Chapter 119: Reality

Chapter 119: Reality

◎ The Death of Wang Fan ◎

Returning home, perhaps affected by his emotions, Shi Youqing felt utterly drained and lay down on his bed to rest. During this time, he read through the background story of the Love Game instance.

……

Huo Yang, orphaned from a young age, had only his twin brother, Huo Xu, to rely on. After their parents' accident, the brothers lived with relatives.

Both brothers had a habit of collecting things: Huo Xu liked gathering various books and stationery, mostly related to knowledge, while Huo Yang was more eccentric. Initially wanting a pet but forbidden by his relatives, he secretly snipped off pets' hair for his collection. In middle school, he began stealthily cutting hair from peers in early relationships, treating them as trophies. By university, Huo Yang fully indulged his preference, targeting classmates and even strangers in relationships...

However, secrets don't stay hidden forever. During a summer vacation, after cuckolding a gangster, the latter found his information and sought to beat him up. In a twist of fate, the gangster mistook Huo Xu, who went to the bar to find his brother, for Huo Yang, and brutally attacked him.

Huo Xu, beaten for his brother's mistake, desperately escaped the bar and met Huo Yang on his way to the bar. Seeing his brother's severe injuries, Huo Yang drove him to the hospital.

During the drive, distracted by arguing with his brother, Huo Yang accidentally hit and killed an elderly woman.

Huo Xu, already injured, passed out immediately. Panicked, Huo Yang, instead of calling for an ambulance or the police, switched places with his unconscious brother and pretended to be unconscious, waiting to be discovered...

Ever since their childhood living with relatives, whenever Huo Yang made a mistake, his brother would often take the blame for him if he pleaded enough.

While doing this, Huo Yang felt no guilt whatsoever.

Unfortunately, Huo Xu had sustained a head injury and by the time they were found, it was too late to save him.

Afterwards, Huo Yang lived under his brother’s name and, as a "tribute" to the brother who died for him, he made an "exception" by keeping his brother's hair.

This was Huo Yang's secret. He had thought he would live out his life as Huo Xu until he met Wang Fan...

Wang Fan, the main character of this Love Game, after roughly understanding the four NPCs he could woo, became intensely interested in Lu Yuze.

However, in parallel with his pursuit, he had a hidden mission — to uncover the murderer hidden among his potential suitors.

Lu Yuze, with his necrophilia, was suspicious due to his odd behaviors like night swimming and relieving stress by chopping meat. However, Wang Fan thought it unlikely for someone so obviously suspicious to be the murderer.

After all, would a well-hidden murderer make noise chopping meat, as if eager to announce his activities? As for the necrophilia, Lu Yuze kept it private but it was impossible to hide once someone entered his home. Thus, Lu Yuze was the least likely to be the murderer.

On the other hand, Bai Minglang appeared the most cunning. Some classmates despised him while he was popular with others. His frequent lying, his paranoid personality, and notably, his father’s death the year after a voluntary divorce raised Wang Fan’s suspicions. Could Bai Minglang, unwilling to let his mother leave, have harmed his own father...?

Wang Fan dared not provoke him and, after Bai Minglang suggested they be together in exchange for leaving Lu Yuze, decided to sever ties. If he couldn't confront him, why not avoid him?

Meanwhile, to quickly win over his crush, Wang Fan used Lu Yuze’s necrophilia secret to coerce him into a relationship.

Lu Yuze only had interest in the dead, not him.

Realizing this, Wang Fan played his trump card — pretending his house was haunted.

This way, either he would stay at Lu Yuze’s out of fear, or Lu Yuze, intrigued, would come to stay with him.

Lu Yuze saw through his ploy but, fearing Wang Fan would expose his secret to the school if he objected, agreed to a temporary cohabitation.

Lu Yuze didn’t just sit idly by. During their cohabitation, he secretly took Wang Fan’s ID and began investigating his family background, planning a counterattack starting with Wang Fan’s relatives.

Subsequently, Wang Fan's ID went missing, and he had to apply for a new one at the police station.

Bai Minglang, envious and resentful of their apparent relationship, took photos of their cohabitation and sent them to the Lu family.

Soon, Wang Fan was confronted by the Lu family in a classic "name your price to leave my son" talk. Not only that, he received a call from his parents, saying they were coming in a few days to take him back.

Lu Yuze seized the opportunity, proposing a temporary separation to appease his family.

Furious, Wang Fan felt betrayed by Bai Minglang, whom he couldn't confront for fear of falling victim to the murderer. Humiliated by the Lu family and abandoned by Lu Yuze, and with his family knowing his exact address, being taken back home would mean the end of the game. Thus, he decided to vacate his apartment and leave.

Yan Chuan, already aware of their secret due to their previous arguments, decided to exploit Wang Fan.

Both harboring their own agendas, they attended a banquet. As Wang Fan, posing as Yan Chuan's new boyfriend, slightly vented in front of the Lu family, he was contemplating whether to try wooing Yan Chuan and temporarily stay at his place to evade his family. That’s when Huo Xu appeared.

That day, Huo Xu saw him drinking sullenly in a corner and knew his opportunity had arrived.

After discovering Wang Fan and Lu Yuze together, Huo Xu became interested in Wang Fan.

Wang Fan, contemplating Yan Chuan but noticing Huo Xu's interest in him, decided to go along with it and try being with Huo Xu first.

Besides seeking revenge, he also wanted to provoke Lu Yuze by being with Huo Xu. Perhaps Lu Yuze would regret seeing him with someone else? And now, he needed a place to hide from his family who might come looking for him.

After drinking too much, he went home with Huo Xu that night.

While taking the elevator, they brushed past Auntie Li. Wang Fan quietly commented, "Being seen like this isn't good," just as the elevator doors closed.

Sobering up at Huo Xu's house, Wang Fan knew something would likely happen between them that night. While Huo Xu showered, he changed the sheets, not out of fastidiousness, but because he had heard from Auntie Li that Huo Xu sometimes brought people home. He didn’t want to sleep on sheets shared with someone else...

That's when he found a strand of hair under the bedsheet.

At first, he didn't think much of it, hiding it to later tease Huo Xu about a potential lover.

Huo Xu's reaction was extreme; he got angry and demanded to know why Wang Fan had touched the bedsheets.

Wang Fan was frightened. Huo Xu quickly calmed down, suggesting the hair was from someone else but refused to throw it away, instead placing it elsewhere, maintaining an intimate closeness...

Although Wang Fan was drunk, he remembered the room's layout, including a photo of Huo Xu with a man identical to him.

Confused and unsettled, he excused himself to the bathroom and searched online for information about Huo Xu.

That’s when he discovered Huo Xu had a twin brother who died in college, a death stemming from a series of events caused by cuckolding someone…

Wang Fan, knowing how Huo Xu felt about him, felt a chill run down his spine.

He wanted to leave as soon as he came out.

Huo Xu, sensing something was off, tried to persuade him to stay. In his turmoil, Wang Fan blurted out, "Are you... really Huo Xu?"

Huo Xu decided to kill a second person, this time personally.

He smothered Wang Fan with a pillow. As Wang Fan struggled desperately, he kept asking, "The one who died years ago... was it the brother or the younger brother?"

Shi Youqing knew that at this moment, Wang Fan was trying to confirm if the answer he had given was correct.

But regardless of its correctness, Wang Fan was doomed, his wooing mission unfulfilled.

Shi Youqing initially thought this was how Wang Fan died, but the scene didn’t end there.

Wang Fan hadn't died; he had merely passed out.

Huo Xu, thinking he was dead, went to the kitchen to find tools for dismemberment.

As Huo Xu prepared, Wang Fan gradually regained consciousness. Knowing Huo Xu intended to kill him, he silently dragged his weakened body and crawled out, unexpectedly encountering Lu Yuze who was coming upstairs.

This started with a text message.

Unable to let go of his anger that night, Wang Fan had messaged Lu Yuze: "I'm with Huo Xu now, is this really what you wanted?"

Lu Yuze came up at that time to return his ID.

But he stumbled upon this scene.

Wang Fan, having suffered asphyxiation, was weak and hoarse. Overwhelmed with emotion, thinking he was about to be rescued, he cried out that Huo Xu was trying to kill him... But at that moment, he saw Lu Yuze’s favorability skyrocketing.

Lu Yuze's gaze shifted erratically, finally reddening as he covered Wang Fan's mouth, tremblingly saying, "I love you now."

Wang Fan was knocked unconscious and pushed back into Huo Xu’s home.

Wang Fan was dead for good.

His hair and Huo Xu’s hair lay together under Huo Yang’s bedsheet. Every night thereafter, Huo Yang would say, “Brother, sister-in-law, the three of us are living together.”

Shi Youqing: “…” He somewhat regretted not whipping Huo Yang a few dozen more times.

The subsequent murder of Auntie Li matched his deduction.

Huo Yang, using the security guard’s phone to eavesdrop on Bo Huai’s conversation, discovered that Auntie Li knew Wang Fan had returned that night. If she fully recalled the events, Huo Yang, who brought Wang Fan back, couldn't clear himself.

Huo Yang decided to silence her.

The debt collectors were lured by him, and then he used a vase, used to dispose of Wang Fan’s body, to hide in and transport back to the apartment, creating an alibi. After committing the murder, he escaped by jumping out the window, using a truck parked outside as cover…

After reading the entire background story, Shi Youqing was so disgusted he lost his appetite.

In the afternoon, Feng Bin and Hao Tianshuo visited him, finding him pale and listless, and anxiously asked what was wrong.

Shi Youqing waved it off, saying, "Just a cold, it’s nothing serious."

"It's important," Bo Huai, already prepared to head out, came over with medicine, "Take this and we're going to the hospital."

Feng Bin and Hao Tianshuo nodded in agreement.

Shi Youqing agreed, "Okay."

After taking the medicine, Shi Youqing was bundled up by Bo Huai in a bear hug and carried into the car to visit a nearby hospital.

After the check-up, it turned out to be just a cold.

Sitting wrapped in a blanket, Shi Youqing spread his hands, "See? I told you."

Feng Bin studied his complexion closely and shook his head in resignation.

Hao Tianshuo said, "Brother Qingqing, you're definitely exhausted! You need a good night’s sleep! How about… I take care of you?"

He was promptly kicked by Bo Huai after saying this.

Despite the doctor's reassurance, Bo Huai remained vigilant in his care, tirelessly attending to Shi Youqing at home. He brewed stomach-soothing soup for any discomfort, massaged any aches, immediately wiped sweat from his forehead with a warm towel, and even took him out for walks to get fresh air whenever he felt stuffy... His attentiveness was so thorough that Shi Youqing began to wonder if he had been diagnosed with cancer.

After such a night, Shi Youqing woke up completely recovered.

Assured of his comfort and absence of any discomfort, Bo Huai, who hadn't slept all night, was even more energetic than him, embracing Shi Youqing and saying, "You scared me to death."

Shi Youqing responded, "It was just a cold."

"I know," Bo Huai replied, seemingly oblivious to any overreaction, holding him close and feeling his warm body, "Sometimes even when you sneeze, my heart skips a beat, let alone when you’re sick."

Shi Youqing glanced at him and smiled, lips pursed.

[Author’s Note]

Thanks to the little angel who fired a rocket: --Waiting for the Aurora-- 1;

Thanks to the little angel who dropped a mine: maruru 1;

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated with nutrient solution: Birdsong Calls Back the People 3 bottles; ... 2 bottles; Xiu Ying 1 bottle;

I'm very grateful for everyone's support and will continue to work hard!