[mfn]TL: Part 1[/mfn]It was now autumn. The daytime was still alright, but once night fell, the temperature noticeably dropped.
Xu Yin hadn’t brought much with him. He put in his earphones and listened to music as he walked all the way to the entrance of the dormitory area. Staring at the road in front of him, filled with the coming and going of cars, he couldn’t help but smile wryly.
Just now, his hubby had said he was in X City—not too far from here, but it would still take about two hours to drive over.
But it seemed Xu Yin just couldn’t sit still in the dormitory.
He stuffed both hands into his pockets, looked up at the night sky, felt the cool night breeze for a moment, then shifted to the side and sat down by the roadside.
Looping in his phone was every song Yan Shixiu had released since his debut.
It felt magical.
In the previous worlds, Xu Yin had chances to hear his husband sing.
The man’s voice was low and magnetic, effortlessly pleasant to the ear even when casually singing, but once it became a proper song, it somehow felt different.
Xu Yin had looked it up before—his husband in this life was born into a musical family. His parents were both in the industry, so he grew up learning all kinds of instruments. The songs he released after his debut were all written and composed by himself.
And now, hearing this particular line from the song playing in his ear, Xu Yin closed his eyes, a complex wave of emotions welling up.
“Did you see me?”
In this song, the man murmured that line over and over again with his low, gentle voice.
The song was called “Gaze”. Xu Yin had listened to it countless times from daytime to now, but it was only at this moment that he finally understood its meaning.
And those nicknames—LY and Hua…
Loveyin?
Hua? Little Pink Flower?
Xu Yin suddenly burst into quiet laughter.
How could this man be so adorable?
Why did he try to hide the fact that he had already regained his memories in the first place?
—His husband obviously knew he had retained his memories. If he’d wanted to be honest from the beginning, he could have just said it outright. There was no need to use the alias “LY” and pretend to be a viewer drawn in by his gaming videos.
…Was he afraid Xu Yin would be hurt?
Afraid that if he knew he’d been searching for him all these years, he’d feel sad?
Xu Yin drew his legs up and hugged his knees, resting his head on them. His eyes felt a little warm. So did his heart.
…
And so, Xu Yin waited. And waited.
His mind wandered endlessly to thoughts of his husband. Occasionally, he chatted a little with 018. Somehow, the two hours passed in a flash.
At some moment, a car pulled up in front of him.
He heard the sound of a car door opening. Someone got out and quickly walked toward him.
Xu Yin looked up and met the man’s gaze.
The man’s features were as handsome as ever. Even after driving for over two hours, he looked a bit travel-worn, but his dark eyes were still bright and full of life.
Xu Yin smiled. “You’re a public figure in this world. Getting out of the car at a university dorm entrance without a mask or a cap—are you sure that’s okay?”
Yan Shixiu paused for a moment, clearly having forgotten about that.
Xu Yin couldn’t help but laugh and opened his arms.
After a second of stunned silence, Yan Shixiu’s expression softened into a smile.
He bent down, lifted Xu Yin into his arms, and whispered in his ear, “I’m here to pick you up, Yinyin.”
*
Yan Shixiu happened to have a friend who owned a hotel in this city, so the two of them got a room there.
He swiped the key card, and as the door opened, before they could even turn on the lights, Xu Yin gently pushed the man against the wall, yanked down his collar, and kissed him.
Yan Shixiu steadied himself and quickly wrapped his arms around him, turning the tables and pinning Xu Yin hard against the wall.
Xu Yin loved this man.
Other than the matters involving the quick transmigration missions and the system, he had never hidden anything from him.
But precisely because he couldn’t speak of the missions or the system, there was always a barrier between them—one only Xu Yin could feel.
Yet in this moment, all those barriers vanished.
Xu Yin did feel sorrow for having waited all these years for this man. But more than anything, he felt joy and passion now that they could finally be completely honest with each other.
Noticing that Xu Yin seemed especially excited in this moment, Yan Shixiu’s voice was hoarse as he said, “Yinyin? We didn’t buy…”
“No need,” Xu Yin’s breathing was already uneven in the darkness, his tone soft and warm. “Just do it.”
The next second, he felt the man’s body go tense in an instant.
…
By the time the lights came on, two hours had passed.
Xu Yin had showered first. Afterward, he collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion.
He dozed off with his eyes half-closed until he felt the mattress dip behind him and the man’s presence draw close.
Xu Yin turned over to lie on his side, facing Yan Shixiu.
Yan Shixiu leaned in and kissed his lips.
Xu Yin spoke, his voice still hoarse and tinged with something sultry: “Tell me—when exactly did you get all your memories back? How much do you know?”
And then, the man obediently told him everything.
He spoke in a deep, gentle voice while carefully watching Xu Yin’s expression.
Xu Yin inched closer and snuggled directly into the man’s arms.
So Yan Shixiu simply held him.
From Yan Shixiu’s account, Xu Yin learned that it had been on a certain night when he was eighteen, in his sleep, that he suddenly remembered everything.
—Yan Shixiu had no memory whatsoever of the real world.
His memories began from the very first world.
He dreamed of growing up in different worlds, and in each one, he would encounter the same young man.
That young man was named Xu Yin. No matter the world, he would fall in love with him at first sight.
Loving this man seemed to be an instinct etched into the core of his soul.
In every world, one of them would always give the other a small pink flower—it was like a little ritual that belonged only to them.
In every world, they would always meet a little dog named “Xiao Hei.” Yan Shixiu had also picked up such a dog when he was twenty-five and kept it by his side. It was as if the dog had witnessed them fall in love again and again.
In every world, they would always face separation.
And at every farewell, the young man would always be there with him, watching him quietly with a gaze that appeared calm on the surface but was filled with complexity underneath.
In those dream worlds, Yan Shixiu hadn’t understood that look in the young man’s eyes.
But once all his memories returned, he understood.
Just like he now understood why Xu Yin, at this very moment, was avoiding his gaze and hiding in his arms.
His lover was a brave person—he had almost never avoided anything. Yet right now, he kept his head down and leaned silently against him.
Yan Shixiu held him gently, tenderly stroking the back of his head.
Xu Yin whispered, “I didn’t expect you to start dreaming about all this so early in this world…”
…But even if he had known, what difference would it have made?
Xu Yin fell silent.
Back when he was waiting for Yan Shixiu by the roadside, he had also asked 018 this very question.
Every time Xu Yin transferred to a new world, he would enter a “shell” directly at a certain point in time.
But his husband, somehow, always seemed to have grown up from childhood in that world.
Why was it that both of them came from the real world into the quick transmigration missions, yet arrived in the mission worlds at different points in time?
018 had answered: “Mainly because you are the task-taker. Your husband was just incidentally brought along into this series of missions. So even though he’s also from the real world, once he enters a mission world, he becomes like any other native of that world.”
If his husband hadn’t recovered his memories, he’d be no different from anyone else in the mission world.
But once he did recover his memories…
Even so, even knowing this would happen, Xu Yin had no way to request that the mission world place him in the same timeline as his husband’s eighteen-year-old self.
He was left speechless, but Yan Shixiu gently lifted his chin and furrowed his brow. “I’m fine, Yinyin. Don’t overthink it.”
After a pause, he added in a low voice, “Being able to remember these things—I’m glad.”
Being able to no longer let his lover bear it all alone—he was glad.
Xu Yin softly caressed Yan Shixiu’s face and asked, “Weren’t you questioning reality during that period when your memories first came back?”
“…I was,” the man admitted without hesitation. “At the beginning, I kept thinking about the dreams over and over, constantly observing the people around me.”
These mission worlds, when all is said and done, aren’t real.
Xu Yin thought that since his husband had grown up in this world, once he discovered the truth, no matter how steady and sharp-minded he was, he would surely go through a period of disorientation.
However, after a brief pause, Yan Shixiu skipped over that part and simply said, “But once I accepted it, it was fine. After that, I started looking for you.”
He pressed his lips into a small smile and said softly, “Yinyin, did you know that there’s also a Shijin Road in X City?”
Xu Yin paused in surprise.
Yan Shixiu continued slowly, “After I learned how to drive, I would drive up and down that road for an hour every night at eight or nine.”
Xu Yin pinched his cheek. “You know I’m really not someone who cries easily.”
Yan Shixiu kissed the slightly reddened corner of his eyes. “Don’t cry.”
Xu Yin took a deep breath and said helplessly, “I ran every day, did push-ups and squats, all for the sake of completing tasks. I kept going to Shijin Road in the first world because I thought the random task spawn rate was higher there.”
He briefly explained the existence of the quick transmigration system and Little 018.
Yan Shixiu listened carefully. When he heard that Xu Yin could only survive by earning points from completing tasks, he visibly tensed. It was only after Xu Yin comforted him that he relaxed again.
When he heard about the bug that caused Xu Yin to lose his memories of him, his expression darkened slightly.
Xu Yin found this expression adorable. He shifted, sat up, leaned over Yan Shixiu, and lowered his head to kiss him.
He whispered softly, “Shixiu, I want to do it again.”
Yan Shixiu’s eyes darkened, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
A request like this, of course, he would never refuse.
…
It was rare for Xu Yin to be this excited. That night, they barely slept at all.
They kept going until the sky outside was beginning to lighten. Only then did Xu Yin, exhausted, start to drift off.
Before falling asleep, he vaguely heard Yan Shixiu calling his assistant: “Postpone all the work for the next few days. Rearrange the schedule.”
Xu Yin, drowsy, said, “…Aren’t you supposed to come to our school soon to film that variety show? If you have work, just go back for now and come again that day.”
Yan Shixiu: “…”
He firmly told the assistant, “Postpone everything.”
