122: Chapter 122 I once dreamed of wandering the world with a sword.

[Today's Intel 2: Today in TikTok Room XXXXXX, at 10:00 AM sharp, the grab for free 3-day, 2-night travel tickets to Yellow Dragon Gully will begin. There will be three rounds in total. The host can click on the lucky draw gift bags during these three time slots: 10:23, 11:16, and 12:08.]

Chen Sheng: "..."

He felt his mind was a bit of a mess and needed to sort things out properly.

Yesterday's future intel mentioned bone conduction speakers and resonance speakers. Today's future intel mentioned that Yan He from Building 2, 17th Floor, Unit 3, has a fake certificate, and it also included a three-day, two-night trip to Yellow Dragon Gully...

After connecting these dots...

"Holy crap! System, you're quite something... No, you're devious, but I like it." Chen Sheng unconsciously let out a "jie jie jie" laugh.

Closing the system panel, Chen Sheng drove to a nearby stationery store, bought some double-sided and single-sided tape, and then headed straight home.

The first thing he did upon returning was to stick the bone conduction speakers in the corners of the ceiling. According to the Shop Assistant, sticking them in the corners would cause the sound to produce an echo-like phenomenon as it traveled through the walls, making the sound more ethereal and lingering.

After setting everything up, Chen Sheng opened TikTok and entered Room XXXXXX. Since it was summer vacation, there were quite a lot of viewers in this kind of travel-related livestream. Seeing several hundred people in the room, Chen Sheng decisively exited Room XXXXXX.

He really didn't have the confidence to snag a free travel spot, even with the specific times provided by the intel.

There were too many variables online; for instance, what if it lagged for a second?

In the afternoon, Chen Sheng spent his time at "A Small Shop Here." Near clock-out time, he drove to the Kangsheng Office Building to pick up An Xiaonuan, and the two of them headed straight for a hot pot restaurant.

There was a saying in Shu City: there's nothing a hot pot meal can't solve, and if there is, make it two.

True to form, by the end of the meal, their conversation had shifted from the "maniacs" upstairs to where they should go for the weekend.

"How about a road trip? We could go to Ya'an for some Ya fish, or to Zigong to see the dinosaurs. If you don't want to go far, we can bring a tent, find a camping spot, and have a BBQ. It'll be a nice way to get some peace and quiet."

Although he hadn't snatched the free travel tickets provided by the intel system, it didn't matter at all; he could perfectly well afford to go out on his own.

Having money meant being able to be that willful.

"Let's go for a BBQ." An Xiaonuan excitedly pulled out her phone and said, "I just saw a video a couple of days ago. They've set up an RV campsite over at Qianlu Lake. I heard they have outdoor movies at night too. People are sharing photos on here; one of them is of the stars, and it looks like you can see the Milky Way. So many people who went there said it was great..."

"Looks like the Milky Way?" Chen Sheng glanced at the photo An Xiaonuan pulled up, and his lip twitched involuntarily.

It was just a starry sky that was common when he was a kid, though it was indeed rare to see in the city nowadays.

But that wasn't the point.

The point was that the photo An Xiaonuan showed him was clearly Photoshopped. After all, whose stars emit X-rays? But admittedly, after adding the special effects, the entire starry sky immediately became mysterious, making one unable to resist wanting to explore that mystery.

"When we have some free time, we'll go to Mohe to see the Aurora Borealis. I'll show you what a real Milky Way looks like."

"I'll believe it when you actually take me there," An Xiaonuan said with a dismissive pout.

A man's mouth is a lying ghost.

Years of experience had taught her that some promises were best just listened to and nothing more.

The moment she lowered her head, a hint of longing flashed in her eyes, but it was quickly hidden away.

This time, however, she had underestimated his determination.

Previously, he was busy with work and never had the time; many things were just longings. Now that he had the intel system, Chen Sheng's heart, which "dreamed of traveling the world with a sword," had already begun to stir quietly.

Just as the song "The Former You" goes: Once dreamed of traveling the world with a sword, to see the prosperity of the world...

He once also had a dream of seeing the world's prosperity... specifically, to see the magnificent mountains and rivers that our charming ancestors conquered for us.

Now that he had the time and was about to have the money, it was the perfect time to go out and see the world during the limited time they had as a couple.

Thinking of this, Chen Sheng subconsciously glanced at An Xiaonuan, who was checking travel guides on her phone, and his resolve to have her quit her job strengthened by another degree.

Back at home, as soon as he put things down, Chen Sheng pulled An Xiaonuan to inspect the results of his morning's labor. "How is it? Tonight will definitely make the people upstairs feel 'wonderful'."

"Is it really as magical as you say?" An Xiaonuan asked suspiciously.

Chen Sheng didn't explain. Instead, he went to the balcony to bring over a folding household ladder, took down one of the bone conduction speakers, and stuck it to the bottom of the dining table. "Stick your ear to it and feel for yourself."

Once An Xiaonuan walked over to the table, Chen Sheng picked a random song to play. When the music started, a magical scene occurred for An Xiaonuan: the entire dining table seemed to have turned into a speaker, with sound coming from every part of it.

An Xiaonuan's eyes widened in disbelief. "This is way too magical."

"Yes, it's very magical," Chen Sheng echoed. "They say lazy people drive technological progress. Supposedly, this thing was created by someone who thought speakers were too heavy and moving them around was too much trouble."

"Quick, put it back in its original place, and give me your phone!" An Xiaonuan urged, her eyes gleaming.

"What are you planning?" Chen Sheng suspiciously handed his phone to An Xiaonuan.

"I'm arranging a program for the people upstairs. Don't worry about that for now, just put the thing back first."

Chen Sheng stuck the bone conduction speaker back onto the ceiling and returned to the living room. Seeing An Xiaonuan staring at the phone with her fingers tapping the screen incessantly, he curiously leaned over from behind. When he saw the content, he couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.

As expected! If you're talking about being ruthless, it has to be a woman.

He had seen a true story online before about a woman who appeared to love her husband her whole life, but when the husband was so old he couldn't walk, she sat by the bed and said gently, "Actually, the children aren't yours."

Not only that, the woman also spent her husband's pension and lived in the house he had spent half his life paying off the mortgage for.

Tsk tsk~ compared to those who kill entire families at the drop of a hat, this was true ruthlessness, whereas killing an entire family should be called evil.

Time reached around 8:30 PM, and that familiar "thump thump thump" sound echoed from the ceiling again. The two exchanged a silent glance. Chen Sheng got up, brought the noise-canceling headphones from the bedroom, handed a pair to An Xiaonuan, and said, "How about we go to bed early? I expect we'll be busy tonight."

"Right! Let's sleep early." An Xiaonuan took the noise-canceling headphones and nodded excitedly.

However, once the two of them were lying in bed, their long-established biological clocks gave them a slap in the face. "Sleep? What sleep? Get up and have fun!"

The two of them stared at each other.

After a while, An Xiaonuan took off her headphones and was the first to speak: "Can't sleep!"

Chen Sheng thought for a moment and replied, "Me neither. How about trying to count sheep?"

"Sure!"

The two put their noise-canceling headphones back on.

"One sheep, two sheep, three sheep, four sheep... four hundred and fifty-three sheep, four hundred and fifty-four sheep..."

Chen Sheng, who was closing his eyes and trying hard to conjure up sleepiness, suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see An Xiaonuan's eyes shining brightly, without a hint of sleepiness.

Chen Sheng took off his headphones. "What's up?"

"So bored!" An Xiaonuan brandished her phone and suggested, "How about a couple of rounds?"

"Then let's play a couple of rounds!" Chen Sheng, who also couldn't sleep, readily agreed to An Xiaonuan's suggestion.

And so, the two of them began their sweet duo-queue.

One game, two games, three games...

Ring ring ring~

The alarms on both their phones rang simultaneously, jarringly dragging them out of the gaming world. "It's time already?"

"It is a bit fast. We just started getting into the groove. How about we wait a bit longer?" Chen Sheng echoed.

They had a losing streak for the first few games, losing so badly he almost questioned his life. He had finally endured the disadvantage and was ready to go on a rampage, only for the time to be up.

He was not reconciled to this.

"Then let's finish this round?" Although An Xiaonuan's tone sounded like a question, her hand controlling the game character's movement wasn't affected at all, remaining as speechless as ever.

To put it colloquially, if you put some rice on the screen, a chicken would probably peck better than she played.

The key was that he still had to offer praise from time to time—insincere words like "Good job" or "Wife, that skill was nice."

He inexplicably wanted to slap himself. "They say why should a man make it hard for another man... no, why should I make it hard for myself?"

Of course...

It wasn't all bad.

For example, when meeting someone who followed orders, she would go wherever you went. With two against one, racking up kills throughout the game was a piece of cake.

If you met someone who didn't follow orders, then you'd change your approach: you'd go wherever she went. During the battle, you could boldly and confidently use her as a meat shield—even if she was a healer—and if you couldn't win, you could just sell her out.

Anyway, they generally couldn't tell; they would only blame being killed on the enemy heroes who killed or ganged up on them.

The phrase "being sold out" simply didn't exist in their minds.

...