The Reverse Runner (Bonus Chapter 22)

After washing up, Lin Qingying carried breakfast upstairs.

The two sat facing each other. I glanced at her; her face was still beautiful, but she seemed a little tired.

"What's wrong?"

She looked at me in surprise.

"You look a bit tired; you should get some rest," I said.

"Um..."

She said softly, "I'll consider taking a vacation after I'm done with this busy period."

After finishing my meal, I tidied up.

"Ding Han."

She suddenly called out to me, saying, "I went on a business trip to BH City this time and brought some things back with me."

As she spoke, she went into the room and came out carrying two boxes.

"Ah?"

I was slightly taken aback; they were two skateboards, and the kind that were custom-made and limited edition.

Lin Qingying peeled off the packaging paper, revealing the skateboard. It came in men's and women's versions. The men's version had One Piece sandpaper on the board, while the women's version had Qiongmei's sandpaper on the board. In the picture, Qiongmei was holding a teddy bear and standing under the moonlight, looking very beautiful.

I think Lin Qingying probably just thought the sandpaper looked nice, but she didn't know the story behind the anime character at all, otherwise she probably wouldn't have bought it.

"You..."

She looked at me. "Why is your smile so strange? These two skateboards were custom-made by a friend in Beihai. Is there something wrong with them?"

"It's great, I like it very much!"

I smiled and said, "Shall we go downstairs and review now?"

"Good!"

So, the two of them went downstairs. I tried out the skateboard, and the high-end skateboard was indeed quite different. Acceleration and changes of direction were much smoother. Lin Qingying, with her long hair flowing, was slowly gliding on the skateboard in the morning light, wearing her work clothes as the Yue Ning Group CEO. The sunlight shone down, turning the ends of her hair golden.

After playing for about half an hour, Lin Qingying said, "Okay, time to go to work!"

As she spoke, she put both skateboards into the trunk, then changed into high heels and looked at me, saying, "Where do you work? Shall I give you a ride? Is it on my way?"

"It's actually on the way..."

I coughed. "I work at Luo Mei."

"Luo Mei?"

Lin Qingying paused for a moment, then smiled slightly, "That's on the way. Get in the car, let's go."

"Um."

Sitting in a Bentley again felt great, just as I always have.

On the street, cars came and went. Lin Qingying drove very steadily, and the music playing in the car was actually the song I sang, "A Journey on a Mountain Road." I didn't expect that the electronic version had already been released.

Shortly after, the car slowly came to a stop on the side of the road next to the Luomei Building.

I turned around and said, "I'm here, thanks!"

"You are welcome."

She nodded.

"Manager Lin..."

At that moment, a middle-aged man in a suit by the roadside bowed respectfully to Lin Qingying in the car and said with a smile, "Good morning..."

"Um."

Lin Qingying nodded, then stepped on the gas and drove the car to the left, entering the underground parking lot of the Yuening Building.

The middle-aged man looked at me with suspicion before walking into the Yuening Building.

Another dull day has passed.

After work, Fatty and Shen Yue invited me to dinner, but I declined. It wouldn't be good to disturb their time together. If we had actually eaten together, Shen Yue would probably have felt a little embarrassed if she wanted to stay at Fatty's place.

I think I saw Shen Yue's CC parked overnight downstairs in the apartment complex...

Yes, the development is quite rapid!

That fat guy is definitely much better than me in this regard.

Around 8 PM.

I took out the Ride the Wind Sword and placed it on the coffee table, trying to disassemble it. Sure enough, this Monomolecular Sword is divided into two parts: the hilt and the blade. Not only can these two parts be disassembled, but even the blade can be disassembled. The forging process is very exquisite. No wonder the forger is called a master.

This dispelled my doubts.

This Ride the Wind Sword was a gift from Cheng Feng, but my weapon is destined to be replaced during future upgrades. For example, my next sword will at least be orange-tier, and maybe even the legendary Power Sword.

Power Sword> Monomolecular Sword; even a fool understands this.

So when the time comes, as long as I remove the hilt of this sword engraved with the words "Riding the Wind" and reattach it to the new sword, it will be equivalent to inheriting the Riding the Ride the Wind Sword. As for the blade of the Ride the Wind Sword, I can give it back to Cheng Shuang later. This is a pretty good outcome.

Familiar footsteps could be heard outside the door.

Lin Qingying back.

"Whoosh!"

I immediately stored the Ride the Wind Sword in my Dimensional Storage Space, crossed my arms, and pretended to watch TV.

Lin Qingying opened the door and entered the room, then began to change her shoes.

"You got off work early today, have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet."

Lin Qingying said, "I just got back from the meeting. What about you?"

"I've already eaten."

I thought for a moment, "How about I cook you a bowl of egg noodles?"

"Good."

She did not refuse.

So I got up and boiled water, then took a large packet of Braised Beef Noodles and two eggs, and soon the fragrant aroma filled the kitchen.

"Eat it while it's hot, finish it all, you're too thin," I said.

"Um."

Lin Qingying changed out of her pajamas, picked up chopsticks with her right hand, and gathered her hair with her Left Hand. After taking a bite, she immediately sat up straight and said, "Ding Han, the noodles you cooked are really delicious..."

"Right?"

I smiled slightly, "Tell me when you get off work next time, so I can buy groceries and cook."

"Okay, sure."

She nodded earnestly.

So, she was eating noodles while I was watching TV. The TV was showing a melodramatic urban drama, and in the pouring rain, the male and female leads were kneeling on the ground, crying their hearts out. It gave me goosebumps.

Why is the female lead like this?

Lin Qingying said, "I've read about the characters in this popular drama before, and the female lead shouldn't do something like this."

That's not necessarily true.

I laughed and retorted, "Love can make people lose their principles."

"Yeah?"

She was skeptical, but continued eating her noodles.

Sure enough, she finished the whole bowl of noodles and two eggs, and even drank almost all the soup. Then she took the bowl to wash the dishes herself, and then took out the dirty clothes and threw them into the washing machine.

"Ding Han, do you have any clothes to wash? We can wash them together," she asked.

"Need not."

I remembered my two blood-stained clothes and thought that if I actually took them out, she would probably be shocked.

After finishing the laundry, Lin Qingying took out her notebook again and started working.

I sat to the side playing on my phone, watching girls dance on Douyin.

"Drop!"

Suddenly, a WeChat message arrived from Milo: "Ding Han, Ding Han, I felt like I recognized Xiao Bei's phone wallpaper yesterday, so I secretly took a picture of it."

"You know what, it looks familiar too. I feel like I've seen this scene somewhere before." I frowned.

"Yes, look at this picture I took."

He sent the picture directly. The photo was taken at an angle, pointing upwards. You could vaguely see a huge figure standing on the edge of a building, while on the building, a figure rushed down and stabbed a sword into the huge figure's eye. The photo even captured the scene of blood splattering!

"Holy crap..."

I was stunned for a moment. "He looks familiar, so familiar..."

"It doesn't look familiar!"

Milo said, "I fucking checked, and this is a photo taken by a war correspondent in Jiangning City. The photo is called 'The Reverse Runner,' and it just recently won a national photography award. Guess where it was taken? Creek City! Who are the main characters in the photo? One is Gray Bug Regiment Commander Vega, and the other, isn't it you?!"

As he spoke, he sent a clearer version of the photo, which was over 20MB in size.

This time, I could see it clearly: it was the final battle of the Stream City Campaign. Many players attacked Vega, who was wearing Third-Generation Power Armor, from all directions. But the one who truly made a contribution was me, who rushed down from the building. That sword Crippling Blow severely injured Vega!

In the scene, Vega's several-meter-tall body looked like a colossus, while my body, soaring through the air, looked extremely small, yet I managed to plunge the General's Blade deep into Vega's eye.

In addition, as my body leaped, an ornament fluttered in the wind at my waist. It was the Pancake Bear that Li Xiang had given me before, which was hanging at my waist. After being attacked by Thermobaric Bomb, the Pancake Bear was charred a bit, but its overall outline had not changed. With its figure, profile, and other features, anyone who knew me could recognize it!

"Holy crap..."

I stared in disbelief. "I had no idea when this photo was taken..."

"Of course, I just discovered that myself."

Milo said, "The Crimson Dragon Country incorporated Creek City into its territory, and to make it legitimate, they heavily promoted this picture. It even appeared on the covers of several magazines. If you read magazines, you probably saw it already."

He sent a grinning emoji. "Case solved! I finally know why Xiao Bei is so hung up on you. Just like you said, it's a hero complex. What girl wouldn't like someone like that? Besides, Xiao Bei already had a crush on you, and now that she's seen this photo, she's completely smitten."

"Wait a minute..."

I frowned and asked, "You mean Xiao Bei knows I'm a player?"

"That's not so clear."

Milo said, "The Crimson Dragon Country has always kept its attitude towards players a secret, but I don't care. With Xiao Bei's personality, even if he knew you were a player, he wouldn't change his mind."

"Damn, I need to digest this."

"Haha, take your time to digest this."

Milo sent a thumbs-up. "Bro, I never thought you were the one who killed Vega, awesome... I'm so proud of you!"

I sent a dog emoji and ended the chat.

At this moment, Lin Qingying sat up straight, stretched, and suddenly turned to look at me, asking, "Ding Han, isn't your birthday in a few days?"

"Huh?"

I was taken aback. "How did you know?"

"I've seen your ID number, and I've memorized it."

"..."

Lin Qingying asked, "Do you have any plans or arrangements for your birthday?"

"Yes, just having a simple meal with my brothers and friends, that's about it."

I turned to her and asked, "Do you want to come along?"

"I..."

Lin Qingying hesitated for a moment, then said seriously, "If you're willing to invite me, I'll try my best to make time to attend!"