Chapter 16: Acrophobia, Holding Hands — “Kissing at the Highest Point of the Ferris Wheel…”
Lu Xunye scoffed. “I don’t even know how to write the word ‘fear’!”
It wasn’t until he was sitting in the roller coaster seat, buckled in, looking at the empty wheelchair outside the safety barrier, that Lu Xunye quickly withdrew his gaze, grabbed the handrail, and closed his eyes peacefully.
The moment the staff pressed the start button, the entire car jerked forward. Lu Xunye let out an “Ah!”
Noticing Shen Yunqian’s gaze, Lu Xunye feigned calmness. “I just remembered, my phone doesn’t seem to be in my pocket.”
Shen Yunqian: “…”
As the roller coaster moved slowly along the track, getting faster and faster, it slowed down just as it was about to reach the peak.
Lu Xunye held his breath the entire time, his face flushed red. His hands gripped the safety bar in front of him like a life-saving straw, and he didn’t dare open his eyes.
In contrast, Shen Yunqian was much more composed. He tugged at Lu Xunye’s sleeve. “Lu Xunye, breathe.”
Lu Xunye couldn’t hear any outside sounds at all; the sensation of his sleeve being pulled was too faint.
The next second, he felt a pinch. His senses finally opened up, and Shen Yunqian’s voice filtered into his blocked ears.
At this moment, the roller coaster stopped.
His suspended, wildly beating heart gradually calmed down. He gasped for large breaths of air and opened his eyes, only to see where they were.
A vast expanse of white lay before him. Below was a drop of ten thousand feet, surrounded by floating masses of white gas—they were practically in the clouds.
Shen Yunqian saw his complexion return to normal and hadn’t even let out a sigh of relief before he watched Lu Xunye close his eyes again with a look of resignation, not even three seconds after opening them. “…”
Behind them sat a couple. The boy held the girl’s hand tightly, comforting her incessantly.
The boy’s coaxing voice poured into his ears along with the cold wind. Lu Xunye’s arm felt light, and he backhandedly clasped the hand Shen Yunqian was about to withdraw, as if suddenly remembering this person existed. “Don’t be afraid.”
Shen Yunqian looked at his eyes, which didn’t dare to open, and struggled slightly. But Lu Xunye held on with a death grip. He sighed helplessly. “You’re the one who shouldn’t be afraid.”
Lu Xunye seemed not to hear him clearly, stubbornly emphasizing—though it was unclear who he was trying to comfort—”Don’t be afraid. If you’re really scared, you can scream. Or I can let you hold my hand.”
“…” Shen Yunqian looked at the back of his own hand, which was being squeezed bloodless. “Thank you for letting me hold it.”
Lu Xunye twitched the corner of his mouth, squeezing a few words through his teeth with difficulty. “You’re welcome.”
The roller coaster paused briefly at the highest point of the track, then dived straight down. Continuous screams filled the air, enveloping the entire train.
Lu Xunye didn’t make a sound. Amidst the noisy shouting in his ears, he was lifted up by the intense weightlessness, then dropped again. He was like a fish belly-up in the sea, relentlessly battered by the waves.
Adrenaline soared.
Heart rate accelerated.
Without a point of support, he could only clutch the safety bar with one hand, while his grip on Shen Yunqian’s hand tightened even more.
By the time his ears were ringing, Lu Xunye guessed Shen Yunqian might have screamed. He wondered if Shen felt any better, and if his points would increase.
After an unknown amount of time, the car finally slowly returned to the start of the track. The people on board chatted and complained, basking in the survival of the experience, pushing up the safety bars and unbuckling their seatbelts.
“Lu Xunye.”
A soft call sounded in his ear. Lu Xunye opened his eyes sluggishly. He turned his head mechanically, seeing Shen Yunqian’s lips moving. He paused. “What did you say?”
Shen Yunqian shook his head. “We have to get off.”
“Okay.” Lu Xunye unbuckled his seatbelt.
Watching the people around them get off one after another, many supporting each other, he asked like an idiot, “Are you okay?”
“…” Shen Yunqian raised his hand in front of Lu’s eyes. “Maybe a little not okay.”
Lu Xunye saw that the hand in his palm was turning faintly purple from lack of blood circulation. He quickly let go. “Sorry.”
He looked down, then grabbed Shen Yunqian just as he was about to walk out from in front of him. “Let me help you.”
Shen Yunqian was confused. “I don’t need it.”
“I… might need it a little.” Lu Xunye looked up at him, blinking his eyes pitifully.
Shen Yunqian couldn’t help but smile at his silly appearance.
The smile that suddenly bloomed on the usually stern face of the cool beauty was faint, like ice and snow melting, making one feel bathed in a spring breeze.
Lu Xunye stared blankly for a moment.
“Not going?”
“Going, going, going!” Lu Xunye hurriedly supported his arm to stand up.
On the way, they happened to encounter a flower parade. A circle of people gathered where the floats passed, and beautifully dressed NPCs interacted with the tourists.
Lu Xunye glanced at the person beside him playing with his phone, slowed down his pace to walk side by side with him. “I’m really fine. You sit in it.”
Lu Xunye pushed the empty wheelchair, using it as a cane. After walking this distance, his legs were no longer jelly. Although he wasn’t as wretched as that boy earlier, he didn’t feel much better; his chest felt tight and stuffy.
Shen Yunqian put away his phone, looking down at Lu’s slightly trembling pant legs without exposing him. “You’re right, I do need to exercise more.”
Lu Xunye turned his head back just as a male NPC in a uniform wearing cat ears leaned in, holding a rose in his mouth. The boy approached him face-to-face.
He didn’t see that at the same time, another boy in Hanfu with fox ears and a rogue-handsome look was holding a blue rose in his mouth, leaving a large part of the stem exposed as he leaned close to Shen Yunqian.
“Holy crap!”
Over here, Lu Xunye was startled by the cat-boy. Still shaken, he threw whatever was in his hand and grabbed Shen Yunqian’s shoulders, hiding behind him.
Only when he saw clearly did he walk out awkwardly.
His shout was quite loud; tourists nearby heard the commotion and looked over. The NPCs interacting with the crowd were all carrying baskets of red, white, or blue roses.
Lu Xunye saw some tourists holding a rose and realized what was happening. He apologized, “Sorry about that.”
The float continued forward, and the crowd dispersed. “So you get embarrassed too.”
Hearing the tease, Lu Xunye turned his head to see Shen Yunqian holding a blue rose. There were a few crystal-clear water droplets on the flower’s center, the petals looking delicate and lush.
“Where did you get that?”
Shen Yunqian rubbed his thumb over the stem, which had its thorns removed, recalling the feel of the fox ears just now. It was a pity he didn’t touch them more. “It was a gift.”
With that, remembering something, he stuffed the flower into Lu Xunye’s hand. “Wait for me a moment.”
Lu Xunye watched his figure walk away. pinching the rose, the faint fragrance hitting his nose. He plucked a petal; it broke easily.
He let go, and the petal was blown away by the wind. He scoffed, “Fragile.”
Lu Xunye turned on his phone. The huge time display came into view: 16:34. The countdown had 5 hours left; it was enough.
He pulled up the chat box, seeing that the stranger tag had disappeared.
He curled his lips, typed a paragraph, and sent it.
Fifteen minutes later, the two were sitting in one of the gondolas of the Ferris wheel.
Lu Xunye drank the fruit drink Shen Yunqian had bought, staring blankly at Shen Yunqian, who had been dragged in completely unaware.
In Lu Xunye’s words: Since we’re here, of course, we have to ride as much as possible, otherwise wouldn’t the two-hundred-plus ticket be a waste?
“You actually didn’t need to do this,” Shen Yunqian said, touched. “I wouldn’t be unhappy over people I don’t know.”
Lu Xunye looked serious. “But I want you to be happy.”
A bird landed on the handle outside the gondola door, pecking at the glass.
The Ferris wheel rose gradually. Fortunately, the floor was metal, not glass. Lu Xunye naturally wasn’t stupid enough to look out the window. A silent atmosphere spread.
In the enclosed space, it wasn’t as ambiguous as Lu Xunye had expected. He bit the straw. “Do you really like those thrilling rides?”
Shen Yunqian lowered his eyes, saying nothing. He paused, then curled his finger and rubbed the window. The bird outside was startled, flapping its wings and quickly disappearing into the high sky.
Just as Lu Xunye thought he wouldn’t reply, Shen Yunqian lowered his hand and spoke.
“It flies so high…”
Lu Xunye didn’t understand what he meant, but after all, who hasn’t dreamed of flying up to roam the sky and look down on the mountains?
Time passed minute by minute, feeling as long as four seasons.
The gondola rose to the highest point. Lu Xunye instantly felt bored. He took a sip of his drink, but before he could swallow, he heard Shen Yunqian speak lightly.
“I heard that couples who kiss at the highest point of the Ferris wheel will stay together for life. Is that true?”
Hearing this, Lu Xunye choked, spraying the drink from his mouth.
He coughed until his throat and lungs ached dully, sliding down from the seat, supporting himself against the bench for a good while before stopping.
Lu Xunye had just raised his head when he froze again. He frantically raised his sleeve and started wiping Shen Yunqian’s face. “Sorry, sorry, my fault, my fault.”
The young man’s face was wet. Not only his cheek, but his nose tip and eyelashes were hung with purple droplets.
With Lu Xunye’s wipe, the sticky liquid spread even more evenly.
Shen Yunqian brushed his hand away, his expression flat. “You seem to really taboo discussing feelings.”
Lu Xunye: “…”
Returning to the residential complex, Shen Yunqian immediately saw the cat nestled at the door, its posture looking somewhat weary. He went over, squatted down, and rubbed the cat’s head. “You are real.”
Lu Xunye’s dangerous, burning gaze stared straight at the cat. He narrowed his eyes, his tone ambiguous. “It could also be fake.”
Shen Yunqian tentatively asked, “Do you want to come home with me?”
The system looked up to meet Lu Xunye’s murderous gaze and hurriedly looked at Shen Yunqian, nodding frantically.
Shen Yunqian’s eyes curved into a smile. He turned back to look at Lu Xunye, sharing his surprise. “It seems to understand me.”
Lu Xunye’s expression suddenly calmed.
“It wasn’t in vain that we looked for him for so long!”
His tone seemed casual, but it revealed a gnashing-of-teeth undercurrent.
The system shuddered and shrank into Shen Yunqian’s arms like a quail.
Lu Xunye clicked his tongue. “So dirty.”
Hearing this, the system quickly jumped down from Shen Yunqian’s arms, scratching frantically at the door with its front paws.
Shen Yunqian stood up, delighted by its initiative. He hadn’t expected this cat to be so willing to go home with him. “It’s okay, it’ll be clean after a wash.”
Lu Xunye thought of something and let out a snort of laughter through his nose.
Shen Yunqian unlocked the door, and the Munchkin cat zipped inside and disappeared in a flash.
Lu Xunye, still holding the bread bought at the amusement park, checked the time.
There was half an hour left until the mission ended. He didn’t know if that meal in the afternoon could count as having dinner together. “Do you want to eat something?”
“No need.” Shen Yunqian touched the lollipop in his pocket. Behind him came the rustling sound of a plastic bag. He turned his face, and a piece of bread was stuffed into his mouth.
Lu Xunye stared straight at him. “No wasting food.”
Shen Yunqian swallowed the thing in his mouth. It was cloyingly sweet; he didn’t like it much.
Lu Xunye involuntarily stuffed the majority of the remaining bread into his hand, touched his own half-piece against Shen’s, then took a bite himself, mumbling indistinctly, “Counts as dinner.”
Then he pointed two fingers at his own eyes, then flipped his hand to point at Shen’s, saying sternly, “No wasting food!”
“…Oh.” Shen Yunqian pushed the wheelchair inside, then turned back. “Where’s my flower?”
Lu Xunye blinked, his tone matter-of-fact. “A broken branch can’t be kept alive. I threw it away.”
Shen Yunqian: “…”
Life was calm for a month.
Adding in the opportunities to find the cat created by the system “getting lost” from time to time, Lu Xunye clearly felt Shen Yunqian’s attitude toward him softening a lot.
But what baffled him was that the points progress bar was frozen like ice. After deducting two thousand points, it stayed at 3000 without moving.
Ding— With a sound of unlocking, the main door was opened, and a boy barged in from outside.
At that moment, Lu Xunye was checking the backend of the original owner’s web novel app, looking at the uniform demands for updates and… verbal abuse.
Hearing the commotion, Lu Xunye looked up. The boy rushed over to pull him. He dodged, looked at the door, then at the boy. “Bro, who are you?”
“Damn, stop pretending. You think I wanted to come?”
As the boy spoke, he noticed Lu’s current appearance and was surprised. “F*ck, did you change your personality?!”
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