“Marry Leng!”

The line hit He Yucheng like a thunderclap right in the ear, blasting him straight into a daze.

He Yucheng froze like a statue. After a long while, he finally managed to open his mouth and squeeze out, “Huh?”

Xiaoye raised a brow. “What, is there a problem?”

“They’re all problems, okay?!” He Yucheng couldn’t help complaining. What kind of latest patch was this—marriage?!

He could understand being used as an assist, but this assist was coming at the wrong time and place. If Xiaoye had known him for a while and trusted his character, that’d be one thing. But right now he hadn’t told her anything about himself, and he was getting hit with a random “forced marriage”? What if Lengjiang was actually a male player? Or what if he himself was a female player? Cases of people playing opposite‑gender characters weren’t rare at all. Even though everything about Lengjiang screamed “girl player.”

“Are you a student right now? Or already working?”

Before he could list out the issues, Xiaoye fired off another question.

“Eh?” He Yucheng blanked again. Why were they suddenly talking real life now?

But that question jabbed right into his sore spot. With this weird illness of his, he was stuck in the hospital recuperating, basically on leave from school. No studying, no working. Other than playing games, he couldn’t do anything.

Sure, you were supposed to protect your privacy online, but this kind of harmless info he didn’t mind sharing.

He replied, “Twenty, college student.”

Xiaoye answered like she’d expected that. “Mm. The three of us are about the same age then.”

“…”

Hearing that, and thinking back to her first question… Wait. Was she not talking about in‑game “marriage,” but taking it offline?!

Hold up… hold up… wait a second! This progression was insane. In the game it was all just playing house, and suddenly she brought up real life… That was a bit too much stimulation; he couldn’t handle it.

“I’m a little older than you, twenty‑three. Leng just became an adult.” Through the screen, Xiaoye obviously couldn’t see what kind of face He Yucheng was making right now. She just kept talking, casually exposing the very age issue girls online usually guarded the most.

“…” He Yucheng had a bad feeling. This topic… he really wasn’t okay with it.

“Uh… Boss lady, can I ask… what exactly is your goal here?” He raised his hand like in class, cutting her off. If this went on, he felt like he might literally get scared to death. He was that type—overthinks everything and then spirals.

“Mm? Nothing special. I just want to find my little sister someone close, someone she can talk to, to help me look after her. She’s really withdrawn, even in the game. Why?” Being interrupted left Xiaoye a bit confused herself.

“…” In his mind’s eye, a crow flapped slowly across above He Yucheng’s head, leaving a trail of ellipses behind it…

Why didn’t you just say that from the start? Talking about ‘marriage’ like that—trying to give people heart attacks…

Still, after being baited like crazy and then suddenly doused in cold water, the feeling… yeah, that hurt. He’d only let himself expect it for a second, but still. He only dared think about that kind of thing in his head; if it came to online dating and meeting in real life, he’d be the first to say no.

He was a pretty shut‑in person to begin with, and with this time‑bomb of an illness, how could he dare think about his future? As long as he could live well in the present, he should already feel lucky and content. Wishing for more was out of the question.

“So, what do you say? Will you do it? If it’s okay, in a few days I’ll take you to get a Concealment Jade.” Xiaoye walked off to the side, leaning against the city wall as she asked.

Make a friend, and she’d get him one of those rare items everyone wanted? Was that a trade? Since when did making friends need a transaction attached?

He Yucheng immediately realized Xiaoye probably had something else in mind, and asked, “So… what else do I have to do? It can’t just be looking after Leng and playing games with her, right? In this kind of game, with Leng’s status, she’s gotta know tons of people online. Why pick me? Wouldn’t asking her best girlfriend or something be better?”

Xiaoye fell silent when she heard that.

Looked like he’d guessed right; she definitely had other thoughts.

“Actually, Leng doesn’t really have anyone she can talk to in this game either. I just feel like the relationship you two have in‑game is… special, so I came to you. As for the rest, we’ll see later. If possible, I’d like you to help talk her into going back to school. She’s been skipping for a week now.” Xiaoye spoke absent‑mindedly, clearly still thinking about something else.

“Skipping? That’s real life stuff… I’m an outsider; it’s not really my place, is it? And if she’s skipping, she must have her own reasons, right?” He knew skipping school wasn’t good, but if Lengjiang was doing it, she had to have her own thoughts. Even if it was just hating school, that was still her business. He didn’t know the situation, so he couldn’t judge.

Besides, a kid like Leng—who looked every inch the good‑student type—skipping class? That was honestly hard to wrap his head around.

The only thing he could think of was that she was holding on to some kind of grievance.

Xiaoye went quiet again. He Yucheng felt like his guess had at least brushed the truth, but he really was an outsider. Saying a bunch of “life lessons” wouldn’t help much—nobody liked hearing that. Her own family just needed to help Leng untie that knot in her heart; then things would naturally sort themselves out. Dragging in an outsider to interfere wasn’t the way.

“You’re right, I’m overthinking it. My sister’s in a bad mood, and I’m the only one around her. I made her upset yesterday… Sorry, just pretend you didn’t hear what I said earlier.” Xiaoye gave a small bow, counting it as an apology.

“Games are for fun. As a friend, if Leng’s upset, it’s only right for me to talk with her a bit. But I won’t push her about real life. I don’t like other people forcing me to do things either, even when I really am in the wrong. So I get how she feels. Let her play a while; she’ll feel better on her own.” He didn’t like lecturing people, but right now this was all he could say.

“Mm. Just… when you’re with Leng in the game, you two should be a bit more careful. Your relationship in‑game is… special. So don’t… tch, forget it. I’m thinking too much again.” Xiaoye gave a bitter little smile. Even if He Yucheng knew she had other worries, he wasn’t about to press her.

At the end of the day, she just wanted him to talk to Leng more, build a good relationship, then help talk her around.

“For the next while, if I’m online, I’ll try to kill off the people chasing you. Makes your questing easier.” Xiaoye was about to leave. As she walked off, she suddenly turned back, crimson eyes fixing on him.

“Everyone on the server’s convinced you’ll be the first to kill me. If you betray them like this, what’ll you do if you get exposed?” He Yucheng grinned, joking around.

“I’m grinding red‑name points. I’m almost at the next achievement. Don’t worry, killing people who are too weak is boring. That’s my principle; most people know it. And I don’t have a ‘Full Commission Reward Voucher’. I’m not wasting my time chasing you down two thousand times.”

“…”

He Yucheng watched Xiaoye leave, then opened his friends list.

He only had Lengjiang and the two sisters added. Xiaoye’s “Nightingale” was lit up yellow—online. Lengjiang’s “Coldshouer,” though, was still gray, offline.

“Sigh, may as well go level up first.” With Leng offline, he’d lost a chat partner. Doing quests alone was boring as hell.

Suddenly, a chat icon popped up in the middle of his screen. He clicked it open.

Nightingale: The boss respawns the day after tomorrow. Forgot to tell you. You can make it?

He Yucheng: No problem. I’m pretty much always around.

Nightingale: Good. I’ll tell you the detailed plan that morning. Not many will fight this boss, ’cause it’s not that strong. But a lot of people will be blocking the way. That’s it for now.

He Yucheng: OK

…

He spent the whole time sneaking around, avoiding people, grinding mobs and doing quests. Eventually, he hit level 9.

He had no idea how long had passed when a line finally popped up in the chat channel: Coldshouer is now online.

“That girl finally logged in.” Seeing it eased his lonely mood a little.

He used the friend function to refresh her info—Current Location: Radiant Imperial City.

He happened to be in Radiant Imperial City as well, doing some fetch quests. But the city was huge, a full‑on ancient imperial capital. It even had markets. More than one, at that.

Only after coming here did he realize this was the real main city. Once you stepped into Radiant Imperial City, it was like being at Tiananmen Square on National Day—nothing but people, people, and more people. In some spots, you couldn’t even see the ground.

Of course, the side alleys were still fairly quiet.

“So where is that girl?” He squeezed into the sea of people. Finding Leng in there was impossible. And from what he knew, she didn’t like crowds, even in games.

So he gave up on searching in the mob for that tiny little head, and used Mirror Image to slip unexpectedly into a narrow alley.

The main city’s alleys were everywhere. He hopped from one to another using his Displacement Skills, checking them one by one. He had a feeling Leng would still be hiding in some remote corner of the map.

And sure enough, he found her sitting on an artificial rock hill in the north district. He’d started from the south, and it had taken him nearly half an hour.

Ahead, that pink‑and‑white kimono figure was sitting in the pavilion on the rockery, staring off into the distance, lost in thought. He Yucheng tiptoed up beside her. She didn’t notice a thing.

He reached out both hands and covered her eyes.

“Eeek!” Leng’s view suddenly went dark. She jumped in shock and started struggling.

“Wifey, pondering the meaning of life?” He let go and smiled at the stunned look on her face.

“(#ﾟДﾟ) Good morning, dear husband~”

“It’s not morning at all, it’s noon. How’s that ‘morning’?” He burst out laughing at her sudden IQ drop.

They were about to keep chatting when the world channel suddenly blew up.

World Channel:

XXXX1: He Yucheng is here! [Radiant Imperial City (457, 656)]

XXXX2: Pro! Take me as your disciple!

XXXX3: Wow! Pro, let’s take a screenshot together!!!!

XXXX4: Pro, teach me PVP!!!! Otherwise I’ll keep hunting you!!!

…

“…?” He Yucheng stared blankly at the world channel. Leng suddenly snorted with laughter. “O(∩_∩)O Dear husband probably doesn’t know your PK video with Sis got uploaded, right? It’s gone viral already~”

“And then…?” He finally realized they were near the city gate. No wonder people had spotted him—his minimap marker was way too obvious. A big, glowing red bead.

“Don’t know~” Leng said playfully. He couldn’t see any gloom or unhappiness on her face at all.

“Forget it. Wifey, let’s bail. If we don’t, we’re gonna get surrounded. I’ll take you somewhere fun.”

“As you command, dear husband!”

.

.

At the computer desk, Xin Qian’s elder sister stared at the world channel flooding by. She silently picked up the glass of water beside her, gazing at the monitor in a daze as she muttered, “I wonder if my little sister’s interested in him…”

“Miss Shallow Peace, I’ve brought what you asked for.”

A voice sounded from outside the door. Shallow Peace stood up and opened it.

Standing there was their old butler.

She took the stack of papers from his hands, glanced at the tightly closed bedroom door next to her, then lowered her eyes and began flipping through the pages.

“Miss Shallow Peace, do you really plan to do this?” The old butler asked, shifting nervously on his feet.

“Yeah. If my little sister has to swallow this kind of grievance, she’s miserable, and so am I. I’ve already picked someone, I just need some time to watch him.”

“Ah… the master and madam are really… deciding something as important as marriage so casually…”

“Enough. They were forced into it too. But my little sister’s happiness can’t be treated as a sacrifice for their interests!”