The two most sociable authors, Calm Egg and Interfinger Storm, mixed into group chats. They firmly denied any suspicions about Eunuch, and changed the subject when the keywords of âhot searchâ, âthiefâ, âone hundred thousandâ and âsubwayâ came up.
Ten Zero Mausoleum focused on Paper View of the World. Once he saw a related post, he would immediately infiltrate it, fish in troubled waters, clear suspicion about Eunuch, and push all suspicions to the female channel next door. He would assert that it was a male author who was mixed up in the female channel, because my friend knows, my brother knows, and my XXXX knows!
Deer Over Fragrant Grassâs and Sorenâs encounters were more severe than the three above.
They were being chatted with in private.
âBrother Deer, look at this video. Is it Eunuch?â
Deer Over Fragrant Grass was sent a message like that.
She looked at the person who sent the message and felt slightly nervous, but he was Eunuchâs roommate at the annual meeting. Simple denial would be ineffective, and might even be counterproductive.
Deer Over Fragrant Grass: âYou donât say, I also think he looks a little bit similar.â
Roommate: âYou really feel the same way!â
Deer Over Fragrant Grass: âBut he doesnât seem that similar. The person in the video is dressed so flirtatiously. Differently from Eunuch, who walks around with a T-shirt in summer and a down jacket in winter.â
Roommate: âThatâs true.â
Deer Over Fragrant Grass: âThey look alike, but they act and dress differently. Say, could this person be Eunuchâs brother or something?
Roommate: âOh?!â
After that, Deer Over Fragrant Grass talked to Li Shuoxingâs annual meeting roommate about his âbrotherâ and the secret grudges of powerful families. The two of them talked with great interest. It seemed that they had really touched upon an ethical dog blood life drama that was happening right next to them.
Similar content happened at a similar time in Sorenâs place.
â Ah So, the person in this video is that animal Eunuch, right?â
Soren flatly denied it. âNo. What makes you think so?â
âWhy else? It isnât like I havenât seen Eunuch before. Heâs handsome too. I couldnât forget him the moment I saw him. How could I not recognise him?â There was a hint of sourness in the other personâs tone.
Soren: ââŠâ
â Ah So, take a closer look. Heâs definitely Eunuch. Has he lost his mind from the stress of competing with Silent Stream for monthly votes?â
Soren sounded the alarm in his mind and began to randomly make things up. ââŠAh, although there are confidentiality regulations, Iâll tell you the truth since youâre so concerned about it. You canât tell anyone else. In fact, this is an idea my friend came up with when he was working on a marketing plan for a newly launched cell phone. Because the idea was so strange, he deliberately discussed it with me after he finished thinking about it, and thatâs why I know about it.â
It dawned on the other person. âFake news?â
Soren: âYes yes yes, fake news.â
Other person: âSure enough, all the news nowadays is going to be read after two days.â
Soren: âYouâre right!â
Other person: âLooking at how strong the news effects were, the investor side should be very satisfied with the person who came up with the plan, right?â
Soren: âOf course, itâs a genius plan.â
Other person: âSo you found someone similar to the genius to star in the commercial?â He deduced to himself, â Ah So, Eunuch is the one who came up with this marketing plan, right? Only Eunuch could come up with such a devilish plan. The investor was very satisfied. The more he looked at Eunuch, the more he liked him, so he looked for a stand-in to act according to Eunuchâs appearance. Thatâs why the person in the video and Eunuch are so similarâŠâ
Soren: â???â
Brother, how on earth did you come up with all that stuff?
But⊠in any case, Iâve finally cleared Eunuch of any suspicion, right?
On that day, rivalry stories, advertisement stories, fantasy stories, suspense reasoning stories, and power struggle stories all surrounded this video, competing with each other.
More stories, diluting the truth with more water, and more spreading.
When the news reached the editorial department, Night Tour was confused.
As he watched the video, he summarised the discussions in the editorial department about the ABCDE versions of the video, and concluded:
Itâs a story about twin brothers, inheritance, property disputes, doubling, conspiracy, and advertising that takes place in the Terminalâs female channel.
Night Tour was one hundred percent certain that the person in the video was Li Shuoxing.
But, whether Li Shuoxing had a twin brother, came from a wealthy family, or was involved in a terrible conspiracy about property disputes⊠Night Tour was also lost.
After a long time, he spoke:
âThis is an author from our Terminal.â
âHe is a different kind of man.â
***
Li Shuoxingâs stories were fermenting in the Terminal circle. And Li Shuoxing himself was looking at the two Krypton Gold options that popped up in the app, feeling a flame burning inside.
Li Shuoxing took a deep breath and told himself:
Donât be angry. Itâs just an emergency rescue fee. The system safely got the cub back, and I should pay for that.
He expressionlessly topped up and paid the bill.
Then he saw the second document on the screen: the insurance document.
Li Shuoxing took another deep breath to relieve the pressure on his heart.
In fact, buying insurance is nothing. Paying 300 or 3000 a month doesnât matter.
The question is, why would I see an insurance promotion in a game, which also has the guts to say that it will protect my phone while protecting my cub?
Does it think the cub will be in danger?
Does it think that a virus will infect my phone?
Li Shuoxing felt suffocated from whatever angle he thought about it.
His finger hovered over the purchase button several times, and he was in a dilemma: if he pressed it, itâd be like he lost his intelligence; if he didnât press it, itâd be like he lost his peace of mind. No matter what he did, heâd lose somethingâŠ
In the end, Li Shuoxing, looking at the cute and sweet cub, chose to press it.
Peace of mind, the lesser of the two evils, was the most important.
He peacefully bought a monthâs insurance with 300 contributions. Together with the previous expenses, it totalled 1596 contributions.
The bill had been paid and the insurance had been bought. Li Shuoxing quietly waited for the systemâs new tricks.
But one minute, then two minutes⊠then five minutes passed, and the system was quiet with no more strange tricks, as if it was satisfied.
It seemed that todayâs system daily Krypton cheating was complete.
Li Shuoxing relaxed a little. He decided to interact with the cub to relieve the pressure he got from the system.
He touched Su Mingqianâs hair, which made him tilt his head. âXimu?â
He then touched Su Mingqianâs cheek, causing Su Mingqian to touch his cheek and smile slightly.
His fingers moved down again, touching the otherâs small shoulders, small waist, and small stomach one by one. Su Mingqian seemed to find it ticklish and dodged twice, but not seriously. Occasionally, he would deliberately lean in and feel around him with his body, trying to locate Li Shuoxingâs fingers in the transparent air.
Li Shuoxing saw all of Su Mingqianâs movements very clearly.
His body was right in front of his fingertips.
But his fingers were only touching the screen.
Li Shuoxing: âCub.â
Su Mingqian: âHuh?â
Li Shuoxing unconsciously said, âI suddenly kind of want to hug you.
Su Mingqian was stunned.
Li Shuoxing added, âThe kind where I can really touch you.â
Su Mingqian slowly came to his senses. He coughed, his eyes wandering a little.
Li Shuoxing didnât find his words ambiguous. He sighed. âI really want you to recover early, so that I can touch you directly with my body. But Iâm afraid that after you recover, youâll get busy. We wonât be able to be together every day like we are nowâŠâ
Su Mingqian coughed again. He said, âDonât worry. Even if Iâm busy, Iâll make sure that we spend time together. And, umâŠâ He cleared his throat, unconsciously straightened his body, and his eyes went from wandering to steady, vaguely a little hot. âI also want to really touch you, and really hold you.â
The words fell and the system dinged.
[System: Congratulations for triggering the random task [Virtual and Real].]
[System: The random task [Virtual and Real] is content from Love Bar App version 3.0. Love Bar App version 3.0 will be a heavyweight update. After the update, you will be able to enter the game and have a virtual reality interaction with your lover.]
Li Shuoxing read it all the way to here, but wasnât seduced by the system.
On the contrary, a little foreboding rose in his heart⊠He continued to read further, and sure enough:
[System: Now, you have the chance to get Love Bar App version 3.0 in advance. You just need to crowdfund 18888 contribution points, and the version 3.0 and [Virtual and Real] task will come in advance! Would you like to get the new version to really touch your lover? Yes/No]
Li Shuoxing slowly inhaled a breath of cold air.
He saw the crowdfunding bar the system showed.
18888 was at the top of the crowdfunding bar, with a Krypton Gold option next to it, which was also 18888.
He suddenly remembered the Krypton Gold options of this game he had seen at the very beginning. The highest option among them seemed to be 18888âŠ
So, âcrowdfundingâ means Iâm crowdfunding alone a sum of 18888, to fill and light up the progress bar?
His spiteful spirit was stirring, but not yet ready for combat. Suddenly, he noticed that there was a video option at the bottom of this notification, and the title next to it was: Version 3.0 Concept Video.
Li Shuoxing unconsciously tapped on it.
In a flash, a blue light took over the screen. Then, it swirled, and Li Shuoxing just realised that it was a smooth screen.
A ray of light entered the left side of the screen, and his own figure emerged from that light, with a scene of reality painted behind.
Another light entered the right side of the screen, and the Ximu dollâs figure appeared out of the light, with a game scene painted behind.
The two sides raised their hands across the screen and touched each other.
At the moment of contact, the screen shattered with a beeping sound.
The real figure and the unreal figure merged with each other, turning into a stream of light that suddenly rushed into the virtual scene and leapt to Su Mingqianâs side. The person in the game seemed to have been waiting for him for a long time, smiling with open arms, full of joy and anticipationâ