Only After I Was Reborn Did I Realize That I Had Childhood Sweethearts Chapter 433: IF Side Story – Bound by Fate: (Fang & Youxi) (

The layoff notice Lin Youxi received was as sudden and unexpected as the torrential downpour that struck today.

Ah Fang helped her pack up her belongings at her workstation. Around them, the atmosphere among their project team colleagues was bleak and sorrowful.

So sat in a daze at their desks, so clutched hands in tearful farewells, so squatted beside their beds making hushed phone calls, while others buried their heads and sobbed quietly.

After all, these employees had once stood at the pinnacle of tech workers in Pengcheng—they worked for Tencent.

But if even a tech giant like Tencent had beco this ruthlessly cutthroat, making it unsustainable to stay, then was the only future left for workers to take the civil service exam?

At that mont, Ah Fang found it difficult to say anything comforting to Lin Youxi, because any words felt hollow and powerless.

Yet, Lin Youxi didn’t seem as devastated as Ah Fang had imagined—perhaps because Ah Fang was still by her side, keeping her company in this now-empty office floor, so she didn’t feel quite so alone.

The two of them sat cross-legged by the tall floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the relentless rain batter the city—a city born solely for the sake of striving and struggle.

“Ah Fang.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry.”

Lin Youxi swayed slightly before leaning onto Ah Fang’s shoulder. “You stayed with working overti for so long, and in the end, nothing ca of it. I even bragged so confidently to you about it… I let you down.”

“It’s fine. That’s just how working life is.”

Ah Fang began sharing her own experiences:

“I used to work like crazy alongside my boss, fighting tooth and nail. The company got better and better, money flowed in, and at the ti we even dread of taking it public, aiming straight for financial freedom.”

“But then the internet bubble burst. Every project my boss had invested in collapsed, and we laid off over half the staff. Now we’re making reskinned gacha gas—it’s basically like churning out crap. But hey, we’re still alive.”

Ah Fang’s words made Lin Youxi laugh. She rubbed her eyes and smiled. “Your gas aren’t that bad.”

“They’re just not the kind of gas I want to make.”

Ah Fang sighed. “But it’s fine. We still have White Plum Ti. You got a decent severance, right? So you can take it easy for a bit—you don’t have to work yourself to the bone.”

Tencent had given Lin Youxi a severance package calculated at 2n 1. She’d worked at Tencent for five years in total, but since she had once resigned and checked herself into a psychiatric hospital, she could only get compensation equivalent to six months’ salary.

That said, her base salary was nothing to scoff at, so the payout wasn’t exactly small.

But without Tencent’s many perks and subsidies, their daily living expenses would beco more of a burden—especially with the housing allowance now gone, which ant a significant extra cost. Lin Youxi had no intention of just idling around.

She gave her cheeks a light pat, then stared seriously at Ah Fang with a determined expression.

“Once we get ho today, I’m going to start updating my résumé and job hunting!”

“You’re already jumping into that? Why not take a little gap period first?”

Ah Fang reached out to stroke her hair. “Wouldn’t it be better to polish up White Plum Ti a bit more?”

“Nope, nope. Making indie gas is the dream, but having a job is life. I still have to support you.”

“Didn’t I say I’d support you? My salary’s not high, but I’ve got so savings. We’ll figure things out together.”

Lin Youxi shook her head repeatedly. “That’s your future wedding fund. How could I possibly use it?”

“……”

Hearing this, Ah Fang looked slightly displeased, simply staring at Lin Youxi.

“……”

“Are you mad?” Lin Youxi stuck her tongue out.

“What do you think?”

“I’m not gonna be your wife.”

Lin Youxi pinched Ah Fang’s cheeks. “Sure, I’m pretty… but I’m also ntally ill, you know. Why do you keep pining after ?”

“I can’t help what I like, no matter the cost.”

“Alright, alright… you win. But next ti I have an episode, I’m going to tornt you to death!”

Laughing, she launched a tickle attack on Ah Fang.

Their playful antics stood in stark contrast to the sorrowful scenes unfolding around the office.

Outside, the torrential rain around Tencent’s building showed no sign of letting up.

Lin Youxi’s job hunt didn’t go smoothly. For one, her qualifications didn’t quite put her at the top of the execution chain, so suitable positions were few and far between.

Second, the salary she expected couldn’t be t by most companies, and those that could offer it didn’t have Tencent’s flexible work hours—sothing crucial due to her bipolar disorder and hypersomnia.

So, under Ah Fang’s advice, she kept lowering her salary expectations. Lin Youxi didn’t mind making less money, as long as the job wasn’t too demanding.

Eventually, she found a few companies that were close to making her an offer. She completed every interview stage.

But no formal offers ever ca. All she received were regretful rejection emails—

Because during background checks, her ntal health history had been discovered.

Bipolar disorder doesn’t necessarily affect intelligence or manifest outwardly in severe ways, and it rarely impacts others during normal interactions.

Still, the hardest part of her résumé to explain was that two-month hospitalization for ntal illness.

Even though she tried her best to explain things to the HR departnts, she couldn’t get through to them. None of them were like her old manager at Tencent—soone who understood her situation and recognized her talent.

As for that old project manager, rumor had it he was planning to sell his house in Pengcheng and move back to his hotown.

During this stretch of job hunting, Lin Youxi grew increasingly anxious. She’d reach out to Ah Fang at all hours of the day. And every ti she ssaged, Ah Fang replied instantly, helping her tweak her résumé and asking around for any opportunities. Unfortunately, they all ca up empty.

When Ah Fang ca ho each night, he almost always found Lin Youxi fast asleep on the couch, surrounded by scattered docunts and interview notes—working hard, but receiving no response.

He couldn’t bear to see her like that. It wasn’t good for her emotional stability.

So one day, he brought it up to her:

“Tencent laid off a ton of people recently—you’re basically competing against your forr colleagues.”

“I think… maybe we should wait a little. Let’s focus on finishing the White Plum Ti demo. If the ga works out, I’ll quit my job too. We’ll beco indie devs together, so we don’t have to deal with awful bosses anymore.”

“Mm. I don’t want to take crap from bosses either.”

Lin Youxi looked up at him, worry etched on her face.

“Ah Fang… do you think we can actually make it?”

“I might be bragging here, but this is my own work—I know its value. I’m pretty confident.”

He pulled her into a reassuring hug. “Oh, by the way, there’s an indie ga convention at the end of this month—Nuclear Fusion. I’ve already signed us up. It’ll be our first ti presenting the project publicly.”

“You didn’t even tell ahead of ti! I need to check the code for bugs!”

“Our Youxi’s code is always flawless.”

“Are you mocking as a programr!? How dare you!”

They wrestled playfully on the couch. Then Ah Fang picked her up in a tight hug and gently set her back down.

“Alright… ti to take your ds. I’ll go grab them.”

“Okay.”

“By the way, your olanzapine is almost out. Want to buy so for you?”

“No, no need… I’ll get it myself. You don’t have my dical records—you won’t be able to buy prescription ds.”

“Then let transfer the money to you. If you’re short, just let know.”

“I’m not completely broke. I still have half a year’s worth of severance. Don’t look down on .”

Ah Fang pinched her nose. “But your rent alone eats up a big chunk of your pay, doesn’t it? We’re sharing this place—just treat it as covering my share of the rent, alright?”

“Hmm… If you insist, then I’ll just have to save it for you. It’s your wedding fund, after all.”

“Where can I find such a cheap wife—costing thousands a month?”

“If I weren’t sick, I’d definitely be able to—”

Realizing she was giving him an opening, Lin Youxi suddenly clamd up.

But Ah Fang just smiled at her.

“So… you do want to be my wife, huh?”

“Keep dreaming, hmph!”

She kicked at his stomach. “Go get my ds already!”

“Yes, yes, ma’am.”

With more free ti now, Lin Youxi started doing housework to ease Ah Fang’s burden.

She took on everything from basic chores like mopping and scrubbing the toilet, to laundry and full-on cleaning sprees.

She used to handle most of these herself, but since living with Ah Fang, she’d beco a total hobody.

Phew…

How did I end up like this? she wondered as she cooked noodles, reflecting on her life with Ah Fang.

They’d been living together for over a year now.

Yet it felt like such a long stretch of ti—longer than her hazy school days.

At first, she’d only contacted Ah Fang to work on White Plum Ti, but the more they talked, the more in sync they beca. Though they never made their relationship official, everything they did mirrored that of a couple.

So, she had wondered: If she weren’t ntally ill, what kind of life might she and Ah Fang be living?

Maybe like a normal couple—shopping together, eating als, watching movies, and planning a future.

Maybe Pengcheng would never beco their long-term ho, but if they saved enough and returned to Bai i County, they could still live happily.

Having never known a mother’s love growing up, she deeply yearned to give that warmth to a child one day…

Funny—wasn’t it YuanYuan who had always wanted to be a mother?

Whenever they played house, YuanYuan always insisted on playing her mom. Though she never said why, Lin Youxi figured it was because she thought Youxi was pitiful for not having a mother…

Imrsed in these mories and daydreams, she didn’t notice her pot of noodles beginning to smoke.

Even though the noodles were overcooked, Ah Fang ate them with gusto, slurping them down like a gourt al.

“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it.”

“Noodles always taste the sa… can’t really go wrong.”

As he ate, he chatted with her about the upcoming Nuclear Fusion indie ga convention.

“I was gonna invite Guo Yun and Peng Xue, but one’s too shy to go out and the other’s busy with work. I asked around at my company—so of the junior planners said they’d help set up our booth, and the boss said I could borrow his car to move all the rch and gear.”

“By the way, that big poster board at ho—did Guo Yun draw that for us? It looks super polished. Must’ve taken a while.”

The promotional poster Guo Yun had drawn was also the ga’s key art. In it, the male lead holds hands with a pink-haired girl and a black-haired girl, with their shadows stretched long under the setting sun. The surrounding pixel scenery depicted real streets from Bai i County. At the top of the poster, the title White Plum Ti was rendered in pixelated font.

“Yeah… She said she wouldn’t charge for that one. Consider it her apology for not being able to co to Pengcheng with us.”

“She’s a sweet girl.”

Lin Youxi smiled. “If soone had recognized her talents sooner, maybe she’d be more confident by now.”

She glanced at Ah Fang again.

But to match up with our Ah Fang… she’s still a bit lacking…

The next morning around eight, their boss Xu-ge showed up at their apartnt complex with three coworkers to help load up all the exhibition gear. He handed the car keys to Ah Fang.

“I was gonna co with you, but I’ve got a eting with so other company heads today. You guys go give it your best, hahaha.”

“Thanks, Xu-ge!”

“Thank you, Xu-ge.”

Even Lin Youxi, who rarely greeted people, politely thanked him.

Xu-ge patted Ah Fang on the shoulder. “Good luck. You’re a talented young man. I believe in your indie ga dream.”

“I’m not that young anymore, Xu-ge.”

“You’re not even thirty—that’s young, alright? Hahaha!” He clapped Ah Fang hard on the back. “Like they say, n remain boys at heart ‘til they die. Once this company weathers the storm, I’ll try making an indie ga too. That’s where the real fun is!”

Little Cao, who was moving boxes, muttered, “Boss, you better an it. We’ve been dreaming of making a roguelike forever.”

“What roguelike! We’re making a galga! A beautiful girl ga!”

“Yesss! Long live Xu-ge!”

They all knew he was probably just spinning tales—but they couldn’t suppress their excitent.

Dreams were important.

Because you never knew…

Maybe one day, they’d co true.

Nuclear Fusion was one of the few ga-focused exhibitions in China. Most other conventions were cosplay or doujin-centric.

While major companies always showed off their latest titles, many indie developers also used this event to promote their own creations.

Still, in this day and age, the indie ga craze had largely passed. Burned by countless disappointing early access gas, dostic indie gas had beco a stagnant pond.

Ah Fang had known this when he began working on White Plum Ti. That’s why he never had grand expectations of success—this kind of gaplay was far too niche to go viral.

All he wanted…

Was to make Youxi happy.

To fulfill her dream.

When it ca to the developnt progress of White Plum Tis, i Fang had always harbored conflicting feelings.

On one hand, he wanted to fulfill Lin Youxi’s wish as soon as possible. But on the other hand, he feared that once the White Plum Tis project ended, they’d lose that irreplaceable bond tying them together.

Back then, he had hoped to use daily companionship to make Youxi emotionally dependent on him—but now, it seed like he was the one falling deeper into the relationship.

Sigh… this really is a dilemma.

i Fang, Lin Youxi, and their coworkers began setting up the booth.

The White Plum Tis ga exhibit was located in a corner of the venue. Their studio had little na recognition to begin with, so it was essentially impossible to get a pri location. But of course, that didn’t bother them—everyone knew the score.

i Fang had even asked his mom to mail over a White Plum No.1 High School uniform from back ho and invited Lin Youxi to act as the booth babe.

Wearing i Fang’s high school uniform, Lin Youxi looked a bit embarrassed. She irritably knocked i Fang on the head. “Doesn’t this just make look like I’m trying to act young?”

“What do you an ‘act young’? You look youthful in this—you look great.”

It was i Fang’s high school jacket, covered in the nas of classmates from when he graduated.

Lin Youxi brushed her fingers over the nas on the uniform. “I don’t rember any of your classmates’ nas.”

“Our class wasn’t anything special. It’s normal that you wouldn’t know them.”

Lin Youxi then asked curiously, “Was your high school crush one of these people? I see the na Zhang Ming is written over your chest—is that her?”

“That’s a guy—he’s my bro…”

“You had a close male friend? How co I’ve never seen you et up with him?”

“He works at Huaxing Company. Got posted to Ukenan. Haven’t seen him post anything on Monts these past two years.”

“In Ukenan? Isn’t that a one-way trip?”

“Not necessarily.”

i Fang smiled and said: “That bro of mine may not be great at much, but he’s got unkillable luck. For all we know, he might co back as so elite rcenary after a bloodbath in Ukenan.”

“What kind of novel plot is that… Just go hand out ga flyers already. This spot doesn’t attract any foot traffic at all.”

“Okay okay, you hang in there too.”

i Fang gave Lin Youxi a big thumbs up. The two looked at each other and shared a smile.

If White Plum Tis could just keep going like this, forever and ever—

Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all…

i Fang stood at the entrance of the Fusion event, handing out flyers for White Plum Tis. For story-driven gas like his, exhibiting at Fusion wasn’t really a great idea—after all, learning the full narrative took effort. Party gas with quick co-op fun were way more efficient at drawing players in.

You could already see long lines forming in front of those booths.

One player took a flyer for White Plum Tis, used it to wipe their hands, then casually tossed it into a trash bin.

…

Can’t get mad, don’t get mad—this is just how it goes for first-ti exhibitors.

Still, a few players who were from around White Plum County saw the na and got curious. They said they’d go check out what kind of ga i Fang’s team had made.

The first half hour after opening was the peak ti for foot traffic. i Fang stood at the door, handing out flyers nonstop. Only when his stack finally ran out did he return to his own booth.

Might as well check how my lovely wife is doing playing her role as booth babe.

…

i Fang hurried over to his booth, only to see that White Plum Tis had barely a handful of people trying the ga—desolate and empty.

But in front of Lin Youxi, a flashy lolita-dressed girl was cheerfully greeting her in their local dialect.

“Isn’t that White Plum No.1’s uniform?! So nostalgic! Are you from White Plum County too…?”

“Uh…”

Lin Youxi nodded hesitantly. Looking at the girl’s delicate features and bright, energetic smile, she even felt a montary illusion that this was YuanYuan. She quickly responded in dialect, “Wow, what a coincidence—are you also an alumna of White Plum No.1?”

“Yeah yeah! Wait, wait… I think I know you… Are you Lin Youxi? That genius who always ranked first in our grade?”

“‘Genius’ is a bit—”

Before Lin Youxi could finish, the lolita girl grabbed her hands excitedly. “It is you! You’re Lin Youxi! Fate is too wild—we’re not just from the sa hotown and school, we were even classmates!”

Her gaze dropped to Lin Youxi’s uniform, and upon seeing the ssy scrawled nas, her eyes went wide in surprise:

“Wait a second… the nas on your uniform… aren’t these our male classmates? Zhang Ming, Wang Zhi, He Mingfan…”

As if sothing suddenly clicked, she looked back at Lin Youxi with a smile. “Could you turn around for a second? I want to see if my na’s on the back.”

“Mm… sure.”

Lin Youxi turned around as requested. The girl’s expression grew a bit emotional as she placed her hand on Lin Youxi’s upper back, just over her shoulder blades. There, in graceful handwriting, were three characters: 【Liu Xiaoyu】.

At that mont, she turned sharply and locked eyes with i Fang, who stood frozen in astonishnt.

After a brief pause of surprise, Liu Xiaoyu tilted her head and smiled at him.

“Long ti no see, i Fang.”