I’ll go. But I’ve never participated in something like this before, so you’ll have to guide me.”
“Of course!”
