The overly realistic scene made Yun Li instinctively lean back, her hands slipping from the motorcycle handlebars. The VR goggles’ audio system was built into the glasses, and Yun Li heard a cute prompt, “Little one, hold onto the handles to hug Daddy, okay?”
“…”
Even knowing it was all virtual, the visual realism in the VR world still made Yun Li reluctant to actively embrace Fu Shize.
But the more she dwelled on it, the more these ordinary actions seemed to take on special meaning.
Within seconds, the motorcycle started moving. Fu Shize rode through forests, shooting at emerging monsters that paid homage to the classic arcade game. The motion simulator’s effects were excellent, with several flipping scenes frightening Yun Li into closing her eyes.
When Yun Li came to her senses, she realized she had unknowingly gripped the handles again, and in the game, her small arms were wrapped around Fu Shize’s waist.
Yun Li felt a fine sweat break out on her forehead. Virtual reality technology was limited and couldn’t provide real tactile feedback, yet the visual embrace alone was enough to make Yun Li’s heart race.
Fu Shize kept his gaze straight ahead, seemingly unaware of her presence. Yun Li’s hand, which she was about to withdraw, stopped. She pressed her fingertips into her palm, already damp with sweat. Taking a deep breath, she spread her fingers, seeing herself embrace the figure in front of her again.
Secretly hugging like this… seemed okay…
The finish line was at the edge of a canyon. She saw Fu Shize dismount the motorcycle. His in-game character wore a helmet and sunglasses, with some scratches on his cheeks.
He reached out both hands towards her.
Yun Li held her breath, watching Fu Shize’s hands pass under her arms, lifting her and setting her on the ground.
In the brief journey of just a few minutes, they had traversed mountains and rivers. Yun Li looked at her tiny palm, mustering the courage to hold his hand.
In her vision, he gently held her hand in return.
Fu Shize had already removed his VR goggles, only seeing his left glove vibrate slightly. He turned to look at Yun Li, who took a moment before slowly removing her VR goggles, as if still dazed.
After a few seconds of silence, the system began announcing safety precautions for exiting. Fu Shize first undid his equipment, then walked to Yun Li’s side.
Yun Li’s gaze was somewhat evasive: “This mode seems quite special.”
Fu Shize bent down to undo her safety straps. Despite playing the same game, he seemed unaffected, asking her, “How so?”
“The parent-child mode setting seems to prevent children from learning driving and shooting actions…”
Fu Shize paused: “You didn’t shoot?”
“No.”
“Didn’t ride the motorcycle either?”
“No…”
Fu Shize looked slightly confused: “Didn’t enter the game?”
“…”
Yun Li lowered her head, feeling extremely guilty: “In parent-child mode, the child can’t operate anything, just sightsee along the way.”
Fu Shize glanced at her: “Was it nice?”
Yun Li nodded.
Without asking, Yun Li could deduce from their conversation that Fu Shize had been completely unaware of her sitting behind him.
It made sense—he wouldn’t have played in parent-child mode before.
Unsure whether she felt relief or disappointment, Yun Li felt she had already gained a lot today. Thanks to technology, just like the excitement the arcade games once brought her, she had personally experienced a completely different world here.
But she wished it were real.
After shutting down all the equipment, they returned to the office.
Yun Li, hugging her folder, softly said “Thank you for your guidance” to Fu Shize before turning and running off.
Three or four people were already seated in the office. Yun Li suddenly felt nervous, lightening her steps as she returned to her seat, fortunately not drawing anyone’s attention.
Deng Chuqi was nearby delivering materials and invited her to meet at the coffee shop on the first floor of Haitian Mall. Yun Li packed up her things and sent He Jiameng a message saying she wouldn’t be eating lunch at the company.
Deng Chuqi: “So, you just played games all morning.”
Yun Li protested: “It was work!”
Deng Chuqi said: “Games you have to pay to play.”
Deng Chuqi took a sip of coffee: “Did Xiaxia’s uncle seem to take care of you? Though he looks so cold, I doubt he’d look after anyone.”
“I managed on my own,” Yun Li glanced at her sideways.
Not wanting her words to be interpreted as Fu Shize ‘doing nothing,’ Yun Li organized her thoughts and said: “Xiaxia’s uncle was quite nice to me. The other day when he came to our school, he accompanied Fu Zhengchu to watch a football match and brought me along too.”
Yun Li didn’t mention other details.
“You went to watch a football match together? Do you even understand football?” Deng Chuqi recalled something and lightly tapped the table, “I remember now, didn’t you participate in that robot football competition before? You should be quite familiar with the rules.”
Yun Li shook her head: “That football competition only required scoring goals. Even scoring with a basketball would count as a win.”
The robot football competition Deng Chuqi mentioned happened when Yun Li was in her second year of high school. They were both at the best high school in Xifu, which had no shortage of activities to enhance students’ comprehensive abilities.
That was the first time Yun Li learned about the existence of the Science and Technology Festival.
Yun Li had barely made it into this high school and felt suffocated by the excellence of her surrounding classmates. The monthly public display of exam rankings was especially mentally and physically torturous. Several times, Yun Li held that ten-centimeter-long grade slip, unbeknownst to her homeroom teacher—this small paper with ragged edges represented nights filled with explosive tension.
She didn’t want to go home.
Yun Li would always stand dazed, holding that slip of paper, two blocks away from home.
Over a five-meter distance, she would repeatedly kick the same pebble from one side to the other.
Until it was too late at night to avoid going home.
The Science and Technology Festival notice was released just as the monthly exams ended. Unsurprisingly, Yun Yongchang didn’t agree with her participating in this “meaningless” activity.
In fact, in Yun Yongchang’s eyes, academic performance was everything.
Getting into a good university was the only way for ordinary people to change their fate.
He placed the same expectations on both of his children.
“Look at yourself, what kind of grades are these? With these scores, you’re still thinking about participating in those messy activities.” Yun Yongchang tore up the slip and threw it in the trash.
Though it was just light paper, the moment it was torn apart, it felt so heavy that Yun Li could hardly breathe.
That day, just before the registration deadline, Yun Li remembered a video that had gone viral over a year ago.
As if possessed, Yun Li signed up for the robot football competition. Each team needed to build robots under the guidance of a coach.
The school invited top students from Xifu University of Technology to guide them, with each team captain being a student from that university.
Nearly sixty teams participated.
Yun Li’s team spent three weeks building these six robots. The official competition was 5v5, requiring one backup robot.
In the early stages, their team captain wrote code remotely from the university. In the final period, he would come to the school to assemble the robots with them.
Only a few days remained before the competition.
The captain told them to find a surface with high friction to familiarize themselves with operating the robots.
That day was a weekend, and the plastic running track of the playground was still damp with morning moisture.
Yun Li found a corner and placed the robot on the ground. It wasn’t pretty—a dark gray, square torso with two round yellow eyes and a white head.
Ugly as it was, as long as it could move, it was fine.
Yun Li manipulated the joystick on the controller, but the robot was very sluggish. Often, she had to push in one direction for several seconds before it would slowly crawl.
Yun Li spent an entire day unable to get the robot to push a stone and move. As the fierce midday sun began to peek out, she went to the small shop to buy a sandwich and sat back on the playground.
Staring at this clumsy robot, Yun Li glumly nibbled her sandwich.
She felt only sadness, flicking the robot’s head with her finger and complaining, “Why are you so stupid?”
Later, she gloomily watched the robot, trying to make it approach a stone from half a meter away. She crouched on the ground, carefully following behind the robot.
The hot north wind swept across her face. Looking down, Yun Li glimpsed a pair of canvas shoes appearing beside her.
Yun Li looked up to see a tall, thin boy who seemed somewhat familiar. His eyes and hair were brownish, but his features were soft and handsome. Yun Li was momentarily stunned.
“Sorry to bother you,” the boy said with a smile. “My friend and I were just passing by today. He’s a bit shy, so he didn’t come over.”
He pointed towards the bleachers. Far away, among the sea of blue seats, a boy sat alone.
The boy was also looking at them. Yun Li could only make out that he had very fair skin but couldn’t see his features.
Yun Li stood up.
“We’ve been here all day and saw you playing with this robot the whole time.”
Yun Li was shy around strangers, but hearing him say this, she instinctively responded, “I’m not playing, I’m training it!”
The boy was taken aback, then suddenly laughed.
Yun Li felt a bit embarrassed and asked him, “Why are you laughing?”
The boy didn’t answer her but instead crouched down to examine her robot: “This robot is quite cute. Did you build it yourself?”
Yun Li didn’t say anything, watching him warily, afraid he might accidentally damage her precious creation.
As he leaned forward, an ID card slipped out of his pocket, encased in a clear holder. Yun Li recognized it as the pass specifically issued to students from Xifu University of Technology.
He was the captain of another team.
Yun Li didn’t know how to respond for a moment.
The boy noticed Yun Li staring at his ID card and thought she was curious. He picked it up and showed it to her.
The photo on the ID was a picture of Ultraman.
“…”
The picture covered his name; she could only see a character that looked like “yuan.”
At that time, Yun Li hadn’t had much interaction with men of this age group. She found him gentle yet rebellious and shrank back a step, staring at him.
The boy picked up the small stone, stood up, and threw it onto the grass. It arced through the air and disappeared. He then took out a small football from his pocket, with a smiley face doodled on it, and placed it in front of her robot. He asked her, “Look, isn’t this more suitable?”
Yun Li looked skeptical.
The boy stepped back and said to her, “Try again.”
Yun Li operated the joystick, and the robot that had been stupid all morning moved forward two steps. When it came to pushing the football, it suddenly stopped moving again.
The boy also looked a bit embarrassed and asked, “How about I give it a try?”
After much internal debate, Yun Li handed the controller to him.
In the gentle afternoon, the boy patiently explained to her how to control the robot and the ball’s direction more easily.
When she was finally able to move the small football with the robot, Yun Li showed her first smile since they met.
“I have to go now, my friend is waiting for me,” the boy said. His soft features blurred in the light. Yun Li picked up the small football, and when she looked up again, the boy had already run far away. She could faintly make out a word starting with “U” printed on his back.
Yun Li’s eyes widened.
“Wait—”
The call on the tip of her tongue stopped. Yun Li stood there watching them.
At some point, the person who had been sitting silently in the bleachers had also reached the playground entrance. They were about the same height, and wearing identical jackets. The letters on their backs were completely indistinguishable now.
Yun Li never got a clear look at the other person’s face.
That brief encounter was forgotten by Yun Li in the dappled sunlight. Later, she devoted herself entirely to her robot. Although they didn’t place high in the competition, Yun Li won her first small trophy.
She placed that small football next to the trophy on the bookshelf in her room.