CH 76

Qin He's expression cooled slightly after hearing the words ‘you make me sick’.

No trace of his mask of deep affection remained.

His dark, dark eyes that were almost the same as He Zhou’s looked up at Qiu Yanzhi and narrowed slightly. His tone was hinted with scorn. “I didn’t expect that you would care so much about a mass of data after all these years.”

"He’s not a mass of data," Qiu Yanzhi stated, "he’s my lover."

"Lover, huh?"

Qin He seemed to laugh lightly, and the corners of his lips curled up. He mockingly continued:

"Xia Yuan, how barren, lonely and pitiful your life must be for you to do something as crazy as devoting yourself wholeheartedly to a fictional character from a game?”

Qiu Yanzhi was expressionless, but his left hand moved to hold back his right.

--Otherwise, he just might slap this guy across the face.

Qin He gave Qiu Yanzhi another look, as if his patience was close to running out.

He glanced down at his watch before standing up and patting the nonexistent dust from his body. His parting words were, “Since you’re such a sorry excuse for a human being, you should take care to cherish the time you have left with that NPC of yours. After all, the clock is ticking.”

Qin He paused for a moment and laughed. "When that game’s data is wiped, your NPC’ll probably be…”

It was a moment before his beautifully shaped lips spat out four words.

"...Completely erased from existence."

Qiu Yanzhi’s next breath was a shuddering one. His left hand crushed his right hand onto his knee, his nails almost drawing blood.

An imminent fear of losing He Zhou consumed him from his feet up, devouring all of Qiu Yanzhi. Yet at the same time, his heart sank like a stone into an endless abyss.

Qin He turned and walked towards the door.

His black leather shoes clacked crisply against the wooden floor.

"W-wait." Qiu Yanzhi suddenly stood up and frantically called out to Qin He.

Qin He stopped and turned back to face him.

Qiu Yanzhi took two steps forward, very reluctantly saying, “...Could you...not send people to wipe the data? It’s not like leaving them there will affect you negatively in any way.”

One of Qin He’s eyebrows raised at Qiu Yanzhi’s weak request. “How could that be? That game is a product I once invested in. If others find out that one of the NPCs managed to escape, I’ll be in a world of trouble.”

Qiu Yanzhi: "No, that won’t happen. We won’t let anyone else find out that He Zhou is a...NPC. We’ll keep our mouths shut.”

Qin He’s lips curved. “Even if you manage to keep under the radar, how can you ensure that no other NPC from the game will come out? That game is a time bomb waiting to go off. If I leave it be, there may be serious consequences.”

Qin He took a step forward and looked down at Qiu Yanzhi. "Xia Yuan, why should I take such a risk just because you’ve become obsessed with a NPC?"

Qiu Yanzhi looked up at Qin He.

It was a long while before he spoke softly:

"Qin He, I’m begging you.”

A trace of what could almost be described as pleasure flashed across Qin He's face.

"But Xia Yuan, you just called me disgusting!”

Qiu Yanzhi squeezed his eyes shut before opening them again. "I'm sorry."

Qin He reached out and carelessly ran his fingertip across the corner of Qiu Yanzhi’s red-rimmed eyes.

Qiu Yanzhi stiffened. He wanted to slap that hand away, but he managed to endure in the end.

Finally, Qin He slowly opened his mouth and said, “Little Yuan, I still have feelings for you, but that doesn’t mean I will help you unconditionally.”

Qiu Yanzhi tightly pursed his lips.

Qin He sighed. Seemingly helpless, he said, “Fine. I won’t destroy the game’s data on one condition.”

Qiu Yanzhi was silent for a moment. "What condition?"

Qin He's fingertip slid from the corner of Qiu Yanzhi's eyes to his lips. His tone was ambiguous: "You know I've loved you since I was a kid. And after all these years, I still have an unfulfilled desire. Little Yuan, sleep with me once and I’ll consider not erasing that NPC of yours.”

Qiu Yanzhi’s hand was itching to slap Qin He across the face again.

Qin He suddenly thought of something and laughed. "I don’t mind how you’ve already slept with that counterfeit. After all, he looks just like me. But there is one thing I am curious about. When you slept with him for the first time, were you thinking of him or me--”

Pa!

Qiu Yanzhi finally slapped Qin He.

His eyes were ice cold. "Get out."

Qin He’s head lolled to one side. He reached up to touch the corner of his lips and felt a trace of blood there.

His expression contorted, but that fake-looking smile was plastered across his face again when he looked up. “Qiu Yanzhi, this room you're staying in was booked at my expense. So tell me, which one of us should get out?”

Hearing that, Qiu Yanzhi immediately turned and marched away. In less than three minutes, he had stuffed his minimalistic belongings back in his suitcase and rolled it outside.

His motions were very nimble. From the time he started packing to the time he left, he didn’t spare Qin He a second look, nor did his eyes ever lose their frosty sheen.

Just like that, he emotionlessly left the room, then the hotel. He pulled his suitcase along the pitch black, empty streets.

He didn’t look at a map or try to find nearby landmarks. He just walked straight ahead.

After an indeterminate amount of time, tears started to roll down his cheeks. Qiu Yanzhi tried to wipe them away at first, but there was just no end to them.

His shoulders began to tremble violently. Tears blurred his vision until he couldn’t even see the road ahead. A cold wind blew over, the chill seeping into his bones.

Qiu Yanzhi couldn’t walk anymore. He slowly squatted down by the side of the road and his face in his knees, finally allowing himself to cry.

He couldn’t even tell why he was crying at first.

Was it because he was about to lose He Zhou?

Or was it because his childhood friend turned out to be an actual piece of trash?

Although Qiu Yanzhi had never admitted out loud to Little Trash how important he was to him…

He truly believed that Little Trash was a beautiful existence that lit up his dark and dreary childhood like a rainbow.

Even now, Qiu Yanzhi still carefully kept all the moments they shared back then close to his heart.

What a vibrant and kind youth he once was.

Qiu Yanzhi was almost unwilling to admit that the disgusting man in the hotel just now was the same Little Trash he pined after for more than ten years.

Qiu Yanzhi would rather believe that Little Trash was dead, and the man from earlier just happened to share his name and face.

Qiu Yanzhi suddenly found himself really missing He Zhou.

Like, really, really, really miss him.

He wanted to see the man, hug him and kiss him.

At the very least, he wanted to hear He Zhou’s voice.

Qiu Yanzhi stood up and wiped his eyes. He took out his phone from his pocket and called He Zhou.

But the moment the number was dialed, he frantically hung up.

It was 3:00 am on He Zhou's side.

He was resting.

Qiu Yanzhi couldn't help but cry again at the thought of not being able to talk to He Zhou right now.

But before he even had a chance to take a tissue to dab at his eyes…

The phone rang again.

It was He Zhou.

Qiu Yanzhi blinked and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand before picking up.

He Zhou's deep yet gentle voice came from the other end, “Qiu Yanzhi, what's wrong?"

Qiu Yanzhi clearly stopped crying already, but he couldn’t stop fresh tears from streaming down his face the moment she heard He Zhou's voice.

"He, He Zhou..." He choked up as he called He Zhou's name.

There was a loud sound from He Zhou's end, as if he suddenly stood up. The man’s voice was tinged with panic, “Qiu Yanzhi, what happened?"

There were actually a lot of things Qiu Yanzhi wanted to say to He Zhou, but then he remembered that He Zhou didn’t like him bringing up Qin He. So he sniffled and said, “He, He Zhou...I want to go home.”

He Zhou asked, "Why can I hear cars in the background from your end? Where are you right now?"

Qiu Yanzhi: "I'm, I'm by the side of the road."

He Zhou asked after a pause, "Did you and Qin He have a fight?"

Qiu Yanzhi: "...En."

He Zhou didn’t ask him why. Instead, he very gently said, “Send me your location.”

Qiu Yanzhi wiped his tears, opened WeChat, and sent a location to He Zhou.

The sound of keys clacking could be heard from the other end.

Next, He Zhou stated, "The earliest flight out is tomorrow morning at eight. Don’t worry, I’ll buy the tickets for you. Now follow my instructions: turn left and walk forward 500m, then take a right and walk 300m. There’s a reputable hotel there with rooms available. I’m booking you one right now. Have a good rest tonight and take the earliest flight out tomorrow morning, okay?”

Qiu Yanzhi nodded emphatically before he realized He Zhou couldn’t see it. So he said in a very nasally voice, "Okay."

He Zhou: "Now turn left."

Qiu Yanzhi sniffled and obediently turned left.

"Then go forward."

After following He Zhou’s instructions, Qiu Yanzhi arrived at a hotel.

He Zhou really did order a room for him online here.

All Qiu Yanzhi had to do was show his ID at the front desk before someone escorted him up to his room.

Qiu Yanzhi didn't stop talking to He Zhou even when he laid down on the bed.

"He Zhou, can you tell me a story?"

By the time he hoarsely made that request, Qiu Yanzhi’s ears were burning.

...So childish, ah.

"Okay." He Zhou agreed softly.

Qiu Yanzhi turned off the bedside light and burrowed deeper under the covers.

The sounds of He Zhou walking and picking out a book, as well as the sound of pages turning, could be heard. After a few minutes, He Zhou’s soft and slow recitation began.

"Duomi was a gray-feathered, not so pretty, caged bird. Among the seven bird cages hanging on this balcony and the eighteen birds they contained, he was the least ambitious and laziest bird of all. While all the other birds threw themselves against the sides of the cages and tried to fly towards the blue sky, Duomi just said his dream was to eat his fill and wait for death. He took things in stride, pecking at birdseed and spending his days in the cage…”

“...One day, a beautiful and cute little girl came to the home of his owner. She wanted to free all the birds here… When she opened every cage, the seventeen other birds all flew away into the blue sky. Only Duomi stayed where he was. The kind little girl took Duomi out of the cage into her two little hands, leaned out a window, and let go.”

He Zhou paused for a moment and frowned, but continued to read in the end.

"...Domi's wings were broken from the moment he was born, so for the first time, he experienced the sensation of flight. He eagerly stretched his neck, feeling the wind blowing past his ears. He fell straight down from the 24th floor. However, the second before he hit the ground, an old eagle suddenly flew over and caught Duomi on his back. Together, they soared into the ever distant blue sky.”

Qiu Yanzhi's almost overly soft voice came from the other end of the call.

"He Zhou, you changed the ending."

He Zhou was silent for a moment. "No I didn't."

"Fine. You didn’t.”

Qiu Yanzhi didn't persist, but his eyes curved into crescents in the dark. “I want to hear the next story.”

There was something Qiu Yanzhi didn’t tell He Zhou about the fairy tale he just read.

It was his submission to a magazine back in middle school.

At the time, as his math teacher explained the quadratic formula, he sprawled out on his desk and wrote down the ending of this story:

Duomi finally experienced the sensation of flight. He fell straight down from the 24th floor, becoming nothing more than a pile of flesh smeared across the pavement.

But Qiu Yanzhi didn’t really care that the story had been edited.

Because he had already found his eagle.

He Zhou retrieved a different book.

Flipping it open, he used his deep voice to slowly and softly tell Qiu Yanzhi one fairy tale after another.

All of which had a happy ending.

Qiu Yanzhi closed his eyes, Setting the phone to his ear, he drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.

Rain

Wow. Kind of feels like everyone in the novel needs therapy. Especially Qiu Yanzhi after what happened with his mom.

I can’t help but imagine Duomi’s story being read to an actual little kid. Oh man, that would not end well. XD