Chapter Text
Shen Jiu realized that he hadn't felt this angry in at least five years, and believe him, with Liu Qingge as his officemate breaking the record was hard. He had already turned 28, and now in his first year of formal teaching after being a TA for three years he knew he probably shouldn't hold onto a matter like this… BUT HE ALSO COULDN’T LET THIS INJUSTICE SLIDE. As a (Self proclaimed) man hater he had to teach that scumbag a lesson.
See, last week, his favorite student Ning Yingying seemed very down during the lesson, she usually was eager to participate and give her opinions. This change had worried him so he decided to ask her at the end of the class if she was okay. As soon as he made a slight reference to her mood the girl started bawling her eyes crying about some online game called “Pride immortal demon way” and a guy that had dated her in the games through lies, making her spend lots of money in equipment and other stuff he didn’t understand and falling in love with her only to find out she had always been the other woman in their relationship, not only her boyfriend had a “wife” but also the wife had found out about her and organized a rally with all her friends to bully her out of the server by constantly killing her and harassing her in her private messages and public chats. It had worked, poor Ning Yingying had deleted her account, the game itself and was now thinking of taking a whole year off her studies.
He, as a responsible teacher, first convinced her of NOT leaving her studies over such a situation, and then after gaining all the relevant information, consoling her, buying her an ice cream and giving her a little more time to make the essay that was due today. He decided to craft a plan to totally ruin that trash of a man in any way possible. His first plan consisted of joining the server and then killing him multiple times just how his girlfriend had done with his student, he would feel so humiliated that he would leave the server too. He thought it was a good plan, he had never played games like that for sure, but he was good with his fingers okay?????? He played the Guqin which required a lot of coordination and also had the strategic skills of a weiqi master, but as he made his investigation of the game he realized his plan was doomed from the start.
This guy “Pearless cucumber” of course he would have a name ridiculous like that, was the number one player in all the servers list, he was the strongest player, the most powerful one, the most experienced one, the richest, better equipped, most famous… and the list went on and on, on his research of the man, he had also found out that he and his girlfriend had met in the real world, he apparently lied about his age, having the appearance of a middle aged man and making her pay for his ticket plane, food and date only to be blocked once they parted ways, a true scum, but beside that. Shen Jiu had already seen lots of gameplay videos, hacks for the game, advice for the type of sect he wanted his character to be, he had even tried playing in simile games to gain experience. Not to be overly confident but he had done it pretty well, but seeing all these rankings he realized it would take him years to kill this guy even once, he was relieved he hadn’t bought the account yet.
Within a week after the incident Yingying seemed to be doing pretty well now, but Shen Jiu… He was too invested okay? He had already done just so much only to drop it, but was there anything he could do anyways? He thought with his fingers going through his hair as he graded some papers. ‘Hm, it looks like I really have to leave it like that…’
—I can’t believe this happened to me!! —a pained voice traveled in the hallway right into his office to hear.
—Humans are truly horrible beings, I thought she loved me!
—She? Don’t you mean to say he? —a stifled scream was heard while something dropped to the ground. Had the voice owner dropped himself to the ground?
—Don´t you dare say anything more! I was already cheated like this and you keep rubbing salt on the wound, you can’t blame me, the bastard used a voice changer and even sent me pictures!! I wouldn't have found out if it wasn’t for today when the voice changer failed.
—Haven’t you always been an idiot? —a third voice sounded, clearly trying to contain his laughter. —If you date online like you are, you should always be mindful of catfishers. Your "girlfriend" even got a lot of money out of you didn’t he?
—At least we don’t have to hear your voice call ever again, it was the worst dude.
—Scram! I curse you both to never find true love in three lifetimes!
Laughter could be heard outside along with weakening voices as the three students walked away. ‘Well, that is, unfortunate’ was all Shen Jiu could think after hearing such a story, but right then he got an idea, and his pen stopped moving as he went over it. Should he? No, definitely not. …But he had already spent too much time on this, yes, and Ning Yingying hadn’t been avenged yet! And no one would know anyways, only that slag man when the time came of course, and even then he wouldn't even show him his face. Then it was settled.
He would become the cutest girlfriend in the world, cheat him a lot of money, and then destroy him revealing he was actually a man. It would crush his ego! and with the gaming abilities he had, it wouldn't be hard to fit into the helpless damsel who needed help, and with a target such as peerless cucumber, it would be so easy to make him fall for him. It was a perfect plan indeed, now he only had to wait until he got home and put it into action, now more satisfied he allowed himself to continue working.
Now at his apartment, Shen Jiu updated his information, he searched about catfishing, common female slang on the internet and some ways to act cute… Now he only needed three more things. First a voice changer, second an account for the same server and lastly a new character and sect to fit into. He made a quick research about chaining voice tools, deciding for one that he could use while voice chatting on the game and also didn’t sound too fake or too out of line with his original masculine and serious voice, maybe it wasn´t as cute as he would want to but it was better to make it believable. He then searched for female accounts on sale, finding one that had decent inventory and experience so he wouldn’t be staring without anything, he also made sure its previous owner had a good reputation just in case.
Finally he accustomed his appearance to a cute one, a short avatar, with a cute face, white long hair accompanied with cat ears and a tail, and a green robe that made the little thing look stylish and elegant while still undeniably cute… yes, peerless cucumber wouldn't be able to resist him. Along with his cat appearance was the sect he choose, the Qing Jing sect was known for being an erudite sect, a total support role that used the four arts to give their team members boost, make strategies and in some cases some minor healing, it was hard to use and had the lowest attack stat so there were very few players wanted to use it. Shen Jiu reelected on his choices and felt somehow proud, this type of abilities really suited him, and also maintained his helpless persona he was trying to form, he named the character Xiu Ya.The only thing he had to do now was put the game on and start his scheme. While staring at the loading screen, he mourned his bank account, he had only been paid a few days ago, his salary as a teacher wasn’t very good as a fundamentally new teacher and the amount he had spent on this account was actually high… ‘Well, there is no time for remorse, for Yingying!’ he thought as the game was completely loaded.
The scenery was pretty, in his research he found that the visuals were the strongest point for this game’s popularity, the characters, the beasts, animation and settings were all kind of artistic, even someone like Shen Jiu had to admit it. On his first gaming experience in Pride immortal demon way he decided to go and complete his daily tasks and then see if he could make some simple missions, all while looking for peerless cucumbers of course. Getting accustomed to the commands and fighting style of his little cat avatar he found himself in a flower camp pinking up some flowers, all daily tasks completed, he was too amused in the simple action, realizing this game was actually fun, and understanding a little better why the students seemed to like it when another player approached him.
—Game chat—
Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky: Hello there (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) [Waves hand]
Really, what was with these game players and their weird names?
—Game chat—
Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky: Little Meimei, wanna join our party and make sum missions? we’re missing a support player.
Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky: What u think?
‘Ridiculous, already assuming I’m your meimei? With the way you talk, forget about gege, I could even be your uncle!’ Already preparing to decline Shen Jiu was stopped by another approaching player, he almost couldn’t believe himself when he saw the name above, Fucking. Peerless. Cucumber, it made sense if he thinked about it, of course peerless cucumber would be friends with airplanes shooting towards the sky. It looked like today was Shen Jiu’s lucky day.
—Game chat—
Peerless Cucumber: Airplane bro, were you able to get the player for the party?
Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky: typing…
Xiu Ya: Greetings, Greetings this meimei would be glad to join the geges party. （´∇｀''） [Swirls around] [Claps hands]
Peerless Cucumber: …
Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky:..
Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky: Then ig we have a party, join it and we can start making missions.
Xiu Ya has joined Peerless cucumber party
A successful first interaction, now he only needed a way to talk with the slag man in a private chat and it would all run smoothly. Shen jiu was introduced to all the other party members, all women, but what could be expected from a slag man with that kind of user name? And then they started a surprisingly easy quest, not any of the other female players were doing something really important, not even Airplane! Although considering his sect it made sense, his character was a little mouse hybrid avatar from An Ding, they were specialized in logistics whatever that meant, had great storing abilities, transportation, trading and equipment repair, their damage stats were also not that great but the sect was still more popular than Qing Jing. Now that Shen Jiu thought it peerless cucumber sect was also unusual, Wan Jian was specialized in sword abilities, they had an absurd damage stat but it was hard to make the attacks hit the opponent at a 100% level and the swords they had were difficult to manage, they seemed to have their own will and the player had to get along with it, peerless cucumber avatar was a warrior avatar the image of a trashy novel protagonist, typical.
Shen Jiu’s analysis was cut by an attack from the monsters they (peerless cucumber) were (was) currently fighting, he saw it too late and was unable to dodge, but just about when he was going to be killed, a sword flew where the enemy was and killed it.
—Party chat—
Peerless Cucumber: Careful.
Peerless cucumber always hit his enemies with a 100% damage rate, was very fast and his sword loved him, always coming his way to be pet after making an attack, it was a level of skill that required years of experience, thinking about the alleged middle age appearance of peerless cucumber, Shen Jiu thought with anger. ‘Do you have an addiction problem or spend all your day in your parents basement being a disappointment instead of looking for a job?’ instead he answered.
—Party chat—
Xiu Ya: ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!
Xiu Ya: Thank you gege for saving this one. ( ;´ - `;)
Xiu Ya: I was so careless, but it will not happen again. This meimei swears ᕙ( •̀ ᗜ •́ )ᕗ [Jumps] [Jumps] [Thumbs up]
Peerless Cucumber: Okay…
Other members: ...
The fight continued but Shen Jiu was a little upset about not being able to do anything, he had trained a whole week! right then, he saw his opportunity, peerless cucumber was about to be attacked by the big boss, a full blow, surrounded by enemies, even if he was good there was no way he could survive that right? So he made his character approach and sent a quick combination hoping it would help.
Player Xiu Ya has used “enchanting love song” on player Peerless cucumber he feels a lot of inspiration. Attack power X2. Life points regained 5.
The healing skills were actually very low…
—Wow! that was amazing! Thanks for the help Xiu Ya.
A young man's voice sounded through the voice channel, it took a long time for Shen Jiu to realize that it was actually peerless cucumber’s voice. He had to admit the man sounded nice, excited and kind and at the same time, not like a bastard who spent his days deceiving women, ruining their confidence and getting money out of them, appearance do deceive, or in this case voice Shen Jiu guessed.
—That’s right, do you know how hard it is to hit a Wan Jian sect member with a boosting ability? Their attack moments are the fastest, even I, his bestest friend, haven't been able to help him like this in the years we’ve played together.
‘Or maybe you just suck at playing.’ But Shen Jiu couldn’t answer that, hearing the two voices he was now sure that they had to belong to younger people, but at least they didn’t sound like children… The conversation continued on the voice channel, the bickering friends and even the other party integrants joined. Shen jiu remembered the rumors of peerless cucumber real appearance and although he felt it didn’t fit, he decided to pay it no mind and open the voice channel instead
—Best friend? you even go here and pretend Mobei isn’t the only reason you play this game….
—It was nothing, I’ll help gege whenever he needs.. —a voice cut in, obviously female, but felt very different to the text style, more mature, like the one someone with a lot of life experience would have, calm and knowing, the gege felt dissonant.
The voice channel was silent for a few seconds, looking at the screen Shen Jiu noticed that the quest had ended with all the enemies dead thanks to his assistance. Hearing the silence he wondered if he had made a mistake by talking when his target talked again.
—Haha… really? Then maybe you would like to join us in other quests in the future, our support member is really busy right now… I also think we’re a great match!!
Huh, so it was that easy…
—Sure! I would love to join you, then, can I add you as a friend?
—Cucumber bro doesn’t add friends really, but we can add each other!
What does that mean, he added other girls before right? So why wasn’t he added?
—Hmph! I don’t want to add YOU as a friend, I want gege!
—Hey, why I’m I not gege too???
—I only have one gege, I need to talk to him in private so I need to add him as a friend, it makes sense right?
—Well…
—And gege said he was grateful for my help, so adding me in return shouldn’t be hard right?
…
—I guess that’s right…—peerless cucumber voice sounded again. —We should dismantle the party and add each other, we can continue playing another day.
As soon as the party disbanded Shen jiu sent a message to peerless cucumber.
—Party chat—
Xiu Ya: Is gege there OwO?
Peerless Cucumber:.. I’m here
Peerless Cucumber: Haha, about that
Peerless Cucumber: Why do u keep calling me gege?
Xiu Ya: Hehe, I will explain gege then. (˶˃⤙˂˶)
Xiu Ya: I´m sword god-gege’s fan! This one has seen all of your videos. Your game play is amazing and I couldn’t help to find myself drawn to gege. ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡
Xiu Ya: I’m interested in being gege’s future wife! [Puffs out cheeks] [Blows a kiss] [Blows a kiss] [Blows a kiss]
Xiu Ya: Gege, please accept my confession! ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
Peerless Cucumber: …
Shen jiu started at the computer for a long time feeling maybe this had not been the best idea.
Xiang Fei couldn’t stop laughing.
—Looks like a slag man like you can still have hope in love huh? —Shen Yuan sent him a vicious glare —You should quickly explain the situation to her so she doesn’t run off bro.
—Hey, can you stop that? You’re still making fun of this poor girl's feelings, we don’t even know how old she is.
—Mhn, man I don’t know if it was my impression, but over voice chat she even seemed to give off more like older sister vibes, even with her calling you gege and all, I wasn’t even sure if she was actually a woman if it wasn’t for the voice just because of the way she writes.
—But she is a girl! …Right?
—Omg, are you interested? What was all that about ‘We make a good macht?’
—That was true ok??? Her moves were good and even if she clearly lacks experience she has a lot of potential. I’m also in need of experience you know? That bastard ‘Bing-ge’ handed me back my account almost without any points, HE ROBED ME! I also had to pay the two girls their money back even if it wasn’t my fault and even if my bank account can take it I’m not sure if my ego can, believe me, I will never ever get another booster in my life no matter how sick I am in the future. And don't know why you are complaining so much, we still need another player until Mobei-jun comes back.
—I wasn’t complaining, and my king is still trying to find that swindler for you so don’t get mad at him okay? I’m not against Xiu Ya, I thought she was nice! go ahead and ask her for her wechat so we can contact her in an easier way.
—How do you expect me to ask her that right after I rejected her?? I’ll wait a few hours and then ask her.
Shen Yuan got up and finished organizing the stuff that was still left in his luggage, books, videogames and clothes, it hadn’t even passed a week since he had come back to campus. These last few months were hard for him okay? And the current situation with a (cute?) girl trying to get with him wasn’t helping. He had a relapse in his bad health a month ago, having to move to the hospital and then to his parents house to recover, even now he isn't fully healthy again but that was to be expected he guessed. Doctors had recommended a few hours of screen time in his first month of recovery so he made the bad decision of paying an internet stranger to play in his account, not only had he ruined his account, but also ruined his reputation by dating two women at the same time. After talking with the players and putting everything in order with them he felt he was the only one who hadn´t gotten any justice.
Back in his university dorm things weren’t looking better, he had to share it with Xang Fei, the most messy person he has ever met, his schedule was a mess because of late inscription and apparently the literature class he had chosen had a new teacher who his roommate quickly clarified had a bad reputation as a TA, being too strict, humiliating students and having a strange preference with his female students, Shen Yuan really hoped that his love for the subject would make it all worth it. But tomorrow was his first class and he was really nervous. His thoughts went back to the player he had met today, was she really a fan of his? Shen Yuan of course knew he was a popular player, but before he really hadn’t been interested in making online friends so he ended up with a reputation of a cold person and maybe (because of some fights) a sharp-tongued individual. But at least then everyone respected him, now he was reduced to a slag, so little Xiu Ya hadn’t heard of that?
She did have a very nice voice, like one you would like to hear when you go to sleep. She sounded very confident too, and she liked him… Right, it was embarrassing to admit, but Shen Yuan, a 23 year old straight man, had never had a girlfriend, he had kissed before! r(Once, in middle school) but he really hadn’t felt anything, he had to lie to the girl but apparently his lie was very bad because the girl noticed, and never talk to him again, not only that but she had the audacity to say he was gay GAYYY, only because his room was full of posters from male celebrities, he appreciated beauty in any gender okay?? and men happened to be more pretty, everyone knows that.
He hadn’t told his best friend he was straight because Xiang Fei was actually gay and he didn’t want him to think he was homophobic, which lead to his roommate thinking he was bisexual… (with a preference for man for some reason) But know, Shen Yuan had a chance to prove to everyone including himself that he was straight.
It was just the idea of dating... Online was not very appealing to him, wasn’t that what people who couldn’t find a girlfriend (Like him) did? He decided to tell this girl he was indeed a slag man, that could push her away and they would just be normal teammates until Xiang Fei’s boyfriend returned. He got into the game again asking for her Wechat and sending his and Xiang Feis’s in return, then he spent three hours looking at Xiu Ya’s profile, her account was old, so she seemed to be legit, there were all kinds of book photos accompanied with reviews and poems in her moments all the aesthetics followed some green pattern and her user name also was very poetic being Qingqiu with the characters for clear and autumn. Shen Yuan felt oddly happy that they had common interests, even if his current literature readings are more into the trashy side, looking at the hour, he decided to go to bed, after all his first class next morning was the one he was most worried about.
Shen Jiu was having the worst morning of his life.
HE, was rejected by no one other than Peerless cucumber. He knew they had only met a few hours before his confession, but weren’t slag men always eager to have a new girlfriend? Not even a ‘We’ll see where this can go’ it was a plain rejection, he didn’t have to humiliate a girl like that, it wasn’t fine. Shen Jiu will show him how to be respectful, and the shameless man had even made a bullshit excuse about not wanting to date online. Does he think Shen Jiu is stupid? That he has never seen the games online forum? Not only was peerless cucumber fine with online dating, he had dated TWO people at the same time. Try harder next time, now they have exchanged Wechats, and maybe he is repenting of giving him his personal account, it was not like he would be involved with his real life, he only worried it may not be girly enough, but he couldn't put an all pink or something like that profile when he used it for work, he other man Wechat did surprise him, a lot of book and series pictures that surprisingly where not trash but actually required some reflection, also some cat pictures and landscape, for a slag man to have that kind of profile… it was surely to attract girls. …and yet he had been rejected.
Still, Shen Jiu will not give up!
The conference room was slowly getting full as students arrived, the teacher at the front had to make an effort to go back to his normal resting face before starting class, he didn’t want for people to start a new rumor of him hating teaching or whatever this early in the morning his eyes went up and he found himself staring briefly at a boy he had never seen before, his clothes looked standard for people his age, a short jean pants and a wide t-shirt, his hair was cut short with fringes, he wore a pair of glasses and next to his chair there was a cane, Shen Jiu suddenly remembered about a Shen student who was on a health related leave. ‘So that's the student who shares my last name’ He got up seeing the now full room and started his lesson.
At the end of class the boy approached him.
—Shen-laoshi? —Shen Jiu looked at him, that voice…
—Yes?
—Oh, my name is Shen Yuan, I was on medical leave so that’s why I wasn’t able to attend the class before, but now I will be integrating… Is there any material or assignment I need to catch on?
—I already knew about your medical situation, If you were going to start attending my class today you should have asked your classmates or me before about materials and assignments, it is your responsibility to come prepared.
—I see.. sorry then, it will not happen again, I will check the class program, but I still think some explanations on the last topics would be helpful. Does Shen-laoshi have any additional material recommendations or tutoring programs?
—Yes, I have torturing programs —Shen Jiu sighed, still trying to analyze where he had heard that voice before. —I will give you a week to catch on, and will evaluate your progress. If it doesn’t meet the current class level it is better that you leave the class, it would be a waste of your and mine time in any other way… As for the tutoring, they are open to any student during the semester, 20 minutes one or maximum twice a week. But considering your situation, we can meet from tomorrow until the end of the week if it's right with you, they are usually arranged over Wechat, I will give you my account so we can choose an hour. I appreciate hard work and initiative, nothing will be easily given in this class, you understand?.
—Of course Shen-laoshi… I would be attending tutorings all week then. —Shen Yuan thought of his gaming activities and other classes feeling a little down. —So the Wechat account…
Shen Jiu gave a nod and opened a drawer in his desk to get his phone, he realized he had left it in his office. Embarrassingly, Shen Yuan also noticed his teacher struggling.
—Uh, there’s no need to use Wechat now, we can arrange the hour now. Is it three in the afternoon all day but Friday okay? And… 5 pm on Friday?
—Yes, that would be fine, my office is the ninth one on the second floor. I'll wait there for you, is that all? –Shen Jiu thought he’d have to kick out Liu Qingge at that hour, he was absolutely sure no work could be done with that brute there.
—That would be all, thank you so much laoshi, see you tomorrow then.
Shen Jiu nodded to say goodbye and saw how his new student walked to the door, holding his cane rather than using it.
After returning to his dorm Shen Yuan evaluated his day. He had three classes today, two of them already gave him a lot of work, but the most complicated one was definitely Shen-laoshi's, thinking about the man… well, Shen Yuan’s first impression of him was that he was the most beautiful man he had ever seen, a cold beauty that could probably interpret a villain in one of the dramas his sister loved, long hair and fenix eyes, a villain, because even with how beautiful he was a glare that made him feel like trash, he was like they told him, very strict and even kinda rude, Shen Yuan was not a waste of time, at least give him a chance before saying that. Still he wouldn’t call him rude, yes, he kind of ridiculed some answers given by classmates, but he made a good explanation of why they were a “total stupidity” and an “atrocious anachronism”. Maybe a little annoying, his class was optional, at least for someone like Shen Yuan, a business mayor (not his choice), so he didn’t have to make such an ultimatum for him!!! He had other classes, and other responsibilities (Pride immortal demon way) . Only one week to read and study more than ten required readings and other additional materials was excessive. But thinking of his teacher, he couldn’t help wanting to impress him, he also had a really nice voice…
He finished organizing his schedule now with the new study hours he had to do if he wanted to have good scores, and opened his Wechat to ask his teammates if they were free to play, no one answered but he noticed Xiu Ya had sent him a message early in the morning asking how he was. He felt… happy, with the gesture and replied asking the same, in less than a few minutes he received a reply, an eager announce that she would be free in a few minutes and and “her gege had to wait just a little more to play” Shen Yuan’s face heated up, and he decided to start logging in the game while he waited.
Playing with Xiu Ya was fun, they did their dailies together, some easy two players quests and talked through the chat voice about some novels they apparently both liked, the girl pointview was very interesting and she sounded like someone who knew a lot about literature, even if the didn’t stoped calling him gege with an lovely sweet voice that couldn’t be natural and also said and wrote a lot of embarrassing things, she seemed to be nice and fun, he decided to throw his plan of pushing her away and see if they could be friends, just as he was thinking that a public announcement was made on the megaphone of the server.
Player Demon Saintess Lingling has started a compulsory PK against player Xiu Ya
Xiu Ya: ????
Shen Yuan knew who that was, when he got his account back, he knew he had to make some reparations so he went and found the two users that had been damaged by the booster he hired, one of bing-ge’s girlfriends had been this Demon Saintess Lingling, she was the one that had met the man offline, he offered the money spent back but she declined and ask her instead to date her for real, Shen Yuan declined of course, but the other part had not given up, at least five messages a day in his friend request and she sometimes would appear right where he was while playing, now she was targeting Xiu Ya? It had only been a day since they met! really, who was giving this woman so much information? Sure enough, there was a third player now with them.
—Game chat—
Demon Saintess Lingling: Hmph, so another woman tries to steal my boyfriend again, I’m afraid this won’t do, i’ll have to handle the green tea correctly!
Peerless Cucumber: I’m not your boyfriend.
Demon Saintess Lingling: We never broke up!
We were never together!!! You know that better than everyone! But Xiu Ya hadn’t said anything yet, it was impossible that he hadn’t heard anything about this right? But maybe now she would stop trying to be with him…
—Game chat—
Xiu Ya: ( ` ᴖ ´ ) So what if you were gege’s old thing? I am now who he is interested in! Old stuff should move away and make way ( ꈍ◡ꈍ)
Peerless Cucumber: …
Demon Saintess Lingling: How dare you! Do you think a new player like you can talk to me like that?? I have a lot of followers, I will send people to chase you nonstop and kill your pathetic Qing Jing ass until you leave.
Okay, that was enough. If there was anything he disliked the more, it was when players used this type of tactics to attack others.
—Game chat—
Peerless Cucumber: You can’t do that, Xiu Ya is part of my team, if you try anything I will attack you and the people you send.
Peerless Cucumber: Stay back.
Xiu Ya: Gege really would? (⸝⸝๑﹏๑⸝⸝)
Xiu Ya: Thanks gege!! [Hugs] [Hugs]
Peerless Cucumber: We should leave
Xiu Ya: Gege is right, Demon saintess should also go and tell everyone that gege is mine now!!
Shen Yuan dragged Xiu Ya away before she could say anything more. But now he had decided to be friends with Xiu Ya, he probably needed to explain this so she wouldn’t have a bad impression of him.
At the other side of the computer Shen Jiu had turned angry again. He was being stupid, some moments ago, to think he had even enjoyed without thinking the conversation they were having, he is really thankful that something came up and reminded him who he really was talking to, this Demon Saintess Lingling, she was the one that had harassed Yingying into quitting! He was happy to make her mad and that peerless cucumber had chosen him over her, but he also reinforced the slang man idea Shen Jiu had of him “I will attack you and the people you send” ???
Fuck you.
A sound caught his attention
—Private chat—
Peerless Cucumber: About Demon Saintess Lingling, there’s nothing between us, she is no one to be, never has.
Piece of shit, that’s how you treat your relationships? A whole month of dating and those girls are still “no one”? This was the type of men Shen Jiu hated the most.
—Private chat—
Peerless Cucumber: I know you’ve probably heard about me in the server forum, I wanted to explain something…
Peerless Cucumber: Typing
‘Oh, don’t even try, you slag man.’
—Private chat—
Xiu Ya: Does it have to do with gege being a slag man?
Peerless Cucumber: Well
Peerless Cucumber: Yes
Xiu Ya: Gege does not have to worry. ( ◡̀_◡́)ᕤ
Xiu Ya: I love slag men!!! ✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ )و✧*｡
Xiu Ya: So don’t ever make yourself feel not worthy gege. [Blows a kiss]
Xiu Ya: Slag men can write me poems, talk with me for hours, even while talking to other girls. They would never check my phone when we are dating! Or pester after a break up!
Xiu Ya: Slag men are the treasures of the world, I will always love slag men!!!!
After writing that Shen Jiu got up and drank a cup of cold water, life had made him do this, he would make sure to humiliate this man so much, he wouldn’t be able to go out of his house for a month, and of course, never touch a computer ever again in his life. Ahh, he needed to prepare for tomorrow’s tutoring.
Shen Yuan was heading to his second tutoring, the first had gone.. good? He thinks, he was told that the class had already two assignments, both were essays Shen-laoshi said he could do one and the grade would be worth two, but that he was to hand it in only after passing the exam next monday there was also a group project, Shen Yuan was told he could find a group or do it alone but shorter. Shen-laoshi’s way of explaining was very good, clear and even if he gave the impression of not having a lot of patience, he would still answer all his questions even if he looked a little annoyed. Besides that, this week has been very good to him, yes, it wasn’t great having to catch up to ALL the material he missed in his medical leave, but also he and Xiu Ya had been talking nonstop, in the game, over Wechat, in the voice chat, after she had sent him a message praising slag men he was confused but decided to only reply with “Okay” and moving on. Now he was even starting to think about giving her and online dating a chance, look, Xiu Ya was cute right? At least she acted and sounded cute. That was what straight dudes like him liked, right? and in these (three) days of talking to each other Shen Yuan felt happy, she texted him every night and in the mornings, and they talked and sent a lot of pictures during the day, it was nice, they also played a lot, doing dailies and missions with the team and alone, and now with the compulsory PK directed to Xiu Ya, he had been helping her a lot.
She seemed to be very grateful, Shen Yuan stared at the “Thanks for saving me last night gege~ It was really scary QwQ” message Xiu Ya had just sent him.
He was getting less sleep than he should. He stopped at Shen-laoshi’s office door. Then it suddenly opened.
A man walked out, his way of opening the door had been rather aggressive, he was actually very handsome and had a mole under one of his eyes, he reminded Shen Yuan of one of Xiang Fei female friends, the man looked him up and down like he was analyzing him, then turned back to look at someone and left without saying a word to him.
—Shen-laoshi? —He called out even while still looking in the direction that man had just gone.
—Oh, Shen Yuan, come in. —Shen Jiu looked at him and understood. —That was my officemate, Professor Liu. He teaches some of the sports classes, weird match right? I don´t know what the Dean Yue was thinking when he assigned us together.
Shen Yuan laughed a little.
—It’s not that, he simply looks very similar to a girl I know. They also share their last name….
—Really? I know he has a sister out of the city, but I have never seen her. —Liu Qingge even snapped his phone out of his hands when he almost saw a picture of her in his phone one time when he was trying to show him the date of some event made by the university. That was when he realized this coworker of his actually believed the rumors around him, and when he decided he wasn’t worth trying to form any type of relationship with.
—My friend lives out of the city!
—Then maybe she really is that bru- ahem, professor’s Liu sister. Are you from out of the city?
—Me? Oh no, I know my friend through an online game I enjoy. —Shen Jiu raised an eyebrow
—An online game?
—Um, yes you can play with other players, make missions and quest, upgrade your equipment and abilities, also fight people and —He noticed Shen-laoshi staring at him.
—And, uh, custom your avatar.. it’s fun…
Shen Yuan's face was turning red.
—I see, did you read for today's explanation? —Shen-laoshi saved him from the awkward situation, so he nodded and the session started.
Shen Jiu was starting to think that this new student of his may actually be a very good one, they have done two tutorings and he had already read six of the ten required readings plus four of the recommended ones, for the two days they had left until it was the weekend he could explain in more detail the four that were left, which were more complicated.
Time went on and when he realized that instead of the twenty minutes the session was supposed to last a whole hour had passed, he cleared his throat and asked Shen Yuan if he wanted some water, tomorrow saw his day off so while walking to the water dispenser he sent a text message asking peerless cucumber if he was free to play all morning, and then after 5pm all night, he wrote it al clingy as he could and when he was walking back holding two cups of water he saw Shen Yuan putting away his phone in his pocket, was he getting distracted? Shen Jiu remembered the boy talking about an online game he enjoyed, he wondered if it was similar to Pride Immortal Demon Way… and that was when he realized, his voices sounded so familiar because he sounded a lot like peerless cucumber, it was amusing, two people who seemed so different sounded so similar.
—Shen Yuan, I was thinking about making the torturing lessons a little longer for tomorrow and Friday, as we are going to review the most complicated topics. Also, if you want to, I’m free on saturday and we could do a little summary of everything. What do you think?
Shen Yuan looked at him and smiled a genuine and easy smile. It was very beautiful.
—Sure, then i’ll see laoshi tomorrow
Shen Jiu made a sound of recognition and opened the door so he could leave, then took his phone again, peerless cucumber had already answered his message.
For the first time in five years Shen jiu felt he had a useless day, if not for his reunion with Shen Yuan for tutoring he probably wouldn’t even have left his apartment, he was also starting to worry about how much money he was spending in this game, his paycheck as a new college teacher was really that high, still when he casually mentioned that he couldn’t afford an item yesterday, peerless cucumber immediately offered to pay it, Shen Jiu hesitated, but then remembered that stealing money out of him and humiliating him was the reason why all of this started so he happily accepted and that dumb slag man had already bought him three gifts, he was making progress.
Now it was Friday and he and Shen Yuan had finished today's tutoring, only one was left but he already had the impression that the student wouldn’t have any trouble passing the exam, he actually seemed to love this topic, as far as Shen Jiu knew this class wasn’t part of his required curriculum, he had also heard that his family was an important one when he decided to dig a little information about his new student, you see, Shen Jiu usually disliked most of the men he met but for some reason he liked interacting with this one and he hadn’t even knew him for a long time, maybe it was that, as time passed he would show his true colors. They were already done and just like always when he was free he sent a text message to peerless cucumber, it was already dark outside, Shen Yuan was looking at his phone writing something and Shen Jiu got a response from peerless cucumber, he kept looking at the young adult in front of him.
—Do you live in the student dorm? —Shen Jiu decided to ask.
—Mn, I do.
—My apartment is near the university, so I will accompany you to the building.
—Um, okay laoshi.
Shen Yuan sat up and followed him outside the office, there was a little smile on his lips, it was a little cold as they walked, there was a silence between them but it didn’t feel uncomfortable, Shen Jiu decided that his life lacked interesting interactions and Shen Yuan was an interesting man, so he hoped they could interact more in the future. Like all days the younger man had his cane, but it was actually the first time he had seen him use it, maybe it was because of the hour? was he tired?
—I hope I’m able to stay in laoshi’s class —Shen Yuan said, and Shen Jiu also hoped that.
—Even if you don’t pass the exam you can still try next semester right?
Since they were walking Shen Yuan had worn a smile, but now it got bigger.
—I also hope laoshi would have more faith in me…
—What do you study, I think it's not related to human studies?
—It’s not, it's a business career. —he now looked a little down and Shen Jiu regretted asking, then he stopped walking. Shen Jiu was confused until he noticed that they had reached the dorms.
—This time of the year makes the trees look very pretty, don’t you think laoshi?
Shen Jiu followed his line of sight and looked at the tree.
—I guess so. –he replied.
Shen Yuan smiled brightly again.
—Good night laoshi.
And with that he turned and walked towards the building, at the entrance he turned back and Shen Jiu decided to wave at him before he closed the door. Shen Jiu took a picture of the tree and wrote a message to peerless cucumber.
Qingqiu:Gege, that tree looks pretty. It reminds me of you. [ photo]
Qingqiu: ( ˶˘ ³˘)♡
And then sent a cute sticker with a white cat, while going to his apartment.
On the other side, Shen Yuan, who had just arrived at his dorm, was shocked when he saw the picture Xiu Ya just sent him, that was his college dorm building right? He was just at that tree. Was Xiu Ya… In the same college as him???? That was something that should've made him excited, after all, now if they (hypothetically) dated it wouldn’t need to be online, but instead the knowledge scared him.
Shen Yuan had barely gotten any sleep the whole night, it was already past 10 am and he also hadn’t responded to Xiu Ya either. He wondered if the girl had noticed anything off with him, he thought about redirecting his energy into something better… Like getting ready to attend his last tutoring with Shen-laoshi. Xiang Fei was in the room right now, talking with his boyfriend.
—I got good news, Cucumber-bro. —Shen Yuan looked at him. —Mobei can finally go back to playing with us, he didn’t find that bing-ge dude tho, sorry about that.
Great, but also… couldn’t this be his chance to drive Xiu Ya away? Learning they were this close to each other really made him feel that this was too real. He didn’t even notice anyone else apart from Shen-laoshi and him. Yes, there was still a way out. After saying goodbye to Xiang Fei ready to meet Shen-laoshi, he took his cane and left the room. After his reunion with him he would write Xiu Ya about the team change, this would be for good, these days he wasn’t sleeping very well and would often feel tired.
When he arrived the door was already open, and Shen-laoshi was looking at his phone with an annoyed face, Shen Yuan said hi to get his attention and realizing his student was already there his face went back to his normal serious expression and invited him in. Because it was just a summary of everything they had already reviewed, this tutoring wasn’t actually that long. Shen Yuan knew that because of the career he was studying we wouldn't be able to be in many classes that involved literature and other topics he enjoyed. So he decided to get the most he could out of this class, and out of Shen-laoshi, he was obviously very knowledgeable, and as far as he knew he was also a new teacher, so for now this was the only class taught by him. Shen Yuan decided to ask for his Wechat to have more tutorings the rest of the semester.
—Shen-laoshi, could I have your Wechat? I’m hoping to get more tutorings once I pass the exam.
Shen Jiu’s lips made a little smile.
—So confident huh?
But he still took out his phone and opened the QR code, holding it so Shen Yuan could scan it, Shen Yuan took out his own phone and scanned it…. Then he stared blankly at his phone for ten seconds.
—Did it not work? —Shen Jiu asked.
—I think it didn’t, let’s try again.
The profile shown in his screen didn’t change, Shen Yuan had to save the situation.
Then the door was aggressively opened, the same angry man from before was at the entrance. The way he looked at them was as if he were deeply… Disgusted?
—Are you done Shen Qingqiu? Bringing your matters into our office like that.
—Now I can't even attend my students in my own office?
—Qingqiu? —Shen Yuan asked, Shen Jiu looked at him again, hands in his hips as he sighed.
—It’s a nickname… —He spit the word almost with hate.
‘But you still have it on your Wechat’ Shen Yuan thought, but he couldn’t say those words.
—I think my phone camera it’s not working. —Shen Yuan had made a choice, so making sure the QR he was holding was his backup account, he showed it to Shen Jiu. —Laoshi should add me instead.
Shen Jiu nodded and then Shen Yuan’s Wechat received a message from “Qingqiu” he replied and then said goodbye to the two people inside the office, on his way out he noticed Liu Qingge looking between him and Shen Jiu weirdly, but he didn’t said anything and continued his way. Now that he was outside the building he finally couldn’t keep his poker face.
Fuck.
Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.
He was going insane, Why?
Shen-laoshi was XIU YA??????
The first question that Shen Yuan had was why his teacher was pretending to be a girl online? Was it fun? Or some kind of hobby? Shen Yuan had heard of guys that enjoyed dressing up as girls, was it something like that? But the important detail was that this whole week, his teacher had been… flirting with him, he even called him gege, multiple times! Xiu Ya said he really liked him, did that mean that Shen Jiu, his teacher… Was he gay?
That made sense, maybe he couldn’t express his sexuality freely being a teacher and this was his way of being himself with other people, ‘that must be liberating…’ no wonder he did something like that. So, his teacher wanted to find love but was simply too shy and worried that he would be judged and rejected by others, yes that must be. ‘Poor Shen-laoshi! Don’t worry, now that this student knows the truth, not only I won’t let anyone bully you, but i will also protect you in the game and your secret in real life’
‘To have such a strong person as a teacher… How inspiring.’
Maybe Shen Yuan was an heterosexual man, but he was also a good man! A gentleman! As a non homophobic straight man Shen Yuan didn’t want to hurt his gay feelings so now determined he walked more steadily to his dorm, there was a big smile on his face as he walked. He couldn’t let laoshi be kicked out of the team now! He would answer him when he got back and talk to Xiang Fei to sort that matter out.
Before he got to the dorm however, his roommate sent him a link for the school’s forum, and as he looked at him he stopped his steps.
—Forum post—
Professor Shen seen with mysterious male student????????
[Photo][Photo][Photo]
[Photo][Photo][Photo]
relevant comments:
1-Ugh, anytime I hear about this particular individual is for something creepy
—--Response: Maybe that was a girl with short hair? lol
2-Everyone is complaining so much about this, but I'm happy for the food, two handsome guys together is always good.
3-That Shen professor really goes for everything huh?
4-Who even is that other person? Trying to get a good score?
…
There were a lot of comments like this, most of them unpleasant, how dared this people talk about Shen-laoshi like that, now with how much this people had escalated this pictures he was totally sure that any other rumor about his teacher was false (also now he knew he was gay) He was glad his face was barely visible in the photos, god, was that the reason why that Liu guy was looking at them like that? okay, maybe in the pictures it looked like they were very close, but it wasn’t like that, it was just perspective!.
Shen Yuan’s heart was beating very fast.
The first week in Shen Jiu's plan to avenge his student had been a real struggle, having to get used to talk in a way that man would find attractive which also included thickening his face to act in shameless ways, only for his plan being endangered at the end of the week, almost a whole day being ignored and then, everything changed he got a reply late in the afternoon for every single one of his texts, then an invitation to get online only for peerless cucumber, the most famous player of the server to make a public announcement that if anyone dared to try an make trouble for him he would not only protect Xiu Ya, but hunt down the players involved. Having such a powerful man backing him had its good points, Demon Saintess Lingling only struggled for another day before giving up and stopping the compulsory PK she had against him, after that it had become a habit starting by days and turning into weeks only to realize it had already been three months. Shen Jiu went online every day and playing in peerless cucumber team, aside from him and airplane it was also composed by “Clan Ruler Mo” a ice demon sect member (who apparently was the rat’s boyfriend) and “Sleeping Willow's Flower” who was one of the girls that were on the team the first time he had played with them. He also went every night to the arena to fight 2v2 with peerless cucumber, their coordination and tactics becoming better every day, some conversations and interactions had Shen Jiu momentarily forget he was a slag man.
Right now they were discussing on the idea of joining a game guild for an upcoming event, the most promising one was Cang Qiong but Demon Saintess Lingling was a former member so they decided to only join with Xiu Ya’s approval, he decided to join the guild because it was apparently the best one in the server and he had already gotten what he wanted out of the Saintess Lingling situation, the team finally decided that they would formally join the guild when everyone was online this afternoon, then opening another chat he sent a few messages privately to peerless cucumber, nothing unusual, just some texts asking about his day, and some pictures he had taken. His eyebrows furred when he didn’t got an immediate response. So he left his phone on the table, his eyes meeting Liu Qingge’s.
—What?
That was another thing, life truly didn't want to leave him alone, so in the last months another rumor was forming in the university, it started that night when they walked home together, people on the forum saying the typical things about him being a lecherous teacher so he paid it no mind, another one would be formed in some weeks like always, but it didn’t got better, after Shen Yuan passed the exam they had formed a routine of two torturings per week and often walking home together, he had to admit that he had become his favorite student, at least his favorite male student. He was interested in the class in another way that, for example, Ning Yingying was. With the time they spent together other pictures were taken of them together, and worried about the younger one's life getting complicated due to rumors he asked him if he wanted to handle it. Shen Yuan said he didn’t mind, and Shen Jiu had to admit to himself he didn't either.
It had been a long time since he had cared what people said about him, the first time a rumor like this appeared when he was a student, he tried his best to clear his name but it kept coming back, so he realized there was no point. Still, he decided that if he ever found out it was affecting Shen Yuan we would do something about it.
But it was still a little annoying, because he unfortunately had people in his life, such as Liu Qingge that would always assume the worst of him, and the judging eyes directed to him only grew angrier and angrier. He did have to be honest with him, his and Shen Yuan’s relationship was closer than normal teacher and student, the message in his Wechat in which Shen Yuan let him know he arrived to his dorm was there to prove it, and Shen Jiu always had this feeling of spending and taking more time that he actually did with him, but it wasn’t remotely as far as the thing e read on the forum. Staying here was useless, and he has a class to teach, so he decided to sit up and get out of the office.
In the class, Ning Yingying and Shen Yuan sit together, they decided to be in the same group for the project after Shen Jiu recommended Shen Yuan. As always the man happily participates in class, now Shen Jiu had gotten the opportunity of reading his essays and while some were way too passionate to the point the main argument loses credibility it was surprising how he could write so much. When the class is done he approaches and asks Shen Jiu some questions, Ning Yingying then taps Shen Yuan in his arm excitedly.
—a-Yuan plays Pride Immortal Demon Way???
Oh? That was interesting.
—Well, yes.
—That’s so great, I used to play it too, but now I’m starting to miss it… What server are you in?
Shen Yuan looked nervous, but right when he opened his mouth, someone called Yingying and as if she had never come to ask in the first place she turned and left. Shen Yuan gave Shen Jiu a helpless look. A little man whom Shen Jiu had learned was his roommate called for him standing in the door, so he waved before going too. Maybe he was embarrassed to talk to a girl about video games? He had turned red when he admitted to him he liked gaming after all. The thought made Shen Jiu smile a little.
He continued his work, and went back home logged in PIDW his team officially belonged to the Cang Qiong guild, they were meeting up with the leaders, a girl “Clear Lush” who was on the same sect as Sleeping Willow's Flower that only female avatar could be a part of, and a male player “Xuan Su” the guild master. They were introduced, and the guild members explained all the resources they had available, also some voice chat places where they often talked with each other, peerless cucumber as their team leader talked a little with the guild master and while Shen Jiu waited for him he received a private message.
—Friend request—
Xuan Su: Does meimei want to talk?
What?
—Friend request—
Xuan Su: Come and join the conversation [friendly]
When he realized it was about him and his ge- peerless cucumber, him and peerless cucumber talking he made his little white catgirl avatar approach them.
—So meimei decided to join us?
Xuan Su had opened his voice canal, peerless cucumber had too, Xuan Su’s voice, Shen Jiu felt he had heard it somewhere. Why do so many people have similar voices??? Peerless cucumber and Shen Yuan, Airplane and Shen Yuan's roommate and now, this Xuan Su somehow sounded like Yue Qi??? Xuan Su talked again.
—As a gift for joining the guild I wanted to give meimei some equipment.
Xuan Su has gifted you claw gloves, click to accept!!
—I’m afraid I only have one gege.
Shen Jiu moved his mouse to reject the gift, then he also rejected the friend request too.
—Haha, meimei is fierce and cruel, but I can take that happily.
Who was this guy.
Tsk
Shen Jiu decided it was better to take Xiu Ya out of there, so he left while Shen Yuan, from his own computer, watched the interaction.
He had heard this ussr was very popular with girls, a reliable big brother with a gentle voice and manners, apparently he often talked with girls but never actually made it official or married them properly, all his “relationships” ended in good terms and he had good relationships with everyone so no one dared to talk badly of him. And now he seems interested in Shen Jiu.
This was good, right? laoshi could get to have a boyfriend like he wanted to and there wouldn’t be a man flirting with him anymore, a win win. Xiu Ya also said he liked slag men, and Xuan Su appeared to fit the category so… So why did he feel so unwilling? ‘I mean, it wouldn’t be good if that slag man found out Xiu Ya was actually a man right?’ Yes, it would only result in his laoshi’s feelings getting hurt, maybe Xuan Su would expose him and everyone in the server would criticize him, that wouldn’t be. Any man should be grateful if they ended up with someone as beautiful as Shen Jiu, but Xuan Su didn’t deserve him.
Shen Yuan decided to send him a message telling him to leave Xiu Ya alone.
Shen Yuan often wondered why Shen Jiu liked him, or well, peerless cucumber so much, he had asked once, and after reading the message that Xiu Ya sent as a reply his face was red for ten minutes, some nights when he couldn’t sleep he would read it again, he also enjoyed spending time with him as Shen Jiu, their conversations about literature and the class materials would always be interesting, smiling next to him was easy. Sometimes he would write texts to Xiu Ya while in Shen Jiu’s office and watch how he replied next to him, it was amusing seeing such a serious face looking at the phone only to receive messages full of cute stickers and sweet talk. Today was one of those days.
While looking at his laoshi he decided to ask.
—Is laoshi talking to someone interesting?
—Mn, it could be said. —While replying he almost had a grin.
—Oh, then is this person great?
—No, they are actually pretty bad. Not great at all.
What? Had he made any mistakes? Treated him badly?
—Then… —Shen Yuan continued, voice hesitant. —Why talk to them? Is it this who laoshi occasionally replies while we are working?
—Yes they are, and why talk to them? Of course it is because I want to, I really want to.
Shen Yuan's heart skipped a beat.
—Really?
—Yeah, I like spending time with them I guess, but I’ve been thinking of stopping, I don’t think they enjoy my company very much. —and Shen Jiu really had, so many months and peerless cucumber hadn’t confessed to him. Sometimes it was best to admit defeat, Yingying also seemed to have overcome it. This matter of trying to get some random guy online to “date” him also… stopped him from other things Shen Jiu thought as he looked at Shen Yuan. But Shen Yuan had froze.
—You should’t! I mean, you should keep talking to them, maybe they don’t understand their feelings properly or don't know how to express it, so, don’t give up. —He said getting closer to Shen Jiu.
—Okay…
They looked at each other for a while, then Shen Jiu looked at the watch on the wall.
—It’s getting late… —He said finally, his ears red.
Right.
They walked next to each other in silence, but whenever they looked to the other their eyes would meet. Then they finally arrived to the dorms, the sun was starting to set. Shen Yuan looked at Shen Jiu and grabbed his arm with determination.
—Don’t give up,
Then he ran to the buildings. In the minutes between the office and his dorm, Shen Yuan came to two conclusions. First, okay, he was totally gay, and also liked his teacher, in a gay way. And second, even if it was online, even if Shen Jiu didn’t know, he didn’t want to lose him, if he had the chance to date him he would, and he would do it right! Now he had to make some preparations.
As soon as Shen Jiu logged in PIDW he got a notification from peerless cucumber, hoping to meet him in one of the most beautiful locations the game had, they had been there before, after Xiu Ya had asked multiple times. He went to the location and the other avatar was already waiting for him. When he noticed his presence a lot of fireworks suddenly exploded, they had characters in them such as love, wealth, and long-term, there was also another one with his user name. Then he received a message in their private chat that consisted of a short, but surprisingly good poem about “The beautiful way she played” and how “calming and tranquil was her voice” Peerless cucumber character was making the kneel action and then a voice he already knew, but this tim more shy than ever sounded in his headphones.
—Xiu Ya, would you, like to get married?
Shen Jiu’s heart beat with excitement.
Shen Jiu was getting married today. Yesterday he and peerless cucumber had planned the hour and made an official announcement to all the servers through megaphones not caring about the people laughing at the new slag man victim. Then sent more private invitations to their friends and other guild members. All day he was in a good mood. Yue Qi asking him to have lunch didn’t piss him off, Liu Qingge didn’t make him rage, the looks he usually got while walking? He didn’t notice them this time. He even ignored whatever Liu Qingge was complaining about and got out of work. He was getting married after all!
His mood didn’t waver when he got home and put the game on, when arrived at the marriage spot his fiancee was already there, they chatted in shy voices while everyone else got there, and the ceremony started.
Peerless cucumber bought matching outfits for them, this game apparently had some kind of connection level for marriage, and peerless cucumber bought the strongest one, also the most expensive, they did the available rituals in the game, the three bows, the wine thing, the hair cutting, and when the notification of “Peerless cucumber and Xiu Ya were successfully registered as a married couple" Appeared on the screen he decided to give the last blow. Gathering courage he said quietly.
—Thank you for the wedding… husband.
Then the announcement was made.
—Megaphone—
Peerless cucumber: clearing my name about being a slag man.
What?
The post made was a long, first explaining about health complications and the incapability of playing for a period of time of one month, the one when everyone knew he had been dating two different users at the same time, then he explained that with the idea of someone taking care of his account he had hired a booster that ultimately scammed him and others, there were a lot of evidence of this, text messages with the booster who later disappeared, with the PIDW workers to help get his account back, conversations with both of the girls involved where he even paid back the money they spent on the swindler, even photos from the hospital… There was no mistake, a totally different person had been using peerless cucumber account when Yingying was aggravated, even more she had already been compensated.
The people in the server congratulated them for making a great match, and him for getting such an incredible husband, their friends sent them gifts. Airplane and his boyfriend, Clear Lush, Xuan Su, Sleeping Willow's Flower, even Demon Saintess Lingling had sent blessings!!!
Everything slowed down.
The honeymoon ceremony came after the wedding, Xiu Ya got into a sedan, the most expensive one… Music was playing in the background (also a paid feature) and when she got down they took some pictures in their new house… which peerless cucumber had paid yesterday. Shen Jiu had “accidently” picked the most expensive one too… Someone was talking to him.
—Xiu Ya? Is there anything wrong?
Everything was wrong.
—Oh, no no. I’m just a little surprised.
—Mn, you said you liked slag man, I’m sorry if you got disappointed, but I promise you that you will always be the one in my heart, no one else! …Did you liked the wedding?
Shit, he was really a terrible person.
—I did, thank you.
The two characters entered the house.
Two days had passed since the wedding incident, apparently PIDW also had a function if two married players wanted to get a baby, the method was interesting. To say the least, the two newlyweds had stayed silent for a while.
But that was the least important thing. Shen Jiu had already written three different versions of him telling peerless cucumber the truth, but still wasn’t able to send any, adding up the wedding cost, it had been nearly fourteen thousand dollars, there were also other gifts and equipment he was gifted by him. Okay, he would pay all back, even if it cost him years, he would also let the guy hit him if he was close, or pay a plane ticket just so he could kick Shen Jiu. He breathed with his hands on his face, worse things had happened to him before, he could do this. Shen Yuan was about to arrive, he needed to calm down.
After some knocks the door was opened, Shen Yuan looked very happy, good, at least one of them was. He sat down and they started as usual, except for the fact that Shen Jiu kept feeling the other man was looking at him differently, maybe more shy? At one point he said he needed to go to the bathroom and taking advantage of that he wrote peerless cucumber.
Qingqiu: I need to tell you something.
A vibration, the phone in the table lit up, Shen Jiu paid it no mind.
Qingqiu: It’s important.
Another vibration.
Qingqiu: Do you have time today in the evening?
Another vibration. He paused.
He sent a point. A vibration. Shen Jiu sent a look at the place Shen Yuan had gone.
He took the phone in the table, sent another. The phone in his hand buzzed.
He sent a sticker. The notification on the screen was clear.
Qingqiu: [sticker]
He checked the contact, did he send it to the wrong person?
He hadn’t. He sent one last message “I’m sorry” and the words appeared clear.
They were the same person, Shen Yuan and peerless cucumber. It matched the voice, the interests, some expressions. He deleted all the texts he had sent, and sent another one to the profile he had used to talk to his student. Okay, not only they were the same person but he also knew, he and Xiu Ya were the same two, probably since he had given him his Wechat in person. Why didn’t he say anything?? Was he trying to get back at him?? Shen Jiu felt hurt even if he knew he didn’t have the right.
Then another notification came from his phone, his email linked to his PIDW account.
Player Xiu Ya is now pregnant, congratulations, congratulations, congratulations.
Shen Jiu was fucked.