Chapter 03

That year when Tang Yi took a break from school, a famous game studio in the country developed a large-scale 3D martial arts MMORPG game called “The Legend”.

Thanks to her cousin He Yunkai’s help, Tang Yi spent the entire summer vacation following him to raid dungeons, becoming one of the earliest veteran players.

That day was an accident.

Cousin He Yunkai, who rarely took a break, asked her to go online to start a new dungeon. Tang Yi’s father was working in the study, so Tang Yi had to go to the Internet cafe near her home.

The Internet cafe was located in the alley across from the residential area, and going out from the other end of the alley was the No. 8 High School.

At that time, Warcraft and The Legend were the two most popular games in the internet cafe, with many people inside on weekends and not a pleasant smell.

After finishing the dungeon and getting the weapon she wanted, Tang Yi said goodbye to her cousin online. As she was logging off, a few boys in the back row excitedly shouted, “Damn! The Purple Flame Sword!”

That was an equipment a hundred times rarer than the one Tang Yi had.

A crowd quickly gathered around the boy who had obtained the Purple Flame Sword.

As a game enthusiast, Tang Yi was naturally attracted and peeked through the gaps in the crowd.

A young man, with only his upper body visible in the shadow of the chair back, his hand gripping the mouse was long and beautiful, with a red string wrapped around his wrist.

Tang Yi found him familiar, and as she approached, she clearly saw the young man’s face and quickly glanced at the computer screen.

There was a swordsman in white robes, wielding what was said to be one of the ten rarest equipment in “The Legend”, the Purple Flame Sword, with a line of green text above his head.

–[Telecom Server 5] · Qiao Fu.

Tang Yi silently noted those words, and before the people around her dispersed, she quickly left the internet cafe and returned home. Her father was likely out, so she slipped into the study and logged into her game account.

Server 5 was the main server, where the early players were. In addition to the character she played regularly, Tang Yi had two more max-level alt accounts.

She used the account with a male character profile, entered “Qiao Fu” in the add friend panel, and quickly a profile popped up.

Opening the detailed information, she saw the location was in Pingcheng, which almost made her exclaim out loud.

She hesitated for a long time with the mouse in her hand before clicking the “Add Friend” button, and in the verification message, she wrote a sentence to facilitate the acceptance.

—Hello, I saw you using the Purple Flame Sword in the internet cafe this afternoon, and I wanted to ask if you’re selling it.

The other party quickly verified and sent a message.

[16:45:23][Private Chat][Qiao Fu]: Sorry, not selling.

Tang Yi replied okay, and while hesitating whether to say anything else, the other party’s avatar went dark, indicating they had gone offline.

After that, the Qiao Fu’s avatar never lit up again.

That year, the first snow in Pingcheng came unusually early, with two snowfalls before Christmas. Tang Yi usually had nothing to do on weekends, so she just hung around in the game leveling up.

Her first team-up with Jiang Qiaosheng was on Christmas Day.

Tang Yi went out for hot pot with Lin Yang for lunch, and when she came back, she habitually logged into the game. Before long, the private chat window shook.

[13:22:09][Private Chat][Qiao Fu]: The Xuanwu Cave instance, wanna go?

Tang Yi hardly hesitated.

[13:22:55][Private Chat][Tang Sheng]: Let’s go.

Jiang Qiaosheng quickly sent a team invitation, and after Tang Yi joined, someone in the team asked her if she could turn on the microphone. She typed that it was inconvenient at home.

[13:25:05][Team][Tang Sheng]: I can keep up, I’ll give a signal if there’s a situation.

After sending the message, a familiar voice came through the earpiece: “Then turn it on.”

Tang Yi accidentally slipped her hand at that moment, almost using the wrong skill.

The Xuanwu Cave was of medium difficulty. Tang Yi had good experience and skills. After finishing a dungeon, the boy playing the stringed-instrument player praised her in the voice chat: “Buddy, you played well. There’s another dungeon later, wanna play together?”

Before she could say anything, another male voice said: “A Yang should be back soon.”

The stringed-instrument player: “Can he compare to Tang Sheng’s level? We won’t bring him today, what do you think, Qiao Fu?”

Tang Yi held her breath.

Jiang Qiaosheng took a few seconds before speaking: “Do you want to play, Tang Sheng?”

[14:04:55][Team][Tang Sheng]: I can play, but what about your friend?

Jiang Qiaosheng seemed to chuckle, his voice low and warm through the static: “His level is too low, let’s start first.”

Tang Yi’s ears felt hot and she subconsciously bit her nails while typing with one hand.

[14:07:53][Team][Tang Sheng]: Okay.

That afternoon, Tang Yi followed Jiang Qiaosheng and the others through three games, and at the end, the stringed-instrument player shouted in the team chat: “Qiao Fu, where did you find this expert? It’s too strong.”

Jiang Qiaosheng seemed to have read the chat record: “It seems they came to find me to collect the Purple Flame Sword.”

[17:04:09][Team][Tang Sheng]: …..

[17:04:23][Team][Tang Sheng]: I was just joking.

The team chat was filled with laughter, and Jiang Qiaosheng spoke with a hint of amusement: “I have something to do later, I’ll log off first, we can play again when I’m free.”

Tang Yi didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to him, and after leaving the team, she opened his grayed-out avatar and found an additional line in his signature.

–I am a fisherman and a woodcutter in the wilderness, a carefree wanderer all my life.

She read it aloud, but before she could fully appreciate the meaning, she heard her parents coming home, so she quickly closed the computer and logged off.

After that, Tang Yi received friend requests from the stringed-instrument player and the monk, and whenever she went online, they would always invite her to play games together.

Jiang Qiaosheng is online most of the time.

She never turned on the microphone, and once the stringed-instrument player joked that she might be a girl. Tang Yi was startled, but before she could say anything, the monk interrupted: “Let me make it clear that I’m not discriminating against girls, it’s just that in this game, I haven’t encountered a girl who can play martial arts game to this level.”

Tang Yi quickly sent a message in the team, explaining that she usually plays games at home, and if she makes too much noise, she will be scolded by her parents.

Jiang Qiaosheng suddenly asked, “You’re not a primary school student, are you? Let me make it clear, we don’t play games with kids.”

[14:33:53][Team][Tang Sheng]: I’m in my second year of high school……..

The stringed-instrument player laughed, “Then we three are a grade higher than you. In the future, if we meet, you’ll have to call us ‘senior’.”

The idea of meeting up was too far-fetched, Tang Yi didn’t dare to think about it, so she jokingly replied.

[14:34:54][Team][Tang Sheng]: Screw off, in the game you still call me ‘big brother’.

The group burst into laughter, and Tang Yi sat in front of the computer, listening to the occasional sounds from Jiang Qiaosheng’s microphone, and feeling an indescribable joy in her heart.

…

The three days of the New Year’s holiday, “The Legend” has a New Year’s task, the chance of rare equipment dropping from the boss is doubled, Tang Yi gave her main account to a family member in the guild to grind the task, and she secretly went to her alt.

Only Jiang Qiaosheng was online.

She asked him in a private chat if he wanted to play, Jiang Qiaosheng quickly sent a party invite, it was a two-person dungeon, main quest to fight the boss, side quest to open treasure chests.

[14:04:23][Team][Tang Sheng]:Where are the stringed-instrument player and the others?

Jiang Qiaosheng unmuted his mic: “They have something going on at home, why are you online at this time?”

[14:05:18][Team][Tang Sheng]:I’ll log off after this task, I can’t play today, I have something later.

Jiang Qiaosheng: “Okay, I’ll start then.”

At the end, Jiang Qiaosheng sent a message to Tang Yi in private chat.

[14:45:55][Private Chat][Qiao Fu]:23xxxxxxxx, my □□, if it’s convenient, you can add me, I’ll invite you to the group.

Tang Yi looked at the string of numbers, her hand hovering over the keyboard, and it took her a while before she typed it in.

[15:34:46][Private Chat][Tang Sheng]:Okay.

When Jiang Qiaosheng said he had logged off,  Tang Yi still couldn’t quite believe it. The emotions of that moment were simply indescribable, like a tsunami had swept through her heart.

She asked He Yunkai for a trumpet account, changed the password and personal information, and the space still had He Yunkai’s basketball status updates from a long time ago.

It was a very boyish account.

Jiang Qiaosheng quickly agreed to her friend request and added her to the group where the stringed-instrument player and the monk were, which was the clan’s private group, not too many people.

The group warmly welcomed her, and Tang Yi wrote a few messages in a masculine tone, afraid of being discovered, and then quickly logged off.

In the evening, after dinner, Tang Yi was playing at her grandparents’ house. At midnight, her phone vibrated.

She thought it was a message from Lin Yang, but when she opened it, it was from Qiao Fu.

—Happy New Year, Tang Sheng.

Tang Yi’s brain went blank for a few seconds, she repeatedly switched in and out of the software to confirm that it was not her illusion.

That year, the city had not yet imposed a ban on fireworks. At midnight, fireworks outside the window crackled. Tang Yi looked at the unexpected message, feeling both joy and worry.

She was happy to receive blessings from Jiang Qiaosheng, but worried that these blessings were for Tang Sheng, not for Tang Yi.

Shortly after the New Year, No. 8 High School entered the final exam season, and Tang Yi was strictly forbidden by her parents from entering the study room, while Jiang Qiaosheng and the others were often online.

Sometimes they would also ask her to play.

Tang Sheng: [Play a hammer, my mom said if I fail English again this semester, I won’t be allowed to touch the game anymore.]

Tang Yi did not lie about her poor English, and the stringed-instrument player did not spare his laughter, sending a long string of “haha”.

The stringed-instrument player: [Boys generally have poor English, it’s normal.]

Tang Yi was not comforted much by his consolation, and just made a few casual remarks before making an excuse to go offline.

A few days later, Jiang Qiaosheng suddenly sent her a private message.

Qiao Fu: [Is this your email address?]

Tang Sheng: [That’s right, what’s the matter?]

Qiao Fu: [I’ll send you something later, take a look.]

Tang Sheng: [Okay, what is it?]

Qiao Fu: [Good stuff.]

Tang Yi suddenly thought that Jiang Qiaosheng might have sent her something colored, and she was worried and scared all day.

In the evening, when she went back, she begged and pleaded in front of Mother Tang, and was finally allowed to go to the study and touch the computer for a while.

Tang Yi quickly logged into the mailbox, and Jiang Qiaosheng had sent the email at noon. There was no content, only an attachment, and the title was Tang Sheng.

She opened it, and it was a collection of difficult points in high school English.

Tang Yi was stunned, and at that moment, she felt like riding a roller coaster to the highest point, with her heart pounding under the intense weightlessness, wanting to scream freely.

But Tang Yi held back.

The roller coaster slid down from the highest point, with the sound of the wind all the way, stopping at the starting and ending point, bringing endless emptiness.

Tang Yi sent a message to Jiang Qiaosheng to express her gratitude.

Qiao Fu: [It’s a small matter, these are the materials I used in high school. You should study hard, and let’s play games during the winter vacation?]

Tang Sheng: [That’s a given.]

Jiang Qiaosheng went offline.

However, Tang Yi was caught in a complex emotion. Jiang Qiaosheng’s kindness was all for Tang Sheng, but Tang Sheng and Tang Yi were destined to be one person.

The intersection between high school second and third grades was very small, and Tang Yi did not meet Jiang Qiaosheng every day. The encounter at the internet cafe was unexpected.

She approached Jiang Qiaosheng with a sense of exploration, curiosity, and a touch of feelings that even she couldn’t explain.

Like a flower about to bloom, it blossomed silently in the pursuit of a glimmer of light.

---

Author’s note:

First, I’d like to apologize to the readers who have been waiting for updates. This chapter may temporarily switch to a weekly update.

I’m really sorry about this. I really want to write this story well, but it’s much more difficult to control than I imagined. I want to take a little more time to write this story well.

I’m really sorry, and thank you for your support.