Chapter 60

The day after Lin Si returned to the film crew, he wore a flesh-colored high-neck inner lining close to his skin to cover the gland at the back of his neck. Liao Ji specially discussed with the costume team, saying that Lin Si had strained his neck and couldn’t be exposed to the wind, so it would be best to switch to a collared shirt.

Fortunately, they had already prepared white dress shirts beforehand. When Lin Si put one on, it covered the area well enough, preventing others from having too many doubts.

After spending about a week under Ye Gaotan’s guidance, Lin Si had improved quite significantly. At the very least, after finishing a take, Ye Gaotan would now hesitate for three seconds before saying, “Again.” But even just this small progress was enough to make Lin Si feel satisfied.

Originally, today was supposed to be Lin Si’s follow-up appointment, but the film crew changed the schedule yesterday. So, he had to rush to a filming location in Nancheng, making it impossible to keep his appointment with Lu Wei.

The temperature in Nancheng was much higher. Lin Si changed into a short-sleeved shirt and loose shorts. The bite mark on the back of his neck had mostly healed, leaving only a faint red mark that looked like a mosquito bite, so he was no longer restricted in his movements.

After finishing filming, Lin Si returned to the hotel.

The moment he stepped inside, 604 powered on and floated around the empty hotel room, greeting him:
“You’re back so late! Lu Wei came looking for me again—I had to turn on several times because of him!”

The film’s plot was too heavy, and Lin Si had been in a somber mood on the way back. He wasn’t feeling great and had completely forgotten to check his phone.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he found Lu Wei’s messages.

Lu Wei: [Missed call]
Lu Wei: [Still not done filming?]

Lin Si hurriedly called back, and the call connected immediately.

“I just got back to the hotel,” Lin Si said. “Sorry, I forgot I was supposed to answer your call tonight.”

“It’s okay,” Lu Wei replied. “Did you just finish shooting?”

“Yeah, we filmed for a long time today.”

He wasn’t in high spirits, but he forced himself to perk up while talking to Lu Wei, telling him about the crew’s day.

“Song-ge got scolded by Director Ye today—really badly. No one dared to say a word.” Lin Si sighed. “Prison scenes are tough to shoot. I was okay since I had fewer scenes, but in a few days, I’ll have to sit in the detention van too.”

Lu Wei listened patiently, asking a few questions about the plot. Lin Si made him promise not to spoil anything before giving a simple rundown of the story.

Suddenly, Lin Si asked, “You didn’t work overtime tonight?”

“I was going to pick you up.” Lu Wei’s voice was calm.

Lin Si instantly realized that Lu Wei had cleared his schedule for him. His heart swelled with warmth, like pink bubbles popping one after another.

He crouched down, rummaged through his suitcase for his virtual reality glasses, then jumped onto the bed. “Let’s meet up, okay? In the virtual world?”

Lu Wei, of course, had no reason to refuse.

Before putting on the glasses, Lin Si glanced at 604. “Shouldn’t you be going to sleep?”

604: “I can go into standby mode anytime.”

“…I’m about to have some alone time with Lu Wei. Shut down now.”

604: “Heh, I have no interest in listening to a couple’s nauseating sweet talk.”

“Who’s being nauseating?!” Lin Si stretched out his hand to swat at 604, but the robot’s glasses blinked, turning into a single horizontal line before shutting down and disappearing.

Lin Si glared at it for a few more seconds, muttering to himself. Lu Wei really has a way of picking things—his cat doesn’t like him, and the robot he gave me is a little smart-mouthed menace. Not fun at all.

---

The virtual world loaded. When Lin Si opened his eyes again, he was back in that familiar bedroom.

“Lu Wei?”

“I’m right beside you,” Lu Wei’s voice came from nearby.

Lin Si turned his head and immediately laughed. When he didn’t know what Y looked like before, he thought this face was fine. But now that he knew Lu Wei’s real appearance, it just felt off—completely unlike him.

“Not used to it?” Lu Wei asked.

Lin Si shook his head, still smiling. “It’s fine. Let’s keep it this way. If we both used our real faces, we’d be in trouble.” He reached up, gently touching Lu Wei’s face. “I remember what you look like. Even if you change this avatar, I won’t get it wrong.”

The last time they left the virtual world, it was just as warm and sweet. It felt like they had gone in a circle, only to end up back where they started.

No matter what, they would always meet again and be together.

“Where should we go?” Lin Si asked. “Do you want to play chess again?”

Lu Wei led him downstairs. “A new feature launched recently—let’s check it out.”

Hearing that, Lin Si recalled the Bubble commercial he had filmed. The platform had been promoting Bubble on a large scale, bringing more traffic into the virtual world. The housing prices in Queenstown had skyrocketed—his and Lu Wei’s one-bedroom apartment had surged from 30,000 to over 50,000 credits, almost doubling in value.

“Why is it so hard to earn money, but housing prices keep going up?” Lin Si muttered as they walked. “If people don’t have a setup like ours, it must be really hard to afford a place.”

“We paid in full,” Lu Wei said. “Other people can take out loans. The banking system is now complete—you can deposit money, and the interest rates are much higher than in the real world.”

“Really?”

“It’s just virtual currency, after all.”

Lin Si thought for a moment and asked, “Then does this world have stocks and investments?”

“Even if they developed them, they wouldn’t go live.”

“Why not?”

“Too close to gambling,” Lu Wei explained. “Anything like stocks, funds, or securities comes with high risks. The development team suggested it once, but it was immediately rejected.”

---

They boarded a tram. Lin Si switched perspectives, looking out the window at the bustling streets.

“It really feels like a world now. So many people.” He paused before asking, “Where exactly are we going? I don’t see anything special on the map.”

“You’ll know when we get there,” Lu Wei said.

Their destination wasn’t far—just a three-minute tram ride. Lin Si estimated that walking would take about ten minutes.

When they arrived, Lin Si looked up. “A shopping mall? An arcade?” He turned to Lu Wei. “Did you design this?”

Lu Wei led him inside. “Not exactly. The mall system was developed a while ago, but it was never fully functional in the virtual world. Now, it’s finally complete.”

Hearing that, Lin Si suddenly remembered—he had once told Lu Wei that the next time they met, he wanted to pick out furniture for their home.

“Then shall we go to the furniture store first?” Lin Si asked.

“Let’s go to the shopping mall first,” Lu Wei replied.

They stood in front of the automated wardrobe, trying on one outfit after another and showing them to each other.

Although Lin Si’s taste in pajamas was questionable, his fashion sense was actually quite good. He picked out several sets of casual clothes for Lu Wei.

“I’m tired of seeing you in dress shirts every day,” Lin Si said, selecting a light green sweater on the screen to see how it looked. “I’m the same. My wardrobe is just black, white, gray, or other cool tones.”

“This one looks good,” Lu Wei commented.

Lin Si stood still and nodded. “Alright, I’ll buy another one of this.”

They happily changed into their new clothes—Lin Si wore the light green sweater Lu Wei had complimented, while Lu Yan donned an off-white one. Walking down the street, they finally looked like a real couple.

After picking out furniture, Lin Si excitedly dragged Lu Wei to the arcade.

Unfortunately, all the games were new, and Lin Si didn’t know how to play any of them. He followed behind Lu Wei, chattering excitedly, but when it was his turn, he ended up wailing and begging Lu Wei to take over for him.

It was even more obvious in the two-player battle mode. Lu Wei took his hands off the controller entirely, and Lin Si still couldn’t win.

“This won’t do! I need to practice my gaming skills with Lu Nan when I get back,” Lin Si huffed as they left the arcade. “I will definitely make it onto the leaderboard… at least in the top—” He hesitated for a moment before settling on a more realistic goal. “Top ten.”

The current tenth-place holder was Lu Wei, who had only played for forty minutes today.

“Alright.” Lu Wei responded in that same calm, encouraging tone.

Lin Si: “…” Why did it sound so condescending?!

“Don’t mock me! I learn fast. One day, I’ll surpass you.”

But after he said that, the person beside him didn’t respond.

Lin Si looked up and saw that the icon in the bottom right corner of Lu Wei’s avatar had turned gray, and a countdown had started—he was about to be logged out.

Worried that Lu Wei had lost connection, Lin Si waited for two minutes. When there was still no update, he quickly logged out to check on him.

There was no message from Lu Wei.

Three minutes later, Lin Si finally received a text:

[Heading to the hospital. Get some rest.]

Lin Si froze. Lu Wei had told him before—if something happened to Lu Shaoming, the hospital would notify him.

He held his breath and asked:

[Is it Old Lu?]

Lu Wei’s reply was brief:

[Mm.]

Lin Si wanted to ask more, but in the end, he withdrew his fingers from the screen.

What was he even doing? Lu Wei was rushing to the hospital to see Lu Shaoming, while he was sitting here, wrestling with emotions he couldn’t even put into words. Asking too many questions at a time like this would just make him seem cruel.

He took off his VR glasses and lay down on the bed.

Rubbing his tired eyes, Lin Si felt lost. The moment he attached the title “Lu Wei’s father” to Lu Shaoming’s name, he found himself hoping there wouldn’t be any bad news.

At least, not worse than things already were.

“How pathetic…” Lin Si mumbled, wrapping himself in the blanket with a sigh. Before he knew it, he drifted off to sleep.

---

His dreams were a chaotic carousel of colors and flashing images—some good, some bad, moments from the past, moments from the present, times without Lu Wei, and times when Lu Wei had entered his life.

Everything was tangled together in a complicated mess.

The dreams drained his energy. When he woke up, his head was pounding. For a moment, he thought he was at home, lying beside Lu Wei.

So when he reached out and didn’t feel Lu Wei next to him, a cold sweat broke out across his back.

It took a few seconds for him to realize where he was. Lin Si pulled his legs up, pressing his forehead against his knees with a sigh.

He glanced at the time—10:30 AM!

He had a scene scheduled this morning with Lu Nan. 10:30 meant he was seriously late.

Panicking, he reached for his phone to contact Liao Ji, but just as he picked it up, he saw a new message from Lu Wei—

[He’s gone.]

Lin Si froze. His phone slipped from his fingers, landing on his ankle with a sharp pain, but he felt nothing.

There was no joy, no sense of revenge, not even the relief of a curtain being pulled back to reveal the light.

Lin Si just felt… blank.

To him, Lu Shaoming had always been like a stubborn, foul-smelling piece of chewed-up gum—impossible to shake off.

Lu Shaoming had tricked him into undergoing gland surgery. Lu Shaoming had discarded him after using him up. Then, when he realized Lin Si still had value, he lifted him up again. He had always demanded that Lin Si be a useful Alpha.

Hypocrisy, fake smiles—everything about Lu Shaoming was artificial.

In his eyes, Lin Si was just a shiny pearl—something he could squeeze and mold using money, contracts, and power. He had never felt guilty. Never feared the consequences of his actions.

Lu Shaoming’s arrogance, his self-importance—everyone found it laughable. Yet, he remained oblivious, parading around as if he were untouchable.

And now, someone like that… had simply lain quietly for a few months and then, in the middle of the night, passed away.

Lin Si suddenly felt like even his hatred had been wasted on him.

His phone vibrated against his ankle. Stiffly, Lin Si bent down, picked it up, and answered the call.

“Awake?” Liao Ji’s voice came through.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t wake you on purpose. Lu Nan had to take emergency leave, so you don’t have any scenes today. Thanks to him, you get a day off too.”

“He’s dead,” Lin Si said.

“What? Who’s dead?” Liao Ji asked.

Lin Si opened his mouth but, in the end, didn’t say Lu Shaoming’s name.

---

Author’s Note:
Sigh. You’ll have to wait for the previous chapter to be unlocked… I’ve revised it six times already, and it keeps getting rejected. But it’s really important, so please make sure to read it when it’s available.

T/n: : Well yeah….it’s gonna be a sombre in next few chapters but still sweet🧁 so yeah if you’re enjoying What I am doing so far plz support me by buying me a Ko-Fi or you can directly go to my paypal page. Happy Reading 🎉😀