Chapter 287: A Day in the Life of President Qiao (Part 3)

At 8:30 PM, Qiao Suisui finally arrived home.

She threw her bag onto the sofa and sprawled out across it like a pancake.

"If only someone could help me take off my makeup so I wouldn't have to move."

Qiao Suisui uncontrollably recalled Guan Weizhi's words again; he had once said that characters in a virtual world could not solve the problems of her real life.

She had originally dismissed it.

But over these years, while the world saw her as glamorous and bright, only she knew the hardships that went unseen.

Women still lack a voice in the business world; they are even subjected to ridicule in certain settings, such as at the dinner table. If you get angry, the other party will say you lack perspective and that women aren't suited for business. But if you play the mute, they will think you are easy to manipulate and then push your boundaries even further.

Sometimes, Qiao Suisui envies Guan Weizhi.

Not because he was born into a good life, but because she envies that as a man, he enjoys the tilt of social resources without even realizing it, assuming that everything coming easily to him is just how things should be.

Yet she cannot deny that when the night is deep and quiet, she always has moments of vulnerability, and in those moments, she still needs someone in reality to hold her.

That is why she allows Guan Weizhi to take advantage of her vulnerability, why she had a one-night stand with Gu Mengze after years of no contact, and why she occasionally responds to the seemingly casual but persistent flirtations of Han Chen—though in truth, the number of times she has logged into the Game World over these years has become less frequent than before.

Firstly, work is truly busy and she has too many things to worry about; secondly, after her social status changed, her social obligations increased. She has tried her best to decline meaningless occasions, but there are still some she must attend. Managing relationships both inside and out has already exhausted much of her mental energy.

But they in the Game World do not know this, nor do they understand why she has started to become silent, or even less energetic than before.

These things could of course be solved through communication, but the problem is that a person's mental energy is limited. After work, she doesn't want to say another word; she just wants to lie down somewhere and do nothing.

Therefore, Qiao Suisui went from logging in every day, to three times a week, then three times a month, and now it is once every two or three months.

She walked barefoot back to the master bedroom and sat in front of the computer, dazed for a while. The mouse had already moved to the login button, but she hesitated to click it.

What should she say? Would she have to deal with their various questions, like why she hadn't come for so long?

At the thought of this, Qiao Suisui felt the mouse in her hand weighed a thousand pounds.

She sat for a while longer, then turned to take a shower and went straight to sleep.

In the dim room, Qiao Suisui did not notice the change on the computer screen.

This game has currently been upgraded by Ye Xi to holographic simulation, meaning players can choose a "companion state"—the player is in the Modern World, but can be synchronized with the Game World. For example, if she sets the mode to companion state, the two worlds can be interconnected.

Qiao Suisui usually doesn't turn it on because she has been too tired lately and doesn't really want to face Luka and the others in that state, but she had accidentally clicked on the companion state when she moved the mouse earlier, so she was completely unaware that the two worlds were now interconnected.

Game World.

A dragon's roar echoed across the sky, the earth trembled, and dust and grass were sent flying by the flapping of massive wings.

Sang Yan transformed back into human form, took out the robe he carried with him to put on, and walked straight toward the Ausilan Huangting.

As soon as he entered the palace corridor, Sang Yan saw Ka'er walking toward him. He was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt that clung to his skin, black leather pants on his lower body, and black suspenders tied around his toned waist, with two guns tucked into the straps on his thighs.

Sang Yan frowned and asked, "Taking those kinds of jobs again?"

Ka'er's flamboyant brows and eyes were devoid of warmth as he looked at him coldly: "What else should I do? Bored to death?"

Sang Yan was speechless for a second and said nothing. He knew that ever since Sui Sui returned to the game less and less, none of them had been doing well. Ka'er had returned to his old trade, though he no longer worked for the Federation, instead taking on odd assassination jobs as a bounty hunter—not for the money, but because he had to release the pent-up frustration in his heart through such means.

Ka'er brushed past him without looking aside, saying, "I advise you not to provoke them today." Sang Yan pursed his lips; he didn't need to ask the reason to know.

Today is the anniversary of their pairing with Sui Sui, but they have waited from daytime until now without seeing her appear in the game.

"Perhaps she is busy with something."

Once the words were out, he couldn't even believe them himself, so how could he comfort Ka'er?

He saw Ka'er give a disappointed smile and mock himself: "Yeah, so busy that she'd even forget a day like this." After saying that, he strode away.

Sang Yan remained where he was, looked up at the silver-hook moon, and sighed silently.

Ten minutes later, he arrived at Laiboli's Dian, as there were some trade procedures for the Freedom Alliance that required his approval.

But as soon as he entered, he heard the sounds of a fierce fight.

Sang Yan hurried toward the inner room to see books, shattered wine glasses, and miscellaneous items scattered on the floor. Laiboli was being pinned to the table by Anubis, and the two were grabbing each other's collars. Anubis did not have the complete upper hand; there were visible bruises on his face and the corner of his mouth.

He rushed forward to pull the two apart. Anubis had already let go out of respect for Sang Yan, but Laiboli retorted again.

"Do you think she still cares about you? Her world is countless times more exciting than this one. Do you think she doesn't have other men over there?"

"I told you to shut up!"

Anubis swung his fist at Laiboli's face. The latter took the blow squarely, but suddenly threw his head back and laughed. As he laughed, tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.

"She forgot you long ago! Believe it or not, she's already tired of it! Because you have no sense of novelty to her, she's been bored of you for a long time! You're just trash that was tossed aside!"

Sang Yan watched Laiboli's bloodshot eyes and for a moment didn't know if he was saying this to Anubis or to himself.

He could only hold Anubis back for now to prevent the two sides from fighting again.

However, the young man in front of him stopped moving, standing there motionless like a wick extinguished by water.

Anubis looked at Laiboli coldly. After a long while, his gloomy eyes lowered slightly, and he said hoarsely, "As long as she is doing well, that's enough."

Unexpectedly, these words stung Laiboli like a needle. He roared with red eyes: "Why! She's just an irresponsible, bad woman! Why should she be the one doing well!!!!"

Anubis clenched his fists, his eyes full of warning: "That's enough!"

Sang Yan, who had been breaking up the fight, was no longer neutral. He frowned at Laiboli and said, "You aren't thinking clearly right now. Don't say things like that again."

"Am I wrong? She left the day after she gave birth to your wolf cub, and after that, she came less and less. Even when she did come, how many times did she look at your child? I'm going to say it! She is irresponsible! She is fickle! She is a flirt! She... she doesn't love you anymore..."

His voice grew lower and lower, and finally, he was choking so hard he couldn't speak clearly. Laiboli covered his face with both hands in pain, crying uncontrollably.

She doesn't love him anymore.

She doesn't want him anymore.

He just wanted to scold her, preferably so she could hear it and get angry; that would still be better than this day-after-day coldness and neglect.

(End of chapter)