A week later, Teacher Wang passed away.

The setting sun plunged into the distant horizon, painting the sky a blood-red color.

Chen Xi sat on her motorcycle, watching a lone wild goose fly overhead, soaring farther and farther away until it became a small black dot that disappeared from view.

The fierce wind of the Gobi Desert swept across her cheeks, her long hair blown into disarray by the gusts.

Chen Xi gazed in the direction where the wild goose had vanished, silently bidding farewell.

Teacher Wang had used the VR headset that Chen Xi brought over to experience the sensation of flying on an airplane.

When she removed the headset, her eyes were bright, her withering life seemingly ignited like a flame.

Dazzling and brilliant.

She had the children gathered in the hospital room take turns wearing the headset, experiencing the taste of free flight.

“This is technology – you are the fortunate generation…”

She smiled from the bottom of her heart.

Night fell, and Chen Xi mounted her motorcycle, leaving the vast Gobi Desert behind.

The next morning, she sent the finalized design of the third character to Qin Lie.

At that moment, Qin Lie was jogging along the Dang River.

Facing the brilliant morning sun, he opened the image Chen Xi had sent.

The sky was ablaze with magnificent red clouds.

Qin Lie’s pupils contracted slightly.

Whether it was the glare reflected from the screen or being stunned by the artwork Chen Xi had sent, he couldn’t tell.

He stared at the screen for a long time, then smiled slightly and put away his phone.

He continued jogging toward the brilliant morning light.

After returning home, Qin Lie took a shower.

While eating breakfast, he forwarded Chen Xi’s design draft to Wang Danyang.

The other party called back almost immediately.

“Holy shit, who drew this?”

Wang Danyang asked excitedly on the phone.

Qin Lie replied, “Chen Xi… the one who grabbed the bag.”

Wang Danyang said, “Holy shit, not bad. Your eye for talent is pretty sharp.”

Qin Lie responded, “Yeah, not bad.”

Wang Danyang chuckled, “There aren’t many people you’d say ‘not bad’ about.”

Qin Lie said, “Her drawings have soul.”

At Shazhou Night Market, the first time he saw the Flying Apsara that Chen Xi had painted on the canvas bag, he felt it.

After finishing breakfast, Qin Lie received a message from Chen Xi.

“Are you free?”

Qin Lie replied, “What’s up?”

Chen Xi wrote, “VR arcade. Waiting for you.”

Without warning, Chen Xi’s face suddenly appeared in his mind.

A face that was straightforward and decisive, her lips probably curved in a slight smile at this moment – a little smug smile.

Qin Lie suddenly smiled, grabbed his car keys, and headed out.

When he arrived at the VR arcade, Chen Xi was already there.

The staff member Xiao Min came over and pointed to Chen Xi, who was pacing in the distance, whispering to Qin Lie.

“This person came early this morning and has been wandering around the store like a landlord collecting rent.”

Qin Lie nodded and walked over to find Chen Xi.

Chen Xi stood at the far end of the arcade, watching Qin Lie walk toward her step by step, the corners of her lips slightly upturned.

It matched the image in his mind.

He walked over and spoke first, “What’s the matter?”

Chen Xi looked around and smiled, “Nothing much, just came to take a look.”

Qin Lie pretended not to understand, saying blandly, “Oh, go ahead and look.”

He turned and walked to a shooting game machine, putting on the VR glasses.

After a while, Chen Xi wandered over and stopped beside him.

“How’s the third character?”

She couldn’t hold back anymore and asked directly.

Qin Lie fired several shots at the screen, saying casually, “Not bad.”

Chen Xi said with a hint of smugness, “Not bad means satisfied, right?”

Qin Lie nodded but said, “It could be even better.”

Chen Xi’s first reaction was that he wanted to renege, slightly wary, “You’re not thinking of backing out, are you?”

Qin Lie put down the sensor gun and turned to look at Chen Xi.

“This game’s target audience includes female users. How can these male characters make the female user base go crazy with obsession, loving them to death?”

“Simply put, it’s about creating fantasy objects for women.”

Although Chen Xi could tell he wasn’t being difficult, she couldn’t quite understand what he meant.

She frowned slightly, her eyes showing a trace of confusion.

Qin Lie tried to explain the issue more simply, “Do you understand XP? He needs to fulfill women’s fantasies.”

Chen Xi asked, “What’s XP?”

Qin Lie: “…”

He was silent for two seconds, then said quietly, “Sexual preference.”

Chen Xi: “…”

She coughed lightly, “So, you want me to give this character eight-pack abs?”

Qin Lie almost burst out laughing.

He shook his head and explained, “It’s small details, like tattoos, scars, a ring on the ring finger, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, or slightly distinctive features in appearance and physique.”

Chen Xi still seemed to understand only partially. Suddenly, she heard Qin Lie ask her, “Have you ever been obsessed with someone?”

Chen Xi was stunned.

Qin Lie’s direct gaze fixed on Chen Xi’s face, “Obsessed to the point where you could die for them.”

Suddenly, Rurouni Kenshin flashed through Chen Xi’s mind.

A manga character she was particularly obsessed with during high school. Second-dimension male protagonists were generally similar, but Chen Xi had become infatuated with Kenshin back then, seemingly because of the scar on his face.

During her teenage years, she had fantasized about living in Kenshin’s world, becoming his female lead.

She had even fantasized many times about indescribable scenes with him.

Chen Xi suddenly understood what Qin Lie meant.

The character she designed still lacked that quality that would make women have sexual fantasies.

While she was lost in thought, Qin Lie’s arm suddenly wrapped around her from behind.

Chen Xi was enveloped by the man’s rough and cold aura. Caught off guard, her body stiffened, but her sense of smell seemed to lose all defenses.

His aggressive scent drove straight in, instantly flooding every capillary.

The next second, a cold VR headset was placed on Chen Xi’s face.

Her earlobe retained the sensation of the man’s fingers lightly brushing past, rough, barely perceptible.

Chen Xi’s right ear burned up, completely unprepared.

She looked toward Qin Lie, who had already withdrawn his arm and was walking away with his hands in his pockets, unhurried.

He left behind a comment, “The coach in this game is quite interesting. Use him for reference.”

Chen Xi hadn’t yet recovered from her stiffened state. Through the dark VR lenses, she saw the blatant teasing in Qin Lie’s eyes.

The meaning couldn’t be clearer.

He was getting back at her for her calculated flirtation that night.

Chen Xi suddenly couldn’t bring herself to get angry. She coldly picked up the sensor gun, aimed at Qin Lie from behind, and pulled the trigger.

The hall’s sensor door suddenly opened, and a man and a woman walked in.

With the boss present, Xiao Min perked up and greeted them with a smile, “Welcome to Future World Experience.”

The two customers quickly shook their heads, “Sorry, we’d like to borrow some water. Our engine coolant seems insufficient.”

Hearing this, Chen Xi removed her headset.

She strode over and said to the two people, “Let me take a look for you.”

The three of them went outside.

Chen Xi skillfully opened the hood and inspected it thoroughly.

“The radiator is leaking. Didn’t you know?”

The two young people shook their heads in confusion.

Chen Xi looked at them speechlessly and asked, “Self-driving tour?”

They nodded.

“You don’t even know the radiator is leaking. What would you do if you got stuck in the middle of nowhere in the Gobi Desert?”

She found tape from the VR arcade, helped with a simple repair, filled the radiator with water, and instructed the two to find a repair shop once they reached the city.

Qin Lie stood behind the bright floor-to-ceiling windows.

He watched Chen Xi bent over working, as if her dream auto repair shop had already opened for business.

After seeing off the two tourists, Chen Xi returned to the arcade, the glow still on her face, her eyes sparkling.

Fixing a car seemed more thrilling than riding a roller coaster.

She didn’t want to play games with Qin Lie anymore and said straightforwardly, “I’ll go back and modify the character. Since you’re satisfied, shouldn’t you honor your promise?”

Qin Lie looked at her with a calm expression, “Sure.”

Chen Xi had prepared to argue with him, not expecting him to agree so readily.

“Really?”

She couldn’t help but confirm.

Qin Lie nodded and asked her, “How much space do you want?”

Chen Xi suppressed her suddenly racing heartbeat, maintaining a composed expression as she raised her hand to draw a line in the air.

“Can I have everything west of the racing games?”

Qin Lie looked at the area Chen Xi had marked out – it occupied nearly half of the entire exhibition hall.

The side she wanted had a spacious side door through which vehicles could be driven in.

Fortunately, the venue was large.

Qin Lie’s VR equipment didn’t need this much space at all. When rearranging, he would just need to organize the layout properly.

Qin Lie took out his phone and said, “I’ll give you the landlord’s number. You can discuss the rest with him.”

Chen Xi suppressed her urge to cheer and quickly nodded.

She wrote down the landlord’s phone number.

Looking around, Chen Xi asked, “About how much would it cost to dismantle and reinstall these VR devices?”

Qin Lie roughly estimated, “Around a hundred thousand.”

Chen Xi’s heart skipped a beat – another significant expense.

But regardless, there was finally progress on the venue issue.

Communicating with the landlord was not easy. Chen Xi called him several times, but he wouldn’t even give her a chance to meet and discuss.

Finally, it was only after Qin Lie intervened that the landlord agreed to the partial subletting of the space.

After the landlord agreed, the money problem pressed down like a mountain.

Qin Lie had paid a deposit of five hundred thousand for this venue, with rent paid for two years at once, five hundred thousand per year.

By June, the two-year term would expire, and they would need to pay rent for the next two years.

Qin Lie didn’t fuss about the deposit and didn’t ask Chen Xi to share it.

He was also generous with the rent split, dividing it 60-40 with Chen Xi.

Even so, Chen Xi still needed to come up with four hundred thousand in rent and one hundred thousand for equipment dismantling and installation, plus renovation costs – nearly six hundred thousand total.

This figure far exceeded Chen Xi’s budget.

With the unsettled six hundred thousand weighing on her mind, Chen Xi had just left the VR arcade when she received a call from Bai Yuning.

“Hey, honey, how are your preparations going?”

Chen Xi looked confused. “What preparations?”

Bai Yuning’s laughter came through the phone. “Are you teasing me?”

“I’ll pick up Professor Huang after work, probably arriving around seven. Tell Grandma and Aunt that home-cooked food is fine – don’t make it too elaborate.”

Chen Xi slapped her forehead, finally remembering about hosting Professor Huang for dinner at Grandma’s house tonight.

She had been so busy these past few days – modifying design drafts at night and running around about the venue during the day – that she had completely forgotten about the dinner invitation.

She quickly hung up and immediately called Fan Mingsu.

Before Chen Xi could anxiously ask, Fan Mingsu’s loud voice came through the phone.

“Isn’t Yuning bringing his Beijing teacher home for dumplings today?”

“Where have you been fooling around? Why aren’t you home yet?”

Chen Xi’s heart settled back into place as she laughed and ran toward her motorcycle in the evening breeze.

“Coming right back. Do you need me to bring anything?”

Fan Mingsu replied, “No need, your aunt already bought everything.”

Chen Xi raced home.

As soon as she entered, she smelled the aroma of stewed meat.

The small courtyard was cleaned spotlessly, and the round table under the grape arbor already had four cold dishes arranged on it.

There was Chen Mei’s specialty crystal pork knuckle, numbing and spicy chicken, cold noodles mixed with chili oil, and simple scallions mixed with tofu.

Fan Mingsu came out carrying prepared dumpling filling. Seeing Chen Xi reaching for the crystal pork knuckle, she quickly slapped her hand away.

“Go eat inside, don’t touch the arranged dishes.”

Chen Xi said, “Oh,” and Fan Mingsu suddenly looked at her suspiciously.

“What’s wrong with you? You seem like you’re missing a soul.”

Chen Xi shook her head, saying nothing was wrong, and wandered into the kitchen.

Chen Mei wore an apron, busy at the stove. The pot bubbled with rich broth – spicy lamb trotters stewed until soft and sticky, while another burner warmed pre-cooked hand-grabbed lamb ribs.

Chen Xi said, “Just five of us – we can’t finish all this food.”

Chen Mei glanced back at her.

“What do you know? He’s a professor from Beijing. Don’t we need to show him how Northwest people treat guests?”

Chen Xi smiled, “Professor Huang is from Jiuquan.”

Chen Mei replied, “Then we need to make even more delicious food to let him taste the flavors of home.”

The whole family was busy.

Sensen squatted by the faucet with his bottom up, washing a basin of early-ripening Li Guang apricots – golden yellow and appetizing at first glance.

Just after seven o’clock, Bai Yuning arrived with Professor Huang.

Professor Huang looked refined and scholarly but spoke with a Northwest accent.

Fan Mingsu and Chen Mei felt especially warm toward him, and their initial nervousness quickly disappeared.

The dinner was harmonious for both the host and the guests.

Professor Huang praised Chen Mei’s numbing spicy chicken and spicy lamb trotters endlessly.

When the steaming scallion and lamb dumplings were served, Professor Huang ate with evident joy.

As the wine warmed them up, Professor Huang said to Bai Yuning, “About what I mentioned to you in the car – think it over and give me an answer soon.”

Bai Yuning was slightly drunk, his cheeks flushed, his eyes gleaming with unusual radiance.

He raised his glass to toast Professor Huang, saying excitedly, “Thank you, teacher, for giving me such a wonderful opportunity. I’ll go, definitely go.”

Chen Xi was distracted, thinking about money matters.

Suddenly hearing Bai Yuning’s words, she looked at him somewhat bewildered.

Under the table, Bai Yuning grabbed Chen Xi’s hand and smiled as he whispered in her ear, “I have good news to tell you tonight.”

Chen Xi had been hesitating all day, but finally decided to borrow two hundred thousand from Bai Yuning first to pay the rent.

She smiled and said, “I also have something to discuss with you tonight.”