/

Chapter 26




Li Shuoxing: “
”
The game’s in-built consumption jumped so abruptly that for a moment Li Shuoxing didn’t know whether to say that it kept up with the times or made use of every opportunity. He could only close it after a moment of silence.
He returned his attention on the journal in his hand.
It was a ripe brown leather book. The words on the inside pages were blue, the blue not too dark, with a washed-out feel to it, which was probably a factor of time. He then read the contents:
09.13
I was stuffed with a plane ticket and driven out of the office by John. He told me to take a break from working all day. The Grand Canyon was the destination he chose for me.
There’s no denying that the sun after the dark night has a mesmerising power.
Will I find my sun?
Just three lines of words revealed a lot of information.
Su Mingqian touched the words on the journal and pondered for a moment. “I have a job and a colleague named John. I have a good relationship with him. I’m bothered by some things, maybe work, maybe something else
”
Li Shuoxing: “Go through the other pages.”
This was exactly what Su Mingqian wanted to do.
He flipped the journal to the back, trying to see if he could find anything else.
There was no problem flipping through the journal about one centimetre thick. The rest of the pages also had content. However, apart from the Sunrise Canyon page, the words and pictures in other places seemed to be covered with a thin layer of fog, making the specific contents unreadable.
That in itself was a kind of content.
And it matched his guess perfectly.
It was a journal representing the past, so all the pages had records. It was just that the locations that weren’t yet visited couldn’t be remembered, so grey fog was used to represent the existence of amnesia. After visiting a location, it not only unlocked it, but also gave you two or three lines of diary, revealing some information about the character and helping you understand the little person.
That was a lot of work.
Li Shuoxing paid homage to the designer.
Then, he instructed the little person to turn back to the “Canyon Sunrise” page. He tapped on the blank space on the right and called out the sticker purchase screen again to study.
A sticker for 1 favourability point.
A set of 5 stickers.
If he paid 1 favourability point, he could take whichever sticker he liked.
If he paid 5 favourability points, he could get the whole set of stickers in his arms.
It’s really that cheap?
Li Shuoxing didn’t blink at all.
After purchasing them, the stickers were scattered about his hand. He tried them out for a while and found that these stickers could not only be pasted in the blank space of the journal at various angles, but could also be freely enlarged and shrunk. He could paste them however he wanted.
That wasn’t all.
Li Shuoxing also found that he could write content in the white inner frame.
So, the left side represented the past, which couldn’t be edited and could only be revealed; the right side represented the present, which could be written and created at will.
Emm

A “pop”.
Another “pop”.
Su Mingqian, who was lost in thought with the journal in his hand, awakened with a start. He immediately saw the photos that abruptly appeared in the blank space on the right side of the journal.
Those photos were half the size of ordinary photos. The backgrounds were various scenery of the canyon, which was normal. But, in the middle of the various scenery, there was a sticker.
It was a chibi little person wearing a hat and pulling a suitcase.
Su Mingqian recognised it as himself.
Just

The two of us went travelling together. If you wanted to take photos of people, you could’ve directly taken photos of me. If you didn’t want to take photos of people, you could’ve just taken photos of the scenery.
Why’d you take a photo of the scenery but then stick a character sticker on it, even a chibi character drawing of me?
Su Mingqian had a faint doubt. “This
”
A line of words appeared.
But this time, instead of appearing on the light screen, it appeared under the photo on the right side of the journal. “Cute?”
Su Mingqian looked at the line and replied, “Very cute.”
The previous line disappeared and a new line appeared. The journal, which automatically appeared with words and photos, was like a magic notebook at this moment. “I think it’s super cute too.”
Su Mingqian said euphemistically, “Wouldn’t it be a bit too cute?”
A line flashed on the journal, very rightfully: “But you were already so cute.”
Su Mingqian had another entanglement.
He couldn’t accept Ximu’s praise too straightforwardly for the time being. Especially this kind of praise that was
 rather off track in direction.
He complained super softly in his mind.
Why do you still keep thinking of me as so cute when you clearly treat me as a lover?
What’s going on in the minds of girls nowadays?
Anyhow, shouldn’t I be the one praising you?
Su Mingqian stared at the photo.
After staring for a moment, he suddenly stood up, rummaged through his backpack, and retrieved a pen from it. Then he sat back down and asked Li Shuoxing, “Ximu, can I ask you some things?”
Li Shuoxing was a little puzzled by Su Mingqian’s actions.
What’s with the pen?
He replied, “Ask away.”
Su Mingqian: “Do you have long or short hair?”
Li Shuoxing felt even more baffled.
Why would I have a long hair option?
He replied, “Short hair.”
Su Mingqian: “Glasses or no glasses?”
Li Shuoxing: “No glasses. Both my eyes are 5.2.”
Su Mingqian: “What are you wearing now?”
Li Shuoxing: “?”
He felt the little person was getting stranger and stranger, but he still replied, “Pyjamas, short ones.”
Su Mingqian suddenly coughed. “Cough
”
Li Shuoxing: “???”
He was immediately concerned. “What’s the matter with you? Why’d you cough all of a sudden? Are you sick?”
Su Mingqian: “No, it’s nothing.”
He says that, but
 is there really no problem?
Li Shuoxing looked at the little person who was dropping his head further and further as he was answering and murmured in his mind.
Just as he was about to say something more, the little person on the screen suddenly acted.
He picked up the pen and, in the blank space of the notebook, drew a chibi picture.
Short hair, pyjamas, with big eyes and raised lips, carrying a big backpack in hand, head full of sweat.
After drawing this picture, the little person then took the pen and wrote.
A short line of words was written right next to the chibi picture.
“For you, I hope you like it.”
Li Shuoxing: “
”
Li Shuoxing: “!!!”
At this moment, Li Shuoxing’s heart, which had been as immovable as a mountain for 26 years, was shaken. His shock was hard to put into words!
It did look a bit crude.
But why would the little person draw a chibi picture?
After the shock was the amazement.
Regardless of why he drew the chibi, Li Shuoxing was conquered the moment he saw the little person draw a chibi of him.
He suddenly understood why he’d become addicted to this game so quickly.
It was because this game was
 so damn fun!
He took a deep breath, his hands shaking. He was so happy he was about to float away. “Cub, you’re really too—”
Not again

Su Mingqian had a faint psychological shadow from this familiar sentence pattern. He hurriedly interrupted Li Shuoxing and abruptly changed the subject, “Okay, there’s still blank space. Let’s write something for today’s trip.”
Li Shuoxing’s attention was diverted.
Li Shuoxing: “Write what?”
Su Mingqian: “Um
”
Li Shuoxing suddenly suggested, “How about writing down our mood today?” He went on to explain, “This is your memory book. You’ll find a lot of your past in this book. But it’s too boring to just look for the past, so how about we make some memories too?”
“The memories made now will be the past by tomorrow.”
“The past before is the past you accept. The past later is the past you choose.”
“That way, even if the past you end up finding doesn’t quite meet your expectations, you still have the past you choose.”
Su Mingqian’s fingers brushed over the paper.
The smooth touch of the paper gave him a momentary illusion that he was touching the other’s skin.
A little warmth seemed to arise from his fingertips, and his heart felt it too.
He thought Ximu was amazing.
Most of the time, she seemed innocent and spontaneous, young and pretending to be an adult.
But there were times, such as now, when she was really a mature person, quick-witted and open-minded.
Then, Su Mingqian wrote on the page.
Just one word.
“Okay.”
He agreed to the other’s suggestion.
Let’s make some memories of our own.
A huge +100 appeared on the screen!
A smile holding the pearl of wisdom appeared on Li Shuoxing’s face at the same time.
Looking at the number, he knew that this wave was settled.
He was in a satisfied mood, so he acted more and more diligently. First, he cleaned up the blank space in the notebook, deleting all his previous conversations and only leaving the little person Su Mingqian had drawn and the “for you” message.
Then, he said to Su Mingqian, “You go first, write a sentence about your mood at the time.”
Su Mingqian’s first sentence was regular: “The canyon sunrise is really beautiful.”
The person fell into the trap. Li Shuoxing began to flirt, “The beauty of the scenery also depends on who is standing next to it.”
Su Mingqian was stunned. He thought for a moment and wrote down, “It really feels good to travel with a friend.”
Li Shuoxing once again interjected, getting more flirty, “Bathed in the light of the sky, you are magnificient.”
Su Mingqian: “
”
Li Shuoxing: “XD”
Outside the mobile phone world, Li Shuoxing looked at the pink page on his computer and was in a very happy mood. With a big wave of his hand, he rewarded his inspiration sponsor 100 yuan.
Specialists.
Expert skills!
At that moment, another text bubble popped up on the screen.
Su Mingqian: “Ximu, I want
”
Li Shuoxing looked at the screen and saw a string of -1’s hidden behind the text bubble, a string of five by visual inspection.
No need to say anymore, I know what you want to say.
Li Shuoxing’s heart was as steady as an old dog.
Since I’ve dared to play flirty, I have to bear the consequences.
Besides, it’s only 5 points deducted. What’s there to be afraid of.
The cub is really getting softer and softer.
Li Shuoxing calmly typed and directly used writing to escape, “Okay, I’ve really stayed too long today. I’m going to work. See you tomorrow.”
He exited the game.
In the game, Su Mingqian called out again, “Ximu?”
But there was no response.
The light screen in front of him flickered and gradually faded. The next step was to disappear.
Su Mingqian pressed on his chest, which was slightly tense from nervousness, with frustration.
He wanted to ask Ximu for a picture of her, but

Maybe it was still too early.