Going home for Chinese New Year, I squeezed onto a bus with three energetic young women.

When Bai Li heard Jiang Ruyue scolding him, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

He rested one hand behind his head, his eyes and brows radiating the satisfaction of a successful prank.

This girl usually surprises me.

Today, this boomerang has finally pierced her own back.

"Did I upset you?" Bai Li deliberately lowered his voice.

A rustling sound of fabric rubbing came from the other end of the receiver, followed by a slight protest from the bed frame.

Jiang Ruyue turned over in bed:

"Aren't you angry if I'm not?"

Her voice was muffled, as if her whole head was under the covers.

Bai Li laughed:

"Are you angry or not? I'm not angry, are you?"

"..."

There was complete silence on the other side, with only faint breathing sounds coming from there.

Time ticked by, second by second.

Bai Li didn't urge him, and just calmly waited with his phone in hand.

as predicted.

"Waaah..." Jiang Ruyue was the first to break down.

Her voice was as soft as a cotton candy, and she quickly begged for mercy:

"Stop bullying me."

Bai Li smiled.

It's only because of this girl; if it were anyone else who insulted him, he would have hung up and blocked them long ago.

"You called because you missed me again?" Bai Li went straight to the point, without any politeness.

"Um……"

Jiang Ruyue didn't even bother to refute this time, drawing out the last syllable with a hint of grievance and reluctance.

"I have to go to school tomorrow," she mumbled on the other end of the line. "I haven't seen you for days. Play some games with me."

Bai Li turned her head away.

Water vapor rises from behind the frosted glass door.

"Tingting, stop touching yourself! Hurry up and wash! Your older brother is waiting!"

"He can skip Lulu tonight, I just want to test your quality!"

The sound of splashing water and the unique exuberance and charm of a young girl could be clearly heard in the master bedroom.

Bai Li withdrew his gaze.

"I can play with you."

Bai Li said into the phone:

"But you can only play for half an hour at most. Tingting and the others will be done washing soon."

Jiang Ruyue took a deep breath on the other end of the phone.

Then, her tone became extremely flat, like that of a young nun who had seen through the vanities of the world.

"Alright, alright," Jiang Ruyue said. "I know you're going to trade cryptocurrencies later. Stop showing off."

"Uh." Bai Li pinched the bridge of her nose. "What do you want to play?"

"Play Plants vs. Zombies multiplayer!"

"Okay, send me your ID, I'll add you."

"Rose, rose top note."

Bai Li's finger hovered over the screen as he looked at the six words sent in the chat box, then glanced at Jiang Ruyue's pink pig avatar.

"I knew it." Bai Li sighed. "Given the chance, you'd definitely surprise me."

"Hey, hurry up and add it! I need to go to sleep soon!" Jiang Ruyue urged.

Bai Li switched to WeChat and opened the game.

Enter your ID and send a friend request.

The two did not hang up the WeChat call, but directly connected and entered the online room.

The map I chose was the classic one with the lawn during the day.

"I'll guard the left side, you guard the right side," Bai Li set the rules: "Each of you guards half, don't interfere."

The game countdown has ended.

A few rays of sunlight fell from the sky, and the sunflower in the upper left corner of the screen began to slowly produce resources.

Bai Li's habit is to proceed steadily and surely, first planting a row of sunflowers to ensure economic stability.

Jiang Ruyue, on the other hand, was just randomly clicking on the map.

We finally got through the initial vacuum period.

The system alerted that the first wave of zombies was about to arrive.

The sunlight value in the upper right corner jumped to 175.

Bai Lixin said this wave is in the bag.

Above the screen, an ordinary zombie dressed in a suit walks out with an air of utter indifference.

Bai Li decisively chose the Frost Archer and planted it in the first row of squares.

The blue pea has just sprouted its first seed.

Bai Li didn't even have time to catch her breath.

A plant appeared on the lawn in front of them.

Jiang Ruyue used her 175 suns to buy a Torchwood stump and planted it directly in front of Bai Li's Ice Archer.

The blue pea passed through the torch and turned into a bright red fireball, which smashed into the face of an ordinary zombie.

Bai Li was stunned on the spot.

"What are you doing?" Bai Li's voice rose two octaves.

"There are still zombies along that path! You've used up all the sunlight, how are you going to defend the lines down there?"

"Besides, you should have said you wanted to play with the Burning Beans earlier." Bai Li started doing the math:

"Then I'll buy regular peas; it'll save me fifty suns!"

There was no response from the other end.

Bai Li thought she had realized her mistake and was preparing to adjust her tactics to make amends.

Jiang Ruyue's voice came through the earphones.

"So, even if you put torches in front of the Frost Archer, they can turn into burning beans..." Jiang Ruyue muttered to herself.

Then, she changed the subject.

"It seems so."

"As long as there's a stick in front of you, even the most aloof person can be ignited."

"Hoo..." Upon hearing Jiang Ruyue's reply, Bai Li took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

He told himself that this girl was just like that, and he shouldn't get angry; he absolutely couldn't let her lead him by the nose.

The game continues.

A zombie wearing a roadblock hat appeared on the fourth road at the bottom of the map.

These zombies have a lot of health; a regular Peashooter simply can't handle them.

At this point, the sunlight value in the upper left corner has reached 200.

"There's hope."

Bai Li selected the machine gun pea and planned to place it on the path of the barricade zombies to buy time.

It hasn't been lit yet.

The sunlight value has been reset to zero.

On the third path of the map, two sunflowers are huddled together on a stem, smiling brightly at the screen.

Jiang Ruyue spent all her savings to buy a twin sunflower.

The price to pay is that the roadblock zombies on the fourth lane have crossed the center line and are approaching the cart.

Bai Li stared at the two swaying sunflowers on the screen, then everything went black.

"Good girl, Ruyue."

Bai Li gritted her teeth and said with great patience:

"Stop messing with me, okay? There's not much sunlight at the beginning, so it's really not suitable to buy such expensive plants."

Jiang Ruyue remained completely calm.

"Although the Gemini sunflower is fifty dollars more expensive than the regular sunflower."

Jiang Ruyue began her sophistry with a serious tone.

"But I just feel that you're the kind of person who would rather spend more money to have sex with twins."

Bai Li's molars were practically shattered from biting so hard.

"Stop talking!"

"Did I upset you?" Jiang Ruyue asked swiftly.

Bai Li was speechless.

This familiar rhetoric, this powerful blow.

The boomerang not only returned, but it also came with some poison on it.

But it's not over yet.

On the screen, the roadblock zombies in the fourth lane have reached the cart.

Bai Li was eagerly waiting for the sunflower to produce sunlight so he could buy a potato mine and blow it up.

Jiang Ruyue took action.

She pointed to the shovel.

"Click."

The twin sunflowers were uprooted.

Immediately afterwards, she used her remaining 25 suns to plant a mushroom on the spot.

A Sunshroom that is extremely small and still in its infancy, and can only produce sunlight normally in night mode.

Bai Li was completely numb.

"You're growing sun mushrooms in broad daylight?" Bai Li asked in despair.

Jiang Ruyue ignored this.

"Never mind, Teddy."

Jiang Ruyue sighed, like a philosopher who had seen through the true nature of men:

"I still think you prefer to spend the least amount of money and play with younger, more delicate women."

She delivered the final blow.

"Just like your relationship with those 'spiritual girls'."

The moment those words were uttered.

Large characters pop up in the middle of the screen, accompanied by chewing sounds:

"The zombie ate your brain!"

Bai Li tossed his phone onto the mattress and stared at the ceiling, utterly dejected.

This child is hopeless.

Jiang Ruyue waited for a long time on the other end of the line.

Only after realizing that he could no longer hear Bai Li breathing did he belatedly feel guilty.

"Are you really angry?" Jiang Ruyue asked tentatively, her voice very soft.

"no."

Bai Li answered weakly, feeling utterly exhausted from the game he had just played:

"It's just that spending too much time with you makes it hard to see the future of humanity."

Jiang Ruyue pouted on the other end: "It's not that exaggerated."

"Bai Li, what if..."

Jiang Ruyue's tone suddenly became serious:

"This is the end of humanity."

"We're all going to die in the next second."

What would you most like to say?

Bai Li lay in bed, his mind filled with images of the Ice Archer and Torch, the Twin Sunflowers and the Sun Mushroom.

With his last breath, he whispered two words:

"May wealth come."