Only After I Was Reborn Did I Realize That I Had Childhood Sweethearts

Mei Fang vaguely sensed the worries that Xia Yuan confided in her.

But Lin Youxi has never liked dealing with adults since she was little. She was like a lively tomboy in front of her peers, but like a mute in front of adults.

Lin Youxi’s personality did not improve much even after she entered elementary school, except for Mei Fang’s parents, who she was very familiar with because she often visited their house. Their warmth opened Lin Youxi’s heart, and at least she could communicate with them normally.

As for the special aversion to Xia Yuan’s parents…

It is better to say that she realized the huge difference between her and Xia Yuan’s family environment.

This resentment may have started when they were unable to attend the same online class.

In the end, it’s all about money…

Mei Fang has been contemplating this for the past three years. As an elementary student who cannot use a bank card or online payment, the only way to make money without anyone noticing seems to be playing games.

As for the game that made the most money in 2005, it was undoubtedly “Fantasy Westward Journey”.^[1]

“Fantasy Westward Journey” is a turn-based game released in 2003, famous for its highly valuable economic system. There are countless real cases of buying a fantasy account for 60,000 yuan and selling it for 100,000 yuan. Even in 2022, it still has many users.

Similarly, “Fantasy Westward Journey” is a pay-to-play game. Mei Fang, in his previous life, didn’t have money to go to internet cafes or top up game cards, so he played another similar but equally popular game called “Seeking the Dao”^[2]. The basic structure was not much different, and as a game director, Mei Fang naturally deconstructed the framework of this type of game and played it skillfully with high efficiency.

Early online games were still very fair in terms of in-app purchases. As long as you spent some time, you could even get game cards for free. Mei Fang, who had a computer at home, naturally didn’t worry about this time cost.

As for Mei Lijun and Xiang Xiaoxia, on one hand, they were busy taking care of their daughter and were more open-minded towards Mei Fang. As long as he didn’t stay up late and his grades didn’t drop, he could continue playing. So Mei Fang quickly caught up with the game’s updates.

Mei Fang now only maintains the pace of playing with two accounts, a male character in the Dragon Palace and a female character in the Tang Dynasty. The female account technically belongs to Lin Youxi.

Because there was no computer at home, Lin Youxi would come to Mei Fang’s house to “do homework” whenever she had time on weekends.

It was shortly after the National Day holiday when the new expansion pack of “Fantasy Westward Journey” was released, and everyone was busy exploring. At times like this, Mei Fang would always let Lin Youxi play completely.

After all, it’s my account anyway, and Lin Youxi is just working for me.

This should be the embryonic form of an early game studio!

Lin Youxi had a joyful attitude and often asked Mei Fang about gameplay and details while playing.

“A lot of people have already reached the Ascension stage. Shouldn’t we level up too?”

“No rush, let the people ahead explore and create strategies. We don’t have much time to play, so let’s finish the new version’s activities and then lead the team for escort missions.”

“This new courtyard is really interesting, but the renovation is too expensive…”

Lin Youxi suddenly turned around and asked Mei Fang, who was studying programming books, “Mei Fang, when do you think we can have children?”

Huh?

Mei Fang was stunned for a moment, “You mean the two characters in our game, right?”

“Yes, you see, we’ve been married for so long, why don’t we have children yet…”

“I guess we need to buy those nourishing soup items, otherwise the chances are too low.”

“Those nourishing soups are so expensive, I’m not buying them. Besides, the increase in child’s combat power is not that significant…”

Lin Youxi happily stared at the computer screen and kept operating. Seeing her immersed in it, Mei Fang became slightly worried.

“Lin Youxi, have you been keeping up with your exams recently?”

“Of course, I’ve been doing well. Although I’m still not as good as you in math, I can consistently score above 97.”

Compared to someone like me who’s failing, it’s more than enough to maintain this state…

Mei Fang didn’t want her to be addicted to the internet and lose interest in studying, as it would ruin her future as a top student.

While the two were talking, the landline phone in Mei Fang’s house suddenly rang. Mei Fang went to answer the phone, and a gentle voice came from the other end, belonging to Xia Yuan.

“Mei Fang, are you at home?”

Mei Fang was suddenly surprised, “Yes… I am.”

“Can I come to your house to do homework?”

“But… didn’t you just finish it yesterday? You should be almost done, right?”

“I… I still have some questions I don’t understand, and I wanted to ask you. If you’re at home, I can come over now.”

“Wait, wait…”

Mei Fang hadn’t figured out how to refuse Xia Yuan yet, but the call had already been hung up.

This is bad…

So Mei Fang hurriedly ran to the study and called out to Lin Youxi, who was immersed in the online world, “Xia Yuan is coming over later, you better stop playing and go back first.”

“But I haven’t finished escorting the goods… If I don’t finish, I won’t have enough game cards for next week.”

The escorting activity in “Fantasy Westward Journey” is a time-limited event that can only be done within a certain period of time. It is one of the fastest ways to earn in-game currency, and no player would want to miss it.

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll figure something out. Let’s pretend to be watching anime, Xia Yuan won’t suspect anything.”

“Oh wait!”

Lin Youxi suddenly realized something, “Xia Yuan called today to ask me to play, but I said I was busy… So she can’t know that I’m at your house! I have to go back quickly.”

As soon as Lin Youxi finished speaking, there was a knock on the door outside, and the two of them panicked and became extremely nervous.

“Why… why did she come so quickly? I need to find a place to hide!”

As the child of a teacher, Xia Yuan was always taught to view games as a dangerous thing. Not only does she never play games, she also always advises Mei Fang not to play games.

In this relationship, she is even less likely to know about the deep friendship established between Lin Youxi and Mei Fang through the game.

This is a little secret between Mei Fang and Lin Youxi.

Lin Youxi chose to hide in Mei Fang’s parents’ room, and Mei Fang turned off the computer and quickly went to open the door.

He was greeted by Xia Yuan’s slightly annoyed face.

“Why did it take so long to open the door? I’ve been waiting for a long time.”

“I… I was just in the bathroom!”

“Liar, you must have been playing video games.”

Xia Yuan hummed as she prepared to change her shoes. Mei Fang saw that Lin Youxi’s sandals were still there, so he quietly pushed them under the shoe cabinet while Xia Yuan wasn’t paying attention.

“Don’t you usually have piano lessons on Sundays? How come you have time to come see me today…”

“I don’t want to learn piano anymore.”

Xia Yuan muttered, “Because of learning piano, I’m always so tired on Sundays and can’t play with you guys.”

“That’s true…”

Xia Yuan put her backpack on the coffee table in the living room. “Your mom and dad and little Ya aren’t home today?”

“They went to grandma’s house.” Mei Fang shrugged helplessly, “The motorcycle can’t fit me now, and I don’t want to go by myself.”

“Why do they always leave you alone at home? Uncle and Aunt shouldn’t neglect you just because they have little Ya.”

“I don’t really mind…”

Actually, he couldn’t be happier — this little sister was born just at a right time.

While chatting with Mei Fang about family matters, Xia Yuan walked towards the room.

Mei Fang worried that she would go to his parents’ bedroom, so he grabbed Xia Yuan and said, “Hey, where are you going?”

“I’m going to the study to check something.” Xia Yuan’s expression was stern, just like Mei Fang’s mom, Xiang Xiaoxia, “Let me see if you’ve been playing games!”

“Don’t check the temperature of the computer, I’ve been playing, I’ve been playing, I’m sorry.”

Mei Fang apologized with a smile, and Xia Yuan stood with her hands on her hips, looking helpless.

“I knew it! Mei Fang, you’ve always loved lying since you were little, no one will like you when you grow up…”

Mei Fang nodded incessantly, while his heart let out a heavy sigh.

The little angel Xia Yuan who used to want to have ‘mao mao’ with me has indeed drifted away from me!

Translator’s Notes:

1. Fantasy Westward Journey is a Chinese MMORPG developed and run by NetEase (ref: https://en. wikipedia.org/ wiki/Fantasy_Westward _Journey) ↩︎
2. I’m not sure about this one. Probably “Seeking Immortals” (寻仙) ↩︎

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