The chill was dispelled, as was the hesitation she had picked up on Qingdao a few days earlier. Zhu Yao blended into this warm family, and laughter drifted far, far away in the snow...
…
Zhu Yao finally figured out what Yu Nan was doing in the study.
Yu Nan is playing a little game as a birthday gift for Zhu Yao.
"Sister, don't look yet! I'll surprise you when I finish making it, okay?"
Faced with Yu Nan's coquettish behavior, Zhu Yao conceded defeat and turned her back, refusing to look at Yu Nan's computer.
From that brief glance, I could already see that it was a platforming game with a predominantly blue color scheme. There were also adorable little characters in the scene, probably drawn by Yu Nan herself—cutely ugly-cute.
If she wasn't going to watch, she wouldn't watch. Zhu Yao began to look forward to what kind of surprise Yu Nan would give her.
Every day, I would help my parents with housework, stream games, and work on developing "Lost Garden," and the days would pass by leisurely.
"Eat more steak, your dad said you like it." Yu's mother put a piece of steak in Yu Nan's bowl.
Yu Nan placed the steak into Zhu Yao's bowl: "Mom, I didn't say this to Dad. He probably just likes to eat it himself."
Yu Nan exposed him without any mercy, but Yu's father was not angry. Instead, he scratched his head and chuckled.
Zhu Yao whispered in Yu Nan's ear, "I know what you like to eat."
Yu Nan likes to eat fish.
Zhu Yao picked out a piece of fish, patiently removed the bones, and placed it in Yu Nan's bowl. The snow-white fish meat was still steaming hot, and some sauce was sprinkled on top.
"Why do you always bother Xiao Zhu!" Yu's mother picked up her chopsticks and pretended to hit Yu Nan on the head.
"Mom, my hand is injured!"
"Then don't eat it!"
"My sister is willing to take care of me!"
Zhu Yao chuckled softly.
She always sat to Yu Nan's right, which made it convenient for her to take care of Yu Nan.
She was willing to be Yu Nan's right hand.
…
That night, Yu Nan lay down next to Zhu Yao, still embracing the pretending-to-be-asleep Zhu Yao with lingering affection.
Yu Nan blushed and whispered, "Sister, I made a fuss yesterday about wanting to see your save file."
"Okay, it's fine, feel free to look around."
Zhu Yao gently touched her arm; it was so sore that she didn't want to move at all.
Yu Nan was a little disappointed: "Sister, I deliberately caused trouble during yesterday's live stream."
Zhu Yao gritted her teeth: "Good boy, don't cause trouble next time."
Yu Nan was a little disappointed: "Isn't my sister going to punish me?"
Zhu Yao: ZZZZZ~
Don't wake me if I'm asleep.
The original intention of disciplining children is to teach them a lesson. When punishment becomes a distorted reward, everything is backwards... Mainly, I was too tired today learning how to flip a wok with Yu's mother.
Zhu Yao silently wrote in her little notebook: On a certain night of a certain month of a certain year, Yu Nan begged her to tidy up.
…
In the end, by the time Zhu Yao celebrated her birthday, Yu Nan still hadn't finished the game.
Yu Nan wailed, "Sister, every time I get into the zone, you force me to go to sleep! Oh no, I'll never finish!"
Zhu Yao pulled the fierce-looking Yu Maomao into her arms: "My dear, your good health is the best gift I can give you."
Yu Nan scoffed heavily.
Sweet words are necessary, flowers are necessary, romance is necessary, and gifts are also necessary.
Yu Nan simply replaced Zhu Yao's equipment with the latest version.
Zhu Yao: ...Wow, so rich.
Even while working on games, Zhu Yao never gave up writing.
The laptop that Yu Nan had been using for several years was finally retired under her insistence on getting a new one.
At this moment, Zhu Yao was typing away on a gaming laptop. The bright breathing light made the room look like a disco, and the CPU's fan was whirring.
Zhu Yao opened WPS, and a burst of light almost blinded her. Luckily, she hadn't agreed to Yu Nan's idea of putting a fish tank on her computer…
Lang Xi, now the boss, is working overtime with his employees, busy with Christmas activities and indulging in a life of pleasure at the company.
Zhu Yao was somewhat relieved that she had declined Lang Xi's invitation back then.
Li Yue and Gu Wanqiu went abroad for the holidays and even posted a video of a stylish young lady singing "Last Christmas" under a Christmas tree.
Zhu Yao sat beside Yu Nan, watching their video call. They were on a crowded street filled with rainbow flags and people of different skin colors with rainbow symbols on their faces…
Li Yue was no exception; she had a rainbow flag pasted on her face. Gu Wanqiu stood beside her, holding up a rainbow flag.
"Sister, let's go next year too!"
"OK."
They said they would go abroad in the spring of the following year... but Yu Nan left ahead of schedule.
Zhu Yao had hoped that these warm moments would continue.
Until Yu Nan's heart disease relapsed.
"Sister, I'm fine."
On the hospital bed, Yu Nan held Zhu Yao's hand, still laughing carefree.
Zhu Yao's eyes reddened as she looked at Yu Nan, whose face was deathly pale, and her body trembled uncontrollably.
Outside the ward, Gu Wanqiu shook her head: "Her relapse this time wasn't due to overwork."
Li Yue dug her nails deep into Gu Wanqiu's arm, looking at her with almost pleading eyes: "Please, by any means necessary..."
"You don't need to beg me, I will definitely take it to heart."
Gu Wanqiu frowned deeply: "Yu Nan is like this, she can only go abroad to recuperate."
…
So...do we have to be apart for at least a year?
Zhu Yao felt a little disappointed. She had originally wanted to go and take care of Yu Nan, but Yu Nan refused her.
"Sister, I really want to see Lost Garden released."
Since Yu Nan was recuperating, she naturally couldn't work, so the busy development work fell to Zhu Yao.
After Yu Nan went abroad, Zhu Yao moved out of the villa and into an apartment near Lang Xi's company.
She started working overtime like crazy, frantically trying to meet project deadlines.
"Is that Ms. Zhu? I heard she and Mr. Lang are master and apprentice, and have a very good relationship. Is there something going on?"
"Are you a caveman? President Zhu and Yu Miao are a couple. They were always playing games together on live streams last year."
"It's been a year, and there's still no news. Besides, it doesn't seem like President Zhu has anyone by his side."
Zhu Yao gave the two people who were daydreaming a cold glance, which startled them into silence.
Headache……
Yesterday's discussion with Lang Xi upset her.
That year, she picked up Yu Nan's idea and developed "Lost Garden"—Yu Miao's "Lost Garden".
"Yu Nan's design is still lacking. My suggestion is that you add your own elements." We can't exactly have the refined Yu Nan involved in the work.
Zhu Yao shook her head: "This is Yu Nan's game."
As Yu Nan's lover, she didn't want Yu Nan's game to have a commercial feel, and she didn't want her game to be labeled as "pay-to-win".
“Then you need to come up with a major breakthrough,” Lang Xi shrugged. “If you make Lost Garden the pioneer of a certain type of game, you won’t have this concern.”
The founding father... it's not an easy task.
Zhu Yao gritted her teeth and continued developing the product, feeling exhausted, irritable, and lost.
Only by constantly keeping up with the schedule can she escape from her overwhelming worries—because she's too busy to have time to overthink.
She thinks of Yu Nan when she drinks coffee, when she eats fish, and when she stares blankly at the sky. She only thinks of work when she's working on the computer.
Fill your mind with modeling, numerical data, and code, and leave your longing deep within your thoughts.
Place your loved ones in your dreams at night.
…
How have you been lately?
Zhu Yao raised an eyebrow and looked at the tall woman opposite her who was wearing a suit skirt suit.
Even in a formal suit, Zhu Qiong still showed off her cleavage.
"It's alright. You didn't just call to catch up, did you?"
"Hey, I heard you're developing an open-world game! How's it going?"
Zhu Yao frowned: "It's still a bit lacking. Judging from the current development, it will only be a mediocre game."
It still lacks some innovative breakthroughs and something that can change the industry.
"How about we cooperate?"
Cooperation? Cooperation with Zhu Qiong?
Zhu Qiong shrugged: "After I went abroad, I started a company that researches electronic devices. Currently, we are researching virtual world devices that can play holographic games."
"Virtual world?"
"Metaverse, have you ever heard of it?"