Unlike the tension with Su Ling, when Bai Xing gently looped her arm around his and then softly held his hand, all the gloom seemed to dissipate in an instant.
"Fingers intertwined, the soft touch strikes the heart, even if the hearts themselves are not yet connected."
Walking with her on the slope under the setting sun, the warm light of dusk could suppress the sharp, raging black tides within his heart, preventing them from spilling out, even if neither of them spoke.
To outsiders, their couple vibe was almost off the charts.
He remembered the first time they walked here together, leaving such an impression on those who saw them.
"Senior, why aren't you happy today?" Bai Xing lightly scratched his palm with her fingers, asking mischievously.
"Am I not?"
"Yes, it's written all over your face."
Her petite, charming body leaned closer to his left side without hesitation. She tilted her head slightly to observe the subtle expression of disappointment on Lu Qing's face.
"It's nothing, just thinking about some old things."
Lu Qing tried to contain his emotions, not wanting to affect the innocent girl beside him.
"Well, since you're not happy, how about we seize the day and do something fun? What do you say?"
Bai Xing seized the opportunity and threw out her "binding spell."
Lu Qing, in a daze, didn't overthink it and half-heartedly agreed:
"Where to?"
"Anywhere works, right?"
"No, just a proper place."
"Senior, that sentence of yours, in our voice acting field, can be interpreted in at least three different ways."
"......?"
"Hehe."
The girl muttered something and then said thoughtfully, "How about we go to a milk tea shop and have a drink? I won't trouble you, just sit with me for a while. What do you think?"
"Oh, sure."
Lu Qing thought that having a drink before heading home wouldn't be a problem.
"Which one?" he asked.
Bai Xing thought for a moment: "How about the nearby pedestrian street? I remember there are quite a few milk tea shops near the school where we can sit, but there aren't any near our place. Why don't we take the subway back after the evening rush hour? What do you think?"
"......"
"Our place."
"After the evening rush hour."
Alright, so you're scheduling three hours, huh?
"Sure, fine."
Facing Bai Xing's invitation, Lu Qing couldn't be bothered to refuse. After all, it was a child's request, and as a parent, he had to nod in agreement.
Thus, the two of them walked out of the school gate and headed against the flow of people.
The feeling of walking against the light was quite nice.
Moving against the crowd,
hearing the noisy bustle fade away from behind,
gradually disappearing.
Until the chaos dissipated and silence returned.
Lu Qing and Bai Xing didn't talk much. It seemed they had a tacit understanding about their relationship.
They each carried their thoughts and arrived at their destination for the day.
"89°C" was a rather special milk tea shop, located in a corner at the end of the university town pedestrian street.
Though it was called a milk tea shop, its main focus was on baking and fruit teas.
Its best-selling product, "One Lemon Tea," was especially popular among the nearby students. Especially since they actually put a whole big lemon into an 800cc cup, making it feel heavy and sincere just to hold it.
There were a few empty seats inside, as the place wasn't very crowded.
After all, for college students, a place with several baking cabinets and daily fresh-baked bread was more of a "breakfast tea shop" and not a proper dating spot.
Lu Qing led Bai Xing to the innermost part of the shop and sat across from each other.
The girl's preference remained the same; she directly chose the "Thick Milk Coconut Jelly Fresh Milk Tea."
Lu Qing, being more traditional, always ordered the signature dish to "check the shop's strength," so he chose the "One Lemon Tea (Extra Large)."
When the drinks were served, the atmosphere in the air was just right. Bai Xing licked the sweet residue from the corner of her lips and initiated today's topic—
"Senior, about the VTB project, what kind of role do you want me to play?"
Although the time wasn't right, her curiosity had already been piqued.
She wanted to know what kind of character her senior liked and planned to use this to figure out his preferences.
Such information was something she couldn't have dreamed of obtaining before.
After all, the senior was only to be admired from afar; any attempt to get close would cause his disgust, like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
But now, things were different.
Now, she...
"Hehe."
She had already mustered unprecedented courage with Su Ling's help, even if it meant being disliked by the senior. She still wanted to find a way to get closer to his heart.
Bai Xing was confident,
even staying up for two nights preparing new tactics.
"Ah."
Lu Qing took a big gulp of his iced lemon tea, shook the ice cubes in the cup, and thought for a moment:
"I mentioned before that the costume design is already in progress. For the character design, it's better to be somewhat fitting. After all, we're on the demand side, so everything will mainly follow the artist's design, and the copywriting will focus on packaging."
His words were a bit abstract, but Bai Xing, having been in the V-tuber circle for years, wasn't a newbie.
Upon hearing the senior's meaning, how could she not understand?
—The artist's「status」was the highest among the "trio" in the upcoming project.
"Senior."
At this thought, she suddenly asked, "By the way, is that artist a guy or a girl?"
A sharp question appeared.
Normally,
this was a「trap question」.
After all, asking this question essentially confirmed that she cared.
But even if she was playing her cards openly, this information had to be obtained at a cost.
What if the artist was some breathtakingly beautiful woman? Wouldn't she be《in danger》?
It could even lead to her being used as a stepping stone in this unstable triangular relationship, becoming a clown in someone else's eyes!
"Hmph, don't think you can relax my vigilance. Who's the king of the poker deck is still too early to tell, okay?"
Bai Xing was smug in her heart, while her face remained innocent.
"Hmm..."
Lu Qing showed a pensive expression.
This thoughtful look wasn't fake.
It was because he was genuinely stumped by Bai Xing's question.
From his perspective, through clues, he had deduced that the artist "Lubia" was likely the real "Tang Hua."
The probability that these two IDs belonged to the same person was 99.99%.
But there are always exceptions.
What if he was wrong, and she was actually a 38-year-old man, whose hobbies included stealing online goddess pictures for avatars, pretending to be a little girl when chatting, and using other artists' original designs when making costumes? Then...
Then going to "his" place this weekend would be quite dangerous.
It was a risky move...
Lu Qing couldn't help but think.
"After all, I haven't met him, so I can't be 100% sure whether he's a guy or a girl."
He decided to be honest, "However, I think it's most likely a girl, so this weekend I'll go to her place to check it out and push forward with our project. You don't need to worry about that."
"?!"
Bai Xing immediately understood.
It seemed the artist was playing a disguise game and hadn't revealed her true intentions to the boss.
If that was the case, then everything seemed manageable!
From the girl's perspective, this question could lead to a fairly clear conclusion:
"She's either too self-conscious to tell the truth, or she's not interested in the boss and just wants to maintain a client relationship."
"Heh, such strength! No threat at all!"
The girl seemed completely different from her previous state, easily not taking the enemy seriously.
She was smug in her heart, puffed up as she sucked on a piece of jelly, and her charming smile reappeared on her face:
"That's fine, Senior. I can fully cooperate. No matter what kind of costume the artist comes up with, I can perfectly perform it. Trust my skills, okay?"
"Is that so?"
Lu Qing pondered.
A few seconds later, just as she was halfway through swallowing a piece of jelly and most relaxed,
he suddenly asked:
"Then, can you play a succubus?"
......
......
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
