Yi Luo only remembered after quite a while that the box the two of them had tossed aside was still there. He picked it up again, looked mysteriously at He Wuning, and even patted the box, signaling with his eyes. “There’s still this box—are you really not going to open it?”
He Wuning glanced at him strangely, clearly not expecting there to actually be something inside. Surprise showed on his face. “The box… wasn’t just something you grabbed at random?”
“There’s really something inside?”
Yi Luo choked for a moment, speechless. “…Am I really that perfunctory in your eyes? Did you think I asked you to open it just to mess with you?”
Half laughing, half exasperated, he held the box in both hands and pushed it in front of him. “Here. Open it and see.”
He Wuning hesitated. Frowning, he leaned back slightly and examined the box in front of him, looking a little reluctant.
The more mysterious Yi Luo acted, the more He Wuning felt like something about the box was suspicious.
The redness behind his ears hadn’t faded yet, and his lips looked deeper in color than usual. His normally sharp features even carried a faint hint of allure, though his tone was exactly the same as always—bad-tempered.
“If a fist pops out of there,” he said, “I guarantee the next second my fist will be flying at your face.”
Yi Luo laughed helplessly. “Am I that childish?”
He shook the box so He Wuning could hear the sound inside. There was a faint rustling noise—impossible to tell what it was, but it definitely didn’t sound like a spring-loaded boxing glove.
Seeing He Wuning relax a little, Yi Luo edged closer again. “If I were dealing with Xue Xun or Xing Yue, maybe I’d put a spring fist in there. But for you? How could I?”
For a moment He Wuning wasn’t sure whether he should feel proud about being treated specially.
He looked at the box and finally reached out to take it. Carefully, he lifted the lid a little. There were no mechanical noises, no spring snapping—just a faint rubbing sound, like leaves brushing together.
He glanced at Yi Luo. Yi Luo nodded. So he lifted the lid completely.
What met his eyes was a vivid splash of red—so bright and saturated that it seemed to carry an almost overwhelming sense of warmth and emotion. He Wuning froze for a moment.
Inside was a huge cluster of red roses.
Calling it a bouquet wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t neatly arranged like flowers from a shop. Whoever packed the box had clearly tried to stuff in as many roses as possible. The tightly packed blooms filled the entire box—at a glance it looked less like a bouquet and more like the oversized red flower pinned to the chest of a top scholar in an old historical drama.
It was a mystery how he’d even managed to close the lid.
He Wuning gave Yi Luo a complicated look. Yi Luo, however, looked quite proud. “I asked Tang Yu to grow them for me. She even suggested adding some flowers with special fragrance effects,” he said, “but I righteously refused!”
He Wuning: “…”
“Even though I used to think red roses were kind of cliché,” Yi Luo continued, pushing the overflowing box toward him, “when I imagined putting them in this box for you, I suddenly wanted to give you every rose in the world.”
He chuckled. “Tang Yu even said I might as well use a bucket.”
He Wuning’s lips curled slightly. Holding the box of roses—so obviously conveying passionate affection—he nodded lightly. “It’s… okay.”
He added reluctantly, “Not that cliché.”
“I’ve realized something,” Yi Luo said with a laugh. “Once people fall in love, they automatically become cliché.” He reached out and pinched He Wuning’s cheek, announcing it as if it were some grand discovery.
He Wuning still wore his usual expression that looked like he might bite someone, but he didn’t really resist the cheek-pinching. Yi Luo leaned against him, counting on his fingers. “If we weren’t stuck in the game right now, I’d probably go buy matching outfits, matching bracelets…”
Suddenly, he brightened. “Hey, do you think those lifestyle players could custom-make that?”
“No,” He Wuning said firmly.
Yi Luo was about to continue when his peripheral vision caught something at the window—a resentful face pressed against the glass—Q-chan.
Yi Luo: “…”
He had completely forgotten Q-chan was still outside.
He hesitated. But He Wuning had already noticed his gaze and stood up to open the window.
“Took you long enough!” Q-chan floated in through the window, complaining to Yi Luo with a look of exasperation. “When you confess you need momentum—just shout it out all at once! Dragging it out like that, did you even make up your mind?”
“He already said it,” He Wuning reminded him.
“Huh?” Q-chan blinked, stunned, then turned to Yi Luo. “You actually asked already?”
Yi Luo nodded, in a good mood, and poked Q-chan’s head. “I may be the slow type, but unfortunately someone here is even more impatient.”
He Wuning: “…”
Q-chan didn’t catch the implication. Carefully studying Yi Luo’s expression, he asked uncertainly, “So… it worked, right? You two are together now?”
Yi Luo narrowed his eyes and pressed a hand over his whole head. “What do you mean? Did you think I’d fail?”
“No! Of course not! I mean… well… it hurts my heart a little, but I still hope you’ll both be happy!” Q-chan clutched his chest dramatically, then looked puzzled. “But if it succeeded, why haven’t you mated?”
The atmosphere froze for a moment.
Q-chan remained completely unaware and continued curiously, “According to my database, animals usually court during mating season. Humans, as mammals, don’t have a very obvious mating season, but generally courtship is for—”
Yi Luo immediately clamped a hand over his mouth. “Hold on. Let me see if this thing has a battery I can remove.”
“Your data is wrong,” He Wuning said expressionlessly.
“Mmmph mmmph!”
Our system database is extremely complete!
Q-chan protested silently, trying to communicate through different tones of muffled whining while flailing his arms, but he was mercilessly suppressed.
……aaaa
Early the next morning, the pink milk tea car rolled toward the safe zone with a large box of bright red roses displayed right at the front window, as if proudly advertising that some kind of love story had happened in the vehicle.
As soon as the car stopped near the safe zone, Xue Xun—who had been waiting—waved and hurried over. His gaze swept across the roses and he froze for a moment. Before he could greet them, Yi Luo spoke first, pointing at the roses. “So? Nice, right?”
Xue Xun blinked in confusion and nodded instinctively. “Yeah, they’re pretty nice. Where’d you even get flowers? The game has those?”
Yi Luo grinned smugly. “Secret.”
Xue Xun scratched his head. Since he didn’t currently need flowers, he didn’t pursue the question further and just muttered, “Did you guys requisition the milk tea car as a wedding car or something? It looks so festive…”
“Actually, with the pink color scheme, it kind of fits.”
Yi Luo’s smile froze. From the corner of his eye he saw He Wuning turn away and quietly laugh, which only made him more annoyed as he grabbed Xue Xun. “Do you even know how to talk?!”
“Huh?” Xue Xun looked baffled. “What did I say wrong?”
While Yi Luo dragged Xue Xun aside for “re-education,” He Wuning walked to the window and pulled down the serving panel. Even though they’d only stopped business for a few days, he suddenly felt oddly nostalgic.
“Boss, I heard you were hospitalized not long ago. It scared me to death…”
“Yeah! My grandma even replaced the God of Wealth statue at home with the God of Medicine!”
“And I heard you already got revenge! Haha, I knew you were unbeatable!”
He Wuning listened to their chatter. He didn’t respond much, but his expression softened slightly.
“Don’t be fooled by his face,” Q-chan said at the right moment, sticking close to him. “Inside he’s saying thank you!”
“Mmph!”
He Wuning shoved him down expressionlessly and handed out the milk tea.
The players accepted it while trying not to laugh, waving goodbye as they left.
He Wuning watched their backs.
At first he’d started the milk tea car only to level up. But somehow, without him noticing, the truck that appeared every day without fail had become a source of reassurance for the players.
Some things had quietly changed.
He Wuning shook his head slightly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Yi Luo and Xue Xun walking away with their arms around each other’s shoulders. Even from just their backs, he could already imagine Yi Luo’s smug expression and Xue Xun’s shocked face.
Ignoring the warmth creeping up his ears, He Wuning shook his head and focused on making milk tea.
For some reason, today’s best-selling drink was the new product—Cheesy Berry Crunch Boba, which granted the extra “Soul Form” skill that turned the user into a semi-transparent ghost-like state.
It became especially popular with players.
Even those not heading to Ghost Island wanted to try being a ghost for a while. As a result, Xue Xun had to come out and remind everyone: “The ‘Soul Form’ skill only lasts fifteen minutes! If you do bad things in ghost form, the combat department will still arrest you! Please buy according to your needs—don’t just get fancy with it!”
As he spoke, he kept sneaking glances at He Wuning, clearly having heard something from Yi Luo earlier but feeling too embarrassed to ask.
He Wuning pretended not to notice and handed out another stack of milk teas.
He wasn’t far from level 40 now. After today’s long-awaited return to business, he’d probably soon reach max level.
At the end of the day, after handing over batch after batch of milk tea for the combat department, Xue Xun glanced around and lowered his voice. “The date for the second offensive has been set. You can start preparing.”
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The author has something to say:
Q-chan: I don’t care, I’m going to say it out loud—aren’t animals courting just for ma—mmph mmph!
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