When Tao Zhiyue got home in the evening, he finished his meal, put his dishes in the sink, and rushed to the computer impatiently.
I don't want to wash the dishes anymore. I'll do it tomorrow.
If you don't slack off on Friday, you'll miss it.
Tao Zhiyue thought so, sat down in front of the computer with peace of mind, and called Huo Ran.
As soon as the call was connected, Huo Ran sent a warm greeting: "Good evening! I just finished dinner and am walking upstairs to turn on the computer."
The sound of footsteps came from the receiver, and Tao Zhiyue seemed to be able to imagine the scene clearly.
Remembering that Huo Ran had said that he had recently moved out to live alone, he asked curiously, "Are you going to live alone forever? Now that those troubles have been solved, it would be more lively if you move back to live with your family."
"Oh, yes, I was planning to move back there. But something unexpected happened."
His tone was apologetic: "Speaking of which, you don't have to come to Yanping this weekend."
"The company is planning a big project right now, so it's very busy. I'm going on a business trip tomorrow." Huo Ran said, "I may have to travel a lot in the future, and my dad won't be home every day. My sister is going to travel with her friends, so there's no one at home, so I'm too lazy to move back. I'll think about it after I'm done with my work."
"So that's how it is."
Tao Zhiyue felt a little regretful, but he could understand it. Compared to the cold-blooded president "Huo Ran" in the novel who worked frantically every day, this Huo Ran who got off work on time every day and chatted with him was already very good. He didn't look like a president who was busy with official duties at all.
It was not being able to see him this week that made Tao Zhiyue feel a little melancholy.
It had been two weeks since he last came back, and they hadn't seen each other for almost half a month.
Huo Ran sensed his emotions and said quickly: "Time flies. You don't have to wait until next weekend. I'll come to see you after this business trip!"
"Okay, then I'll make a guide in advance and find out what's fun in northern Shanxi."
Huo Ran actively offered suggestions: "You can go to the travel section of Sky Forum!"
Tao Zhiyue laughed: "I was the one who told you this, why are you taking over now?"
"I was afraid you'd forgotten." Huo Ran tried to get away with it, "I opened the game page! Is it the one you play on the web?"
"Yes, that's the one, the painting style is very sloppy."
"It's really hasty." Huo Ran agreed, "Let's see who can destroy the world first!"
As he was talking, Tao Zhiyue also opened the game.
The game starts with a simple sketch of a large gray mosquito. The level of scene drawing is very flexible. Some parts are drawn quite carefully. Some slightly more complex objects are simply drawn with a box and a big word on it: electric fan.
The same goes for the creatures in this game world, some are very vividly drawn, while others rely entirely on text annotations to be identified.
It can be seen that the person who made this game must have been feeling very ups and downs at that time.
It's probably like one hand is slapping mosquitoes, the other hand is applying medicated oil, and the feet are stomping on the keyboard frantically.
While playing, Tao Zhiyue kept a surprised expression all the time, and from time to time he could hear Huo Ran's serious complaints.
"I figured it out! This tiger is a copy and paste of the cat, with a Chinese character '王' drawn on its forehead, and the strokes are crooked."
“I thought this was a hedgehog... but it’s actually a durian?! But why is there a durian in a game where mosquitoes suck blood? Do mosquitoes really bite durian...?”
"I tried it once, but my mouth broke. Durian is really hard." Huo Ran said in a trance, "Ah, now my mouth has grown back."
Tao Zhiyue was so delighted when he heard this that his joy in playing the game doubled.
He was very interested in Guan Yudong's idea of a mass extinction of species followed by the reappearance of dinosaurs. After thinking about the logic behind it, he went to search for the close relatives of dinosaurs, preparing to bite them one by one to try to provoke their anger, and then wait to enjoy the grand scene of the dinosaurs' rebirth.
As Tao Zhiyue worked hard to prevent the sixth mass extinction of species, Huo Ran kept making new and surprising exclamations.
"My mosquito has bred so many little mosquitoes!"
"Hey, mosquitoes can talk, even though they are repeating themselves."
"Yes, I saw it too."
When Tao Zhiyue was breeding mosquitoes, he saw text bubbles saying "I've become stronger!" and "I've become stronger again!", and the most common sound was the "buzz buzz buzz" that popped up from time to time.
As soon as the buzz started, he felt a little itchy on his arm.
"This psychological effect is too strong. Do you feel itchy?"
"It doesn't itch. I've taken mosquito repellent measures today!" Huo Ran said confidently. "By the way, I bought a mosquito repellent lamp that is very useful. Do you want one? I'll ask someone to send one over."
"Is this really useful?" Tao Zhiyue asked uncertainly, "I wanted to buy it before, but many people said it was useless."
"I think it's very useful. You can try it. If it doesn't work, you can fly over and hit me!"
"Okay, I believe it then."
Tao Zhiyue sent the address to him and said jokingly, "You look as confident now as when you were cooking that day."
When it comes to this, Huo Ran becomes very depressed: "Why can't I adjust the taste well? I wanted to bring a portion for my mother the other day, so I made it again, but the taste is still so complicated... Adding seasonings based on feeling is really a profound science."
Tao Zhiyue suppressed his laughter and comforted him: "I will teach you again next time, it should be much better."
"Okay! I'll remember it carefully..."
While they were chatting, Huo Ran's voice suddenly became terrified.
"It's over. My game is ruined."
"What?" Tao Zhiyue was confused. "Did it break?"
"I was playing the game when the screen suddenly went black and a message popped up on it saying that mosquitoes were extinct and that I had messed up the game." Huo Ran said incoherently, "I didn't do anything. I was playing the game normally."
Tao Zhiyue was shocked: "There is such an ending? How did you play it?"
"I just...play normally?"
As the voice stretched out, Huo Ran gradually became less confident.
"I bit a person and found that the wings and mouth of the mosquito could change. I thought, if the shape and size can change, then can the color also change? This gray is so ugly."
"I just happened to see a pig, so I bit it, and then I found some pink things to bite, flamingos, starfish... and human pink hair? How can hair also be sucked blood?"
"Although the logic behind this color change is strange, my mosquito really turned pink."
"Also, the mosquito started talking, with a lot of text bubbles popping out."
Tao Zhiyue then realized that the text they saw should be different.
"What did your mosquito say?"
"Just saying three words, the screen changed color. I thought it was just a normal color change prompt."
Tao Zhiyue covered the microphone and started laughing.
"After I got the pink mosquito, I wanted to know if it bit an animal of another color, would it directly turn into that color, or would the two colors neutralize each other and turn into another color."
"So I bit some more blue animals, butterflies, blue parrots... um, and blue hair, this person really drew a lot of weird things. In the end it just turned blue instead of purple."
"Then the color-changing prompts started popping up again. It was so noisy. All the mosquitoes were repeating it."
Tao Zhiyue felt that he had found an idea and suppressed his smile: "What color was the mosquito before your screen went black?"
"Let me think about it, it seems to be yellow." Huo Ran tried to recall, "I thought that since I can bite durian, I should be able to bite other fruits, so I tried to suck some mango and pineapple..."
"It actually works! The mosquitoes are slowly turning yellow. I bit a yellow-skinned person, and the mosquitoes turned even yellower."
"Then when the entire screen was changing color, the picture froze and a warning popped up with white text on a black background and a red title. The content was all in English. Before I could take a closer look, the screen immediately turned black again and has not changed since then. I'll take a screenshot for you."
Tao Zhiyue clicked on the picture he sent and burst out laughing.
On a black background, in the center of the screen, there was a giant river crab blowing bubbles, with a line of words floating next to it: Mosquitoes are extinct! Congratulations, you have successfully broken the game!
There is also a screenshot attached, with large yellow mosquitoes on the screen, and layers of dialogue bubbles filled with words like: Changed color, changed color, changed color, changed color…
Huo Ran on the other side said worriedly: "Isn't this really ruined? Can we start over? I haven't destroyed the world yet, how come I have destroyed the mosquitoes instead?"
“Why do mosquitoes change color and a scary English warning pops up? Why do mosquitoes suddenly become extinct?”
"I haven't created any creatures that can threaten mosquitoes. Could it be this last crab that did it? This doesn't make sense. How did it do it? Did it seal the mosquitoes with the bubbles it spit out?"
In his rather innocent questioning of "A Thousand Whys", Tao Zhiyue almost died of laughter.
He tried to hold back his laughter and answered incoherently: "It's not broken... This is just a joke by the game designers... It's the censors who did it, don't panic."
"What's this?" Huo Ran had no idea of his happiness and asked in confusion, "Are you laughing? Why does your voice sound weird?"
“I… didn’t laugh.” Tao Zhiyue laughed so hard that his stomach hurt, and he couldn’t hide it anymore. “There are too many jokes to explain clearly. Anyway… you are cute, hahahahaha.”
He couldn't be the only one laughing like a fool.
With the feeling that happiness is better shared than alone, Tao Zhiyue laughed and trembled at the same time. He sent the screenshots of the game changing color and the screenshots of the game being broken to Guan Yudong, thanking him for sharing this magical game.
[It’s a Guan, not a Gua: Oh my god, is this even possible? ! ! ]
[It’s an official, not a quack: Taotao, how did you do it? Please tell me, I want to replicate it!]
[Tao: It wasn’t me, it was my boyfriend who typed it out.]
[Tao: He said he bit some creatures of similar color, and then he became like this for no apparent reason.]
[Tao: Before this ending, mosquitoes were yellow, hahahahaha.]
[It’s an official, not a quack: !!! Woo woo woo ah ah ah ah ah! ]
[It's a censor, not a censor: Damn it, why is the producer's contact information no longer available? I really want to crawl into his brain and take a tour.]
[I have an idea. I will try to bite only creatures that come in pairs, and spare the lives of single animals.]
[It’s an official, not a quack: Maybe it will trigger some strange mutation. I believe this producer must have been hurt by more than just mosquitoes.]
Tao Zhiyue couldn't stop laughing.
[Tao: Good idea, you are worthy of it!]
Huo Wan Wan Why Ran on the other end of the phone was still asking questions tirelessly: "Although I am happy that you praised me, I want to know what is so lovable about me. I will try harder next time."
"Don't try harder, this is the cutest." Tao Zhiyue rubbed his face, tiredness rising, "I'm tired of laughing, I'm actually a little sleepy."
"Then let's go to bed early today. I have to get up early tomorrow and can't sleep too late. See you after I take a shower!"
The plan to destroy the world on Friday night failed, but Xiao Huo opened up an unexpected new world.
When he got into bed after taking a shower, Tao Zhiyue felt like he was lying on a soft cloud. His whole body was relaxed, as if he could fall into a soft dream in a second.
While chatting before bed, Huo Ran, who was also lying down, was still worried about this game with strange logic.
He murmured to himself, "Why did the crabs kill the mosquitoes?"
Tao Zhiyue wanted to laugh again. Looking at the dim night, he said seriously, "This question is not suitable for explanation at night. I will tell you next time during the day."
"Is the reason so scary? I thought this was a funny game." Huo Ran was surprised, "Then I'll ask you again during the day."
"Okay, during the day."
Tao Zhiyue fell asleep quickly in the endless chat. When his breathing became slow and regular, Huo Ran on the other end of the phone quietly hung up.
"Good night, sweet dreams."
So that night, Tao Zhiyue really had a very good dream.
He dreamed of a pale world with only lines. The Creator was lazy, so the painting style was sloppy like that mosquito game. The nearby objects were rough lines that trembled gently, and the objects in the distance were all crooked words: "park", "zebra crossing", "tree", "a group of people".
At some point, a colorful, three-dimensional Huo Ran appeared beside him, and then the world gradually took on shape and color.
The tree turned into a real tree, slowly growing green leaves and dark brown branches.
The crowd took on a concrete shape, with a little girl jumping around with her mother holding her hand. She was wearing a pink dress and even the hairpin on her head was pink.
She spoke happily, and her mother, who was listening attentively, lowered her head, smiled and reached out to pinch her cheek.
In the park across the street, a blue butterfly flew in, light and graceful.
The asphalt road stretched into the unreachable distance, the scorching sun shone on the road surface, and the clouds hanging high in the sky floated slowly, casting flickering shadows on the ground.
The green trees on the roadside and the glittering buildings intertwined to form a golden dreamland. Huo Ran spoke in his ear. The wind and his breath were hot, making his cheeks flush.
All the sunlight poured towards them, and he couldn't help but open his arms. The air was shining gently, as if he could pick the sun with just a stretch of his hand.
He picked the sun.
When he woke up from his dream, Tao Zhiyue looked at the morning light that illuminated the room. He only vaguely remembered that he had dreamed of Huo Ran.
It seemed to be a dream that made him very happy.
Tao Zhiyue closed his eyes, hugged the quilt and thought about it for a while before he woke up completely.
His biological clock is very regular. Even on weekends, he only sleeps a little longer than usual and then wakes up.
Ever since he fell in love, he would consciously look at the phone as soon as he woke up.
Huo Ran got up very early today and sent a good morning greeting at around six o'clock.
[Xiao Huo: Good morning!]
[Xiao Huo: Today’s weather is really nice. I think it’s a good time to go out and play.]
[Xiao Huo: But I have to go on a business trip.]
[Xiao Huo: crying cat head.jpg]
[Tao: Are you too sleepy to be conscious? o(*≧▽≦)ツ]
[Tao: Good morning, good morning, good morning!]
Huo Ran replied to the message quickly.
[Xiao Huo: You are laughing at me again!]
[Xiao Huo: You’re awake. I’ll ask someone to send over a mosquito repellent lamp.]
[Tao: OK.]
[Tao: I’m going to wash up and have breakfast first~]
[Tao: Go get busy!]
[Xiao Huo: Okay.]
[Xiao Huo: Cat waving.gif]
After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Tao Zhiyue went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. When he took the eggs, he thought of Huo Ran’s clumsy way of naming yesterday and couldn’t help laughing.
So he decided not to eat toast today and to fry two eggs instead.
One is a standard poached egg with yellow in the middle and white around the edges, and the other is an egg with the yolk deliberately punctured to allow it to flow out of the egg white, making it yellow with white around it.
After carefully frying the eggs, Tao Zhiyue excitedly sent a photo to Huo Ran.
[Tao: Fried eggs and fried eggs!]
After destroying the two egg brothers, Tao Zhiyue walked around the small house with his back to the camera.
It hadn’t been long since the last big cleaning, and he usually swept the floor, so the house was still very clean and didn’t need much tidying up.
The weekend tasks that Tao Zhiyue had set for himself in the past were to go for a walk in the park on sunny days and to buy groceries and cook hot pot on rainy or snowy days.
At that time, it was to kill time and relieve boredom, so as to avoid myself from falling into a long period of loneliness with nothing to do.
It’s a sunny day today, but Tao Zhiyue doesn’t want to go to the park to practice Tai Chi with his grandfather at all.
He was in a very good mood, so good that he could turn on the TV and watch any melodramatic TV series about how cruel, heartless and unreasonable you are, and he would suddenly laugh.
He curled up on the sofa and watched TV for a while when the doorbell rang.
It should be the courier who came to deliver the goods.
"coming!"
Tao Zhiyue jumped off the sofa and walked towards the door.
He opened the door and saw the totally unexpected person.
Tao Zhiyue rubbed his eyes and looked up and down again to make sure he was not hallucinating.
Finally, his gaze fell on the other person's empty eyes.
"Where's your mosquito repellent lamp?"
Huo Ran's tone was a little proud: "I am the best mosquito repellent lamp!"
"You mentioned this game yesterday. When I searched for it, I found many people saying that they were originally searching for a way to deal with mosquitoes, and found it by accident."
"I guess you were annoyed by mosquitoes and discovered this game."
"So here I am, you will definitely not get bitten by mosquitoes this weekend!"
"Oh, I didn't lie to you! Northern Shanxi is indeed the place where the company's project is going to be inspected. It's just that the main team is leaving on Monday, so I came here early."
Tao Zhiyue was stunned for a long while, as if he couldn't find a suitable response, and his eyes began to feel sore inexplicably.
He quickly lowered his head and wanted to get a pair of slippers for Huo Ran, but the shoe rack was empty except for the pair he was wearing.
He never prepared slippers for anyone.
Huo Ran noticed his confusion and said quickly, "Don't look for it. I didn't tell you in advance, so I won't come in. I'll stand here and wait for you to get ready so we can go together."
"Today's weather is so nice, perfect for a date!"
"Good morning, I didn't type, today you are my morning."
Huo Ran gave him a bright smile: "I promised you wouldn't be able to guess it!"