Murong Shanshan obviously noticed my pa.s.sionate gaze so she quickly grabbed the blanket and dove inside it. She stuck out her head and said with maliciously: "Enjoyed looking?"

I nodded my head and said: "Don't do things like this in the future. If I were someone lacking self-control, it would be disastrous."

Murong Shanshan pouted and slightly smiled: "Haha, I know you're not that sort of person. That is why I'm alright with you sleeping in my room. Tell you what, if it was before, never mind sleeping in my room, no man would ever have even been allowed to step into my room. You should feel very proud."

"Really? So am I supposed to invite you to breakfast tomorrow morning?"

"Well, if you don't object~"

I was just about to express my objection when at this time my phone suddenly rang. I looked at the number and saw that it was Xin Yu calling.

"Lin Fan, where are you?" It was actually Xu Lin's voice on the other end.

"Eh, I'm at a friend's house and will not be coming back tonight… …”

Xu Lin was slightly astonished and she quietly asked: "Are you at Murong Shanshan's house?"

"En." I couldn't help but flush and hurriedly added: "However, it's not what you're thinking."

Xu Lin gave a "haha" laugh: "What am I thinking of, hm? Don't worry, I won't tell Xin Yu or Lu Xuehan. However, you can really be excessive now, boy. Pedaling three boats… take care not to bite off more than you can chew." [1]

"Lin-jie, where has your mind gone… … It's just that Murong Shanshan was scared by zombies in-game today. That's why she wanted me to come accompany her. It's definitely not what you're thinking."

Xu Lin laughed: "I didn't think anything. Okay, I'm hanging up now. Xin Yu and Xuehan went out to buy things and should be back soon. If they ask me where you've gone, how should I answer?"

"En, just say that I went to a friend's house. If they keep asking, then say that it's a university cla.s.smate. A male one."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye…"

After hanging up the phone, I was startled to find that my forehead was slightly sweaty. ***, I got scared by a few small MM into such a state… … [2]

When I turned around to take a look, Murong Shanshan had already changed into her sleepwear and was now looking at me with a grin.

"You're very afraid of them?"

"No!"

"That's odd. Okay, time to sleep. We have to wake up early tomorrow to level~!"

Consequently, I turned off the light, took off my coat and sweater, and went to sleep.

The entire room was pitch-black. There was only a sliver of light that pa.s.sed through the window curtains. It was very quiet. So quiet, in fact, that I could hear the sound of the air conditioning.

After a long while, I a.s.sumed that Murong Shanshan had already fallen asleep so I softly called out to her. The result was that Murong Shanshan immediately answered, her voice not sounding as if she had slept at all.

I could not help but laugh and said: "I was not in the mood to sleep during this long night. I had thought that it was only I that could not sleep but little did I expect that you could not sleep either, beautiful." [3]

Murong Shanshan laughed with a "Puchi" sound and said mockingly: "I can't sleep because I'm concerned about whether or not you'll stick to being a gentleman. As for you, why are you unable to sleep?"

I cupped my hands beneath my head and thought for a while. Really, why can't I sleep?

No ideas crossed my mind thus I could only come up with a random excuse: "I was thinking about some people. That's why I couldn't sleep."

"Who were you thinking about?" Murong Shanshan grew interested. In the darkness, I could see her stretch her little head towards the side of the bed and look straight at me.

"Who was I thinking about?" I hesitated for a while and after a while I said: "I was thinking about you the whole time. Does that count?"

"Liar. I'm practically sleeping right next to you. How could you still be thinking about me?" Murong Shanshan accused. Because it was too dark, I could not see her expression at all. Naturally, I could not tell whether she was happy or angry either.

"If you don't believe me then forget it. In that case, I'm thinking about Xin Yu and Lu Xuehan instead, happy? Since I haven't seen them in a while, I don't know whether or not they're asleep."

"Hmph hmph. Finally telling the truth!"

"Let's change the topic. Let me hear about some of the things that have happened at school, is that alright?"

Murong Shanshan giggled: "Are you trying to ask me how many boys at school are pursuing me?"

"Towards that… I'm still not very interested…"

"Hmph, this guy. You don't seem very interested in my matters…" [4]

I was speechless. Have I really not cared about you?

Maybe…

After a long while, when I thought Murong Shanshan had truly fallen asleep, I suddenly heard her call out gently: "Lin Fan, in the end, what sort of person are you really?"

I was dazed and said with some melancholy: "I would also like to know what sort of person I am. However, even after all these years, I still have not figured out the answer."

Murong Shanshan's voice suddenly became kind: "In fact, I'm really reluctant to let you leave my guild. If we could start again, I would definitely have spent money to buy you from the Green Veggies family. However, it seems that you no longer need that bit of money. Sometimes, I'm really conflicted. If it weren't for our very good friends Sun Never Sets and Young and Frivolous, I would really like to quit the guild and join your family instead." [5]

I was slightly surprised and said in a quiet voice: "Shanshan, why do you have these sorts of thoughts?"

"Because… … forget it. Let's go to sleep… …"

After Murong Shanshan finished speaking, she did not say anything more. On the other hand, I was silent up until the next day when the early morning light spilled into the room.

I looked at my watch and saw that it was already 8am. Although I did not go to sleep until 1am last night, seven hours of sleep was enough for young people.

Author Note: Miserable miserable miserable. For the sake of rankings, Ye-zi has been unable to guarantee 6 hours of sleep a night. L [6]

Murong Shanshan still had not woken, so I got dressed and looked at the nearby beauty, feeling very pleased: A beautiful face, a long and beautiful nose, long eyelashes, rosy lips, and enticing twin peaks on her chest - every part of her was so beautiful…

As I was watching, Murong Shanshan's long eyelashes suddenly fluttered twice. Without any sympathy, I said: "Get up. If you keep pretending to be asleep then I'm going to lift the blanket~"

Murong Shanshan immediately raised the corner of her mouth and said with a smile: "Such a lapse in judgment. I unexpectedly didn't manage to fool you. It looks like I'm still in stuck at the idolized star phase." [7]

I said without any sympathy: "Why are you trying to fool me? Trying to get me to kiss you awake, huh?"

Murong Shanshan's face flushed red. Like a little girl saying the central thing, she said in a quiet voice: "My thoughts are too shameful… …"

"I'm not sure who is being shameful… …" I whispered a line before asking: "I'll go downstairs to buy some breakfast. Be sure to get dressed before I come back, okay?"

Murong Shanshan sweetly smiled: "I understand. The key is on the table so get it yourself~!" [8]

As soon as I reached the downstairs area, I saw that Auntie w.a.n.g near the gate. The even more unfortunate thing was that she recognized me and said while hurriedly waving: "Aren't you Shanshan's boyfriend? You came over this early?"

I answered: "Yeah. I'm going to buy some breakfast for her right now. She still hasn't gotten out of bed yet~"

Auntie w.a.n.g was immediately apprehensive: "You guys aren't… … already living together, are you?"

I put on an awkward smile and said: "There was no helping it. When I wanted to leave last night, Shanshan would not allow it… …"

Auntie w.a.n.g slightly smiled as she went upstairs and I heard her muttering in a quiet voice: "Looks like there's no hope for my second son. However, this guy and Shanshan really go well together. Ai, how come my second son grew to have his old man's morals… …"

I ran a few steps to the exclusively-breakfast food store outside the gate and bought two bags of soy milk as well as several fritters. As a result of waking up too late, everything else here was already sold out.

Carrying the stuff upstairs, I noticed Murong Shanshan had already gotten up and was currently brus.h.i.+ng her teeth in the bathroom.

I placed breakfast on the table and said: "Shanshan, I'm going to head back. Breakfast is on the table so don't forget to eat it."

"We're not eating together?"

"Nah. I'll be fine eating some steamed buns on the road. I won't be accompanying you to level today either. I need to pay some attention to my family since we're creating a guild."

"En. I guess we'll talk in-game then~"

Carrying two fritters, I returned to my residence while gnawing on them. Among people who have over a hundred million in wealth, I expect that I am the only one who is comfortable living this sort of life.

There was n.o.body in the main hall and after giving it some thought I realized they were all probably in-game. I directly went into my own room, connected the power line, and entered the game.

I saw a white light and afterwards I appeared at Silvermoon City's east gate's plaza. Surprisingly, there were only a few people at Silvermoon City's plaza despite it already being 9am. I immediately had some misgivings. Logically speaking, although the number of online players during this time period cannot compare to the number during the afternoon, it should not be so bleak right now either.

"Di~!"

Lu Xuehan's text message arrived: "We're at the auction house. VIP room 055, the pa.s.sword is 123321. Hurry up and come over."

I immediately sent back a text and hurried over. No wonder there were so few people here, everyone had gone to the auction! Now that everyone was higher-levelled and had deeper pockets, a gold coin did not count for much.

After entering the auction house, I inquired about the location of VIP room 055. Impressively, the host's name was entered as Xu Lin and after entering the pa.s.sword I was immediately sent inside.

I looked around but the only three people inside were Xu Lin, Xin Yu, and Lu Xuehan. Surprised, I asked: "Why did Guo-zi and the others not come?" [9]

Xu Lin replied while smiling: "Guo-zi and JOLY went leveling. Li Qing fell sick and went to the hospital for an IV. I don't know what happened to Liu Yun though. She went out last night and still hasn't come back. I don't know what she went out to do. When I called her, she only said that she had important business and didn't say anything specific. Who knows what she's doing, acting all mysterious."

I nodded a bit and turned around to see Xin Yu's gaze on my face. In one sweeping motion, she cast her sight line towards the auction stand below.

"Xin Yu, what's wrong?" I approached the window and stood shoulder to shoulder with Xin Yu.

Xin Yu bit her lips and did not say anything. After a long while, she looked me in the eyes and softly said: "If you go somewhere in the future, tell me, okay?"

I was slightly surprised but adopted a smile and said: "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay. I just don't want you to leave so indifferently…"

Xin Yu's words lost a little of their former softness and gained a hint of sadness.

-:-

[1] The Chinese phrase 脚踏三条船 translates directly as "pedaling three boats" which in this situation is a metaphor for how Lin Fan is involved with Murong Shanshan, Xin Yu, and Lu Xuehan.

[2] The *** is written in the raws and see chapter 164 footnotes for MM explanation.

[3] This is the part in the t.i.tle. In the t.i.tle it's written literally as "MM" but he calls her 美眉 (p.r.o.nounced "miao mei" - hence the "MM") in the text. I just chose to translate it as "beautiful" since that sounds less weird in English.

[4] I was really tempted to translate this as "you don't seem very interested in my affairs". However, I'll save everyone from the potential NTR misunderstandings.

[5] I vaguely remember Lingson translating this as something along the lines of "Green Veggies family". The raw text is 青菜家族 which literally translates as "Green Vegetables Family". If someone could find the term he used, it'd be much appreciated.

[6] So, first of all, the Author randomly stuck this 话外音 which basically means "outside of story sound" which is essentially an author's note into the middle of the story. The author uses 叶子 (p.r.o.nounced "Ye Zi") as a self-identifier (the author's name is s.h.i.+ Luo Ye). I also translated 码字 as ranking though I'm not too sure about it actually meaning that. I think literally it means something along the lines of "numbers/numerical" but I'm not really sure how that would fit in this context. Lastly, yes, he really did throw a frowning face in there.

[7] The raw text states 看来我目前仍然停留在偶像派的阶段 which more or less translates as "presently it looks like I'm still stuck in the 偶像派 phase". I looked up the translation of 偶像派 on Google and it told me that it means "idolized star". The translation seems odd in the context so please let me know if it means something different to a modern Chinese person.

[8] Small rant: it's really hard to translate from Chinese to English while keeping the same context and feeling. The way it's written in Chinese gives off a fairly sweet feeling versus the direct translation into English that loses that feeling. I think part of the translator's goal should be to not only translate the context but also the connotation but it's hard to decide where to draw the line.

[9] Can anyone give me a refresher on Guo-zi, JOLY, and Luo Yun?

-:-