A Slight Smile is Very Charming (微微一笑很倾城) : Part 27

Part 27: I Won’t Be Able To Stand It

“Dream Voyage in Rivers and Lakes 2”?

This familiar yet strange title makes Wei Wei turn her gaze from the computer to Xiao Nai.  She blurts out, “‘Dream Voyage in Rivers and Lakes’ is coming out with version 2?!”

How come she has never heard about this news?  Furthermore, she even gets to see the character designs of “Dream Voyage 2” on the Great Master’s computer.  What does this mean?

“The game is being made by you?” Wei Wei asks without thinking, but quickly rules it out, “That can’t be.  I remember ‘Dream Voyage’ is from Feng Teng (Soaring Wind).”

“‘Dream Voyage’ is indeed from Feng Teng, but ‘Dream Voyage 2’ will be a collaboration between us and Feng Teng.”

His expression and voice are composed, as if he isn’t disclosing something groundbreaking.  Wei Wei is stunned for a minute before she could digest the news, “I don’t think I ever heard about a ‘Dream Voyage 2’ though.”

“It has not yet been announced to the public.”

Wei Wei suddenly remembers, “So then the female thief stealing a man video is……”

Xiao Nai shakes his head, “No, about the video rights, I only knew of it a day before you.”

 

Although he is collaborating with Feng Teng on “Dream Voyage 2,” he has nothing to do with “Dream Voyage 1.”  “Dream Voyage 1” is a WuXia game solely developed by Feng Teng Technology as their first project under the Feng Teng Corporation.  Since it’s own by a different company, he naturally won’t know what their marketing plans are.  If it doesn’t affect the planning for “Dream Voyage 2,” there is no need for Feng Teng to consult him.

Xiao Nai wouldn’t have collaborated with Feng Teng on “Dream Voyage 2” if he didn’t take the funding and risks into consideration.  And according to the collaboration contract, Feng Teng Technology is only responsible for the funding and sustaining the operation; the production will be completely his team’s responsibility.  Therefore, when Feng Teng Technology called advising that they wanted to add more features to the gameplay for stealing the bride/groom in “Dream Voyage 2,” Xiao Nai was a bit surprised.  When they explained that the idea came from the female thief video, Xiao Nai felt that it was pretty funny.

After thinking for a brief moment, he agreed to add the additional features to the stealing the bride/groom gameplay in “Dream Voyage 2,” but he didn’t tell Feng Teng that ASmileNaiHe in the video is actually him.

Feng Teng obviously doesn’t know that ASmileNaiHe is him; the ID was registered under his roommates’ recommendation when “Dream Voyage” first came out.  He stopped playing it after a short while.  It was not until he signed a collaboration contract with Feng Teng that he started playing again in hope to familiarize himself with the game.

 

Xiao Nai explains his relationship with Feng Ten while showing more character designs to Wei Wei.  Wei Wei asks curiously, “What is the new features on the stealing the bride/groom gameplay?”

“To put it simply, there will be a setting allowing the player to launch the gameplay of stealing the bride/groom.  Unmarried players who launch this will be able to fight each other to steal the bride/groom.”

Wei Wei seems to understand, “So it’s like launching the PK battles in the game?”

“Mm.”

It does seem like a fun way to play, but wouldn’t it become a mess?  Wei Wei imagines the scene of all male and female players in the world fighting over the bride and/or groom, ::sweat::

 

After browsing through some character designs, Xiao Nai gets up from his seat to make some tea.  Wei Wei, who’s still looking at the computer screen, takes over Xiao Nai’s mouse and continues browsing through them.  She is so immersed in it that she has already sat herself in Xiao Nai’s seat without knowing.

Xiao Nai sees this when he turns around after making the two cups of tea.  After briefly being a little surprised, he regains his composure and puts the cup of tea in his left hand on the bookshelf beside him.  He takes a sip from his cup while leaning on the shelf.

You stand on the bridge gazing at the scenery, while I gaze at you from above.

Not knowing that she has become a part of a scenery, Wei Wei takes a look at the character designs carefully again.  She raises her head to look at Xiao Nai and says, “I like this game.”

Xiao Nai continues to lean on the bookshelf and smiles, “Just from looking at the character designs?”

“Yeah, you can tell a lot from looking at the character designs.”  Wei Wei thinks for a moment.  Although she feels a little embarrassed, she still wants to tell him her thoughts.

“In order to attract male gamers, online games these days often make female avatars dress in revealing clothes.  Some are to the point of being intolerable.  The reason why I chose the heroine in red is because I like her fighting techniques, and because she has more clothes on.  But ‘Dream Voyage 2’ is different.  The female characters are dressed appropriately.  This shows that the makers of the game respect themselves and the game itself.  They are confident in their game, so they don’t need to do kitschy things to appeal to the audience.”

Wei Wei feels delighted in her heart.  The female characters in ‘Dream Voyage 1’ dress quite revealingly; it’s just that they’re a little better than other online games.  Since ‘Dream Voyage 2’ has made such a big change, it must have been the Great Master’s decision as he is one of the core makers for it.  With this said, does it mean that the Great Master respects women a lot?

 

Xiao Nai didn’t expect her to say this; he can’t help but feel moved.  Looking at her glowing face and smelling the light fragrance of tea, a feeling of happiness sweep across the deepest part of his heart.

Although “making female characters not be dressed revealingly” is easy to say, it took him tremendous effort to make it a reality.  Coming from a prestigious literary family, perseverance has been engraved in his body.  But what happens when you try to convince your investors with your principles?  You’re too naive and being too unrealistic.  Only the market can persuade the market.  Therefore, he did all kinds of research to show spending power of female gamers to the investors, and making them realize that a game’s attraction to male players is not due to how revealing the female characters are dressed……

But obviously, he’s not going to tell Wei Wei this.  A thousand words and reasons are always played down by Xiao Nai.  His eyes are shining brightly, reflecting the image of the person in front of him.  He smiles elegantly, “Thank you for your compliment.  I’m honored.”

Despite his expression is calm, Wei Wei can still sense a slight change in his emotion.  The Great Master seems to be in a good mood.  Did she flatter the Great Master without knowing?  Wei Wei feels a little embarrassed, but asks Xiao Nai with anticipation, “When will internal testing begin for ‘Dream Voyage 2’?”

“A beta version will be out by year end the soonest.”

She shouldn’t have any trouble with getting a beta account by then, right?  After a moment of excitement, Wei Wei remembers something important, “Since you guys are collaborating, should you take care of the matter with the video rights?  It’s probably best for you to take care of it.  Although it was uploaded with my account name, you were really the one who made it.”

Xiao Nai rejects her offer immediately, “Of course I can’t.  My name cannot appear on the contract.”

Wei Wei asks while feeling strange, “Why?”

Xiao Nai says simply, “Royalties.”

It takes Wei Wei a while to actually understand——as one of the core makers of “Dream Voyage 2,” it’s only right for him to contribute for the game, so if the Great Master goes to sign the contract, Feng Teng will definitely not pay the royalties.

“Alright, I’ll go sign the contract myself.  We’ll split the royalties between the five of us,” Wei Wei says in agreement.  But why does she suddenly feel like she’s swindling someone for money even though it’s clearly legal >o<

“There’s no need to split it with YuGong and the others,” Xiao Nai says casually while watching the tea leaves float and sink in his cup.

“Huh?”  That’s not too nice, is it?  After all, they did take part in it.

“Just keep it for yourself.  Take it as a welcoming gift from them.”

Welcoming gift……

Wei Wei gapes speechlessly at him.  She was going to ask what to do about his portion, but now she doesn’t dare to.  What if he says……take it as a betrothal gift >o<

 

They have been engrossed in talking about the online game, so Wei Wei didn’t feel anything otherwise.  But now that she has stopped talking, the room has suddenly become quiet.  Wei Wei instantly realizes that her hand is actually holding the Great Master’s mouse, that she’s using the Great Master’s computer, and that she’s sitting in the Great Master’s chair?!

When, when, when did this happen?!

She slowly slips her hand off of such a mystical device as the Great Master’s mouse. Wei Wei shifts her gaze in extreme embarrassment and avoids looking at the Great Master’s face.  She was just feeling weird about why he had been standing all this time……It turns out it’s because he has no seat to return to >o<

The office is very quiet, and it seems as if Xiao Nai is purposely making her feel even more embarrassed by not speaking or moving.  He continues enjoying his tea leisurely with his long fingers caressing the side of the cup occasionally.

His movement catches Wei Wei’s wandering eyes’ attention.  She stares at his fingers without blinking.  She didn’t notice it just now due to being busy talking.  The cup he’s holding seems to be……

Wei Wei sets her embarrassment on the side, stands up and walks towards him with curiosity.  She stares at the cup in his hands.  Xiao Nai smiles and hands the cup over to her.

Wei Wei holds the cup in her hand and looks at it carefully.  It is a classically shaped white porcelain cup; exquisite and beautifully glazed.  It looks cute and refined with light green-tea inside.  But what attracts Wei Wei the most is not because it’s delicately made, it’s because of the image printed on it——in front of a patch of bamboo, a white robed musician sits playing on his guqin.

“Limited edition collectible mugs from ‘Dream Voyage in Rivers and Lakes’?” Wei Wei asks ecstatically.

“Mm, there’s also this one.  It’s yours.”

Another cup spreading with the aroma of tea is placed into her other hand.  It is also in white, but has the image of a heroine in red swinging her saber.

“Are there others?”  There are 36 avatars in “Dream Voyage in Rivers and Lakes,” so there should be 36 mugs.

“Feng Teng gave us a set, but I’ve only grabbed these two and let YuGong and the others have the rest.”

He only grabbed these two?

Wei Wei, who is admiring the cups looking left and right, suddenly freezes.  She raises her head to look at his handsome face up close.  After a moment, her eyelashes lower and obstruct her roaming, gleaming eyes.

So does this mean that he saved the cup for her?  Did he know long ago that she would visit his office one day?

Wei Wei continues looking at her cup, but she begins to slow down her actions; showing that she is distracted.  Without much thought, Wei Wei finally asks softly, “Xiao Nai, how did you recognize me yesterday?”

 

It’s the first time she called him “Xiao Nai.”  It’s as if the name holds some kind of magical power, even for someone as composed as Xiao Nai, his mind immediately goes blank.

But once he recovers and answers her, it’s Wei Wei’s turn to have her mind go blank.

“Not yesterday,” he gently takes the cup with the white robed musician away from her hand.  Xiao Nai continues, “It was back in March, at Ji Zhi (Ultimately Devoted).”

March?  Ji Zhi?  The place called Ji Zhi……

“The internet cafe?!” Wei Wei asks in shock.

“Mm, I happened to go there for something.  When I was leaving, I saw you fighting in a guild battle.”

Wei Wei is completely stunned.  She has thought of many reasons as to why the Great Master recognized her; like by her voice, or by looking up her IP or online profile.  None of these are hard to do for the Great Master.  But he has actually seen her at the internet cafe?  And it’s way back in March?

Thinking back now, she did visit the internet cafe once back in March.  It was because the dorm’s broadband died.  She went to tell people in the guild that she wouldn’t be able to go online for a while, as well as to participate in the guild battle.

The Great Master knew who she was from this long ago?

“Your operating skills were beautiful.  Your fingers moved very fast.”

Xiao Nai fixes his gaze on Wei Wei’s hands.  These were the hands that captured his attention in the noisy internet cafe.

Oh, fast fingers~~Wei Wei’s mind is in a mess.  She can only continue from his words not knowing what to say, “I’ve played SC (StarCraft) for a while during the summer when I was in third year of high school.  That’s how I practiced.  My APM (Actions Per Minute) is actually not high.  It’s not even at 150.”

“APM is only used as a reference.”

Wei Wei nods.  Compared to APM, accuracy may be more important, but although she agrees with him, Wei Wei can’t help but ask, “What is your APM?”

Could it be an extreme number?  Something unbelievable like 400……

“I’ve never tested myself.  When I first started playing, the concept of APM didn’t exist yet.”

Didn’t exist yet?  How many years ago is it then?  Wei Wei thinks for a minute.  She suddenly feels her blood rushing through her veins; the Great Master must be super handsome when playing online games.

Wei Wei feels more and more excited from just thinking about it.  Therefore, she asks out of reflex while looking at him with her sparkling eyes, “Let’s find a time to PK each other!”

Where is this conversation going to?  Xiao Nai raises his eyebrows and looks at her with a smile, “Sure, but may I ask you,” he pauses before continuing, “……to go easy on me.”

He clearly didn’t say anything odd, but Wei Wei’s face is red.  No matter what, it feels like he wanted to say, “my dear wife,” at the place where he took a pause.

Unbelievable.

She must be possessed today; thinking of all these weird things like betrothal gifts and being his “dear wife.”  If she continues, she might come up with weirder things, uh……

“Um~ I’m going to read a book.”

Before Xiao Nai can responds, Wei Wei returns quickly to the sofa with her cup of tea.  She picks up her book and starts concentrating on reading it.

 

Teatime has ended.

Not long after reading a couple of pages seriously, Wei Wei falls into a daze again; remembering that there’s still one more question——

If he recognized her from so long ago, why didn’t he tell her in the game?

Wei Wei can’t help but feel vexed.  She doesn’t realize that her gaze has already moved from the book to the person behind the desk.

The office is still very quiet.  Only the sound of keyboard tapping can be heard.  And even the tapping slowly goes away.  Xiao Nai suddenly stops and says without turning his head, “Wei Wei, if you continue looking at me, I won’t be able to stand it.”

Due to being absent-minded, Wei Wei doesn’t understand his words after hearing them.  She finally comes to her senses after a while, and then……

Alright, Wei Wei is about to combust herself.  She doesn’t want to ask anything anymore T T

 

The afternoon passes with Wei Wei being highly inefficient.  They eat dinner at a place nearby the Great Master’s office.  Wei Wei was worried that she would have to eat fish soup again, but luckily, the Great Master isn’t that evil.

Since she didn’t get to read a lot in the afternoon, Wei Wei really wants to go back to her dorm room after dinner, but the Great Master chases her thought away before she could act.

The Great Master asks, “Do you want to PK with me?”

Therefore, Wei Wei follows him back to the office obediently.  With one computer per person, they start PKing~~~ But the sad thing is, from PKing in “Dream Voyage” to SC, there’s not one that Wei Wei doesn’t lose.  She even starts to get a little angry from losing.  Aren’t boyfriends supposed to go easy on their girlfriends?  Why is hers so ruthless?  His eyebrows don’t even twitch when defeating her.

Of course, it’s very shameful to wish for the Great Master to go easy on her.  Therefore, Wei Wei slaps the thought back into the bottom of her head.

Since Wei Wei refuses to give up after losing, Xiao Nai doesn’t take her back to the dorm until 9pm.  Wei Wei has been busy for the whole day; from meeting up with the Great Master to PKing each other.  But Wei Wei seems to have suddenly found back the feelings she had from the online game.  She suddenly feels that the Great Master is so close to her……