Why... The thought of losing Yu Nan makes me feel like I'm drowning and can't breathe.
Before Yu Nan woke up, Zhu Yao had only one thought in her mind—she would do anything to wake Yu Nan up.
I'm willing to do anything...
All night, Yu Nan was consumed by guilt, feeling ashamed of her childish behavior. Especially... seeing Zhu Yao's red-rimmed eyes and suppressed despair.
If possible, Yu Nan hopes that Zhu Yao will never feel despair again in her life.
This guilt deepened with Zhu Yao's all-around care. Zhu Yao seemed afraid that she would faint again, so she watched over her closely. The more careful Zhu Yao was, the more Yu Nan felt guilty.
Until—Li Yue made a phone call and unleashed a torrent of abuse on Yu Nan, giving her a thorough dressing down.
Yu Nan finally felt better after being scolded.
When Yu Nan woke up the next day, Zhu Yao was no longer there.
There was only one bottle of carbonated drink left in the refrigerator. On the table was a plate with a still-warm sandwich wrapped in aluminum foil, and a note next to it that read, "Take care of yourself~ ^_^"
That tilde "oh~" followed by a little smiley face is an old-fashioned emoticon —^_^
Yu Nan looked at the note over and over again, as if she wanted to stare at it until she saw something amazing. The "^_^" seemed cuter and cuter the more she looked at it.
She put the note in her pocket and planned to go to the game room to see what Zhu Yao was doing.
Pushing open the door, Zhu Yao was facing a familiar interface—a large map. Zhu Yao was controlling the purple country, represented by a curly-haired foreign man who looked like a goat, and was completely focused on "playing chess".
Because Zhu Yao was wearing headphones, Yu Nan didn't hear the background music "Magna Matter," and the game room was quiet.
"Hey, Zhu Yao, can you hear me?" Yu Nan whispered behind her.
Yu Nan's voice was very soft, naturally not as loud as the alarm that could shatter the heavens. Zhu Yao, wearing headphones and immersed in civilization, had no reaction.
Zhu Yao was completely focused on the screen, unaware that someone was standing behind her.
"You can't hear me? Well, I'm going to tell you now, I like you," Yu Nan paused, "I really like you, and I'm determined to win you over."
Chapter 47 Chenxue CP
After making that vow-like confession, Yu Nan tiptoed out of the game room, leaving only Zhu Yao, who was completely absorbed in the game.
She was supposed to be completely focused on playing the game, but Zhu Yao was just feeling confused because the content creator playing [Alexander] in the live stream suddenly shushed her.
Not long after, Alexander chuckled, and then Qin Shi Huang laughed too.
The smiles seemed contagious, and everyone else started laughing too, filling the live stream with laughter. Only Zhu Yao was confused, unsure whether she should laugh along or continue with her civilized behavior.
That's right... Zhu Yao is playing a match, and this match, which is a collaboration of many content creators, is being broadcast live.
Zhu Yao couldn't hear Yu Nan's confession, but the people she was connected with on the live stream could hear it, as could countless viewers in the live stream room.
Wolf Blade, who was watching the battle, heard it too; Wolf Blade's "new girlfriend," who was chasing after him, heard it too; and Wolf Blade's "new girlfriend's" wife also heard it.
"Wait, what's the name of the person playing the game? Is it Zhu Yao? And what's the name of the person who just spoke?" The woman with a pretty face, curly hair, and a high ponytail looked at Lang Xi, her expression softening considerably compared to her initial sharpness.
"My benefactor, the one playing the game is called Zhu Yao, and the one speaking is called Yu Nan, who is also the long-silent Yu Miao."
“Zhu Yao…Yu Nan…” Her sharp gaze seemed to be lost in thought as she looked up into the air, as if she were recalling something.
“I agree, but I want to go too.”
Lang Xi shrugged. "I only invited Jingxue, but our benefactor is also very welcome to come."
"Who is your benefactor? How disgusting!" The woman with the high ponytail made a "vomiting" gesture, seemingly disliking Lang Xi.
"Chenchen~ You're targeting me again~" Lang Xi put on a pitiful and affected act of being bullied, but no one paid any attention to her.
“Let’s go together,” the woman with the high ponytail tapped the wheelchair in front of her. A long-haired woman with a book was sitting in the wheelchair, looking at her with gentle eyes.
"Whatever you say."
…
Before Zhu Yao's game was even over, the "confession" was edited by the spectators and uploaded to a video platform.
[In the Civilization Battle, Yao Zero is confessed to!]
[Shocking! Wolf Blade's female apprentice receives a confession of love from a stranger!]
[Only Yao Ling in the whole world doesn't know]
Some people even compared the voices in Zhu Yao's live stream a few days ago and recognized that the person who confessed was the same voice that chattered incessantly during the [Yao Ling] live stream.
[I'm totally shipping them! The person Yao Ling dotes on the most also likes Yao Ling!]
[A two-way journey – what you hold dear will surely resonate]
Lang Xi laughed so hard she almost fell over, then picked a well-analyzed video with lots of ridiculous and outlandish plot twists and sent it to Yu Nan.
Yu Nan: ...
Ugh, so embarrassing, I want to die! Where's the Coke? There's only one can of Coke left in the fridge!
Let's have a shot of espresso to send her away! She no longer has any attachment to this beautiful world; she doesn't want to face Zhu Yao and wants to run far away.
Lang Xi's analysis of the video she chose was very insightful.
[First of all, Teacher Yao Ling's account has almost no games, but it's shared by two people. One of them is her mentor, Wolf Blade. As for the other, I think it's the person who confessed to Yao Ling, because her account is even more luxurious than Wolf Blade's. Let's call him Little Earth for now.]
Yu Nan: ? ? Why not Xiao Hao?
[Look here, everyone—Yao Ling initially played Sekiro using Xiao Tu's shared inventory, but later switched to Wolf Dao'er's account and save data to increase the difficulty. We can guess that Yao Ling and Xiao Tu were more familiar with each other.]
Yu Nan: Sparrows eat like this
When asked about Xiaotu's account, Xiaotu replied, "I don't have an account. If you want to know me, please follow Yaoling." Xiaotu also advised Yaoling not to play Souls games too often and pointed out that Yaoling's greatest strength is not gameplay. Here, I boldly speculate that Xiaotu is also Yaoling's "mentor."
At this moment, Lang Dao'er entered the live stream and said, "Just spoil her," and suggested that Yao Ling shouldn't play horror games, and that Xiao Tu should arrange VR for Yao Ling. Could this be interpreted as Xiao Tu and Lang Dao'er being very familiar with each other?
Yu Nan: This shows that we are going in both directions, thank you.
Therefore, I have another guess—Xiao Tu is Yu Miao.
Yu Nan: Holy crap?!
In Yao Ling's livestream, it was explicitly hinted that Xiao Tu is afraid of horror games, yet she's both a coward and loves playing them. In Lang Dao'er's early livestreams, she also mentioned having a friend, Yu Miao, who is particularly afraid of horror games.
The video ends here. There are many comments below saying that Yu Miao is a boy.
Yu Nan nodded at the screen. Yu Miao is a male character.
She scrolled down and saw the author's reply:
I never thought Yu Miao was male.
Since Lang Dao'er and Yu Miao are not a couple, given Lang Dao'er's personality, she wouldn't easily make "no" jokes with her male friends.
Yu Miao has always been ambiguous about her gender, neither admitting nor denying it. Yu Miao has never admitted her gender. The idea that she is wearing a male skin is just speculation from netizens, coupled with Yu Miao's own hints. Therefore, it is highly likely that she is a woman wearing a male skin.
Furthermore, Yu Miao's character is arrogant and domineering, but after being told "no" by Lang Dao'er, she didn't even argue back, which doesn't fit the "arrogant" character.
My fellow guys, would you ever have a female friend (not a romantic partner) who would make a joke about "you not being good enough" in front of strangers?
Finally, I wish Yao Ling, Xiao Tu, and everyone else will find their own happiness.
…
[Wolf Knife]: Not bad, Little Tu. You're usually timid, but you're really brave when it matters!
[YuMiao]: Help... I really didn't know she was live-streaming...
[Wolf Knife]: Congratulations, you've taken the first step. You're "on track" now.
[Yu Miao]: SOS…
…
On the other side, after Zhu Yao finished the match, she was also educated by Alexander about what had happened.
[Qin Shi Huang]: "Your girlfriend is quite cute."
"Uh... thank you."
Zhu Yao had mixed feelings. On one hand, she wanted to emphasize that Yu Nan was not her "girlfriend," but on the other hand, she didn't want to refute Qin Shi Huang's words.
Yu Nan's boldness was beyond her expectations... She tried to deceive herself into thinking that Yu Nan couldn't confess to anyone else—because Yu Nan called her name first.
Let's just pretend we don't know.
Long after the competition ended, Zhu Yao lingered in the game room for a while before reluctantly leaving.
Yu Nan was sitting properly on the sofa in the living room, holding her professional books, a stark contrast to her usual boneless, slumped posture.
Seeing Zhu Yao come out, Yu Nan nodded to her, then quickly looked back at her book, seemingly afraid to look up and meet her gaze.
An inexplicable emotion was brewing in the air. The two of them tacitly avoided mentioning the unexpected "confession" and pretended to be unaware of it.
But some things, once they've happened, are gone forever, just like spoiled food can't be restored. Zhu Yao couldn't help but care, and neither could Yu Nan.
Yu Nan became engrossed in professional books, while Zhu Yao entered "internet addiction" mode, spending almost all her time playing Civilization VI.
Yu Nan didn't foolishly end up in the hospital again because of Zhu Yao's "gaming addiction." After the two of them stayed together peacefully for a few days, Lang Xi returned.
Lang Xi not only brought back the "new girlfriend" he had pursued, but also the wife of his "new girlfriend".
The two are a legally married couple; they got married in Northern Europe when they were 20 and have been married for seven years now.
"Are you Ms. Chang Jingxue and Ms. Ning Chen?"
Zhu Yao's attention was quickly drawn to the two newcomers, and she even forgot about Civilization VI on her computer, becoming extremely excited.
Lang Xi raised an eyebrow at Zhu Yao: "You know those two?"
"I'm a fan of Teacher Chang's books, and I also follow the Chenxue CP (couple pairing)..."
If Zhu Yao is the lowest-level struggling writer, then Chang Jingxue is at the very top, a genuine science fiction writer who started writing after graduating from university, and whose first book was an instant success, winning the Hugo Award at a young age.
As for his girlfriend Ning Chen, she is... a female celebrity, a female celebrity in the literal sense.
It is said that the two have been together since high school, and then went abroad to study together. They are very sweet every day and are a well-known couple in the lesbian community.
"Let me clarify, that's not a rumor," Lang Xi said, hugging her shoulders and sobbing. "The three of us were high school classmates. As soon as get out of class was over, Ning Chen would go looking for Chang Jingxue, keeping a very close eye on her... If I said a single word to Jingxue, Ning Chen would glare at me, always wary of me, only of me..."
Ning Chen rolled her eyes.