Shen Qingqiu couldn’t understand why she felt so sad. She tried to suppress her emotions, leaned over, and kissed Xiao Muyu. Then, she sat on the edge of the bed, lost in her thoughts. She had never been so afraid before. In the past, no matter what she decided to do, she was always confident she could do it well. As long as she completed the task, she never worried about the process or the consequences of failure.
This wasn’t just because she was self-assured; more importantly, there were no consequences she couldn’t handle.
But now, the task ahead was full of uncertainties and difficulties. What terrified her the most was that she felt she couldn’t bear the consequences. She couldn’t even think about it without feeling overwhelmed.
She blamed herself for losing control and revealing too much emotion, letting the other party perceive her intentions. She also regretted not learning more about Xiao Muyu when she only saw her as a target.
Because of this, she didn’t know why Xiao Muyu had been targeted by the mastermind. What had such a remarkably intelligent person done to make even Skynet helpless against her?
When Shen Qingqiu came back to her senses, it was almost six o’clock. She couldn’t talk to Xiao Muyu about these issues; if they found out, who knew what measures they would take.
It seemed Xiao Muyu was unaware of these matters. If Shen Qingqiu couldn’t stay by her side, it would all be in vain.
It was already late. Although they had gone out for lunch, they had mainly chatted and drunk rather than eaten much. Xiao Muyu had been asleep for almost two hours and should be waking up soon.
Feeling a bit troubled, Shen Qingqiu hesitated, then quietly went downstairs to buy some groceries.
She wasn’t joking when she said she was good at boiling water. She really couldn’t cook. After thinking for a while, she decided to try making noodles, which seemed simple enough.
Xiao Muyu woke up to a loud noise in the kitchen. Still groggy, she smelled something burning.
Without thinking, she jumped out of bed, slipped into her slippers, and ran to the kitchen.
At the kitchen door, she saw Shen Qingqiu holding a spatula, looking helplessly at the splattering oil in the pan, her face full of shock.
The pot lid was lying on the floor. Seeing Xiao Muyu, Shen Qingqiu’s terrified expression turned guilty.
“I… I just wanted to fry an egg.”
Xiao Muyu, now fully awake, saw that the flames were too high and had leapt into the pan, causing it to flare up.
She quickly stepped forward, picked up the lid, covered the pan, and turned off the gas stove. She turned back, also shaken, and looked at Shen Qingqiu.
For the first time, Shen Qingqiu felt so awkward. After a while, not knowing what to say, she pointed at the pan, her face red. “I’m sorry.”
Xiao Muyu took the spatula from her hand, checked her hand, and saw that it had been scalded by the splattering oil.
Putting the spatula aside, Xiao Muyu led her to the sink to run cool water over her burned hand. She said gently, “Why are you apologizing? If you wanted to cook, why didn’t you call me? Were you hungry?”
Shen Qingqiu glanced at her, then at the messy stove, feeling even more embarrassed. “You were sleeping so soundly, and we didn’t eat much at lunch. I was afraid you’d be hungry when you woke up. I thought making noodles wouldn’t be too hard, but I didn’t know what to add. Plain noodles wouldn’t taste good.
I remembered the eggs you fried last night were delicious, so I wanted to fry one for you. But as soon as I cracked the egg into the pan, the oil started splattering everywhere. It was terrifying.”
Xiao Muyu couldn’t help but laugh, both amused and concerned. “You’re not afraid of flying knives, but you’re scared of a flaring pan.”
Shen Qingqiu frowned. “I’d rather face flying knives; at least I can dodge them. If I dodge the oil, the egg will burn.”
She hurriedly lifted the lid and looked at the charred lump inside, feeling embarrassed. “I guess I’m only good at boiling water; I can’t handle this.”
Xiao Muyu wanted to laugh but didn’t want to hurt her feelings. The egg in the pan was burnt beyond recognition, with a piece of eggshell inside. Judging by the shape of the egg, she must have cracked it from a height, causing the egg to splatter.
Shen Qingqiu, trying to salvage her dignity, said, “The eggshell was an accident. The oil splattered, and my hand shook, making it fall in.”
“I figured.” Even if Shen Qingqiu wasn’t a good cook, she should be able to crack an egg properly with her skills.
After cleaning the pan and tidying the stove, Xiao Muyu asked, “Do you still want noodles? Won’t you get tired of them?”
She remembered how picky Shen Qingqiu could be, like a queen, when Chen Kaijie cooked two days in a row.
Shen Qingqiu shook her head eagerly, eyes fixed on the pan. “Of course not. Your noodles are delicious. I could eat them every day.”
Xiao Muyu smiled, saying nothing more.
She dried the pan with paper towels, heated it, and said to Shen Qingqiu while adding oil, “It’s best to dry the pan before adding oil. This way, the oil won’t splatter when it heats up. Was there water in the pan earlier?”
Shen Qingqiu thought for a moment and nodded. After the oil heated, Xiao Muyu sprinkled a bit of salt, cracked an egg with one hand, and let it slide perfectly into the pan.
She repeated this with a second egg, leaving Shen Qingqiu in awe.
The oil sizzled again, and Shen Qingqiu, feeling cautious, said, “You should stand back.”
Xiao Muyu just smiled. The pan behaved under her control; no splattering oil, no sticking eggs. When one side was done, she effortlessly flipped them over, smooth and fluid.
“If you’re worried about the heat, start with a lower flame. This way, you won’t have to rush.”
Shen Qingqiu watched intently, nodding repeatedly.
Xiao Muyu shook her head, smiling. “Never mind. To avoid burning the kitchen, I’ll do the cooking from now on. Go on, the smoke here is heavy. It’ll be ready soon.”
Shen Qingqiu was reluctant to leave. Every moment here felt like a stolen treasure.
After surviving many life-threatening situations, they finally secured a month of peace, which she cherished immensely.
Standing at the doorway, she watched herself, but Xiao Muyu didn’t say anything. Without Shen Qingqiu talking to her, Xiao Muyu’s thoughts drifted back to what had happened before while cooking.
She seemed to have gotten drunk, and then… those fragmented memories started to flood back into her mind bit by bit. She felt like the tables had turned—earlier, it was Shen Qingqiu who was embarrassed; now it was her. Apparently, her drunken self was quite something.
Originally, Shen Qingqiu was earnestly watching Xiao Muyu cook, but gradually she just stared at her ever-changing expressions. The rare display of rich emotions told Shen Qingqiu what Xiao Muyu was thinking, making the smile on her lips grow wider and wider.
After serving the noodles, Xiao Muyu glanced at Shen Qingqiu and said in a muffled voice, “It’s ready to eat.”
Shen Qingqiu took the noodles from her, and Xiao Muyu followed behind with a spoon and chopsticks.
“Eat quickly; it’ll taste bad if it sits too long.” This was clearly an attempt to keep Shen Qingqiu from talking.
But Shen Qingqiu wasn’t about to let her off the hook. “What were you thinking about just now? Your expressions kept changing, and even your ears turned red.”
Xiao Muyu took a sip of the soup and looked up at her. “I was wondering if the egg you made would have been overly salty if it hadn’t burned.”
Shen Qingqiu chuckled. “I didn’t add any salt.”
“By the way, Captain Xiao, do you remember how you got home after waking up?” Shen Qingqiu said with a smile.
Xiao Muyu didn’t respond, her eyes showing a hint of reproach as she looked at her intently.
Shen Qingqiu’s smile softened, her eyes filled with warmth as she whispered, “I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just that you were so cute when you were drunk. Normally, you’re so serious and reserved. But when you were drunk, you were so obedient and even let me kiss you.”
As she spoke, her eyes sparkled with love, unhidden and bright.
Xiao Muyu’s cheeks turned red. “Just eat your food.”
This dinner was eaten absentmindedly; Shen Qingqiu’s thoughts were not on the noodles but on her girlfriend.
Xiao Muyu was mortified by her behavior while drunk, pulling Shen Qingqiu in to kiss her, leaving her feeling hot and embarrassed. She remained silent.
After returning from the mission, Xiao Muyu and her team rested for a few days before resuming work during their free time.
The number of native inhabitants in the Tianwang world was quite large, and their clothing, food, housing, and transportation were no different from those in the real world. Players working part-time here was mutually accepted by both sides, so they could still find jobs that suited them.
Xiao Muyu went back to her old profession. She found that the need for technical personnel in the Tianwang world was no less than in the real world, especially in operations and maintenance, which made her even more suspicious that Tianwang was a massive system.
In the real world, Xiao Muyu worked in software development. In her relatively small company, the tasks she undertook were far more than those in her project team.
Before leaving her job, she was tasked with creating a small program, which was essentially a security software.
The purpose was to maintain system stability and security, preventing system crashes, like a patch.
Xiao Muyu was puzzled. Clearly, development and research were more valuable than operations and maintenance, yet they had her spend so much effort on maintenance.
There had been too many things happening before, so she hadn’t had time to ponder. Given the requirements for that security software, it far exceeded the needs of her company at the time. Such a vast and complex system was not something her company could possess.
After she was inexplicably set up and left the job, she left without any regret. She even did a bit of trickery in that so-called perfect program. Now, the system that originally required stability likely had bigger problems.
Since the 004 mission, a strange thought had begun to sprout deep in Xiao Muyu’s mind—
She felt a sense of familiarity. She often felt that many things here were familiar. In other words, she was very familiar with Tianwang.
It wasn’t a clear memory but more of a subconscious feeling. She didn’t want to tell Shen Qingqiu about this before she figured it all out.
One reason was fear of being monitored by the system, and the other was that she sensed Shen Qingqiu also had something on her mind and didn’t want to add to her worries.
When it was time to leave work, Xiao Muyu didn’t wait for Shen Qingqiu to pick her up and decided to take the bus home herself.
As she stepped out of the elevator, the adjacent elevator also stopped, and the person who emerged was an old acquaintance.
Even if Xiao Muyu wanted to ignore him, she couldn’t. This elegantly dressed man always made such a high-profile entrance.
Obviously, he saw her too. His expression turned pleasantly surprised. He then said a few words to the person beside him before striding over to Xiao Muyu.
“Finally, we meet again. It’s a pleasure,” Shen Shiyi said with a gentlemanly bow.
Xiao Muyu never disregarded etiquette. Even if she found him overly strange, she still nodded politely. “A pleasure.”
“In ancient times, Liu Bei visited the thatched cottage thrice to seek advice. Although I cannot compare to Liu Bei, my sincerity is no less. Will you still refuse me this time?” His tone was sincere. Although his intentions were strong, he didn’t seem aggressive. Xiao Muyu probably realized that his stance was low enough and that this matter seemed unavoidable.
So she nodded. “My name is Xiao Muyu.”
A concise reply, although it didn’t mean much. She wasn’t naive enough to think that he didn’t already know her name.
“My name is Shen Shiyi. I’m pleased that Miss Xiao is willing to share her name with me.”
“Finding out my name should have been easy for you, shouldn’t it?” Xiao Muyu asked bluntly.
“Investigating a person is indeed not difficult, but to truly make friends, sincerity is essential,” Shen Shiyi smiled.
“Someone of your status and position, I can’t imagine what makes me worth your effort, coming down from your pedestal repeatedly. It’s quite overwhelming for an ordinary person like me.”
Her words were calm, but there was a sharpness to them, even a hint of mockery. Shen Shiyi’s eyes were deep, his voice gentle. “I felt an instant connection with Miss Xiao. Our first encounter was just a small episode, but I found you very special. Later, I unintentionally got some information that made me feel it was necessary to get to know you.”
Xiao Muyu frowned slightly, looking at him without avoiding his gaze. “We’re not from the same world. Is it necessary to know each other?”
“I really appreciate Miss Xiao’s straightforwardness. My actions do seem odd, but once we have a proper talk, I think you’ll understand. So, could you give me some time to sit and talk?” Shen Shiyi asked.
Xiao Muyu checked the time. “Someone at home is waiting for me.”
“Oh, you mean your teammates? Don’t worry, I’ll send someone to inform them.”
Xiao Muyu’s gaze sharpened, staring at the still-smiling man.
“Miss Xiao, please don’t misunderstand. You mentioned wanting to know my name. I didn’t need to ask directly. Similarly, I know your whereabouts.
But please believe me, I’m not threatening you. This is to show my sincerity. I’m willing to wait until the day you agree.” After speaking, he bowed slightly again.
He was very polite, refined, with a restrained yet powerful presence. He was formidable, but Xiao Muyu didn’t like him.
Compared to such purposeful interactions, she preferred Shen Qingqiu’s straightforwardness, and even her little schemes were cute in comparison. Even her cheekiness was much more endearing.
Author’s Note: Xiao Xiao, that’s your wife; of course, you find her adorable in every way.
Well, the next chapter should dive into a new mission. Let’s see Shen take action!
