Life-Saving Days by the Husky’s Side

Liang Jingxiu basked in this silence. The other side was not showing any sign of response so he directly made a phone call, saying, “If you aren’t going to give an explanation, I will take your first excuse as default.”

Having just finished reading the message, Ji Shaoyan replied with a single “en”.

He originally didn’t want to tell anyone but now there are too many flaws. It was impossible for him to hide it all.

The first time he woke up, he acted like a madman; the second time he woke up, he sent Zhou Li a flower in the game; immediately after that he went and broke his ankle for Zhou Li. If Jingxiu and Xiao-Yan didn’t know that the “Li” in-game and Zhou Li were the same person, it would be fine. Now that they knew, even the most simplest effort they put into their thoughts will lead them guessing in the right direction. More importantly, Jingxiu had even heard him ask about the hot search the day he woke from his coma. Thinking back to the husky’s injury, then to the time when he first opened his eyes after so long, if Jingxiu couldn’t figure out the truth then he may as well be a fool*.

[T/N: damn, the plot must’ve given him a 100 IQ boost because there’s no way a sane person would link these together]

The smile in Liang Jingxiu’s eyes faded as he asked, “Xiao-Yang’s behind it?”

Ji Shaoyan said, “Who else can it be?”

Liang Jingxiu thought about that period of time when Xiao-Yang was obsessively looking for a dog under their noses and suddenly spat out a string of curses.

Fortunately, there was Li. Otherwise, if they had let Xiao-Yang’s people take A-Yan back, the consequences would’ve been unimaginable. He also finally understood why A-Yan was so enthralled by this person. This was a case of two people being bound together from morning until night, in life and death.

He asked, “How did he do it?”

Ji Shaoyan briefly discussed the implementation of brainwave technology.

Liang Jingxiu listened with a calm face until the end. He knew A-Yan will definitely not tell Grandpa Ji about this.

Because it was completely useless. What can Grandpa Ji do with this knowledge? At most, he will just fly into a terrible rage and give Xiao-Yang the beating of his lifetime. It wasn’t like he could personally beat the little guy to death, as this was not in line with A-Yan’s aesthetics of revenge.

He narrowed his eyes. “How do you want to do this?”

A small smile appeared on Ji Shaoyan’s lips and his expression became very gentle. “Why don’t I give him the same treatment? It must’ve been so painstakingly difficult for his uncle to figure out this technology, I feel quite sorry for him.”

Liang Jingxiu guessed that the outcome would come to this. The glint of smile in his eyes returned and he said, “I’ll help you.”

Ji Shaoyan: “En, if there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up ba.” 

“Wait, wait, there’s something else,” Liang Jingxiu hurriedly halted him and after a brief pause of hesitation, asked, “Today, your little lover said he has a split personality. Do you know that?”

Ji Shaoyan: “I know.”

Liang Jingxiu: “Then…”

Ji Shaoyan voice was soft. “In any case, he is mine.”

He naturally knew there was a possibility of Zhou Li disappearing one day, but he will not accept this outcome. If such a day arrives, he will unscrupulously do anything it takes to dig Zhou Li out from his brain again.

Liang Jingxiu thought about A-Yan’s personality, a little worried about the impending tragic ending.

But if he put himself in his friend’s position, if he had experienced the same thing, he doubt he would be able to keep his sanity intact. He remained silent for a moment, not wanting continue down this serious line of conversation anymore and instead, with his curiosity taking over, asked something else. “That little golden retriever, did he start raising it recently, or did he already have it before?”

Ji Shaoyan smiled. “You actually want to ask me if I ate and slept with that golden retriever, squeezed in the nest at night, right ba?”

Liang Jingxiu also smiled, eyes squinting and replying in an innocent tone, “How can that be? I’m just asking casually.”

Ji Shaoyan turned a deaf ear. “No, Zhou Li and I slept together on the same bed.”

“Oh…” Liang Jingxiu felt very emotional listening to the other, thinking how it was no wonder that guy fought for you as if his life depended on it*, then said, “He must like you very much.”

[T/N: 拼命: desperate, lay down your life, defy death; basically, devotion. Can be taken as sarcasm (since it’s just a dog and a human sharing a bed) but since LJX is just as interesting as JSY, he probably thinks Zhou Li sleeping with a dog is the same as sharing a bed with a human JSY, which was why ZL was willing to do so much for husky Shaoyan]

He liked me so much that he gave me away.

Even though he said he won’t raise another dog, even though he didn’t need to worry about Lin Ye anymore, he still had that little golden retriever.

Ji Shaoyan was unwilling to admit that he was unable to get the better of a little golden retriever during his husky period and even more unwilling to think about Zhou Li’s developing isolation* from this world, transferring all the affection that originally belonged to him onto the little golden retriever. He asked, “Anything else?”

[T/N: 隔离: to separate/isolate: JSY (as a dog) saw that ZL had nothing connecting him to this world (since he was a ‘second personality’) except for his husky self. Now that the connection has been severed (no husky), JSY thinks ZL will grow dependent on the golden retriever to find an ‘anchor’ to this world and have no attachments to everything else like before] 

Liang Jingxiu heard this question and understood that he no longer wanted to further discuss this subject. 

Although he was particularly curious about A-Yan and Zhou Li’s matters, this affair was too private after all, so he cleverly hung up the phone.

Ji Shaoyan pulled up Zhou Li’s photo to look at again. His eyes fell on a certain thing’s body and his mood worsened. He wished Zhou Li could pack it up and send it away immediately to some other person.

Little Golden Retriever had no idea it was on someone’s hit-list*.

[T/N: literally, someone is disgusted by it]

At this time, it had already followed its owner back home, trotting happily throughout the entire journey.

Zhou Li developed a habit while raising his husky. He got a small damp towel to clean its paws, carefully and thoroughly wiping down all four paws, then let it run off to play while he went upstairs to continue drawing.

During this process, he opened another flower and gifted it to Ji Shaoyan.

Ji Shaoyan was very pleased.

This way, he and Zhou Li have both given each other two roses. Although there were five flowers on Zhou-er’s side, Zhou Li only gave Zhou-er that one rose. By comparison, the friendship value between him and Zhou Li was higher.

He felt the slight dissatisfaction that lowered his mood finally being relieved, then tried piecing everyone’s diagrams together and sent them back to the group chat so the others could keep track of the progress at any time.

Everyone worked hard for half a night, finally finishing the whole picture before midnight. Ji Shaoyan tidied up everything and sent out the final image. At the same time, he notified other people in-game and sent out a file. The latter were already waiting for the update and ran to download the image the second they saw the message.

Ji Shaoyan was now near the ying-yang circle in the centre of the maze.

He walked onto one of the dots and saw that there were no chests around, so he looped around to the other one, unrushed. He quickly found an opened wooden box, tried clicking on it, and was instantly sent to the fourth floor

[System] Congratulations player [Ji Shao] for entering the fourth floor.

Sure enough, he thought, then sent another update.

Ji Shao: The ying-yang in the middle is the clearance key. Only one half has a chest and it’s already been opened by San Yue. You can get into the fourth floor just by tapping on it. When San Yue was sent to the third floor, she was probably lucky enough to be around the area and was able to get in by opening the box.

Everyone alternated between envy, jealousy, and hatred.

Before, she had obtained a few rare items just by opening some chests and then she was able to be thrown directly to the clearance key in the third floor. This type of luck was simply off the charts.

The brain-dead fans howled, confessing to their male god frantically.

Their male god was too powerful. Without him, it was extremely likely that they would’ve been stuck here forever. Aiya, how can there be such a gentle, considerate, smart and beautiful person on this earth!

But amongst everyone’s ecstatic excitement, someone very quickly discovered a new problem.

Zheng San: I understand the answer and I understand the map, but where the hell am I right now ah!

Liu Xiao Wei: I also want to know! With only the map, it’s useless if we don’t know where we are without navigation ah QAQ

Ji Shao: This, I can’t help you with. If you come across an open box, just click on it and see ba.

This was all they could do.

People with a bad sense of direction began to sprint to ambush all the chests.

Zhou Li watched them debate over the incorrect solution* and couldn’t help giving a piece of advice.

[T/N: literally, the non-solution solution]

Li: Be careful when you open it, so that you don’t have to go back and forth over and over around the maze. Tapping boxes open one after another in a circle, you’ll end up not knowing which is the real thing.

Zheng San: You shut up, don’t crow!

Li: I am simply reminding everyone from the kindness of my heart.

Zheng San: Piss off, your kind words have the same effect as having a hamster ball in your mouth*.

[T/N: 好好的话到你嘴里跟形容仓鼠球似的, not quite sure what the comparison is]

Jing Shao: Hahahahaha

Li: Even if you think this, there’s nothing I can do.

While replying, Zhou Li also reached the centre of the formation and easily found the clearance box, before becoming the third player to enter the fourth floor.

This was the last level of this small broken game, because those who enter the fifth level will qualify.

He saw a countdown clock displayed above the maze. It was currently at twenty hours and four minutes. He did quickly did some math and realised it would stop at eight o’clock tomorrow night, then proceeded to read the floor rules.

The fourth floor implements a team competition mode and there were two ways to start the level. One was to reach the ten player minimum limit, and the other way was to wait until the countdown ends, which is when the game will start automatically. That old man must’ve considered various possibilities and predicted the time it took for them to reach this level, then made a deadline, showing that they won’t wait for anyone who can’t make it before the cut-off time.

If there was no Ji Shaoyan, ten qualifying players might not even be possible after the timer ends.

But once Ji Shaoyan stepped in and organised people to conquer the map in such an efficient method, they can expect a full gathering of people soon.

Ji Shaoyan told them the rules of the fourth floor and the public screen suddenly burst into tears, yelling for them to wait first. Although everyone were rivals, they still played together for a several days. They can’t just leave them behind at such a critical moment ah!

Ji Shao: Then how about this ba, no matter how many people enter the fourth floor, everyone should still come online at 8 o’clock tomorrow night.

Qing Lin: Ji-shao, I love you!!!

Zheng San: Fine, I agree.

Liu Xiao Wei: Ji-shao, I love you too!

Tang Xin Tian: Me too!

Dan Ya Lan: I just arrived at the centre, I’ll enter the fourth floor right away. I also have no objections, see you all at 8 o’clock tomorrow.

Zhou Li raised his eyebrows, thinking to himself that it wasn’t possible for a black-hearted person like Ji Shaoyan to actually be this considerate. He heard a WeChat notification come through and saw that Ji Shaoyan had sent a text, telling him to go to bed early.

He considered this for two seconds and asked: You don’t want to stay up?

Looking at this reply, Ji Shaoyan subconsciously wanted to deny it, but after thinking about it, he gave the truth: En.

Because it was not worth it.

They had no idea what the situation on the fourth level was like. He was waiting for everyone to fight for their spot but he didn’t know how long it would take. Besides, the nurses looking after him have been unhappy for quite a while. Anyway, it was just waiting until the set deadline. He might as well delay things until eight-o’clock and also get an opportunity to sell a wave of favours*.

[T/N: helping people so they become more favourable towards you]

He typed: Staying up late harms your body, go to bed early ba. Good night.

Zhou Li already knew this was the case.

Plus, this young master was not afraid of people secretly playing on their own because the second-generation circle had its own rules when dealing with the game. As people who crossed paths regularly*, since they agreed, they wouldn’t break their promise. Those other schools didn’t have many student leaders and they were definitely convinced by his SSS-ranked organisation skills, so they won’t try breaking the rules.

[T/N: literally, meet each other when looking up or down (people living in the same small town, or in this case, in the same social class)]

He couldn’t hold back the multiple “ze ze”* in his heart and replied “good night” before going off to sleep.

[T/N: tongue clicking]

The next morning, he suddenly thought of Zhou Luwen and Song Yingshi. Although he hesitated for a few seconds, he still left a separate message to both people and informed them about the final fourth level, telling them that tonight will be the last round. After clearing the game, this little broken mobile game will be closed.

Grandma Song’s funeral period had ended and Song Yingshi was in a state of disinterest towards anything these days. However, even she knew she couldn’t go on like this, so she replied with an “okay.”

Zhou Luwen directly called him, asking if he wanted to come over to eat lunch together.

Zhou Li: “He was discharged?”

Zhou Luwen hummed “en” and briefly talked about Qian Duoshu’s state.

Qian Duoshu’s condition was not serious. After being supplied oxygen for two days, he was discharged after close observation.

The two talked a lot recently and Father Zhou also helped contact a psychiatric expert. However, the specialist was not in the city, but over in the next province. After hearing this, Qian Duoshu decided to adopt Zhou Li’s advice about changing environments. He planned to travel by car to see the doctor, then walk around to sightsee the area and calm down. He needed to think about what he will do in the future. Zhou Luwen wanted to accompany him to the doctor but Qian Duoshu rejected him, on the basis that the school term was about to start.

The other boy said, “He said he wanted to go to his workplace and apologise to his colleagues in a bit, I’ll also accompany him. When he finishes his business, he’ll go buy some travelling essentials and go home to cook lunch. If you come over, he’ll set off after we finish eating.”

Zhou Li was surprised. “In such a hurry?”

Zhou Luwen helplessly said, “En, that specialist has an appointment opening tomorrow morning. He wanted to rush over today and stay one night so he can see the doctor tomorrow.”

After a pause, he added, “It may also be because he’s a little worried gossip around his suicide attempt will spread, so he didn’t want to stay here for too long.”

Zhou Li thought this was also a possibility and happily agreed to the offer. He hung up and told the other family members his plan before returning to Xiangman Town.

He knew there was a car on Zhou Luwen’s side so he didn’t bother driving another one over. Since he wasn’t in a hurry, he chose to take the bus. By the time he arrived, Qian Duoshu and the other boy just came home and were in the middle of rinsing the ingredients.

Qian Duoshu was in pretty good condition. It was obvious that Zhou Luwen has been talking to him a healthy amount recently.

Seeing Zhou Li come through the door, he hurriedly greeted the boy and urged him to take a seat. “Eat some fruit first, we’ll have the meal in a bit.”

Zhou Li hummed “en” and dawdled into the kitchen with a slice of watermelon in his hand. “Need any help?”

Qian Duoshu said, “No need, both of you go out, I’ll take care of things today.”

Zhou Li and Zhou Luwen were driven away and could only listen to the elder.

Qian Duoshu was in very high spirits and fried an entire table’s worth of dishes. He waved the two over, then took out two boxes.

“Fountain pens, one for each of you.” He stretched out his hand and handed each boy a box. Still not very good at expressing feelings, he simply said, “A gift for the beginning of the school year.”

Zhou Li laughed and answered, “Thanks.”

Zhou Luwen also answered with a smile, opening the box and viewing the pen. He said, “Thank you, I like it very much.”

Qian Duoshu’s eye sockets were a bit hot but he forcibly pressed it down, smiling all throughout. “Let’s eat ba.”

A meal was eaten with no complications.

Zhou Li secretly observed Qian Duoshu’s positive attitude and found that he did not seem to be pretending, so he didn’t intend to block the other’s plan to leave. After the meal, he helped them cover the furniture then he and Zhou Luwen sent Qian Duoshi to his car, leaving with a request for him to drive slowly on the road.

Qian Duoshu said, “I know, I’ve driven this car for many years. I’ll tell you two when I get there.”

Zhou Li sounded an agreement. They watched his car drive onto the main road before quickly disappearing around a corner.

The remaining two returned upstairs and ended with a simple clean-up of the whole house, then left Xiangman Town.

Zhou Li said, “Ai, say if that Aunt of ours finds out he resigned and has gone off travelling not only for two or three days but possibly for the long term, do you think we’ll be facing a serial caller?”

Zhou Luwen seriously thought about that particular scene for a while, then said helplessly, “Please don’t let me think about it for now.”

Zhou Li burst into laughter and did not mention it again. They quickly returned to the city.

Zhou Luwen was reminded of the game earlier and immediately entered the app when they arrived home, finally managing to reach the fourth floor before the eight o’clock deadline.

At eight o’clock in the evening, all players who entered the fourth floor came online together, opening the final round of competition.

At this moment, everyone only heard a single “ding” and the system automatically ran through everyone’s friendship value. Ji Shaoyan and Zhou Li were forcibly bound together, forming a team.

Ji Shaoyan watched the little cartoon-looking guy running around his avatar. He felt instant fulfilment.

The author has something to say:

Ji Shaoyan: After feeling upset for so many days, there is finally something that went well.

The next chapter solves everything about small broken mobile game in one breath~

By the way, the big melon mentioned before will be introduced by this small broken mobile game. With the given context, you can guess if you make the hole in your brain a little bigger. You can even guess what’s in the last round =W=