Chapter 86: Huaxia Daily

At Huaxi District People's Hospital, Wang Ying, who was accompanying Chen Hao as he applied his medicine, suddenly felt like an unnecessary presence. In the past, whenever something happened, she and Chen Hao would always discuss and solve it together, laughing all the while. Now, seeing Ban Qianqian sticking closely by Chen Hao’s side, and realizing that she would no longer be able to interact with him so naturally, Wang Ying was overcome by a sense of loss.

After Chen Hao finished with his medicine, Wang Ying found an excuse to leave early. On her way out, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had lost something important. Restless and uneasy, she dialed her best friend Xia Weiwei and said, “I’ve got some news for you—Chen Hao has finally managed to sell himself.”

“Oh, is that even news? Did you two finally tear down that imaginary wall and get together?”

“What are you thinking! Chen Hao found himself a new girlfriend. She’s really beautiful.”

“You’re kidding?” Xia Weiwei was surprised, but after Wang Ying confirmed it, she suddenly asked, “Are you feeling a bit empty and lost inside?”

Wang Ying said nothing. It was exactly as Xia Weiwei had described—this was precisely how she felt.

Knowing Wang Ying’s silence was an admission, Xia Weiwei chuckled. “I’ve told you time and again—there’s no such thing as pure friendship between a man and a woman. You two are always on the same wavelength about everything, and care so much about each other. Claiming you’re just ‘best friends’ is really just lying to yourselves.”

“You people who overthink always like to worry about nothing. Being afraid that dating will ruin your friendship is pointless. You two get along so well and both take relationships seriously. If you become a couple, why worry about breaking up? Sure, eating can make you sick, but you can’t stop eating just because of that. Love can hurt, but you can’t avoid it just to protect yourself, can you?”

After Xia Weiwei’s rapid-fire commentary, Wang Ying replied, “You know, you might actually have a point.”

“Of course I do. Do you know who you’re talking to?” After a moment of self-praise, Xia Weiwei spoke earnestly, “Yingying, you two are always so logical about everyone else’s problems, but when it comes to your own, you get completely muddled. If you’d found someone first, Chen Hao would be feeling just as lost as you are now. The two of you are a perfect match—everyone thinks so. You should hurry up and win him back!”

“Win him back?” Wang Ying laughed at herself. She thought of the innocent, lovely girl in Chen Hao’s arms. If Chen Hao really abandoned that girl to be with her, would she even want a man like that?

After hanging up, Wang Ying was too troubled to calm down. She decided to log into the game “War” for a distraction. Last time, Chen Hao had rushed to an internet café to play games as soon as he was discharged from the hospital, which made her speechless at his addiction. That made her curious about what was so alluring about the game.

Am I really playing this game because of our friendship? She asked herself as she logged in, still feeling unsettled. She’d always thought she was playing “War” because she wanted to persuade Chen Hao not to get too hooked, but could a friend really go to such lengths?

“Yingying, you seem preoccupied today?” Wang Ying stepped out of her house and into the garden, where she encountered a graceful female NPC. The NPC wore her hair in a high chignon and a light-colored cheongsam, her expression noble and confident. Hearing the question, Wang Ying looked up and replied, “Auntie, it’s nothing...”

The female NPC spoke earnestly, “Yingying, the people of China are suffering terribly. As women, we should not fall behind the men. You have earned the respect of Mr. Kuishi. You should put aside matters of the heart for now and assist Mr. Kuishi with the preparatory work, fulfilling the tasks entrusted by Mr. Sun Yixian.”

Wang Ying admired this NPC deeply. She nodded and said, “The preliminary work is nearly finished. Mr. Kuishi will announce the official launch of the China Daily today.”

The female NPC was delighted. “If the China Daily is successfully established, we’ll have another platform to spread revolutionary ideas, and more patriots are sure to join us. The corrupt Qing court will eventually be overthrown. You’ll surely be busy today, so I won’t keep you. Go find Mr. Kuishi at once!”

Wang Ying nodded and walked through the garden to the office on the second floor of the villa. There, a handsome, scholarly middle-aged man was hard at work. Seeing Wang Ying enter, he smiled and said, “Wang Ying, I can’t handle all this alone. Please help me proofread the first issue of our China Daily.”

“Of course, Teacher.” Wang Ying took the assignment from him and began proofreading the unpublished China Daily.

Her in-game name was Wang Ying. She had chosen Xiangdao as her birthplace, and upon entering the game, she hadn’t known what to do, so she wandered the city. By chance, she came upon a crowd of players gathered around an NPC named Mr. Kuishi, who was recruiting students. The players, thinking this was an opportunity for a quest, hurried forward.

However, Mr. Kuishi’s requirements were strict. He demanded not only a tuition of five silver coins per month but also full-time study. Players knew that in-game time was precious and that early on, they needed to level up and gain attribute points. Few were interested in spending all their time studying, so they quickly dispersed.

Wang Ying, however, was a complete novice. She knew she’d be teased by Chen Hao if she just drifted along aimlessly, so she thought it would suit her to become the student of this scholarly NPC and study every day. Like Chen Hao, she invested all her political free attribute points into culture. The requirement for Mr. Kuishi’s students was a culture stat of 20, which she just met.

Thus, Wang Ying became Mr. Kuishi’s student. It seemed he was raising funds, as all her study and quest assignments revolved around money. Lacking any gaming experience, Wang Ying might have struggled with other tasks, but financial ones were easy for her.

Her mother was the CEO of an investment company, and since Wang Ying had always been rational and level-headed, her mother gave her investment capital to manage once she entered university. Although she lost some money at first, as she became familiar with various investment fields, her strong analytical skills set her apart, and by her senior year, she had multiplied the initial funds several times over.

So, in real life, Wang Ying was already a bona fide young heiress. Whenever Mr. Kuishi assigned her a quest, she could simply buy in-game currency from the trading platform to complete it. With non-stop studying and no worries about her assignments, and with her teacher’s vast knowledge, her culture stat rose rapidly. Though she was only level five, her culture stat had reached 45, surpassing even Chen Hao at level thirteen.

After proofreading the unpublished China Daily, Wang Ying approached Mr. Kuishi and said, “Teacher, I’ve gone through it once. I only found a few minor mistakes.”

He nodded. “Thank you. This is our first issue, so there can’t be any errors. I’ll go over it once more myself. Having you check it first is just a precaution. Haha! I’m not exactly a meticulous person, so if you check first, I just have to double-check the words you don’t know.”

“Player Wang Ying, congratulations on completing the proofreading of the China Daily. Your culture stat has increased by one.” She received the system notification: her culture stat had now reached 46.

Wang Ying had always been rational. She had chosen “democratic republic” as her faith, and by setting her birthplace as Xiangdao, she was able to interact with revolutionary NPCs from the very start, without fear of persecution by the Qing authorities. It was precisely because of this belief that Mr. Kuishi valued her so highly and gave her the opportunity to participate in establishing the China Daily.