Chapter 90 His Heart Can’t Be Warmed

Chapter 90: His Heart Won't Warm Up

The blues playing in the background were as tender as a lover's whisper. Lin Haoda stared at him and let out a soft "Oh," then said, "It's you."

He blinked, fingers fidgeting with the rim of his glass, trying to act natural: "What a coincidence. Didn't expect to run into you here."

The boy chuckled and exchanged a few more pleasantries, his gaze drifting casually past Lin Haoda to look behind him. "Where's Young Master Guan? Didn't come together?"

Lin Haoda shook his head without saying much, making it clear he didn't want to discuss it.

The boy took a disappointed gulp of his drink, but seeing Lin Haoda's expression, he sensed something unusual. He edged closer and probed, "What, even you can't reach him?"

Lin Haoda frowned slightly, hesitating as he chose his words, but the other mistook his hesitation for embarrassment. He patted Lin Haoda's shoulder with the air of someone who'd been through it all: "Can't help it—that guy's got a cold heart and a cold demeanor—impossible to warm up."

It took Lin Haoda a few seconds to realize "that guy" meant Guan Junshan.

Then he muttered: "To be honest, I chased him for so long—threw away all my pride and status—and in the end, he didn't even spare me a proper glance. How can someone's heart be that hard?"

The boy swirled his glass, ice cubes clinking against the rim, and let out a soft snort, unsure if he was mocking himself or someone else.

After a short pause, not caring if Lin Haoda responded, as if he were already drunk, he turned and nudged Lin Haoda with his elbow. "Don't just blank out—tell me, how did you two meet?"

Lin Haoda's lips parted. In a low voice he said, "You've got it wrong."

He looked up, staring at the swaying figures on the dim dance floor, and paused for a few seconds. "Mr. Guan and I were just business partners. There wasn't much personal connection."

The boy's eyes went wide. "Impossible," he shot back. Then, thinking it over, he laughed. "Business partners? How could he take someone he only knows from work to his villa?"

Afraid Lin Haoda would argue, he hurried on: "Besides, that night when I went upstairs to find him and said I wanted to talk outside, the first person he looked at was you."

Lin Haoda thought, *It was only because I happened to be right next to him.*

"Anyway, that night by the pool, I asked him a lot of things." The boy waved a hand, as if he no longer wanted to dwell on it. "I asked him if he really liked men or was just messing around."

He stopped dead, staring at Lin Haoda, trying to act casual. "He told me that before, maybe it was just fooling around, but now... it's different."

The lights on the dance floor dimmed. The song ended, and the crowd began to drift back.

Lin Haoda spotted Jiang Tianyi and Tang Chen holding each other, swaying off the dance floor in the dim light.

"I thought... when he said that, it was because of you."

The boy hesitated, "After all, in all the time I've known him, I've never seen him care so much about anyone..."

Lin Haoda cut him off: "Sorry, my friends are back."

Then he waved toward the dance floor.

Jiang Tianyi walked over to the sofa, tidying her hair mussed from dancing, and casually asked, "Haoda, who was that? Do you know him?"

Lin Haoda nodded, saying, "Met him before," but before she could ask more, he raised his hand to call a waiter.

Jiang Tianyi, feeling warm from dancing, ordered an iced drink. By the time she closed the menu, she'd already forgotten what she wanted to ask.

It was already late. Before long, Tang Chen returned from greeting a few friends and offered to drive them back.

On the way to the parking lot, Tang Chen asked Lin Haoda what he thought of the pub. Lin Haoda thought for a few seconds and told him it was "pretty good," adding that it was "very unique."

Tang Chen nodded and asked if he usually played games. Lin Haoda said he used to enjoy them, but now work kept him so busy he rarely had time.

Tang Chen didn't say much at the time, but they exchanged contact info, saying he might recommend some good games sometime.

Lin Haoda thanked him politely, thinking it was just a polite gesture, and didn't think much of it.

But after he got home and came out of the shower, he found a link from Tang Chen.

Lin Haoda hesitated for a long time without clicking it. He typed: "What is this?"

On the other end, Tang Chen typed for a long time—the status bar kept jumping—and finally sent a short description: "It's a nice little game. Single-player, no internet needed, simple story. If you have time, give it a try."

Lin Haoda typed "Okay," promising he'd make time to play it.

Tang Chen joked, saying he "doesn't recommend this to just anyone," because "Tianyi was bummed for days after finishing it."

Lin Haoda smiled quietly to himself, looking at his phone, thinking Tang Chen was the kind of engineering type he always thought would make great games.

But after that night, Lin Haoda quickly put the matter out of his mind.

He worked overtime for a whole week, only catching his breath after wrapping up his current project.

In the elevator after work, Tong Dong was again trying to get Lin Haoda to play Starfall, listing all the fun and the benefits of teaming up with her. Lin Haoda was a bit tempted at first, but as soon as he heard they had to do four fixed raids a week, that interest vanished instantly—it felt more exhausting than punching in at work.

When he got home, he was sore all over and didn't want to move. Lying in bed, he scrolled through his feed on his phone and saw Jiang Tianyi's new update—she had gone with Tang Chen to a gaming convention and posted lots of beautiful photos.

Lin Haoda liked the post and suddenly remembered the game he'd promised Tang Chen he'd play. Feeling a twinge of guilt, he immediately got up and grabbed his laptop from the bedside table.

He found the link, pasted it into the address bar, and after a few seconds of loading, it still worked. To the sound of a cheerful flute melody, the screen slowly faded from white to blue, and the perspective gradually moved downward, revealing a peaceful little town nestled in the woods.

A text box popped up at the bottom with some basic background info: this was a town at the foot of a mountain, sparsely populated but very friendly and helpful. Though war was spreading outside, due to its terrain and tradition of staying out of conflict, the town's life was calm and peaceful.

Lin Haoda spent a few minutes reading the text, then found he could control the character's movement. In the game, he played a blonde girl named Sifenny, the daughter of the town's florist.

Sifenny was cheerful and outgoing, liked by many boys her age. The story began with her finding an injured bird by the river, bandaging its wing, and taking it home to keep on her bedroom windowsill.

The camera followed Sifenny into her room, as if stepping into her bright girlhood. Lin Haoda moved the mouse slowly, exploring the view—pink wallpaper, a canopy bed, and a balcony full of flowers.

With no clear mission instructions, Lin Haoda spent a lot of time messing around in there. Though the game was in simple pixel art, the details were exquisite: clicking the music box would play a tune, watering the flowers at sunrise for three consecutive days triggered "Cupid's Blessing," and even the wardrobe door could be opened, revealing a closet full of Sifenny's dresses. Changing into different ones would trigger different thoughts; of all of them, Sifenny's favorite was a pale yellow sundress with flowers.

Lin Haoda explored for a while until no new dialogues or events could be triggered, then he opened the door and went downstairs to a new map.

The first floor was a flower shop along the street. Sifenny's father was busy alone inside. Through dialogue, Lin Haoda learned that the father would soon accompany the town mayor on a trip and was worried about leaving his daughter alone. He wanted Sifenny to find a suitable match within a month and settle down.

Then the mission indicator on the left side of the screen updated to "Sifenny's Wedding." The in-game clock added a date and a countdown, pushing the player to act on the father's wish right away.

At this point, Lin Haoda thought it was just a simple dating sim. But since he wasn't very enthusiastic about romance himself, he didn't actively try to help Sifenny find her soulmate at first. Instead, he focused on other tasks: caring for the injured bird, running the flower shop, and getting to know the townspeople.

The countdown numbers ticked down day by day. On the last day, Sifenny's father said goodbye after dinner, telling her he was leaving the town tomorrow.

Sifenny was anxious and asked, "Father, when will you come back?"

The tall man hugged her and said, "Soon." By the flickering candlelight, he took the cross from his neck and gave it to Sifenny, and told his only daughter never to forget to pray to God.

Sifenny was confused and wanted to ask more, but her father had already left. He went upstairs to pack, leaving Sifenny alone at the dinner table.

Sifenny hardly slept that whole night. In the early morning, she heard the front door downstairs open and knew her father was gone.

When the sun came up, the countdown finally reached zero.

Sifenny went to water the flowers like always. When she opened the window, the bird on the balcony fluttered its wings and took off. A note floated in through the window—written in beautiful cursive: "Thank you for taking care of me. If there's a chance..."

Sifenny didn't finish reading. The screen suddenly turned gray, accompanied by the roar of gunfire. The game ended.

Lin Haoda was stunned for a few seconds. He clicked the mouse twice. The cheerful flute tune played again, and a game record appeared asking which save file he wanted to load.

He glanced at the time in the bottom right corner, thought for a moment, and finally chose the save point right before "Sifenny's Wedding" began, determined to try again.