Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Ning Xi instinctively turned her head toward the source of the voice.

What first caught her eye were lashes as dark as raven feathers and black, messy hair falling against a cold, pale forehead. His looks were stunning.

“Little… Xie? What are you doing here?”

Xie Lanchen’s lips curved in a lazy smile as he looked up and pointed to the earbud in his right ear.

“I’m on a mission.”

Ning Xi looked at Xie Lanchen’s earbud, then glanced at Han Meimei not far away, who occasionally revealed her own earbud when she brushed back her hair. It suddenly clicked.

“So we’re on the same mission?!”

Xie Lanchen smiled. “Exactly.”

“Then this is in the bag.” Ning Xi’s confidence instantly soared. “With the two of us here, is there any way they won’t end up together?”

Xie Lanchen agreed with her unconditionally. “Of course not.”

[You two talk like you actually have experience.]

[More like because you two are here, they definitely won’t end up together, hahahaha.]

[But to be honest, Ning Xi and Xie Lanchen are trying really hard. It’s just that these two NPCs are impossible to carry.]

[Those two NPCs are dying of awkwardness right now. @NingXi @XieLanchen, hurry up and save the kids!]

“Um…”

“I…”

Li Hua and Han Meimei spoke at the same time, then quickly shut their mouths.

“You go first!”

“No, no, you go first.”

“…”

Ning Xi put her earbud back in, exasperated by their lack of progress. “Didn’t I just tell you? Just tell her you missed her!!!”

Li Hua gritted his teeth. “I… I…”

“I’ve really wanted to see you during this break,” Han Meimei spoke up first.

Li Hua froze, the back of his ears instantly flushing red. “I-I felt the same way.”

Han Meimei smiled, two sweet little dimples appearing at the corners of her mouth.

She wanted to say something more, but paused and took off her earbud.

Xie Lanchen soon received a message from Han Meimei:

“Thank you for your help, Brother. You were right-everyone has emotional needs. I always thought it was hard for me to establish an intimate relationship, but this time, I want to try with him.”

Xie Lanchen sent a simple reply: “Best wishes.”

[Holy crap, so Han Meimei has an avoidant attachment style?]

[I knew it! Two people who like each other, even if they’re as stiff as NPCs, should have hooked up ages ago.]

[Suddenly curious about what Xie Lanchen and Han Meimei were talking about earlier.]

Some netizens dug up the recorded playback from Xie Lanchen’s livestream room.

It started with Han Meimei’s personal introduction: Her parents had remarried after their divorce, and she had lived with her grandmother since she was a child. Starting from elementary school, she had done handicrafts for fellow villagers to earn pocket money. Despite those circumstances, she had still been admitted to a top university in Xiangcheng.

“I’ve always wanted to apologize and tell him I didn’t reject him on purpose, but I’m hesitating. If I contact him now, will I be bothering him?” Han Meimei shared her troubles on camera.

“Actually, it doesn’t matter to me whether I’m with him or not. Anyway, whatever I like-whether it’s things or people-eventually leaves me. If I just keep ignoring him, he’ll give up sooner or later. If I never have it, I won’t lose it, and I won’t be sad because of it.”

“It’s not important to me anyway. I don’t need these feelings. They’re too much of a luxury…”

“That’s not true,” Xie Lanchen interrupted her calmly.

Han Meimei was taken aback.

“Someone once told me that feelings are important. Wanting others to care about you and wanting to be loved are the most basic emotional needs. It’s not some kind of luxury.”

When Xie Lanchen said this, a look of exceptional tenderness appeared on his face, as if he were thinking of someone specific.

“Then that friend of yours must have received a lot of love, right? Only someone who grew up in a loving environment would say something like that,” Han Meimei analyzed in a cold tone.

“I used to think the same way, and I even scoffed at it,” Xie Lanchen said, letting out a short, self-deprecating laugh.
“But it wasn’t until I saw you today that I realized what I must have looked like in her eyes back then. It turns out that the more someone craves love, the more they question the love of others…”

Xie Lanchen’s voice grew softer and softer, ending in a self-deprecating chuckle.

Han Meimei stared at Xie Lanchen for a long time before suddenly asking, “So, are you and that friend still in contact? Did you two have a happy ending?”

“We’re in contact, and I want to have a good ending with her,” Xie Lanchen said quietly, his eyes downcast.

Han Meimei fell silent for a long while before saying, “I understand.”

She then handed the red envelope prepared by the Program Team to Xie Lanchen and announced in a flat tone, “Your task is complete. This is your payment.”

Xie Lanchen took the red envelope and was about to leave.

However, looking at Han Meimei-who was as sensitive and prickly as a hedgehog, just like his former self-he offered one last reminder:

“You said he’s already confessed to you three times, so he must have given up on you. But what if he confesses a fourth time? Or a fifth, or a sixth?”

There was no answer from behind him.

Xie Lanchen let out a faint smile and started walking out.

“I won’t wait for him to confess again, because I want to take the initiative for once-could you help me one more time?”

The atmosphere in Xie Lanchen and Han Meimei’s livestream was undoubtedly much heavier than the others.

Aside from feeling sorry for Han Meimei, the Danmaku was equally curious about who this “friend” Xie Lanchen mentioned actually was.

[When Xie Lanchen talked about that friend, his expression was so tender! There’s no way he’s talking about just a regular friend!]

[Xie Lanchen said he wants a good ending with them? That friend couldn’t be a girl, could it?]

[Huh? Is my Xi-Lan Flower ship going to sink already?]

[I started shipping them today, and the ship wrecked today. Am I some kind of bad luck charm for CPs?]

[Not necessarily. What if it’s just a close male friend?]

Even so, the hashtag #XieLanchenFriend made it onto the trending searches, sparking heated discussions among netizens and CP fans.

Meanwhile, in the livestream.

Not long after Han Meimei sent her message to Xie Lanchen, Ning Xi also received a message from Li Hua:

“Sister Xi, Meimei and I have a date to go to KFC! Once I get home, I’ll do the tasks to boost your Super Topic rankings! Hehehehe!”

The new couple, who had finally broken the ice, left their Bluetooth headsets on the table and walked away hand-in-hand.

Ning Xi was left standing there, bewildered. “Wait, that was fast.”

Just one “I really want to see you,” and they’ve already confirmed their feelings for each other?

Xie Lanchen looked at Ning Xi’s incredulous expression and smiled. “Perhaps it’s because their strategist was too excellent?”

“Oh?”

Ning Xi was instantly convinced by this reasoning. “You know me best, Xiao Xie.”

Aside from Xie Lanchen, she had no other soulmate! Zhimen!

[He praises Ning Xi twice and she actually believes him, hahaha!]

[That’s our smug little puppy for you.]

“How much have you earned in wages now?” Ning Xi suddenly remembered to ask.

“Over nine hundred?” Xie Lanchen threw out a random number.

Ning Xi: “…”

Dammit! She only had six hundred!

How was this possible?!

She clearly never stopped working on tasks!

[It’s because every time you went to a villager’s house, you had to stay and chat for ages, hahaha!]

[And halfway through, Ning Xi even disguised herself as a local villager to seamlessly join the old ladies’ gossip circle at the village entrance to eavesdrop.]

[She even stopped to chat with a stray dog on the road for no reason. Of course the time just slipped away. (Shrugs)]

After letting out a long sigh toward the sky, Ning Xi looked at Xie Lanchen.

“This is so boring. How about we spend your money instead?”

Xie Lanchen paused, about to speak.

Ning Xi immediately hit him with a “dog pointing at person” meme:

“Kid, don’t you dare say the word ‘no.'”