Edited by: kapekopicoffee
The police had been called and the reward had been offered. He looked at Weibo and he seemed to be on the hot search. A lot of people were talking about it.
It seemed that there was nothing more that he could do.
Li Shuoxing came home in a daze.
In his arms was the one hundred thousand yuan he had withdrawn, as well as the clothes and food bags that he left on the carriage. The former was found by the police and packed in a black bag, and the latter was returned to him by the station staff.
As soon as he entered the house, he threw all the bags on the ground, and without looking at the stuff strewn all over the floor, he went straight into the study and turned on his computer.
He was still holding on to his last glimmer of hope.
The cub was able to access my computer before through the game. If the cub returned to the app at the same time my phone was stolen, maybe he could get back through the subway station!
The computer’s boot screen was so long that Li Shuoxing could barely stand it.
But finally, the wait was over.
Li Shuoxing entered the desktop.
The desktop was still neat and tidy from being cleaned up by the cub. There were also some of his things in the lower right corner: a small couch, small pillows, and small books. It looked as if he just went out for a casual stroll and would be back in five minutes, still sitting here drinking tea and reading, occasionally looking up and calling out to him:
“Ximu~”
“Ximu!”
Li Shuoxing seemed to hear the sound in his ears.
He unconsciously shook his head.
A hallucination?
Another sound rang out, small but clear. “Ximu!”
I’m not hallucinating!
Li Shuoxing suddenly got up from his chair. He called out, “Cub? Cub, where are you?”
Su Mingqian: “I’m in the game console in front of the TV. That’s the only electronic device with a screen in the house that the system can contact…”
Before he could finish his explanation, Li Shuoxing had already rushed into the living room.
He picked up the NS from the socket and the screen immediately lit up. A small, familiar figure appeared on the screen.
Li Shuoxing almost cried. His happiness was so sudden that he was incoherent with excitement. “My sweetheart, you’re finally back! You didn’t know how scared I was when I found out you were snatched away. I’ve already thought about it. Even if I have to buy a month’s hot searches, get on the front page of the social news, and no longer write my article, I’m going to find you. I was really afraid that if I didn’t rescue you in time, you’d be wiped… Fortunately, you’re back!”
Su Mingqian was blushing.
What exactly was Li Shuoxing so worried about? He had seen and even heard Ximu’s “wife” through the electronic eyes. He wanted to correct Ximu a little… but the atmosphere was so good now that it wasn’t really appropriate to say that.
Let’s talk about it later.
Su Mingqian thought to himself.
Maybe Ximu just felt too nervous this time and spoke out of turn.
He thought thoughtfully, and gave Li Shuoxing a comforting hug from across the screen.
Su Mingqian’s return brought accurate information.
Li Shuoxing breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that Su Mingqian had jumped back across the vast network with the help of the system; he breathed another sigh of relief when he learned that the police had recovered his phone, and he made a special call to the police station to ask if he could claim his lost property. But, even after all this, it was already too late. Li Shuoxing was explicitly refused by the police, who told him to come back tomorrow morning.
Unable to get his phone back, Li Shuoxing was uneasy about the cub going back to his phone and staying in the app alone. He had no choice but to aggrieve the cub to stay in the NS game console, which had nothing to do, for one night.
At midnight, there was silence.
The lights of the city were dim, and the starry night was like a blanket, pressing down from the sky.
In the bedroom, Li Shuoxing didn’t sleep very soundly. He lay on his bed, closed his eyes for a while, then suddenly opened them, quietly lit up the screen of his game console in the dark, and looked inside… It wasn’t until he found exactly where Su Mingqian was did he breathe a small sigh of relief.
But in the next second, Li Shuoxing’s heart was gripped again.
There was nothing on the console screen, no bed, no blanket. The cub was curled up in the corner, his little body shrunk into a ball, looking so pitiful.
He quickly stuffed the game console under the blanket and put a small pillow underneath it. Only then did he feel a trace of comfort in his heart.
After all this, Li Shuoxing was about to close his eyes again when Su Mingqian’s voice rang out.
Su Mingqian: “Ximu.”
Li Shuoxing: “Cub, are you awake?”
Su Mingqian: “Not asleep.”
Li Shuoxing: “Are you not used to being here?” He had already begun to think about whether he should go and squat in front of the police station in the middle of the night and wait to get his cell phone at dawn.
Su Mingqian shook his head silently. “…Just a little bit scared.”
His voice rang in the silent night, like a hand plucking his heartstrings.
The chaos of the day was like turbid water, gradually settling in the lake of his heart late at night. It was not until now that Li Shuoxing had the time and energy to reflect on what had happened today. He took up Su Mingqian’s words. “…I was afraid.”
“When I found out you had been stolen, my head was roaring. It was like the surroundings became two spaces, one for me and the thief, and one for everyone else. I was afraid that my phone would be taken away and wiped. I was afraid that you would be hurt or even have your life in danger. I took you out, but I didn’t look after you. It’s my fault. I almost lost you.”
Su Mingqian shook his head. “It’s not your fault, Ximu.”
He aligned his hand with Li Shuoxing’s fingertips, which were placed on the screen, and pressed his hand back into Li Shuoxing’s hand.
“You have to believe that no matter how far away I am, I’ll cross everything and come back to find you, just like I did today.”
Li Shuoxing subconsciously contracted his five fingers, and seemed to be holding something in his palm.
Li Shuoxing looked at Su Mingqian. He couldn’t help but reach out and lightly touch the other’s face.
The little person’s face was so soft that when he touched it, the flesh of his cheeks would lift up, a tiny little ball that made him want to squeeze it.
However, Su Mingqian was unaware of this and still looked at him very seriously.
Li Shuoxing unconsciously smiled and let go, soothing his tense heart.
He leaned down and lightly touched the little person with his lips, leaving a mark on him.
“No, you’ll never have to work so hard. Because I’ll never lose you again, never in my life.”
***
The two of them chatted away and had a good night’s sleep.
When Li Shuoxing woke up with the game console in his arms, it was already light outside. He could go to the police station and get his lost phone back! Concerned about Su Mingqian’s living conditions, Li Shuoxing was ready to go out immediately after breakfast.
But on the way out, Li Shuoxing suddenly felt a little concern, and began to talk to himself:
“I actually don’t go out much anymore. But, I feel like in the past few times I’ve been out, something’s happened every single time. This time, I don’t think…”
When Li Shuoxing thought about it carefully, he got really worried, which caused him to be extremely vigilant on his way out the door, taking a look every three steps and observing his surroundings at all times for fear of any more bizarre accidents.
Fortunately, everything went well.
Li Shuoxing took his phone back from the police station and sent the banner “Speedy handling of cases, hard work and meritorious service” that he had specially made for the police station, and then took Su Mingqian back home, using the same path… Li Shuoxing watched the cub get back into his phone from the game console and successfully entered the Love Bar app with him. After that, he breathed a sigh of relief, his whole heart finally relaxing in his ribcage.
Then, two documents crossed the screen and opened themselves in front of Li Shuoxing’s eyes in quick succession.
The first document was a bill.
[Emergency Bill]:
Yesterday’s rescue costs, including:
<ol>Access to the subway’s public network: 648 contribution points.</ol> <ol>Transferring to multiple private networks: 648 contribution points.</ol>
Total: 648 × 2 = 1296
Please pay these outstanding fees promptly and continue to enjoy the game with your lover. If you fail to pay the outstanding fees, the game will temporarily close the subway passage.
The second document was an insurance policy.
[About the Lover Life Security Plan]:
Are you worried that something will happen to your lover during the rush of work, midnight dreams, and any time when you are unable to interact with them? Love Bar App, starting now, has launched a new lover protection plan to ensure all-round protection for your lover’s safety. With only 300 contribution points per month, you can get free emergency services three times a month! The system additionally promises to build a more advanced firewall for your phone to protect against unknown external risks.
Li Shuoxing: “…”
Li Shuoxing: “???”
He was dumbstruck. The good feelings he had for the system for sending the cub to the console disappeared completely at these two documents.
***
While Li Shuoxing’s attention was drawn to the system’s sleazy operation, he had no idea how popular his video had become on the internet, and of course, he didn’t notice what was going on in the group in the past two days.
A video was shared in the group yesterday.
It was shot with a cell phone. It was a little shaky, but its shooting quality was very good. Even if some of it was blurred, the people in the group could hear and see clearly who the man was.
The extremely arrogant “take pictures of me and send me to the hot search” was played back on the speakers. Everyone’s throats were blocked, unable to make a sound.
It took five minutes for the video to be withdrawn by the group owner that rarely appeared in ten thousand years.
Today, one, two, three… all the active people in the group were dragged into the temporary discussion group, except Li Shuoxing.
The first speaker in the temporary discussion group was Deer Over Fragrant Grass.
She said faintly, “I was wrong. Eunuch really is crazy. I only have one thought now. Although Eunuch doesn’t appear on camera much for events and his picture hasn’t been circulated on the internet, he’s appeared on stage at the annual meeting, he’s met with many of Terminal’s authors, and he’s familiar with Terminal’s editors. Also, he’s so handsome. Everyone’s discussing his looks in the comment section, saying, ‘He looks good enough, I really want to give him a debut’. So, will he debut… How many people at Terminal know that the person in the video is Eunuch?”
Soren, equally faintly, answered, “As long as one person knows, everyone will know.”
Ten Zero Mausoleum, as the big brother, let out a firm battle cry: “Save Ximu!”
Interfinger Storm also came out. He was very breathless, causing his sentences to break off. “Yes, we can’t let Ximu’s reviews be harmed… Though no one but himself can harm his reviews… But in short, we have to think of something.”
The master strategist Calm Egg rushed to the scene. “I have a plan. We can’t do anything with our limited power to stop Eunuch’s hot body search from being seen. We might as well go along with it and make up many different stories about this incident. We’ll hide the truth in so many strange stories, real or fake, false or true. What do you think?”
This proposal was unanimously approved by everyone.
Without delay, they all went out to make up stories, determined to overcome all difficulties and achieve victory for the sake of their brother!