SMMW | Chapter 40

When Wen Qing suddenly appeared in front of him, said that he was not a game NPC, and explained a whole pile of reasons that sounded more or less reasonable, did Song Hao believe him?

He did.

But it still did not feel real enough.

It was like after the college entrance exams, your parents suddenly told you they were billionaires and pulled out a bankbook to prove it. Anyone would be more than happy to believe it, and then feel like they were dreaming.

That was exactly how Song Hao felt right now. He held Wen Qing tightly and thought, who cares about holographics or consciousness or any of that, if I’ve got hold of him, then he’s mine.

Right now, Song Hao felt deeply insecure. He needed a place to put Wen Qing, so that the moment he loosened his grip, Wen Qing would not disappear.

The place that felt safest was obviously home.

So Song Hao blurted out recklessly, “Come sleep at my place.”

Home felt safe, and the sleeping part was because he had burned through too much emotion and, on top of that, had stayed up late last night, so he was a little sleepy. But once those two meanings were put together, it sounded very… strange.

“Nap,” Song Hao hurried to patch things up.

Wen Qing said, “Okay.”

???

What was wrong with him? On the very first day of meeting in person, he was willing to go sleep at a stranger’s house? Did he have no sense of caution at all?

Song Hao loosened his arms a little and looked at Wen Qing’s face. He had cried until he looked miserable, and he was so thin. It was obvious at a glance that he did not have much strength. He looked very easy to bully.

Song Hao’s left and right brains immediately began fighting each other, and the moment he opened his mouth, out came a vivid little safety lecture.

“We’ve only known each other for one day. Though we’re very familiar in the game, offline this is our first day meeting, and we don’t really know each other that well. I invited you to my house, so how can you just agree right away?”

“You’re still not fully recovered from being sick, and you don’t look like you have much strength either. I carry ladders around every day. I could beat up two of you by myself. My place isn’t like a public place, it’s my turf. What if I bullied you?”

Wen Qing got thoroughly confused by all the circling talk and only caught the last sentence. “Then would you bully me?”

Song Hao choked.

“…No.”

“Oh.”

“That’s not the point. The point is caution. You have to protect yourself. You can’t just treat every person like they’re a good person and trust them.”

“I only agreed because it was you asking.”

That was a huge amount of trust. Because it was you, I agreed without conditions.

Song Hao had nothing left to say.

“So… can I still go to your place?”

It had originally been Song Hao who invited him. After giving a full safety lecture, somehow it had now become Wen Qing taking the initiative to ask to go.

“…Mm.”

Teacher Song felt thoroughly defeated.

But Teacher Song surrendered.

They took a cab home. Song Hao went in first, and Wen Qing stood at the doorway and asked, “Do you have guest slippers?”

“Yes.”

Who didn’t have backup slippers from those buy one get the second half off deals?

Song Hao dug out a new pair of slippers for Wen Qing. Wen Qing placed his own shoes neatly on the shoe rack, then asked, “I didn’t bring any sleepwear. Can I borrow yours?”

…For a nap, what sleepwear? Couldn’t he just sleep as he was?

“Sure.”

Song Hao’s pajamas were all old clothes that had been demoted into sleepwear, some had stretched-out collars, some had oil stains that would not wash out. He had never understood before why people needed to buy special pajamas.

Now he understood.

Because wearing them out in front of someone really was a little embarrassing.

Song Hao took out a brand-new set of clothes for Wen Qing to wear as sleepwear. A loose cotton T-shirt, sixty-nine for two. Quick-dry athletic knee-length shorts, forty-nine for one. Very suitable as pajamas.

“These are new clothes, right?” The tags had not even been removed yet. Wen Qing felt a little embarrassed and thought he was troubling Song Hao too much.

“It’s fine. Just wear them.”

“Okay.”

Wen Qing went to the bathroom to change. Song Hao changed on the spot into the best-looking set of sleepwear he owned, then dashed a hundred meters in spirit to change the bedsheets, pillowcases, and summer blanket. For these spare bedding sets, he really had to thank surprise shopping coupons, spend-300-save-50 discounts, and promotions like buy a quilt and bedsheet set, get two pillowcases free.

While showing off his incredible hand speed, he thought, This is bad. This really is a genuine young master.

With the air conditioning on and the blackout curtains drawn, the two of them finally lay down.

It was a 1.8 by 2 meter double bed, enough to fit two grown men comfortably. Song Hao lay flat on his back like a model citizen, both hands folded over his chest, staring at the ceiling.

Even though he still felt uneasy and wanted to hug Wen Qing while sleeping, he had already promised not to bully him, so he decided to forget it.

He really was sleepy. In that hazy half-dreaming state, he heard Wen Qing say, “When we got married, it was like this too.”

Song Hao turned his head and found that Wen Qing was lying on his side facing him, eyes shut, sounding almost like he was talking in his sleep.

“What I saw was the bed curtains closing, then a line of text appeared, and that was it.”

Wen Qing shifted a little closer toward Song Hao. “No. On the bed, you were lying flat just like this, and then you fell asleep very quickly.”

That did sound right, Song Hao thought. Since they were not going to let the player see it anyway, there was no need to design any movements. The NPC probably just shut down directly.

“Actually… back then, I wanted to sleep holding you.”

“?”

Wen Qing pulled one of Song Hao’s hands over, and seeing that he did not object, went further and wrapped an arm around his waist, just like he had said, sleeping while hugging him.

This is not my fault. He hugged me first. If anyone’s taking advantage, it’s him. But I’m magnanimous, so I won’t hold it against him.

Trying to make conversation, Song Hao asked, “How did you even think of using a holographic pod to play that game in the first place?”

Wen Qing was almost asleep. He was still in recovery and needed more sleep than usual, so he answered drowsily, “I thought I might like men, so I used a harem game to test it… Buying the holographic pod was just by chance…”

Using a harem game to test your sexual orientation? What a strange train of thought.

But now Song Hao was curious too, so he quietly asked, “So what was the test result?”

“…What?”

“Did you test out that you like men or women?”

“…Men.”

Wen Qing had already fallen asleep, leaving Song Hao suddenly wide awake, looking like he had just heard a piece of massive gossip.

Holy shit, he likes men, he’s gay!

Song Hao, who was currently cuddling with a man and would eventually end up sleeping entangled together with him, arrived at the above conclusion in utter shock.

By the time the sun slanted westward and the daylight started dimming, Wen Qing woke up, but Song Hao had not.

Maybe because both of them had finally resolved a major thing weighing on their hearts, both of them had slept exceptionally well.

When Wen Qing first opened his eyes, he was still a little confused. This was not a hospital bed, and not home either, this was… Song Hao’s house?!

He became instantly alert, remembering that he had already reunited with Song Hao, and was now still sleeping at his house.

Wen Qing wanted to get up, but Song Hao was still asleep with an arm around his waist, so he could only struggle into a sitting position.

Wen Qing looked around Song Hao’s home. There were only a few simple pieces of furniture, but it was fairly tidy. On the desk beside the bed sat a computer and, next to it, a rolled-up scroll painting?

He was a little curious. Originally he did not want to look, because touching other people’s things without permission was very rude.

But… the strap tied around the scroll had the Dynasty logo printed on it, and in the one-third of the painting that had already unrolled, what seemed to be a wedding robe was visible, and it looked like the one he himself had worn.

Looking at myself should be okay, right?

Wen Qing could not suppress his curiosity. He reached out and took it, then held the top and bottom ends and unfurled it. There he was, with long hair and red wedding robes.

Because Song Hao had spent money, the game had made the character model look extremely close to his real appearance.

Wen Qing looked at the painting almost as if he were looking into a mirror, and the corners of his mouth lifted unconsciously.

So Song Hao still bought it after all. Wen Qing remembered this official merch. Back then in the stream, Song Hao had clearly said it did not look good and that he did not want to buy it.

Song Hao had slept enough too and slowly began waking up. He rubbed against the body pillow in his arms, lifted his head in a daze, and saw the scroll painting and Wen Qing.

He shook his head and looked carefully again. It was still the scroll painting and Wen Qing, and Wen Qing was not inside the scroll.

Still half-dazed, Song Hao sat up, pulled both Wen Qing and the scroll into his arms, and closed his eyes again. “Wen Qing… you came out of the scroll.”

Wen Qing protected the scroll so that it would not get crushed and smiled as he teased him, “That’s right. Liaozhai Zhiyi, The Painted Wall.”

“So are you going back?”

Wen Qing hugged him back. “I’m not going back.”

“That’s good.”

Song Hao was very satisfied and continued dozing. It took another two minutes for him to fully wake up and realize that he had just been laughed at.

So Song Hao continued pretending to be half-asleep. He quietly slipped a hand over to Wen Qing’s stomach and, taking advantage of his lack of attention, launched a ferocious surprise attack.

“Hahahahaha… stop tickling me, hahahahahaha…”

Song Hao kept scrabbling and tickling across his stomach and sides. Wen Qing happened to be ticklish all over. He laughed so hard that he rolled about helplessly, but because he did not have much strength, he could not escape.

“Not going back is perfect. Let me show you how dangerous the human world is!”

“Hahahahaha, Song… Song Hao hahahahaha…”

Wen Qing laughed until his stomach hurt. Struggling, he yanked over the blanket and wriggled his whole body into it, wrapping himself up like a silkworm cocoon. Song Hao had already had enough fun anyway, so he generously let him wrap himself up. In the end, Wen Qing burrowed entirely into the blanket, with only a tiny patch at the top left open, revealing one pair of eyes watching the enemy situation.

Relying on the blanket for protection, Wen Qing boldly launched a moral offensive. “You bullied me. You clearly said you wouldn’t bully me.”

Song Hao crossed his arms, completely self-righteous. “I’m already the bad guy now. Why should I still keep my promises?”

Wen Qing thought about it, and then thought about it again. He had never dealt with a shameless rogue before. This was a completely unfamiliar field. In the end, he replied a little blankly, “That’s true too.”

“Hahahahahaha, are you really Intelligence 86?” Song Hao started mocking him.

“Still stronger than your 12.” Wen Qing shot back immediately. He had seen it in the streams. Even by the time Song Hao became Crown Prince, his Intelligence had only risen to 12.

“Oh, getting bold, are we.” Song Hao exaggeratedly rolled his shoulders, making it very clear he was about to teach him a lesson.

Wen Qing inwardly thought things were bad and wanted to flee at once, but unfortunately his hands and feet were all wrapped up by himself, so he could not move at all. He could only unleash his ultimate wriggle attack.

Then he discovered that he had completely wrapped himself in too tight.

“Song Hao, I’m trapped…”

“Hahahahaha.”

“Really, save me…”

“Hahahahahahahahahahaha.”

“Stop laughing!”

“Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.”