Middle-aged Love Patch

After spending some time at the gym, Xu Youyuan felt her meridians loosened and her body lighter, her overall condition improving significantly.

The assistant sent by Cang Lu was diligent, arriving punctually every workday to help with cleaning, grocery shopping, and walking the dog, saving Xu Youyuan a lot of hassle.

The assistant was perfect in every way—except for one thing that gave Xu Youyuan a headache: her cooking was downright unbearable.

Xu Youyuan couldn’t stand even a hint of ginger, yet the assistant adored adding it—not just slices, but minced ginger. Xu Youyuan would take an unsuspecting bite and nearly tear up, unable to pick it out.

The assistant stood firm in her culinary convictions: "Minced ginger removes the fishy taste, and with the cold weather, it helps dispel chill and improve circulation. Boss Xu, don’t be picky."

This wasn’t about being picky… Xu Youyuan silently wept.

Beyond the ginger obsession, there was the salty tomato-and-egg stir-fry and the sweet chicken noodle soup—all well outside Xu Youyuan’s acceptable range.

After just a few days, the assistant had inadvertently strengthened Xu Youyuan’s resolve to stick to her unappetizing fitness meals.

During this period, Shi Yue still frequented the gym, claiming that letting a free membership go to waste would displease the God of Wealth—and she was still holding out hope for a windfall.

Xu Youyuan asked her, "Isn’t your ultimate goal to laze around and wait for death?"

Shi Yue replied matter-of-factly, "Only after striking it rich can I properly laze around and wait for death."

As Shi Yue kept up with Xu Youyuan at the gym, her arm muscles grew more defined. She didn’t miss a single boxing class, and the trainer constantly praised her talent, urging her not to waste it or give up halfway.

"Hear that?" Shi Yue repeated the trainer’s words earnestly to Xu Youyuan. "This is the first time I’ve ever been praised so fiercely. I’ve decided to come every day and not let my brilliance go to waste."

Xu Youyuan said, "I remember you were often praised as a kid. Weren’t you called a prodigy?"

"That ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‍was just adults being polite. You actually believed that?"

"I did," Xu Youyuan said. "When I tutored you, I could tell you were sharp—quicker and more creative than any other kid your age. Definitely smarter than I was in middle school."

"You said you barely remember those days, though?"

"It’s normal not to recall much from over a decade ago," Xu Youyuan replied. "It’s not like I’ve forgotten everything—I’m not amnesiac. Just the details are fuzzy. The feelings are still there."

Shi Yue blinked her big eyes. "What feelings?"

"The feeling of having every weekend and evening occupied."

"That’s it? Nothing else?"

Xu Youyuan snapped, "You were, like, eleven or twelve back then! What other feelings could there possibly be?"

"Huh? I meant the feeling of tutoring me," Shi Yue asked seriously. "What does my age have to do with it?"

Xu Youyuan: "…Just shut up."

With everything prepared, Xu Youyuan deliberately scheduled a weekend for her and Shi Yue to re-enter the game "Dark Box," ensuring they’d have enough time so Shi Yue wouldn’t be exhausted for work the next day.

Before entering the scenario, Shi Yue meticulously picked out her avatar’s appearance, weighing which buffs might be useful this time.

"Don’t bother. Let’s first confirm whether our approach is even correct. If our initial idea is wrong, no amount of fancy gear will help."

Shi Yue agreed, and the two joined hands to re-enter the second stage of the adventure-themed scenario.

They returned to the Takao Mountain train station. Upon entering, Shi Yue was once again left with a sliver of health, lying on the ground. Xu Youyuan took off her backpack, pulled out a milk bottle, and force-fed Shi Yue to restore her HP.

The green snake reappeared, silently coiling along the roof before slowly lowering its head to sniff the humans. With a hiss, it lunged at Xu Youyuan’s head.

This time, Xu Youyuan was ready. With her left hand holding the milk bottle to keep Shi Yue’s health rising, her right hand gripped a wrench from the toolbox. She swung hard, smashing the snake’s cheek and twisting its head 180 degrees.

"Go!" Xu Youyuan barked. Shi Yue leapt up, chugging milk as she sprinted.

The two dashed onto the platform and boarded the train in seconds.

The green snake slithered after them, its belly scraping over the steps and the dusty, leaf-strewn platform.

As Shi Yue slipped into the train, she glanced back—the snake’s jaw, still dislocated from the wrench strike, hung loosely, chunks of flesh dangling. Unfazed, it bared its fangs and pursued.

Of course. Since when did snakes care about dislocated jaws?

Shi Yue kicked the door shut, barring the furious serpent just like last time. Xu Youyuan quickly located the backup power supply and started the train.

The snake hesitated for a moment, but by the time it tried to board again, the train had already pulled away.

This time, Xu Youyuan never left the driver’s seat. Before her were only two buttons: green for start, red for stop. That much was obvious—but was there a button to change tracks?

She needed to find the hidden key figure before the floodwaters rose.

During their time at the gym, the two had ample opportunity to discuss strategy.

Xu Youyuan believed the white and green snakes couldn’t be killed—they were unavoidable plot elements. Having personally witnessed the flood’s devastation, she knew the entire Takao Mountain would be submerged.

"I think in this scenario, once the white snake unleashes the flood—triggering the ‘Flooding Jinshan’ event—we automatically fail," Xu Youyuan said. "Our goal shouldn’t be surviving the flood. That’s clearly beyond our current capabilities. We need to stop the white snake from flooding Jinshan in the first place."

Shi Yue seemed to grasp the key point.

"So, the question is," Xu Youyuan panted, pedaling hard on the exercise bike, sweat pouring, eyes blazing, "why would the white snake cast the spell at Takao Mountain? And her line is crucial."

Shi Yue recited: "‘Bald monk, return my husband!’?"

"Right. The husband she’s demanding is Xu Xian. My guess is there must be a Jinshan Temple on Takao Mountain, where Xu Xian is imprisoned. If we find Xu Xian and return him to the white snake, we can stop the flood."

Shi Yue had an epiphany. "That makes perfect sense!"

"But then, another problem. Takao Mountain isn’t huge, but it’s not small either. From the moment we entered the station, we were ambushed by the green snake—no time to explore other paths for Xu Xian. And last time, we did see the third platform, right? That means our train route wasn’t wrong."

Shi Yue said, "So Xu Xian must be somewhere along this route? We just missed him last time? But a Jinshan Temple should stand out. Even with the green snake distracting us, we couldn’t have overlooked it."

Xu Youyuan pedaled furiously until her legs gave out, then grabbed a towel to wipe her sweat. "We boarded at the first platform, and the destination was the third. So… what’s at the second platform?"

Shi Yue drew a sharp breath.

She understood.

The green serpent wanted to chase the tram, while Xu Youyuan frantically searched the control panel but found no button to switch tracks.

From the moment they had departed the first platform last time, they hadn’t changed tracks at all. From start to finish, they hadn’t seen a second platform. Xu Youyuan was certain they had overlooked something—somewhere along the way, there must have been a branching path leading to another track that would take them to the second platform.

Since they were searching for a hidden character, the way to find him wouldn’t be obvious.

Xu Youyuan immediately began inspecting areas beyond the control panel. Meanwhile, the green serpent’s tail had already coiled around an exterior handle, ready to force its way in at any moment.

"Don’t let her inside!" Xu Youyuan shouted.

Shi Yue stood ready, gripping a screwdriver in one hand and a bent wrench in the other.

If the white serpent unleashed its "Flooding Jinshan" attack, they would surely die—that was one thing. But if the green serpent got inside the tram, there was also a high chance they’d be bitten to death. They couldn’t afford to let their guard down, not even for a second.

However, Shi Yue wasn’t the same as she had been a month ago, when she could only resort to biting in a panic. Whether or not it was systematic or professional, under the guidance of her private trainer, her punches definitely packed more of a punch now.

Xu Youyuan had said they didn’t need special outfits or buffs, but Shi Yue had still bought a pair of bear-paw gloves that boosted her strength by 689 points—specifically to deal with the green serpent.

Just as the green serpent was about to smash through the window, Shi Yue cracked her neck, shook out her arms, and thought, Bring it on!

But the eager Shi Yue didn’t get her wish. Before she could clash with the serpent, Xu Youyuan finally found a hidden lever beneath the control panel.

This has to be it!

The moment Xu Youyuan gripped the lever, she saw—through the tram’s grimy, fogged-up front window—another set of tracks.

With both hands, she wrenched the rusted lever, and the tram veered left.

The new tracks were overgrown with weeds and strewn with rubble. As the tram’s wheels rolled over them, the entire carriage shuddered violently.

Caught off guard, Shi Yue tumbled to the floor. At that exact moment, the green serpent shattered the window with a crash and locked its gaze onto her.

The serpent’s neck coiled back, baring its venomous fangs—a clear sign it was about to strike.

Shi Yue instinctively raised her arms to shield herself. But just as the serpent was about to lunge, a tremendous force ripped it away from the tram’s side.

Outside the window, everything was pitch black. Inside, only a faint, flickering light illuminated their surroundings.

The tram had entered a narrow tunnel—it was the tunnel’s entrance sign that had knocked the green serpent away.

There had been no tunnel in their previous run. And now that they were inside, the white serpent didn’t appear, nor did the "Flooding Jinshan" scenario trigger.

It seemed Xu Youyuan’s hunch had been right.

"Shi Yue!" Xu Youyuan called excitedly from the front of the tram.

Stumbling, Shi Yue made her way to the driver’s compartment. As the tram emerged from the tunnel, they finally saw it—a tiny, almost imperceptible platform.

Just before reaching it, Xu Youyuan pressed the red button, and the tram gradually slowed to a stop.

On either side of the tracks, the mountain walls pressed in close, as if the rails had been hammered like a long screw straight into the rock, forcing a path through.

The platform was small and crude, little more than a hollow carved into the mountainside. A weathered, unidentifiable sign stood there, its faded crimson characters barely legible: "Second Platform."

"Well, at least this proves half my theory was right," Xu Youyuan said, looking up the mountain. The slope was so steep that from the base, they couldn’t make out anything above.

"Now we just have to bet on whether there’s a Jinshan Temple up there," Xu Youyuan mused, "and whether Xu Xian is inside."

Shi Yue was already raring to go. "Let’s move!"

The second platform was built at the foot of the mountain, with no visible path leading upward. As they climbed, using both hands and feet, Xu Youyuan was immensely grateful for the past month of rigorous training—even this treacherous terrain was manageable now.

Before entering the scenario, Xu Youyuan hadn’t changed her outfit, still wearing the Phoenix Wings that boosted her agility and strength. Within half an hour, the two were nearing the summit.

But there was no sign of Jinshan Temple—no temple at all.

With no progress despite their confidence, Xu Youyuan was exhausted. She leaned against a tree to catch her breath.

We even found the hidden second platform—was it still the wrong lead?

Her mind raced, searching for other possibilities, while Shi Yue’s attention was drawn elsewhere.

"Xu Youyuan! Xu Youyuan!" Shi Yue jabbed her arm urgently, staring into the distance. "There’s a little monk!"

Xu Youyuan’s spirits lifted instantly. Through the dense foliage, she spotted a young novice monk carrying a shoulder pole.

The boy couldn’t have been more than seven or eight years old. The moment he saw Shi Yue and Xu Youyuan, he looked as if he’d seen a ghost and immediately bolted.

"After him!" Xu Youyuan snarled, her expression that of a starving wolf spotting a lamb. "He must be from Jinshan Temple! Catch him, and we’ll find it!"

Without hesitation, Shi Yue gave chase. The little monk shrieked in terror, dropping his pole and sprinting for his life.

Since when do tiny monks from non-Shaolin temples have such insane qinggong?!

Even with her cat ears boosting her agility, Shi Yue was struggling to keep up, let alone Xu Youyuan.

Xu Youyuan was gasping for air, her real-world body twitching on the couch, drenched in sweat.

Shi Yue’s AI dog had been watching her flailing limbs with concern for a while now, too worried to leave her side.

Just as the two were about to collapse from exhaustion, the trees suddenly parted, revealing a magnificent ancient temple that seemed to emerge proudly from the wilderness.

Xu Youyuan and Shi Yue were ecstatic.

Jinshan Temple!

But their joy lasted all of two seconds.

When they saw the 999 steps leading up to it, their legs nearly gave out beneath them.

Jinshan Temple was right there—yet agonizingly out of reach.

Each of the 999 steps was taller and steeper than a normal staircase. One glance was enough to make them dizzy.

"What the hell… Is this a game or an Ironman triathlon? The devs need a beating!" Xu Youyuan wheezed, her face pale as she hunched over, hands on her knees.

Shi Yue was equally exhausted. The little monk, already halfway up, kept turning back to smirk at them—clearly mocking their struggle.

Shi Yue pulled up the main panel to check their progress. "We’ve already entered the Jinshan Temple scenario. This is a save point. If you’re tired, we can come back later to tackle—"

"No." Xu Youyuan gritted her teeth, refusing to admit defeat. "We’ve come this far. Let’s push through in one go. You still good?"

Shi Yue squared her shoulders. "If you can do it, so can I."

"Oh yeah? Don’t fall behind, youngster."

Xu Youyuan charged ahead, quickly scaling ten steps. Shi Yue followed, quietly impressed. That relentless drive of hers hadn’t faded one bit.

Shi Yue had met plenty of industry leaders, and those who climbed to the top all shared one trait—no matter their age or the task at hand, they took things seriously and never gave up easily.

Xu Youyuan—even in the absolute depths of life's lows—remained the person Shi Yue had gazed at and admired for so long.

All exhaustion vanished in an instant. Shi Yue summoned every ounce of her strength, quickening her pace to keep up with Xu Youyuan.

Those sleepless nights of relentless striving were still vivid in her mind. Shi Yue refused to let the distance between them widen again.

She would walk side by side with Xu Youyuan, always and forever.