Chapter 62 – Each With Their Own Thoughts

Is there anything more embarrassing in this world than sending a photo to the wrong person?

No!

Even getting your pants pulled down by a female hooligan on the street would be better than this, damn it! Because if your pants get pulled down, you can at least claim to be the victim and say the woman was too aggressive. But sending a photo to the wrong person? That just proves your IQ is a fatal flaw! And—

Polly said: (02:17:52)

You trying to hook up with someone?

—it can also lead to unnecessary misunderstandings, goddammit TAT

What could he say? No, I meant to send it to the Assassin? Okay, then why send it to the Assassin? Because the Assassin is also gay. And what does one gay sending a photo to another gay imply? A hookup.

Someone give him a block of tofu to smash his head into and die!!!

Meng Chudong had no idea that the guilty Fang Zheng had already spiraled into a frenzy. He just felt inexplicably upset. Without any mental preparation, the virtual healer had suddenly transformed into a real-life chubby guy. Not that there was anything wrong with being chubby—quite the opposite. The more he looked at the photo of that dork flashing a peace sign, the more he felt that the Legion Leader had to look exactly like this. It was a perfect harmony of body and soul. But this sudden revelation had abruptly ended his happy habit of imagining the Legion Leader in his head. From now on, the source of all his daily joy—the game—and within it, the source of his joy within joy—his three-dimensional, fantastical mental image of the Legion Leader—had vanished. Just thinking about it left him with a vague, inexplicable sense of loss.

However, this small regret was soon obliterated by a much more intense emotion.

Fang Zheng was sending photos to other men.

At twenty-eight, Meng Chudong wasn’t a blank slate. He just preferred to focus his energy on gaming, but that didn’t mean he was clueless about the gay world. Actually, the conclusion was so simple it didn’t even require deductive reasoning. Even the most reclusive man is still a man, and all men have physical needs. Just because he was friends with his right hand didn’t mean others had to be the same.

But his chest still felt tight.

He had no reason to be angry with Fang Zheng. Mad because he sent it to the wrong channel? That was just his innate lack of intelligence—no point blaming him. Mad because he was hooking up with someone else? No evidence, no right to judge. So all he could do was suppress his emotions, and the more he suppressed them, the more suffocated he felt—like the oppressive, overcast sky in June, heavy with dark clouds, gloomy and stifling.

Fang Zheng stared at Birdy-kun’s six-word question with the intensity of a man clinging to life. If gazes had temperature, his monitor would’ve burned a hole by now. But in the end, he gritted his teeth and—

Milk is Mom said: (02:23:16)

Why? If it were you, I wouldn’t have sent this one.

Selectively skipped the first line and directly replied to the earlier message =_=

The other end responded quickly. To Fang Zheng’s surprise, Birdy didn’t call him out for dodging the question but instead answered earnestly—

Polly said: (02:23:55)

People are always harsher on photos than on the actual person.

The words were thought-provoking.

Fang Zheng dug out a group photo of himself with Gou Xiaonian and Xu Di from his phone. Undeniably, both of them were handsome men. But if he ignored all personal interactions and judged them purely as strangers based on the photo… Fang Zheng had to admit their attractiveness took a hit.

Because you know these people—maybe even like them (platonically or romantically)—so they become more pleasing to your eyes. But if you were handed a random magazine, even if the cover model was drop-dead gorgeous, you’d still nitpick flaws—nose not sharp enough, butt not perky enough, muscles too exaggerated, etc.

To Mad Lad, Milk is Mom was a power-leveler, a Legion Leader, even a gay bro.

But to Jiang Yang, Fang Zheng was just a stranger.

Milk is Mom said: (02:25:00)

I wanted to send a handsome one, but this is the most accurate and decent photo I have. What now?

Polly said: (02:25:06)

[Light a candle for you]

Milk is Mom said: (02:25:17)

You bastard!! [Crying]

Whether it was shyness, embarrassment, or even that faint hint of anticipation or unease—all of it vanished in that moment.

Birdy was right, Fang Zheng thought. Rather than let Mad Lad be disappointed by a photo, it was better to let him keep imagining. If—if—they ever met in real life someday, a living, wisecracking, lively chubby guy would still be slightly more likable than a flat, lifeless photo of one.

Switching back to the game, the Assassin had stopped spamming his Whisper channel and had instead set up a stall right next to Milk is Mom’s, with the shop name: “What Can Save My Shamefully Unphotogenic Boy?”

Fang Zheng sighed.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Stop making a fool of yourself.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Finally, a response. What were you doing just now? Got abducted by aliens?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Looking for photos.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Then hurry up and send one!

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Didn’t find any. My computer crashed before, and everything on the hard drive got wiped.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Then why’d you take so long to look?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Had to double-check. What if there were survivors?~~

[Whisper] Mad Lad: That sounds like a load of bull…

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: You’re too paranoid. That’s not good.

[Whisper] Mad Lad: What, do you have horns on your head or a tail on your butt? Can’t bear to be seen?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Yep!

[Whisper] Mad Lad: Ugh, whatever. Can’t stand your nonsense!

After sending that, Mad Lad packed up his stall and went off to grind mobs for XP.

Mad Lad’s displeasure dragged Fang Zheng’s mood to rock bottom. Already battered from Birdy’s earlier verbal assault, Fang Zheng now resembled a frostbitten eggplant.

Meng Chudong sent a few messages in YY but got no response from Fang Zheng. Switching back to the game, he found the healer wandering aimlessly in the Guild Hall. Aside from the Legion Warehouse, the Guild Hall had no functional facilities, so the healer’s meandering was pointless—its only purpose was to betray the operator’s absentmindedness.

After some thought, Meng Chudong took the initiative—

[Whisper] Polly: Sent the photo?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: No.

[Whisper] Polly: Why not?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: After what you said, why would I?

[Whisper] Polly: What did I say?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: ……

Meng Chudong expected the other to explode—in fact, he was kind of looking forward to it. But after a long pause, Fang Zheng suddenly sent—

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: I wasn’t trying to hook up with someone.

Meng Chudong froze. The dark clouds pressing on his heart seemed to part slightly, replaced by something else—something indescribable.

[Whisper] Polly: Oh.

Fang Zheng facepalmed. What kind of reaction was that?!

[Whisper] Polly: But even if you were, sending that photo would’ve killed the mood anyway.

There it was—the venomous bird was back…

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Go die!!!

[Whisper] Polly: Fine. But I think Blood Bull’s pretty good. After I die, you can consider promoting her to Deputy Commander.

Why had he ever invited this guy to be Deputy Commander? WHY?!?!?!

Successfully riling up the Legion Leader, the Deputy Commander’s mood finally brightened. Lighting a cigarette, he leisurely exhaled smoke rings as he reopened the misdirected photo.

The timestamp in the bottom right corner showed it was taken five months ago. The person in the photo wore a black down jacket, one arm wrapped around a snowman that looked eerily like him, the other flashing an aggressively dorky peace sign. He must’ve built the snowman himself, given the proud grin on his face, his nose red from the cold, teeth gleaming white.

Who had taken the photo?

Meng Chudong had no way of knowing. All he knew was that the guy had been having fun—just looking at the photo made him feel that infectious joy radiating from it.

Jiang Yang’s emotions were always fleeting—here one moment, gone the next. After grinding mobs in the open-world for a while, his earlier irritation with Fang Zheng had already blown away with the wind. It wasn’t a big deal to begin with, and the other guy was just a kid—no reason for Jiang Yang to actually stay mad. But the more Fang Zheng refused to send a photo, the more his curiosity grew. What had started as a tiny itch the size of a grain of rice had now, thanks to the brat’s endless dodging, ballooned into a watermelon-sized itch he couldn’t scratch. Men were terrible at resisting temptation, and right now, Fang Zheng had him hooked.

Lately, the Assassin had a lot of free time. The small coal mine he’d taken over had been nearly exhausted by the generations before him. After the explosive first few years, further digging would’ve encroached on others’ land. So, a while back, he’d squeezed out the last of the mine’s value and then stepped back, leaving it in others’ hands while he considered new ventures. The high-ranking elder at home believed in sticking to what you knew and had even scouted a few promising new mines for him. But Jiang Yang wanted to try something different. A friend in his circle had been dealing in timber from Heilongjiang for the past couple of years and had repeatedly tried to recruit him. He knew the guy was after his connections, but one had experience, the other had resources—a strong partnership wasn’t a bad idea. Still, if he really wanted to commit, he’d have to visit the site in person.

His flight was booked for a week later, leaving him with seven days of leisure.

It had been a long time since he’d traveled. For some reason, Jiang Yang felt oddly eager. He’d only booked a one-way ticket because he wasn’t sure how long he’d stay. Now, he started considering whether to add a stopover on his return trip.

Jiang Yang rarely texted, so when he opened his inbox, it was filled entirely with messages from that night’s conversation with a certain someone.

Scrolling up, further up, he finally found the very first one—

[Power-leveling fee: 500 yuan total. 100 yuan deposit, remaining 400 yuan payable upon account handover. Bank: China XX Bank, XX Branch, XX Sub-branch; Account: 622XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX; Payee: Fang Zheng. Happy gaming ^_^]