Her original voice is 100 times… 1000 times more tender than it is now!
She’ll be fine tomorrow or the day after.
Tomorrow or the day after, I’ll be able to hear her normal voice.
So, everything is normal. Just two more days and it’ll be fine.
Su Mingqian seemed to have convinced himself.
The panic in his heart slowly dissipated, and his confidence gathered again.
Then, the hoarse, coarse voice sounded again, grinding against his cerebral cortex like sandpaper.
“Cub?”
Su Mingqian had a jolt and vaguely heard a crack, as if the confidence he’d just built up had crumbled at a corner.
Another number popped out from the little person’s head.
-20.
The favourability pool in the upper left corner had successfully slimmed down to a beginning of 3, and the process was as fast as lightning, taking only 10 minutes from start to finish.
After more than a dozen days of hard work, he returned to the pre-liberation days.
Li Shuoxing had a complicated look on his face.
I had no idea.
My cub is actually a voice con [mfn控 [kòng] may mean con, short for complex, which describes a liking for something.[/mfn] cub.
Just because he hears a voice he doesn’t like, he immediately acts like he’s gonna have a big fight with me.
I really spoil you!
Your little temper grows so fast!
Out of control and wanting everything!
Li Shuoxing closed his mouth and hatefully typed, saving himself, “My throat hurts too much. I won’t speak. I’d better type.”
Silence.
A silence so long it made people impatient.
Suddenly, a voice came out again, the same voice as clear as a still spring.
Su Mingqian asked, “How, how did you catch a cold?”
Li Shuoxing: “I got caught in the rain yesterday.”
Su Mingqian: “Is it serious?”
Li Shuoxing was concise. “Except for the sore throat, everything’s fine.”
He jinxed himself. It was fine if it wasn’t mentioned, but once it was mentioned, Li Shuoxing’s throat itched and he couldn’t help coughing again.
He didn’t know if his coughing posture was wrong, but Li Shuoxing’s cough got worse and worse. Later, he almost choked and could only make a wheezing sound.
The voice conveyed information, and the unknown invoked fear.
Su Mingqian was at a loss.
Tension and panic overcame his discomfort towards the voice. His worry resurfaced, gathering into a heavy cloud in his mind all at once. He subconsciously stretched out his hand in the direction of the voice—
Those words, those sounds, so close to his hand, not even an arm’s length away; a lift of his arms could touch them.
He lifted his arm through the light screen.
A thin layer of illusion was uncovered.
The words and sounds were in front of him, but the owner of the words and sounds was far away beyond his estimation.
Frustration suddenly attacked his mind.
Along with it rose a deeper concern.
As he struggled to discern the voice, he couldn’t help but open his mouth, his words full of undisguised tension. “Ximu? Are you okay? How are you feeling now?”
The cough came and went quickly.
Li Shuoxing soon stopped coughing, just in time to hear Su Mingqian’s voice tail off.
He looked towards the screen and was surprised to see that the numbers coming out of the little person’s head weren’t negative, but positive.
The +5+5 numbers coming out weren’t fast, but weren’t slow either.
In the time Li Shuoxing looked over, he saw three numbers appear on the screen, adding a total of 15 favourability points!
Heh.
Mood changed again?
I know. The cub must have heard me coughing and got worried, so the favourability rose.
Li Shuoxing thought about it a little, understood the key, and at the same time had a good idea.
He continued typing and began to show weakness, deliberately highlighting the keyword. “Cough… it’s fine, I’m okay now.”
Another +5!
Heh…
I knew it.
There’s no game I can’t handle.
Li Shuoxing’s confidence was restored.
Su Mingqian asked with concern, “Have you taken your medicine?”
It seemed that because of his tension, his tone became low, with the feeling of currents swirling into ripples.
Li Shuoxing could actually hear some emotion from it.
To be so rich and distinctive, I’m afraid this game spent a lot of money on dubbing.
Li Shuoxing thought inwardly and continued to type, “Not yet. I just got up. I was thinking we made an appointment yesterday, so I came over to see you first.”
Su Mingqian said curtly, “Take your medicine first. After taking it, rest well. Don’t strain yourself today.”
Li Shuoxing peeked at Su Mingqian’s head, observing the change in his favourability points.
But this time, the little person’s head was clean, neither rising nor falling.
Hmm…
Reminds me I should say something now.
Li Shuoxing mulled it over and continued to type, “Okay~ I’ll go after watching you for a while [smile].”
After typing that sentence, Li Shuoxing suddenly noticed the little person on the screen shudder violently.
Then, a -10 jumped out of his head.
Li Shuoxing: “…”
Was my analysis wrong?
It shouldn’t be!
That sentence clearly showed my fondness and attachment to him.
He got suspicious and stared at the screen, and within a moment, he saw a + 3 pop out from the little person’s head on the screen.
When this favourability came out, the little person’s head was bustling with activity.
The next one was -9.
But the next one was +3.
Then the next one was -5.
But the next one was still +3.
Li Shuoxing didn’t know how tangled Su Mingqian was, but he was getting tangled as an onlooker.
Although I can directly see your entanglement.
For the sake of our feelings over the past few days, can you not deduct so much and add so little every time?
Cub, dad gives you good food and clothes and cares about your health. I’ve really never wronged you!
Maybe it was because Su Mingqian heard Li Shuoxing’s inner voice.
After another -1, Su Mingqian seemed to give up struggling. A striking +10 appeared above his head.
Then, he said, “Don’t fool around. Sick people should rest well. Go and buy medicine now. When you come back after buying the medicine, take a photo of it and show me. I want to watch you take it.”
He finished saying that.
Su Mingqian paused, then said, “Ximu, behave… okay?”
The faintly raised ending, like a lingering wind, brushed past his ears.
Li Shuoxing was actually a little charmed.
He looked at the little person on the screen with wonder and appreciation, and felt that he should affirm his charm, so he simply replied “okay”, turned off the game, went downstairs to eat and buy medicine, and brought home the express delivery he’d forgotten again last night while he was at it.
When he arrived home, Li Shuoxing lined up the cold medicine on the table, opened it, took out a dosage, and took a photo. Then, he logged into the game and sent the photo to the little person.
Su Mingqian took a look. “Take your medicine on time at noon and in the evening too.”
Li Shuoxing: “Okay~”
Su Mingqian: “Go and have a rest.”
Li Shuoxing: “Mm~”
Su Mingqian: “When you’re well…”
Before he could finish, Li Shuoxing’s words appeared on the light screen.
Li Shuoxing: “When I’m well, I’ll tell you first.”
Su Mingqian was dumb.
After two seconds of being dumb, guilt rolled over him, and he couldn’t help but say, “Ximu, maybe my attitude today was a little strange. I’m sorry. I just…”
Li Shuoxing: “Just what?”
Just voice-controlled?
He guessed.
Su Mingqian repeatedly opened his mouth, but gave up. “Nothing. Rest well. We’ll talk again when your cold’s gone.”
The last “okay” appeared on the light screen, and then the light screen faded out of sight.
As the light screen disappeared, Su Mingiqna slowly lowered his head.
His head was heavy, his body was heavy, and his footsteps were even heavier. He was practically shifting step by step from the courtyard to the production workshop.
He found the seal he’d carved in the production workshop.
The seal was already finished.
He held the seal in his hand and looked at the word Ximu on it, recalling bit by bit the time he had spent with Ximu in the past.
He said in his mind:
Ximu, who cares so much for me, can’t be a man…
Ximu, who always touches me, can’t be a man…
How can a man break into a man’s bathroom…
How can a man buy female costumes…
How can a man.
Say cub.
Say he loves me.
Su Mingqian’s fists clenched hard.
He was firm in his mind.
Ximu is cute.
Ximu is female.
Ximu has good feelings for me.
Ximu has always been female.
…
Ximu may be male.
…
-50.
***
Li Shuoxing took his medicine and got some sleep. When he got up for a nice warm drink of water, it was still afternoon, and he felt like his throat didn’t hurt much anymore.
He tried to make a sound.
It was still a little distorted, but it was much better than in the morning. He reckoned he would recover completely by the evening.
Then he got into the game.
He didn’t plan on interacting with the little person. He was just going to peep at him for a bit and then go offline.
But Li Shuoxing didn’t expect…
It was just one morning. He logged back into the game and suddenly found that the favourability points that originally began with 3 now began with 2, directly shrinking by more than 100 again.
Li Shuoxing: “???”
He puzzledly opened the flashing system narration and puzzledly looked at the text under it.
Today, 9:30am
[Su Mingqian enters the production workshop.]
[Su Mingqian picks up the seal.]
[Su Mingqian stares blankly at the seal.]
[Su Mingqian keeps staring blankly at the seal.]
Su Mingqian: “…”
[Su Mingqian’s mood fluctuates greatly.]
Today, 10:00am
[Su Mingqian leaves the production workshop.]
[Su Mingqian stands in the courtyard for a long time.]
[Su Mingqian seems to be searching for something.]
[Su Mingqian does not find it.]
[Su Mingqian enters the kitchen.]
[Su Mingqian takes a cabbage out of the refrigerator.]
[Su Mingqian sits down at the table with the seal and cabbage.]
[Su Mingqian observes the cabbage.]
[Su Mingqian begins to tear the leaves from the cabbage.]
Su Mingqian: “Ximu…”
Su Mingqian: “Ximu is…”
Su Mingqian: “Ximu is not…”
[Su Mingqian’s mood fluctuates greatly.]
[The cabbage leaves fall.]
[One leaf, one leaf, another leaf…]
Li Shuoxing: “…”
Li Shuoxing looked at this narration. It seemed he’d seen a lot, yet it seemed he’d seen nothing at all.
However, like the cabbage slowly shedding its leaves, his heart gradually emptied.