Chapter 82

In Pear Town, it's customary to stay up all night on New Year's Eve. Lin Qin wasn't feeling well, so she went to bed early. Lin Ting and Chen Zhiyi snuggled up in bed, with a small table set up on the bed with a computer, watching the Spring Festival Gala and waiting for the New Year to arrive.

Thinking back to how she always stayed up late alone on New Year's Eve, tonight she can lean against Chen Zhiyi's chest and stay up late with him. His arms are so warm, like a little heater. It's so nice to be holding him like this.

That feels so good.

Watching the Spring Festival Gala live on her computer, Lin Ting recalled the joke she made before the New Year's Day holiday, "You said you'd try your best to get on the Spring Festival Gala this year so I could benefit from it."

"Yes, I'm sorry, I didn't try hard enough this year. I'll try harder and harder next year."

Lin Ting laughed. "This phrase sounds familiar. Isn't it a classic quote from some famous person?"

"Ah, that's my life motto now."

"Just so I can get on the Spring Festival Gala?"

"I'd do anything for you."

Lin Ting's phone rang, and she opened the WeChat group chat. It was a new link to a murder mystery game sent by Zhong Xiaoman.

Murder mystery games have recently become a favorite among the four girls in their dorm. They play a game whenever they have free time, usually before going to bed. Chen Zhiyi has seen Lin Ting play a few times.

When Chen Zhiyi first saw Lin Tingwan, she felt it was more novel than discovering a new continent, as she had never touched games before.

Lin Tingwan plays murder mystery games because she finds them to have a plot, role assignments, and be mind-bending suspense that allows players to immerse themselves in the story, making them very interesting and more enjoyable than those games with flying bullets and violent fighting.

Xiaoman: There's a new script, wanna play a round?

Yun Shu: No problem.

Jingjing: I took a look, and the plot is a suspenseful romance, requiring four couples.

Xiaoman: I'm currently all alone, so I've brought my cousin over to fill in.

Yun Shu: @Xiao Man, why did you break up again?

Xiaoman: It's Chinese New Year, can you please not touch on my sore spots? Want to play or not?

Yun Shu: I'm fine.

Jingjing: @Lin Ting, what about you? Is Chen Zhiyi here? Bring him in.

Xiaoman: Yeah, I've already booked the room. Hurry up and bring the big star in.

Yun Shu: Pull him in, pull him in!

Lin Ting showed Chen Zhiyi the chat history in the group, "How about a game? Experience the love and hate in the virtual world."

"That advertising copy is very appealing." With that, Chen Zhiyi picked up his phone. "What's the name of the game app?"

Lin Ting took his phone from him. "I'll help you download it."

The game client started downloading, and Lin Ting replied in the group, "Okay, I've got him to fill in."

A cheer erupted in the group chat.

After a while, Chen Zhiyi downloaded and registered the game, and entered the game room at Lin Ting's invitation.

As soon as he came in, everyone rushed to greet him.

Jingjing: "Little brother, it's been a long time."

Yun Shu: "Wow, the arrival of a big star has made our game room shine!"

Xiaoman: "Brother-in-law, I've broken up with my boyfriend. Could you send me a big red envelope to comfort me?"

"..."

Everyone was quite informal and reserved, but Chen Zhiyi didn't feel uncomfortable at all. "Happy New Year, sisters and brothers-in-law!"

The two brothers-in-law, who had been hiding, also came out to say hello.

The story is a suspenseful and mind-bending thriller with a particularly melodramatic script, incorporating elements that challenge ethical boundaries, such as a tragic love story within a wealthy family, forbidden romance, and deep-seated hatred. The entire story takes place in a century-old, wealthy mansion. It begins with the young master and a maid falling in love and planning to elope. However, on the very night they leave, the maid is poisoned to death. Time is then reversed to twenty-four hours earlier, and the young master, determined to prevent his beloved from being murdered, begins to unravel the mystery, trying to find the killer. He discovers, however, that the mansion is fraught with danger, and everyone harbors their own secrets.

Lin Ting and Chen Zhiyi were chosen for the main storyline, playing the roles of the young master and the maid.

The Jingjing couple drew the roles of head of the household and matriarch, seemingly respectful to each other, but in reality, they were estranged.

The Yun Shu couple drew the names of the eldest son and his wife, a perfect couple in the eyes of outsiders.

Xiaoman and her cousin were chosen as the mistress's servant and the farmhand. On the surface, they were a married couple, but in reality, they were siblings seeking revenge for their mother.

The script is exquisitely written, with each character meticulously crafted, varying in their strengths and weaknesses. The mansion setting in the game is dark, quiet, and eerily quiet, creating a captivating atmosphere that keeps participants on the edge of their seats, eager to see what kind of person is "that person" next to them. Are they truly sincere, or are they secretly colluding with others? Whether each couple's ending will be a happy one or a tragic separation remains unknown; players can only follow the plot and make choices as they search for clues.

To live or to die? To stay or to leave? To let go or to cling to the past? These are all choices that one must make in life.

During the final debriefing, everyone revealed their hand.

Xiaoman and her cousin: Their purpose is the simplest. They are twins and entered the mansion to avenge their mother and kill the male master who abandoned his wife and children.

Jingjing's husband: The head of the family, outwardly refined and cultured, but secretly ruthless and unscrupulous. For his future and power, he murdered his wife who had shared his hardships, married a daughter of a prominent family, and after moving in, secretly used a slow-acting drug to kill the daughter and her father-in-law, ultimately gaining control of the prestigious household. To satisfy his lust, he forcibly married a young woman from a fallen family, and now he has his eye on the newly arrived maidservant.

Jingjing: The mistress and the eldest young master were actually classmates. When they fell in love, she suddenly disappeared without a trace. When they met again, she had been arranged by her parents to marry the master as his second wife. She hated the master's forceful taking but was powerless to stop it. She accidentally learned the secret of Yun Shu and her brother and wanted to join forces with them to kill the master so that she could elope with the eldest young master. However, she did not expect that the eldest young master would fall in love with the maid, and she did not expect that her husband would also have his eye on the maid. Jealousy arose and her mind gradually became twisted.

Yun Shu and her husband: The eldest son, eldest daughter-in-law, and youngest son were childhood sweethearts. The eldest daughter-in-law had always admired the youngest son, but for the sake of a marriage alliance between their families, she ultimately married the eldest son. The eldest son knew his daughter-in-law's feelings, and the two lived a marriage in name only. His former lover had married his father, and his nominal wife loved someone else. He was heartbroken and lonely, and fell in love at first sight with a newly arrived maid.

Lin Ting and Chen Zhiyi: The young master's maid, Y, who has just entered the mansion to serve him, is gentle and lovely. The two develop feelings for each other during their time together and secretly pledge their lives to each other.

The mistress obtained poison from her siblings, intending to poison the master of the house. However, the eldest mistress, blinded by jealousy, switched the poison with the young master's. Knowing that the young master and the maid were going to elope that night, the eldest mistress gave the poison to the maid, ultimately causing her death.

This truth is heartbreaking. So, who is the real murderer? And who is the real victim?

Apart from the maid and the young master, everyone else is both the murderer and the victim.

All beings are sinful, and all sins originate from desires and attachments. Let them go.

Finally, Heaven took pity on him and gave the young master a bottle of forgetfulness potion and poison. If he drank the forgetfulness potion, their love would be severed, and he would no longer suffer the pain of unrequited love. If he drank the poison, both of them would die in this life, but they could continue their love in the next life.

Without hesitation, the young master drank the poison.

Lin Ting got anxious, threw Chen Zhiyi's phone aside, glared at him, and slapped the blanket in anger, "Are you stupid? I'm already dead, you would definitely choose the potion of forgetfulness, forget everything and start a new life, why did you follow me to commit suicide?"

Chen Zhiyi remained calm, saying, "You're not by my side anymore, what's so scary about death?"

Lin Ting rushed over and hugged him tightly, saying, "I want us both to live well."

Chen Zhiyi kissed her forehead, "Of course, this is just a game. The real world isn't full of such bizarre and complicated events."

"Launching a new product during the Lunar New Year with such a melodramatic ethical drama is a good thing I ate my New Year's Eve dinner early, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to eat."

Chen Zhiyi knew that Lin Ting was immersed in the game. Although she knew her ending from the beginning, she still stood firmly by his side throughout the game, constantly making choices. She was trying her best to reverse the plot, find the culprit behind it, and have a happy ending for the two of them.

But isn't the death of both a happy ending? Two people who love each other deeply, one leaves, and the other has to live a lonely life in this world for a very long time. Some people who are alive can let go, which is a kind of luck, but those who cannot let go suffer a slow pain that never ends.

He drank the poisoned wine without hesitation because he felt he couldn't let go of the past, while Lin Ting was fixated on the ending. If their roles were reversed, she probably wouldn't be able to let go either.

"Yeah, it's a bit melodramatic, but the emotions involved are real. I think you can feel that, right?"

Their foreheads touched, and Chen Zhiyi cupped Lin Ting's cheeks. The tenderness and affection in his eyes, illuminated by the dim bedside lamp, seemed even more lingering and tender, enough to melt anyone's heart.

Lin Ting hooked her arms around his neck, took his lips in her mouth, and kissed him deeply.

"If you're going to make a heartfelt confession, can you please turn off the game? We onlookers are getting so jealous."

"To be forced to eat dog food during the Chinese New Year, where is justice?"

"Sister, brother-in-law, I just broke up with my boyfriend. Please have some decency."

"I think I heard the sound of kissing. I can accept this level, but I can't take what comes next. There are children around, so please be mindful of the impact."

...

The two immediately stopped. Lin Ting, her face flushed, gritted her teeth and whispered, "Why didn't you turn it off?"

Chen Zhiyi: "Before I could even log out, you snatched my phone away."

Lin Ting: ..."

Chen Zhiyi took back his phone, sent a message saying, "Thank you for watching our love story," and then exited the game.

Lin Ting was completely petrified. In the end, games really do cause a lot of harm, hurting people emotionally and making them lose face.

Suddenly, dazzling fireworks burst open outside the window like stars, and the sound of firecrackers was deafening. The whole world seemed to be ignited in an instant, as if to blow away all the fatigue and troubles of the past year.

The countdown to the Spring Festival Gala has begun; the new year is just around the corner.

Lin Ting put on her down jacket, leaned against the window, and watched the dazzling fireworks outside, and the colorful world illuminated by them.

Chen Zhiyi followed and stood by the window, wrapping his arms around Lin Ting's waist from behind. Lin Ting stroked the back of Chen Zhiyi's hand.

"The fireworks are so beautiful," Lin Ting exclaimed.

Chen Zhiyi looked down at the person in his arms. Her face was illuminated by the light of the fireworks, and her delicate features looked even more beautiful and charming under the light and shadow. He couldn't help but kiss her forehead again.

"Yes, it's so beautiful. It's a pity we came back in such a hurry this time. Next year I'll prepare the fireworks in advance, and we'll set them off to our hearts' content on New Year's Eve."

Lin Ting's fingers paused. Perhaps influenced by the murder mystery game, her insecurity resurfaced. "Will we still be together this time next year?"

"Of course, I will spend every New Year with you from now on."

If all goes well, I'd like to be by your side next Lunar New Year's Eve under a different, legally protected identity.

The countdown to the Spring Festival Gala ended, and the clock struck midnight. A dazzling display of lights and fireworks illuminated the night, lighting up the path towards a better life in the new year.

"Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year!"

May you be happy every year!

I hope that in the future, no matter when or where, we can always be by each other's side!