Shi Ye was right—Xu Youyuan was a woman of imnse pride. Even in her current dire straits, she hadn’t uttered a single word of complaint or sought help from friends or family.
When Cang Lu drove two hours to find her, Xu Youyuan had just finished a set of concept art for a small company under a pseudonym. Her shoulders ached so badly she could barely lift them, and upon receiving paynt, she noticed discrepancies in the amount. She was on the phone arguing with the client when Cang Lu walked in. Xu Youyuan gestured toward the sofa without missing a beat, continuing her call while retrieving a can of soda from an old double-door fridge and handing it to her.
Cang Lu pushed aside computer science books cluttering the coffee table, set down takeout containers, and absently scratched the head of Shuang, the elderly dog, as she watched Xu Youyuan pace the cramped apartnt. The argunt over 300 yuan dragged on until the client reluctantly agreed to pay an additional 200. Only then did Xu Youyuan relent and hang up.
"You’re living *here*?" Cang Lu’s gaze swept the tiny space—older than she was—in seconds. She pressed a cigarette holder to her crimson lips but had it snatched away before she could light it.
"Please, Lu-jie. If you smoke in this shoebox, I’ll be stuck hugging pillows that reek of tobacco all night," Xu Youyuan said, returning the cigarette.
Cang Lu arched a brow. "Since when does a forr chain-smoker hate the sll?"
"Finally quit. Now it just makes nauseous."
From her bag, Cang Lu produced a newly released foldable liquid costic mirror. A palm-sized stand unfolded into a square ter of reflective surface, magnifying every pore under brutal clarity. The glare made Xu Youyuan squint.
"Fat Liu really went all out to ruin you," Cang Lu remarked, reapplying lipstick. "Word is you’re blacklisted by major studios and alliances now. No decent gaming company in the country will touch you. What’s the plan? Keep scraping by under aliases?"
(Fat Liu referred to Liu Feng, CEO of SQUALL.)
"Working on it. But survival cos first. Unless—" Xu Youyuan sidled closer. "Are you here with an offer, Lu-jie?"
Cang Lu was the highest-earning and most elusive in their friend circle, a woman of action who spoke through results.
She’d been Xu Youyuan and Shi Ye’s high school senior. At 16, she’d already launched a mobile ga studio—back when the market was booming. Recognizing Xu Youyuan’s talent for art, developnt, and design, she’d paid her 5,000 yuan monthly to moonlight. Shi Ye handled logistics and investor schmoozing. The trio sohow finished and launched a ga that beca a niche hit, netting their first windfall.
Xu Youyuan often called Cang Lu her "career fairy godmother." Without those three years of skipping class to juggle triple roles for her, *Rebirth Universe* might never have existed.
When mobile gas plateaued, Cang Lu pivoted to AI with an uncle’s backing. She nearly flunked her undergrad, too busy building companies to care. Yet no one dismissed her as uneducated—she was only ever "Lu-jie" or "Boss Lu" to friends.
A decade later, her net worth topped billions.
Shi Ye, admitting business wasn’t her forte, pursued stability after grad school.
Xu Youyuan’s obsession with gas deepened. VR couldn’t satisfy her hunger for imrsion—she craved worlds unshackled from clunky headsets. That beca *Rebirth Universe*’s core.
"There *is* a project," Cang Lu toyed with the unlit cigarette.
"And the catch?"
"Might be beyond you."
Xu Youyuan scoffed. "What, you want to rob a bank?"
"Please. I’ve dabbled in gray areas, but outright cri? Even I have standards." Cang Lu smirked. "It’s your old trade."
"Ga dev?"
A nod.
"Then why wouldn’t I—?"
Cang Lu’s amused eyes traced Xu Youyuan’s bare face and ssy bun before delivering the punchline: "*Dating sims*."
The words struck like a physical blow, resurrecting her ex-wife’s parting words: *"You don’t understand love anymore."*
Cang Lu, perpetually busy—showing up to one in ten friend gatherings only to discuss business—was the archetype of enviable independence. Magazine covers hailed her single-minded focus; interviews immortalized her anti-marriage quips. If anything could stump this titan who’d likely helm projects at 80, it was *romance*.
"Markets cycle," Cang Lu leaned into the secondhand sofa’s surprising comfort. "Players have spent years in your sandbox gas—shooting birds, diving for treasure, colonizing planets. Burnout’s inevitable. I’ve been toying with a retro EDU-style dating sim. Full imrsion. Raising affection stats."
Xu Youyuan mulled it over. "True. Even if marriage rates plumt, love’s always in demand. The genre’s ripe for a hit. You’ve done surveys?"
"Do I look like soone who gambles billions on vibes? The team’s nearly assembled."
"Wait—you’re missing a lead designer. That’s backward."
"Not at all." Cang Lu gripped her arm. "I’ve had my pick all along. You, Youyuan."
"Boss Lu wants *you*, freshly divorced, to make a *dating sim*?" Shi Ye later gasped. "Does she not know about Little An?"
"She knows. They’re close—apparently she helped with Little An’s move abroad."
“Then, what about her…” Shi Ye pondered for a mont before continuing, “In the industry’s eyes, you’re the one who single-handedly ushered gas into a new era, the only person with that kind of unparalleled experience. Cang Lu must have had her eye on you for a while, right? But back when you were thriving at SQUALL, she couldn’t just poach you outright. So, what do you think? Even an outsider like can see this is an incredible opportunity.”
“Yeah, I’ve talked it over with Cang Lu in detail. It really is my best shot at a coback. Right now, she’s the only one bold enough to hire without worrying about the backlash.” Xu Youyuan paused briefly before adding, “So I don’t plan to refuse. I want to give it a try—to rediscover that feeling of being in love and make this ga the best it can be.”
Finally, they were getting to the heart of the matter.
“So, you need to find soone to date… and you picked my sister?” Shi Ye was baffled. “When did you two even cross paths? Ever since she ca back to the country, she’s been buried in work, leaving early and coming ho late. She hasn’t had ti for—” Mid-sentence, Shi Ye suddenly stopped, piecing things together before it all clicked.
“So, she hasn’t actually been spending all her ti working, has she?”
Xu Youyuan shot back, “You’re asking ? Who am I supposed to ask?”
“She’s been going out with you at night?”
“Before today, I’d only t her once in person!” Xu Youyuan snapped. “Every other ti barely counts as actually ‘seeing’ her!”
“‘Barely counts’?” Shi Ye was still lost.
Xu Youyuan gave her a sidelong glance. “We t in ‘Dark Box.’”
The mont the words “Dark Box” left her lips, Shi Ye’s expression cycled through six shades of shock in a single second. She barely stifled a scream. “Holy hell, Xu Youyuan, you absolute beast! Corrupting my little sister in a place like that! Do you even have a conscience?”
Xu Youyuan remained utterly unfazed. “Calm down and let finish. You’re about to see your dear little sister in a whole new light.”
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