Chapter 30: Chen Jianing, Are You Crazy?
Sister Yameng’s shout startled him. He subconsciously reached for his pants, about to yell, “Don’t open the door!” But then he remembered that he was at An Baili’s new place, and his sister was just calling from next door. An Baili grabbed his arm, her expression truly pitiful. “Are you leaving now, after we’ve come this far?”
“Sister Yameng is back.” Lu Li had a feeling that if he ignored his sister and continued, it would lead to some irreversible consequences. “I’m very satisfied with your birthday gift, Baili. Let’s stop here for today.”
An Baili couldn’t help but feel dejected. “Another Zou Yameng…”
“What?” Lu Li didn’t catch her mumbling.
“Nothing.”
After getting dressed, Lu Li pressed his ear against the door, listening for any movement next door like a thief. Hearing his sister unlocking the door, he waited for a while before cautiously opening the door and leaving. Before leaving, he gave a apologetic look to the sullen An Baili. He wasn’t in a hurry. After all, An Baili had moved next door. There were plenty of opportunities in the future, it wasn’t just about this one night.
Zou Yameng was busy in the kitchen. Hearing the sound of the door opening, she knew Lu Li was back. While stir-frying, she asked, “Little Li, why are you back so late today? Were you kept after school?”
Lu Li calmly put his backpack on the ground, then suddenly noticed some unknown liquid on the strap, obviously from their earlier activities. He took out a tissue to wipe it while replying, “Ah, yes, I was. The homeroom teacher talked to me for a while.”
Zou Yameng turned off the stove and asked in surprise, “What happened? Why did the homeroom teacher call you in?” In Sister Yameng’s mind, being called in by the teacher usually wasn’t a good thing. She took off her apron and came out of the kitchen with a plate of fragrant stir-fried eggplant. She saw Lu Li sitting upright. For some reason, she suddenly felt that Lu Li was acting a bit suspicious today, not as natural as usual.
“It was about the Academic Competition. I have to go to Mulan City to compete next month.” The highest level of lying was to mix truth and falsehood, making it hard to distinguish.
So he was called in by the homeroom teacher, no wonder he didn’t reply to her messages. Zou Yameng nodded inwardly. If Lu Li hadn’t come back, she would have gone looking for him.
“Wow, it smells so good.” Lu Li rubbed his stomach. “I’m starving.” He was indeed hungry. He had expended quite a bit of energy. If only he could sleep after eating.
“Little birthday boy, don’t worry, I brought you a tea-oil roasted duck. Hehe, smell it, isn’t it fragrant?” Sister Yameng brought out another dish of roast duck. “Happy birthday, Little Li, you’re another year older~ It’s a pity that cakes are too expensive, so let’s use a candle instead.”
Seeing his sister’s sincere smile, Lu Li felt a pang of guilt and discomfort in his heart. He suddenly felt like a terrible person. Sister Yameng excitedly placed a red candle next to the dishes. “Let’s use this instead. Little Li, make a wish.” Lu Li responded with an “oh,” but his movements stopped. He didn’t know what to wish for. To succeed in his studies? High school studies were no longer a problem for him. As long as he saved enough money, he could go to a good university. To make money? His game was already taking shape, and he was gradually gaining fans. Making money was just a matter of time. Then what should he wish for?
Suddenly, an idea came to him. Lu Li closed his eyes and blew out the single red candle.
I hope they will always be happy.
“What did you wish for?”
“Sis, it won’t come true if I say it out loud.”
“It’s okay if you tell your sister.”
“What kind of special exception is that?”
“It’s a special exception for your sister.”
“I wished for you to always be happy, Sis.”
Sister Yameng suddenly fell silent. She stared at Lu Li, looking flustered. “Is, is that so? I, I’m very happy now.” Lu Li looked at her strangely, keenly sensing that his sister seemed to have misunderstood something. Then he shook his head inwardly and didn’t dwell on it. Sister Yameng would never harm him. No matter what she was thinking, he would support her 100%.
He took a bite of the roast duck. It tasted good, not as good as the delicacies from his past life, but it had a unique flavor of warmth. For many people, the taste they would remember for a lifetime was the aroma of their mother’s cooking. But for Lu Li, his sister was the person he would cherish forever. After a few bites, he suddenly saw Sister Yameng leaning in, sniffing him like a puppy. Lu Li’s heart skipped a beat. He had been careless! Sister Yameng’s sense of smell was always sharp. She had smelled Chu Jingyi’s scent before!
“What’s that smell?” Sister Yameng frowned her beautiful eyebrows. “It’s strange, a bit fishy, a bit fragrant. Did you go to the market?”
“A female teacher in the office used some cheap perfume. It’s probably the smell from that.” Lu Li tried his best to cover up his lie.
One lie needed more lies to cover it up. Lying was always the most regrettable act.
“Is that so?” Sister Yameng trusted him a lot. Even though the lie was full of holes, she still half believed it.
Perhaps because it was Lu Li’s birthday, Sister Yameng didn’t press further. She straightened his collar and said dotingly, “Look at you, you even buttoned your top button wrong. How old are you? Take off your clothes later, I’ll wash them for you.” Lu Li obediently agreed, his heart finally settling down.
What would happen if he told his sister the truth? Lu Li looked at Zou Yameng as she ate delicately, her figure vaguely overlapping with the haggard and dejected Zou Yameng from his past life. A sense of loss and emptiness enveloped him. It’s better this way. It’s better this way. He licked his chopsticks and forced a smile. “Sis, how did you cook this eggplant? It’s delicious.”
“Hehe, let me tell you, I first…”
After a satisfying and heartwarming dinner, Sister Yameng went back to her own apartment to take a shower. Lu Li turned on his computer and checked the game data. Speaking of which, this computer was “lent” to him by Chu Xiaodong, but Chu Xiaodong never mentioned returning it. Lu Li increasingly felt that this computer was a gift from Chu Jingyi, given to him through her father. Speaking of Chu Jingyi, Lu Li thought of their conversation this evening and couldn’t help but rub his temples.
One problem after another. He didn’t know what Silly Goose’s attitude was now.
With a heavy heart, Lu Li logged onto the Valve platform. His personal homepage was flooded with red exclamation marks, all violation warnings from the system. The earliest one was from last night, saying that his game contained illegal content and asking him to rectify it immediately. A few more notifications came two hours later, saying that his game page had been temporarily blocked and asking him to provide feedback on the rectification progress in the backend.
Illegal content? Absolutely impossible... Lu Li had been in this industry for many years and had a very precise grasp of the boundaries. How could he suddenly be reported for violating laws and regulations?
This indie game was Lu Li’s passion project, directly related to his future plans. He anxiously clicked into the backend and was dumbfounded after looking at it for a while.
It wasn’t his game that violated the rules, but the comment section. A large number of level zero accounts had posted pornographic images and links to pyramid schemes and gambling websites in his comment section. He had been attacked by trolls! There was only one person who would do this, someone who had said to him, “Just you wait,” a troublesome woman!
Lu Li felt the world spinning. Anger, frustration, and regret intertwined, all culminating in a loud roar:
“Chen Jianing, are you crazy?!”
Outside the window, migrating geese turned into black dots against the setting sun. Perhaps this symbolized the end of the bittersweet autumn.