“It’s just a necklace, an object,” Lin Hui slightly bent down, looking at Lin Shi Yu. Her beautiful yet slender face outlined soft, blurred lines under the warm yellow desk lamp. “We can always buy things again, but you and Little Yue being well is what matters most to Mom. Do you understand?”

Lin Shiyu kept his eyes lowered and didn’t say anything. Lin Hui knew her son’s temperament; he tended to get fixated on his father’s affairs and become overly stressed about them. Still, she couldn’t say much, and she couldn’t criticize him.

In this matter, they were all at fault, and they all suffered the consequences. Some mistakes were like forbidden territories that should never have been touched in the first place. However, by the time Lin Hui finally understood this lesson, there was no turning back.

The shadow of this punishment would linger with this family for a lifetime, whether it was her fragile daughter, her sensitive son, or her own incompetence. No one could save them; while others were living their lives, they had to survive.

Lin Hui lowered her head, looking at her son’s profile. The lines from his eyebrows to his jaw resembled her from her youth, but she was gentle by nature, while Lin Shiyu’s eyes and expressions were filled with coldness and detachment.

It’s better this way, Lin Hui thought with a hint of bitterness. Don’t be like me, don’t be like me in any way.

“Drink the milk while it’s hot and go to bed early,” Lin Hui said. “I won’t disturb you with your homework.”

“Okay.”

After Lin Hui left the room, Lin Shi Yu retrieved the business card from under his homework book, picked up his phone, opened WeChat, entered the phone number in the “add friend” section, and sent a request.

Then he exited the interface and saw that silly one fish icon.

Lin Shiyu suddenly remembered that he hadn’t thought about the game Fish Island since he had started playing it.

He put his homework into his backpack, turned off the desk lamp, and climbed into bed. Then he opened Fish Island.

After a melodic startup screen music, the game scene appeared. He was still in the dark and dim Firefly Forest with a solitary, bald little character.

Lin Shiyu began to think about how to complete the newbie tasks. Today, he was determined to get himself a set of clothes and some hair.

He intended to click on the taskbar but accidentally touched the adjacent friend list. The friend list popped up, and there was only one friend, Rise, whose profile picture was unexpectedly lit up.

Lin Shiyu clicked on Rise’s chat box and slowly typed: [Take me on a dungeon run]

Rise’s message came back: [How come you’re online today?]

[Homework is done.]

[I suggest you check your textbook one more time.]

[Take me on a dungeon run!]

A party invitation was sent, and Lin Shiyu clicked to accept it. Rise asked: [Which dungeon do you want to do?]

How could Lin Shiyu know which one to choose? Typing on his phone was slow, and he found it troublesome, so he simply said: [Let’s voice chat.]

[Sure.]

Lin Shiyu took out his earphones, plugged them into his phone, and just as he did, a voice call from Zhong Qi came in.

Lin Shiyu picked up and said, “Just pick any dungeon; I’ll gather some clothes and hair first.”

A laugh sounded through the earphones.

Zhong Qi’s voice was naturally deep and full of masculinity, with a touch of chilly coolness. Passing through the earphones’ delicate current, it became even more magnetic, each word echoing like steady drum beats into the depths of his heart.

“There are quite a few streakers in this game,” Zhong Qi said. “You don’t need to worry too much about your appearance.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Rise bounced around in excitement. “Then let’s try a few of the beginner dungeons near the spawn point; I remember one of the drops is a cosmetic item.”

[Rise asks to hold hands with you.]

“Why do you always want to hold hands?”

“It makes us move faster,” Zhong Qi said, adding, “It also prevents you from getting lost.”

Lin Shiyu angrily clicked ‘Reject.’

The beginner dungeons were very straightforward. Before entering a dungeon, Zhong Qi explained to Lin Shiyu how to choose a class and the roles of each class. Then both of them chose melee warriors with high attack power.

Zhong Qi asked, “Why didn’t you choose a healer or a tank?”

“Why would I choose those?”

“Newbies heal from behind or foolishly tank in the front, while experienced players show off their damage output. Isn’t that how it works?”

“Are you crazy?”

The two completed two dungeons, defeating a bunch of cute and quirky animal monsters that Lin Shiyu couldn’t identify. Rain leveled up to level three, and just as they were about to enter the next dungeon, a WeChat message suddenly popped up.

The photographer had accepted his friend request.

“Hold on a second,” Lin Shi Yu exited the game interface and entered the chat with the photographer.

“What’s up?”

[Hello, I’m Zhao Bin from the Erliuwan Photography Studio. Are you the guy mentioned in the story?]

Lin Shiyu changed his sitting position on the bed, crossing his legs, and lowered his head while slowly typing and speaking into his earphones, “Someone’s looking for me.”

[Yes.]

[How about it, any thoughts?]

[What are the working hours?]

[Every Saturday and Sunday, from 9 AM to 11 AM. All the clothes will be delivered directly to the studio, you don’t need to bring anything.]

[Taking photos of the face?]

[If you don’t want your whole face to appear in the photos, I can discuss it with the other party. At most, we’ll capture your mouth. Is that acceptable?]

[So, I just need to stand there and let you take pictures?]

[Um… you’ll need to perform some simple actions since we need to showcase the style and design of the clothes. You can search online for the kind of poses that online fashion models do; they are not complicated at all. If we’re not shooting your face, there won’t be a high demand for your camera presence; as long as your body shape and posture are suitable, it’s fine.]

Lin Shiyu began to contemplate.

“Lin Shiyu,” Zhong Qi’s voice lazily came through, as if he had just yawned. “You’ve been chatting for a long time.”

“I’m just slow at typing.”

“You can hang up my call for now and finish with voice chat with that person, then come back.”

“No,” Lin Shiyu said. “I don’t know him so I don’t want to make a call.”

“What are you talking to strangers about?”

“A photographer contacted me for a photoshoot. I’m asking for more details.”

There was silence on the other end of the earphones.

Then Zhao Bin’s message came again: [If you’re concerned, I can send you the agreement first. It’s all legitimate, so you can rest assured.]

Lin Shiyu replied: [I won’t sign any agreement. When I arrive at the studio, you give me my payment first. I’ll leave after three hours of shooting.]

Zhao Bin sent an awkward emoji: [I still recommend that you sign the agreement since we’ll be paying you for your work.]

[No, if that’s the case, forget it.]

[Ah! It’s not that it’s not possible. Wait a moment; let me talk to my boss.]

“Hey, Lin Shiyu,” Zhong Qi said on the other end of the earphones. “Are you working as a part-time model?”

Lin Shiyu switched back to the game interface. “No, it’s the first time someone has asked me to take photos.”

“What kind of photos?”

“It should be something like a Taobao flat model.”

“How did they find you?”

“I happened to meet them at the school gate.”

Zhao Bin’s message quickly came back. [Here’s the deal, come to the studio this Saturday for a trial. If the photos turn out well, we’ll give you the money on the spot. How about that?]

[Payment first, then photos.]

The other person sent a laughing-crying emoji. [You’re quite focused on the money, kid.]

Lin Shiyu ignored him. After a while, the other person sent another message: [Alright, alright, when you come, I’ll give you 200 first before we start shooting. I’m not that stingy, bro.]

Lin Shiyu replied: [Okay].

Then he switched back to the game interface and continued to follow behind Zhong Qi, leaping and running. The character animations in this game were simply frustrating. The characters couldn’t walk properly and insisted on jumping and wobbling around like they had lost their minds.

“Then you agreed?”

Lin Shiyu nodded. “Yes, I just agreed.”

“Lin Shiyu, how did I not realize you’re so easy to fool?” Zhong Qi’s tone changed slightly when speaking, with a lower, less pleasant tone. “You actually believe in this kind of thing?”

“I don’t believe it.” Lin Shiyu manipulated his character to slash at the creature, which he couldn’t tell was a jellyfish or an octopus. “That’s why I asked him to pay first.”

“What’s the difference?”

The monster was defeated, and a set of appearance items finally dropped. Rain picked up the appearance items and put them on – an ugly braided hairstyle and a sack-like outfit. Lin Shiyu thought it was okay, so he reluctantly used them.

Rise put away his sword and walked over, causing Rain to stumble.

Zhong Qi’s voice sounded impatient, “Speak.”

Lin Shiyu didn’t understand why he was so fixated on this. The difference between taking money and not taking money was obvious, wasn’t it?

“Getting the money first means that if something goes wrong, I can run away,” Lin Shiyu said confidently.

 

Edited by: Jaisland

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