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Chi Qing was a very pretty girl, tall and slim, visibly over 1.75 meters. She wore a neat ear-length bob, and her fair face showed little expression, giving off a somewhat aloof, hard-to-approach air.

Pang Yu was an adorable big fat guy, about the same height as Chi Qing. But while Chi Qing had grown "vertically," long and slender, Pang Yu had developed "horizontally," round and plump. Standing beside Chi Qing, the contrast between fat and thin was striking.

Jin Yue had an average face and build, the kind of ordinary passerby who would disappear into a crowd. He looked quite refined and wore a pair of silver-rimmed glasses.

Xie Mingzhe walked over and took the initiative to greet them. "Hello, everyone."

Seeing the handsome young man before him, Pang Yu widened his eyes in disbelief. "You're... Fat Uncle from the game?"

Xie Mingzhe nodded. "Yeah. I just picked a name at random in the game."

Pang Yu looked like he was about to collapse. "Ahhh, I'm the Fat Uncle here, okay?! You're so tall and skinny, yet you named yourself Fat Uncle. Aren't you just rubbing it in?"

"Calm down, Little Fatty." Jin Yue pushed up his glasses and said, "In games, changing your body type is nothing. People changing their gender is common too."

"..." Pang Yu had no rebuttal.

Chi Qing remained calm. She did not seem fond of talking and merely nodded to Xie Mingzhe in greeting.

Chen smiled. "Let's go! We have a newcomer at the studio today, so I'm treating everyone to a feast outside!"

With someone treating them, Xie Mingzhe really wanted to go. But the doctor had warned him upon discharge that his digestive system had yet to recover and that he could not let his guard down. Though he desperately wanted chicken legs, roast duck, ribs, beef... unfortunately, his body only allowed him to drink porridge.

Xie Mingzhe swallowed and said, "Chen, no need to spend so much. Just treat me to two bowls of porridge."

Everyone: "????"

Who treated someone to porridge?

Meeting the group's strange stares, Xie Mingzhe hurriedly explained, "Don't misunderstand. I was only discharged recently, and my stomach isn't doing too well. The doctor said I can only have liquid food for three days. Even if I eat anything else, I won't be able to digest it."

Chen looked at him in confusion. "You were hospitalized before?"

"Yeah. I was discharged today."

"You came to work right after being discharged? Aren't you going to rest at home for a few days? Your family doesn't care?"

"I'm already an adult. My family doesn't really interfere with me." Xie Mingzhe did not want anyone to know he was an orphan, much less see pity in their eyes.

The three of them exchanged looks, all at a loss for words.

He had rushed to work right after being discharged. He really was working himself to the bone. This boy's family circumstances must have been poor.

"Sigh, it hasn't been easy for you." Chen sighed and asked with concern, "You came to work right after being discharged. Can your body handle it?"

"It's fine. I've already recovered, and playing games doesn't take much physical effort anyway." Xie Mingzhe smiled and changed the subject. "By the way, Chen, I'm level 15 in the game. I'll grind up to level 35 tonight and farm materials with you guys."

"Alright." Chen turned back to Chi Qing and said, "Since Little Xie can't eat a big feast, we'll just have something simple. A-Qing, could you make a pot of porridge? Once Little Xie gets better in a couple of days, I'll treat everyone."

"Mm." Chi Qing turned and went to the kitchen to make porridge.

"Come on, Little Xie. I'll help you get your luggage settled." Chen led Xie Mingzhe upstairs.

Xie Mingzhe took the chance to look over the studio's surroundings.

The apartment was a small two-story duplex occupying the top two floors of a residential building. The main hall and side hall on the first floor contained helmets and swivel chairs, along with the kitchen, dining room, and bathroom. The second floor was the living area, with four rooms. The master bedroom had only one large bed, while the other three rooms each had two single beds side by side.

"There used to be another girl in our studio who lived with Chi Qing. She went off to get married recently and took a month off, so I recruited someone to fill in for her. A lot of dungeons in the game require five people to enter." Chen lit a cigarette and spoke as he smoked. "Right now, Chi Qing lives alone, Jin Yue lives with me, and you'll share a room with Little Fatty from now on. Any problem with that?"

"No problem!" Xie Mingzhe followed Chen and put his luggage in the bedroom.

He had thought a power-leveling studio would be some dark little workshop, but the environment here was far better than he had imagined. Not only was the first-floor gaming hall spacious and bright, the rooms upstairs were also kept very clean. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows by the balcony, he could even see the lush garden below.

Xie Mingzhe pushed open the glass door and stepped onto the balcony. He found that it was quite large. At the far end sat a very comfortable recliner, with a fluffy white carpet beneath it. Beside the carpet was a flower stand holding several succulents. Each one was about the size of a child's fist, and their various colors looked especially adorable. In front of the flower stand was a wooden tea table with a tea set on it. The four small cups were white as jade and exquisitely made.

At the sight, Xie Mingzhe could almost imagine someone reclining in that comfortable chair on a summer afternoon, slowly sipping tea from a delicate little cup and occasionally watering the succulents on the stand, living a peaceful and leisurely life.

The balcony's decor was completely out of place with the profession of "game power-leveling." Looking more closely, the paintings on the walls, the pure white curtains, the warm-toned wallpaper... none of it resembled the style one would expect from a power-leveling studio.

Xie Mingzhe could not help asking, "Chen, are you renting this place?" He thought, This must have been arranged by the previous landlord, right? What game power-leveler would have the leisure to grow flowers and drink tea on the balcony?

Chen suddenly fell silent at the question, and a flash of pain crossed his eyes.

The man happened to be smoking, and the smoke he exhaled obscured his face. Thus, Xie Mingzhe did not see his expression. Still, Chen's obvious silence made Xie Mingzhe realize that he seemed to have asked something he should not have. He hurriedly changed his words. "I was just asking. It's fine if it's inconvenient to talk about."

Chen slowly finished exhaling the smoke. Just when Xie Mingzhe thought he would not answer, a low voice sounded beside him. "This is my brother's house."

Xie Mingzhe froze for a moment. Turning back, he saw the man walk to the window and narrow his eyes at the distant garden as he spoke quietly. "Everyone who comes to the studio for the first time wonders how a game power-leveling studio could be decorated like this. The truth is, this place used to be my brother's home. After he left, I turned the first floor into a gaming hall and the second floor into dorm rooms. But I never touched the balcony. I kept it exactly as it was."