At seven in the morning, Li Qing opened his eyes right on time and stared blankly at the bright ceiling for a while.
He seemed to have had a dream last night-something very rare. In the twenty years Li Qing could remember, he had dreamed no more than three times, yet he could no longer even recall what this dream had been about.
While he was still dazed, a voice reached his ears, low and gentle, with a slight rasp and the sticky sound of a throat still thick with sleep-
"Good morning."
Li Qing whipped his head around and found himself facing a handsome face with sharply defined features.
Half his face buried in the pillow, the man watched him with a warm smile, his visible obsidian eyes still hazy with sleep.
Li Qing's fingertips twitched instinctively. Then he remembered his current circumstances.
He drew a breath, letting the heartbeat that had instantly gone erratic with alarm settle down before saying, "Good morning."
Then he frowned slightly. "Did you turn on the livestream?"
Gong Yao laughed. "Every time it's been off for four hours, the livestream automatically switches back on to ensure the livestream system's revenue."
-He had to admit, the livestream system's design was remarkably smart.
The instant Gong Yao's stream went live, its popularity soared, with crowds pouring in to watch despite the early hour.
People rushed to spread the word, all for one reason-
"Gong Yao is livestreaming himself sleeping!"
"Gong Yao is getting up!!!"
Gong Yao merely waved toward the invisible camera, and notifications of surging popularity and incoming gifts began ringing through his system like crazy.
Li Qing couldn't see Gong Yao's system, but his administrator system could automatically detect changes in signals, so he frowned slightly amid the barrage of beeps.
He shook his head gently. "It's only sleeping. I don't understand what goes through people's minds when they watch such a boring scene."
Gong Yao muted the notifications and smiled, his eyes curving. "Not everyone has the freedom to enjoy privacy, Administrator."
He hadn't voiced that final title, but Li Qing read it from the movement of his lips.
"Besides, it's 'only sleeping.' Don't worry. You're very well-behaved when you sleep. You should look great on camera~"
Li Qing: "..."
Just then, an older woman's voice came from outside.
"Newlyweds, please come out for breakfast!"
Li Qing didn't change back into the women's wedding outfit. Wearing only his own white trench coat, he walked with Gong Yao through the Chinese-style corridor to the dining room outside.
The building resembled a large temple, with some distance between each room. Ordinary noises wouldn't carry to anyone else's quarters.
The dining room was somewhat run-down, like the other rooms. A long wooden table stood in the center, with eight people seated on two rows of benches.
When the two of them entered, all eight fell silent.
Several people looked dazzled, and two girls clenched their fists in excitement.
-They not only recognized Gong Yao, but felt reassured by his arrival? Then those two must be players... Li Qing made his assessment.
He surveyed the others: four men and four women in total, but no one else showed any excitement, only admiration at most.
It wasn't necessarily that they didn't recognize Gong Yao. Were they simply hiding their identities for now in front of players and NPCs whose intentions were unknown?
As Li Qing's gaze moved across them, one man suddenly caught his attention.
Objectively speaking, the man wasn't exceptionally handsome, but he had a roguish charm that naturally drew people's attention. That quality was somewhat similar to Gong Yao's.
Yet in this instance, where everyone was clearly paired off, two women sat pressed close to this man.
The woman on his left watched him adoringly, while the girl on his right looked toward Li Qing and Gong Yao. She was one of the girls who had shown excitement at the start.
Noticing that Gong Yao had drawn away his companion's attention, the man gave the two of them a somewhat hostile look.
...Was this the sense of threat males felt toward rivals during courtship? This was Li Qing's first time delving into player society within an instance, and he couldn't help finding it rather novel.
Gong Yao, however, ignored their differing reactions and offered an impeccable smile. "Sorry to have kept you all waiting."
Then he blinked, looked at the middle-aged woman standing nearby, and asked, "Do we need to introduce ourselves?"
The middle-aged woman glanced at him without speaking.
One girl stood up first and said excitedly, "I know you! You're Gong Yao, right? My name is Yuan Sisi!"
Gong Yao bent down like a gentleman and mimed a kiss over the back of the young girl's hand. "Hello, Miss Yuan."
Then he turned his friendly gaze toward the others.
The girl beside Yuan Sisi said somewhat shyly, "Fang Miao."
A man one seat away followed. "Zhao Yu."
"Zhou Qing."
Next came the roguishly handsome man.
Narrowing his eyes, the man rudely examined Gong Yao from head to toe without saying anything.
Zhou Qing, who sat beside him-the girl suspected of being a player-hurriedly spoke for him. "This is Wan Yingjun."
Wan Yingjun gave a soft snort through his nose and said nothing.
At that moment, he was deeply annoyed.
That morning, he had deliberately dawdled before leaving his room. By the time he reached the dining room, almost everyone was already there.
As a result, Wan Yingjun had received everyone's attention. Every person, player or NPC, had naturally fallen under the spell of his good looks and bearing. Even Zhou Qing, who hadn't paired up with him last night, had abandoned her original partner and taken the initiative to sit beside him.
-Of course, her partner wouldn't say anything about it.
Women liked him, and men admired him. Though there was always a little something missing-the spice called "jealousy"-Wan Yingjun was still very satisfied.
Until that man named Gong Yao appeared even later than he had, once again stealing the others' attention.
Even Zhou Qing was fawning over him!
And that silly little girl beside him, whom he thought nothing of, had even started another inexplicable round of introductions for Gong Yao's sake!
At that moment, the comments in Wan Yingjun's livestream suddenly multiplied too:
[Wow! Look who I spotted! It's Lord Gong Yao!]
[Lord Gong Yao is actually in the same instance as Wan! Battle of the hotties!]
[That little white-haired beauty is gorgeous too...]
[Huh, Wan doesn't look too happy...]
"..." With a click, Wan Yingjun shut off the comments.
By now, everyone had finished introducing themselves, and their attention settled on the white-haired young man, the only one who hadn't spoken.
Compared with Gong Yao's intensely aggressive presence, this young man gave off a sense of tranquility... He was the kind of beauty Wan Yingjun liked.
So he adjusted his expression and smiled. "And who might this be?"
Anyone else would have been overwhelmed with gratitude at being singled out by him. Instead, the young man merely gave him an indifferent glance and said calmly, "My name is Li Qing."
Wan Yingjun: "..."
Across from them, Zhao Yu frowned. "You're a man?"
Li Qing tilted his head slightly.
Yuan Sisi hurriedly said, "He didn't mean it like that. Please don't be angry. We just thought you were very pretty, uh..."
Zhao Yu cut her off irritably. "Isn't this inst-Fortune Star Matchmaking supposed to be about getting married? How are we supposed to get married with an extra man here?"
Li Qing paused, seeming to recall something, then said politely, "A same-sex marriage bill was passed here ten years ago, so in theory, men can also enter into a marriage with one another."
Zhao Yu: "..."
He slammed down his chopsticks. "I don't want to marry a man. What rotten luck. I'd better not end up picking you tonight!"
"You're so rude!" Yuan Sisi rolled her eyes.
Gong Yao, however, laughed. "There's no need to worry, Mr. Zhao. Li Qing is paired with me."
Li Qing gave him no face at all. "No, we're assigned new partners every day."
Wan Yingjun suddenly laughed.
This Li Qing was rather interesting. Although he was a little cold toward him, he was even more resistant to Gong Yao.
On that count alone, he had already beaten Gong Yao.
Though he wasn't interested in men, stealing someone Gong Yao had his eye on would still be quite entertaining.
Before you continue