Chapter 141
Chapter 141
Cheng Miao froze. She didn’t know why she froze, but her brain simply crashed.
Qiudong had spoken so matter-of-factly, without the slightest hint of negotiation, that it reduced her sense of awkwardness.
Besides, he was a cat. Sleeping with a cat was everything she could have wanted.
Yet something still felt strange, perhaps because Qiudong had such a deep, cold, masculine voice.
Seeing Cheng Miao standing there in a daze, the other three tactfully ignored the conversation between master and pet. Qiudong helplessly jumped onto the table so they were at eye level.
“It’s cold outside. I prefer sleeping indoors.”
Cheng Miao snapped back to reality. That made sense. “Oh, okay. Then I’ll sleep in the living room. The sofa is huge.”
Qiudong narrowed his eyes, his ears angling slightly backward. “If you mind that much, how are we supposed to enter instances as a team?”
Seeing Qiudong’s airplane ears, Cheng Miao cautiously retreated one step. She struggled to find words for a feeling even she didn’t understand.
Cheng Miao hemmed and hawed for ages without producing a complete sentence. Frustration flashed through Qiudong’s blue eyes. He took a deep breath, looked at her expressionlessly, and said, “Meow.”
Cheng Miao’s eyes widened. So cute, so cute! He really was just a little kitty.
She picked up Qiudong with her hands tucked beneath his front legs and made a lovestruck face. “Give your big sister a kiss, little kitty.”
Looking utterly done with life, Qiudong blocked Cheng Miao’s face with one paw pad. This stupid woman!
When Cheng Miao emerged from the bathroom that evening, she had hesitated and decided against coming out wrapped only in a bathrobe.
She dressed and dried her hair, then opened the bathroom door with unusual formality. A black shape lay in the exact center of her soft bed.
Cheng Miao fell silent. He truly had the same habits as her own cat.
Hearing the noise, Qiudong turned his small head. He looked at Cheng Miao’s fully dressed state and raised his brows. “You’re sleeping like that?”
Cheng Miao made a confused sound and looked down at herself. She was about to answer when Qiudong stood. “Does having me here make you that uncomfortable?”
Cheng Miao waved her hands. She couldn’t let her inexplicable awkwardness make a little kitty blame himself. Words of comfort had barely reached her lips when Qiudong stretched and lay down again. “Then sleep like that.”
Cheng Miao fell silent. Sure enough, a cat would never believe it was the problem.
Perhaps because so many of his habits were genuinely catlike, the last trace of awkwardness inside Cheng Miao vanished.
He was only a talking little kitty. She had always wanted a little boy anyway, and she thought a male cat would be more attached to her.
With that thought, Cheng Miao felt refreshed and entirely at ease. She returned to the bathroom, changed into a nightgown, and squeezed beneath the covers.
After considering the fact that every sleeping position would leave a heavy weight pressing on her body, Cheng Miao was about to resign herself to sleeping at the edge of the bed when Qiudong stood, took two steps, and settled beside her head.
The cat’s scent sent the last of Cheng Miao’s unease flying far away. Resting against Qiudong’s soft head, she drifted into sleep.
In the darkness, Qiudong opened his eyes a sliver and looked at the young woman inches away before closing them and falling asleep.
Over the following days, four people and one cat traveled everywhere for fun. They watched the desert sunset at Golden Lion Grand Hotel, went diving at Orca Grand Hotel, rode horses across the grasslands, and built snowmen in the polar region.
Wherever they went became the liveliest place around.
As a result, guests at numerous Grand Hotels recently noticed that their receptionists were in much better moods. Some even greeted them proactively.
But most players’ wariness and hostility toward receptionists ran bone-deep. When the receptionists discovered that their own guests couldn’t interact and play with them without reservation the way Cheng Miao did, those guests received even more outrageous eye rolls than usual.
The baffled guests at various Grand Hotels shared the same thought: ??? What was wrong with these receptionists? Were they going through menopause?
Cheng Miao’s group had booked dinner at Orca Grand Hotel’s underwater restaurant. When they arrived, the graceful sound of a violin poured through the space like moonlight. There was only one other guest in the restaurant.
The elegantly dressed, refined man took a graceful sip of red wine, then lightly applauded.
Cheng Miao found him somewhat familiar and looked twice. He was an exceptionally handsome man in a black turtleneck sweater with a black wool coat draped over it.
His slightly sharp eyes appeared far gentler behind his glasses, while the faint smile on his chiseled face made the young woman serving his food blush.
Where had she seen him before? Cheng Miao couldn’t remember.
They sat down across from the man. The table offered a good view of the coral reefs.
Unexpectedly, the man rose and approached them as soon as they finished ordering. “Miss, we meet again. Do you remember me?”
The moment she heard that deep, magnetic voice like a cello, Cheng Miao remembered. “You’re the man I bumped into! I’m so sorry about that day.”
He was the man Cheng Miao had collided with when she and Qin Musong left a workout in Starry City. At the time, she had merely marveled at how many handsome men the Game contained. She hadn’t expected to meet him again.
“No need to apologize. Jiang Chen.” He extended a long-fingered hand. Cheng Miao stood and shook it. “Hello. I’m Cheng Miao.”
Jiang Chen laughed softly. “Would you mind if I joined your table? I’m a regular here and can introduce you to the menu.”
No one would reject a handsome man. Lin Zhu rose and pulled out a chair for Jiang Chen. Qiudong opened his eyes and glanced at the man, then continued resting on Cheng Miao’s shoulder with his eyes closed.
Jiang Chen studied Qiudong for a moment and smiled. “You really are an unusual team.”
Cheng Miao didn’t understand. She looked at Jiang Chen in confusion, and he gently explained, “The first time I saw you, I knew you were different from everyone else.”
“Every player in Survival Inn is running for their life. Even those who remain behind simply take things one day at a time because of the mandatory monthly mission. Under those circumstances, a young woman whose eyes are always filled with hope and sunlight naturally attracts attention.”
Looking into Jiang Chen’s gentle eyes, Cheng Miao felt they contained an inescapable sorrow.
She was about to say something when Jiang Chen raised his glass. “This meal is on me, in honor of making new friends.”
The meal was thoroughly enjoyable for host and guests alike. During dinner, Qin Musong asked which inn Jiang Chen lived at. Jiang Chen tapped his fingers against the table. “I live at Unicorn Resort.”
Wow. He was an expert.
Lin Zhu swallowed his steak and adjusted his glasses. “Then why are you here, Brother Chen?”
Jiang Chen smiled at Lin Zhu. “Orca Grand Hotel’s underwater restaurant is famous throughout Survival Inn. You aren’t guests here either, are you?”
Lin Zhu scratched his head. “No. We’re staying at Peacock Grand Hotel.”
Jiang Chen nodded and patted Lin Zhu’s shoulder. “It doesn’t look like any of you have been in Survival Inn for long. You’re very capable and have tremendous potential.”
Jiang Chen’s praise embarrassed Lin Zhu. In the end, everyone added him on WeChat before hurrying back for their beauty sleep.
Jiang Chen emerged at an unhurried pace. Instead of taking a dolphin boat, he walked along the passage at the water’s surface.
He looked up at the moon in the sky and exhaled a cloud of mist.