Aunt Yu finished washing the clothes, hung them up one by one, and tidied the house with brisk efficiency. She watered the small potted plants she had bought for Jing Mian and prepared a hearty home-cooked meal for the young couple.
During the meal, the woman piled a mountain of meat into Jing Mian’s bowl. Before serving the rice, she even rolled up his sleeves for him, revealing his fair wrists.
Jing Mian felt a surge of helplessness, clearly experiencing such warmth and care for the first time.
The presence of this kind and affectionate woman in the modern, cold-toned residence made the atmosphere feel much warmer.
In truth, Jing Mian had lived at home until he moved into the school dormitory during high school. Even though Jing Guozhen had hired a nanny, the house remained cold and distant, lacking any sense of connection or warmth.
During that period, the driver was often called away by Jing Guozhen to prepare for Li Qiao’s impending due date. Jing Mian, caught in the rush hour traffic after school, often had to resort to riding his bike or taking the bus home.
He remembered one time after school, while riding his bike, he collided with a motorcycle just outside the school gate.
After the world spun and flipped, he was helped up by some concerned parents nearby, who asked if he was okay and if he needed to go to the hospital.
Jing Mian stood up on his own, enduring the pain, and brushed off his school uniform.
He shook his head, saying that hospital checks were slow and might take until late at night, which he couldn’t afford.
Li Qiao was close to her due date, and any disturbance might wake her. If he returned home too late, the nanny might not open the door.
The parents nearby were clearly taken aback but helped the boy pick up his bike and watched as Jing Mian walked away.
When he arrived home, his sleeves were torn, his school uniform looked dirty and disheveled, and there was a small cut on his lip, bleeding slightly.
At that moment, Jing Guozhen was busy helping the nanny take Li Qiao, who was in pain, to the hospital. Jing’s father passed by him, glanced at him, and left him with a single sentence:
“If you keep getting into fights outside, don’t bother coming home.”
Then the door slammed shut.
Jing Mian didn’t have time to explain.
But as he looked at the empty house, he suddenly felt that perhaps there was no need to explain.
Jing Mian carried his backpack upstairs, ran to his room, and pulled out the first aid kit from under his bed. He dipped a cotton swab in iodine and rolled up his pant leg, revealing the injured knee.
A streak of dried blood ran down his calf.
Having no experience, Jing Mian directly applied the iodine to the wound, hissing in pain as tears welled up in his eyes.
He put down the iodine and checked on his phone, realizing that applying iodine wasn’t wrong, but after that, he needed to use alcohol to remove the iodine.
Following the instructions, Jing Mian found a small bottle of alcohol in the first aid kit.
Aside from his knee, Jing Mian took off his clothes to inspect himself and found injuries on his forearm, elbow, and lip… This was clearly a minor accident.
After applying the medicine, Jing Mian changed out of his dirty school uniform. Not knowing how to operate the washing machine, he had to wash it by hand in the sink.
After finishing all this, Jing Mian returned to his room and completed his homework for the day.
After Li Qiao and the others went to the hospital, there was no news. Even if the baby was born, they probably wouldn’t inform him, who was far away at home.
So, Jing Mian changed into his pajamas, turned off the lights, and lay down in bed at exactly ten o’clock.
But this time, he couldn’t sleep, staring blankly at the night outside the window.
It was said that when people die, they become stars.
So that those who miss them can see them every time they look up.
But tonight, the moon was bright, and the stars were sparse. Apart from the vast, magnificent night sky, Jing Mian could hardly see any stars.
…
Even the stars were avoiding him.
Jing Mian turned over, his back to the night.
The pain from his wounds lingered, driving away any sleepiness.
Even without this minor accident, without the disappearing stars, he had always been acutely aware that he was not loved by anyone.
So, from a long time ago,
Jing Mian had stopped expecting anything from ‘family.’
…
…
“When are you two planning to have a baby?”
Aunt Yu suddenly spoke up.
Her voice instantly pulled Jing Mian out of his thoughts.
The chopsticks in his fingers paused noticeably. Jing Mian looked up, his beautiful eyes reflecting the light of the living room, his pupils trembling.
Mr. Ren also seemed momentarily stunned.
Neither of them responded. Jing Mian couldn’t even repeat the last two words Aunt Yu had just said, only feeling a wave of helplessness.
Clearly, that one sentence had fried the couple’s CPUs.
“I’ve heard that our country’s technology is advancing rapidly. Even men can have babies now. I can’t help but imagine how beautiful your baby would be.”
Aunt Yu’s smile grew even softer as she spoke. “Don’t think that just because I’ve been a nanny for a long time, I don’t like taking care of children. In terms of skill, Aunt Yu isn’t any worse than those professional maternity nurses… I know young people nowadays focus more on themselves and their careers, having children later. I’m not rushing you.”
“I’m just curious, do you and Xiao Ren have any plans for the future?”
…
Jing Mian fell into a long silence.
Given the current dynamic between Mr. Ren and himself—living in the same house but sleeping separately, their most intimate contact limited to kisses on special occasions, like Mr. Ren’s birthday—they were more like strangers sharing a living space.
Even the legitimate touches were reserved for moments like when he helped Ren Xingwan tie his tie in the morning.
For a newlywed couple, they were perhaps the perfect embodiment of the phrase “respecting each other like guests.”
So, forget about having a baby,
They might not even progress any further in their relationship.
Jing Mian hesitated for a moment before awkwardly responding, “Aunt Yu, we… haven’t really thought about it yet.”
Aunt Yu was taken aback.
Noticing the young man’s slightly awkward and bewildered expression, she felt a sense of understanding dawn on her.
Moreover, she suddenly remembered that while cleaning the rooms earlier, she had noticed signs that someone had been staying in the guest room. At the time, she hadn’t paid it much attention, but now it seemed that this newlywed couple wasn’t even sleeping in the same room.
…
They had only just gotten married a few days ago, and they were already living separately.
Aunt Yu suddenly realized.
This was probably what the newspapers referred to as a ‘sexless marriage.’
She didn’t press further, respecting their choices.
In today’s diverse society, platonic love was also quite normal. Xiao Ren seemed like a decent child with no greedy intentions, and besides, MianMian was still young.
This was fine too.
The next day.
Jing Mian resumed his routine of commuting to school.
Mr. Ren still drove him in the morning. If he had an appointment, Jing Mian would take his manager’s van. To avoid putting pressure on Jing Mian, the driver usually didn’t drop him off right at the school gate, instead letting him off at a less conspicuous, less crowded intersection.
If there were any sudden school activities, Ren Xingwan would wait for him at school. Jing Mian could now easily spot Mr. Ren’s car amidst the heavy traffic.
But often, Mr. Ren couldn’t come in the evening, so Jing Mian would head straight to the club, immersing himself in pre-match practice.
Jing Mian only had one class in the afternoon and arrived at the club early. The players in the practice area were seated in gaming chairs. Some, like Jing Mian, were also part-time streamers. They not only wore headphones but usually had their microphones on as well.
Based on their experience level, to protect newcomers, those who were part of a team or had good skills could only enter private rooms or high-tier matches for training.
Thus, their opponents were usually top-tier players in Glory. Unless a newbie bought a high-level account, there were hardly any novices.
Jing Mian, with a lemon-flavored candy in his mouth, put on his mask and opened his livestream.
Originally scheduled for 11 PM that night, the unexpected early start brought a wave of surprised fans flooding in.
[What did I just stumble upon?]
[MianMian started early!? Looks like he’s at the club?]
[Hello everyone, I’m Sheep’s mask.]
[Hello everyone, I’m the mouse.]
[Front row, I’m the gaming chair. MianMian feels great to hold.]
…
The player next to Jing Mian asked, “Practicing Haunted House today?”
“Alright.”
“MianMian, your team has four people, and the rest will form another team. Let’s not do internal matches today. How about a random match?”
Everyone agreed.
Since visiting the headquarters of Radiance Game last time, Me. had heard about their plans to introduce holographic mode into major competitions. Thus, Me. invested in five sets of holographic equipment for the club’s players.
It was also rumored that they were adding storylines and Easter eggs to the Glory map, with future plans to introduce various main and side quests, enriching the gameplay.
However, after the developers and technicians leaked a hint on the Glory forum, they faced more opposition than support. Players feared that the complexity and variety of upgrades would distort the pure essence of Glory.
Thus, the new version of Glory was delayed.
But the quest mode had already been quietly introduced in high-tier matches.
Players only found out through the exciting footage streamed by top-ranked PK streamers, and then, despite their initial resistance, they couldn’t help but enjoy it.
The forum’s trending topics had now evolved into popular posts questioning why the quest mode wasn’t being rolled out faster in novice and regular matches.
Today,
Jing Mian was playing the quest mode.
He put on his holographic glasses, and soon the screen began to shift with flickering light symbols, displaying a “Match Found” message in the center.
Then, starting from a pitch-black visual, the surrounding sounds gradually became clearer.
The visuals and sensations were so realistic that Jing Mian could even hear the faint rustling of dark grass swaying in the night breeze in the jungle.
Jing Mian held his breath slightly.
This map was also something he had never played before.
After his character woke up, Jing Mian found himself surrounded by intertwined leaves and branches, in a rather eerie setting.
The spot he was in seemed a bit unstable, wobbling slightly.
Jing Mian looked down and realized he was sitting on a tree branch, about ten meters above the ground.
Jing Mian: “??”
He maneuvered his character to the edge near the trunk and slowly slid down, holding onto the thick tree trunk.
Last time it was a car trunk, this time it was the top of a tree.
Jing Mian silently admired the creativity of the planners.
The character in the screen picked up a tattered letter from the backpack, which read:
“My dear, it’s the eighth day since our daughter went missing.”
“I can’t bear this fact anymore and have come alone to the place where the police said they found her red shoes. It’s very remote here, with no signal at all. Oh heavens, I can already hear the sounds of wild beasts in the distance.”
“Accompanying me are a policeman, a villager, and a exorcist.”
“The villager doesn’t want to venture deeper into this area.”
“If something happens to us, the villager said he would send this letter to you. If you’re reading this, it means the villager has returned safely, but we are already in danger.”
“Please don’t come looking for me.”
After reading the letter, the character put it back in the bag and silently murmured his wife’s name: “Lili…”
Clearly, the protagonist had eventually found the place where his daughter and wife had disappeared.
Jing Mian’s character was the ‘husband,’
While the other three teammates were the policeman, the villager, and the exorcist.
The opposing team they matched with was another identical group of four.
The winning team would be the one that first found the safe door or had the last surviving player.
[No matter how the new map is, I want to see Sheep get scared.]
[Same here.]
[My vote is for the cruise ship.]
[Haha, yes, the cruise ship.]
[You all want to see MianMian scared, but I’m wondering if Ash’s Shadow Guard will appear this time.]
[Me too!!]
[The retired god turned NPC Shadow Guard x the never-showing-face beauty streamer]
[Same here, it’s such a perfect match, who else understands? I really want to show you the fanfics I’ve been following in the Glory forums.]
[And the ring MianMian is wearing!! It looks so much like the one Ash wore during that one PK match stream where he showed his hand to prevent cheating.]
Just as Jing Mian picked up a small handgun, he noticed the chat’s tone starting to shift slightly.
Jing Mian paused, thought for a moment, and then spoke softly into the microphone connected to his headset, his voice warm and clear:
“The ring was given to me by my husband.”
“I have a lover.”