Boss Zhong was a silver-haired old man in his early 60s. He wore a simple gray-blue gown, had a chubby waist and a very kind temperament. If these clothes were taken off, he would look like a neighbor who walked around the street with a birdcage and instructed people to play chess.
He was leaning over a small pool of water behind his house, smoking a mixture of tobacco, honey and oranges. Then he heard the sound of the heavy curtain being lifted. This was followed by the footsteps of three guests entering.
Boss Zhong held the hookah and hurried forward to greet them with a brilliant smile. “Guests have come. Take a look around.”
Jiang Fang stepped forward and politely said, “Excuse me…”
Before he could finish, Nan Zhou firmly placed an apple on the counter. “Please look at this apple.”
Li Yinhang found that she had miscalculated the number of things in Nan Zhou’s hands. There was always an apple in Nan Zhou’s warehouse. Since they met on the bus, there had always been an apple firmly in Nan Zhou’s hands. Even though it was messy from Nanji Star chewing on it and the bitten places had shrunk and turned yellow, Nan Zhou still put the apple in his warehouse and tried to keep it fresh.
Boss Zhang picked up the apple ravaged by Nanji Star. He examined it and spoke in Mandarin that was as standard as possible. “This is an apple grown from the seeds sold in this store. However, we don’t sell any that are secretly eaten by mice.”
Nan Zhou asked, “How many people have bought it?”
Boss Zhong smiled and his eyes slightly narrowed. “This store has bookkeeping but there are too many apple seeds sold. This guest, can you remember when it was bought?”
Nan Zhou opened his mouth. “Around a year and a half ago.”
Li Yinhang was startled and turned to look at Jiang Fang. She mouthed: A year and a half ago?
Wasn’t that when Forces of Temptation first came out?
Boss Zhong took a puff of the hookah before squinting to try and recall the past. He looked a lot like a boss in reality. He said, “That is even more unclear. It was a time when the seeds of my store were doing activities. The ones who could get their hands on the seeds depended on their own good luck.”
Li Yinhang thought about the words and probably understood.
Oh, the novice package. Forces of Temptation had given away free novice gift packs. They were similar in the broad categories and there was a certain amount of randomness. The novice gift pack of Forces of Temptation had even made it to the hot search.
Her colleague had bought a game cabin and drew 500 Rust City shopping vouchers, 3000 Paper Gold vouchers, 10 rare snow lotus seeds that could be planted in specific land on Homeland Island, 10 bags of high quality fertilizer, a bow and arrow weapon that could be applied to Ancient City State and a good quality skin.
Li Yinhang had roughly seen it when her colleague posted it to her Moments. If the apple seeds were used as part of the novice gift pack and distributed in large quantities, it would be unclear which players received it.
***
Nan Zhou left the seed store while holding the apple and looked disappointed. Li Yinhang followed him only to abruptly stop. She stretched out. “Ah, I’m a bit tired.”
She sat down on the stone steps behind her and suggested, “Let’s just take a break here.”
Nan Zhou looked around at the environment. “Okay.”
The scent of wet plants was all around them. This fresh and natural woody smell made people’s moods relax a lot. Nanji Star lay on Nan Zhou’s shoulder and wriggled his small butt excitedly. He foolishly aimed at a red dragonfly passing by.
The three of them sat in a row on the stone steps. Li Yinhang sat in the middle while Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou were on either side of her. She felt that such a ranking and atmosphere wasn’t quite right. She tried to break the deadlock by asking Nan Zhou, “Are you looking for someone?”
“Yes.” Li Yinhang thought about it. During their first meeting, Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang had been forcibly pulled from another place. Thanks to this, the confusion in her heart increased and it became more difficult to understand.
Why were the two of them special? Where did they come from?
However, confusion was confusion. Li Yinhang always had an idea in mind. She stopped asking and patted Nan Zhou on the shoulder, comforting him, “You will find them.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Aljcu Mjcu mbeutfv delfais. Rjc Itbe uijcmfv ja tlw. Aljcu Mjcu bqfcfv tlr wbeat. “Tbeg qjra ‘oglfcv’ ujnf sbe atlr jqqif?”
Nan Zhou nodded.
Jiang Fang reconfirmed it. “A friend?”
“Um…” In fact, for Nan Zhou, Ms Apple Tree was very important to him but it wasn’t to the extent of being friends. Then Nan Zhou recalled it again. Jiang Fang said he had many friends.
…He had a good memory.
Therefore, Nan Zhou nodded. “Yes.”
Jiang Fang was both angry and amused. He leaned back, elbows resting on the stone steps as he smiled in a self-deprecating manner. “Ha.”
Nan Zhou, “……?”
He asked, “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Fang turned his head to the side. He endured the jealousy in his heart and gritted his teeth in order to ease the discomfort.
What was this? How could his past self… be a friend? They only met once. How could they be friends?
***
Around a year and a half ago.
Jiang Fang visited the city that his mother came from. It was only when he was about to renew the room for the five star hotel where he was staying that he found his credit card didn’t work. The $130,000 he earned two months ago in Las Vegas that he deposited in a Chinese credit card had been used up.
Jiang Fang shrugged and smiled. He drew a special card from his 52 playing cards and smiled at the front desk receptionist with his standard gentle and distant smile. ”Do you support UnionPay of other countries?”
Jiang Fang spoke with a confident expression. It blended with a touch of pride to add to his already outstanding face. Under his smiling gaze, it was very difficult to maintain the signature smile from the assembly line.
The woman at the front desk carefully controlled her heart so that her smile wasn’t too bright. “Of course. The exchange rate is based on today’s rates and a handling fee is required. Is that acceptable?”
Jiang Fang nodded softly. “Yes.”
She opened the drawer and prepared to take out the card machine. “What currency and what bank? Does it support VISA?”
Jiang Fang held the bank card between his fingers and examined it carefully before deciding. “Bahamas currency.”
The female front desk receptionist, “……”
Jiang Fang showed her the card surface and his finger tapped the VISA mark twice. He had won this from the Atlantis Casino in the Bahamas. He didn’t have time to exchange it to dollars so it was a bit troublesome.
“It is a currency that can be exchanged 1:1 with the US dollar.” Jiang Fang reminded her. “Don’t worry and slowly look.”
The receptionist who was busy looking for a currency exchange, “…Thank you.”
After spending a part of it on the handling fee, Jiang Fang finally paid the room fee. For the next half a day, he counted the assets he possessed. He found that his existing assets conflicted with his plan to buy a house in C City.
After all, his casino career affected Jiang Fang’s outlook on money. Even if his technique could support his slightly distorted view of money, the influence of this concept meant he developed a strange hobby.
He liked to buy real estate in places he liked all over the world. It was also a lump sum payment, not a loan.
C City was where his mother used to live. He deserved to own a house here. He could leave at any time and return at any time.
Adding up all the money he had on hand from various currencies, he only had around 2.6 million. It was 400,000 yuan short of the 150 square meters garden-style apartment he was looking at. It was 2.4 million short of the single storey villa he liked.
Gambling wasn’t allowed on the mainland. He should always do things according to the place he went. Jiang Fang understood this truth well. Therefore, Jiang Fang needed a sum of money through the proper channels but quickly.
At this time, the publicity campaign for Forces of Temptation was in full swing. Jiang Fang put down the iPad showing housing information as he drank coffee in the central square. He raised his eyes and happened to see Nan Zhou on the giant LED screen opposite him.
In the publicity that lasted 1 minute and 20 seconds, ‘Nan Zhou’ occupied only one second. However, Jiang Fang recognized it instantly. This was the cover of the comic ‘Eternal Day.’
Nan Zhou sat alone on a roof while a huge sun was behind him. The shadow of his body slightly deformed and distorted in the sunlight, like melted cheese. Nan Zhou was looking at the sun, seeing a freedom he could never reach.
Meanwhile, Jiang Fang stood on the street and stared up at Nan Zhou on the giant screen.
Jiang Fang’s father had a large collection of books that covered a wide range of subjects. There was astronomy, insects, psychology, sociology and anthropology but there were also popular sayings, newspapers, magazines and romance books.
His father never restricted himself to anything and would study everything. He liked cheesy and sleazy captions but he also loved the sea of stars that he had never seen in his life. Large books, small books and comics occupied an entire wall at home.
The moment Jiang Fang had the ability to read, he shared the bookshelf with his father.
His father asked him, “Which book do you like best?”
The eight year old Jiang Fang took out Eternal Day and held it to his chest like it was a bouquet.
His father wondered, “Why?”
Jiang Fang answered seriously, “He is too lonely and he needs me. One day, I will rescue him.”
His father smiled and kissed him on the forehead. “This is a medal for our excellent Knight Lodoka.”
Jiang Fang learned from this and placed his lips gently on the cover of the book. He seriously told the young Nan Zhou on the cover, “This is a kiss.”
“Wait for me. Once I find the door, I will come and accompany you.”
Then something happened that no one wanted to happen, but couldn’t stop. In Jiang Fang’s loneliest time, in the midst of his mother’s crazy sobs and after sending his mother to the rehab center…
He always had Nan Zhou in his hand. Nan Zhou was under his blanket or under his pillow, where he could touch as soon as he reached out.
Jiang Fang grew up. He had long since lost the strength to believe in fairy tales. Even so, he liked this comic more than ever. He seriously believed that Nan Zhou might exist in a certain corner of the world. The world was so big that they couldn’t meet. Nan Zhou didn’t know that there would be someone like Jiang Fang who felt friendship and sympathy with him.
At that time, Jiang Fang had gently touched Nan Zhou on the cover and comforted Nan Zhou.
Don’t be afraid. This world is big enough to hold you and me.
It is because this world is so big that we might never meet each other.
We are friends who can’t touch each other.
Still, you really do have a friend.
He comforted Nan Zhou but he was also comforting himself.
At this time, Jiang Fang saw Nan Zhou on the LED screen. As if witnessing an illusory dream where there was less change, it gradually took shape in front of him. In order to see the second when Nan Zhou appeared, Jiang Fang watched the big screen advertisement 67 times. It wasn’t until the 68th time that he realized his funny actions.
He looked at the iPad and clicked on the official website and forum of Forces of Temptation. Jiang Fang was looking for a job related to Forces of Temptation. Unexpectedly, he found a short-term job like he used to do in Ukraine.
During Jiang Fang’s working life as he wandered on the margins of society, he had met many rich second generation people with special requirements. Therefore, after learning that the other person had obtained two game cabins in advance and asked him to power level one, Jiang Fang accepted without hesitation.
At the same time, he accepted a series of requirements. Jiang Fang had to play a female character but he could adjust it to his own face. He needed to practice all the equipment and level up. It was best to play for more than 12 hours a day so the other person could show off to their friends who also played Forces of Temptation. Most importantly, Jiang Fang had to make more friends and develop a network of connections, preferably with men.
Jiang Fang was responsible for the technique while the other person was responsible for occasionally going up to those men, talking about love and making appointments if they were pleasing to the eye.
It was a good game but a different type of gay dating journey was developed. This was the reason why he chose Jiang Fang, who had strong communication skills, plenty of time and was willing to try new things.
Jiang Fang’s reason for choosing him was equally simple. He wanted to fulfill his one-sided childhood agreement.
—Go and see Nan Zhou.
Since the cabin was obtained in advance, the first thing Jiang Fang did after logging into the game and receiving the novice gift pack was to go to the Eternal Day instance. In those years, he had been outside the comic, accompanying Nan Zhou through the streets of Never Town.
Jiang Fang was familiar with every place in Never Town. Thus, he found the house where Nan Zhou lived without much effort.
After all these years, Jiang Fang wasn’t the knight of his childhood. He was no longer the whimsical person who could take Nan Zhou out of the instance. Jiang Fang just wanted Nan Zhou to know that he had a friend in the world. Even if the other person was just a botched instance of a game company, a virtual illusion constructed by data, he still wanted to give his childhood a bit of an explanation.
Therefore, he engraved a sentence on the apple seed in the novice gift pack. He covered it with the special soil of Homeland Island and sprinkled it with the Homeland Island fertilizer. Not surprisingly, apples would grow early tomorrow morning and bear fruit in front of Nan Zhou’s window.
Jiang Fang was busy working when he felt a gaze from above him. He raised his head and through the thin veil of his hat, he saw a friend he had never met at the window on the second floor. Jiang Fang smiled gently at the illusory figure.
Like a cat, Nan Zhou put his hands on the window sill curiously. He tilted his head and his eyes were pure beyond Jiang Fang’s imagination.
Jiang Fang thought that it was impossible for Nan Zhou to have such a look after all these years. The thing that touched his heart was that Nan Zhou’s eyes were too real. This type of real and ignorant purity and curiosity seemed to poke warmly at Jiang Fang’s dead heart.
Under such a gaze, Jiang Fang’s heart thumped and he instinctively touched the ‘End Task’ button.
Jiang Fang stood in the slightly desolate Rust City and raised his hand to his heart. He felt the abnormal rhythm with surprise.
…What happened? Shouldn’t I at least say hello?
7th anniversary celebration event
Proofreader: Purichan
He was Miss Apple Tree!!! This is fate calling out to them to be together!!!
I knew it! Yassssss!!!! And being jealous of your past self jiang fang? Tsk tsk tsk well can’t blame ya.
But that was so fricking sweet-
Thank you for the chapter!
This is so cute ^~^
Thanks for the chapter!!
Could anyone have guessed this? In my opinion, this is a completely unexpected turn!
Thank you very much, I’m in shock
Oh no little Jiang Fang is so cute (and lonely ahh) my heart hurts. He really did it!! No one would expect it but he actually met Nan Zhou, and even changed his life! I’m laughing a little that Nan Zhou is calling past Jiang Fang a friend out of jealousy and Jiang Fang is actually jealous. Can’t believe Jiang Fang’s immediate mysterious disappearance back then was just because he was flustered too, incredible
Thank you so much for translating! <3
he just wanted him to know he had a friend QAQ
thanks for the chapter <3
This is so sweet, I want more. (T v T) ♡
Skfjflsknfksalmslakdlsmdmf that was so cute 😭😭😭😭😭
But bro, why are you mad😂 mad at yourself? Mad at his answer? You should be used to his thought process right?????
Ahhhhh a single warm moment became so much more 🥺🥲☺️☺️☺️
Thank you for the chapters!! 💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜💙💜
Did he just
gay panic
This is so cute TvT
So he’s getting jealous over himself? 🤣