That morning when Xiao Nai woke up he had felt off. He could not pinpoint exactly what felt off but it bothered him just the same. Everything just felt fuzzy. He pushed the feeling to the back of his mind and continued with the rest of his day. Trying to act like nothing was amiss to the outside world. As the day wore on the feeling became more pronounced but he kept his cool demeanor even though on the inside it felt like his nerves were being plucked like the strings of his guzheng during one of his composing moods.
As the day wore on the feeling intensified to its crescendo the moment he stepped inside of the Acme Internet Cafe to meet up with his uncle. It started right behind his eyes with a slight pressure followed by a small tingle alternating from the tips of his fingers, it almost felt like he was typing on a staticky charged keyboard and then finally his heart started to pound in heavy spasms like he just swam a relay all by himself. Naturally he was concerned and finally decided to go to the hospital to get checked out just as soon as he concluded his meeting with his uncle.
He took his seat on his normal side; the white side of the go board and poured himself and his uncle a cup of tea from the electric kettle that was set up to the right of him. Taking a sip from his cup he motioned for his uncle to make the first move while internally he tried to get his chaotic feelings under control. Xiao Nai had his trademark smile painted firmly on his lips and an evil mastermind twinkle in his eyes. He did not play with his normal skill and only won due to his uncle paying more attention to the conversation that they were having than his movement. Before a second game could be started Xiao Nai made his excuses and cut the visit short before his uncle could offer to cook him dinner. The moment he stepped outside the private room his heart started to beat much more irregularly and his skin felt like it was two sizes too small. He was struggling to keep his calm mask from slipping; he had to pause to take a deep breath. When he felt that it was okay for him to continue on his way he by chance looked at the computer terminal in front of him and noticed the person was playing a game. Not just any game, his preferred one; Chinese Ghost Story. He watched as the swordswoman in red on screen pummeled her appoinate in a pk match in a stupor. The crimson clad swordswoman was magnificent. Noting the name of the swordswoman he turned his attention to the person controlling the avatar to see if he recognized the person and sucked in a deep breath.
The moment his eyes lingered on the delicate form of the player, time stopped and visions started to assault him in rapid fire. In his vision he saw the player remove her headphones after her next match and stand up revealing what had to be the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her figure was willowy with inky black hair and pale skin. Reminding him of the legends of the nine tailed foxes and the beautiful goddesses they turned into. His visions started to fast forward until he was in-game asking for her hand in marriage, their in-game wedding with honeymoon, getting her name; 'Bei Weiwei' from Yu Banshan as his friend explained to him that she was the belle of their department as he was in the lobby of Zhen Yi technology. Him hacking her school schedule so he could orchestrate ways to cross paths with her just to be in her presence. A car accident with Yu Banshan behind the wheel and them finally truly meeting in person next to the east side bridge on campus. One blissful month of dating before her leaving for her childhood home. The pining and the restraint from catching the next flight to Wuhan so he could abduct her and have her all to himself. Finally their reuniting and the exquisite bliss of kissing her for the very first time hidden behind the door of his office. Weiwei interning at his company taking care of the men in the office while everyone worked around the clock to meet a near impossible deadline. The vision of the years sped through until she finally graduated and getting her father's hard earned approval for his beloved's hand in marriage. Then the euphoria of joining their bodies together as he made love to her for the first time after dressing her in her traditional wedding attire. Then finally both of them standing alone in this cafe talking about the first time he saw her.
Xiao Nai was shaken out of his visions when the woman who stared in them took off her headphones and grabbed her backpack along with a bottle of orange juice. Acting fast he purposely moved himself into her path so she would have no choice but to accidentally walk into him. It wasn't his best plan but it was the first thing he could come up with in the mire seconds he had. He braced himself for her to walk right into him. A few seconds later the femine form that he was just watching bumped right into his chest. He brought his hands to her arms to steady her. Preventing her from falling. Xiao Nai watched as his beloved Weiwei slowly realized what was going on before beginning to apologize until gasping at the moment he was sure she had recognized just who was holding her.
"Senior Xiao Nai!?" Weiwei's cheeks quickly turnt a rosy hue.
"Underclassmen Bei Weiwei." Xiao Nai softly smiled at the flushed woman in his arms. He mildly wondered how long it would take for her to realize that he was still hadn't let go of her.
"You know my name?" she stuttered, eyes bulging even more.
Giving a small smirk, Xiao Nai checkily replied "Why wouldn't I know your name?"
Weiwei just looked at the handsome upperclassman confused, unsure how to comment on his reply. Xiao Nai knew the look all too well from the memories that he just experienced. It was the look of when she got overwhelmed by the current situation. He took a small amount of pity on her and helped her stand up properly before reluctantly letting go of her shoulders. Now the question in hand is what to do next? It was illogical to follow his memories now. He's already met her and he did not want to wait months of nothing but interacting via the game and occasional glances when their paths crossed. Taking a risk and pretending to be oblivious Xiao Nai asked "Do you play on the Capital's Best server?"
"You play Chinese Ghost Story too?" Weiwei asked in shock.
Xiao Nai just gave a small nod and replied "From what I saw of your PK battle you have great finesse and I would love to test my skill against your own."
The sophomore just looked at her academic idol like he just sprouted a second head. Xiao Nai had to internally smirk at the variety of emotions playing cross her beautiful face. "You want to PK battle with me?" Weiwei asked dumbly, her brain hadn't quite caught up with everything that was going on yet.
The computer science department's great master just widened his smile and gave a little nod. "Mmm, if you don't mind extending your play time we could do it now and the loser treats the winner to dinner afterwards."
Weiwei looked at the senior in shock. "You want to battle me now and then you want to eat dinner together?" She asked clearly, not believing what she just heard.
The great master cocked his head to the side and asked "Why wouldn't I?"
He watched as the kaleidoscope of emotions flew across his beloved's face before she nodded and went to sit back down. Xiao Nai turned to the check in/out station and paid for an hour for himself and settled Weiwei's bill for the next hour while he was at it. Requesting the terminal on the other side from his love he returned to Weiwei and pointed to where he would be seated. As he logged in he was internally giddy to see what her reaction would be to his character. As he sent a friend's request he covertly watched her expression go from confused to complete shock. When she did not click on either accept or deny Xiao Nai called her name softly to get her attention and asked if she was going to accept his friend request or not.
Weiwei's head shot up from the screen and looked at him in complete disbelief. "Yo-you're Yixiao Naihe? The server's top player?"
This smile turned slightly more devious, Xiao Nai just nodded and asked again if she was going to accept his friend request. As the sophomore clicked on accept he could hear Weiwei mumbling about something but could not quite make it out. After laying out the ground rules they started the fierce battle. Xiao Nai was not going to take it easy on her. He knew she would not take it well if he did. Minutes passed and the battle raged on until Xiao Nai won. He requested another battle but this time best out of three with the prize being up to the winner and Weiwei reluctantly agreeing; not being the type to back down from a challenge. As the two battled players started to watch them and the world chat exploded with gossip. While Weiwei was able to win the first battle narrowly, Xiao Nai returned with a vengeance, beating her for the remaining two rounds. Sighing in defeat, Weiwei looked over to him and congratulated him on his win.
"What would you want as your reward?" Weiwei typed in their private chat.
"Be my in-game wife and my real life girlfriend." The response Xiao Nai immediately fired back after he switched the message to the world chat. Causing a huge ruckus in the world chat and later with screenshots on the game forum.
"But I have an in-game spouse already." Weiwei looked up at him in shock. Not understanding why he was asking in game instead of out loud.
The reason Xiao Nai asked in the game was to make sure that whatever was said was greatly publicized in the game. He knew of the hazing that she endured originally and he planned to nip it in the bud before it had a chance to grow. He typed "Are you two in a real life relationship?"
Weiwei shook her head before inputting her reply, not realizing she was still in the world chat. "No, we are guild mates and only married for the guild battles. Our relationship is strictly professional. Why are you asking me this?"
"Then I see no problem." Xiao Nai countered, choosing to ignore her question. "Weiwei, why are you deflecting?" He asked out loud.
"Why me?" She asked. Clearly uncomfortable with the subject.
Tilting his head he countered in the world chat "Why not you? You are brilliant and you like to play games. Not just like but are quite good at it and if I followed what society dictates you are also quite lovely. Which in my opinion is the least fascinating thing about you. I don't need someone who is wealthy; I much prefer to make a name for myself instead of riding on someone else's connections."
It took a few minutes for her to reply. "I'll send Zhenshui Wuxiang a pm." She paused, "But I will not agree until I speak with him." She started to compose a private message. In it she wrote how a classmate happened to see her at an Internet cafe playing and challenged her to a PK match. She went on to explain that the prize of the battle was up to the winner's choosing; she had no idea that she was going to be up against the server's top PKer. She informed her online husband what the prize that was requested was and asked for him to arrange a time to meet at the sacred stone of three lives. What Weiwei did not expect was for her online husband to quickly agree and within minutes Weiwei was no longer married in the game. She looked back at Xiao Nai. "Since I am already at the sacred stone of three lives let's get the ceremony over with."
"People with our status on the server can't just have a wedding with no pomp and circumstances, in five days will be the next auspicious date. Marry me then." He smirked at her reaction. "But in the meantime Weiwei, do you like fish?"
The End