A huge thanks to all our donors on Kofi for supporting us. angeee, InkRaven87, Thankyouforyourbrushs, GreenKiTea, Springleaves, Ted Fer. We can’t thank you one by one, but know that we are really, really thankful for your donations! We have 22 bonus chapters for this week!

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

It was the first time Leslie and Dan Xingyu had met each other.

Jin Qian: “Here I am! I’d heard from the District… um, from them, that you’re a total heartthrob. You’re even more handsome than I imagined!”

He glanced at his boss, then at Dan Xingyu, and back at his boss again.

These days, does being number one on the leaderboard come with a requirement for good looks too?

Leslie was even more curious about something else: “ This guy…”

Dan Xingyu: “My name is Dan Xingyu.”

Qiyu had told him that he used his real name in the native world.

So, of course, he had to do the same.

Leslie: “Mr. Dan Xingyu, are you from the Forest of Stars too?”

Dan Xingyu shook his head: “Not exactly. I’m from the Golden Desert.”

Leslie:?

He began frantically searching his memory, trying to recall which region had a place called the Golden Desert.

He couldn’t remember.

Dan Xingyu made up a story with a straight face: “I saw a book the other day and discovered that you people from the outside world seem to have written about our Golden Desert as a fictional place in the book.”

Hearing this, Leslie started brainstorming again.

It felt so familiar—just like… oh right, just like the first time he met Lord Qiyu and heard him mention the “Forest of Stars.”

As that familiar feeling washed over him, memories began to surface.

He remembered!

But once he remembered, he was even more puzzled: “Is it the Golden Desert described in *The Adventures of Andrew*?”

Dan Xingyu: “Hmm, maybe. After all, someone else wrote the book, and I feel like some parts don’t quite add up.”

Leslie was starting to feel genuinely uneasy.

He glanced at the three people in front of him—two from the Star Forest and one from the Golden Desert.

All of them were from places he’d never even imagined visiting.

Could it be that something was really wrong with his memory?

Seeing that he was a bit distracted, Dan Xingyu took the initiative and said, “This is my first time in Gold Hole City, and I’m really curious about it. Qiyu, would you show me around?”

Leslie immediately replied, “I’ll arrange for someone to serve as your guide.”

“Thanks, but we’re all grown-ups—do you really think we’d get lost?” Dan Xingyu declined with a laugh. “Let’s just wander around on our own.”

Leslie thought it over and agreed: “Well, just make sure you’re back before dark. I’ll have someone bring over a few sets of traditional attire.”

When in Rome, do as the Romans do—the God of Spring Festival has its own special ceremonial attire. Since they were here, the group naturally wanted to give it a try.

Qiyu looked at Jin Qian: “Are you coming with us?”

Dan Xingyu didn’t say a word.

Jin Qian glanced back and forth a couple of times, then declared decisively, “I’m going to have Leslie show me around!”

He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he had this inexplicable feeling that the gaming big shot and the big shot from the neighboring district might have something to discuss.

As a good little brother, he shouldn’t interfere—he shouldn’t interfere.

Qiyu didn’t suspect anything; after all, it was plain to see that Jin Qian and Leslie hit it off immediately and got along very well.

The two walked shoulder to shoulder out of the mansion.

Dan Xingyu took in the sights on the street: “The atmosphere here feels completely different from that of Ophelia Royal City.”

Qiyu: “They’re so far apart—not even in the same country—so of course there are big differences.”

He asked Dan Xingyu, “What do you want to see? I’ll take you there.”

Compared to Dan Xingyu, he was already quite familiar with the area.

Dan Xingyu was looking down at their shadows; in the sunlight, their shadows had stretched out a bit, standing side by side.

He was in a great mood: “Let’s just wander around. We don’t necessarily need a destination. I think it’s fun just for the two of us to stroll leisurely down the street.”

Qiyu looked puzzled: “Really?”

His outings usually involved first setting a destination and then heading straight for it; along the way, aside from checking for danger, he wouldn’t pay attention to anything else.

Dan Xingyu: “Want to give it a try?”

Qiyu nodded: “Sure.”

The two of them walked along the road, chose a random direction, and strolled slowly forward.

Perhaps because they were returning during the spring festival, there were many flower vendors on the street, and the air was filled with the scents of all kinds of flowers.

Dan Xingyu instructed him, “You can try focusing your attention on ordinary people and things. Look, that woman in red on the left—don’t you think the flowers she’s selling look a little better than the others’?”

Qiyu obediently looked over and nodded: “Yes.”

“Now look to your left—there’s a house with a yellow roof and purple exterior walls. Isn’t it beautiful?”

Qiyu followed his description and looked in that direction. To be honest, he said, “It doesn’t really stand out to me, but it certainly catches the eye.”

However, he seemed to understand what Dan Xingyu meant and began to actively observe the scenery along the way.

Two rows of tall trees lined both sides of the road. He walked up to one of them and told Dan Xingyu, “This tree is the oldest of all the trees on this street.”

Dan Xingyu was surprised: “Can mages actually know things like that?”

“Yeah! I can tell.”

“That’s amazing,” Dan Xingyu praised. “Even your abilities are so romantic.”

The corners of Qiyu’s mouth turned up slightly.

He also noticed a small stall that was doing a bit better business than the others. Walking over, he found it was selling fresh flower-flavored sugar water.

The two ordered two bowls, held them in their hands, and continued strolling while eating.

Around the corner, two children, about five or six years old, were crouched on the ground playing with glass balls, their smiles innocent and pure.

His footsteps slowed involuntarily.

Dan Xingyu asked him with a smile, “Isn’t this kind of interesting?”

Qiyu thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, I’ve never experienced anything like this before.”

In the apocalypse, he never had moments of leisure like this, nor were there sights like these for him to admire.

They walked slowly along the street, feeling the warmth of the sunlight on their skin gradually fade, their hearts filled with peace.

Qiyu said, “Dan Xingyu, could you tell me a bit about your life before you entered the survival game?”

He suddenly felt a bit curious about Dan Xingyu’s past.

This feeling came on suddenly and without reason.

Qiyu never dwelled on things he couldn’t figure out. If he wanted to know, he’d just ask.

Because he was inexplicably confident: Dan Xingyu wouldn’t refuse him.

He didn’t understand why Dan Xingyu’s expression turned so surprised and delighted upon hearing those words.

Meeting the local’s puzzled gaze, Dan Xingyu struggled to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

He failed.

He had no obligation to keep his mouth straight!

He wants to know my past; he wants to understand me better.

He’s taken an interest in me.

He gathered his thoughts and cleared his throat. “Actually, my story is pretty simple.”

“My parents divorced when I was five, and I went to live with my dad. I heard my mom paid a lump-sum child support of 200,000, but I haven’t seen her since the divorce.”

He said with a hint of disdain, “My dad loved playing cards—and he played for high stakes. When he won, he’d treat everyone to a meal; when he lost, he’d drink alone in silence.”

He spread his hands. “Ever since I started middle school, he told me we were broke. No money for my tuition, and no money for my living expenses.”

From that point on, he began learning how to make money.

He made sure to secure every scholarship available at school.

On top of that, he’d help classmates with their homework, take turns doing classroom duty, polish love letters, and run errands to pick up meals… Basically, he took on any job that paid.

Even after school, he never sat idle.

He was pretty lucky—his hometown was a fairly well-known tourist spot with plenty of visitors.

At first, he went down the food street one by one to pitch himself to shop owners—as a shill.

The kind of random passerby who stands in line to fake a crowd.

Because he was so young, most turned him down, but he was good-looking, had a way with words, and knew how to play the sympathy card just right, so he always managed to find a few soft-hearted owners. Not only did he earn a little money, but he was also basically provided with meals.

Later, after working as a shill many times, people started recognizing him, but by then, he had already found other sources of income.

A business owner at the scenic spot—whose son was a classmate of Dan Xingyu—knew about Dan Xingyu’s family situation and knew he was a good student.

He asked Dan Xingyu to tutor his son, arranging for the family’s nanny to provide Dan Xingyu with three meals a day and transportation to and from school. He promised to give Dan Xingyu a red envelope every month if his son’s ranking improved on the monthly exams.

Dan Xingyu took the job and muddled through for a year.

A year later, he gave up—the business owner’s son was simply a lost cause; he just couldn’t manage to improve the boy’s grades.

By the time he started high school, he had grown tall. Although his face still showed some youthfulness, at least he no longer looked like a little kid at first glance.

He was capable of doing even more.

On nice days, he’d set up a stall at the scenic area to sell toys and small trinkets. He kept an eye on online trends and stocked whatever was popular.

When wigs were all the rage for a while, he bought one, taught himself how to style it by watching online tutorials, and once he’d mastered it, he set up a stall—earning over 10,000 during a single National Day holiday.

When there were fewer tourists, he’d take on jobs playing popular games.

In short, by the time he received his college acceptance letter, he’d already saved up a substantial sum.

“In the end, I never got to spend all that money I’d saved up—I just ended up in this survival game.”

When Dan Xingyu mentioned this, there was actually a hint of a smile on his face.

In the past, he would have cursed the survival game.

But now… he glanced at the local boy listening intently.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Qiyu had been listening intently the whole time: “Dan Xingyu, you’re so amazing—your life is so exciting.”

Dan Xingyu’s eyes lit up: “Do you think so too?”

The adults around him, as well as some of his teachers at school, would sigh deeply whenever they heard his story, saying how hard his life had been.

His high school homeroom teacher especially liked to use his “tragic background” to inspire the rest of the class.

Once, during a school event, the homeroom teacher asked him to give a speech on stage, insisting that he include details about his family background and “hardships,” noting that there were reporters in the audience taking notes.

Dan Xingyu nodded in agreement, but when he took the stage, he went off-script and improvised a humorous version on the spot. He still remembers the homeroom teacher’s livid expression to this day.

He didn’t feel like he was struggling at all—learning new things and taking on different part-time jobs was fun, and making money was even more exciting.

He was truly the kind of person who made his heart flutter.

A local boy who really understood him!