She became a heartthrob among internet celebrities.

"Jiang Jiang, I'm going out with a few others to buy some late-night snacks. Do you want some?" Sun Zhengyang poked his head out from outside the door and asked.

Jiang Lai looked up from the graphics tablet, rubbed her dry eyes, and said, "Eat, I want barbecue!"

"Alright, shall I get you a milk tea too?" "Mmm!"

After graduating from university, Jiang Lai did not pursue postgraduate studies or look for a job. She did not want to be restricted, so she chose to become a freelancer and an artist.

At first, she didn't see it as a skill to make a living. She would just occasionally draw fan art for characters from her favorite games and novels, and gradually she attracted some like-minded people. This brought her some new feelings, and before she knew it, she became an artist. She didn't lack money; she just loved it. Her works had more spirit than others, and so she gradually became famous.

Later, it was discovered that she had participated in a game development competition and drawn illustrations for Shen Yi's games. At that time, Shen Yi's Dream Weaver Studio had already produced many commendable games and was a dark horse in the game industry that should not be underestimated.

As a result, people gradually approached her, asking if she could also draw game concept art. Jiang Lai found it interesting and agreed. Before long, she became quite famous.

After graduation, she and Shen Yi reconnected because of this incident, and she accepted Shen Yi's invitation to become a concept artist in his game studio.

The people in the studio are all very nice, and there's also Sun Zhengyang, who's a real character. Jiang Lai thinks this job is pretty good.

-

"When is Brother Shen coming back?" A young man who had just graduated asked, carrying two bags of snacks. "This business trip is going to be quite long!"

"Yeah, does he really have the heart to do that?" another boy grinned mischievously. "When do you guys think Brother Shen will confess to Sister Jiang?"

With his hands in his pockets, Sun Zhengyang, the oldest in the group and the one who had known Shen Yi the longest, was the most qualified to speak. He said, "Ha! Shen Yi is a complete bastard. If we wait for him to confess, it'll be like a rain of blood!"

Even if you all get married and start your own families, he'll still be all alone. Even when Jiang Jiang has a boyfriend, he still won't be able to bring himself to say it!

"Hahahaha!" Everyone burst into merciless laughter. "It's true!"

"Brother Sun, I recorded what you said. I'll send it to Brother Shen later!" "Looking for death?"

......

The office door opened again. This time, Jiang Lai didn't look up and said, "I'll come out to eat in a bit! There's just a little bit left, I'll finish it soon!"

"Take a break! Looking down at your drawing all the time is bad for your eyes and neck." A gentle voice rang out.

Jiang Lai looked up and exclaimed in surprise, "Shen Yi, you're back?" After leaving the campus, she no longer called Shen Yi "senior" but called him by his name directly.

Shen Yi, dressed in a suit, stood at the door, smiling at her. He had changed a lot in the years since graduation.

"I came back after everything was settled over there. When I got back, I didn't see anyone outside and thought you were all gone. I brought you a gift, which I was going to put directly on your seat."

"What gift?" Jiang Lai was quite happy; it was a joyful thing to be remembered.

Shen Yi handed her a gift bag: "Just some cheap trinkets, including a bracelet, some cultural and creative products, and a box of pastries."

Jiang Lai accepted it with delight: "Thank you! I really like it!"

The two were talking when Sun Zhengyang and his companion returned after buying their late-night snack.

Perhaps because they had just spoken ill of their boss, they were all feeling guilty. When they saw Jiang Lai and Shen Yi standing together, they didn't tease them. Instead, they quietly put their things away before inviting them over to eat.

Jiang Lai placed the gift on the table, then went over and sat down.

Sun Zhengyang and his friends bought barbecue and crayfish, as well as milk tea, beer, and a big bag of snacks.

Several people opened the latest game reviews and chatted as they read them.

Jiang Lai was tired of eating barbecue and wanted to eat grapes, but she didn't want the trouble of making them. Shen Yi noticed this and took a bag of grapes to the tea room.

Sun Zhengyang came to the tea room and looked at Shen Yi washing fruit for Jiang Lai. He once again said in a disappointed tone, "When are you finally going to confess your feelings?"

"Let's wait a little longer!" Shen Yi said.

"What are you waiting for?"

Wait until she gets used to me a little more, depends on me a little more, and likes me a little more.

Sun Zhengyang yelled in frustration, "Stop waiting! If you wait any longer, you'll miss your chance! Do you know how sought-after our Jiang Jiang is? Why don't you just go for it? The brave get to conquer the world!"

Sun Zhengyang had acted as an intermediary more than once or twice. This time, Shen Yi was persuaded a little. He put the washed grapes into the basket and said, "I'll think about it."

Sun Zhengyang: "I'm truly impressed."

Everyone stayed out quite late today. Jiang Lai played a few games with them, then checked the time and said, "I have to go back now."

Shen Yi stood up. "Let me take you home. It's dangerous for you to go home alone so late."

Jiang Lai nodded.

Shen Yi drove as calmly and steadily as he was, and Jiang Lai almost fell asleep in his car.

"We've arrived." Shen Yi woke up Jiang Lai, who was half asleep.

"Thank you~" Jiang Lai's voice was a little sleepy as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car.

Shen Yi saw the gift bag in the back seat, took the item, and got out of the car.

"You forgot everything, and you're so sleepy?" he laughed.

Jiang Lai awkwardly reached out and took it.

Shen Yi handed her the things and was about to say something when he noticed something in her hair.

"Don't move, there seems to be a bug in your hair?"

"Ahhh?" Jiang Lai shuddered and said anxiously, "What kind of bug is it? How big is it? Quickly, get it down for me!"

Shen Yi leaned closer, plucked a ladybug from her hair with his right hand, and casually tossed it into the flower bed next to her, comforting her, "It's okay, it's just a ladybug."

"That's good." Jiang Lai breathed a sigh of relief.

Only then did she realize that in her haste to get Shen Yi to remove the bugs from her hair, she had been pressing herself against him so closely that they were now very close.

She secretly looked up at Shen Yi, and subtly took a small step back.

Just then, Shen Yi was looking at her.

Their eyes met in the air, as if an invisible understanding was quietly growing between them.

"Is there something in my hair?" she asked, looking at him.

"Ahem, that's all." Shen Yi's eyes flickered for a moment, then he immediately looked at Jiang Lai.

"Go upstairs and get some rest." He looked at her, trying hard to control his emotions, and said, "Don't stay up too late on your phone. It's okay when you come to the studio tomorrow."

"Okay." Jiang Lai took her bag and went upstairs, immediately initiating a group video call in the dormitory group chat.

......

"So what?!" Tang Li and the others looked extremely ferocious on the screen: "And then what?"

“Uh—” Jiang Lai touched her nose, “Then he told me to go upstairs and rest quickly, so I left.”

Tang Li collapsed onto the bed on the other side of the screen, pounding the bed hard: "Such a nice atmosphere, and you two didn't even kiss?"

Zhao Ying agreed, saying, "Are you two even capable?"

Jiang Lai wailed, "Stop cursing! Stop cursing!"

Li Xiangyue asked gently, "Jiang Jiang, what are you and Senior Shen really thinking?"

Jiang Lai was unusually hesitant, and said, "It's still the same!"

"You two should just get together already! Stop this ambiguous relationship. It's fun, but there are so many more things you can do together, okay?"

"Oh~" "Serse da me!"

Jiang Lai laughed and joked with her roommates for a while, then tidied up, washed up, and lay down on the bed.

Over the years, she had told her roommates about her relationship with Shen Yi, and her roommates had long since discerned from her words that she did have feelings for Shen Yi.

Jiang Lai thought that Shen Yi didn't seem to be going to take the initiative, so maybe she should find an opportunity to make things clear? Otherwise, she couldn't stand this kind of thing happening all the time!

Meanwhile, Shen Yi was also pondering what Sun Zhengyang had said to him earlier that day. Thinking about what had just happened, his face also felt a little hot.

Sun Zhengyang is right: the brave are the first to possess the world.

......

Days passed by, and that evening, Shen Yi drove Jiang Lai home as usual. In the car, he handed his phone to Jiang Lai and said casually, "I made a new little game. It's very easy to play. Do you want to try it?"

Jiang Lai didn't suspect anything and took it directly: "Okay! What's the name of this game?"

"A game aimed at girls, where whoever falls in love first loses."

"Huh?" Jiang Lai looked at Shen Yi in surprise. It was rare for him to know how to make this type of game.

Shen Yi awkwardly touched his nose: "Players control their own 'heartbeat index' through choices, and compare it with the 'heartbeat index' of the other person. After all the choices are made in the game, the person with the higher 'heartbeat index' is the loser."

"Got it!" That means trying to increase the character's attraction level in the game, and when the character makes some ambiguous moves, the player should just be a clueless fool!

Jiang Lai has a strong competitive spirit. The first time she played, she was determined and dismissed the other party's attempts to win her favor. Instead, she kept choosing options that could increase the other party's affection level. As expected, she won.

If you win, there will be a short CG animation.

Jiang Lai started another game, wanting to see what would happen if she lost. But this time, no matter what she chose, the opposing character always confessed his feelings before she could, and she kept winning, unlocking many of the winning animation CGs.

She refused to believe it and continued playing, while Shen Yi stood aside watching her.

Gradually, Jiang Lai realized something was wrong. Why did these game scenarios seem so familiar? It wasn't because she had restarted the game many times, but because these events had actually happened in real life.

There were photos of her first meeting with Shen Yi, photos of her participating in competitions with him, photos of him treating her to meals and milk tea with her and her roommate, and photos of them discussing the game's plot...

Jiang Lai's expression was complicated. She put down her phone and looked at Shen Yi: "Shen Yi, this game—"

Shen Yi spoke up, "Did you notice?"

Jiang Lai nodded slowly.

Shen Yi smiled shyly and said, "This is a little game I made based on what happened between us. The scenes are all the little things we did together. I don't know if you still remember them, but I remember them clearly."

"The game is called 'Whoever falls in love first loses,' but in reality, no matter what you choose, you won't lose, because I will always fall in love with you first and submit to you."

Jiang Lai looked at the cute little figure on her phone and wondered if it was because of what he said, but she really felt that the little figure looked a bit like herself.

"So, could you give me a chance to take care of you?" Just then, the car stopped downstairs at Jiang Lai's house.

Shen Yi turned to the side, anxiously awaiting Jiang Lai's response.

The car fell silent for a moment.

Shen Yi's heart sank little by little. Was this a silent rejection?

He gave a bitter smile and said, "You won't agree? That's alright then. I'm sorry I put you in a difficult position..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Lai leaned forward, kissed him, and said, "See you tomorrow!"

She grabbed her bag, quickly got out of the car, and jogged into the apartment building.

Shen Yi was initially shocked, but after realizing what had happened, he was overjoyed. He got out of the car, stood beside it, and looked up at Jiang Lai's house. When the lights came on, he looked away. He touched the spot where he had been kissed, as if he could still feel the soft touch.

His fingertips, cheeks, and heart were all burning hot.

He stood there dumbfounded for a while, then his phone rang. He took it out and saw a message from Jiang Lai: "Go back quickly!"

He looked up again, then smiled happily, got into his car, and drove away.

A song he really liked was playing in the car.

I won't pluck the moon; I want it to forever hang high in the sky, shining brightly and fragrantly.

"His constant unfamiliarity allows for many romantic imaginings to serve as my ideal."

Why compare Jiang Lai to the moon? Shen Yi himself didn't know. They had just met on a bright, sunny summer morning.

But her impression on him was indeed like the moon. She seemed very close, yet very far away. Sometimes her closeness felt deliberate. Shen Yi didn't know what she wanted, so he chose to be someone who admired the moon.

He didn't deny that he was initially attracted to her appearance, and as he got to know her better, he became even more fascinated. But he never dared to take that first step. Why? Perhaps she was too dazzling, and he was afraid?

His taciturnity and dullness would certainly not be liked, so he didn't have the courage to speak.

He loved her radiant glow, her energy, her vibrant passion; she deserved all the best things in the world. She had the power of choice; his affections were always secondary, while she held the power.

"I know that no matter how much I'm infatuated with him, he's not someone I can possess."

"God loves the world, and though distant and tender, we need not necessarily hold hands."

He is an untouchable complex, suspended joy and sorrow.

"I'm just a passerby, someone I love is forbidden from asking for achievements."

Love is immortal even if he doesn't know it.

The moon took pity on him, and his love was known. All the complex emotions she had for him turned into sweetness on this night.

The moon kissed him, and so he possessed the moon.

See you tomorrow; he and she have countless tomorrows ahead of them.

Tomorrow he will give her a bouquet of flowers, not hyacinths, but passionate and bold roses.