After the Nerd Marked the Top Omega - Chapter 31

Jiangcheng University.

Late at night, with her roommates already asleep, Song Shu finally finished the paper due the next day.

In the past, Fang Xu would help, and she didn’t have to worry about the papers for general education courses. She only needed to memorize the key points Fang Xu highlighted during exam week.

It took her over half a year to slowly get used to this life of weekly rotating assignments.

In the past six months, Song Shu had dated others. But before a relationship could even be established, she couldn’t tolerate it. Either they lacked Fang Xu’s good temper, or they weren’t attentive enough and wouldn’t take care of her.

Or sometimes, an Alpha would carelessly release their pheromones, making her feel uncomfortable too.

The desk lamp was set to dim light. Song Shu finished naming the file and subconsciously opened the school forum.

[Are there any friends playing “Running a Snack Stall”? Why does the game’s comment section feel weird to me?]

[Is that the game made by the computer science major from our school? I’ve only heard the name, but I don’t like management games, so I haven’t played it.]

[I noticed it too! And it’s been like this for many days, like there’s a paid smear campaign. I tried to argue back, and immediately a group of bots would rush over and start posting, the talking points are exactly the same.]

[@fx, what’s going on? I wonder if @fx can see this.]

[The big-shots must be very busy and don’t check the school forum often. They’ve never shown up before.]

[I play “Running a Snack Stall” too, and the content is genuinely fun. It’s excellent for a college student to make a game like this. I wonder who is trying to slander them!]

[I agree with the floor above. No matter what, fx is a student of our Jiangcheng University. We can’t let people bully them! If everyone has time, you can also leave positive reviews in the comment section and recommend the game.]

[Going now! I’m in a useless class right now, so I have plenty of time.]

[…]

This post had been up for two days, and Song Shu had seen it when it first appeared. This was the first time she learned that Fang Xu also made games.

Flipping down, Song Shu saw the posted malicious reviews and couldn’t help but frown. She understood Fang Xu’s personality: dull, quiet, and gentle. They never argued with anyone.

Seeing this, they must be very upset.

Song Shu opened and closed the forum several times, and finally unblocked the person from her blacklist.

[Song Shu: How are you?]

[Song Shu: My mom asked me to ask.]

After sending the messages, Song Shu regretted it a little, and simply threw her phone aside.

With only two hours of sleep and the mental pressure from the malicious reviews, Fang Xu didn’t know how they fell asleep while deleting comments.

When they woke up, their mind was blank. They sat in the same spot for a long time before realizing where they were.

The laptop had automatically shut down because the battery died. Fang Xu reached for the phone next to them and saw what time it was.

One in the morning.

They had actually slept for four or five consecutive hours.

Fang Xu’s eyes scanned the living room but didn’t see Pei Yunci. Looking down, they found a blanket covering them.

“Awake?”

Pei Yunci came out of the bedroom and saw the girl staring blankly, clutching the blanket.

Fang Xu quickly looked up at her: “I’m awake.”

Only then did they see clearly. Pei Yunci was only wearing a bathrobe, having just finished showering. Her hair was a little wet because it hadn’t been blown dry, exposing her slender and beautiful calves. Her expression was languid.

Fang Xu immediately looked away, staring at the pattern on the blanket.

Pei Yunci looked at the top of their head and said, “It’s quite late. Just rest here in the apartment.”

Fang Xu agreed. They only dared to look up after hearing the door close.

Perhaps because of their high Alpha rank, their perception of pheromones was sharp. The scent of balloon flower, mixed with moist water vapor, was very light, but they could still feel it, constantly drifting towards them.

Fang Xu took a deep breath, ignored their rapidly beating heart, and walked towards the guest room.

They hadn’t returned to the dorm tonight. Their roommate messaged to ask where they were and if they were coming back.

After replying, Fang Xu saw a message from Song Shu. Since they broke up, they hadn’t been in contact. This was the first message in over half a year.

They looked at the words of concern on the screen, feeling a little confused.

After thinking about it, they swiped the message away, turned off the screen, and didn’t reply.

After a stable night’s rest, their mental state was much better.

The internship ended. Back at school, Fang Xu spent another four hours deleting the comments before calling their younger sister.

“The matter has been resolved. Don’t worry about it anymore.”

Yi Yi already knew but deliberately put on a superior performance: “Really? That’s wonderful!”

Then she said, “Sis, I listened to you. I haven’t searched for anything game-related for the past two days.”

Of course, contacting Pei Yunci didn’t count.

Fang Xu hummed, saying, “I said some harsh things to you earlier.”

Yi Yi huffed twice: “Sis, you finally realize it?”

Hearing her tone, Fang Xu guessed what she was thinking and asked, “How do you want me to apologize?”

Yi Yi immediately smiled: “I want delivery grilled skewers right now.”

“I’ll order for you,” Fang Xu knew without asking which one the child wanted: “Do you want a drink?”

“Yes! We’re out at home.”

After placing the order, Fang Xu said, “Go to sleep after you eat.”

It was already getting late.

“Okay,” Yi Yi said again: “Sis, you sleep with me too, and no staying up late.”

Fang Xu: “…”

They had planned to upload the game update today.

“Sis, you hesitated,” Yi Yi reminded them.

Fang Xu sighed helplessly: “Okay, I’ll go to sleep in one hour.”

Since Guangwen Company wouldn’t cause trouble again, a late update wouldn’t be an issue.

Yi Yi was satisfied: “Then I’ll go wait for the skewers!”

After speaking with their sister, Fang Xu told Tang Xingxing and Liu Hanxue about the situation.

Tang Xingxing exclaimed in disbelief: “That company is too evil!”

“No choice. Some companies are just like that. They like to do unethical things, regardless of whether they are big or small,” Liu Hanxue’s family had a company, so she had heard about such things from her family.

“I wish that kind of company goes bankrupt soon,” Tang Xingxing cursed a few times and finally felt better: “Xuxu, your game should be fine now, right?”

Fang Xu chuckled: “It’s fine. There will be a game update in a few days.”

“Wow, are there new additions?” Hearing this, Tang Xingxing’s attention naturally shifted.

Seeing Fang Xu about to speak, she said, “Never mind, never mind. I’ll go check for myself when it updates. I want to save some excitement and mystery.”

“Okay.”

Fang Xu agreed, then realized Shen Feihai had also messaged them a while ago.

[Shen Feihai: Is your game okay? Do you need help?]

[Shen Feihai: I’ve been busy with my major’s courses lately and haven’t paid attention to the game. I just heard that “Running a Snack Stall” was maliciously reviewed.]

When Shen Feihai applied for university, her family wanted her to study finance so she could inherit the company. But she didn’t like it, so to rebel, she chose the Chemistry Department, beginning a love-hate relationship with her major’s courses. Of course, most of the time, she was defeated by the experiments, completely dominated by the coursework.

In her freshman year, she became interested in games and started planning to make one. Her family naturally didn’t support her, and the money for the studio came from her leftover allowance from previous years.

[Fang Xu: It’s okay, it’s been resolved.]

[Shen Feihai: Right, you haven’t sold your game, have you?]

[Fang Xu: No. But I probably won’t consider joining your studio before I graduate.]

[Shen Feihai: It’s fine, we graduate together anyway, so we can talk about it then. If you run into difficulties later, you can also come to me. I might not be able to help, but it’ll be an extra pair of hands.]

Fang Xu glanced over that sentence, and their unreliable image of the person changed somewhat.

The next day, after the internship concluded, they uploaded the game update.

Not only did they improve the matching between the story submission area and NPC quotes, but they also added new snack stall props and two new ingredient options.

[“Running a Snack Stall” updated! A sight to behold! I thought @fx had abandoned the game after releasing it.]

[Did you guys notice that the comment section seems to be back to normal!]

[? It looks like it. I don’t see those strange comments anymore.]

[Good, good, good. I’m going to promote it on other platforms now. For a free game to be slammed for so long, I really don’t know who is so ill-intentioned.]

[I’m promoting it too! These people have created a rebellious feeling in me. “Running a Snack Stall” is so much fun, so much fun! I recommend everyone play it!]

[Finally, I can post normally. I’ve saved so many interesting screenshots over the past while and was dying to share them. I finally got my chance.]

After the update, the game community was especially active, even more so than before the smear campaign, and the number of new players continued to increase.

[Go play the game quickly. The Princess’s favorability has been raised to 60 after the update. Just buy gifts in the shop.]

[A favorability of 60 comes with a special voice line. So cute, so cute. Who wouldn’t love an tsundere princess!]

[I looked around, and why does the Princess like only antiques? Buying a vase will bankrupt me.]

[The career-focused people don’t need a spouse. I need to save money to buy the new stove. A 10% total income bonus is worth it.]

[But when the Princess’s favorability is high and she’s in a good mood, the number of ‘Good Luck Days’ we encounter will also increase. If we draw a prize on a ‘Good Luck Day,’ instant wealth is right around the corner!]

[I think that every time, and then my daily income becomes 0. I learn a lesson, learn a lesson, learn a lesson, learn a lesson…]

[Upstairs, please dismantle the surveillance camera installed in my house, okay? Or apply a beauty filter, or I’ll really get mad.]

[I don’t care, @fx, increase our grand prize odds.]

[I don’t care, @fx, increase our grand prize odds.]

[…]

Seeing this, Fang Xu nervously cleared their throat and exited the comment section.

The in-game lottery needed a low probability to be truly surprising.

With the “Running a Snack Stall” matter resolved, their life returned to normal.

The company’s celebration dinner was also scheduled.

Tong Huai came out of the office and called everyone: “That’s all for work today. The rest of the time is for relaxing.”

“Coming!” Jingjing stood up from her seat: “I didn’t eat breakfast or lunch today, just waiting for this sentence from Sister Tong.”

“Aren’t you hungry?” He Ya also stood up and stretched.

“Not hungry,” Jingjing laughed: “I’m just looking forward to the delicious food.”

Jin Yu closed her computer. Seeing Fang Xu still typing, she thought they hadn’t heard and walked over to pat them on the shoulder: “Xiao Xu, time for the celebration dinner.”

Fang Xu hummed and typed the last line: “Finished just in time.”

“It wouldn’t matter even if you didn’t finish, it wouldn’t affect dinner,” Jin Yu leaned against the desk and chatted: “But President Pei will probably like you very much.”

This was sudden, and Fang Xu’s breath caught for a moment. Their hand shook, nearly deleting the file they just finished writing: “Huh?”

“I mean, President Pei must really like an employee like you.”

Fang Xu silently let out a sigh of relief, walking beside her and heading downstairs with the rest of the team.

Hearing ‘President Pei,’ other colleagues also asked, “Sister Tong, will President Pei come to this celebration dinner?”

Tong Huai pressed the elevator button: “I heard from other departments, same as usual, she’ll just make a quick round and leave.”

One of the colleagues sighed upon hearing this.

“What’s wrong?” He Ya asked curiously.

“Nothing, it’s just that President Pei is really too beautiful, but I think I’ve only seen her two or three times. I feel a bit regretful.”

She didn’t mean anything by it. She just liked photography and beautiful people. The first time she saw Pei Yunci, she wanted to take a photo of her, but she knew it was impossible.

Jin Yu chuckled: “Another person captivated by President Pei’s beauty.”

Tong Huai also chimed in: “Is there anyone who hasn’t been captivated?”

They wouldn’t dare say this in front of Pei Yunci, but they joked privately, and no one took it seriously.

Fang Xu walked beside them, silently thinking: No.

It was only natural to fall for Pei Yunci.

The celebration dinner was set at a private dining restaurant next to the company. The place was small but famous in Jiangcheng. The dishes were unique and flavorful, unlike some high-end restaurants that prioritized appearance over taste.

Since the department had quite a few people, Pei Yunci directly booked out the entire private restaurant. Everyone could eat anything prepared.

“President Pei, I want to work for Pei Group for a lifetime,” a person from another department said.

“President Pei isn’t here yet. Eat first. Save the vows of loyalty for when she arrives.”

“You’re right,” the person focused on eating: “You need to be full to have the energy to work.”

Fang Xu hadn’t been to this restaurant, but upon tasting one of the dishes, the flavor felt somewhat familiar.

After thinking for a moment, they remembered it was the takeout Pei Yunci often ate.

After eating enough, Fang Xu went to the self-service area for a small box of dessert.

It was the same as the box Pei Yunci gave them.

Very sweet.

When they were almost done eating, a waiter from the private restaurant led them upstairs, where there was a lounge and recreation area.

“No wonder President Pei chose this place. Not only can we eat, but we can also play right away. Karaoke, board games… you name it.”

Hearing everyone’s remarks, Tong Huai said, “I wish the proposals you hand in could be as thoughtful as this.”

“Sister Tong, no talking about work right now,” the colleagues said in unison.

Sister Tong laughed: “Fine, fine, my mistake. Want to play something?”

Jin Yu suggested: “Let’s check each one out. We have plenty of time this afternoon.”

“Good point. Let’s try everything. If it’s not fun, we’ll switch. What do you all think?”

“Sounds good!”

This proposal was unanimously approved. Fang Xu didn’t want to spoil everyone’s fun and followed them to sit down.

“Just playing like this seems a bit boring. How about we add some penalties?”

“What kind of penalties?”

“Haven’t thought of it yet, but the winner can decide. Drinking, truth or dare, or having the loser write code for you.”

“I think that’s fine. It makes it more interesting.”

“Agree, agree!”

Fang Xu, sitting quietly on the side, quietly protested in their heart: Not very inclined to agree.

After all, the scene of playing truth or dare last time was still fresh in their memory. But they had a slight social phobia and felt awkward speaking up, so they could only pray not to be punished this time.

In the first round, He Ya lost.

“How about He Ya sings a song?”

He Ya was eager: “Is this a penalty? I actually quite like singing.”

Thirty seconds later, she started singing. The people next to her instinctively covered their ears.

Fang Xu had heard their supervisor sing and thought this was actually okay.

Jin Yu quietly asked the person who suggested the penalty: “Are you punishing her or punishing us?”

That person also covered their ears: “I thought the game was just starting, and everyone should relax and slowly get into it. No one expected her singing to be like this.”

“…”

After finishing one song, He Ya felt good and looked at everyone: “Continue?”

The other colleagues finally breathed a sigh of relief: “Continue, continue!”

The loser of the second round was a girl from the marketing department.

“Tell us, who do you dislike the most in your department?” The question was asked by someone from the market department, a typical busybody.

Since there were many people, the game was divided into several groups. When this question came out, many people gathered around.

Fang Xu stayed for a while and somehow had a premonition that they would be next. They had the same feeling during the last truth or dare.

They pursed their lips, deciding to slip away.

But as soon as they stood up, Tong Huai noticed them and asked, “Going to the restroom?”

Fang Xu didn’t expect to be noticed so easily and quietly hummed yes.

Tong Huai didn’t mind and said, “Do you want to hear her answer before you go?”

“It’s okay.” Fang Xu just wanted to leave now.

“Alright,” Tong Huai didn’t ask further: “Be back soon.”

Fang Xu agreed and then quickly slipped away.

They washed their face in the restroom and didn’t go back, finding a quiet corner to stay, reading some competition materials that a senior had organized.

Compared to playing these games, doing their own thing alone made them feel more comfortable.

The spot Fang Xu chose was in a secluded corner on the second floor. It was relatively isolated, with two transparent windows facing the street, allowing a view of the flow of people and traffic. There was also a wine cabinet blocking the side, so most people wouldn’t notice there was seating here.

But before they could relax for long, footsteps approached.

“Tap, tap.”

The sound got closer and closer, and Fang Xu grew a little nervous.

If it was a stranger, they could just find a new spot. If it was someone from the same department, they might be enthusiastically dragged back to the game.

Just as they were thinking about how to refuse, a clear, pleasant voice spoke nearby: “Why are you here?”

It was very familiar.

Fang Xu looked up and saw Pei Yunci walking towards them.

After a moment of reaction, they quickly replied: “I came out for some fresh air.”

Pei Yunci hummed: “I didn’t see you earlier and thought you hadn’t come to the celebration dinner.”

According to custom, she still needed to show her face at major celebration dinners. After greeting everyone, she wouldn’t stay long. With the boss around, the employees wouldn’t be able to enjoy themselves fully.

This private restaurant was one she and Ji Qingsi opened as a hobby in high school. She didn’t expect it to do well and it had lasted until now.

She often came to this corner on the second floor and even had the manager place a wine cabinet there. She didn’t expect to accidentally find the girl here.

Fang Xu replied, “I don’t really like playing games, so I’m staying here for a bit.”

They couldn’t say this in front of their colleagues, as it would seem unsociable. But they said it naturally in front of Pei Yunci.

Perhaps because the other person had witnessed all their embarrassing moments, yet always offered comfort, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Pei Yunci was special to them.

“I don’t like playing either,” Pei Yunci sat in front of the wine cabinet, casually picking up a glass with her finger, and dropping some ice cubes into it.

Fang Xu saw it and asked, “Are you going to drink?”

“No, I’m mixing a drink.”

Pei Yunci’s alcohol tolerance was average, and when drunk, she liked to sleep, so she generally didn’t drink much. But when she had time, she would come here to mix a drink and relax.

Fang Xu nodded and said ‘oh,’ no longer thinking about the competition questions. Their gaze was entirely focused on that pair of beautiful, cold-white hands.

The ice cubes in the transparent glass swirled twice, forming some mist on the cup wall. Different spirits were poured in, gently stirred, creating tiny whirlpools. Pei Yunci’s every movement was perfect, as if crafting a piece of art.

Fang Xu didn’t know what they were looking at, maybe the drink, or maybe Pei Yunci.

As she put in the ice cubes, Pei Yunci noticed the girl staring intently.

She chuckled, pushed the drink over, and asked, “Want to try it?”

Fang Xu was indeed a little curious and nodded: “Okay.”

“The liquor is a bit…” strong, drink a little.

Pei Yunci didn’t finish her warning before she saw the girl pick up the glass and take a large gulp.

Finally, Fang Xu said, “It seems a little spicy.”

Pei Yunci: “…”

The drink she mixed was light in color, looking like fruit wine, but the alcohol content was genuinely high.

Pei Yunci looked at the girl and pushed a glass of warm water next to them: “How do you feel now?”

“…Fine,” Fang Xu said.

They rarely drank alcohol, but felt okay now: “Were you about to say something earlier?”

Pei Yunci was silent for a moment: “Nothing.”

Since the drink was already consumed, there was no need to say anything more.

Outside were the noisy voices of colleagues, but between the two of them, there was silence.

Fang Xu felt that they might be wearing too much, feeling a little hot, relaxed one moment and nervous the next, their emotions like a roller coaster.

Their reaction was also a little slow. After a while, they finally remembered what they wanted to say: “You?”

“Hmm?” The girl’s face was extremely red. Without a doubt, she was already a little drunk. Pei Yunci’s eyelashes fluttered: “What did you want to say?”

Fang Xu looked at the person in front of them with clear, moist eyes, but couldn’t recall what they wanted to say.

It was as if they were enchanted.

Only one thought filled their mind.

Pei Yunci is beautiful.

Her lips are also beautiful.

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