The Gloomy Paper-Man Came to My Door to Pursue His Love - Chapter 16

The allowance in Qin Fei’s hands was quite generous. However, because he and the Little Highness were not yet married, he was not considered an official member of the Imperial Family.

According to the regulations, he was not actually entitled to this allowance. It was the First Prince who had deliberately contacted Xi Li in front of Qin Fei to arrange it.

“Perhaps I should transfer a monthly allowance to Xiao Fei from my own account,” the First Prince suggested.

Qin Fei, who was eating at the time, looked up and acted flattered. “Eldest Brother, how could I possibly accept that?”

“Why not? My younger brother is fighting abroad and cannot return home. As his elder brother, it is only natural that I help him take care of his wife.” The First Prince’s hypocritical expression was nauseating. He turned to the screen to ask Xi Li, “What do you think?”

“Mind your own business,” came Xi Li’s cold reply from the Terminal. “Do not bother me with nonsense.”

The call was immediately disconnected.

The next day, Qin Fei received his first payment of one million Star Coins. Since then, Qin Fei had received one million Star Coins every month for five consecutive years. Without including interest, the account balance had accumulated to sixty million Star Coins.

Qin Fei had not touched a single cent of it. His previous game top-ups had been paid for with his own money. He typed a reply to Sha Bei’s message.

Sha Bei: Use your allowance?

Qin Fei: Of course not.

Sha Bei: Why not?

The reason, of course, was that he did not want the First Prince’s dirty money to taint his character.

Qin Fei opened the game mall. It was filled with a dazzling array of items, some of which were priced quite high, even exceeding the cost of living in the Interstellar era. However, the Intimacy guide stated that Intimacy could also be increased through microtransactions.

Qin Fei rarely went shopping for himself, as he had little control over his own food, clothing, or housing. Consequently, he was extremely meticulous when choosing clothes for his character.

Ding! You have successfully purchased the Interstellar Traveler Combat Suit for Sha Bei.

Ding! You have successfully purchased the Shadow Hunter Cloak for Sha Bei.

Ding! You have successfully purchased the Mechanical Guardian Armor for Sha Bei.

The Terminal could no longer watch in silence. “Why do you always choose items like these?”

“I think Sha Bei would look very cool in them.” Qin Fei tapped the screen again.

Ding! You have successfully purchased the Magic Cape for Sha Bei.

The Terminal remained silent.

Qin Fei added, “Besides, these are complete sets, so I cannot make a mistake.”

The Terminal said, “I apologize, but I forgot to remind you. You can click the Image Preview in the bottom left corner to select more suitable clothing for your character.”

“Why did you not say so sooner?” Qin Fei asked.

“My apologies,” the Terminal replied. “I assumed that since you have been spending so much time on the game forums, you would have a better understanding of the game.”

Following the Terminal’s guidance, Qin Fei opened the Image Preview. The character’s image appeared on the left side of the mall interface. The character was wearing the initial clothing chosen when Qin Fei first created the role: a very ordinary black striped shirt with the top two buttons undone, faintly revealing the Alpha gland near his neck.

Qin Fei repeated, “Why did you not say so sooner?”

“You are returning to your true self again, are you not?” the Terminal asked.

Qin Fei had a smile in his eyes, clearly in a very good mood. Since the season in the game was winter, Qin Fei chose a black turtleneck sweater, woolen tapered trousers, and a double-sided wool overcoat for his character. He looked at the character in the Image Preview; the model style was palpable.

Qin Fei was very satisfied and immediately moved on to coordinate the next outfit. However, because he forgot to save the image, the winter outfit disappeared instantly. Not only that, but even the character’s original default clothing vanished as well. All that remained was a bare, muscular torso and an off-white bath towel that barely covered his sensitive areas.

Qin Fei stopped coordinating the outfits and stared at the character’s eight-pack abs. His brow furrowed slowly.

“Why did you not say so sooner?!” Qin Fei exclaimed.

The Terminal offered no response.

The Image Preview, much like the Business Card Display, was merely a visual representation of the character and did not require Xi Li to be present personally. He was still in his house, which he had previously smashed to pieces.

Ding! Qin Fei has successfully purchased the Interstellar Traveler Combat Suit for you.

Ding! Qin Fei has successfully purchased the Shadow Hunter Cloak for you.

Ding! Qin Fei has successfully purchased the Mechanical Guardian Armor for you.

Data arrived one after another, and the clothes Qin Fei purchased appeared in the wardrobe. Because Xi Li had broken the wardrobe doors earlier, he did not need to walk over to check them. He only had to turn his head to see the strange costumes.

Xi Li stared at them for a while. What on earth are these?

The outfits were so bizarre that Xi Li could not help but stand up and walk to the wardrobe. He pulled aside a hanging piece of the broken door to inspect a set. Did Qin Fei like Interstellar Sci-Fi Magic style? It was hard to imagine. Xi Li let out a short laugh.

Ding! Qin Fei has successfully purchased a Black Turtleneck Sweater for you.

Ding! Qin Fei has successfully purchased Woolen Tapered Trousers for you.

Ding! Qin Fei has successfully purchased a Double-sided Wool Overcoat for you.

As the data transferred, several more items were stuffed into the wardrobe. These clothes were a bit more normal. While they were not exactly his style, they were wearable. With his physique, what would not look good?

Xi Li looked through them one by one. Suddenly, he felt a silky texture. He looked down and saw a silk thong in his hand.

Xi Li sat in silence.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Before Xi Li could react, several more pairs of underwear appeared in his hand like a magic trick. These were boxer briefs. However, the patterns on the front were all different. There was a puppy sticking its tongue out, a kitten sticking its tongue out, a calf sticking its tongue out, and even a pair featuring a bright red monkey’s bottom.

Xi Li took a deep breath and shoved the handful of underwear into the wardrobe all at once. He reached out to close the door, but his hand caught only air because the wardrobe doors were long gone.

His hand clenched into a fist. A second later, a hollowed-out, see-through mesh fisherman’s suspender top caught on his wrist. A second after that, a carved lace vest landed on his arm. A second after that, a translucent white shirt landed on his head.

Xi Li ripped the shirt off, only to find it was paired with a set of leather straps that felt quite restrictive. The transmitted data included a description of the white shirt:

Outfit Name: Temptation of the White Moonlight

Description: The straps outline the curves of the body. Tonight, the White Moonlight makes you burn with heat.

Xi Li ground his teeth. “Qin! Fei!”

As he spoke, a shimmering, fashionable chest chain fell onto him.

Outfit Name: Swaying Light

Description: The chest chain fits tightly against the skin. Every frown and smile sways with emotion.

Xi Li was overwhelmed with shame and indignation. His cheeks, ears, and neck turned a deep shade of red. He stiffened his neck and took out his Terminal, just as a message from Qin Fei arrived.

Qin Fei: Husband, do you like it?

Qin Fei: [Heart gesture]

Xi Li looked up, dazed. It was hard to believe this was his cold, detached fiancé. After a few seconds of silence, he turned his head stiffly to look at the doorless wardrobe. Those items were an eyesore, yet they were impossibly eye-catching. As he stared, he truly felt a sense of heat, as if he had been pricked. He straightened his head.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he closed his eyes. His heart was not in turmoil; he had always been self-controlled. He was merely annoyed.

Ding! Ding-ding! Ding-ding-ding!

On the other side of the data stream, Qin Fei had not stopped his unrestrained shopping spree.

The Terminal advised him, “Perhaps you should check your Intimacy level with your character first?”

That made sense. Qin Fei paused his shopping and switched from the Mall to the Intimacy tab. He opened it, but the heart remained completely empty.

Intimacy: 0%.

Qin Fei was not necessarily disappointed. If anything, he felt a sense of relief, as if he had found an answer. The main plot did not increase Intimacy, daily interactions did not increase Intimacy, and even spending money did not increase Intimacy.

There was only one possibility: a game bug.

Remembering something, Qin Fei asked the Terminal, “Did the official support reply to my feedback?”

Due to the lag caused by downloading too many patches, the Terminal had to exit other programs to ensure smooth gameplay for Qin Fei.

“I will check for you now,” the Terminal said. Thirty seconds later, it reported, “The game officials replied to your email two hours ago.”

“Is it a bug?” Qin Fei asked.

The Terminal replied, “The officials do not have a definitive answer yet. However, they will send a game engineer to perform a detection for you. They need to schedule a time, and you will be unable to go online during this period.”

Qin Fei looked at the character display next to the mall. Thinking of the character waiting for him to log in, he said, “I will let Sha Bei know.”

He opened the Terminal, but the character had not replied to him. Qin Fei did not mind and typed:

Qin Fei: Husband, I will not be online for a while.

Qin Fei: An engineer is coming to check the bug where Intimacy does not increase.

There was still no reply. Qin Fei had the Terminal close the game. He told the Terminal, “Contact the officials. They can perform the detection now.”

The Terminal responded, “I have contacted them via the dedicated line. They will begin the detection in half an hour. Once finished, they will contact you. To ensure your login does not interfere with the process, you cannot go online during the detection.”

“Fine,” Qin Fei replied.

Qin Fei then logged into StarBlog. His previous post had an incredible number of comments; thousands of netizens were waiting for his next update. Qin Fei opened the virtual keyboard and slowly typed the content for Chapter 3:

I heard that a miraculous doctor lived on a distant planet. After much travel, I finally found him.

“I hope you can make him remember me,” I pleaded.

The doctor said, “My surname is Shen and my given name is Yi, which means Miraculous Doctor, but I am not actually a miraculous doctor.”

The Terminal remarked, “Your readers will kill you if you keep them waiting for an update like this.”

“Just a joke,” Qin Fei said, feeling amused. He deleted the doctor’s lines and rewrote them:

The doctor said, “I will do what I can, but do not get your hopes up. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.”

Qin Fei lowered his eyes and wrote:

I said, “Okay.”

But in my heart, I secretly held a very, very great hope for Sha Bei.