It was already past six in the evening when Lu Yuan and Ning Guiqu finished their hotpot dinner. As they left the restaurant, Lu Yuan suddenly announced he wouldn’t be returning to the dormitory.
Ning Guiqu: ?
“Are we going somewhere fun?” As the new boyfriend, despite Lu Yuan’s difficult nature, Ning Guiqu still asked thoughtfully. Lu Yuan had been acting very strangely all afternoon.
He was unusually quiet, gazing at Ning Guiqu with tender eyes, and even during the hotpot meal, he constantly cooked and picked out food for him, causing Ning Guiqu to overeat. Part of Ning Guiqu suspected Lu Yuan was worried about the blood clot in his brain, while another part thought that given Lu Yuan’s misunderstanding, he might believe Ning Guiqu’s brain was really damaged.
The former touched him, while the latter made him angry! But whenever he asked, Lu Yuan would simply say, “I believe you.”
Lu Yuan tapped on his phone and told Ning Guiqu, “No, we’re not going back tonight.”
Ning Guiqu’s breath caught. Not going back tonight??
“What are you planning?” Ning Guiqu stammered, sneaking a glance at what Lu Yuan was searching. He spotted a hotel.
A hotel!!
Lu Yuan turned his head and saw Ning Guiqu staring at his phone, face flushed red. Noticing Lu Yuan’s gaze, Ning Guiqu glanced around at the passersby, struggling to speak, “You… you… you…”
Lu Yuan couldn’t bear it anymore and interrupted to explain, “It’s an e-sports hotel. Don’t you love playing games? It’s much more comfortable than an internet café, and the equipment is really good.”
Ning Guiqu looked at Lu Yuan’s phone again, confirming it was indeed an e-sports hotel. He missed the “e-sports” part earlier.
The heat wouldn’t leave Ning Guiqu’s face. Really? But he only played mobile games!
Seeing Ning Guiqu’s silence, Lu Yuan ruffled his hair, “Want to go? We can walk there. It’s not far. It’ll help digest our meal.”
That look in his eyes was far too tender!
Ning Guiqu, who’d never been to an e-sports hotel before, nodded, but couldn’t help muttering, “I feel like I’m about to die, and you’re letting me enjoy my last moments.”
Lu Yuan gently refuted, “Don’t say such things. You’ll live a long, normal life.”
Ning Guiqu: “…”
Although Ning Guiqu didn’t have much of a masochistic streak, Lu Yuan had clearly evolved from an irritating penguin to a gentle one. He felt genuinely nervous, suspecting Lu Yuan might be hiding something big.
After walking a few steps, the innocent Ning Guiqu, still uneasy, poked Lu Yuan’s arm and asked with feigned seriousness, “We’re just going to the hotel to play games, right?”
Lu Yuan heard the implication in Ning Guiqu’s tone and sighed softly.
“Ning Guiqu, don’t worry. I won’t do anything to you. With your current condition and the blood clot in your brain, I couldn’t bear to.”
Ning Guiqu’s expression cycled through various colors. If not for Lu Yuan’s serious demeanor, he would have suspected Lu Yuan was mocking him. So, Lu Yuan was genuinely worried about the blood clot in his brain.
Although Lu Yuan’s frequent tender gazes were a bit much for the Genius Xiao Qu to accept, he wasn’t heartless. A feeling of gratitude welled up inside him. From this perspective, Lu Yuan was actually quite a dedicated boyfriend. Ning Guiqu took out his phone.
A moment later, Lu Yuan’s phone lit up.
It was the account Ning Guiqu used as his venting outlet. Any message could only be from Ning Guiqu.
[Super gentle super penguin!]
Lu Yuan was surprised for a second when he saw it. As he looked towards Ning Guiqu, the latter turned his head away, refusing to make eye contact, but his ears were completely red. Lu Yuan chuckled silently. Initially, Ning Guiqu had been so forward, saying all sorts of flirtatious things. Now that they were together, he had learned to be tsundere.
Even tsundere was cute.
Lu Yuan didn’t reply to the message. That account was still Ning Guiqu’s “trash bin”. Instead, Lu Yuan reached out and grasped Ning Guiqu’s hand tightly.
Ning Guiqu: !!!!
Ning Guiqu’s palm was sweating.
In public! Holding hands in public affects the city’s image! Just as Ning Guiqu thought this, he saw a couple not far away, where the man suddenly kissed the woman as they walked.
Ning Guiqu: “……”
Ning Guiqu straightened his back, striding confidently! It was just hand-holding, after all.
Lu Yuan discreetly observed Ning Guiqu’s reactions and asked, “Can I see your phone now?”
The sudden change of topic caught Ning Guiqu off guard. After a few seconds, he cautiously replied, “Are you still suspecting me of being unfaithful? Do you know how I discovered you weren’t my alt account?”
Lu Yuan could mostly guess, but seeing Ning Guiqu’s slightly mischievous look, he chose to play along and asked, “How did you find out?”
Ning Guiqu raised an eyebrow, swinging their tightly clasped hands, “When I got back, I wanted to find evidence that the original owner wasn’t unfaithful. Of course, the facts proved he wasn’t. That message wasn’t sent to anyone! But I also unexpectedly saw two accounts. So, why do you want to see my phone now? There’s nothing worth seeing on it.”
Lu Yuan thought there was, there really was.
He really wanted to know if Ning Guiqu had read some novel or watched some TV drama that made him think he had transmigrated into a book. But he couldn’t say that to Ning Guiqu. If Ning Guiqu’s current situation was similar to a novel or TV drama, it might trigger him.
Lu Yuan now even regretted constantly questioning Ning Guiqu’s claims about the original story. Fortunately, Ning Guiqu had his own complete logic, which prevented Lu Yuan’s doubts from stimulating his brain.
He first praised the very clever Ning Guiqu.
Ning Guiqu was floating with pride when Lu Yuan confidently found an excuse, “This is a boyfriend’s right. You can look at mine, too.”
Ning Guiqu wasn’t quite sure what rights a boyfriend had, but he didn’t mind letting Lu Yuan see his phone now. His biggest secret was already exposed. Ning Guiqu put on an expression of tolerating his childish boyfriend, feigning resignation as he said, “You’re so troublesome. It’s a good thing I’m easy to talk to. Just look at WeChat, don’t look at anything before October. Some of that belongs to the original owner. As for your phone, I’ll exercise my boyfriend rights later.”
Lu Yuan successfully obtained the phone.
When they arrived at the e-sports hotel, game posters covered the walls, and various figurines adorned the front desk. It was Ning Guiqu’s first time seeing a hotel in this style. After handing over his ID card to the receptionist, he looked around curiously.
After getting the room key, Ning Guiqu excitedly followed Lu Yuan to their room. Upon entering, Ning Guiqu was truly, truly shocked. The entire room was painted in a starry sky theme, and two computers sat side by side, complete with matching gaming chairs!
Ning Guiqu completely ignored the large bed, eagerly sitting down in one of the chairs. He turned on the computer with practiced ease and beckoned Lu Yuan to join him.
Lu Yuan approached, but only to take Ning Guiqu’s phone.
Still excited, Ning Guiqu handed over his phone without a second thought. Afterward, Lu Yuan asked for the password. Ning Guiqu told him everything. Once he finished, he watched as Lu Yuan took his phone to a small round table with a sofa not far away.
Ning Guiqu was confused.
“Aren’t you going to play?” It wouldn’t be fun playing alone!
Lu Yuan, having already unlocked Ning Guiqu’s phone, replied, “I’ll join you after I finish looking through your phone. Find some games you want to play first.”
Ning Guiqu compromised and began browsing for games!
Meanwhile, Lu Yuan started searching for any traces of transmigration stories on Ning Guiqu’s phone. He first checked Ning Guiqu’s video apps. Undeniably, Ning Guiqu loved watching dramas – he had almost every popular video app available.
Lu Yuan opened each one and checked the viewing history. He then used his own phone to search for these videos. After quite some time, Lu Yuan was disappointed to find that none of Ning Guiqu’s dramas involved transmigration.
There were mysteries, melodramas, and even amnesia stories. Lu Yuan paid special attention to the plot summary of the amnesia drama. It was a story about a male lead forgetting the female lead, but it bore no resemblance to Ning Guiqu’s transmigration narrative.
If it wasn’t dramas, then it must be novels.
However, Ning Guiqu’s phone had no reading apps. Suspecting Ning Guiqu might have deleted them, Lu Yuan began downloading various popular reading apps onto Ning Guiqu’s phone as a precaution.
While downloading, Lu Yuan glanced at Ning Guiqu, who had been quiet for a while. The computer screen was full of penguins. He probably found some cute pet game.
Seeing that Ning Guiqu wasn’t in a hurry to call him over to play, Lu Yuan used the time while the reading apps were downloading to check other apps that might provide clues.
One of these was Baidu, which contained Ning Guiqu’s search history. Ning Guiqu had even been searching that very morning.
[If a CT scan shows a serious condition, is brain surgery necessary?]
Lu Yuan: “……”
Originally planning to look at search records from before October, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but be drawn to Ning Guiqu’s recent searches.
[Which hotpot restaurant is the best?]
[My new boyfriend keeps kissing me, how can I make him do it less?]
[Is it too perverted to want to touch a man’s chest?]
……
[If I want to curse at people all the time, does that mean I have a dark heart?]
Lu Yuan: “……”
Lu Yuan scrolled through a month’s worth of strange questions. Oddly enough, they seemed to fit Ning Guiqu perfectly. He continued scrolling back to before October, to content belonging to the Ning Guiqu who had a normal brain.
[Is it normal to hate someone because of love?]
Lu Yuan took a sharp breath. This hatred born from love… it was about him, wasn’t it? He had told Ning Guiqu, who liked him, to stay away. Ning Guiqu complied but simultaneously developed hatred from his love.
So Lu Yuan suddenly wondered if Ning Guiqu’s mind hadn’t been affected, perhaps he would have stopped loving him by now.
Lu Yuan: “……”
Impossible.
The previous search read: [Is it very dark-hearted to desperately want to take revenge on someone who always rejects you?]
Lu Yuan: “……”
He must have wanted revenge on him. Probably before he could act on it, something happened to his brain.
And before that, the searches were quite normal again.
[Why do the cafeteria aunties’ hands always shake? Don’t they have stable salaries?]
[How to clean white sneakers?]
[My dad keeps asking me for money. Should I tell mom?]
……
[Are villains destined to never find happiness?]
Lu Yuan’s pupils contracted slightly. This search was from March of this year, when they were still in their final year of high school.
Could it be that he learned about villain transmigration stories or something similar back then? Then, when he hit his head last month, his memory became confused.
Lu Yuan continued scrolling, but the rest were just strange searches without much information. Now, the only suspicious entry was, “Are villains destined to never find happiness?”
The various reading apps on the phone had finished downloading.
Lu Yuan began logging into each one using phone number verification codes. Checking the reading apps was much simpler than the video apps, because Ning Guiqu’s account was new on each reading app.
“Xiao Shi? Xiao Shi, can you hear me?”
Lu Yuan, who was mechanically logging in, suddenly heard Ning Guiqu’s voice. He looked over to see Ning Guiqu wearing headphones, and the computer screen was now showing a different game with cats.
“Is this the cat game you mentioned? I’m playing it too and on a computer!”
Lu Yuan felt conflicted. He had to admit, Ning Guiqu was easily satisfied. How could someone so easily content encounter such a situation? And the person himself didn’t seem worried at all.
“No, I’m not home. I’m at an e-sports hotel.”
“We just happened to come out to play. Next time we’ll invite you to join us!”
Lu Yuan continued logging in, only to find new accounts each time. He had finished logging into all the downloaded reading apps. Could there be an alternate account?
As Lu Yuan was about to try alternate accounts, he suddenly thought of something. He walked over and tapped the immersed Ning Guiqu.
Ning Guiqu looked up, removing his headphones, “Are you ready to play? I’m playing the cat game with Shi Wen.”
That wasn’t Lu Yuan’s intention. He asked, “Did you register the alt account, or was it the original owner?”
Ning Guiqu replied without hesitation, “Me.”
Lu Yuan thought there was no need to log into alternate accounts anymore. He decided to uninstall all the reading apps.
“I’ll play with you in a bit,” Lu Yuan said as he walked away.
Instinct told Ning Guiqu that Lu Yuan might be up to something. After thinking for a moment, Ning Guiqu went to find Lu Yuan, just in time to see him deleting what was likely newly downloaded reading apps from his phone.
Lu Yuan: “……”
Lu Yuan continued deleting nonchalantly.
After Lu Yuan deleted the last one, Ning Guiqu said softly, “If I’m not mistaken, do you think I read some novel that made me believe I’ve transmigrated?”
Sometimes, Ning Guiqu was really smart. Lu Yuan could only return the phone to Ning Guiqu casually, lying, “No.”
Ning Guiqu narrowed his eyes, while Lu Yuan remained composed. But now Ning Guiqu didn’t believe Lu Yuan wasn’t lying.
Lu Yuan probably had extremely high psychological resilience and could lie without changing his expression!
“Really? Lu Yuan, look into my eyes and say that again.”
Then—
Lu Yuan kissed Ning Guiqu’s eyes. Ning Guiqu’s pupils slowly dilated! Then his head was held, and Genius Xiao Qu was taken advantage of by Lu Yuan again!
Ning Guiqu felt dizzy.
Lu Yuan stood up, eyes filled with joy, “Let’s play games.”
Ning Guiqu: “……”
Damn it, why did he feel so aggrieved??
Ning Guiqu silently followed.
It was a cute pet cat game. Just as Lu Yuan opened the computer, Ning Guiqu thought for a moment and felt he couldn’t let Lu Yuan get away with taking liberties with him. So he closed the cat game and flashed an evil smile at Lu Yuan. “Let’s not play this. Click on that penguin matching game.”
Lu Yuan: “……”
Penguin Match.
The game’s name was childish, but it was still a massive multiplayer online game. One hundred penguins battled it out on a single map. Players could team up in pairs or groups of four. The last surviving team in the end wins.
Ning Guiqu hid behind a tree. When a penguin waddled past, he kicked it flying with one swift move. “Go finish it off!” he shouted.
Lu Yuan clumsily maneuvered his penguin to deliver the final blow to the fallen one.
Seeing this, Ning Guiqu taunted wickedly, “You just killed your own kind.”
Lu Yuan: “……”
“Lu Yuan, don’t you have anything to say?” When his mockery failed to elicit a response, Ning Guiqu pressed on.
Still controlling his awkward penguin, Lu Yuan replied calmly, “No.”
“Why not?” Ning Guiqu picked at him. “You know I chose this game on purpose.”
“I know.”
Ning Guiqu blinked.
The game allowed friendly fire, though it didn’t cause damage to teammates. Ning Guiqu ran behind Lu Yuan’s penguin and kicked it, sending the bird stumbling to the ground.
Lu Yuan drew in a deep breath.
Ning Guiqu raised an eyebrow. “How about now?”
Lu Yuan held back.
After all, Ning Guiqu had blood clots in his brain and might be experiencing mental issues. He needed to be patient with such a boyfriend. Lu Yuan’s penguin got back up.
“Are you going to hit me?” Ning Guiqu provoked.
Lu Yuan remained silent.
Five minutes later.
Ning Guiqu sat quietly in his gaming chair with swollen lips, controlling his penguin without daring to utter a word.
Lu Yuan lazily operated his penguin, his eyes filled with satisfaction.
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