Chapter 76, Chapter Twenty-Three: The Fantasy Mansion
Chaochao was stunned to see the two people appear in the cafeteria at the same time.
She nudged DD next to her with her elbow, "Am I seeing things...?"
DD was also taken aback for a moment, "I saw it too."
"I don't understand," Chaochao said, her eyes wide. "Can a normal person fall in love at this time?"
"But if it doesn't sprout now, it will never have a chance to sprout again," DD said matter-of-factly.
"Pah, you really don't know how to talk."
The two people sitting in the restaurant had already spotted them, and Wen Ting waved to Chao Chao DD.
Chaochao quickly glanced at Gong Baidie next to Wen Ting, both shocked and curious about the pair.
"Good morning, Director." The two walked over and bowed to Gong Baidie, somewhat like children being forced by their mothers to meet unfamiliar relatives.
Gong Baidie nodded, "Hello."
After nearly ten days in the ghost story, everyone looked somewhat haggard. The new director was strikingly unconventional, always wearing a brand new suit whenever they met.
He and Wen Ting sat side by side, with a pot of eight-treasure porridge between them.
When Chaochao and DD came in, they saw them feeding each other, the atmosphere even thicker than the porridge in the jar.
"Sister, what's going on here..." Chaochao asked softly with her eyes.
Wen Ting smiled and took Gong Baidie's hand, "Your brother-in-law."
In a normal world, Chaochao would definitely jump up and cheer, but now she just thinks it's outrageous.
"I don't even know when this happened!"
Wen Ting turned her head and looked at Gong Baidie. "Actually, we've known each other for a long time, um... more than seven years."
"Oh~" Chaochao calmed down a bit. She almost thought that Wen Ting had given up on saving herself and was just giving up.
DD frowned. "But you were just asking about the director's identity, asking who he was."
The child was as perceptive yet oblivious as ever. Wen Ting's eyelids twitched, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Gong Baidie did not react to her words.
“Yes, it’s been so many years, I didn’t recognize him at all.” Wen Ting intertwined her fingers with his, reminiscing about their intimacy. “He was just a child back then.”
"Wow, how many years apart are you two?" Chaochao had a bit of insight, but not much. After asking, she realized, "Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have asked that question..."
Wen Ting smiled: "How many years apart do you think we are?"
Chaochao's keen observation kicked in: "Hmm, if we sit together... I look two or three years older?"
"Oh dear." Wen Ting covered her lips, her smile genuine.
DD insisted on adding, "But what about in reality?"
"Actually," Wen Ting said with a smile, dodging the question, "it needs to be a little bigger."
Even in ghost stories, she couldn't bring herself to say that she was dating a boy six years younger than her.
Since Gong Baidie's actual age would pose a risk of being caught in the Orange Scheme, she is set to be 23 years old.
Gong Baidie glanced at Wen Ting.
There's a folk saying: "A woman who is six years older will eat meat often; a woman who is seven years older will cherish her husband." They are exactly between six and seven years old.
The Wen Ting business is indeed doing well, which proves the former point true;
In another six months, when they are seven years apart...
This despicable thought made him restless and agitated. He wanted to get away, but his hand was held tightly by Wen Ting's five fingers, and he couldn't pull it away.
DD asked casually, without digging deeper, but Chaochao asked curiously, "So you guys were..."
What's the relationship?
Gong Baidie said, "The child was ordered by the elders..." "It's a teacher-student relationship." Wen Ting smiled and tightened her fingers, "I was a tutor in college, and his family ordered me."
"Wow—a teacher-student romance turning into a workplace romance!" Chaochao exclaimed excitedly, cupping her face in her hands. "This isn't just romance, this is fantasy!"
"Isn't that right?" Wen Ting thought. "That's fantasy."
"I don't quite understand," DD said, finding it strange. "When the team leader was a teacher, the director was at most a junior high school student. How could they fall in love like that?"
Wen Ting: "..."
How old does this kid think she is...? But he's not wrong, which is why she doesn't want to say her exact age.
Gong Baidie said calmly, "At twelve or thirteen years old, it's the age when one's heart begins to stir with love. What's so strange about meeting a woman in the prime of her life?"
"Twelve or thirteen...?!" Even Chaochao's expression changed.
"Haha, hahaha... Oh really, don't listen to his nonsense, it's not that exaggerated." Wen Ting squeezed Gong Baidie's hand tightly, earning him a cold glance in return.
What is she hiding? The first encounter storyline she set in the game is also number twelve.
Or is it that his age is not presentable?
"Wen Ting?"
Before Chaochao could ask for more details, a shocked voice broke in.
Max walked into the cafeteria in disbelief, his gaze falling on her and Gong Baidie's clasped hands.
He looked him over repeatedly, and said in astonishment, "Director, what's this...?"
Gong Baidie glanced at Wen Ting out of the corner of her eye and saw that she remained polite and courteous, showing no intention of speaking.
He chuckled softly, took Wen Ting's hand that was clasped in his, and turned his head to kiss it, "My wife."
"What…" Max was so shocked that he couldn't speak. After a long while, he belatedly realized who Wen Ting's boyfriend was yesterday.
No wonder she was so cold to him when she came back after the New Year; it turns out she had such a formidable fiancé. Did she know all along that Director Xu was leaving, and that her fiancé was going to join the company?
Ha, but doesn't she even look at what time it is?
In ghost stories, family background is the most useless thing; she's too stupid to see what's most important right now.
Max gritted his teeth and gave a twisted smile: "So it's the director, Windy. Why didn't you tell me this morning?"
"Workplace romances are always a bit awkward to talk about. Thank goodness for what you said to me this morning, it made me see things clearly."
"What have you figured out?"
Wen Ting placed her other hand on Gong Baidie's arm and leaned sweetly against him. "Max, you're right. In these special times, we're living on the edge, so we have to cherish every day. That's why we don't plan to hide it from each other anymore."
Her tender and affectionate appearance infuriated Max.
He pursued her so earnestly, and she ended up with a boyfriend like that. Who knows how those two are laughing at his confession behind his back!
Feeling both ashamed and indignant, he said in a sarcastic tone, "So that's why you didn't want to ride in my car. Turns out you have a better one. I really can't compare."
The other people in the restaurant looked over. In fact, many people had been paying attention to this place ever since Wen Ting and the new director appeared together.
"Hmm." Gong Baidie raised her lips, smiling coldly, "It's good that you know."
Max choked.
He took a few breaths. There were four people at the table, two of whom were men. He didn't do anything more, took his food for the day, and left with gritted teeth.
"How could he be like this?" Chaochao said with utter disgust.
Wen Ting said softly, "From now on, you two should try to spend as much time together as possible, okay?"
"Why?" Chaochao asked.
Wen Ting's gaze shifted slightly to the man and woman at another table.
This afternoon, moaning sounds came from the girls' room opposite her lounge.
She waited behind the door for a while and then saw the man come out.
The woman was married, and Wen Ting was quite certain that she had no prior entanglement with that male colleague.
Whether it's mutual affection or an exchange of benefits, morality has already begun to crumble.
"Because in all horror games, you die if you're alone." That's how she explained it to the bewildered Chaochao.
Wen Ting cuddled with Gong Baidie in the cafeteria for half a day, hoping everyone, especially Max, would know that she was no longer alone.
But she didn't expect that after giving instructions to Chaochao, she would be all alone herself.
After flushing, Wen Ting pushed open the toilet stall, ready to end the day and go back to the rest room to sleep.
As soon as the cubicle door opened, she was suddenly pushed back, her back unexpectedly hitting the wall.
Two people squeezed into the cramped cubicle. One person locked the door with one hand and grabbed Wen Ting's shoulder with the other, pinning her against the wall.
A stench of sweat filled the room, and Wen Ting glared in shock and anger: "Max, this is the women's restroom!"
"Shh, I'll only say a few words." Max also looked somewhat embarrassed.
Wen Ting's breathing was somewhat unsteady.
Having only been out of the outside world for a few days, his audacity is astounding!
Max appeared agitated, but calmed down a bit after a while. He lowered his head and said, "I'm sorry, I was too excited at the time and said things I shouldn't have in the cafeteria."
"Just to say this?" Wen Ting pushed him away. "Fine, I'm going out."
"Wait!" Max interrupted, impatient and dissatisfied. "Wen Ting, I still hope you can think it over carefully."
"What are you considering?"
Max took a deep breath, as if looking at a lovestruck, lovestruck wife about to be married into the mountains, "I've tried it, the skills refresh daily."
Wen Ting paused her thought of leaving, intrigued by the information.
"I took off my employee badge at dawn and gained another skill. And the director—" he scoffed, "he doesn't even have an employee badge, does he?"
Wen Ting had previously thought that Gong Baidie was a new employee and hadn't had time to get her employee badge.
Now it's clear why he didn't have a work badge: he wasn't an employee of Green Forest, so naturally he didn't have a Green Forest work badge.
"so what?"
“He not only lacks skills, but he's also frail. Look at his hands, they're like a woman's; his waist isn't even as thick as my leg. How can he protect you in a situation like this?”
Wen Ting gripped her phone.
The Desktop Lovers program is still running, and in the lower right corner of the screen is a chibi version of Miyazaki.
She said seriously, "Do you think I should abandon my partner who's holding me back?"
"That's a harsh thing to say," Max frowned. "I just think you have better options and shouldn't be so stubborn."
"Do you really want me to do this?" Wen Ting looked directly at him. "Once we're together, if you get hurt and need care, or if someone better comes along, do you want me to immediately abandon you and make a better choice?"
"That's not what I meant!" Max sighed in frustration. "Why are you so inflexible? Don't you understand what I mean?"
"You are insulting my feelings," Wen Ting said, emphasizing her words.
“Max, I used to live in a house in the rural suburbs without even hot water. I had to commute for five or six hours every day and didn’t even have time to eat two meals a day. Back then, I didn’t choose to find a man to marry; now I won’t try to climb the social ladder.”
It's normal for him to reject Max for the sake of Ghost Stories Lord. Simply confessing his love for Miyabi Shirocho to Max here would be mediocre.
She wanted to bring up the past, portraying herself as the woman who silently "remained chaste" for Gong Baidie, so that he would know that no matter how poor or bitter she had been all these years, she had never been moved by anyone other than him.
As for the five or six boyfriends I dated before—well, they were all just passing through; only he was my destiny.
Her righteous and unyielding aura made Max feel intimidated.
His sense of morality and the woman in front of him were swaying on opposite sides of the scale.
She was so attractive, gentle and pure, and every time she smiled at him while tucking her hair back, Max's heart would flutter.
Amidst the strange tales of everyone gradually becoming unkempt, she remained impeccably dressed, her hair soft and exuding a pleasant fragrance.
“But I really like you.” Max’s breathing became slightly heavy. “Maybe we’ll die tomorrow or the day after, Wen Ting. While we’re still alive, I…” He grabbed Wen Ting’s arms, and even through her sweater, Wen Ting could feel the heat and pain.
"What are you doing? Let me go!" His heavy breathing sprayed onto her face, and she saw the desire in the man's eyes.
"Don't call me Wen Ting, don't call me that." The closer she got, the more fragrant she became. Max covered her mouth and said urgently, "I will protect you. Come with me just once, okay? I won't disturb your life with the director."
"Ugh, ugh..." Wen Ting bent her knees, then abruptly put them down halfway.
She needed to know Gong Baidie's attitude, to know what he was thinking and what he cared about.
"No, no!" she cried, shaking her head desperately. "Let me go."
If Gong Baidie never appears, should she break ties with Max and insist on her loyalty to love, or go with the flow and try to gain Gong Baidie's pity?
No, he must know what happened here. If he doesn't come, it means he doesn't care about her, and nothing she and Max do can affect him.
Gong Baidie is unreliable, so she can't break ties with Max... But if she obeys him this time and sets this precedent, she will become his sex toy in the future.
Wen Ting suddenly realized that she had become too dependent on Gong Baidie.
How come she always trusts him so much?
She already knew he had ill intentions, but her confidence in confronting Max still came from Gong Baidie. If he didn't stand by her side, she would only have two paths to death.
The knee that had been pulled back was raised again.
While she was sobbing incoherently under Max's palm, saying, "Get away, Bai, um... Xiao Bai!", she aimed at his crotch.
If it weren't for the ghost story, Max would never have dared to do something so outrageous in his life.
Breaking free from the moral constraints of thirty years of his life caused his adrenaline to surge rapidly. When he discovered that Wen Ting was easier to control than he had imagined, his excitement soared even higher.
He never imagined that getting a woman could be so easy.
A warm, sweet fragrance lingered around his nose, as if it were Wen Ting herself. This fragrance amplified his senses, and he lowered his head, eager to kiss her.
Max's neck tightened suddenly before his lips touched her skin.
A plume of black smoke emerged from under his skin, wrapped around his neck, and suddenly lifted him up, slamming open the toilet stall door and hoisting him into the air.
Max was gripped by a feeling of suffocation and floating. He frantically scratched his neck, trying to tear off what was binding him, but his hands found nothing.
Wen Ting stared in astonishment at the object in the air.
Thick gray smoke clung to Max's body, spewing out and sticking to the wall like a spider web.
A tightly twisted gray smoke was attached to the center of the ceiling at one end and looped around his neck at the other, forming a thick sling.
He kicked and thrashed about, scratching and clawing at his neck, but to no avail.
The man's face turned red and purple, his throat was being tightly constricted, and he couldn't make a sound for help.
The gray smoke billowed out, as if every pore on his body was spraying mist. In just a few breaths, the gray smoke emanating from his body enveloped and engulfed him.
They gathered and thickened, forming a long ellipsoid, which was suspended in the air by the mist lines stuck to the wall.
He transformed into a giant cocoon, the entire cocoon pulsating slowly like a heart.
Wen Ting took a half step back and leaned against the wall.
The door to the women's restroom made a strange noise, and the locked doorknob creaked up and down.
After pressing down several times, the handle clattered and fell to the ground.
The door was pushed open, and Gong Baidie, dressed in a white suit, stepped in.
He ignored the huge gray cocoon in the air, glanced at Wen Ting in the cubicle, and walked towards her.
Wen Ting swallowed.
Gray fog ropes crisscrossed, and every wisp of thick fog was churning.
The cubicle door, which Max had knocked open, was half-open and swaying precariously.
A young, handsome man walked through the fog ropes; in the dimly lit restroom, his white suit stood out starkly.
The tear stains left on Wen Ting's face were icy cold, absorbing all warmth.
The panic that I hadn't felt when facing Max now surged up in me.
Amidst gray fog and twilight, a bizarre human cocoon hangs in the air, its whiteness untouched by any trace, as dazzling as fresh snow.
The stark contrast of colors and light made Wen Ting dizzy and nauseous.
The enormous cocoon hung behind Gong Baidie, like a warning suspended high above—
He is a murderous monster;
That could be her fate at any time.
A black glove covered her face, wiping away a tear.
He looked at her, his eyes cold and unfathomable.
A jumble of emotions swirled in his phoenix eyes, like a palette of dirty paint. Wen Ting couldn't discern his thoughts from them, only managing to glean a trace of guilt.
Wen Ting threw herself into his arms, trembling and sobbing.
She couldn't look him in the eye for long, just as she could see the hint of guilt in his eyes, he could also read her thoughts in her eyes.
Gong Baidie neither pushed her away nor comforted her.
They stood silently in the cramped cubicle.
As the sun set, the sky turned completely black.
After a long while, a hoarse sob came from inside Gong Baidie's clothes: "...I hate it here."
He lowered his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering slightly.
He raised his hand and awkwardly hugged Wen Ting back, patting her gently.
...
Wen Ting calmed down.
She left the company gate and teleported back to the lounge.
Once they entered private time, company personnel were removed from Wenting's world.
Gong Baidie, who was not an employee of Lvsen, still stayed by her side.
What are you going to do?
Gong Baidie asked Wen Ting, who was leaving the lounge.
Wen Ting's eyes were severely red and swollen. Her eyes were more sensitive than before after the LASIK surgery, and she couldn't help but cry.
"Go find Max's workstation."
Her wrist was suddenly grabbed. In the dark corridor, Gong Baidie stared at him intently: "He has become a cocoon."
"But you also said it would 'hatch'!"
Wen Ting broke free from his hand and strode forward.
She went to Max's workstation and turned on his computer.
Gong Baidie had no idea what she was going to do; he only saw her sitting in Max's chair, using his mouse and keyboard.
The thought of Maxt's loose buttocks rubbing against this chair every day, and of his hands touching these keyboards and mice—hands that had gripped his greasy hair, touched his feet, and genitals—made Gong Baidie abruptly turn her head away, feeling nauseous.
No--
He suppressed his disgust and quickly pulled Wen Ting up.
"What are you doing?" Wen Ting asked, puzzled.
He kicked Max's chair away, and the chair wheels rolled more than ten meters away.
Thick black smoke billowed from Gong Baidie's hands, forming the shape of a chair, and a brand new chair appeared in front of the table.
Gong Baidie gestured for her to sit down, and then took out a pair of gloves to help her put them on.
The gloves were black, the same color as his hands, but thick and long, like work gloves.
Wen Ting saw him frowning as he put on gloves for her, and she understood what he meant, so she didn't object.
When Gong Baidie took out another piece of paper and covered the mouse and keyboard, she helplessly tried to stop her, saying, "Okay, okay."
"All done?" Gong Baidie glared at her coldly, her eyes glancing at the keyboard that gleamed with oil.
"..." Wen Ting shut up. Fine, she was the one who didn't know what was good for her.
He chuckled, as if shooing a troublesome giant baby out of the kitchen.
It was pitch black all around, with only the screen lit up.
The employee handbook states that in order to save unnecessary energy waste, the company only maintains basic power supply from 00:00 to 07:00 every day, but the company is open to employees 24 hours a day and they can work overtime for free.
There were no lights or air conditioning. Wen Ting checked the surveillance footage as she walked, and the infrared sensor lights on the cameras were off. Only the computer could still be turned on for "overtime work".
She clicked on the computer version of the OA system. Since she didn't have a mobile phone to scan a QR code to log in, Wen Ting moved the cursor to the password field.
She typed on the keyboard, and with each keystroke, Gong Baidie frowned.
As Wen Ting had predicted, this man who liked to think in small terms never changed his OA password; it remained the original LS123456.
If Gong Baidie doesn't come today, Wen Ting is prepared to either run away or submit, and then—
Submit his resignation application.
"Unable to submit?" Wen Ting suddenly turned around and looked at Gong Baidie.
“He has become a cocoon,” Gong Baidie said. “When an employee dies, the employment relationship naturally terminates. Since he died after get off work, his account will not be cancelled until tomorrow when he comes to work.”
"But you said he'd emerge from his cocoon as a butterfly on the next assessment day, stronger than an ordinary zombie monster," Wen Ting said anxiously. "His body is still at the company; he might not be completely dead yet. Can't I fire him now?"
Gong Baidie smiled without saying a word.
Wen Ting clenched her fist.
He couldn't stop the assessment days, nor could he secretly give her a lower score or improve her ranking...
Either Gong Baidie is a useless person, or he never intended for her to have an easy time.
She can't get rid of her work badge, she has no skills, and the zombie monsters alone are difficult enough to deal with. Now, a cocoon has appeared that may hatch into something unknown. She's probably facing a nine-out-of-ten chance of death on the next assessment day.
Wen Ting lowered her eyes, the light from the electronic screen cutting her face into light and shadow.
Her back blended into the darkness, making her appear to have lost half her body weight.
Gong Baidie was very familiar with this kind of gentle breeze.
Whether in Wanluo or Lusen, she was always among the last to leave the company.
Outside the window, neon lights shone brightly, while she remained in a dimly lit office, with only a small lamp on her workstation.
Gong Baidie paused, recalling what Wen Ting had said to Max.
He didn't have many memories of what happened before he woke up, but after hearing what was said, he vaguely remembered some of them.
She used to live on the outskirts of the capital, in a single room on the ground floor without hot water. She would take showers at the village bathhouse or the gym next to her company, and she would take two buses and four subway transfers every day.
The toilet in that single room couldn't fit a washing machine, so she would boil some hot water and mix it in a basin to wash the clothes, then hang the wrung-out clothes in the aisle between the bed and the table.
After washing herself and her clothes in the cramped, windowless toilet, she would first lie on the bed for a while to catch her breath, then lift up the row of wet clothes, walk to the table, sit down, and start eating and working.
Then I turned off the computer, pulled off my damp clothes, and went back to bed to sleep.
Gong Baidie was born there.
At that time, he was not yet self-aware. She stayed in that house for a year and a half, and all he could remember were a few fragments.
He had never cared about these memories before; each time he recalled the past, it only increased his hatred for Wen Ting.
It wasn't until today, when she recounted the past to Max, that Gong Baidie suddenly realized—
He hated that every character Wen Ting painted after abandoning him was more exquisite and gorgeous than his, but even his simplest self was several times better off than hers back then.
A clothesline stretched between the bed and the table, the damp clothes serving as a curtain. She lifted the curtain and pictured him in fine clothes and sumptuous food.
She pulled back the curtain, curled up in the bunk bed, and took a short breath in the dampness of the laundry detergent for tomorrow's arduous journey.
“I will protect you…” Gong Baidie began, only to see Wen Ting sitting down at the workstation next to Max at some point.
She turned on the main unit, accessed the OA system from the computer, and after failing to get the initial password, she thought for a moment, then entered the workstation owner's birthday, and then tried his son's birthday.
It's open.
A smile appeared on Wen Ting's lips.
She checked the "Mid-February Performance Ranking" and started from first place, attempting to submit her resignation application.
The application was successfully submitted this time.
"Give me the tablet." She reached out to Gong Baidie, casually tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, her tone tinged with triumphant pleasure. "By the way, what were you going to say earlier?"
Gong Baidie pursed her lips.
He handed over his tablet, but didn't let go.
Are you sure you want to do this?
The smile on Wen Ting's face vanished instantly.
Her eyelids were half-closed, she looked pitiful, sad and distressed.
“I know this is wrong, but I… I finally met you.” She pleaded, “I promised you, Xiaobai, that for you, I would hold on until our wedding no matter what.”
The five fingers on the tablet loosened, and it entered Wen Ting's palm.
Gong Baidie heard the panicked thoughts in her own heart.
He turned away, avoiding the undisguised smile in her eyes.
She is truly vicious, hypocritical, and selfish.
-----------------------
Author's note: Gong Baidie, turn around immediately. If you don't see her, it means you didn't kill her.
A folk saying goes, "A woman who is six years older than her husband will eat meat often; a woman who is seven years older will cherish her husband."
Because it's a matriarchal society, the genders are reversed here.
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