My Boss Always Flirts With Me - Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Anomaly

It was late when they got home after dinner. Fang Ci hadn’t said a word the whole way, feeling only a deep exhaustion. When he got home, he immediately fell into bed and went to sleep.

That night, he had a very long dream. In the dream, he was back in a university classroom, and old Professor Qiao, in his sixties, was checking their homework.

The freshmen had just learned the theory, and their practical work was a mess. Professor Qiao criticized them relentlessly. Fang Ci saw Shen Liu’s face turn pale, and his own heart started to race. Finally, Professor Qiao turned to him, squinting at the code he had written.

“Plenty of bugs, huh?” Professor Qiao chuckled. Fang Ci knew it himself. He was a beginner. If he didn’t even have bugs, wouldn’t he be a master already and ready to find a job?

He was about to humbly ask for guidance when Professor Qiao suddenly slapped the table twice and roared, “If you can’t even understand the question properly, of course you can’t write the code. Is it just about bugs?”

Fang Ci was stunned by the scolding and immediately wanted to argue. But when he saw Professor Qiao’s scary expression, he instantly backed down. He didn’t dare to argue and obediently turned back to read the question a few more times. Only then did he realize that Professor Qiao was right. He had indeed misunderstood the question. It didn’t matter for homework, but it would be a disaster in an exam.

He gritted his teeth, acknowledging his mistake, and took a deep breath, deleting all of his answers.

But that’s how people are. The second time you think about something, you overthink it. You repeatedly struggle, afraid that you’ll still get it wrong, so you’re hesitant to start. The class bell rang, and his page was still blank.

Shen Liu was eager for class to end. He put his arm around Fang Ci’s neck and said, “Let’s go. If you can’t do it, don’t think about it anymore. We’re just freshmen, and old Professor Qiao gave us such a difficult problem. Isn’t he just trying to make it hard for us?”

He continued, “We still have a whole semester. What’s the rush?”

Fang Ci thought he was right, so he turned off the computer.

He woke up from the dream in the early morning. He turned on his side, unable to fall back asleep, so he had to run those lines of code in his mind again. Only then did he drift back into a hazy sleep.

He slept until 10 a.m., a long-lost sleep schedule for him.

Since he moved in, he had been waking up, going to work, getting off work, and going to sleep with He Chi.

He Chi was used to their shared schedule. Although he didn’t wake him up today, he still asked.

Fang Ci said, “I don’t have a cold or feel uncomfortable.” He was just simply tired.

He Chi then asked, “Do you have any plans for today?”

Fang Ci: “No.”

He Chi leaned over the bed and looked at him, brushing the hair from his eyes. He said, “I need to meet a client today, so I can’t keep you company.”

Fang Ci was slightly taken aback. “Okay.”

“The weather is nice. How about you ask a friend to go out?”

Fang Ci was silent for a moment and said, “Okay.”

He Chi nodded. He noticed that today’s Fang Ci was exceptionally quiet, different from his usual self. But he thought it might just be because he had just woken up, so he didn’t press the matter.

However, when he was about to leave, Fang Ci didn’t appear. He took his coat and went to the living room, looking at the empty hallway. He felt a sense of unease and couldn’t resist going back to the study.

Fang Ci said he was going to play a game with Shen Liu, and they were already online. The room was filled with the sounds of a few boys laughing.

He Chi lightly knocked on the door, opened it, and said to Fang Ci, “I’m leaving.”

Fang Ci was stunned. After a moment of delay, he said, “Okay, drive safe.”

He Chi didn’t leave. Instead, he walked up to him and asked, “Anything else?”

Fang Ci: “What?”

He Chi said, “You didn’t say ‘come back soon,’ and you didn’t ask if we should have dinner together tonight.”

Fang Ci: “…”

After a moment of silence, he put down his phone and said, “Then… come back soon. If you’re not coming back for dinner, remember to call me.”

He Chi finally felt at ease and said, “Okay.” He reached out, his thumb stroking his sideburn. He watched him for a moment before leaving the study.

Fang Ci watched his retreating figure and slowly lowered his eyes, returning to the game screen.

The room was empty, only the game chat was lively.

The official game had a new map. The roommates were discussing whether to jump into the new one or play the old one. Shen Liu said, “Let’s do the new map. It’s more exciting! Maybe there are treasures.”

In the end, they chose the new snow map.

The start was relatively smooth. It was all white around them, and they could barely see anyone. They ran around for a while, found an off-road vehicle, and drove toward the sound of gunfire.

Shen Liu’s theory was that where there were more people, there were more houses, and they could find more gear.

When they got there, they found that the snow warehouse had already been looted. The few of them had no choice but to continue driving to the safe zone.

Shen Liu sighed from the back seat, “As expected, playing on an unfamiliar map is difficult. When will we finally get a kill? Even a bot would be fine.”

“Stop complaining. It’s good enough that we’re still alive. Can you believe my classmate got ganged up on by a group of people in white ghillie suits the first time he played on the snow map?” one of the roommates comforted him.

“Holy crap, that’s rough. Did he still play after that? If it were me, I would have quit long ago,” Shen Liu asked.

The roommate said, “Yeah, he played. It’s so exciting.”

Shen Liu thought, “That’s true. New map, new scenery.”

They safely survived two more rounds. A few of them complained that the snow seemed endless. “It’s just forests and wooden cabins. Or just a snowy plain. Help me! Why did I even pick up an AK? So I can end my misery?”

Just as he finished speaking, footsteps appeared on the map. They jumped out of the car and had a fierce battle with the team in front of them. Shen Liu hid behind a tree and called out to Fang Ci, “Ci, where are you? Come save me!”

Fang Ci said, “I have someone here. Wait!”

He ran in a zigzag pattern, took out two people, and ran to Shen Liu’s side to snipe his opponent. Shen Liu was low on health and barely hanging on.

Fang Ci checked his backpack for bandages and potions. “Crap, I just used them on Huo Bao.”

Shen Liu: “…He’s really a live firework.”

Huo Bao and the other roommate also came to meet them. None of them had any meds, and looting the bodies was useless. Shen Liu said, “This isn’t a snow plain. It’s a barren wasteland.”

“Ahhh, Ci, call CEO He over. We need him!”

Seeing that Fang Ci didn’t say anything, Shen Liu dragged his low-health body forward. “Seriously, I’m not lying. I really miss CEO He. I think we need to save up on med kits. What’s the point of this place if it’s just a good view?”

Huo Bao drove the car over and also asked casually, “Is CEO He at home today?”

Fang Ci said, “He went out.”

Shen Liu said, “Oh. Well, when he comes back, tell him we miss him.”

Fang Ci pursed his lips and didn’t make a sound. He just looked up at the “3” marked on the map. The current “3” was Huo Bao.

They had a few more skirmishes with other teams along the way. Shen Liu barely made it to the final circle with low health, while Huo Bao and the other roommate were eliminated in the middle. Fang Ci had saved enough med kits and replenished Shen Liu’s health.

They also unexpectedly got ghillie suits from an airdrop, which was a blessing in disguise.

When they entered the final circle, Shen Liu was at full power and started shooting. Fang Ci found cover and provided long-range support. The two of them worked well together, but at the critical moment, Shen Liu ran out of ammo. He ran and rolled under a tree.

Gunshots rang out in his ears. Fang Ci rushed out, fired a few shots, and was also eliminated.

They were one step away from a complete wipeout.

Huo Bao and the other player watched, sighing with regret. When they came out, they said, “Not bad, for a new map.”

Shen Liu was indignant and pulled them into another game.

Because he was so focused, Fang Ci didn’t even eat lunch. By the time he realized he was hungry, it was already four in the afternoon. They had played several rounds on the snow map, but the results were not good. They were always second place, or sometimes they were eliminated as soon as they entered the semifinals.

Shen Liu finally couldn’t take it anymore. “This map… I really don’t get it. Is it that hard? Should we switch to a different one?”

Huo Bao said, “I think so too. It must be the map’s fault.”

The other roommate also said, “Yes, yes, yes. The next one will be better!”

Shen Liu asked, “Ci, what do you think?”

Fang Ci’s eyes were starting to hurt from staring at the screen for so long. On top of that, the three of them kept saying “switch,” which made him feel uneasy. He leaned back in his chair and took a moment to rest. “I’m hungry.”

Shen Liu: “…Crap, I forgot to eat.”

The others were the same. So everyone went to get some food, agreeing to get back online at 6 p.m.

Fang Ci put down his phone, went to the kitchen, and casually cooked a bag of frozen dumplings. He also refilled Qiuqiu’s cat food. The two of them quickly ate dinner.

There was still a lot of time until 6 p.m., so he lay on the bed bored, and before long, he started to feel drowsy again.

This time, there were new scenes in his dream. Besides going back to college to solve problems, he was also aimlessly running on the snowy plain.

It took him a long time to understand the problem, but he still didn’t have the courage to write. He made it to the final circle on the new snow map, but he still didn’t get lucky.

The two scenes were completely different. The only thing they had in common was the large expanse of white.

Professor Qiao scolded him many times.

Gunshots rang out many times.

His mood fell from a high point to rock bottom.

It turned out that when a person is sad, they don’t cry, and there are no hysterical emotions. They just feel tired, and then they feel numb.

When he heard the WeChat notification, he used a lot of effort to wake up. He was thinking of telling Shen Liu that he wasn’t going to play anymore, but then he saw the little red dot next to the pinned profile picture.

He clicked on it, and there were two photos. It was a shop on the street with several rows of robot figures and figurines.

[It looks a lot like your figurines.]

[I don’t really know these characters. Is there one you want?]

Fang Ci looked at the message for a long time. He put his phone down and picked it up again, deleting and rewriting. In the end, he replied:

[No.]