Ruan Jiu Jiu accompanied Cheng Jun to the hospital with a drooped head.
She was ashamed and embarrassed. She was like a deflated balloon that someone had poked a hole in.
The couple in name only were quite impressive to the eye, and wherever they went they drew the attention of the crowd. At any moment in time, the onlookers weren’t sure whether it was better to stare at Ruan Jiu Jiu or Cheng Jun. One after another, people sighed in admiration—as expected of a golden couple. I mean just look at how the two were so linked in their hearts and minds; the husband was injured and his wife looked just as pained.
Fortunately, after an x-ray, the injury wasn’t too serious and only needed a few days’ rest.
Ruan Jiu Jiu finally released a breath.
The two sat in a taxi, so silent that even the taxi driver couldn’t take it anymore and quietly turned on some music. Phil Chang’s gravelly voice sang, “The rain keeps falling, the mood tense……” At that, the taxi driver decided to quietly turn off the music.
Cheng Jun stared out the window. Out of nowhere, he slowly said, “I want to eat lamb”
Ruan Jiu Jiu blithely agreed, “Sure.”
“Braised pork.”
Ruan Jiu Jiu, “……Sure.”
“Sweet and sour fish.”
Ruan Jiu Jiu ground her teeth, and sent a death glare in his direction. Cheng Jun immediately let out a faint sigh, “My hand’s starting to hurt.”
Ruan Jiu Jiu, “……Sorry.” She’ll cook it, alright?
Observing the strange atmosphere around this couple from his rear view mirror, the taxi driver’s mood suddenly lifted.
……
Although the left hand was wrapped tightly in a bandage, the right hand’s movements were nimble as ever and overall it seemed to have no impact on his lifestyle. Ruan Jiu Jiu’s eyelid twitched as she forbearingly watched Cheng Jun gorge himself. Her only wish was that this fucker would STFU after eating.
She had always assumed that as described in the book, Cheng Jun was a lofty flower on the mountaintop. But after getting to know him for so long, her impression of him had been destroyed.
After dinner, Ruan Jiu Jiu turned on the TV and randomly flipped through some channels. Cheng Jun sat next to her, tapping his phone with his head down. Ruan Jiu Jiu took a glance over at him and discovered that the speed at which he typed was practically beyond human limitations.
Ruan Jiu Jiu was inwardly speechless.
Just as her attention had been pulled away, she had stopped on an entertainment channel, which was currently broadcasting some discussion panel. The host introduced them as the up-and-coming “E-sports Rookie Stars”.
A handful of long-forgotten memories came to mind. Ruan Jiu Jiu had almost forgotten that she had transmigrated into a novel. In this story she was only an unremarkable little supporting role, and the actual female lead, after rebirth, lived out a blissful life with the childhood friend, successfully becoming a stay at home mom and accomplishing the happily-ever-after of her dreams.
The novel hadn’t gone into too much detail about Cheng Jun, only mentioning him when complaining about the previous life. After rebirth, the female lead was preoccupied with pursuing her romance with the childhood friend, and gradually forgot about that subplot.
Ruan Jiu Jiu wondered, if she just followed the events described in the book, only making sure not to provoke the female lead, the female lead would leave them alone, right?
That was the best outcome.
Ruan Jiu Jiu turned off the TV, casually plopping down on her back on the sofa without a care for her appearance, and pulled out her phone.
Recently she had gotten into an RPG mobile game. The quality was average, only the visuals were a bit more refined. Ruan Jiu Jiu felt the impulse to play this because it had recently come out with a new event where players partied up to clear stages, unlocking puzzle pieces with which you could roll a lottery. If your luck was good, each player in the party could win a latest-edition Macbook.
Although her hands weren’t quick enough, victory came to those who preserved. In any case, she wasn’t lacking in free time.
Ruan Jiu Jiu suddenly had a thought. With great interest, she asked Cheng Jun, “Do you play games?”
Cheng Jun: “Mhm.”
That’s what I thought!
Normally a NEET’s gaming skills were a notch above the rest. Ruan Jiu Jiu continued with a glimmer of hope, “What do you normally play? Honor of Kings? PUGB? League? Call of Duty?”
Cheng Jun slowly said, “Anipop, Happy Poker.” Anipop was like the Chinese version of Candy Crush and Happy Poker was a mobile card game.
Ruan Jiu Jiu: “…”
She shouldn’t have had such high hopes for Cheng Jun.
She let out a long sigh. She booted the game and started doing her dailies. She wasn’t super lucky and didn’t have the strength to K.O. monsters. She could only become a lowly player who relied on in-app purchases.
“Seems like I can only party with other people then.”
Cheng Jun glanced at Ruan Jiu Jiu’s user ID. She was called Jiu Jiu Jiu.
Cheng Jun: “…” Seems like she really liked that name.
The two harmoniously returned to their respective rooms. Ruan Jiu Jiu lay on her bed and continued playing her mobile game. This sort of idle time was both beautiful and leisurely. At this time, someone invited her to their party. The party name was “Wahaha.”
Ruan Jiu Jiu twitched her eye at this weird party name. What a coincidence. Just when she was thinking about which party to join, someone already invited her.
There were four people in the party. The party leader was called “Yakult.” The rest of the party members were called “Southern Black Sesame,” “It’s Good But it Ain’t No Dumpling,” and “Master Kang’s Sexy Instant Noodles.” They had such weird names. Ruan Jiu Jiu was a little hesitant. But after seeing that they dropped a lot of money on the best gear, she thought that a lowly pay-to-play person like her could join too. She quickly accepted the party invite.
Jiu Jiu Jiu: You sure you want to bring me? I’m not that good
After a few seconds, the party leader Yakult replied with just “Yeah”, as if he couldn’t be bothered to say any more than that.
Ruan Jiu Jiu saw the name Yakult and noticed their taciturn behavior. She couldn’t help but think of Cheng Jun. But very soon she negated this guess. Cheng Jun didn’t say he liked playing these sort of mobile RPG games. Moreover, one of his hands was injured. How could he even play?
This mobile game’s most complicated and most scammy part was that it had a lot of skills and movements. Ruan Jiu Jiu was overwhelmed and she spent a few days slowly learning the mechanics.
Everyone in the party was a relatively new player. She guessed that they probably wanted to do a party quest and needed one more person, so they just randomly added one to make up for the numbers.
Ruan Jiu Jiu didn’t think that she could really win the Macbook.
Everyone in the party were noobs. The likelihood of actually getting enough pieces to win the raffle was miniscule. But with others to play with, Ruan Jiu Jiu was still pretty happy.
Yakult: Let’s go.
It’s Good But It Ain’t No Dumpling: Yessir! Sister-in-law, let’s move quickly!
The other two each send out a line of ellipses.
[It’s Good But It Ain’t No Dumpling has been muted by the party leader.]
Jiu Jiu Jiu: ???
She suddenly realized what the Dumpling guy meant. Since she was the only girl, she became the sister-in-law? Ruan Jiu Jiu was a little mad. Those words weren’t very pleasant. If it weren’t for the party leader quickly muting the Dumpling guy, Ruan Jiu Jiu would definitely have quit the party.
Yakult: His brain has problems.
Southern Black Sesame: Exactly, exactly. He’s put in so much overtime he’s lost brain cells. Don’t be mad
Master Kang’s Sexy Instant Noodles: I just gave him a slap
Jiu Jiu Jiu who was a bit scared by their enthusiasm: ….Thanks
The mood in the party was pretty good. After planning to join the party and go kill mobs, she quickly followed along. She originally planned to guide the new party and help familiarize them more quickly with the game. In the first wave, Ruan Jiu Jiu was already mentally prepared to see the entire party die. Before she could even react, the other party members had already wiped out the mobs.
They were even chatting as they were killing mobs.
Southern Black Sesame: Wow wow our luck is so good
Master Kang’s Sexy Instant Noodles: Yeah, we’re all kinda weak but who knew it would go this well
Jiu Jiu Jiu: ???
This weirdo. When she first partied with other people, she didn’t succeed the first few times!
Ruan Jiu Jiu silently comforted herself. These were just weaker mobs. When they fought more, then they’d realize how hard it was.
The new players slowly gained experience and they accepted another quest with a familiar ease. Ruan Jiu Jiu was a little stupefied and she followed them onto the next map. She didn’t even have time to react yet when the others rushed forward. The screen seemed to have exploded in a display of fireworks. Ruan Jiu Jiu didn’t even see the monsters before seeing that they had won again.
The party leader Yakult especially stood out. His attacks were precise and his hand speed was shockingly fast. Ruan Jiu Jiu wanted to kneel down and worship him.
Southern Black Sesame: Heh heh, luck man, luck
Jiu Jiu Jiu: ….
Seeing that the puzzle pieces were slowly being unlocked and that the party rank was slowly rising on the leaderboard, Ruan Jiu Jiu couldn’t even put her “WTF” feelings into words.
Jiu Jiu Jiu: Are you guys… pros? 0.0
The party leader Yakult who only said one word since the start: There’s a lot of PvE. The prize is meh. We just seem better because the rest are noobs.
Ruan Jiu Jiu bought into his words a little. If they really were godly, why would they play this lame buggy game. Instead of the winning the prize, it would be more worth it for them to record a stream.
After exhausting the daily quests, the group made plans to continue tomorrow night. They just so happened to stop at the perfect time, right before Ruan Jiu Jiu’s usual dinnertime, avoiding any awkward scheduling conflict for her.
Even though today’s battles were a little beyond reason, Ruan Jiu Jiu was happy. This probably was why multiplayer games were more interesting than single player games.
… This then made Ruan Jiu Jiu think of Cheng Jun who preferred playing puzzle games like an overgrown toddler.
She went to the kitchen to pour herself a cup of water. When she passed by Cheng Jun’s room, it was very quiet. There was no light coming from the crack in the door. He probably went to sleep already. Ruan Jiu Jiu muttered and wondered if that guy even remembered to cover himself when he went to sleep. It really made one worry.
She was afraid that she would wake him and lightly tiptoed back to her room.
The room next door.
Cheng Jun was propped against the pillow and lay half-sitting up in his twin bed. He still hadn’t exited the game. On the screen, the user ID read Yakult in big letters.
After logging off, Tu Nan and the others had nothing to do and were bored. Unable to endure seeing so many bugs in the game, they quietly hacked into the game system and in a friendly gesture, helped the developers fix a few game-breaking bugs.
While fixing the code, they dissed the game in their group chat.
“My god I can’t bear it. Even taking a step makes the game freeze.”
“There’s so many bugs that I don’t even have the strength to roast them. Did these devs even go to uni?”
“Maybe they should come here to our Wudaokou Vocational University for a refresher.”
“Once we’re done debugging this, I feel like it’ll be a completely new game.”
They were chatting and joking around while fixing the bugs, and the mood was light. There were so many things to criticize about the game that the group practically couldn’t come up with enough roasts. By the time the next day came around, it was already a new world.
……
On another side of the world.
The woman lying on the bed suddenly started tossing and turning. Her head was soaked in cold sweat. From the sea of her chaotic and painful memories, she suddenly awoke and opened her eyes.
“Ah…”
Xu Bi Ying’s face was a ghastly white. Her hand shook as she felt her own face.
Didn’t she die?
Why was the room in front of her so familiar? Wait, wasn’t this her home?
Xu Bi Ying realized that something was amiss. She suddenly sat up. She fumbled for her phone. She still remembered this phone. It was a birthday gift from her dad a few years ago. Later, after unfortunately losing it, she got another one.
Only
She tapped her phone in disbelief.
The date and time was clearly displayed.
She was back to three years ago, when she wanted to break off her engagement, the weekend before she had cast aside her childhood friend and secretly run off to another city.
Xu Bing Yi stared dazedly at her phone. After a split second, she started crying tears of joy out of nowhere.
Thank god! There was still time to fix everything! In her last lifetime, she was probably blind to believe that Cheng Jun was just hiding his feelings and that she would be able to melt Cheng Jun this emotionless, frozen lump. Thank goodness she was able to return, thank goodness God had given her an opportunity to begin again.
She definitely wouldn’t court disaster and would cling tightly to the golden thigh of her childhood friend.
Author’s Note: Ruan Jiu Jiu: I think I should also develop into a golden thigh.
Cheng Jun: Where are you looking?
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