Chapter 40

After dinner, Lin Mo and Stephanie were in such a hurry to get away from Yu Changning’s line of sight that they said a perfunctory goodbye and rushed off in a flurry. Xibin seemed to have been influenced by them; he took Lucy and followed right after. The original group of six was suddenly left with only Chu Yunmiao and Yu Changning standing at the entrance to the restaurant.

Alone together, Chu Yunmiao felt a little awkward.

She asked Yu Changning, “Are we... going back to school too?”

Yu Changning looked at her and suddenly smiled. “Why? Is Class Monitor Chu at risk of failing finals too?”

Chu Yunmiao knew she was talking about Lin Mo, but she refused to lose. She shot back, “What does the instructor think? Did I do something badly in the game too?”

“Too many things,” Yu Changning said.

Chu Yunmiao refused to accept that. “Like what?”

“For example...” Yu Changning lowered her head as if thinking, but Chu Yunmiao could clearly see the corners of her lips lifting.

After a moment’s contemplation, she finally gave her answer. “For example, the Long Princess did not properly fulfill the basic requirements of being a pet.”

Chu Yunmiao opened her mouth, but for a long time no sound came out.

A little indignant, she glared at Yu Changning. “...I thought this matter was already over. Since when did you develop the bad habit of bringing up old scores?”

“Over?” Yu Changning clearly had no intention of letting her off. “You mean the moment you went offline at the last second, you consider that over?”

Chu Yunmiao held on stubbornly. “Cough, of course not. But before I logged off...”

She thought of the soft lips she had touched on Yu Changning at that time, and her face went slightly red. Her voice also lowered unconsciously. “Haven’t you already gotten your ‘revenge’?”

Yu Changning pinched her chin. “I thought matters like ‘revenge’ were decided by the one who took the initiative as to when they end.”

Chu Yunmiao gritted her teeth. “Yu Changning...”

She sounded a little wronged. “What more do you want?”

Yu Changning let go of her and sighed. “Such a tease.”

Before Chu Yunmiao could voice her displeasure again, she comforted her, “Alright, don’t be upset. You know that as long as you’re unwilling, I won’t do anything to you.”

Chu Yunmiao took two deep breaths, forcing those inappropriate feelings back down.

She returned to her earlier question. “So... are we going back now?”

To her surprise, Yu Changning refused her this time. “You go first.”

She headed toward the amusement park’s competitive gaming area. “I’m a little over-energized; I’m going to work it off.”

With that, she turned back and waved to Chu Yunmiao before disappearing into the crowd.

By rights, this should have been the best time to part ways; both of them needed time alone to calm down. Yu Changning needed to vent, and Chu Yunmiao needed no less time by herself to sort through the bizarre, previously unthinkable bold things she had done that entire day.

But for some reason, Chu Yunmiao didn’t want to leave just like that.

She stood there for two or three minutes, still unable to make herself walk back to school. After thinking it over, she gritted her teeth and followed in the direction Yu Changning had gone.

When she reached the competitive area of the amusement park, she had originally thought it would take some time to find Yu Changning. But to her surprise, the moment she stepped inside, she knew where Yu Changning was.

In the bustling gaming hall, the huge broadcast screen above all the visitors was currently playing a live feed. The video showed a very popular air combat game in the competitive section, where players had to pilot virtual warships and shoot down enemy forces in the vastness of space. The game was wildly popular throughout the Empire, and its scores were even used by the public as a standard for judging someone’s air combat skill. The player currently in battle on the screen was Yu Changning. The reason the broadcast had locked onto Yu Changning’s battle interface was very simple—

She was just too good.

Even without looking at the string of golden data beside the video showing broken records, just watching Yu Changning fight was pleasing to the eye. The warship she piloted was like a nimble shooting star; under the enemy fleet’s human-wave encirclement, it darted and wheeled, leaving only a faint trail of light wherever it passed. More impressively, while keeping her own ship completely unharmed, she could still dispatch the enemy fleet in an orderly fashion.

This stage had once been called an epic, hell-level difficulty by the game’s players, yet under her control it looked like nothing more than a beginner tutorial, giving onlookers the illusion that it was “so easy, I could do it too.” In reality, anyone who had spent even a little time on this game knew just how terrifying Yu Changning’s level was at that moment.

Many seasoned game fans were even baffled—why had this player never appeared on the leaderboard before? The moment she showed up, she wiped the rankings clean, instantly granting those long-established pros the achievement of “ranking +1.” And yes, it was literally ranking +1, because the first place spot had already changed hands.

Chu Yunmiao stared at the screen in a daze until Yu Changning earned a [perfect] rating and, looking completely uninterested, left the game pod did she come back to herself. She hurried toward that game area, just in time to see Yu Changning avoid the crowd of fervent fans and head alone to the next game.

For some reason, Chu Yunmiao didn’t know how to react for a moment. She didn’t go up to greet her, and she didn’t turn around and leave either. Instead, she made a decision even she couldn’t quite understand—

She began to quietly follow behind Yu Changning, watching her move from one competitive game to another and set one new record after another.

At one point, Chu Yunmiao found this strangely novel. She suddenly remembered that when she and Lin Mo and the others had first come to the amusement park, they’d gone to the shooting game area, and at that time she had felt someone secretly watching her. There was no need to think twice; that gaze had definitely come from Yu Changning.

And now, their positions had been reversed. Yu Changning had become the one absorbed in the games, while she hid in the shadows, holding an indescribable feeling in her heart as she gazed at Yu Changning’s back. Chu Yunmiao couldn’t help wondering; back then, when Yu Changning had silently watched her from behind, what had Yu Changning been thinking?

Something seemed to have lodged in her chest, blocking her off and making her feel heavy all at once.

Were Yu Changning’s thoughts at that time the same as hers? Or, to put it another way, were the things she was thinking now nowhere near what Yu Changning had been thinking back then?

Chu Yunmiao felt as if she had only blanked out for a moment. When she came back to herself, she found that the hundred-player survival game Yu Changning had been playing was already over. The match had lasted 5 minutes and 23 seconds; aside from Yu Changning’s character, everyone else had been killed, setting a new record for shortest completion time. And Yu Changning, who had only been sitting nearby in a game helmet a moment ago, was nowhere to be seen.

Chu Yunmiao sighed and lowered her head a little in frustration.

But she didn’t stay discouraged for long; a delicate rabbit plush suddenly appeared in her field of vision.

Chu Yunmiao looked up and saw the rabbit plush being held in Yu Changning’s hands.

The person she had just been searching for was now standing right before her, alive and real.

Chu Yunmiao didn’t know whether she should feel ashamed at having been caught tailing her, or happy at Yu Changning’s obvious gift-giving gesture. She only knew that the resentment that had been stuck in her chest just now had somehow vanished without a trace in that instant.

She took the plush and asked knowingly, “What is this?”

Yu Changning pointed to the amusement park’s management office. “I got it there. They said it was the most precious gift in the whole park; a limited-edition item in the entire universe.”

Chu Yunmiao rubbed the rabbit plush’s two long ears and asked the question she already knew the answer to. “Cough, that should... have cost a lot, right?”

Yu Changning pressed her lips together. “I don’t know.”

She said, “It just happened to use up all the points I’d earned earlier.”

Chu Yunmiao’s eyes widened. “That expensive?”

You had to know, Yu Changning had been breaking records the entire time; the points she’d earned could practically be called astronomical. And all those points had been exchanged for something as ordinary-looking as this rabbit plush?!

Chu Yunmiao immediately felt the rabbit in her arms lose its charm.

But Yu Changning didn’t care. “If you like it, it’s worth it.”

Chu Yunmiao didn’t directly answer whether she liked it. She rubbed the rabbit plush’s face over and over, and in the end concluded, “It doesn’t feel as good as my little rabbit.”

She hadn’t thought much when she said it. After all, although the rabbit plush was made of high-quality material, it really couldn’t compare to the feel of the genuine dwarf rabbit Yu Changning had turned into in the game. But as soon as the words left her mouth, she felt something was a little off.

As expected, Yu Changning let out a soft laugh.

She asked, “Is that so? Then besides being touched and kissed, it really can’t compare to your little rabbit in any other way.”

Chu Yunmiao didn’t dare look at her. She rested her chin on the plush’s head and nodded aimlessly.

Yu Changning asked again, “Since you don’t like it... should I take it back?”

The moment Chu Yunmiao heard that, she immediately tightened her arms around the rabbit plush. “No!”

She looked up at Yu Changning in protest. “You already gave it to me. What reason would there be to take it back?”

Yu Changning said, “I thought you didn’t like it... didn’t you say it couldn’t compare to the little rabbit from before?”

Chu Yunmiao gently stroked the rabbit plush, as if she were trying to find traces of resemblance to the little Yu Rabbit on it. Hearing Yu Changning’s explanation, she somehow blurted out without thinking, “But the little rabbit from before didn’t belong to me.”

The moment those words came out, the atmosphere between them instantly stiffened.

After a long while, Yu Changning moved. She stepped over to Chu Yunmiao and sat down beside her on a rest bench in the amusement park. The bench was made for two people; sitting side by side, their bodies inevitably touched. Chu Yunmiao could feel Yu Changning’s shoulder brushing hers, and their arms were pressed together too.

But she didn’t move away, and Yu Changning didn’t withdraw either.

No one knew how long passed before she heard Yu Changning’s voice.

“It was yours.”

Chu Yunmiao’s breath caught. Then she buried her entire face in the plush.

Cut off from the light, all she could see was darkness, but this environment seemed to make her feel inexplicably at ease. She opened her mouth and asked, “What is mine?”

Yu Changning followed her lead and spoke again. “As long as you’re willing, the little rabbit is yours.”

Chu Yunmiao mumbled, “Does the little rabbit like being a little rabbit?”

The sentence sounded a little awkward, but Yu Changning understood.

Both times she had turned into a little rabbit were deliberately caused by Chu Yunmiao; when they were in the game, she had been resistant at first.

Yu Changning thought for a moment, then answered solemnly, “She’s always been trying to figure out what kind of form would be best to appear beside you.

“For a long time, she thought she should become stronger, strong enough to properly protect you. But what happened today made her realize... the treasure she protects has already become very strong too.” As she said this, Yu Changning’s lips curved, and she smiled softly. “To be honest, being protected in return by the treasure you’ve been guarding doesn’t feel bad. Maybe... she should consider appearing more often as a little rabbit?”

At some point, Chu Yunmiao had stopped hiding her face in the plush. Instead, she turned her head and looked at Yu Changning without blinking.

After a moment, she replied, “Mm... I think what you said is right.”

Yu Changning couldn’t help reaching out to stroke her long hair. “That’s good.”

She took the initiative to ask, “You’re not going to keep struggling with it anymore, right? Shall we head back?”

Chu Yunmiao lowered her head, not knowing what she was thinking, and gave no answer.

Just as Yu Changning was about to speak again, she suddenly awkwardly squeezed out a sentence: “Now... isn’t it too late? If we go back to school, won’t we run into curfew?”

Yu Changning froze for a moment and looked toward the screen in the center of the venue.

More than two or three hours had passed since their six-person dinner earlier. It was just after nine at night now, and there were still two hours until Huaqi University’s curfew. As long as they didn’t walk back, they could call any car and make it back to campus within half an hour. Besides, she quickly remembered that both today and tomorrow were public holidays for the school; during these two days, there was no curfew at all.

She suspected Chu Yunmiao had simply forgotten that, and was about to explain when another thought surfaced and pressed that explanation tightly back down her throat.

After a pause, Yu Changning tested the waters. “When I was a sophomore, I bought a house nearby for convenience when I was doing missions.

“It’s too late to go back now, so... do you want to stay there for the night?”

When she said this, she could feel her heart pounding. It was not only because of anticipation, but also because of fear; fear that she had misunderstood.

Chu Yunmiao stood up with her rabbit plush in her arms. “Yes, it is too late. There’s nothing we can do about it.”

She turned back to look at Yu Changning, the look in her eyes clearly urging her on. “Then let’s go.”

Having received an affirmative answer, Yu Changning’s heart not only failed to settle back into place, it beat even faster.

She reached out and gently took Chu Yunmiao’s hand. Chu Yunmiao spread her fingers, and in an instant their hands were clasped together, fingers interlaced. Yu Changning’s lips curved as she led Chu Yunmiao slowly toward the amusement park exit.