Chapter 310: The Two of Them |
December 6th.
Saturday.
It was rare for Liu Changqing to go to the company, but when he ran into Feng Qian again, he noticed the guy seemed much more energetic.
There was even a smile on his face from time to time.
Dungeon Fighter Online had officially launched. Thanks to Qiuqiu Company's early publicity campaign, the moment Liu Changqing logged into the game with his Qiuqiu account, what greeted him first were all the channels that were jam-packed.
Qiuqiu Company had pushed the slogan “Level up to get Qiuqiu Coins”, and even before the game went live, it was already grabbing attention. Because it got too popular too fast, the beta didn’t last long before the full public release rolled out.
Though the game had a few bugs in the early stages, the gameplay didn’t deviate much from what Liu Changqing remembered. He’d spent half an hour squeezing into a channel, finally managed to create a Ghost Swordsman character, and had just finished the newbie quest to start grinding dungeons when — out of nowhere — a message popped up: “Network Connection Lost.”
Liu Changqing froze for a second, staring at the screen. No matter how much he mashed the keyboard, he couldn’t get into the next room. Looking at the screen, he couldn’t help but mutter:
“Yup… that’s the feel.”
Feng Qian, who’d been checking something on his phone, heard Liu Changqing and immediately lost the smile on his face. He turned around with a puzzled expression and asked.
Liu Changqing didn’t explain. He just exited the game client, picked up the cup on his right, and took a sip.
After setting the cup back down, he asked casually, like it was no big deal:
“Nothing really… By the way, how are things between you and Xu Yisheng lately?”
“It’s alright.”
Feng Qian replied without thinking, then turned his head back. A faint smile appeared again as he looked at his phone screen.
But it didn’t even last a few seconds. Then it hit him.
Feng Qian froze on the spot. Within just those few seconds, his expression started to shift awkwardly. His neck turned toward Liu Changqing like a rusty machine part. He was just about to offer an excuse when he saw that subtle, barely-there smirk at the corner of Liu Changqing’s lips…
…and decided to shut up.
“I… we’re just friends.”
“Mm-hmm. So that bruise on your forehead last time, that was her too?”
“No, that wasn’t…”
“Man, look. You’re not that young anymore. And Shuyan’s mom has been gone for a few years now. If you’re gonna go for it, go for it. Why hesitate?”
“……”
Liu Changqing’s words landed in Feng Qian’s ears word for word, making him a little uncomfortable. After all, he used to tell Liu Changqing with a straight face that…
He’d never fall in love with another woman in this lifetime.
Noticing the awkward look on Feng Qian’s face, Liu Changqing paused for a moment before continuing:
“But then again, you’re eight years older than Xu Yisheng. She’s just in her twenties… this might count as an old bull eating young grass, no?”
“I told you, we’re just friends. Besides, she’s the kids’ homeroom teacher. You think I’d have those kinds of thoughts? Even if she’s independent and has her own ideas, and we share some goals… anyway, it’s just normal friendship. Don’t go twisting things.”
“Alright, alright. You two are just friends.”
Maybe that was Feng Qian’s last bit of pride. Liu Changqing didn’t push further. Instead, he changed the topic.
“I’m thinking of signing my daughter up for a dance class. You thinking of doing the same for yours?”
“Dance class?”
“Yeah… something to help the kid develop an interest. Besides, it’s always better for girls to learn a few things than nothing at all.”
“Sounds good… I’ll go ask Shuyan. If she’s cool with it, let’s sign them up together.”
“Alright. So hey, later we’re celebrating with the folks from Qiuqiu. You coming?”
“I’ll pass…”
The flat-out rejection caught Liu Changqing off guard, though he didn’t say much about it. Just muttered a little sadly:
“Guess I’ll call that Wu Yu kid then… he’s got a big appetite anyway.”
After dropping off the totally plastered Wu Yu at his place, Liu Changqing — being the responsible boss that he was — didn’t want the kid to pass out on the sidewalk, so he made sure to escort him all the way to the door of his rental apartment.
Qi Hang opened the door. Seeing her boyfriend totally out of it, she was clearly startled. But even more surprising was seeing Liu Changqing there.
She quickly took the unconscious Wu Yu off his hands. Standing in the doorway, she looked a little awkward — clearly not planning to invite Liu Changqing inside.
She wasn’t much of a talker either. Just kind of froze there, struggling to get a single word out.
“Uh…”
“You go ahead and get him to bed.”
Sensing her discomfort, Liu Changqing didn’t insist on going in. He just politely asked a few questions about the Pokémon manga.
On that topic, Qi Hang was actually quite chatty.
Once the brief conversation ended, Liu Changqing headed downstairs and drove away.
He got back to his place without incident.
After parking, Liu Changqing made his way home, opened the door with his key, and saw Zhou Shiyan in the living room helping his daughter with her homework.
She noticed him too and greeted him politely, just as she always did.
Liu Changqing returned the greeting, then headed straight to his bedroom, not wanting to interrupt the tutoring session.
He reached his bedroom door.
Just as he was about to open it, his hand resting on the doorknob — he paused. His brow furrowed slightly.
He thought he heard voices coming from inside.
Without overthinking, Liu Changqing pushed the door open — and the moment he saw what was inside, he froze, as if his soul had left his body.
There on the bed sat An Yuanyao and Lan Yixian, seemingly deep in conversation. They were both drawn to the door when it suddenly opened and immediately went silent, turning their eyes to the figure standing in the doorway.
Liu Changqing glanced toward the bed. He noticed some fruit placed on the nightstand — looked like something Lan Yixian had brought.
An Yuanyao was clearly surprised to see him home. She quickly stood up from the bed and walked over to him.
Standing before him, tilting her head up slightly, she asked with a puzzled tone:
“You’re back already? Weren’t you supposed to be home in the afternoon?”
“Yeah… things wrapped up early.”
He replied briefly, then looked over at Lan Yixian still seated on the bed. Just as he glanced over, she looked up too.
At the same time, An Yuanyao held onto his arm, gently tugging him into the room, and closed the door behind them.
“She had the day off today, so she came over to hang out with Shiyan...”
Hearing that, Liu Changqing glanced at her, then looked again at Lan Yixian sitting by the bed…
A sense of confusion only grew stronger.
These two…
When did they get this close?
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