The phone slipped from her hand and fell to the ground.
She couldn’t steady herself either,
collapsing into a sitting position amidst overwhelming emotional turmoil.
“……Ah.”
Lin Mu took a deep breath.
It seems.
It really is him.
“……”
Crouched in the corner of the kitchen, she picked up her phone, still protected by its tempered glass screen.
Thankfully, the screen wasn’t cracked.
But she no longer had the strength to reply to any messages.
“Ha…”
“Haha.”
—Yinqing P, is a real person.
Alive, a real person.
The person on the other side of the internet isn’t some scammer.
He gave me his real account.
His private contact information.
A connection that elevates me from a “fan” to a “netizen,” or even potentially a “friend.”
“Ah…”
After two years, he finally replied to me.
He didn’t blame me for my past rudeness but explained that he had put music aside due to health reasons.
Is that really it?
Is that really all there is to it?
Health reasons… I had speculated about that before.
If that’s the case, it means he’s suffering from a severe illness, one so serious that he can’t focus on music or continue practicing the piano.
But…
“……”
Lin Mu pulled out her third cigarette, lit it, and held it between her fingers.
Her thoughts were a mess.
A complete mess.
But it didn’t matter; she could still be more meticulous.
“Just physical pain wouldn’t break him.”
—His obsession with music is itself a kind of “illness.”
How could physical pain ever rival the chaos of the mind?
Unless he could no longer bend his fingers, unless he was bedridden.
Otherwise, there must be some other reason he couldn’t tell me, right?
It doesn’t matter anymore.
As long as he’s still here.
As long as he’s still alive.
…
She lit her fourth cigarette.
Watching the smoke swirl in the kitchen.
Lin Mu had a unique way of smoking—
She didn’t inhale into her lungs.
Instead, she only drew the smoke into her mouth, held it for a moment, and then exhaled.
A fleeting indulgence.
This way, she could enjoy the experience of smoking while minimizing the damage to her lungs.
To seasoned smokers, such behavior might seem like a “waste” or “pointless affectation.”
Something that would invite condescending criticism or even sarcastic remarks.
But Lin Mu and her small circle understood that what she sought was the hazy, dreamlike sensation that came with the swirling smoke;
That indescribable, almost spiritual moment that could spark musical inspiration;
A way to see a glimmer of light in the darkness, to drive away the fog of loneliness.
【What I want isn’t the tobacco in my lungs, nor am I more addicted than anyone else.】
Moreover, this indirect way of smoking had an absolute advantage:
If she ever decided to quit, she could stop cold turkey without any withdrawal symptoms.
She was just a young girl who had recently come of age, and even smoking had to be done cautiously, with precision.
So precise that she would rinse her mouth after every cigarette.
And while rinsing, she would also clear her throat.
The various brands of mouthwash in the kitchen were there for this very purpose.
I need cigarettes for comfort,
To soothe my wounds,
【To see that last flicker of red light that dispels the fog on nights without Yinqing P.】
—「Smoke」.
…
…
【You have received a friend request】
In the apartment.
Lu Qing picked up his phone.
On the screen, it displayed:
「Lin Mu」 has added you as a friend.
“……”
Wow, using her real name as her WeChat ID.
Is this little girl really that bold?
Probably because she doesn’t use WeChat much, right?
Lu Qing muttered to himself.
Then it hit him,
“Right, at her age, WeChat is often used as a communication tool for family and close friends, not really a ‘social platform’ in the broader sense.
So, after she ran away from home, her family and relatives disappeared from her life. WeChat lost its purpose, and since she didn’t need to contact her family, she probably rarely even logs on.”
Hmm.
Lu Qing’s guess was spot-on. Compared to her empty WeChat friend circle, Lin Mu’s QQ status updates were much more active, often featuring clips of her making small cakes and hand-ground coffee.
And under those posts,
No one ever commented.
“……”
Lu Qing felt a pang of discomfort.
It felt like,
This kid.
Is just too pitiful.
“No, I need to gather some essential information first.”
Lu Qing’s thoughts were clear.
He had to set aside his personal feelings and not be swayed by the girl’s seemingly helpless state. After all, in her eyes, he was now a “playboy,” an undeniable “villain.”
He had to stay in character, to figure out how to make her feel warmth and motivation during their next meeting, all while maintaining his role as the big bad guy.
“Right. My goal is to subtly help while appearing indifferent, to leave without a trace after the deed is done.”
“It’s best not to reveal myself.”
His thoughts were crystal clear.
With that in mind, Lu Qing quickly typed out a message:
【Lin-chan, I noticed that all the videos you’ve sent me recently have a small stage and curtains in the background. Where is that place? The lighting and equipment seem pretty good.】
He activated his first skill: 「Cutting to the Chase」.
Paired with the rare engraving: "Pretending Not to Know".
Soon, Lin Mu’s WeChat showed 【The other party is typing…】.
Since she wasn’t used to communicating with others, her typing was slow, even stiff. It took her a long time to type out a short sentence,
A far cry from Bai Xing’s lightning-fast replies and lengthy essays. It was like comparing night and day…
After much fumbling, she finally replied:
“It’s my little place… it’s a coffee shop.”
This made Lu Qing suddenly realize—
“Those hundreds of words she’s been sending me every day… could it be that she spends an hour or two just typing them out before sending them???”
Huh?
“……”
His heart skipped a beat.
—He felt a slight pang in his chest.
Alright.
She’s got some patience.
Lu Qing acknowledged Lin Mu’s 「Patience」.
He continued to probe:
【Oh, so you’ve been living in the coffee shop? Is it owned by your family?】
Lin Mu: “No, it’s mine. I run it, although… I’m not doing a great job.”
Yinqing P: “I see, so Lin-chan is a coffee shop owner. But aren’t you still in school? Do you have time to run it?”
Lin Mu: “…I’ve taken a leave of absence, but I’m thinking about returning to school soon.”
She answered honestly:
“The coffee shop doesn’t have fixed hours; it depends on my mood. Next time… I think I’ll open for a bit on Saturday afternoon. Sigh. Just the thought of possibly meeting strangers makes me uneasy.”
“……”
He got the information he needed.
【That sounds nice.】
Lu Qing replied.
He could clearly sense that,
After two years, there was a subtle “distance” in Lin Mu’s communication with him.
This “distance” manifested in her cautious choice of words, no longer as free-spirited as before, always holding back and suppressing something.
It wasn’t as natural anymore.
Now, she was like a startled bird,
A lonely kitten wandering in an endless desert, its wounds still unhealed.
She had so much to say,
But so much she didn’t dare to say.
She wanted to convey her feelings,
But feared another 「Farewell」 might happen again.
【There’s a sense of estrangement.】
“Ah.”
A sense of guilt weighed on him again.
Really, was I too harsh on her?
Even if I was hurt back then, shouldn’t I have reached out to her one last time, right?
Lin Mu didn’t do anything wrong; it was just that her actions reminded me of—
Zazaki’s shadow.
Sigh.
“The fault lies with me, not her.”
“I shouldn’t have been so naive, chasing after an unrealistic memory.”
It’s unfair to her, isn’t it?
“Forget it.”
At this moment,
Lu Qing’s mind suddenly heated up.
He secretly decided:
“Next time we meet, I’ll let her taste a bit of sweetness.”
…
…
mance] After transmigrating for eighteen years, Lin Qi lived as an utterly ordinary herbalist in the countryside. One day, he kindly brought home a sickly, beautiful girl covered in blood. They married in a flash and began their blissful, intimate life together. Right then, his long-delayed system finally activated. [Warning! Host detected in contact with the "Crimson Calamity," the world-ending witch!] Lin Qi looked at the adorable wife currently curled in his arms, who couldn't even open a jar lid and trembled at the sight of a mouse. Lin Qi: "System, are you insane? This is clearly just a weak and delicate sickly girl!" Thus, Lin Qi treated the system as a "Contrast System," where taking care of his wife made him stronger. Combing his wife's hair rewarded him with [Free Attribute Points]. Taking his wife out for sunshine rewarded him with [Forbidden Spell: Arcane Explosion]. Lin Qi: "This soft life tastes so good!" ... Yet, in the eyes of outsiders: The strongest Beastkin Assassin: "That man dissected a Beast King with a common skinning knife! That was a show of force towards the powerful!" The Holy Son of the Radiant Church: "I infiltrated his home as a tutor, but he had me babysit the children... He must have seen through my disguise!" The World-Ending Witch, Felucia: "I hid all the way in the countryside. How is it that the husband I married on a whim is stronger than I was at my peak?"
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)
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
o a martial world and obtained a system that allowed him to draw one entry per year. Unfortunately, all he drew were useless white-tier entries. The probability for high-quality entries was extremely low, with the highest-tier mythic entry having a mere 0.001% chance! To increase the probability, he had to improve his martial realm, but he lacked the innate talent for cultivation. At the age of eighteen, Chen Yi fell into the hands of a gang and was forced into hard labor. Just as his life seemed destined for a bleak end, on his 18th entry draw, he actually pulled a mythic entry—Simulator! In the simulation, he could also draw one entry every year that passed, and upon ending the simulation, he would inherit all entries and his martial realm! In his first simulation, Chen Yi struggled desperately just to survive, knowing that living one more year meant one more entry draw! Finally, with hair turned white, he drew the entry he had longed for—Low-Grade Innate Talent! "Hahaha! Don't bully the old and poor! Time to cultivate and inherit my cultivation base!" ... From then on, Chen Yi continuously simulated and drew entries, his martial realm soaring higher and higher! Epic, legendary, and even mythic entries were gathered into his collection one after another! "What demon race or devil race? What dark turmoil? I don't know anything about that. They just charged at me screaming 'How can you possibly ascend to immortality?!' and got stuck to my fists, unable to be shaken off. Blind spots, speed bumps... go talk to my simulator. We're all struggling to survive out here. I'm trying so hard, so how are they still alive?"
