The Earth is Online

After Tang Mo finished his words, there was a brief silence. Tang Mo looked up at Fu Wenduo and Fu Wenduo watched him, slowly narrowing his eyes.

“...It isn’t important?”

Tang Mo understood the other person’s meaning and his lips curved. “Is it more important than Eve’s Reward?

Bang!

Fu Wenduo suddenly pressed his hands against the wall, surrounding the youth sitting cross-legged on the bed.

Seven days ago, Fu Wenduo had found an office building and settled the unconscious Tang Mo in it. They were currently in a small bedroom inside the office, which was relatively narrow and concealed. The bed was only 1.2 metres and close to the wall, making it convenient for Fu Wenduo to abruptly lean towards the wall.

The distance between the two men shrank sharply.

Fu Wenduo watched quietly for a moment before suddenly asking, “When did you discover my birthday?”

Tang Mo, “...”

Fu Wenduo raised his eyebrows. “Last December, you were at Grandmother Wolf’s place in the Monster Valley. Your secret was about the person you secretly liked and his birthday is September 9th. That’s how you will know your lucky number is 9. However, I never divulge personal information like my birthday on the Internet.”

Tang Mo looked calm despite being sandwiched by the wall and this man’s chest. He simple leaned back against the wall and asked lightly, “Who said it is you?”

Fu Wenduo showed a rare expression of surprise. “It isn’t me?”

Tang Mo’s lips curved. “I also didn’t say that it isn’t you.”

Fu Wenduo, “...”

Tang Mo said, “You are nervous, Fu Wenduo. If you were in a normal state then you would tell it was a joke and wouldn’t ask this. In any case, you liked me first. Was it... last February?”

Last February, the black tower hadn’t arrived yet. Tang Mo and Victor had known each other for half a year and often teamed up on the Internet to play cards.

Tang MO also didn’t like to divulge his own information on the Internet and never partic.i.p.ated in offline bridge games. Victor was more mysterious than he was and didn’t even reveal his age.

He didn’t even go to the offline bridge game where masters gathered. Then in February, someone organized an online bridge compet.i.tion. As it happened, Victor was often online at that time and the two of them signed up. However, they didn’t enter the finals. The night before the semi-finals, Victor suddenly messaged Tang Mo on QQ and said he couldn’t come the next day.

Tang Mo didn’t think too much. He knew that Victor’s work was always busy. Come to think about it now, Fu Wenduo might’ve had a mission at the time.

Then when Tang Mo came home from work, he saw a message on QQ and was more surprised than disappointed.

[Victor: I have something tomorrow and can’t come. Sorry.]

Five minutes later.

[Victor: I’m going to Suzhou for business next week. Do you want to meet?]

Tang Mo didn’t immediately agree.

At the time, he had a bit of affinity to Victory but it couldn’t be called ‘like.’ Victor was a cup of cold coffee without a rich fragrance. Tang Mo wanted to try a mouthful and feel the mellowness hiding in the cold temperature but he didn’t want to break the habit of never meeting netizens.

Not to mention...what if the bubble burst as reality became apparent?

He hesitated for a few days before he saw Victor online again. Tang Mo considered it and replied: [If it is convenient then we can.]

Victor was silent for a long time before replying: [Sorry, there is a temporary change of itinerary and I can’t go.]

Tang Mo froze for a moment before typing back: [Okay.]

His feelings suddenly became weird.

He was mentally prepared to see Victor but the other party refused. Tang Mo didn’t know exactly when he started liking Victor but this was definitely a turning point. Prior to this, his feelings towards Victor were more of a tacit understanding that didn’t fit into words. The powerful and decisive Victor attracted him. It was a strong gravitational pull but it wasn’t a black hole.

After this incident, he became more concerned about the other person and it became a type of affection that he wouldn’t hesitate if the other person proposed to meet.

Tang Mo leaned against the wall and a.n.a.lyzed with a smile, “With your personality and ident.i.ty, you would never go to see a netizen if you really don’t want to meet them. So... was it last February?”

This young man was too clever.

However, this cleverness and sharpness was exactly what Fu Wenduo liked. He avoided Tang Mo’s question as he closed his eyes for a long time and thought about something. Then he asked, “...October the year before last?”

Tang Mo’s body stiffened.

Fu Wenduo’s lips curved. He knew that he was right.

On October 16th, Mo Tang and Victor had known each other for three months. They met in an online bridge game and weren’t teammates at the time. They were opponents and Fu Wenduo took Tang Mo’s home. They were clearly opponents but Tang Mo was aware that this person’s pace was exactly the same as his own. Every idea and card routine fit with his.

Tang Mo lost the game since his teammates were useless. At the end of the game, Tang Mo added Fu Wenduo as a friend. On the bridge platform they played on, the system would automatically send a greeting to the other person when adding them as a friend. Tang Mo’s greeting hadn’t been sent when he received a message.

[Victor: You play cards very well. Let’s be friends.]

[Mo Tang: You play cards very well. Let’s be friends.]

The two of them were only one second apart.

Tang Mo was startled and subconsciously read the name. “Victor...”

There were a few casual chats and they added each other on QQ. Then they started playing as a team.

In October, they matched with a couple with very interesting IDs. One person was called ‘The Future is Long (lai ri fang chang)’ and the other person was called ‘My Name is Fang Chang’. The names of these two people were funny and their technique of playing cards wasn’t bad. The four people fought for five minutes and after seeing that Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo were going to win, the Future is Long hurriedly said: [Today is my girlfriend’s birthday. These two big brothers, please give me some face. bbu.]

It was the first time Tang Mo had encountered such a situation.

Victor asked: [What does ‘bbu’ mean?]

[The Future is Long: Ball ball you. We had bad luck today and met great G.o.ds. We even lost 10 games. Give me some face. My girlfriend said that if we don’t win a game then I absolutely can’t sleep.]

Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo didn’t have much interest in winning or losing. They only cared about the process of playing cards. Thus, the two of them directly gave up.

In the private chat, Tang Mo suddenly asked, “Big brother, then who is the oldest?]

[Victor: When is your birthday?]

Tang Mo didn’t expect him to say this. [It is still early.] He thought about it and asked back: [What about you?]

[Victor: [It is also still early.]

It was the only time they walked about their birthdays. The time they knew each other was short and none of them revealed their birthdays. After that, Tang Mo subconsciously remembered this matter. He took careful notice of Fu Wenduo’s phrase ‘It is also still early.’

These words were very special.

Later, Tang Mo speculated that Fu Wenduo’s birthday had just pa.s.sed, which was what he meant by ‘it is also still early.’

It was difficult to say who liked each other first. Tang Mo knew that his heart was moved very early. Perhaps he had placed a ‘this person is special’ feeling towards Victor from the first meeting. However, he couldn’t mention a specific time when he first liked Victor. It was probably the same for Fu Wenduo.

However...

Tang Mo’s expression didn’t change. “You must like me first.”

He had the timing as evidence. On February 17th, Fu Wenduo wouldn’t have proposed to meet an online person unless he liked them.

Fu Wenduo refuted, “You secretly liked me first.”

He also had the timing as evidence. On October 16th, if there was no affection then why would Tang Mo pay attention to the birthday of a netizen and try to guess the specific date?

They were both determined not to be crushed. Tang Mo had a tone that indicated he wanted to fight. Fu Wenduo’s words the other night allowed Tang Mo to understand that this man liked him but it was unknown when this man started liking him. Did he like Tang Mo or Mo Tang? Perhaps it was both. (TL: he other night when they talked about gaining Fu Wenduo’s ability and if it wasn’t selling themselves)

Fu Wenduo’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Tang Mo. Tang Mo didn’t show any weakness and looked back quietly.

A long time pa.s.sed before footsteps were heard from the stairs. Tang Mo smiled, “You aren’t young and shouldn’t be childish.”

Fu Wenduo removed his hand from the wall and didn’t answer this question. He just responded with his eyes: You aren’t childish?

Tang Mo had to admit that in some aspects, Mo Tang and Victor had always been childish.

The footsteps got closer and then Fu Wensheng opened the door, making a startled expression. “Brother Tang, you woke up?”

Chen Shanshan entered the room. “Brother Tang woke up. Is there anything wrong with your body?”

Tang Mo got out of bed and took two laps around the room, moving his body. “There is no problem. I’m just a big hungry from going a few days without eating. Fu Wenduo said that I was unconscious for seven days. What happened in those seven days?”

Chen Shanshan took out a bag of biscuits ad said, “Many things. Major Fu didn’t tell you?” The little girl helped Tang Mo find an excuse. “Is it because you just woke up?”

Tang Mo paused while opening the biscuits bag and nodded.

Fu Wensheng asked, “Brother Tang, what exactly is Eve’s Reward? Quickly tell us!”

Tang Mo ate two biscuits and the hunger in his stomach eased. He put the rest of the biscuits away. He looked seriously at Chen Shanshan and spoke in a solemn tone, “This matter needs Shanshan’s a.n.a.lysis. First of all... I didn’t get any substantial rewards.”

The group was startled.

Chen Shanshan quickly responded. “Well, the reward for this definitely isn’t a prop. You were knocked unconscious by a red apple and Major Fu grabbed the apple. We checked it and found it was the same as Ning Zheng’s apple. It is called Eve’s Reward and has no special effect. It only represents Eve’s Reward.’ The short-haired girl took the red apple from her bag and handed it to Tang Mo. “It can be said that the apple is a symbol that represents Eve’s Reward but it has nothing to do with Eve’s Reward.”

Tang Mo nodded. “Ning Zheng and Xu Yusheng have this apple. All returnees in the world also have the red apple. However, as long as it doesn’t open then it is just an apple.”

Chen Shanshan continued, “Yes, that’s what it means. So it isn’t the reward. When you were unconscious, I talked with Major Fu and Xiao Sheng. We all agreed.... Eve’s Reward might be related to the truth of the black tower.”

The girl stared at Tang Mo with antic.i.p.ation but she was destined to be disappointed.

Tang Mo sighed. “This is the second point I want to say. I was unconscious for seven days but from my perspective, it was only a moment. There was a dream that seemed to be both long and short but I forgot it. I could hear what you were discussing and sensations like sound and touch still exist.”

The indifferently listening Fu Wenduo heard this and his eyebrows twitched. Then he glanced at Tang Mo and his fingers.

Fu Wenduo, “...”

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