After Joining the Game, She Came Out as Gay [Infinite] - Chapter 12

It was the unconscious gasp of admiration from Qi Cheng after taking her first bite of food that broke the awkward tension.

“Mmm… delicious!”

Qi Cheng wasn’t a picky eater, but she rarely voiced her inner thoughts so impulsively. This served to show just how much of a shock Xia Lin had given her. According to the persona Qi Cheng had imagined for Xia Lin, she hadn’t thought the woman could cook at all—let alone be someone who could take care of others so thoroughly.

Though Qi Cheng’s exclamation wasn’t loud, it was enough for Xia Lin to catch. She was amused by Qi Cheng’s reaction.

“It seems our tastes are quite similar.”

Xia Lin placed the final dish on the dining table, wiped her hands, and chose to sit opposite Qi Cheng rather than beside her. Although Xia Lin desperately wanted to sit next to her, she understood that being too intimate would only produce the opposite effect. Right now, Qi Cheng needed her personal space, and the barrier of that space absolutely did not allow for anyone to invade it.

Slow and steady.

Before sitting down, Xia Lin also took the opportunity to refill Qi Cheng’s bowl with rice.

“I cooked according to my own preferences; I didn’t expect you to like it too,” Xia Lin said with a smile.

In truth, to get food into Qi Cheng’s stomach as quickly as possible, the dishes Xia Lin had prepared were all home-cooked meals that could be finished in three to five minutes, meaning the selection of ingredients didn’t need to be overly elaborate. Of course, there was no need to mention this bit of consideration; it would seem too intentional.

“…”

Qi Cheng lowered her head and ate silently. Xia Lin quietly observed her expression. Although Qi Cheng currently appeared naturally stiff because she was poor at handling the kindness of others, there was no sign of annoyance. In other words, while her actions made the other girl feel at a loss, Qi Cheng did not physiologically reject her.

…It felt like a great opportunity to further close the distance between them, hey-ya.

Two options quickly appeared in Xia Lin’s mind:

Continue the conquest

Stop for now

After thinking for 1.5 seconds, Xia Lin decisively chose the second option. Greed for quick success often led to backfiring. There was no need to rush and give Qi Cheng the feeling of being cornered.

“…By the way, are you from S City?”

“Wh-?!”

Xia Lin had given up the chance to show initiative, but she hadn’t expected the other party to extend an olive branch. Seeing Xia Lin stunned, Qi Cheng scratched her cheek and said somewhat shyly in a small voice, “Ah, no… because the way this dish is made is a bit like the unique cooking method of people from S City, so I just…”

Xia Lin was from L City. However, if Qi Cheng hadn’t even known she was Xia An’s daughter before, it was even less likely she knew her place of birth. When Xia Lin introduced herself last time, she hadn’t mentioned it either.

“Ah—I learned this dish when I was filming the TV series The Prince’s Doting Wife at the film studio in S City. I specifically asked a famous chef there to teach me. Qi Cheng, you probably aren’t from S City either, right?”

Because she had said it was “a bit like people from S City” rather than “a bit like where we are from.”

Perhaps because this dish gave her a sense of familiarity, Qi Cheng’s chatterbox opened up.

“Yeah, I’m not, it’s just that Ta (they/she/he) used to make it for me often, so I felt a bit nostalgic…”

Ta?

Chinese spoken language doesn’t distinguish between “He” and “She” like English does, which piqued Xia Lin’s curiosity. So, without thinking, she asked: “Who is ‘Ta’…?”

Qi Cheng’s eyes instantly dimmed. After a long, long silence, she finally spoke: “…An acquaintance.”

Xia Lin: “…”

With that expression, there was likely some sort of hidden story, right? She couldn’t probe further.

“However, while cooking this way is delicious—” Xia Lin leisurely took a bite of food, intentionally shifting the influence of the “Ta” topic on Qi Cheng’s heart, “—when I was mincing the small red peppers, I was frustrated to death. I truly experienced what it means to be ‘eye-stinging’.”

“Ha, she used to say the same thing as you.”

Although a smile hung on the corner of Qi Cheng’s mouth, her voice sounded very bitter. This “Ta” in her mouth certainly pulled at endless memories in Qi Cheng’s heart.

Xia Lin was momentarily dazed. Right now, Qi Cheng looked like a wounded snow leopard, able only to find a cave for brief shelter in a raging blizzard, curling up in a corner to lonely lick her wounds. She would not ask others for help, and she would never show weakness—simply because her proud soul would never allow her to seek the sympathy or pity of others.

An actress with Xia Lin’s innate talent could see through another’s soul at a single glance. Actors must avoid being controlled by emotions, so Xia Lin was not a sentimental person. Yet, her eyes were uncontrollably moistening now.

A dark feeling surged up like a spring. Xia Lin hurriedly covered her face with one hand to hide her loss of composure. At that exact moment, the television in the living room suddenly turned on, once again reporting the news of Xia Lin’s death.

This made the already heavy air several degrees more stifling.

Xia Lin stood up silently and turned off the TV. Although she tried her best not to let Qi Cheng see her face, Qi Cheng still caught a glimpse of a crystal drop quickly falling onto the remote control from the corner of her eye.

“…Sorry, I can’t eat anymore… I’ll clean the dishes tomorrow,” Xia Lin said, never letting Qi Cheng see her face.

“It’s fine! I’ll clean them! Go rest…”

Facing this version of Xia Lin, Qi Cheng could no longer worry about her own bitter mood. This was the first time Qi Cheng had seen such weariness in Xia Lin. But it was no wonder she was acting unusually; anyone would be unable to bear it when the indelible wound in their heart was touched—especially something like “death.”

It must have been that sudden news report that affected her mood—Qi Cheng thought. And undoubtedly, the only one who would do such an immoral thing was that bastard of a God.

– Divine Realm · Hall of the Gods –

The God of Order stared at the screen with a look of disbelief and roared: “How is this possible?! …What on earth is the background of this human named Qi Cheng?!”

Aside from the God of Love, the expressions of the other deities were not particularly calm either.

The God of Wisdom said somewhat helplessly: “I’m truly impressed; it’s the first time I’ve seen a human who can influence others to such an extent.”

The God of Calamity narrowed his eyes and said unhappily: “This not only broke the record created by my Group D, but even the record for the ‘fastest appearance of an eliminated person in the first round’ has been shattered.”

The God of Storms looked around at his brothers and asked: “Then the original plan to have Group B and Group C compete against each other probably won’t work now, right?”

The God of Wisdom sighed: “I’m really sorry; my Group B doesn’t even have a single pair of declared lovers yet.”

The God of Order said angrily: “It’s all because you insisted on using these rules!”

The God of Love wailed: “It hurts, it hurts! You’re going to pull my fur off! …I apologize! I apologize! Look, didn’t I already punish the parties involved!”

The God of Order roared: “That was the news report about Xia Lin, right?! What kind of punishment is that?”

The God of Love smiled slyly: “It is a punishment. That Qi Cheng, you shouldn’t look at her unapproachable exterior; her heart is actually very soft—especially by those who are good to her, she is most easily touched~ hee hee hee!”

The gods were all too familiar with this kind of smile from their brother, who always manifested in the world as a panda. If he were born human, he would surely drag all nations into the fires of war.

The God of Calamity said: “In that case, let’s activate ‘Yuga.’ That way, no group will be left idle. Conveniently, I have many ready-made game arenas available for these humans to use.”

The God of Storms said: “But Little Love still has to be responsible for the first round; the gods available to supervise the second ‘Yuga’ are a bit insufficient, aren’t they?”

The Goddess of Beauty suddenly said: “Then I’ll help out. I have nothing to do anyway.”

The God of Storms nodded and said: “Then it’s decided. I’m going to inform the participants of my group.”

The other deities also left one after another to notify their respective groups. Just as the God of Love was about to leave, the Goddess of Beauty suddenly called out to him.

“Brother, that news report appeared a bit too… conveniently, didn’t it?”

“…”

The panda turned its head to glance at the screen monitoring Xia Lin. A script had appeared out of thin air on the bed, and Xia Lin was picking it up to flip through it.

“…You prepared that for her?” The panda stared. “To help her change her mood quickly? Speaking of which, Xiao Lin is indeed the beautiful type that you would like. Did my stimulating her make you unhappy?”

“That’s not it. But, brother, was that news report you inserted just to stimulate Qi Cheng’s emotions really just to appease Xiao Zhi’s anger?”

The timing of the insertion was too strange. It happened right when Qi Cheng and Xia Lin were talking about “Ta.”

The smile on the panda’s face froze instantly.

“…Sister, getting to the bottom of things isn’t very aesthetic.”

After saying that, the panda disappeared. The Goddess of Beauty looked at where he had just stood and sighed: “Have you still not moved on from the hatred of the past, brother…?”

After Qi Cheng finished eating, she consciously washed all the plates and bowls. Although she couldn’t cook, she could at least wash dishes. It was impossible to be thick-skinned enough to eat the food someone else cooked and then push this kind of dirty, tiring work onto them as well.

Thinking of the news that had suddenly been broadcasted, Qi Cheng’s eyes dimmed.

“…I’m sorry…”

She lowered her head, her nails sinking deep into her flesh. Images of Xia Lin’s mangled “corpse” flashed repeatedly in her mind, along with the way that girl had just endured and tried not to let her tears fall; pain rushed through her heart like a tide.

After “Her,” this was the second time Qi Cheng had felt such an emotion. It was to the point where her current state was even worse than Xia Lin’s.

Qi Cheng’s exhausted body desperately needed a hot shower and rest. But now, she didn’t have the face to see Xia Lin. The bathroom was on the second floor. To use the bathroom, she would definitely disturb that girl. She had to at least wait until she fell asleep. Otherwise, Qi Cheng really didn’t know how to face her, let alone what to say to her.

She wanted to apologize but was afraid to. She wanted to tell her the truth but was afraid to face the look in her eyes after she knew.

…Even though she had long since grown accustomed to that kind of look. That hopeless, hateful, hollow look.

However, Qi Cheng discovered that she actually could not accept Xia Lin looking at her with such eyes. She didn’t know why.

In the end, Qi Cheng suffered downstairs for a full hour. Calculating that Xia Lin should be asleep by now, she finally went upstairs with light steps. As she passed the bedroom, she still took a concerned peek inside.

Xia Lin had left the door open for Qi Cheng, so it wasn’t closed. She wasn’t asleep either; instead, the bedside lamp was on, her back was to the door, and she was lying under the covers reading a script.

Whenever Xia Lin had emotional fluctuations or mental pressure, she would shift her focus by reading scripts. She was a professional actress. Regardless of her current psychological state, as long as she had a script, her heart and body would be immersed in it, transforming into the character she was portraying, and no longer driven by negative emotions.

When they had checked the room earlier, this script didn’t exist. It had appeared abruptly on the bed after Xia Lin returned to the bedroom.

This was a drama she was halfway through filming. Because of her sudden death, the filming progress of the crew would certainly be disrupted. The character she portrayed was very challenging. Not to be narcissistic, but if they changed actresses, they might not be able to grasp the female lead’s state of mind for a perfect performance. The director had considered many factors and picked Xia Lin from thousands. Moreover, she had already filmed so much; changing people now would mean most of the shots would have to be refilmed.

The appearance of this script was certainly the work of God. Although she didn’t know what intentions the other party had, since she had already decided to be resurrected no matter how hard the road ahead was, reviewing this script now naturally had meaning. As long as she was resurrected the day before she died, all the trouble caused to the crew would cease to exist. And since she was being resurrected with her memories, the content of the script she was reviewing now would naturally be inherited as well.

When Qi Cheng stepped lightly toward the bathroom, Xia Lin actually noticed. Her bad mood was because of Qi Cheng, not because of that news report.

It was just that Qi Cheng didn’t know.

Xia Lin sighed softly, closed the script, and placed it on the nightstand. She turned off the light and lay back in the covers. If she were awake, given Qi Cheng’s personality, she would definitely be unwilling to share a bed with her. It would be awkward. She didn’t want Qi Cheng to feel awkward.

When Qi Cheng came out of the bathroom, Xia Lin was truly asleep. She only occupied one side of the inner bed, leaving the majority of the bed for Qi Cheng. Doing so was also out of consideration for Qi Cheng’s feelings, right?

Xia Lin was truly considerate. Even if she was triggered by that news report into a state of sadness, she still left a portion of warmth for her.

However, she didn’t deserve it.

Qi Cheng silently withdrew her gaze and went straight downstairs. But the sofa was gone! It had vanished into thin air, like water vapor.

Qi Cheng stood dumbfounded, and the bath towel draped over her head helplessly slid down.

“…God!” Qi Cheng gritted her teeth in anger.

“What’s the matter?” The panda suddenly appeared, looking at her with a mischievous grin.

There was no need to think; it was definitely his doing.