Chapter 51

Chapter 51

At six in the evening, Wen Jueqian contacted Chen Suye to confirm Wen Yanxu's schedule for the day.

Chen Suye's reply was as crisp and efficient as ever: "Mr. Wen has no social engagements today. His last meeting ends at 6:30 PM, and he has nothing scheduled after that."

Wen Jueqian thanked her and ended the call, then sent a message to Wen Yanxu's new comm device.

Cloud: Yanxu, do you have any other plans tonight?

A few minutes passed before a reply came.

X: No.

The server crash on Floating Life's launch day, plus the endless stream of bugs and optimization issues that followed, had the whole team scrambling for a week. The servers had finally stabilized—still around ten million players online, but at least no more mass forced logouts.

Floating Life could finally spare an unreleased dungeon for Player 99 to use in unlocking Wen Yanxu's seal.

Cloud: Can you come home a bit early tonight?

Cloud: I want to cook for you myself.

After sending the messages, Wen Jueqian felt a little nervous.

Back in the day, Wen Yanxu would never have refused such small requests—he'd even leave work early to come home.

The wait for a reply felt like forever. Just as Wen Jueqian was about to add "No worries if it's a hassle," his comm vibrated again.

Y: Okay.

Wen Jueqian felt relieved.

If he ate the meal first, then casually brought up trying the game he'd made, it would feel more natural—less abrupt.

He told his secretary, Zhou Jing, he was heading out early, then left the office.

In the elevator, he ran into Lv Guo.

Her hair was thrown up in a messy ponytail, and she had obvious dark circles under her eyes.

When she saw Wen Jueqian, she was slow to react, then greeted him in a tired voice: "Mr. Wen."

"How many days straight have you been working overtime?" Wen Jueqian asked, looking at her visibly haggard face.

Lv Guo's gaze was a little unfocused. "I can't remember exactly. I think it started two Wednesdays ago."

"You should leave early today and actually get some rest."

"I've still got one thing to finish up." Lv Guo rubbed her eyes. "I'll leave once it's done."

"Don't forget to rest even when you're swamped." Wen Jueqian looked at her exhausted state and added, "Your health is part of being productive too."

Lv Guo nodded. "Mm."

The elevator reached the first floor, and Wen Jueqian stepped out.

Suddenly, Lv Guo caught up from behind.

"Mr. Wen, wait a moment."

She pulled a small item from her pocket and held it out to him.

Wen Jueqian took it—a small brocade pouch embroidered with a runic pattern in gold thread, the opening tied with a woven five-colored cord. He could feel something inside through the fabric.

Lv Guo smiled sheepishly. "I went to Qixin Temple a while ago. While I was there asking for career luck, I picked up a protection charm for you too."

Wen Jueqian was surprised for a second, then took the little pouch.

Last time Lv Guo had visited him at the hospital, she'd half-jokingly told him to go to a temple and change his luck. He'd figured it was just a coworker being nice, nodded, and forgotten about it. But Lv Guo had remembered—and had even gone out of her way to get one for him.

"Thank you." The small pouch carried a faint scent of sandalwood. The simple, genuine gesture made Wen Jueqian feel warm inside.

A thought occurred to him, and he asked, "Didn't you say Qixin Temple was for safety charms? Why'd you go there for career stuff too?"

Lv Guo smiled shyly. "Whenever something big comes up in life, I go pray—career, school, love, safety, I pray for everything. It makes me feel better."

Her voice brightened a little. "I think hard work is what really counts, but sometimes you need a little superstition."

"Like this time, I prayed for the open beta to go smoothly. We hit a bunch of problems, but we worked through them all!"

She forced a smile. "So I think sincerity works. It helps a little."

Then she waved, turned, and rushed back into the elevator.

Wen Jueqian watched her until she was gone, then looked down at the protection charm in his hand.

So sincerity really works?

He clipped it onto his comm device.

When he got home, Wen Jueqian headed straight to the kitchen.

He'd already bought the ingredients, and they were neatly stacked in the fridge.

Usually, the AI butler Xiao Q did the cooking, but Wen Jueqian could cook too.

Back at Qiming University, his dorm was a single apartment with a tiny kitchen.

Qiming was the Federation's top school, but it didn't have Beichen High's brutal elimination system. He could finally focus on stuff outside of school and pick up life skills—cooking being one of them.

Once he started working, he hardly ever had time to cook. He was rusty, but luckily Xiao Q was there to help out.

He set the last dish on the table, turned on the warmer, then stood up straight and let out a long breath.

"Thank you, Xiao Q," he said.

Xiao Q: "You're welcome, Master. That's what I'm here for."

"Didn't you say you'd cook for me yourself?"

Wen Jueqian turned and saw Wen Yanxu standing in the doorway, having shown up at some point without him noticing.

He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, eyes scanning the dishes before landing on Wen Jueqian.

In his warped memories, ever since they'd signed the contract and Wen Jueqian became his boyfriend, he'd often cook for Wen Yanxu to win him over—bringing him food or inviting him to his dorm.

Back then, Wen Jueqian would stand in front of him, holding out the lunchbox, eyes down, voice quiet, like he was scared of being turned down.

Wen Yanxu always took it and ate it all to save his pride.

“Xiao Q just helps me out in the kitchen.” Wen Jueqian said flatly.

Wen Yanxu didn’t say anything more. His gaze lingered briefly on the back of Wen Jueqian’s hand, which was slightly reddened, before he walked to the dining table and sat down in his usual spot.

The two of them ate in silence.

Wen Jueqian ate distractedly, keeping an eye on the man across from him, trying to discern from subtle cues whether the meal was to Wen Yanxu’s liking, or whether it sparked even a hint of familiarity.

Seeing Wen Yanxu set down his chopsticks, Wen Jueqian did the same.

“How is it?” he asked, with hope and nervousness.

Wen Yanxu nodded faintly. “Not bad.”

Wen Jueqian’s gaze dropped, his lashes casting a faint shadow under his eyes.

“Is it not good?”

He pressed his lips together, his voice deliberately tinged with disappointment, as if the rating didn’t sit well with him. “Sorry, I haven’t cooked in a while. I’m a little out of practice.”

Wen Yanxu glanced at him. He paused for a moment before speaking, his voice flat, but he rarely bothered to explain further.

“I ate it all. Didn’t leave a thing.”

Wen Jueqian looked up.

A smile immediately spread across his face, and his voice brightened too. “I’m glad you like it. I also prepared dessert.”

That smile caught Wen Yanxu off guard for a second.

After a few seconds, he nodded.

The dessert was crème brûlée—it melted in your mouth, sweet but not too rich.

Wen Jueqian took a few bites, then set down his spoon.

“Yanxu, Floating Realm’s been out for a week now.”

He asked offhandedly, “Have you played it?”

Wen Yanxu’s hand, which was holding the spoon, paused for a moment.

“No.”

Wen Jueqian brought it up. “You’re also a shareholder in Lingjing Era. If it weren’t for your investment back then, this project might have died halfway, let alone made it to launch day.”

He watched Wen Yanxu’s expression, wondering what reason he remembered for investing in Lingjing Era in his current state of mind, and probed, “I’m really grateful for the trust and support you gave me back then.”

Wen Yanxu gave a dismissive hum. “Just a bit of pocket change. Nothing to mention.”

In reality, it was anything but small.

For the heir to the Wen family, it wasn’t exactly “pocket change” either.

At the time, Wen Yanxu had just graduated, so his liquid funds were limited. To support Lingjing Era, he had not only poured in most of his cash savings but also sold off some assets.

It seemed this memory hadn’t been distorted too badly—Wen Yanxu still remembered that he’d invested on his own.

Wen Yanxu set down his spoon and looked at Wen Jueqian.

“Spit it out.”

His voice was calm and unhurried.

“You asked me to come home for dinner today because after Floating Realm’s launch, the market response exceeded expectations, and with production and server pressure ramping up, you need more funding to expand, right?”

“Just tell me how much you need, and that’s that.”

Wen Jueqian was caught off guard by this assumption, which completely missed what he was actually trying to do. He instinctively shook his head, his voice urgent as he denied it. “No, that’s not it.”

Under Wen Yanxu’s gaze—calm as ice—Wen Jueqian’s voice unconsciously dropped, tinged with a dry ache. “I just wanted to cook you a meal myself.”

Seeing that Wen Yanxu remained silent, he added, “And I wanted you to try out the game I made. Without your investment, Floating Realm never would have made it to launch. I want you to see it.”

Wen Yanxu looked at the man before him, who again refused to meet his eyes, and felt a faint unease rise in his chest.

He felt Wen Jueqian shouldn’t be acting like this.

Shouldn’t be tiptoeing around him, fawning, or begging.

He spoke slowly. “Alright. I’m free tonight.”

Wen Jueqian let out a small sigh of relief.

The first step of the plan was complete.

The two of them headed to the game room together.

Inside, two silver-white Holo-Pods sat side by side—the latest model on the market.

Wen Yanxu glanced around, his gaze sweeping over the two Holo-Pods, but he headed toward the shelf with the VR headsets.

99 needed Wen Yanxu to enter a deep connection state. Only then could his consciousness temporarily detach from the physical limits of his biological brain and transform into a purer form of neural signals.

A headset could only provide a shallow connection, which wouldn’t cut it.

He hurried over and pressed down on Wen Yanxu’s hand just as he was about to grab a headset.

“Axu, let’s use the Holo-Pod instead. The experience is way better.”

Wen Yanxu’s gaze stopped on the hand resting on top of his.

Wen Jueqian’s hand was pale, with defined knuckles and slender fingers. At that moment, it rested on Wen Yanxu’s hand with a slight pressure.

Wen Jueqian followed his gaze and looked down at his hand on Wen Yanxu’s, realizing he was touching him.

Startled, as if scalded, Wen Jueqian yanked his hand back.

The warmth on the back of his hand vanished abruptly, and a flicker of displeasure stirred in his chest. The feeling came out of nowhere, and he couldn’t tell whether the displeasure was because Wen Jueqian had touched him without warning, or because Wen Jueqian had pulled away like he couldn’t stand to touch him.

Wen Jueqian had already hurried over to the Holo-Pod, his voice a little breathless. “I’ve already downloaded the game and tweaked the settings.”

“You can just log right in.”

Wen Yanxu watched him start it up, said nothing, walked over to the Holo-Pod, and lay down inside.

The lid slowly closed.

“Do you wish to enable deep connection and upload your consciousness to the Beyond Holo-Network?” A mechanical female voice echoed inside the pod.

"Yes."

"Welcome to the Floating World."

For a moment, everything went dark.

When Wen Yanxu opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in a bamboo forest. Sunlight filtered through the gaps between the bamboo leaves, casting dappled light on the ground. The air smelled faintly of bamboo leaves, and in the distance, a stream babbled.

He pulled up the character panel scroll.

"Character Stats":

Name: Xu

Cultivation Realm: Qi Refining, Layer 4 (1%)

Spiritual Root: High-tier Thunder Spiritual Root

Spiritual Energy: 400/400

Health: 1200/1200

Cultivation Technique: "Heavenly Thunder Art·Qi Refining Chapter" (Yellow-tier, High-grade)

Spells: None

This wasn't a fresh account.

His character model looked exactly like him, clad in a dark, sturdy combat outfit.

He didn't even have to play through the tutorial himself.

Wen Yanxu frowned slightly.

If he wanted him to experience the game, why set everything up for him? What kind of experience was that?

A friend message popped up in the bottom right corner.

Wen Xianyin: Axu, come to the Star Abyss dungeon.

He also sent a teleportation scroll along with the message.

Wen Yanxu had no idea what he was up to.

Still, he took the scroll and clicked to use it.

A flash of teleportation light burst from the scroll, swallowing his vision entirely.

When the light faded, Wen Yanxu found himself standing on the water's surface.

The water beneath his feet was mirror-smooth and shallow, only ankle-deep.

The water reflected the sky, which was studded with stars.

Beneath his feet were stars, above his head were stars—no boundary between heaven and earth, only countless points of light hanging in the void, quietly twinkling.

But there was no one here—no NPCs, no other players.

Only a voice came through.

"Axu."

==========Author's Note:==========

Every time I see a familiar D in the comments, I'm happy: thank you for sticking with the story.

Seeing new D's also makes me happy: I've gained new readers.