SMMW | Chapter 39
by _squisheeThe moment Song Hao heard that name, it felt as though all the blood in his body stopped for an instant, then rushed straight to his head.
Wen Qing had broken through the dimensional wall and come out?
No. It was a scammer.
The platform must have leaked my personal information, and some scam ring must have written a script specifically aimed at me.
Song Hao shook his head, telling himself not to lose it.
“Oh~~~ Wen Qing, huh.” He dragged out the words and casually found a chair to sit in, planning to give this obvious rookie scammer, whose voice was trembling, a vivid lesson.
In a loose, streetwise tone, he turned the tables and took control. “How’ve you been lately? It’s been a long time since us brothers last met.”
“…Huh?”
There, dumbfounded, right? That line’s not in your script, is it? Why don’t you hurry up and ask your team leader what to do next.
“I’ve mostly recovered. Right now I’m resting at home.”
??? What kind of tactic was this? Wasn’t this backwards?
Song Hao kindly reminded him, “You’re supposed to be in the hospital right now, desperate for money, begging me to help you.”
“I’m really almost better. I called because I wanted to ask… if we could meet.” The person on the other end asked carefully.
That wasn’t forceful enough at all. How was he supposed to be a scammer like this?
And why meet in person? Had telecom scams gone out of fashion? Were they going retro now and doing in-person scams?
“Sure. Where are we meeting?” Song Hao agreed while roasting him inwardly.
“Really!?” The person on the other end sounded delighted, probably because he had never made this much progress since entering the trade. “Would the café on the first floor of Crescent Moon Mall be okay? I can get there by 10:30!”
“Sure. Then 10:30.”
“Okay, I’m heading out right now!”
“Mm.”
Silence. Neither of them spoke, and neither of them hung up.
After a while, the other side repeated the time and place again. “10:30, the café on the first floor of Crescent Moon Mall. I’ll change clothes and head out.”
“Mm.”
Another stretch of silence. Neither of them hung up.
“You hang up first?”
“Okay.” Song Hao agreed, but still did not hang up.
“Song Hao?” The other side called his name in confusion.
Song Hao gripped the phone tightly. A sentence sat in his mouth, wavering there five times before he finally forced it out. “…Are you really Wen Qing?”
What if? What if there was even the tiniest chance? This love had been hopeless to begin with. He did not want to let go of even the slightest possibility.
“I am Wen Qing. I can explain all of this. I have so much I want to tell you…” The other side hurriedly tried to explain, but Song Hao cut him off.
“Then save it for when we meet.”
“Okay!”
“You hang up. Don’t you still need to change clothes?”
“Okay. See you in a bit.”
“See you in a bit.”
It was only about half a minute later that the other side finally hung up.
Song Hao looked at the call-ended screen on his phone, then checked the time. It was 9:30 now. It seemed that scammer lived pretty far away. It only took Song Hao fifteen minutes to get to Crescent Moon Mall himself.
Right now, it was 9:30.
The stream started at 10.
09:33
Song Hao walked out with his phone in hand. The boss saw him and called out, “Going out to buy breakfast? Better hurry up, the stream starts at ten.”
Song Hao stopped in his tracks, his expressionless face set into a cold look. “I’m taking leave today.”
“Huh? It’s about to start. Where am I supposed to find someone to cover for you now?”
“Dock my pay.”
The boss was pretty annoyed. “This isn’t about your pay. This delays everything. If you wanted leave, you should’ve said so earlier!”
“Sorry.”
“Hey, it’s not like our company doesn’t understand human situations…”
“Then I’ll resign.”
“…”
The boss took a careful look at Song Hao. His face looked foul, but he was still handsome.
“Actually, after all this time, I know how to repair the light strips too. I’ll cover this shift for you today. If you’ve got something urgent, go deal with it first.” The boss understood the principle that small impatience ruins big plans.
“Thanks.” Song Hao hurried toward the exit, then stopped halfway and turned back. “I might need leave tomorrow too.”
The boss smiled with perfect customer-service warmth. “Sure. You’re on the evening shift tomorrow. If you can’t make it, just send me a WeChat message.”
Song Hao nodded and hurried out of the company.
09:46
Café.
Song Hao got a private room and told the server that he had a friend surnamed Wen coming, and that they would order later.
09:57
No one came.
Maybe he lived far away. Normal.
10:06
No one came.
He should be taking a cab, right? It shouldn’t be congested at this hour.
10:11
No one came.
What was this supposed to be? Was he playing him? Progressing a little every day, and if he managed to trick Song Hao into coming here, then that counted as success?
10:14
No one came.
Song Hao looked at the number on his phone, wondering whether he should call and ask where he was. Even though they had agreed on 10:30, out of politeness, shouldn’t a person arrive a little early?
10:16
No one came.
Song Hao kept glancing out the window, searching for the figure of a likely novice scammer, a young man.
10:18
A voice came from outside. “Mr. Wen, right? Your friend is in Private Room One.”
Song Hao hurriedly withdrew his gaze, sat properly upright, then immediately switched to a more relaxed posture, trying to make himself look casual and unconcerned.
Knock knock knock.
After the knock, a young man was led into the private room.
He looked barely grown. Thin, with an unhealthy pallor on his face. But his eyes were beautiful. The moment he saw Song Hao, they curved, and his whole person seemed both excited and happy, bright light dancing in his pupils.
It was Wen Qing!!!
Song Hao froze on the spot.
This was obviously Wen Qing. A sick, weakened, real Wen Qing should look exactly like this.
“Song Hao?” the young man greeted him.
“Mm.” Song Hao could not get any more words out. He could only squeeze out that single sound in response.
The young man looked a little nervous. “I’m Wen Qing.”
“…Mm.”
Wen Qing sat down across from him. The server brought over the ordering tablet for Song Hao, but Song Hao did not react at all. He just stared at Wen Qing.
The server shot Wen Qing a plea for help, so Wen Qing took the tablet and asked, “Should I order?”
“Mm.”
“I’ll have a lychee iced tea. Their osmanthus oolong latte is pretty good. Do you want to try it?”
“Okay.”
The server took the tablet and left the room.
Song Hao kept staring and staring. Wen Qing felt a little uncomfortable and started looking for something to say. “I remember you like osmanthus flavors.”
“What?” Song Hao sounded like he was sleepwalking. Even his words were floating.
“In the game, you really liked osmanthus cakes and osmanthus wine.”
“Because they raised stats.”
“Mm. I watched your streams. But under equal stats, you would still choose the osmanthus options, so I guessed you probably liked osmanthus flavors.”
He watched the streams. He looked into me in advance. The resemblance could just be a coincidence.
The alarm bell called rationality buzzed loudly in Song Hao’s head, warning him.
Wake up, Song Hao. Wen Qing is a game NPC. He cannot come into reality.
The server knocked. The drinks were ready.
Song Hao lowered his head and took a sip of the latte. It carried the fragrance of osmanthus, and it really was a flavor he liked.
Song Hao’s silence reminded Wen Qing that it had taken him over a month of adjustment before he accepted the double-layered memories of reality and game. But from Song Hao’s perspective, “Wen Qing” was still only a game character.
“I know this is sudden, and strange, and hard to believe, but I hope you can listen to my explanation…” Wen Qing tried his best to suppress the turbulent emotions roiling inside him and objectively explained the whole story to Song Hao from beginning to end.
“Only today did I fully remember everything, and then I found your phone number through the platform’s cooperation records.”
“So?” Wen Qing’s explanation was interrupted.
Song Hao’s voice was very calm. When no answer came, he repeated himself. “So?”
“What?” Wen Qing was bewildered. He did not understand what Song Hao meant.
The story’s made-up details are pretty complete, but he’s still just entered the business, no experience. If I don’t follow the script, he doesn’t know how to keep pushing it forward. Thinking this, Song Hao felt a bit more tolerant, and repeated it for the third time. “So you asked me out here. What was the purpose?”
Wen Qing was hurt by the wariness in Song Hao’s attitude. He knew this would be hard to believe, but… but this was Song Hao. The lover who had broken through everything to say farewell to him when the world collapsed.
Wen Qing had only just gotten his memories back. To him, it felt as though one second they had still been in life-and-death parting, and the next second they had become strangers.
Song Hao was placed in the most vulnerable spot in Wen Qing’s heart. Any hurt from him was fatal to Wen Qing, even if it was only a cold sentence or a pair of scrutinizing eyes.
“I wanted to explain all this to you.” Wen Qing barely managed to piece together the reply.
Song Hao leaned back against the sofa, relaxed in posture, carrying an impatiently guiding air. “You already explained. And I believe you. So what comes next? What are your demands? Do I need to teach you that too?”
Wen Qing stared at him blankly, thinking, He thinks I’m a scammer.
Wen Qing’s eyes stung. His lips trembled, and his hands were trembling too. He was still in recovery, and his bodily functions had not fully returned yet. Sometimes he could not control his body’s reactions very well.
“I’m not… a scammer.”
Wen Qing pulled his ID card out of his wallet and held it out to Song Hao, arm stiffly extended, making him look at the name on the card to prove that he really was Wen Qing.
Song Hao only gave it a casual glance. He did not take it. He did not even sit up straighter. He stayed in the same posture, leaning against the sofa, and turned his head away. “That doesn’t prove anything. IDs can be faked too.”
Then how was he supposed to prove it? How was he supposed to prove that he was himself?
Tears surged up. Wen Qing forced his eyes wide open, not wanting to look too pathetic. Right now he could not think of any solution, and he did not want to keep being stabbed by Song Hao’s coldness. In his current state, he could not bear it. He could only avoid it for now and retreat back to somewhere safe.
Wen Qing put his ID away. “Sorry for disturbing you. This one’s on me.”
He lowered his head and tried to leave, but before his body had even left the seat, he was forced back down hard.
Song Hao had already moved ahead of him and sat down beside him, blocking the way out.
Now Wen Qing was boxed in on all sides. To his left and right were the table and sofa seat, behind him was the wall, and in front of him was Song Hao.
“What are you doing!”
“I should be the one asking what you’re doing. Playing me for a fool, right? You ask me out, tell me a whole story, then try to leave. What happened to your professional ethics? At the very least, shouldn’t you have some tea leaves to sell me!”
I’m already trying to leave, and he still insists I’m a scammer!
Even a clay figure has some temper.
Wen Qing pushed at Song Hao, determined to leave. In the middle of the struggle, the tears in his eyes overflowed and accidentally slipped down his face.
Wen Qing felt humiliated. He did not want Song Hao to see him cry. He wanted to secretly wipe it away, but Song Hao grabbed both of his hands so he could not move.
Song Hao was breathing in an unnatural, ragged way. Only then did Wen Qing notice that the corners of Song Hao’s eyes were red too, as though he also looked on the verge of tears.
Wen Qing stopped struggling.
Song Hao stared fixedly at the tear on Wen Qing’s face. He reached out as if he wanted to wipe it away, but stopped halfway, not daring to come any closer. His face showed hurt, conflict, and even a trace of fear.
Wen Qing understood.
He wanted to wipe away his tears, just like he had in the stream. But what he had touched before was always only a screen. So now he was afraid. Afraid that I’m fake.
Two more tears fell.
Song Hao completely panicked. No longer hesitating, he placed his hand against Wen Qing’s face and carefully wiped away the tear drops with his fingertips.
He really touched him…
Warm skin. Wet tears. A real person, not a screen.
Song Hao gently rubbed at the corner of Wen Qing’s eye. Wen Qing instinctively closed his eyes, and the tiny mole on his eyelid was revealed.
Looking at that mole, that tiny mole like a pixel, Song Hao felt dizzy and lightheaded. He could hardly speak. It took him a very long time to force his vocal cords under control, but his voice still shook terribly. “You… you have a… mole on your eyelid.”
“What?” Wen Qing reached up to touch his eyelid. “I didn’t know.”
All at once, Song Hao laughed, and tears slid down together with the smile. “I know, I know. That spot, you can’t see it yourself. You can’t see it. As long as your eyes are open, you can’t see it. Even in a mirror you can’t.”
Song Hao cried and laughed as he said those confused, chaotic words. Then his smile slowly faded. Looking at Wen Qing, with a trace of pleading in his tone, he asked in a small voice, “Are you really… Wen Qing?”
Wen Qing held back the tears surging up. Every word he spoke was forceful. “I am Wen Qing. In the game, outside the game, I am Wen Qing.”
Song Hao lunged forward and hugged Wen Qing tightly, one arm locked around his shoulders, the other around his waist, an extremely overbearing posture. He held him so hard it was as if he wanted to knead him straight into his own body.
Their bodies were pressed tightly together, neck to neck in an embrace. Song Hao tilted his head and, against Wen Qing’s ear, said, “Can I… hold you?”
If I cannot let you know a thousand words in a single instant, then at this moment, all I want is to hold you first.
You’re already holding me.
Wen Qing nodded. He did not hold back anymore. In Song Hao’s embrace, against Song Hao’s shoulder, he let his tears pour out freely. They were tears of grievance, but also tears of reunion and joy.