Daming Lake’s Xia Yuhe: Okay

Daming Lake’s Xia Yuhe: Then I’ll wait for you so we can go back together

Daming Lake’s Xia Yuhe: What’s your ID number and phone number? Let’s grab the tickets together. There might not be any left by then

There was no immediate reply from the other side. Yu He glanced at the calendar. Time really flew. National Day was next Sunday already, and he still hadn’t bought a ticket. Perfect timing to try grabbing two together.

With nothing else to do, Yu He thought for a moment and sat back down in front of the computer.

Computer, on.

Game, launch.

The joy of a shut-in really was this simple.

Yu Guo was probably off at military training and wasn’t online. Voice Changer wasn’t online either. Porridge, however, was still logged in. No idea whether the person was actually there.

There were only a few people he knew in the game anyway. After thinking it over, Yu He sent a message.

[Whisper][He-jiang]: Here?

The reply came quickly—

[Whisper][No Money for Porridge]: Here, here, here

Right after that, a party invite popped up. Yu He was just about to accept when another party invite appeared.

One was from Porridge. The other was from Zhizi Yugui.

…?

Zhizi Yugui??

Yu He took a closer look and realized Zhizi Yugui was standing not far from him, radiating full-on RMB energy, slowly walking toward him.

[Whisper][No Money for Porridge]: Come party up and hop on voice chat, the text in-game is too small, my eyes hurt from reading it

[Whisper][He-jiang]: …Zhizi Yugui also invited me

[Whisper][No Money for Porridge]: ???

[Whisper][No Money for Porridge]: Oh, he probably saw the post I made on the anonymous forum

[Whisper][No Money for Porridge]: Did you check the anonymous forum? I spoke up for you a bit, said you weren’t Jiaojiao

[Whisper][No Money for Porridge]: I also announced it in the Guild World Chat to say it. The people who are closer to me mostly believe it; as for those who don’t know me, hard to say

[Whisper][No Money for Porridge]: That’s about all I can do

[Whisper][He-jiang]: I saw it. Thanks

[Whisper][No Money for Porridge]: Hey, no need to thank me. I misunderstood you for so long and said some pretty nasty things, too

[Whisper][No Money for Porridge]: From now on, we’re friends

A chatterbox was still a chatterbox, but a pretty warm-hearted one.

[Whisper][He-jiang]: Mm-hmm

[Whisper][No Money for Porridge]: Maybe you should party up with him and talk it out. He’s the only one who’s still got a bounty out on Jiaojiao

That was true enough.

Jiaojiao had always been a classic player, being ambiguously flirtatious with plenty of people, calling everyone big brother, stringing them along for gear. Her character wasn’t great, but she hadn’t seriously offended anyone either. Once people learned her true colors, the more rational ones gradually distanced themselves.

Of course, some knew exactly what they were doing and still went along with it anyway, deliberately seeking a sense of presence through Jiaojiao. It was just a bit of gear. So what if they gave it to her? Being called big brother and showered with flattery felt pretty good, too.

Porridge, with his hopeless devotion, was an exception.

Naturally, that was all assuming Jiaojiao hadn’t run into someone like Zhizi Yugui, who valued face above all else.

People who cared that much about saving face were truly not to be messed with.

Jiaojiao was good at socializing to begin with. She knew how to wear people down gently, how to say exactly what others liked to hear. Getting close to Zhizi Yugui had been effortless for her. Unfortunately, he was rather arrogant and proud. Once he realized he was just another fish being raised by this so-called white lotus, he blew up, and that led to everything that followed.

After things escalated, with all the onlookers fanning the flames, Jiaojiao’s reputation only grew worse and worse.

Watching Zhizi Yugui walk up to him, and the party invitations keep refreshing, Yu He thought it over and clicked accept.

There were only the two of them in the party. Yu He didn’t say anything first. He absentmindedly petted the cat in his arms and waited for the other side to speak.

Finally, a faint rustling sound came through the headset. “Hello?”

Yu He was actually a bit surprised.

These days, why did everyone playing online games like to use voice chat… Back when he used to play, he typed whenever he could. Only if he absolutely couldn’t type would he consider turning on the mic.

“Can you use voice chat?” The voice was passable, an ordinary male voice, not even as nice as one with a voice changer.

Yu He cleared his throat a few times, found that radio-drama female lead tone, and turned on his mic. “Mm. What’s up?”

The follow-up reception to that radio drama had been pretty good. Lots of praise calling the female lead’s voice a first-love voice. Listening to it now, it really was quite nice.

There was a noticeable pause on the other end. “Is what Porridge said all true?”

“…Yeah. I bought the account.”

Even if it were fake, he still had to say it was real. Who came all this way just to ask him in person?

This guy really might be an idiot.

Another long stretch of silence followed, so long that the cat on his lap was nearly rubbed bald.

“Meow wu~” Orange let out a dissatisfied cry, and Yu He quickly scratched under his chin to soothe him.

Hearing the cat, Zhizi Yugui tightened his grip on the mouse and said casually, “You even keep a cat.”

“Mm…” This was completely small talk for the sake of it. Yu He was already thinking about how to end this as quickly as possible.

“Did anything else good drop in your dungeon run yesterday?”

“Nothing much. Just that one useful item.”

“Oh…”

“Mm.”

“I’ve withdrawn the bounty. Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. Thanks.”

Yu He opened the bounty board. Sure enough, Jiaojiao’s bounty was gone. Sitting at the top now was Voice Changer.

Another long silence followed. Yu He started playing with the cat’s tail again.

Orange’s tail was big and fluffy, perfect for petting, but it was also pretty sensitive. Pet it too much, and the cat would get annoyed.

Just standing around like this wasn’t really an option, and it felt awkward. After thinking for a bit, Yu He spoke up. “If there’s nothing else, I’m gonna log off. I’ve got dailies to do.”

“Okay. Let’s add each other as friends. You can whisper to me if anything comes up later.” The other side didn’t say much more and sent a friend request.

“Alright.”

After adding him, Yu He left the party and went to do some daily tasks, grinding back a bit of the experience Porridge had dragged him through earlier.

By the time he finished, it was almost mealtime. A barrage of WeChat calls came in from the dorm group, calling him out.

The afternoon happened to be first and second period classes. After grabbing a filling meal at the plaza, they could head back to the classroom together for class.

After placing his order, Yu He glanced at his phone. Tang Shaoqing had just replied, sending over his ID number and phone number. Yu He immediately went to buy two high-speed rail tickets, seats together.

Daming Lake’s Xia Yuhe: [Screenshot]

Daming Lake’s Xia Yuhe: Bought them la. Tickets for the second day of National Day

The reply came quickly.

Tang: Thanks for the trouble, big brother

Tang: [Kitten kiss]

“Yo, which little sister are you chatting with?” Liu Baobao suddenly leaned over at some point, waggling his eyebrows with a sleazy grin.