Chapter 22

022. Going Out

According to He Jin’s nature, of course he wouldn’t feel good to refuse after the other guy had offered his help so blatantly. So, with a slightly stiff movement, He Jin draped himself onto Qin Yu’s back. He was too embarrassed to hug his neck though, and only put his hands loosely on the other guy’s shoulder.

On the outside, Qin Yu’s appearance looked quite thin and lanky, however, now He Jin found out that he unexpectedly has wide shoulders. And wow, on such a cold day this guy incredibly only wore his uniform and a jacket!

“Hold on tight.” Qin Yu said, his hands reaching out around and holding lightly onto He Jin’s body, which caught He Jin completely off-guard.

Because of his illness, no one thought that Qin Yu’s action was exaggerated. Hou Dongyan and Shang also felt that he was only being thoughtful and maybe a bit… enthusiastic?

He Jin was the only one feeling quite disturbed and nervous by it…

He is a boy, even if he was weak and helpless, he had never thought of relying so much on others. And he certainly never thought that he would be treated so attentively by a junior of his!

It was almost winter, so the wind was blowing hard outside, and the temperature had dropped several degrees. Hou Dongyan put the clothes that he had brought before on He Jin’s back. Soon after, all of them proceeded to walk to the dormitory.

He Jin felt the warmth from Qin Yu’s body traveled into his own, and couldn’t help thinking back to the lake tour the day before. Qin Yu also had offered to pay for everyone meals back then, so it seemed like this guy really was a selfless person. He Jin somehow felt a little more familiar with Qin Yu now.

Qin Yu carried He Jin until they arrived at the dormitory building.

“Left, left, room 306A!” Hou Dongyan directed them from behind.

“Put me down, I can…” He Jin wanted to insist on walking on his own, but Qin Yu would not let him. The taller guy only said one sentence, “If you want to send the Buddha, then do it until the end and send Him to the West”, then he piggybacked him directly into the room.

Shang also followed them in, and then looked around: “Your dormitory is really clean!”

Hou Dongyan scratched the back of his head, and said: “It’s thanks to He Jin Ge cleaning this room regularly. He likes cleanliness, and hates to see the dormitory messy.”

Shang’s face showed a hint of envy: “In my room, my roommates would often leave their instant noodle cup on the lounge’s table, and then no one will take the initiative to throw it away…”

Hou Dongyan: “The two of you don’t live together?”

Shang: “Haha, of course not, Qin Yu is still a sophomore.”

Qin Yu looked at his smart bracelet, and saw that it was nearly nine o’clock. Before, he was so worried that he would miss Ah Jin’s online time if he went to eat dinner, but now, he no longer felt anxious because Ah Jin is standing right in front of him. He said to He Jin, “Rest early tonight, and remember to take your medicine… Right, I’ll leave my cell phone number here, so if you need help, just call me.”

Even if Qin Yu didn’t mention it first, He Jin would still ask him for his number. He had said that he would invite them to eat sometime, and He Jin was not the type to go back on his own promises.

After Qin Yu and Shang left, Hou Dongyan voiced his praises for Qin Yu: “Qin Yu, this guy, not only is he tall and handsome, but his character is really good too. I bet he has many girls who like him!”

He Jin smiled, “He is our school’s idol, you know…”

Hou Dongyan wasn’t like He Jin who had some connection with the Student Union, and therefore could occasionally listen to some gossip. Oh no, Hou Dongyan’s ears and heart were only devoted to his dead otaku lifestyle.

Hou Dongyan exclaimed, “Wow, this ‘ school idol ‘ title is simply justifiable ah…”

He Jin laid down on his bed and said, “You also think that he is handsome?”

Hou Dongyan looked at He Jin weirdly: “Handsome? His face is comparable to an actor’s face! And not the girly type either! Nowadays a lot of good-looking male stars are the cute and pretty type…”

He Jin turned on his side to face Dongyan: “I may be a little blind to these things. I don’t really think he is especially handsome or anything like that. But, I do think that he has a very strong aura, especially his eyes, they are somehow different from others’ …”

After saying that, He Jin suddenly remembered that he had promised Fire to come online today. Because of his fever, he had been sleeping all day, so he almost forgot about it. He Jin hurriedly put on his jacket and got up from his bed.

Hou Dongyan: “What are you doing?”

He Jin opened his computer and answered: “I promised a friend I’ll come online in the game tonight, but then I got sick and almost forget about it.”

Hou Dongyan: “…”

Once online, He Jin immediately opened his friend list, and saw that Fire has yet to come.

He took a look at his level, and saw that he had become level 4 Spirit Pet now. It seems that Fire had helped him to practice during the day. He Jin then looked at his inventory; it had been sorted out, and there were some things he had never seen before: some medicines, equipment, and three small fireworks.

[T/N: So, in ch 20, the author wrote that He Jin had risen from level 3 SP to level 10. But in this ch, he is back to level 4. I’m guessing, it’s a little mistake there, therefore I’ve changed the explanation in ch 20, he rose from level 1 SP to level 3 there.]

Once again, He Jin’s heart became filled with a burst of guilt. He pointed at Fire’s name and tried to send him an offline message.

Xiao Xian-Jin: “Sorry, something happened today, so I have no time to come online. Do you have a phone…”

He Jin paused there, he didn’t want to expose his phone number to Fire. He thought about it and finally used his smart bracelet to apply for a new ME’s account–ME is a social chat software, similar to WeChat. In ME, people can send texts, voice text messages, and also call other people online. It had become really popular among university students in these last two years.

He Jin actually had an account before, but because he did not want to be disturbed by the messages coming from this app, he quickly discarded it. Therefore, he had to make a new account to communicate with Fire now.

He Jin edited his previous message to Fire-

Xiao Xian-Jin: Do you have ME? This is my account username: ahjin00. If you have an account, add me there.”

————————————–

Once Qin Yu went back to his dormitory room, he thought that He Jin would not play the game tonight, so he also didn’t bother to come online.

He laid down on his bed, and carefully connected all of the clues he had gathered with his speculation of He Jin. After confirming that there were no omissions, he began to smile happily, and thought: Turns out Ah Jin is a man ah, no wonder he was scared away when I said I’d like to develop a relationship in reality with him before. He even used “power outage” as an excuse…

Geez, Qin Yu did not remember a power outage happening at the dormitory that night…

It’s obviously a lie, silly!

But Qin Yu finally understood why He Jin didn’t want his online life to be tied to reality-it’s because he’s a man…

Since he is a man, he would feel awkward to meet another man who confessed to have been waiting for him for eight years, even if it was only online, right?

But why does he never confess about his real gender to me? Why does he continue to play this married relationship with me?

Qin Yu felt a little urge to try and pry open He Jin’s head to see what he was thinking…

Thinking back, He Jin also promised to call him “husband” in two days, would he really do it?

A wicked smile appeared on Qin Yu’s face. His mood couldn’t help but become much more brighter as he thought about what kind of expression He Jin would show later- maybe it’s awkwardness, or shyness, and I bet he will blush!

———————————————

The next day, Qin Yu went into the game in the afternoon. He immediately realized that He Jin had come online last night, and was very surprised. He was really sick, and yet still remembered to leave a message to me…

Qin Yu hurriedly created a ME account, and searched for ahjin00. What he found made him burst out laughing- he is actually using a picture of a ferret’s head as his avatar!

Qin Yu grinned, and sent a friend request to him. In less than two seconds, it was accepted.

Fire: “Wife ~”

Ah Jin: “…”

Fire: “I waited for you yesterday.”

Ah Jin: “I’m sorry, but I sent a message to you later, right?”

Fire: “I also helped you to practice.”

Ah Jin: “I saw it.”

Fire: “How will you compensate me?”

Ah Jin: “… What kind of compensation do you want?”

Although they could not see each other’s expression, He Jin always felt that the other guy must be feeling particularly sad. He Jin knew that he was in the wrong, so he wanted to give him something in return. But, He Jin did not have much money in the game, he also did not have any skill he could use to help Fire there, then what else can he give to him?

Fire: “Call me husband.”

Ah Jin: “…”

Looking at that message, He Jin felt himself getting a headache!

Ah Jin: “Didn’t we agree that I’ll do it in three days.”

Fire: “But you didn’t come yesterday, I have the right to reduce the time limit by one day.”

Ah Jin: “Why are you bargaining!”

He Jin felt helpless, and did some ideological struggle in his heart-ah whatever, it’s impossible for Fire to know my real identity from this anyway. And sooner or later, I’ll also still have to do this! It’s fine, it’s just a game. Just a game, just a game… (← He Jin tried to brainwash himself, and repeated this in his mind three times. ）

Ah Jin: “My husband…”

Qin Yu stared at these two words, and imagined He Jin’s awkward expression. Ah, how could he not feel happy?

Fire: “Good ~”

Ah Jin: “…”

Meanwhile, He Jin lay paralyzed on his bed, he felt like his moral integrity had dropped to the ground…

—————————-

That night, He Jin came online on time, and Fire took him to practice to raise his level. He Jin didn’t want to be a rice weevil, so he would also hit some monsters occasionally, but unfortunately, his skills were still very basic, so it was futile…

He suddenly remembered about the holographic helmet that he had discussed with Hou Dongyan before, and asked Fire, “Will you buy the helmet first when it comes out?”

Fire: “I am not buying, the top ten players in each server will be given a helmet for free from the game company… Why, you don’t want to buy it?”

Xiao Xian-Jin: “No.”

Truthfully, He Jin also wanted to experience the holographic version, but the helmet was too expensive. Although he had filled out the lottery information, he really did not hold hope for anything as there was only 5% chance.

Xiao Xian-Jin: “If I continue to play using keyboard, will it affect you?”

“I’ll buy you one,” said Fire.

Xiao Xian-Jin: “Don’t! I can’t afford such expensive things! I won’t always use the keyboard, it’s just for a while.”

He Jin did not lack of money to spend, his parents did give him normal amount of money to cover a college student’s living expenses after all. But his every expense must be accounted for, because his mother would check it every month.

For a holographic helmet worth tens of thousands, he certainly wasn’t afraid to spend his money to buy it, but he couldn’t use the money he got from his parents. Right now, He Jin was thinking about finding a job as a temporary tutor or other similar jobs, so that he could save his own money to buy it.

Seeing He Jin’s reaction, Qin Yu guessed that the problem might involve some real-life reason, perhaps it was lack of money… He was curious but still complied with their earlier promise and did not ask anything about it, he only said, “It’s fine, you can use keyboard. It will not affect me.”

Well, he had asked Peng Yuhao to arrange the result anyway. If there is no accident, He Jin will certainly get that helmet.

While they were still playing the game, Qin Yu used his smart bracelet to send a text message to He Jin, asking him whether he felt better or not. At the same time, he also talked with “Ah Jin” in the game, so the other guy’s response was a bit slow.

Soon, He Jin replied: “Much better, thank you for your care. Are you free tomorrow evening? I’d like to ask you and President Shang to have dinner together.”

Qin Yu had to do a live broadcast tomorrow night, so he declined politely, “You don’t have to.”

He Jin: “I want to, or I’ll be feeling sorry.”

Qin Yu: “Oh, okay then. What time? And the place?”

He Jin: “We will go off-campus, what do you want to eat?”

Qin Yu: “You pick.”

He Jin: “Then, tomorrow at seven, we’ll go to Lala Fish Cantonese Restaurant near the south gate. How is it?”

Qin Yu: “OK, I will tell Bai Jian, see you then.”

Qin Yu used one hand to send text messages, while his other hand controlling his keyboard, his mouth was also opened to ask: “Wife, why are you not moving? Distracted?”

Xiao Xian-Jin: “I’m here, I was just sending SMS to my friend.”

The corner of Qin Yu’s mouth curved up, He Jin’s answer had further confirmed his suspicion of the association between He Jin and Ah Jin.

Because he knew that He Jin’s cold might still not be fully cured, Qin Yu pretended that he wanted to go to bed early that night, so that Ah Jin could go offline early too.

As he looked at Xiao Xian-Jin’s darkened name, Qin Yu called Peng Yuhao: “I have to go out tomorrow night, and maybe I’ll come back late. I’m going to record a video for you in advance, just in case.”

Seeing this, Peng Yuhao couldn’t help but feel a bit bitter: “Qin elder brother! You are so troublesome recently, ditching the audiences, running away in the middle of a live broadcast, you have caused so much trouble! And now you want to do “pseudo broadcast” too?! We, Fly Tour Network, have become the most dedicated platform these years ah, don’t you care about our credibility?”

Qin Yu: “I care, that’s why I’ll prepare a video recording for you in case I can’t come.”

It wasn’t impossible to record a video in advance, but the “live” feature in these kind of broadcasts is the interaction between the host and the audience. If there was no such interaction, it would feel a lot less fun. If there was no interaction with the audience for a long time, then they might be found out and scolded by some eagle-eyed audiences as “false broadcast”. Of course, this point did not really apply to Qin Yu though, since he rarely ever interacted with his audience.

Peng Yuhao: “Tell me, is it related to your wife?!”

Qin Yu did not deny it, and said lightly: “It is.”

Peng Yuhao: “You, you, you … I hope your wife’s computer would turn defective, so she can never go online again!”

Qin Yu narrowed his eyes: “What did you say?”

Peng Yuhao: “I said I want it! It’s better than nothing! Just record one for me, ~~~! ”