The air seemed to freeze. In the large room, only the sound of shallow breathing remained.
Yet, this performance, which was either a joke or torture, wasn’t over.
After finishing his line, Shiye leaned slightly forward and tilted his head: “Thinking of this, He finally couldn’t resist, slowly getting closer to Xu Yiming, and quietly placed a—”
His breath brushed lightly and warmly against Zhao Zhao’s ear. Zhao Zhao’s mind buzzed, unsure if he heard correctly. Before he could fully react, Shiye paused for a few seconds and softly said, “Little prince, it’s over.”
Shiye straightened up.
The air finally began to move again. Everyone applauded and praised Shiye, with Tian Gai giving him a hearty slap on the back, laughing: “Master Twelve, you’re amazing, that performance was incredible!”
Zhao Zhao let out a deep breath: “I admit defeat, I lost.” He conceded, promptly opening a beer, ready to drink. But Shiye held down the bottle: “If you drink it all, Tian Gai and the others won’t have any left. How about this, skip the drink and let’s have a meal together another day.”
Qin Hai glanced at Shiye, while Tian Gai nodded in agreement: “Master Twelve has a point.”
So, a new round of the game began.
That night, the few great authors from Yue Si finally got a full understanding of the wonderful world of BL (Boys’ Love) in female authors’ minds. As men, sometimes they were warriors on the battlefield; other times they were romancing various mythical beasts; and some unlucky lovers struggled and fought for their rights while in love… Sleepy Fox, in particular, was deeply moved, saying he felt the Omega’s longing for freedom when he read that part.
Zhao Zhao: “What’s an Omega?”
Sleepy Fox: “Not sure, the book just said so. Seems like a type of mutant, there are several kinds.”
Due to habit, by the end of the game, it turned into five men sitting around discussing settings, writing styles, and story pacing, like a high-level book club.
Tian Gai couldn’t help but take a picture of everyone sitting around and posted it on Weibo:
Tian Gai Gai Tian V: Saw a lot of interesting things today, had a great discussion with everyone, learned a lot.
Fans all sighed: The moon-viewing event is indeed a grand gathering that advances web literature, truly lives up to its reputation!
That night, probably due to drinking too much beer, Zhao Zhao frequently got up to go to the bathroom. After a few trips, he was wide awake, so he sat up to watch some TV. While looking for the remote, Zhao Zhao suddenly saw the pile of novels by the bed. Tian Gai said he would take them back to Meng Meng tomorrow, and on top was the book “A Dream in a Pillow.”
Zhao Zhao stared at it for a while, eventually couldn’t resist picking it up. He turned to page 229 and read it over and over, but apart from He and Xu Yiming’s names matching, none of the content or lines Shiye performed could be found.
Zhao Zhao felt a bit dazed.
Right here, not long ago, Shiye’s lines seemed to still echo in his ears. When he spoke, his expression was so earnest that Zhao Zhao truly believed he was the Xu Yiming in the book. But now, in the book, he couldn’t find a trace of that scene, or the cautious love He had for Xu Yiming.
It felt like a dream.
Zhao Zhao slowly closed the book, staring blankly at the cover.
The cover of “A Dream in a Pillow” featured a half-naked man’s back, with a white veil like mist covering part of a tattoo on his shoulder blade. The cover was beautifully drawn, perfectly matching the title, making one want to pull aside the veil to see the tattoo and what kind of dream it was.
With the moon-viewing event over, the next morning, Yue Si’s authors went their separate ways, returning to their lives. Qin Hai and Tian Gai came early to take the books and say goodbye; later, Sleepy Fox sent Zhao Zhao a WeChat message saying he was headed to the train station. Zhao Zhao’s flight was in the afternoon, so he leisurely slept in, had lunch, and went to the airport, only to find himself seated next to Shiye on the plane.
Zhao Zhao: “…”
He didn’t know whether to ask Shiye why he hadn’t left or why they were headed to the same place and seated next to each other. He had so many questions, but they all got stuck in his throat.
Shiye seemed to understand his thoughts and said, “The tickets were booked by Yue Si’s editor, I just found out today we’re going to the same city.” Then he smiled again: “What a coincidence.”
Zhao Zhao looked at him.
To be fair, Shiye was indeed quite good-looking. His features were somewhat stern, and when he didn’t smile, he exuded a certain coldness that kept people at a distance. But when he did smile, it unexpectedly revealed a bit of warmth, making people want to keep looking at him.
After speaking, Shiye shook his phone: “You owe me a meal, what’s your phone number?”
Zhao Zhao readily gave a string of numbers, and as Shiye saved it, he continued, “And your WeChat?”
Zhao Zhao: “at0526.”
Shiye nodded: “QQ?”
Zhao Zhao: “…”
Zhao Zhao: “Do I have ‘deadbeat’ written on my face?”
Shiye paused, then turned to him seriously: “You look like someone who would.”
Zhao Zhao was speechless at this baseless accusation. He almost wanted to slap his ID card on Shiye’s forehead to prove his innocence. As they chatted, Shiye suddenly apologized: “I’m sorry.”
Zhao Zhao knew why he was apologizing.
In fact, he didn’t want Shiye to bring it up. Whether intentional or not, it was over, and he had been cleared of suspicion. They had spent the night playing games, and Zhao Zhao wasn’t petty; in his mind, the matter was already over.
Zhao Zhao didn’t respond to the apology, instead, he asked an unrelated question: “Last night, the part you performed from Yang Liuqing’s book, you made that up, right? I checked the book.”
Shiye probably didn’t expect this question and was momentarily stunned, saying nothing.
Zhao Zhao raised an eyebrow, smiling roguishly: “Randomly pulling a stunt like that, you interested in me?”
He meant it as a joke, but Shiye had already recovered: “Checking the book and still thinking about it the next day, who’s interested in whom?”
Zhao Zhao couldn’t argue with him and sneered: “Enough, you think you’re Lin Songyue?”
Lin Songyue was a character from Shiye’s previous completed novel “Lock Heart.” Zhao Zhao mentioned him because he was a highly popular supporting character. This wasn’t unusual; many stories had such characters. But with Shiye, readers said, “Master Twelve poured his soul into writing him” — smart, sunny, handsome, kind, cute… Everyone in “Lock Heart” loved Lin Songyue.
Although Zhao Zhao was teasing, Shiye picked up on a different nuance: “You read my work?” He opened the comments section for “Lock Heart”: “Was this comment yours? The writing style looks familiar.”
Zhao Zhao looked over: “Which one?”
A prominent comment read — **Master Twelve, I love you ahhhh, I want to have your babies ahhhh!!!!!!**
Zhao Zhao: “…”
Shiye: “Do you want a boy or a girl?”
Zhao Zhao gritted his teeth: “It wasn’t me, thank you very much!”
He turned away, refusing to engage with Shiye further, intending to sleep. Seeing this, Shiye’s lips curled up slightly, and he said no more.
As the plane prepared for takeoff, the flight attendants gently reminded passengers to turn off their phones. Shiye took a last-minute picture of Zhao Zhao with his eyes closed and then opened Weibo:
Shiye V: Hello, Zhao Zhao. @Zhao Zhao Zhaozhao【photo.JPG】
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