Qu Yanning stared at the private chat, feeling a bit dazed.
The game interface still displayed fireworks— colorful bursts soaring into the sky, exploding into multicolored lights.
Blessing messages flew quickly above the characters’ heads, but the chat box in the bottom right corner was oddly silent.
Maybe someone was just playing a prank? Qu Yanning thought to himself, still uncertain.
He didn’t reply but called out to Chu Zhou, telling him to come over quickly.
The computer beeped again.
[Green Grasslands] quietly said to you: Help me, I’m stuck.
Qu Yanning stared at that message for a moment. Chu Zhou was still in the bathroom and hadn’t come back yet, so Qu Yanning moved his mouse cursor to the input box and typed quickly.
You quietly said to [Green Grasslands]: [Tang Da Pao] is here.
After a while, no reply came. Qu Yanning breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was indeed a prank from Chu Zhou’s friend.
Chu Zhou washed his hands and came over, leaning in front of the computer as Qu Yanning told him about the prank.
“Green Grasslands?” Chu Zhou looked over the private chat history, puzzled. “She doesn’t seem like the type to prank.”
Chu Zhou moved the mouse and targeted Green Grasslands’ character— a Flower Luo wearing a school uniform, holding a pen while standing idle. He switched the chat to the guild channel.
The guild chat scrolled rapidly, and after a moment of scrolling, Chu Zhou didn’t see any messages from Flower Luo.
She quietly held her pen, standing among the lively crowd that bounced and cheered around her, looking completely out of place.
Chu Zhou quickly typed a message.
You quietly said to [Green Grasslands]: Are you there?
After quite a while, the reply came: Yes, Da Pao, do you have time to private chat after the guild leader’s small room?
Chu Zhou showed those two messages to her: “Who taught you to prank?”
In the game, Flower Luo tossed her brush up and caught it again, looking lively.
[Green Grasslands] quietly said to you: Hehe, I saw it on Weibo. You’d really believe that?
Chu Zhou gave Qu Yanning a look that said “all good,” then replied to Flower Luo: My friend was here just now and almost got scared. Said you went on YY.
Chu Zhou logged onto YY and entered the guild channel. Over ten people were already there, chatting, singing, and having a great time.
Qu Yanning, who had never played the game, watched curiously from the side.
As soon as Chu Zhou joined, the YY chat exploded with congratulations, and the chat interface quickly filled with messages saying “May you live in blissful union for a hundred years.”
Chu Zhou accepted with a smile and called out on YY, “Qingyuan Yuan Xiaobaobei’er, where are you?”
His voice was naturally a bit androgynous and husky, and when amplified by the computer, it somehow sounded charmingly flirtatious.
Others began to “shush” him, and the chat spammed @Guild Leader [Heng Zhou].
No one responded on YY, but in the chat, Heng Zhou typed: I’m here.
Chu Zhou asked him to turn on his mic, but Heng Zhou refused, saying he’d give him a surprise when they met next week.
Chu Zhou warned him not to give surprises without joy.
Qu Yanning sat nearby, surrounded by two people smothering him with affection, angrily grabbing the cat lying on its back to hug it, showing he wasn’t a lone wolf.
At least he still had a cat.
The YY room remained lively for a while before quieting down. Chu Zhou hummed a tune, clearly in a good mood. Seeing this, Qu Yanning couldn’t help but ask, “Zhouzhou, are you serious?”
Chu Zhou replied that they hadn’t even met in person yet. “He seems like a good guy. If we get along when we meet next weekend, there’s nothing wrong with taking things seriously.”
“So you’re basically in an online romance now?” Qu Yanning muttered to himself, hugging the cat.
Chu Zhou pinched his cheek and corrected him, “It’s called fate~love~!”
Qu Yanning dodged his hand and whispered, “Fate love is basically online dating, huh?”
The meetup was scheduled for next Saturday in Shen City. Including Chu Zhou, there were about ten people, mostly from nearby cities around Shen City.
They would come over on Saturday, stay overnight, and leave on Sunday.
In the days leading up to the meetup, Chu Zhou was having a lot of fun. Not only did he indulge himself, but he also dragged Qu Yanning along.
Since Xue Li arrived, Qu Yanning felt increasingly relaxed. Xue Li was smart and quick to learn; after a trip, Qu Yanning promoted him early to official apprentice status.
Barbecue was a highly skilled craft. Mastering the heat and sauce made all the difference.
After nearly a month of training, Qu Yanning could confidently let Xue Li handle it alone.
He himself became much freer, no longer tied down to the shop all day. With plenty of free time, the two freelancers idled at home.
The internet-addicted Chu Zhou felt Qu Yanning was lonely alone, so he persuaded him into the game.
Qu Yanning didn’t create a new account; he played on a small account Chu Zhou gave him, a character called Little Zhengyi dressed in pink.
Little Zhengyi was adorable, though the name was peculiar.
From then on, Qu Yanning didn’t mind so much.
That night, Chu Zhou led the guild members into a dungeon run.
The guild was a PVP guild. Members were usually idle, loving to roam and hunt players in the wild. Their positioning skills were top-notch, and they were excellent at fleeing.
This exceptional skill meant that a dozen people took turns dragging the BOSS around the map, repeatedly hitting, then running, then pulling away.
An endless loop.
Chu Zhou’s voice hoarsely shouted in YY, eventually despairing at these salty fish.
He decided to run a casual dungeon instead— friendship first, dungeon second— otherwise, he feared he’d lose his temper and start a kill frenzy in the dungeon.
The Salty Fish Guild members dared not object, all agreeing to listen to the Guild Leader’s Wife.
Chu Zhou rolled his eyes, shouted, and led everyone to the Maple Splendor Valley Dungeon.
As a total beginner, Qu Yanning wandered around, unable to find the way for quite some time until Chu Zhou took over and parked his character at the dungeon entrance.
The sky over Feng Hua Valley was clear. Under the blue sky, red maples bloomed brilliantly.
Ready, the group entered the dungeon with Qu Yanning following behind Chu Zhou.
Controlling the bouncy Little Zhengyi to run forward, Qu Yanning admired the scenery inside.
The dungeon was antique and quaint; the graphics were not particularly refined but still very pleasing.
They stopped in front of the first BOSS, Mu Dan.
Qu Yanning was still figuring out the keys when the target suddenly switched to a Flower Luo holding a brush.
It was the same Green Grasslands who had played the prank before.
Qu Yanning glanced at her— Flower Luo stood motionless, her face seeming somewhat sad.
Qu Yanning looked at his own Little Zhengyi, then back at Flower Luo; both wore the exact same expressionless face, but Qu Yanning somehow felt that Flower Luo was truly sorrowful.
Di Hua was an old dungeon. Their current gear easily crushed it. The group laughed and jokingly defeated the first BOSS and moved on to the second.
The second BOSS was Big Snake. With so many people, Chu Zhou wiped out the small monsters without breaking a sweat and rushed through.
Qu Yanning, as a proper salty fish, immediately went down at the start. After the fight, Flower Luo revived him, waving her brush with dazzling light effects around her.
Qu Yanning got up and thanked her.
Flower Luo didn’t reply, following behind the main group.
Qu Yanning noticed she seemed to walk particularly slowly. He was originally behind her but soon overtook her and ran ahead.
In front of the third BOSS, Chu Zhou pulled it to the center, and the group started trading hits.
As a guild of salty fish, everyone secretly thought others could fight well—it was only themselves slacking off.
In the end, the whole group slacked, with DPS terribly low. Only Flower Luo, as the healer, faithfully kept healing.
After a wipe, the Guild Leader’s Wife got furious. The salty fish suddenly got serious and spammed DPS, finally killing the boss with a burst.
Di Hua dungeon had many bosses and a long path. After the third BOSS, a hidden BOSS appeared.
They quickly defeated it, then took off their gear and rushed into the next small monster pack, lying down to respawn.
Qu Yanning hadn’t removed his gear and was still in combat mode, forced to watch the monsters slowly chip away at his health.
Everyone else was down; only he and Flower Luo still stood firm.
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