We moved to Golden Courtyard

"It's okay, Nia, it's not that tiring."

A slight smile played on her lips as Aponia clasped her hands together.

May God bless you...

Just then, Greta burst into the living room barefoot. Her eyes lit up the moment she saw Xu Qi! She pounced on him! "Brother Xu Qi!"

"Oh, be careful, little Gretchen, this is too dangerous."

"It's okay, Brother Xu Qi will catch me."

"Like Banagher catching Audrey in his unicorn?"

"Yes! Gretchen is Audrey!"

"Then I'll become a unicorn! Hahaha!"

Smiling, she picked up Gretchen and placed her aside. Mei sat beside her, her gaze towards Gretchen radiating maternal warmth.

That's wonderful... I wish Xu Qi and I could have such a cute daughter...

"Boss... it's okay to laugh, but could you please not lean back like that... you're making it hard for me to breathe..."

"well!?"

Xu Qi was startled and sat up! What she saw behind her was that what should have been a cushion had turned into a fluffy cat costume.

The cat costume opened its mouth, poked out its head with a helpless expression, and said, "It's heavy... Boss."

"Haha... So, kitty, is this... performance art?"

……

Pado rummaged inside her fur suit, pulled out a velvet ball, and threw it at Xu Qi's face.

"Go, pick it up for me!"

……

Now, everyone's gaze, including Mei's, turned to Padofilis with a hint of pity.

"Ah!! Mei-nee, Alice-nee, Nia-nee! Help!! Ahahaha! Boss, stop scratching me, boss, I was wrong, I was wrong, boss! Hahahaha! Fu Hua, save me!"

212. Alicia's Couple's Workshop

That evening, when Kevin and Sue returned home together, they saw Padofilis lying motionless on the sofa with her tongue lolling out, looking like she had just finished strenuous exercise.

He was muttering something like, "Boss, I was wrong..." or "Boss, I won't do it again..."

Hmm... Xu Qi isn't even willing to let go of cats anymore?

When the two saw Xu Qi, he was gesturing with Kosmo, seemingly discussing something related to a game; they could hear it as they got closer…

“If you’re fighting Genichiro, you can’t back down, right? You have to fight him with your sword and suppress him. Remember! Hesitation will lead to defeat.”

"Decisiveness can also lead to losses."

The voice rang in his ear, and Xu Qi was startled, so he quickly turned around.

"Kevin? Sue? You're off work?"

"Yeah, I just got home and saw you teaching the kids how to play games."

Kosmo's expression immediately turned hostile. Judging from his sullen look, he was probably saying, "I'm not a child, and I don't need anyone to teach me how to play games."

Su's smile widened.

"Alright, Sue, Kosmo also has his own opinions."

Upon hearing Kevin's words, the little guy's expression returned to normal, which made Xu Qi burst out laughing—it's so easy to understand, Kosmo!

After thinking for a moment, Xu Qi himself didn't know what his motivation was, and patted Kosmo on the shoulder.

"Kosmo...you need to think more."

"Given Kosmo's personality, he would neither remain silent for hundreds of years nor naturally choose to advance to the fourth level in the end. You should just put away your boring chuunibyou."

Such a sharp tongue can only belong to Möbius.

Xu Qi immediately abandoned Kosmo and rushed to Mebius, picking her up in his arms!

"Professor! You've finally decided to come out of your lab!"

"You!..." Möbius rarely showed a hint of embarrassment. She gently patted Xu Qi's shoulder and said, "Put me down quickly!"

She said that, but she could barely contain her smile... Wilvi, who came out behind her, thought to herself with amusement.

"Sister Velvi." Xu Qi put down Mebius and nodded to Velvi with a smile.

“Little guy, about those things you mentioned last time, Mebius and I have finally made some progress.”

Xu Qi's eyes lit up.

Is this really true?

"When has your sister Wilvi ever lied to you? Oh, by the way, what's your favorite color?"

"White."

"OK"

Xu Qi looked at Möbius in his arms again. The professor rolled his eyes in annoyance, broke free, and said, "The experiment has indeed made some progress. Perhaps it won't be long before you go back to your old days of coming to my lab every day."

"Like when we were testing V2V?"

"There are still some differences. After all, before testing V2V, we need to check your personal physical condition. But now..."

“If possible, the professor can even accurately measure your body data every night,” Wilvi added.

……

Mebius smiled.

"Vilvie, if you don't want your mouth, I can tear it off for you."

Wilvi stuck out her tongue.

During dinner, everyone chatted and laughed. Xu Qi even took the time to make a video call to Eden and Ying, telling them that everything was fine on their end.

When chatting with Ying, Xu Qi showed signs of fatigue for the first time.

"With Sister Ying not here, I feel like there are so many problems, and I don't know who to ask... Now I can only feel my way across the river on my own, and I'm feeling very uneasy."

"Did something happen at work?"

"Hmm..." In front of Ying, Xu Qi always seemed like a child who never grew up.

"My main concern is whether I can handle this job. Actually, I've been under a lot of pressure lately."

On the other end of the phone, Sakura fell silent for a moment.

She sat upright in the courtyard, dressed in a very classic Japanese shrine maiden outfit, looking up at the moon, as if she felt that this would bring her closer to Xu Qi.

Actually, Ying had already sensed it when Xu Qi opened his mouth... She really wished she could go back tonight! She wanted to rush to Xu Qi's side, comfort him, and take care of him.

"When you change jobs, this is always the case. My feeling is that it's already quite remarkable that you were able to integrate into the work so quickly. As for how to do it well and how to proceed, those are things to be done after you become familiar with the work."

This takes time to adjust to; everyone experiences this at the beginning, so don't worry too much, Xu Qi.

"Yes, thank you, Sister Ying."

"Also, don't think about whether you can do it or meet expectations. You only need to meet your own expectations."

Besides, if you really can't handle the job, the company will terminate your contract, so there's no need to worry too much about that.

Xu Qi was both amused and exasperated.

"Sister Ying, you should still hope for me, okay?"

"And now that you are the head of the entire studio, you need to show your attitude and determination. In fact, your job is not mainly to push the project forward, but to make sure that the people under you can do their jobs well."

Xu Qi looked doubtful.

"Making sure your subordinates can work with peace of mind, comfort, and without pressure, allowing them to work freely and efficiently, is what you, as a middle-level leader, need to consider."

Often, you have to bear the pressure from above yourself. Ensuring the energy and motivation of your subordinates means projects often progress spontaneously without your direct intervention.

Xu Qi suddenly realized.

"Sister Ying..."

"Ok?"

"I can only feel at ease when you're by my side."

"But you have to face all of this on your own."

"No, I want to lie in your arms and be a kept man."

Sakura finally couldn't help but giggle as Xu Qi amused her. However, after laughing, her eyes turned red and a sour feeling made her sniffle.

"Sister Ying? What's wrong?"

"No...it's nothing..."

Xu Qi was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Come back soon, Ying. I really miss you while you're gone..."

"……Me too."

After saying that, tears finally welled up in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks.

Xu Qi is the same.

Being separated from your loved one by thousands of miles and unable to meet them... this is perhaps the greatest tragedy in the world.

Just before bedtime, perhaps noticing Xu Qi's poor mental state, Ai Li thought for a moment and suddenly pulled Xu Qi into her room.

Then... they gave him a controller.

"Ugh?"

"If you're a man, you should use fighting to mask your inner turmoil at times like this!"

……

"Pfft! Haha! Hahahaha!" Xu Qi clutched his stomach and laughed loudly.

"No...isn't that right?" Ellie scratched her cheek, never expecting Xu Qi to react like this.

"No! That's right!...Will there be a live stream later?"

"Live stream?~~"

“Let’s play some games together. The live stream title will be: ‘Alice’s Couple Workshop’.”

Ellie couldn't help but put her hands behind her back, blushing as she replied, "This...this is so explicit..."

Xu Qi raised an eyebrow and whispered in Ai Li's ear, "Yeah? After all, after playing games... we'll do some more explicit things..."

213. Alicia: Waaaaah, I can't hold it in anymore...

Ai Li started a live stream, and as soon as she went live, the chat room exploded with comments.

The screen was filled with question marks and doubts about the "couple." Some people even asked, "Is it that guy from last time? Can you show your face? His voice sounds so magnetic!"

Upon seeing this, Ellie promptly muted the other person.

Don't think that Ellie won't throw a tantrum!

Xu Qi laughed heartily, and it felt quite nice to see Ai Li being so possessive of her food.

The two of them first played a couples game, which they seemed to be having a lot of fun with, but it felt like a typical activity between couples. Then they played Monster Hunter World for a while, and it felt...

"Wow, this is so slow... It takes way too long to kill a dragon."

"You're just too bad."

"Well!!"

Ellie immediately pounced on Xu Qi, wanting to teach him a lesson, but Xu Qi grabbed her and pinned her down, tickling her...

Finally, he laughed until tears streamed down his face, and sat far away from Xu Qi as he spoke.

"How about we play Genshin Impact?"