ARBW Chapter 22

After Pei Yuhuai finished handling his affairs and reopened the game, he discovered a new intimacy system.

This intimacy system emerged after he established a relationship with Lin Mian, indicating the level of intimacy between them.

Pei Yuhuai scrolled further and noticed that whenever their intimacy reached a certain level, he would receive a reward for achieving a milestone in their relationship.

Currently, Pei Yuhuai and Lin Mian’s intimacy level was just at one point. This single point was likely added when Lin Mian agreed to live with him and Pei Yuhuai initiated a hand-holding interaction.

After their relationship was confirmed, the title “Lover” appeared beneath Lin Mian’s name.

This title was pink, accompanied by a floating heart.

In a crowd, this pink title and the floating heart would stand out conspicuously.

Pei Yuhuai could easily locate Lin Mian just by glancing around.

Pei Yuhuai tried clicking on the various rewards listed in the intimacy system.

He discovered that when their intimacy reached ten points, he would receive two crystal cores.

At twenty points, he would receive five crystal cores.

At thirty points, the reward would be ten crystal cores.

At forty points, the reward would no longer be crystal cores but a couple’s outfit.

At fifty points, the reward would be a pair of couple’s rings.

At sixty points, the reward would be a spatial ring.

At seventy points, the reward would be a pet egg.

…

The rewards seemed quite generous.

Pei Yuhuai only looked at the initial rewards and didn’t bother with the ones further down the list.

He logged into the game but didn’t actually enter it.

Recently, the townsfolk of Scarlet Town had plenty of supplies, so there was no immediate risk of starvation. Thus, he wasn’t in a hurry to continue with tasks.

Afterward, Pei Yuhuai logged off again.

He had to return to his family home that evening and accompany his mother to meet a relative, so he wouldn’t have time to play the game.

On the other side, after sending Cheng Xiaowan off, Lin Mian found a guest room on the first floor to use as his bedroom.

He actually wished Cheng Xiaowan could stay with him for a few days; he felt a bit scared being alone in such a large house.

The place was too big, empty, and eerily quiet, with even his voice echoing.

Being alone with no one to talk to and no pets made the atmosphere somewhat unsettling.

After arranging his belongings in the guest room, Lin Mian noticed that many essentials were missing.

Items like cups, slippers, new bedding, curtains, toiletries, and so on.

The house had electricity, water, basic furniture, a refrigerator, air conditioning, and a water dispenser.

But the smaller items were sorely lacking, and with no place to buy them, Lin Mian was at a loss on how to acquire them.

As Lin Mian sat dazedly in the living room, unsure of how to even get a drink of water, Pei Yuhuai, who had said he wouldn’t be online, suddenly logged into the game.

Seeing Mr. Pei appear in the villa, Lin Mian’s expression was a mix of surprise and nervousness.

“Mr. Pei, you… you’re here?”

Pei Yuhuai nodded and then gestured for Lin Mian to sit down, as he was about to start giving him gifts.

Today, he had been so focused on granting Lin Mian an Ability that he had forgotten about the gift-giving routine.

He had been giving gifts daily, and if he suddenly stopped, Lin Mian might think he had lost interest after winning him over.

Pei Yuhuai first gave Lin Mian two gifts: the first, as usual, was a bouquet of flowers.

This time, the bouquet was of agapanthus, and along with it, Pei Yuhuai also gave a new set of clothes.

Lin Mian had grown accustomed to Pei Yuhuai’s daily flower-giving habit.

But even though he was used to it, holding the flowers still made him feel shy.

Especially when Mr. Pei gazed at him, Lin Mian couldn’t help but blush and feel his ears grow hot.

After sending the gifts, Pei Yuhuai realized the new house was lacking in essentials.

He thought about what Lin Mian might need and started purchasing items from the game’s store, then sending them to Lin Mian.

Since discovering that the game’s NPCs needed food, water, and clothes, Pei Yuhuai had increasingly felt they were like living beings.

The thought of Lin Mian moving into this place without food, bedding, or daily necessities made Pei Yuhuai feel a pang of sympathy for him.

Thus, for the next ten minutes, Lin Mian was bombarded with various gifts.

Clothes, shoes, socks, bedding, sheets, pillows…

Cups, towels, toothpaste, shower gel…

Even some rice, flour, oil, and salt were prepared for him.

Lin Mian, faced with the growing pile of items, was at a loss on how to handle them all.

Pei Yuhuai had intended to help Lin Mian organize everything, but then his driver, Lao Liu, informed him it was time to get off.

Not wanting to keep Lao Liu waiting, Pei Yuhuai instinctively turned off his phone, causing his game character to vanish instantly before Lin Mian’s eyes.

Seeing Mr. Pei disappear so suddenly, Lin Mian hadn’t even had the chance to thank him.

He hugged a pillow tightly, beginning to seriously ponder for the first time.

Who exactly was Mr. Pei?

He could appear and disappear at will.

Moreover, his appearances and disappearances seemed to happen in the same location.

He could also find such capable construction teams and provide so many supplies to sustain the entire town.

Not to mention the Gene Serum and the Ability he had given Lin Mian—these were not things an ordinary person could accomplish.

Lin Mian couldn’t help but feel that Mr. Pei wasn’t human, but perhaps an alien or… a god?

If Lin Mian had been more familiar with gaming, he might have easily figured out the clues about Pei Yuhuai.

Unfortunately, the world had descended into chaos when Lin Mian was very young.

He had little exposure to games and even less to online novels.

The post-apocalyptic world was one without internet, a time of great informational backwardness.

Lin Mian’s understanding of many things was likely less than that of an average teenager in Pei Yuhuai’s world.

Thus, the only explanations he could come up with were those that leaned towards the fantastical.

Afterward, Lin Mian began to sort through the gifts Mr. Pei had given him, all the while lost in thought.

He worked busily for a long time, and by the time he had put everything in its proper place, he found himself feeling drowsy.

Lin Mian slept in his guest room and didn’t wake up until noon the next day.

The soundproofing here was excellent, so he had slept deeply through the night.

Rubbing his eyes, he went to wash up and then heard the doorbell.

Lin Mian yawned and walked over to the doorbell display in the living room.

Seeing that it was Cheng Xiaowan outside, he pressed the button to open the door.

As he pressed the button, the front gate automatically opened.

Lin Mian went to the living room door, opened it, and waited for Cheng Xiaowan to come in before continuing with his morning routine.

Cheng Xiaowan seemed to be in a bad mood; she frowned as she followed Lin Mian and only spoke up after he had finished washing up.

“Where’s Mr. Pei? Didn’t he come to stay with you last night?”

Lin Mian was preparing lunch with the food Pei Yuhuai had given him the day before. Hearing this, he turned to look at Cheng Xiaowan.

“What’s wrong?”

“The townsfolk already know you’ve moved in with Mr. Pei. Some of them have been saying unpleasant things, and I got into an argument with them on my way here.”

Lin Mian understood that the unpleasant remarks were likely directed at him.

Now that Mr. Pei was the town’s benefactor, whether people liked him or not, they would still flatter him.

But Lin Mian was different; to them, he was an obstacle.

If Lin Mian didn’t exist, many people would likely vie to become Mr. Pei’s partner.

So, knowing that Lin Mian had moved in with Mr. Pei, it was inevitable that some would speak ill of him behind his back.

Lin Mian wasn’t particularly bothered; as long as he didn’t hear it himself, what others said didn’t concern him.

He knew Cheng Xiaowan was concerned for him and was grateful that she had stood up for him.

Seeing Cheng Xiaowan so upset, Lin Mian smiled and said to her, “Don’t be angry with them, and don’t argue with them. Let them say what they want; I don’t mind and won’t pay attention. Besides, their mouths are their own, and we can’t just silence them.”

“But what they’re saying is too harsh; I just can’t stand to hear it.”

“Were you looking for Mr. Pei just now because you wanted to tell him about this?”

“Yes, in my opinion, it’s because of him that they’re talking about you. He should at least stand up for you.”

“But this isn’t Mr. Pei’s fault. Mr. Pei is just too outstanding, which is why so many people like him. If Mr. Pei had intentionally led them on or had ambiguous relationships with them, then we should blame him. But the current situation is that Mr. Pei has no interest in them and doesn’t want anything to do with them. It’s just their own jealousy towards me, I think…”

Before Lin Mian could finish his thought, Cheng Xiaowan interrupted him with a frown.

“Alright, alright, I get it. All your reasoning is just because you don’t want to trouble Mr. Pei, right? I won’t tell him, so stop lecturing me.”

At noon, Cheng Xiaowan stayed for lunch.

She and Lin Mian cooked a simple meal together.

Then, around two in the afternoon, Pei Yuhuai logged in as promised to take Lin Mian out of Scarlet Town to fight Zombies.

Scarlet Town was located between the Inner City and the Outer City.

To the north was the Outer City, and to the south was the Inner City.

The two of them headed north, and after leaving the town, they reached the border of the Outer City.

Upon arriving, they didn’t immediately encounter Zombies.

Because the Outer City was home to many Lower Class People like Lin Mian, who, in order to survive, would voluntarily band together to clear out Zombies.

Thus, after leaving the town, they didn’t see any Zombies right away.

They still had to walk a distance, passing through the slums of the Outer City’s Lower Class People, until they reached a massive metal wall, where they could finally see the Zombies of this world.

The apocalypse in this world had occurred over a decade ago, so Zombies weren’t as numerous anymore.

Now, the greater dangers were environmental pollution, resource depletion, Mutated Animals, Mutated Plants, and Zombie Animals. Compared to these, Zombies were relatively less threatening.