BXBX NOVEL Chapter 13 Part1
“Xiao Xie, it’s six o’clock now. Let’s have dinner first.” Brother Chen came over and patted Xie Mingzhe’s shoulder. Hearing his words, Xie Mingzhe took off his helmet and followed Brother Chen to the living room. Other members in the studio also took off their helmets. Xie Mingzhe saw their faces for the first time.
Chi Qing was a slim beauty more than 1.75 meters high. She had short hair around her ears, and her clean, fair face was devoid of expression. It seemed that she was an indifferent person; difficult to get along with.
Pang Yu was a cute fat man, as high as Chi Qing. But Chi Qing was slender, “growing longitudinally”, while Pang Yu was rotund, “growing horizontally.” He stood next to Chi Qing, and they were in sharp contrast to each other.
Jin Yue, of average appearance and stature, was an everyman. He wore a pair of silver-rimmed glasses, looking gentle and polite.
Xie Mingzhe walked over and greeted them, “Hello everyone.”
Seeing a handsome guy in front of him, Pang Yu’s eyes widened in disbelief, “You are the one in the game…Uncle Chubby?”
Xie Mingzhe nodded, “Yes, I just casually created a name in the game.”
On the verge of collapse, Pang Yu cried out, “Ahhhhh, I should be Uncle Chubby! You are tall and slim, why do you call yourself Uncle Chubby? Are you kidding me?”
“Calm down,” Jin Yue pushed his glasses up and said, “it’s common for players to change their gender in the game, not to mention figure.”
“…” Pang Yu could not refute.
Chi Qing was a girl of few words. She looked quite calm, giving Xie Mingzhe a nod as a greeting.
Brother Chen said with a smile, “Let’s go! I’ll treat you guys to a feast to welcome the new member!”
Seldom had anyone treat Xie Mingzhe, so he really wanted to go. However, his doctor warned him to take care of his stomach when he was discharged from the hospital, since his gastrointestinal functions had not recovered. Although he wanted to eat chicken legs, roast duck, pork ribs, and beef… Unfortunately, his poor health only allowed him to drink porridge.
Xie Mingzhe swallowed hard and said, “Brother Chen, don’t bother. Two bowls of porridge are enough.”
The others, “? ? ? ?”
Who would treat others to porridge?
When he saw the others’ strange expressions, Xie Mingzhe hastily explained, “Don’t get me wrong. I was just discharged from the hospital due to my weak stomach, and the doctor warned me that I could only have a liquid diet for the next three days. So even if I have some, it can’t be digested.”
Brother Chen looked at him uncertainly, “Did you stay in the hospital before?”
“Um, I just got out of the hospital today.”
“Coming to work directly as soon as you’re discharged from the hospital? Why not stay at home for a few days? Doesn’t your family care about you?”
“I’m already an adult, and my family doesn’t care much about me.” Xie Mingzhe didn’t want to let people know that he was an orphan, let alone seeing others’ sympathetic looks.
The otherse three people looked at each other.
It was hard enough to work as soon as he left the hospital. This teenager’s family condition was certainly not good.
“Alas, your life isn’t easy either.” Brother Chen sighed and asked with concern, “You came to work immediately after being discharged; are you up to it?”
“It’s all right, and I’ve recovered. Besides, it doesn’t take much energy to play games.” Xie Mingzhe smiled and shifted the subject, “Right, Brother Chen, I’m currently level 15 in the game. I’ll level up to level 35 tonight, then we can collect materials together.”
“OK.” Brother Chen turned to Chi Qing and said, “Since Xiao Xie can’t have a big meal, then we’ll look for a bite to eat. A’Qing, please go and cook a pot of porridge. After two days, when Xiao Xie is well, I’ll treat you again.”
“En.” Chi Qing turned around and walked into the kitchen to cook porridge.
“Xiao Xie, follow me. I’ll show you to your room.” Brother Chen took Xie Mingzhe upstairs.
Along the way, Xie Mingzhe observed the environment of the game studio.
The house was a duplex structure, two stories tall, located on the top floor of the residential building. On the first floor, there was the lobby and the hall, equipped with helmets and revolving chairs, in addition to the kitchen, dining room and bathroom. On the second floor, there were four rooms. The master bedroom had one big bed, and the other three rooms had two single beds that were placed side by side.
“Originally, there was a girl living with Chi Qing in our studio, but she has been on leave for a month, to get married, so I’m trying to recruit someone to substitute her as there are many instances in the game that require five players to enter.” Lighting a cigarette, Brother Chen said while smoking, “At present, Chi Qing lives alone. I live with Jin Yue. Would you mind living with Xiao Pang from now on?”
“No, I wouldn’t.” Following Brother Chen, Xie Mingzhe took his baggage to the bedroom.
Xie Mingzhe had expected this game studio to be a gloomy workplace, but to his surprise, the environment here was really good. The hall on the first floor, where players worked, was spacious and bright, and their bedrooms on the second floor were clean and tidy. Looking through the French windows, leading to the balcony on the second floor, people could see the lush garden downstairs.
Opening the French window, and walking out onto the balcony, Xie Mingzhe noticed that the balcony was large. The innermost part of the balcony had a comfortable lounge chair, under which lay a fluffy white rug. Beside the rug, there was a flower rack where many adorable succulents, that were as big as a child’s fist and in various colors, were planted. In front of the flower rack, there was a wooden tea table that had a tea set on it. The four delicate tea cups were as white as a polished jade.
Looking at the layout of the balcony, Xie Mingzhe could almost imagine that there was a man, lying in the comfortable lounge chair during a summer afternoon, with a delicate tea cup in his hand, tasting the tea and watering the succulents occasionally; a pleasant and carefree life.
The style of the balcony was incompatible with boosters. Taking a closer look, Xie Mingzhe found that the pictures hanging on the wall, the white window screening, the warm-colored wallpaper… shouldn’t have appeared in a studio providing boosting services.
Xie Mingzhe couldn’t resist to ask, “Brother Chen, do you rent this house?” He thought that it was the landlord who had arranged the house, because boosters were not carefree enough to lie in the chair on the balcony, watering flowers and tasting tea.
Hearing the question, Brother Chen suddenly became silent, with a glimmer of pain in his eyes.