He Fang hadn’t specially washed his hair. Facing the outside, he said, “No need.”
He Fang vaguely felt that the deliveryman’s tone of voice was a little strange. It was as if he was trying hard to find an excuse to come inside. Was that just his imagination?
Come in for what? Did he leave something behind here? He Fang looked around. There was nothing.
He could see the silhouette of the deliveryman’s reflection on the frosted glass door, completely baffled. Could it be that the deliveryman wanted to use the bathroom? Was the food he made today not good? Or was there something wrong with the roast duck?
At the thought of this possibility, He Fang hastily wiped himself off, wrapped himself in a bath towel, and walked out.
However, as soon as he opened the door, he saw the deliveryman’s previously hopeful gaze crack briefly with disappointment. He Fang was still confused. He opened the bathroom door and asked uncertainly, “Did you… want to use the bathroom?”
“No,” the deliveryman turned his gaze away, then said a little guiltily, “I washed the bowls.”
He Fang was stunned. Was he that eager to come in just to be praised? That was both adorable and funny.
“You did a really good job. Thank you,” He Fang praised softly.
The deliveryman stared straight at He Fang. That gaze made He Fang feel a bit strange, too. He lowered his head, not knowing what to say.
“Wanna play a game?” the deliveryman suddenly said. He looked away, the tips of his ears turning red. But He Fang didn’t raise his head, so he didn’t see it at all.
“Mm.” One of them sat on the bed, the other on the gaming chair. Together, they logged into the game.
It was a two-player game. The protagonists were a married couple. When it came time to choose characters, He Fang and the deliveryman exchanged a glance.
“I’ll play the husband, okay?” the deliveryman said.
“Before you came, I looked up some info. The male lead in this game has slightly more complex controls. I’ll play the male lead,” He Fang said. He had always taken games seriously and had already looked into some gameplay tips.
“Then for the second playthrough, I’ll be the husband?” the deliveryman suggested.
“Mm.” He Fang nodded.
The game was adorable, with a fairly simple setup and not a complicated storyline. It was a combination of puzzle-solving and action, very interesting. The controls weren’t hard, and it was quite an engaging game. The first playthrough was mostly about trying to clear the levels without doing anything fancy. He Fang always tried hard not to die, but the challenge was that, since it was a co-op game, one slip in coordination could easily lead to failure.
However…
It was mostly the deliveryman who kept dying.
He Fang was doing everything he could to cooperate with him, but the other’s ability to die was just… off the charts. He was completely a noob. Still, a big part of the problem was that He Fang wasn’t operating well in many places, and the reason was simple: the deliveryman was a constant distraction the whole time.
For example—
“Honey, honey—ahhh—honey, I died! You mustn’t die, wait for me to respawn!”
That was the first time He Fang’s brain didn’t react fast enough, and he ended up dying. At the same time, the deliveryman also died.
He Fang looked utterly stunned. He jerked his head around, staring at the deliveryman in disbelief.
“Wuwuwuwu I’m sorry, honey, it’s my fault. I’m too bad at this. I’m sorry, wuwuwu…” The deliveryman choked up. Though he was sniffling and whining, there were no actual tears. On the contrary, he looked eager to keep going. “But it’s okay! As long as I’ve got you, honey, no difficulty can scare me!”
He Fang stared blankly at the game, his mind completely empty. Though he knew very well that the deliveryman was just immersed in the game, and that was why he was saying such strange things. After all, the game’s protagonists were a married couple. Still, calling him that so directly…
“Honey, honey! Over here, look over here! There seems to be something really interesting. Come check it out!”
“Honey, looks like I have to ride on your back here!”
“Honey, you’re amazing. So big, ah. I feel so safe.”
After clearing a boss level, the deliveryman even exaggeratedly said, “Honey, you’re truly the best. It’s because of you that I feel so at ease. Honey, I love you!”
He Fang’s expression was very strange. Every single “honey” from the deliveryman came with a different tone and inflection, just like the early days of a young married life. His expression grew more and more awkward.
“Um… could you maybe…” He Fang finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and wanted to gently remind the deliveryman not to get too deep into the game.
The deliveryman turned around, his eyes sparkling. Clearly, he was genuinely happy just from playing. That look on his face made He Fang pause for a moment.
He Fang blinked and swallowed back what he was going to say. Being able to immerse oneself fully in a game was a good thing. He himself had always been the type to be fully invested when playing.
So he only said, “Mm. Drink some milk tea.”
Then, as they dove back into the game, the deliveryman’s nonstop voice came from beside him: “Honey! This way!”
“Honey, I beat you to it. Hahahahaha!”
“Honey, how did I lose to you again? As expected, you’re just amazing.”
He Fang pressed his lips together. In the middle of a boss fight, he spoke a little awkwardly, “Wife, run!”
Plop. The female protagonist directly missed her step and blacked out.
He Fang: “……”
Was it because he called her “wife” that the deliveryman’s character lagged?
Just as he was wondering, he suddenly heard the deliveryman’s cheerful voice: “Ahhhh! I’ve resurrected! Damn it, I didn’t see that pit just now! Believe me, I absolutely won’t die again! Hubby, save me!”
He Fang couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile, not bothering to hide it. This kind of feeling, throwing yourself completely into the game with a friend, was truly strange, in a good way.
Achievement unlocked: His first time trash-talking and bantering with a friend while gaming.
However, the next morning, He Fang heard the deliveryman getting up for work, but he didn’t dare open his eyes. He kept them shut and pretended to be asleep. Only after he went out did he finally bury his head under the covers, feeling utterly mortified.
It was one thing for the deliveryman to be so outgoing, but how did he end up calling him “wife”, too?
He could still remember many things he’d said during the game.
“Wife, over here. Jump on this platform.”
“Wife, stand here. I’ll go ahead first.”
“Don’t be afraid to die, just jump. Hubby’s here.”
He Fang curled up completely under the blanket. God knew he’d dreamed the whole night.
In the dream, everything was hazy. It felt like they had become the characters in the game—two people inside a fairytale-like world. The deliveryman was exquisitely beautiful, embracing him with arms larger than his. He had that overpowering aura, yet he could hear him whisper beside his ear: “Hubby, I’m scared.”
He Fang felt like this was nothing short of a world-class nightmare. What on earth had he been thinking to have a dream like that?
He Fang was starting to think this co-op game was downright poisonous.
He didn’t even lift his head when he heard the deliveryman double back, open the door, and place the takeout on his desk. He just kept pretending to sleep. He really didn’t have the face to meet anyone right now.
The deliveryman had already gotten used to staying over here. Though he didn’t have much talent in the kitchen, every time he stayed the night, he’d head out early the next morning to buy breakfast and bring it back. Having delivered takeout to him for so long, he knew his tastes inside and out. Whatever he brought back was always something He Fang liked to eat. He even knew exactly where he kept his house keys, totally casual and self-assured. He Fang was pretending to sleep right now precisely because he knew he’d definitely pull a sneaky comeback like this.
Only after hearing the deliveryman leave again did He Fang finally, with great difficulty, stick his head out from under the covers. His brain felt like it was running on fumes.
Even during the day, while checking the progress of “Ruins Without Restart” and overseeing highway construction, he would find himself spacing out. Staring at event statistics, his mind would wander. And whenever he heard in-game NPC couples sweet-talking each other with “hubby” and “wifey”, He Fang would jolt upright like he’d been electrocuted, paranoid and twitchy.
He didn’t even dare order delivery again. He decided to make dinner himself. But just as he lowered his head, he saw a cheerful message from the deliveryman: “Hubby, can we go all out tonight?”
He Fang felt like his brain exploded into a gooey mess on the spot. This deliveryman really had no filter. He needed to fix his way of talking.
He spent ages typing in the chat box. After calming down, he reread the message and realized it probably didn’t mean what he first thought. The deliveryman was likely just asking if they could play the co-op game again tonight.
He Fang covered his face, feeling like he was about to be driven insane by this well-meaning but totally tactless deliveryman.
All he could reply was: “Make sure you get enough rest.”
Although the deliveryman’s skills weren’t all that great, he was undeniably a game enthusiast. Back when he was hanging out at He Fang’s place, he would game through the night. Sometimes, he’d even stand behind He Fang, watching him play single-player games for half the day, looking exactly like someone watching a live-streamer in action.
Deliveryman: I’m not sleepy.
He Fang: Human fatigue accumulates.
Deliveryman: But if I don’t clear the level, I can’t fall asleep.
He Fang: …
Help. He really understood that feeling. When you finally get your hands on a game you love but don’t have enough time to play it, you do end up cutting into your sleep.
He Fang truly felt like the deliveryman had pinpointed every one of his gaming weaknesses. He honestly didn’t know how to say no.
In the end, He Fang let out a sigh.
He Fang: Fine, you can play.
Deliveryman: Oh, honey, having you here makes me feel like the world is safe again.
Deliveryman: Hubby, you must always be my emotional support.
Deliveryman: Our child is still waiting for us. He needs us.
Deliveryman: Love you, hubby. Mwah~
He Fang stared at that stream of messages. Even though he didn’t want to overthink it, the deliveryman’s words really were way too easy to misinterpret.
In the end, He Fang had no choice but to turn the originally single-serving dinner he planned for himself into enough for four. The deliveryman really could eat. Just watching him eat made He Fang eat way more than usual.
Eating with others does make meals much more enjoyable.
When the deliveryman saw the table full of dishes, he lit up even more and happily lifted the snacks he’d brought with him. Looking through the stash, He Fang was surprised to find there was even coffee inside. After thinking for a moment, he quietly confiscated the coffee.
The deliveryman rummaged through the bag for a while, then scratched his head in confusion. “Did I forget to pack the coffee?”
Hearing that, He Fang jolted slightly, quickly shifting his gaze away, trying not to let the deliveryman see the guilt in his eyes.
While He Fang was still hesitating, the deliveryman suddenly pulled him into a bear hug. “Hubby, can we start tonight?”
He Fang was easily embarrassed, and the other party deliberately lowered his voice to whisper into his ear. He Fang couldn’t resist. With a posture of utmost righteousness, he launched the game.
These past few days felt quite surreal to He Fang. In his mind, there was always the image of the deliveryman with long hair cascading over his shoulders, eyes shining as he stared at the screen, marveling at the game’s breathtaking scenery, then saying with joy, “Hubby, look. This place is so beautiful.”
The game was beautiful. Truly beautiful. He Fang could feel the strong sense of aesthetics that the developers wanted to convey. But with the lights off, the two of them huddled close together in that cramped rental room, the deliveryman’s beaming face, his porcelain-white skin, those strikingly bright eyes, his thick curled lashes, and the faintly upturned corners of his lips, all of it came together like the perfect painting brought to life by an artist’s hand.
When He Fang, completely immersed in the game, happened to glance back at the deliveryman, that sudden shift from one kind of beauty to another almost made him lose himself in that dreamlike world, where he could no longer see the harshness of the reality he feared.
He Fang stared blankly at the control panel of “Ruins Without Restart”.
He felt like his understanding of the world had undergone a dramatic shift lately.
He felt that the world had become beautiful.
Not the kind of beauty one casually speaks of, but an undeniable beauty from the inside out. So vivid that it seemed to permeate every corner, every place, as if even fallen leaves were beautiful.
It was almost like a rendered video game, like “Ruins Without Restart”, a hyper-realistic game that had somehow spilled into reality.
“City Lord?” Suddenly, someone spoke beside his ear, pulling He Fang out of his thoughts at once.
“Hmm?” The person beside him was Shi Canghai.
“What are you doing here?” Shi Canghai looked at He Fang, surprised to find him in the art exhibition room of the library.
“Hmm…” He Fang couldn’t quite remember why he was here himself. “I just thought this place looked nice, so I came to take a look.”
Seeing He Fang, Shi Canghai expressed his understanding: “We’ve already done everything we could to place the artworks here in the most perfect way. It’s just a shame that we don’t have enough space to display all the paintings.”
As he spoke, Shi Canghai casually pressed a button on the wall. Below the button, an identity verification prompt appeared. He placed his hand on it to authenticate, and eventually, a carefully preserved painting within a frame was slowly pushed out. The area around the painting was completely sealed in transparent glass. Inside was likely a specially treated and processed gas to maintain the painting’s vividness.
“Love in the Eyes, a work by an unknown male artist. It’s a pity he didn’t leave his name behind. And this is the only painting of his that managed to be preserved,” Shi Canghai said as he pulled up a series of documents. These were also paintings, but all in digital format. The only remaining original was this one.
“Are an artist’s works really that difficult to preserve?” He Fang looked at the large hall, which was actually quite spacious and filled with famous paintings.
“Yes,” Shi Canghai said. “After all, the space in a mobile city is limited. There are far too many things we truly want to preserve. Layer after layer of selection, preservation, and curation, what’s left in the end is only this much. In the apocalypse, trying to preserve these ‘useless’ things is just a wild dream. But the Library itself is a city built on wild dreams.”
There was a sorrow in Shi Canghai’s gaze that didn’t match his age. “How many lamentable paintings have vanished in the long river of time?”
He Fang looked at the room full of paintings and offered comfort: “At least you’ve preserved a lot. That’s a testament to your effort and perseverance, a record left for the world.”
Shi Canghai’s brows furrowed slightly, his tone full of regret. “But we’re not capable of letting people appreciate these paintings. Love in the Eyes was this unknown painter’s finest work. All of his pieces carry a distinct personal style. The society he lived in was dark and oppressive, and so were his paintings. But this one… this one alone was bright and open. It was also his last work. No one knows what he went through. And yet, this most beautiful painting he ever created can only be stored here in this shadowy place, just like his life: dark and stifling.”
It was the first time He Fang had encountered such a sentimental side of Shi Canghai. He couldn’t help but sigh. Unlike the absolute faith of Angel City, the NPCs of the Library were profoundly emotional.
The painting Love in the Eyes actually contained no imagery of “eyes”. It was simply a realistic landscape, nothing more. He Fang didn’t really know how to appreciate art. In fact, from the digital records, the artist’s other works were far more impactful. And yet, it was only this incredibly ordinary painting that had survived.
He Fang looked at it and felt only a sense of calm within. Ordinary mountains and rivers, trees, no people—the colors were vivid, even with a touch of dreaminess. After the simplicity faded, the beauty of the painting gradually began to reveal itself before his eyes.
In that moment, He Fang suddenly thought that perhaps it wasn’t the world that had unknowingly become beautiful, but rather, his mindset that had changed.
In that single instant, he seemed to fully understand the meaning of Love in the Eyes. This painting showed what the artist saw through his own eyes. Ordinary, yet beautiful.
“But…” Just as He Fang was zoning out, Shi Canghai’s slightly raised tone pulled him back from his thoughts. With a faint smile, he said, “The design institute in Mirage City has already placed the construction of a large-scale museum on the agenda. According to the current plans, every painting will be displayed in its original form. And with Mirage City’s technology, these artworks can be preserved even better. Everything is starting to improve now.”
He Fang thought of his own design plans. “If you have any suggestions, feel free to bring them up with the team. If you have your own ideas, you can also tell the others. We’ll respect your input. If you think the current space isn’t enough, we can expand it, too.”
Shi Canghai looked deeply at He Fang and gave a bow. “Thank you for your support, City Lord. But for now, it’s best not to expand the space further. All land has already been designated as territory of the mobile cities. If we continue expanding or encroaching…”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” He Fang interrupted. “I never said we needed to expand into larger areas. What I want to expand is the Nightmare Beast Forest.”
During this period, with the mobile city in the Northern District starting to take root, the main city’s funding had begun to see a slight increase. Once stability was secured and rapid development kicked in, the amount of capital flowing into his main city would be unimaginable. Expanding a bit of the Nightmare Beast Forest was nothing. In the future, he intended to expand the entire thing!
Shi Canghai’s eyes slowly widened, as if just now remembering that detail. He let out a helpless laugh. “Right, of course. City Lord, you’re the strongest being alive, capable of defeating even the monsters that could destroy the world. And here I am, saying all this discouraging nonsense. I should be more confident.”
He Fang nodded. “By the way, why are you here in the first place?”
Don’t tell me… he also got lost?
“I received a report saying that you were here, City Lord. I came to find you about something,” Shi Canghai replied.
“What is it?”
“It’s regarding the peace treaty you mentioned earlier. We’ve now come up with a fairly reasonable course of action, and we really need your input.” As he turned to business, Shi Canghai’s expression became serious, all of his earlier emotion withdrawn.
He Fang’s eyes lit up. Was it finally time to start a new mission?!
![You’re Causing Chaos Again [e-sports]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/1sMqC2JNjIep8Ov.jpg "You’re Causing Chaos Again [e-sports]")
![Flying Dust [Fei Chen]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/9k.png "Flying Dust [Fei Chen]")
