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Chapter 61




The short story was over.
Su Mingqian still lowered his head and still held Ximu’s hand.
The confusion and pain haunting his mind were stretched out and ground up, turning into something like dust mixed in the light, smaller, more hidden and no longer visible at a glance.
But it still existed.
It became even more elusive.
Su Mingqian understood everything.
It wasn’t without trace.
Both this place and Ximu had revealed a lot to him intentionally and unintentionally.
He just… in those times in the past, never thought about it, didn’t dare to think about it.
But the truth would always be sought.
Just as the results were sure to come.
Su Mingqian took Ximu’s hand and held it up, supporting his almost unsupportable forehead.
He closed his eyes.
“A very good story, very warm,” Su Mingqian said. “I like it very much. Thank you, Ximu.”
The voice from the game was light as a feather, with a bit of nothingness.
Li Shuoxing stared at the screen.
The light coming in through the window brightened the little person’s hair.
The soft strands of hair hung down listlessly and weakly curled around Su Mingqian’s cheeks, casting a row of deep and light shadows on the pale face.
And his eyes.
From Li Shuoxing’s perspective, he could only see the corners of the other’s eyes.
The upper eyelashes of the closed eyes were trembling slightly, and between the eyelashes, there were tiny flashes of light, like the owner’s unintentionally divulged thoughts.
At that moment, Li Shuoxing suddenly felt a lot of desire.
He didn’t defy his thoughts. Following his heart’s most sincere emotions, he leaned in, embraced the little person and appeased him.
In the game, Li Shuoxing, of course, successfully held the little person, gently patting him.
But in reality, Li Shuoxing, who was equally soft-spoken and affectionate, was holding… air.
The bustling cafe was inexplicably silent.
The customers sitting nearby quietly shivered.
Several waiters pushed and shoved, no one wanting to come forward.
The store manager froze behind the counter, the number on the phone screen switching back and forth between 120 and 110 <sup>1</sup> 120 is Mainland China’s medical emergency phone number and 110 is Mainland China’s police number. . She really didn’t know which was the right one to press.
And last of all.
Li Shuoxing appeased Su Mingqian for the time being.
Although Su Mingqian still wasn’t in very high spirits, he at least raised his head and talked to Li Shuoxing normally.
For some reason, the cafe, which had been quite crowded, was at some point filled with a dead silent atmosphere, cold and stiff, making people uncomfortable.
It just so happened that Su Mingqian brought up the idea of going back. Without hesitation, Li Shuoxing chose to press the return button and waited for the light gate to send him and the cub home together.
Then…
On the phone, the game screen flashed seamlessly to the courtyard.
In reality, Li Shuoxing didn’t move a muscle and sat honestly on a chair in the cafe.
Li Shuoxing: “…”
He wiped his face, closed the game, and turned on the navigation to take a taxi.
He got so dizzy playing the game that he thought he could teleport home with the cub…
But anyway, taking a taxi in reality wouldn’t prevent him from being intimate with the cub in the game.
So Li Shuoxing left the cafe, got into the car, and still played intimately with the cub in the game.
Back at home, Su Mingqian went to the bookshelf to get the travel log.
After a trip to Shanghai, the travel log was shining again, obviously with new content in it.
Li Shuoxing looked at the cub taking the book.
After leaving the cafe, the system immediately closed the VR program without asking Li Shuoxing for his opinion. Now, the game screen had reverted to the appearance Li Shuoxing was used to.
Li Shuoxing stared at the screen, admiring the cub’s wrinkled brow and sullen eyes… His fingers inevitably itched to poke the cub.
Of course, he didn’t poke the cub’s face.
After all, there were others outside.
Li Shuoxing poked the cub’s hand.
One poke, and another.
Then he observed the little person and found Su Mingqian stupefied, not moving, not talking, and not gaining or losing favourability.
Is he still in a daze?
Li Shuoxing couldn’t help but take a step further.
He touched the cub’s little hand.
Su Mingqian: “…”
Su Mingqian wasn’t in a daze.
He was just still caught up in the whirlpool. After a long struggle, the confusion slowly settled, and his reason and gratitude to Ximu gradually surfaced… then he was poked awake.
He looked at his hand.
Having left the fixed scene, Ximu’s figure disappeared again.
But the force exerted on his hand proved to him… Ximu wasn’t gone, just invisible.
Ximu is really everywhere.
Ximu’s perversion probably really can’t get better.
Su Mingqian thought.
His gratitude to Ximu decreased a little, and a little more.
Then.
Favourability +100.
Anyway, I don’t hate it very much…
Su Mingqian pursed his lips for a while, his expression strangely relaxed.
He abruptly raised his hand, poked back slightly in the direction the force came from, then took back his fingers as if nothing had happened and said, “Okay, Ximu. Let’s see what new content has appeared.”
The logbook was flipped open.
A new photo and text appeared in the eyes of Li Shuoxing and Su Mingqian.
Unsurprisingly, the photo was of the cafe they’d gone to today.
The familiar table appeared in the centre of the photo.
There was a cup of coffee on the table and a store menu pressed underneath the coffee plate.
Li Shuoxing even saw a faintly exposed hand in the corner of the photo.
The hand rested casually on the owner’s knee, holding a handful of sunshine in its palm, the slender fingers under the sun as clear as carved jade.
Li Shuoxing was stunned by the sight of this scene.
From the clues given by the game, the cub was the only one who’d gone to the cafe in the past.
In other words, the hand exposed in the photo should be the cub’s hand.
It looks beautiful.
Like a pianist’s hand.
It’s just…
I’m not used to it.
He looked at the hand of the little person now, then at the hand of the person in the photo.
Ah…
Have you been starved?
Look at how skinny it is.
Li Shuoxing continued looking on with strange thoughts and saw the text below the photo.
“During this trip to China, I finally found the cafe I was looking for and ordered the frequently praised latte in the cafe. It tasted good but was a little too sweet for me.
“But that’s not important. What’s important is that I can write here:
“The project has been successfully established, and I believe that it will be born.”
Li Shuoxing finished reading it.
He was confused. “Cub, why’d you come all the way over here to write this? Does it mean anything?”
Su Mingqian was equally bewildered. “I’m not sure either…” He could only guess. “Maybe this cafe has some special significance for the project I mentioned? “
Li Shuoxing mulled it over a bit more and suddenly mentioned, “Wait, cub, do you remember John’s birthday party from before? Was there a line in there that said ‘John strongly requested that his birthday be postponed until the day it’s born’? Are these two its, the same?”
Su Mingqian certainly remembered this passage.
He lowered his head in contemplation for a moment and answered Li Shuoxing, “I think they’re the same.”
Li Shuoxing: “That means, the cafe incident happened earlier, and the birthday party incident happened later. Well… so, you succeeded. It really was born.”
Su Mingqian thought about it.
He unconsciously revealed a smile. “Yes, I succeeded. It was born.”
Then he was poked again.
Li Shuoxing said seriously, “Congratulations, you finally succeeded! Cub, come on, let’s celebrate with a high five.”
Su Mingqian: “…”
No, you don’t want to have a high five with me.
You just want to poke me.
Yes.
Li Shuoxing really just wanted to poke his cub.
After poking, he was satisfied and shifted his attention from the left half of the log to the right half.
As usual, the left half was written with the past content, and the right half was the editable present content.
Li Shuoxing tapped on the right half, and sure enough, the sticker store he’d been thinking of popped up!
As before, a set of five stickers, 1 favourability point per sticker.
What was worth noting was that the sticker store that popped up this time had not only chibi pictures of Su Mingqian in the cafe, but also stickers of him. His stickers weren’t chibi, but a normal three-dimensional appearance.
So looking at it together, it was a giant chibi cub with a normal three-dimensional human.
It looks…
Very funny.
But unexpectedly cute.
Li Shuoxing didn’t hold back and bought it; he didn’t hold back and pasted it.
Su Mingqian: “???”
Su Mingqian looked at the stickers and couldn’t help but ask, “Ximu, why are you normal-looking but I’m still chibi?”
Li Shuoxing: “This…”
He understood now.
Although he looked at Su Mingqian as a 2D chibi little person, Su Mingqian probably looked at himself as normal, which was why he was repeatedly confused by the chibi appearance.
The environment he was in had pretty much been told.
But there seemed to be no rush to talk about the visual difference between them.
Anyway, the cub’s so cute now…
Li Shuoxing said without changing his face, “Of course, I only bought your chibi stickers because I like your chibi appearance.”
Su Mingqian was sceptical.
To distract the other’s attention, Li Shuoxing finished pasting the stickers and quickly wrote down text in the logbook.
“I’m having coffee with the super cute cub at my favourite cafe!”
Since Ximu doesn’t want to talk about it, forget it.
Su Mingqian didn’t continue asking. He pondered for a moment and said, “I don’t want chibi, everything else is fine.”
It’s all really fine.
It’s probably a good day.
Su Mingqian thought.
The moment he finished his thought, the system popped out, displaying to Li Shuoxing.
[System: Congratulations on completing the plane ticket exclusive task [Wish].]
[System: You receive the following reward: Ximu Doll × 1]
[Name]: Ximu Doll
[Note]: An exquisite doll the length of half an arm, wearing the clothes Ximu wore to the cafe.
A line of question marks flew over Li Shuoxing’s head.
Li Shuoxing looked at the system reward in bafflement.
Ximu doll?
My doll?
What would I want this for?
He was a little confused as to what the system was thinking, but still chose to receive the reward.
Then, the reward appeared on the sofa in the lounge.
Su Mingqian, who had just put the logbook back on the bookshelf, was startled at first at the sudden appearance of the doll, but when he took a closer look, he was surprised. “Is this… your chibi?”
Li Shuoxing: “Uh, I guess.”
Su Mingqian: “Why’d you suddenly bring this over?”
Li Shuoxing was wondering the same thing. “I don’t know. It was sent. If you don’t like it, just throw it away. I don’t think it has any special abilities.”
Su Mingqian picked up the doll on the sofa.
The doll was about half an arm high, and its face, though made to look cute, still made out Ximu’s appearance.
It was wearing jeans, a white turtleneck sweater, and a khaki windbreaker.
Su Mingqian fiddled with its windbreaker and was surprised to find that the buttons and zippers on the windbreaker were working. Looking inside the clothes, it was the same. That meant…
He could treat Ximu and dress Ximu entirely to his heart’s desire.
Mm, chibi Ximu is so cute!
Upon realising this, Su Mingqian was suddenly happy. “No, I won’t throw it away. I like it very much. Can you give it to me?”
Li Shuoxing: “Feel free…”
Su Mingqian smiled generously. “Thank you, Ximu.”
Li Shuoxing: “Don’t worry about it, it’s just a doll.”
After saying that, Li Shuoxing chattered with the little person for a moment longer and then went offline.
For some reason, he always felt the cub’s attitude towards his doll was a little strange…
More than that, for some reason, he always felt that he seemed to have forgotten something today…
These two doubts remained in Li Shuoxing’s mind.
It wasn’t until the next day that Li Shuoxing finally woke up to what he’d forgotten.
After that stunt at the cafe, I still don’t know if anyone has taken photos of me.
I have to check if I’m on the Weibo hot search or the social news!
Thinking of this, Li Shuoxing suddenly choked.
Now, do I need to think about whether I’ll be on the social news or not?
No, no, no.
I mustn’t be on the social news!
I musn’t let anyone find out I’m on the social news!
Li Shuoxing hurriedly searched the internet for keywords. This search lasted from morning to afternoon.
But his effort paid off.
After searching for most of the day, Li Shuoxing was finally pleased to confirm that there was no news about him on either Weibo or the news.
He had safely passed a big hurdle in his life.
He happily went off to write.
He just didn’t find.
Besides Weibo and the news, there was also an app called TikTok.
And on the hot search of this app, there was now a title:
#Air guy surprise in the cafe#
1
120 is Mainland China’s medical emergency phone number and 110 is Mainland China’s police number.