Chapter 107: We Are a Perfect Match
Cheng Ge kept gently patting Wen Ling’s back and squeezing his neck, wanting him to relax, but to little effect.
“Xiao Wen,” Cheng Ge called Wen Ling’s name in a very soft voice. “Are you a bit afraid?”
Wen Ling buried his head in Cheng Ge’s embrace and nodded before shaking it again. “I’m not afraid as long as you’re holding me.”
Cheng Ge kissed the crown of his head and said many things—words of comfort, and sincere thoughts.
“You said you only like me, so I’ll also tell you that I only like you. It’s true.”
“Liking is liking—didn’t you say that? No matter what you become, and regardless of your past, I still like you.”
“Would I stop liking you because of someone else’s mistakes?”
“I won’t. I still like you just as much.”
“I also like you.” Wen Ling’s voice was muffled, yet very serious.
Cheng Ge kissed Wen Ling again and held him. His face rubbed against Wen Ling’s ear dependently, as if he were the uneasy one lacking in love.
“In my heart, you are the most well-behaved and cutest person. You’re even cute when you’re throwing a tantrum. I just want to indulge you. But you can’t ignore me. I’m not willing to let you be alone. I’m afraid.”
“You might not know this, but I actually can’t leave you.”
Cheng Ge paused before continuing: “I don’t know when it started, but I found that I can’t leave you. This situation is a bit pathological for me, but since it’s you, it doesn’t seem to matter. If it’s you, I’m willing to accept it.”
“It’s me who can’t leave Cheng Ge,” Wen Ling said. “You have no idea that I… I want to eat you up. I’m the pathological one…”
Cheng Ge suddenly smiled, not correcting Wen Ling’s expression, and only said: “Then we like each other, and neither can leave the other. We’re both sick. How well we match! Who else could be such a good match as us?”
Wen Ling also seemed to follow with a faint smile. “We match so well.”
“Exactly.”
Cheng Ge talked a lot tonight, not at all stingy with his expressions as he usually was. He openly spoke of his love, and even madness was spoken of by him as something ordinary.
Cheng Ge rambled for a long time before Wen Ling finally closed his eyes. Cheng Ge let out a sigh of relief, and his heart, which had been suspended, finally landed.
001 came online with a sycophantic tone: [Host, are you alright?]
Cheng Ge chose to curse at 001 the moment he saw it: [Do you not have data on whether I’m fucking alright or not?]
001’s tone was very flattering: [So does the Host need painkillers now?]
Cheng Ge rolled his eyes in his mind: [You’re a real capitalist, aren’t you? You’re still thinking about deducting my points now. Why didn’t you tell me that taking that medicine would cause me to cough blood? Gosh, Wen Ling was scared to tears!]
[I won’t charge points this time, no charge,] 001 was exceptionally cowardly today. [The System didn’t detect that the Host’s emotional fluctuations would be this great. You were too agitated, so you forced the toxins inside out.]
As the System finished speaking, a pill appeared in Cheng Ge’s mouth. Cheng Ge swallowed it directly, and the pain in his body indeed lessened significantly.
001: [The System really doesn’t understand. Why did the Host insist on taking real poison? Couldn’t the Host have just faked death like before?]
[Wouldn’t that have just proven Wen Ling’s words that I lied to him again?]
[What does that matter? You’re only doing it to get him out, not to harm him.] Cheng Ge’s actions didn’t fit 001’s understanding at all. In the end, it found a phrase to summarize: [The Host’s behavior is ‘eating bitterness for no reason.’]
Cheng Ge’s hand stroked Wen Ling’s hair. [Maybe. Whatever. I can’t make you understand.]
001: [ . ]
Cheng Ge: [Don’t you be speechless yet. Why did Wen Ling find out I entered his dream?]
001: [This is a risk of the upgraded prop. Actually, the Host can’t be said to have entered the dream. The System extracts the dream Wen Ling is currently having and performs a restoration simulation. Wen Ling doesn’t enter the simulation field, so he won’t have any sensation and will forget after waking. By entering the simulation field, the Host becomes the protagonist, and all of Wen Ling’s perceptions are transferred to the Host.]
[But the prerequisite for it to be effective is that Wen Ling himself completes the dream and the simulation field disappears on its own, rather than the Host forcibly destroying the simulation field due to external factors. This time, because the Host’s emotional fluctuations were too great, it triggered vomiting, leading to the passive destruction of the simulation field.]
[Your wife remembers everything. Naturally, he can also detect the abnormality.]
He knew it. He’d found it strange before. Logically, one shouldn’t feel pain in a dream, yet when Wen Ling punched the mirror that time, he had been in agonizing pain.
Cheng Ge was annoyed: [Then why didn’t you tell me the risks in advance?]
001’s mechanical voice spoke with a tone of disbelief: [Did the System not provide a prompt before?]
Cheng Ge was just about to start cursing when he heard 001 say again: [Apologies. Record search complete. The System indeed neglected to inform of the risk points.]
001 began to be sycophantic again: [This was a programming error by the System. The System will compensate the Host with five points.]
Cheng Ge was furious: [My wife was scared like that! What do I need your points for, huh?]
Cheng Ge could never forget the way Wen Ling’s face had no color at that time. He was so afraid. If he’d known things would turn out like this, he would never have dared to use the prop so recklessly.
[Host, calm your anger, calm your anger. How about this,] the System bit its tongue and promised: [The System guarantees the Host will not lose his life in subsequent tasks.]
Cheng Ge was stunned. After a moment, he deflated, appearing to compromise: [Even those extra tasks?]
001: [Even those.]
Cheng Ge began to negotiate. [Then can you guarantee I won’t lose an arm or a leg? Wen Ling was scared like that just from me coughing blood. If I’m missing a part of my body, he’ll definitely be terrified.]
001: [No. The System doesn’t have such high authority.]
Cheng Ge: [ . ]
001: [The time for the task to start isn’t that soon. Host doesn’t need to worry.]
Cheng Ge: [You’re crazy. Is it not dangerous just because it starts later?]
001: [ … ]
[No. The System means that during this period, the Host can train your wife’s courage.]
Cheng Ge: […Fuck your father.]
After cursing, he immediately added a blow before 001 could respond: [I know you’re going to say you don’t have a father. You may leave.]
001: [ … ]
The night was very quiet. Cheng Ge thought about things and let out a sigh, his heart filled with both guilt and contradiction.
In the past, for the sake of survival and to complete the conquest tasks, Cheng Ge’s entering the dreams could be said to be beyond reproach.
But to reconsider the act of entering dreams in the current situation, it was double-edged.
“Taking away” Wen Ling’s nightmares and sharing a bit of his pain seemed high-minded at first glance. It could indeed be a good thing for the other party as it avoided the things Wen Ling was afraid of and hated in his daily life.
But on second thought, probably no one would be willing to let others see their nightmares—those buried experiences that couldn’t see the light of day. Especially Wen Ling’s humiliating experiences.
Wen Ling’s past was likely a large scab buried under his skin; it was awkward and only hurt when pressed.
Letting Cheng Ge see Wen Ling’s past was like tearing off a scab embedded deep in Wen Ling’s skin, revealing a bloodied wound. Protecting it well might allow it to recover and stop the pain, but one careless move might lead to infection and rot.
Before this, Cheng Ge hadn’t known that Wen Ling actually detested himself.
Wen Ling was insecure.
Afraid of being abandoned, afraid that he wouldn’t want him, loving to be praised, saying his eyes were big and scary, drawing himself as a gray, thin little dog—everything had left a trace.
Cheng Ge had been thinking about it wrongly the whole time. Wen Ling would say beautiful things very directly every day, would smile at him, express himself so bravely, and love to throw small tantrums. Cheng Ge had thought those were the assets and courage that only a confident person possessed.
But as it turned out, an insecure person would act that way too.
He had to repeatedly express “pleasing,” and repeatedly confirm your love for him. He wasn’t trying to be unreasonable; he simply had to confirm he had something in his hands because he was always uneasy.
Some things were set. To make Wen Ling forever at ease, he would have to give him companionship that was even longer than a lifetime.
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