The moment Denia got home, she ran off to the bedroom on her own and fell fast asleep.
It seemed she really was utterly exhausted.
Xiao Ling had originally planned to have her eat dinner first before sleeping.
Now he could only wait until she woke up.
After sorting through the things they’d bought today, Xiao Ling flopped down onto the sofa.
He checked over today’s expenses.
Yep, keeping a 2D wife sure was pricey.
A single day had wiped out two months’ worth of his living expenses.
“Right, there’s also the apartment.
Gotta swap it for a bigger one.
At least one extra bedroom.” Xiao Ling suddenly remembered he still needed to change residences.
His current place was one bedroom and one living room, perfectly suited for someone living alone.
But now that there was a little cutie in the household, he had to consider swapping for a bigger place.
Couldn’t be helped.
He couldn’t keep sleeping on the sofa forever, and making Denia sleep on the sofa clearly wasn’t his style either.
As for sleeping together…
he felt his relationship with her hadn’t reached that level of closeness yet.
Leaving each other some private space was better for both.
Right at that moment, a voice call interrupted Xiao Ling’s thoughts.
He picked up his phone from the table and glanced at it — his best bro was calling.
“What’s all the noise!
State your business if you have any, court is dismissed if you don’t!” Xiao Ling said full of bravado to the other end.
“Get outta here, talk like a normal person.
How long has it been since feudal society ended!” The male voice on the other end laughed and swore.
“Alright, alright, I’ll drop the act.
What’d you call me for?”
“Come play Honor of Kings.”
“Pfft, you little treat-stealing kitty trying to secretly rank up again, huh?
Get online, your big bro will carry you.”
“Don’t drag me down once we’re in game.” His bro on the other end took a jab.
After hanging up, Xiao Ling opened the game, pulled in his best bro, and embarked on a ranked point-grinding journey.
…
Time quietly slipped away amidst the sounds of in-game slaughter and the mutual ribbing between Xiao Ling and his bro.
Completely immersed in the game world, Xiao Ling didn’t hear the bedroom door open with a click.
Having just woken up and taken a shower, Denia walked out of the room wearing that camisole top and athletic shorts, a towel in hand as she gently rubbed her hair dry.
She spotted Xiao Ling’s figure at a glance, sitting upright on the sofa playing his game, so she quietly and lightly drew near.
Xiao Ling was briefly pulled back to reality by a faint fragrance of shower gel.
The moment he looked up, he saw Denia with her eyes wide and round, staring at his game screen, those large swaths of fair skin barging right into his field of vision like that.
He shifted his gaze back to the game screen without any outward reaction, and then accidentally made a positioning blunder, charging straight into the enemy crowd.
He was immediately focus-fired and taken down.
“Hey hey hey, don’t throw, bro!
That shutdown of yours was worth a lot of gold!” His bro’s dissatisfied voice came through the phone.
“My hand slipped.” Xiao Ling said with forced composure.
“No worries, they can’t turn this around.”
After about five minutes, Xiao Ling led his bro in crushing the enemy’s nexus with overwhelming force.
Then he turned to look at Denia, who had been intently watching him play.
“I’ll go make you something.” Xiao Ling ruffled her still-damp hair.
“Got stuff to do.
Logging off.
Let’s play another day.”
After dropping a few words to his bro on the phone, Xiao Ling instantly closed the game, got up, and went to cook for Denia.
…
The familiar symphony rang out in the kitchen once more, with Xiao Ling again serving as the conductor overseeing the whole operation.
Denia lay on the sofa fiddling with her new phone, occasionally glancing over as Xiao Ling, like a magician, set out dish after dish of vibrantly colored, aromatic cuisine.
“All done.
Come eat.” As the final fresh soup was brought to the dining table, Xiao Ling called over to Denia, who was still lying on the sofa playing with her phone.
“Mm, coming.” Denia sat up from the sofa, slipped on her slippers, and walked over.
…
To Denia, happiness had originally been a very distant word.
She was merely a creation of the Fractsidus, a tool — tossed aside once broken.
It wasn’t until she arrived at the Startorch Academy, met Sigrika, met those friends, that she truly felt that there were people who loved her.
Perhaps leaving the Academy, leaving the friends she cared about, was certainly a very sad thing for her.
But she wasn’t afraid.
As long as tomorrow arrived on schedule, she still had the chance to wait for the day she reunited with her friends.
Yet accidents always came before tomorrow.
Even she herself didn’t know how she’d ended up in this completely unfamiliar world.
She simply woke up and found herself in a strange land.
And this very ordinary-looking boy before her was the one called the savior in that world — the Rover.
She felt the Rover was pitiable.
A so-called savior was nothing more than a prisoner elevated to a throne.
He toiled for the ideals in his heart, yet never received anything in return.
That world only bared its fangs at kind-hearted people, while those who measured everything by its value always gained everything.
So, when Denia first felt this world’s goodwill directed at her, she found it as unbelievable as a dream.
“Because Denia is just a really, really good girl!”
Ha, she herself didn’t even know she was a good girl.
But she was truly very happy, because this world was genuinely gentle to kind people.
So gentle it was almost excessive.
And then there was this boy before her, who didn’t look much older than her.
Drinking her hot soup, Denia secretly stole glances at Xiao Ling across the table from the corner of her eye.
He was eating while scrolling through Bilibili.
Occasionally, when he came across a funny video, he’d crack a grin along with it — just an ordinary boy-next-door type.
Denia knew Xiao Ling was the Rover from that world, but she never truly treated him as the Rover.
He was just an ordinary person, yet he took her along to integrate into this world, and even very seriously warned her to hide her Resonance abilities well.
He clearly only looked a few years older than her, yet he always put on the airs of an elder.
He’d burst out laughing when he encountered something happy.
He’d get jealous when he noticed members of the opposite sex noticing him.
He’d also earnestly evaluate every outfit she picked out.
She felt it was really nice.
In this world, he wasn’t the savior who had to carry a heavy burden, and she wasn’t the fake born carrying lies.
She could have been greedier and asked for more, but this was enough.
She was very satisfied with her current life.
“Still eating?
This is your third bowl already, isn’t it?
Careful you don’t get chubby~” Seeing her fill yet another full bowl of rice, Xiao Ling teased out loud. New chapters come out on g.com first.
“None of your business!” Denia rolled her eyes adorably.
…
By the time Xiao Ling finished washing the dishes and mopping the floor, the clock’s hour hand had already reached ten at night.
“It’s this late already?” Xiao Ling wiped off his sweat, somewhat sighing at how quickly time flew by.
He then looked over at Denia, who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa.
On the TV was a domestically produced animated film that had been quite popular in recent years.
“You were born a demon pill!
Stop struggling, this is your fated destiny!”
“To hell with your stupid fate!
Whether I’m a demon or an immortal — I’ll decide that myself!!!!”
Denia chewed on potato chips, the tiny crunching sounds coming from her little mouth, sounding rather rhythmic.
“Right.” Denia suddenly spoke up.
“You should sleep in the bed tonight.”
“Then where would you sleep?” Xiao Ling asked, puzzled.
“The bed.”
“Together?” Xiao Ling confirmed once more.
“Mm.” Denia replied casually.
It seemed her attention was still on the movie.
Hah?!
Happiness had come far too suddenly.
Xiao Ling wasn’t prepared at all and was directly sunk.
(Something something I forgot the beginning and the end, anyway Gathering Wives isn’t…
(ten thousand words omitted))
Sinking amidst the pink bubbles, Xiao Ling clearly didn’t notice the crimson blush spreading from the tips of Denia’s ears all the way to her cheeks.
Sharing a bed with someone of the opposite sex was still a bit too stimulating for her.
Even so, she had no intention of retracting this invitation.
After all, sleeping on the sofa was indeed very uncomfortable, and Xiao Ling was truly very good to her.
She couldn’t just watch him suffer, right?
Anyway, to other people they looked like a couple…
sleeping together wasn’t that big a deal…
probably…
…
If you’ve read up to this point and think the next plot development is a lone man and woman alone in a room sparking romantic flames, then I can only deeply apologize.
With Bro Ling’s “upstanding moral character” (read: wolf in sheep’s clothing) his “courage” hadn’t quite reached the point of being ready to share a bed with the character he liked.
He felt that kind of thing should happen naturally when feelings ran deep, like water flowing into a channel.
Just looking without being able to eat would still be too torturous for him.
So for now, better to put aside thoughts of sharing a bed for the time being, and hurry up to find a new place to move into.
Although Denia felt a tiny bit of regret, she also felt somewhat relieved.
If the other party had truly agreed to her request, she probably really wouldn’t have been able to sleep well the whole night.
Because it would truly be way too embarrassing…
sharing a bed and all.
It was very possible that something strange might happen.
She still wasn’t prepared for that kind of thing.
If he really wanted it, what should she even do?
But it was fine.
The days ahead were long.
What she had the most of now was time.
Comment it and let me know.