Chapter 11 – Marriage
Translator: Xena
Editor: Vinny
Proofreader: Wint8
Cheng Yinian paused for a moment, seemingly caught off guard by Chen Xiangsui’s question. “Of course not.”
“But I keep feeling like you’re avoiding me sometimes.” Chen Xiangsui quickly withdrew his hand from Cheng Yinian’s waist. “Why is that?”
Cheng Yinian’s lips twitched a few times. He would probably never reveal the real reason.
“I’m… just not used to it.” Cheng Yinian hesitated for a long time before finally coming up with this dry excuse.
“Then I’ll get closer to you and you’ll get used to it.” After saying this, Chen Xiangsui applied the cotton swab dipped in ointment to Cheng Yinian’s bruise and said, “Don’t move, I’m applying the medicine.”
“……Hmm,” Cheng Yinian hesitated for a long time, but once again lost the ability to break the logical chain of Chen Xiangsui’s thoughts, so he could only respond softly.
……
On Sunday morning, Cheng Yinian returned to his rented room and checked his secondary account while sitting at his computer desk. Last time, he sent Chen Xiangsui a photo of himself dressed in women’s clothing that he had taken in this rented room. After seeing that the other party did not reply, he withdrew early. Today, he finally discovered that Chen Xiangsui had sent him a message: [I didn’t mean anything else, I just want to get to know your other friends.]
He scrolled through his messages again. Chen Xiangsui wasn’t saying much to his girlfriend. Why was he so taciturn? He couldn’t help complaining in his heart. But then again, he had been so busy dealing with Chen Xiangsui in real life that he forgot to deepen his relationship with “Age” online. He hadn’t been a really competent girlfriend, so he really couldn’t blame the other person.
Cheng Yinian: [QWQ! I’ve been busy lately and didn’t see your message, Gege [Picture] I haven’t been chatting with anyone, mostly just girls~]
[I thought Gege wanted to see my photo T^T How embarrassing]
Chen Xiangsui: [It’s okay, I like the photo too.]
[You’re still cute.]
Cheng Yinian: [O///O I’m a little embarrassed by your compliment~]
[Can I have a photo of Gege too? QWQ]
Chen Xiangsui: [Sure.]
Chen Xiangsui flipped through the photos in his album. His photography skills were poor, and he didn’t think that the photos he had taken were presentable enough. He swiped his phone screen so hard it almost broke, but he still couldn’t find a suitable photo that wouldn’t give him away.
After thinking about it for a long time, Chen Xiangsui sent a photo of himself when he was in elementary school. In the photo, he was wearing a neat school uniform with a bright red scarf around his neck. He still remembered that he was the flag bearer at his school back then.
Soon, Cheng Yinian received this photo on his phone. Chen Xiangsui, as a primary school student, looked very well-behaved, sitting quietly on the front steps of a house. Cheng Yinian’s heart stirred slightly as he saved the photo and set it as his lock screen. Most of the photos he had of Chen Xiangsui were candid shots taken on the sports field, there wasn’t even a single photo of him looking straight at the camera. That was why he made the request, but he never expected to get such an unexpected gain.
Cheng Yinian: [^3^ Is this a photo of Gege when he was little?! So cute!!]
Chen Xiangsui: [Hmm.]
[You’ve seen my face, and I’d like to see yours too.]
For some reason, Chen Xiangsui was very curious to see what Cheng Yinian would look like with those cute outfits. Every time he sent him photos, he never showed his face, which gradually piqued his curiosity.
Cheng Yinian: [Eh QWQ! Do you also want to see photos of me when I was little? I don’t know if I have any, but maybe my mom does~]
Chen Xiangsui: [A current one is also fine.]
Cheng Yinian stared at the screen, looking completely at a loss. He searched through his entire photo album but couldn’t find any suitable pictures to send. After thinking for a while, he finally replied to the other person: [QWQ I’m a little embarrassed~ Maybe just a peek?]
Chen Xiangsui: [Hmm. If you really don’t want to, you don’t have to send one.]
Cheng Yinian: [QAQ I would never refuse my boyfriend’s request~]
Cheng Yinian opened the closet and changed into a dress. He took his phone out and took several photos of himself in different angles in front of the mirror. After much effort, he finally managed to take a photo that looked pretty and wouldn’t easily give away the truth. He looked at his photos in women’s clothing. At first, he felt embarrassed, but by today, he had almost become numb to it, so he sent the photo expressionlessly.
Chen Xiangsui quickly received the photo on his phone. Cheng Yinian was wearing a pure-white knee-length dress. A small ribbon bow was tied around his neck. Following the curve of his neck upward, one could see his perfectly arched jawline, followed by his tender pink lips, which were slightly turned up at the corners. A faint dimple was visible on his left cheek.
This was the first time he had paid such close attention to Cheng Yinian’s face. [You must be very cute.] He silently tapped the send button, thinking that since the other person was so reluctant to show his face, he must be really worried about revealing his true gender—although he felt that Cheng Yinian’s appearance wouldn’t look too out of place with some makeup and styling.
Cheng Yinian: [QVQ No way, I’m just average~]
Chen Xiangsui: [You can be a little more confident.]
[By the way, are you going to stream this weekend?]
Cheng Yinian: [Of course ya, there’s still time in the afternoon to play with Gege~]
……
In the afternoon, Cheng Yinian went live and played a cute new two-player platform game he had just bought. Since it was released on Valentine’s Day this year, the game specially prepared a Valentine’s Day-themed scene. Cheng Yinian didn’t pay much attention to it at the time and bought it recently after seeing many people recommending it.
Cheng Yinian and Chen Xiangsui logged into the game in advance. The live stream began with the two characters they controlled standing outside a church door.
[Isn’t this that dog-torturing1As in abusing single dogs by feeding them lots of dog food/couple PDA game?]
[Hahaha what the! I actually got into an argument with my friends when we played this game online together before]
[I hope the big boss’ bullets go in the wrong direction, I’ll be the first to laugh]
“Let’s go.” Cheng Yinian gave Chen Xiangsui a signal, and the other party controlled his character to walk into the church.
Cheng Yinian was highly skilled at manipulating characters and rarely made mistakes. He has played many similar platform games, including those released in the last century and new ones in recent years, and he specifically sought out games that were challenging.
Chen Xiangsui was no slouch either. He and Cheng Yinian worked together seamlessly. Even if Cheng Yinian didn’t explicitly say what he needed, Chen Xiangsui could anticipate which mechanism Cheng Yinian wanted him to activate, and he never once misfired the gun.
[? I don’t believe it will stay smooth sailing]
[Will the curse of breakup games be broken? Regardless, let’s take a nibble first]
[Big Boss! How can you go home and kneel in front of the keyboard if you don’t shoot Wife?]
[Big Boss, hurry up and shoot. Can’t you shoot?]
Chen Xiangsui, as if driven by the comments, waited for Cheng Yinian to open the mechanism for him. The two of them stepped onto the platform at the same time. While Cheng Yinian was clearing monsters on one side, Chen Xiangsui shot a bullet in the direction of his partner on the other side. Cheng Yinian successfully lost a heart.
[Hahahaha I knew it! No one can escape the breakup game!]
[Big Boss: I did it on purpose. I’m going to kneel down and break my keyboard so I can buy a new one for Nian Gao]
[Big Boss: What’s wrong with shooting Wife just once?]
[? The one above, the live stream will be shut down shortly]
“It’s okay.” Before Chen Xiangsui could apologize, Cheng Yinian spoke up first. The finish line was already in sight. He walked toward the priest first, and Chen Xiangsui quickly followed behind. A dialogue box popped up at the bottom of the game. The priest was speaking, guiding the two players to say their vows, and finally even popping up an option asking if they were willing.
They didn’t ask each other’s opinion and clicked “Yes” at the same time.
[Great! Marriage Game!!!]
[Everyone, please spam “double happiness”2囍: symbol of good luck, specially for marriages on the public screen ahhhh]
[Oh my goodness, this nibbling material is really unbelievable]
[My CP got married!!!]
In an instant, the screen was filled with a barrage of “double happiness” characters, as if countless viewers were cheering and celebrating their wedding. Cheng Yinian’s heart stirred slightly. He thought that perhaps this was the best possible outcome his feelings for Chen Xiangsui could ever hope for. He smiled helplessly in front of the screen and silently pressed the shortcut key to take a screenshot.
Soon after, he received a private message from Chen Xiangsui: [Did you have fun today?]
Cheng Yinian: [Yesss~ I got married to Gege O///O]
Chen Xiangsui stared at the laptop screen for a long time, wondering if acting out this scene with Age, a male fan, in the game was really that moving. He didn’t quite understand, but could only reluctantly accept that Cheng Yinian really liked this fan named Age.
Chen Xiangsui: [So, can I call you Wife here?]
Yinian isn’t very used to being close to other people, Chen Xiangsui thought. He recalled the conversation they had when he had applied medicine to the other person earlier. Perhaps he could use Age’s identity to help the other person get used to a more intimate way of interacting.
Cheng Yinian: [QWQ only this time…]
Chen Xiangsui: [Hmm, Wife.]
[If you have time, would you like to talk on the phone?]
Chen Xiangsui’s voice wasn’t particularly distinctive. There were many people in the same institution who sounded similar to him, so he could use his natural voice without worrying about being recognized.
Cheng Yinian: [OUO sure ya, I can have a good chat with Gege properly next weekend~]
……
After finishing his live broadcast that Sunday afternoon, Cheng Yinian hurried back to his dormitory in the evening. By the time he entered the dormitory, it was already past 11 p.m. and the hot water was about to be cut off. He hurriedly took a shower and then laid down on the bed.
He opened his phone to set an alarm, but Chen Xiangsui suddenly sent him a message at that moment: [You weren’t around all day and you didn’t bring my ointment back.]
[Have you applied the medicine yet?]
Cheng Yinian honestly replied: [You’re right… Today was too busy, I had a lot of things to do.]
Chen Xiangsui: [Wait for me.]
Cheng Yinian could hear some noise coming from the bed opposite. A moment later, he received a second message from Chen Xiangsui: [I’m on your bed ladder.]
Cheng Yinian hurriedly pulled back the bed curtain to let Chen Xiangsui come in. He saw the other man holding some ointment and cotton swabs. He lifted the hem of his pajamas and spread the cool ointment on the bruise. The process was completed in no time.
Just as Chen Xiangsui was about to get out of the bed, there was a sudden noise from the bed adjacent where Xu Zitang was sleeping. He instinctively stopped what he was doing. Cheng Yinian leaned closer to him as if to whisper something, but the other party’s index finger gently pressed down on his lower lip.
The soft sensation immediately spread across Chen Xiangsui’s fingertips.
