Chapter 10: A Fight
[No!]
Mu Mu immediately refuted the other person, then started racking his brains for a suitable way to describe it.
[He’s the first human friend I made after coming to this world.]
As soon as Mu Mu’s reply was sent, Five Cats excitedly chimed in.
[Childhood sweethearts?]
[If it’s a childhood-friend situation, just give something small that the other person actually needs. It’s fine to choose something a bit more intimate, too.]
Mu Mu didn’t know what “childhood sweethearts” meant. After struggling through a search, he replied again.
[Not really. I’m currently living at my friend’s place.]
[Living at your friend’s place? So… roommates?]
Five Cats guessed again.
[That doesn’t seem quite right either.]
Mu Mu urgently searched up what “roommates” meant, but it still didn’t feel accurate.
Seeing Mu Mu’s descriptions, even Five Cats was momentarily at a loss—was there really no relationship in human society that fit this perfectly?
Ah, wait… maybe there was.
Living together, first friend, special.
If that’s not a boyfriend relationship, then what is?! Tricking an innocent, clueless kid—how devious!
Watching Mu Mu on the other side still wholeheartedly thinking about picking out a gift for the other person, Five Cats didn’t know what to say for a moment.
[Well, that relationship really is complicated.]
[You wouldn’t happen to want to make money just for this gift, would you?]
Five Cats probed. When she got a definite answer, she immediately felt a mix of frustration and disappointment.
[Mu Mu, sweetheart, you’re not being scammed, are you? I’m telling you, some people look decent on the outside but are rotten inside. What priceless treasure did he give you that you’re going to such lengths to earn money just to buy him a gift?]
[Absolutely not! It’s because my friend painted a picture for me and spent a really long time on it, so I want to give something back. See—my profile picture, that’s the one.]
Seeing how concerned Miss Kitty was about him, Mu Mu didn’t hide anything and honestly explained his reason.
Li Yiyi was sitting in her gaming chair, sipping milk tea, the backrest tilted as she rocked back and forth. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she searched for news stories about “romance scams” and “pig-butchering scams,” planning to send them to the clueless little lamb on the other side of the screen. Then she saw the other person’s reply.
A painting?
She let out a scoff and clicked into Mu Mu’s profile picture.
What kind of painting could be so valuable that it tricked a kid who’d never lifted a finger in real life into wanting to go work and earn money just to buy a gift…
“Bang—!”
The gaming chair nearly tipped over backward. Li Yiyi lunged forward in a panic, spilling all the milk tea from her cup. She didn’t care at all. She quickly screenshot Mu Mu’s avatar, sent it to someone, then dashed straight out of the room and shouted toward the living room downstairs:
“Bro! Check your phone! Isn’t that Brother Fu’s painting?!”
Downstairs, there was immediately a burst of noise—chairs scraping, followed by the crash of a teacup shattering with a clatter.
After Mu Mu sent his message, several minutes passed before Miss Five Cats’ chat window finally changed to “The other party is typing…”
Mu Mu waited in front of his tablet for a long time. The other side kept “typing,” but no message ever came.
[Kitty, what’s wrong? Is the painting not nice?]
“Delete that, delete that—reply with this first!” Li Yiyi screeched as she snatched her keyboard back. “If you want to ask about Brother Fu, go ask him yourself. This is a cute little kid I dug out of a pile of online trash—don’t scare him away!”
[No, the painting is beautiful, and Mu Mu is even cuter. It’s just that a friend of mine wants to ask which artist drew it—he wants to commission one as a profile picture too.]
Artist?
Mu Mu froze for a moment, then tapped the screen to correct the wording.
[Not an artist—it’s a painter, a gentleman painter.]
Then he hurriedly searched what “commissioning an avatar” meant, and replied very earnestly:
[Kitty, please wait a moment. I’ll go ask him.]
Mu Mu put down the tablet, not seeing that it immediately exploded with more than a dozen messages filled with exclamation marks.
He walked up to Fu Heqing, craning his head inquisitively as he asked, “Mr. Painter, may I ask, do you take commissions?”
“Commissions.” Fu Heqing looked at Mu Mu. “Where did you pick up that new word this time?”
“I heard it from someone else. They said some artists accept private custom commissions from people and make a living that way.”
Mu Mu didn’t feel there was anything odd about it at all. He simply gazed expectantly at the painter in front of him, waiting for an answer.
Fu Heqing fell silent for a moment. In the end, he still replied to the little skeleton.
“I don’t take commissions.”
“Oh.”
Mu Mu responded vaguely, then thought about it and asked, “Why? I saw online that it’s really profitable, one painting can pay for three months of food!”
Although the little spirit didn’t really understand how much “three months of food” actually was, he did know that most people had to go to work every day or they wouldn’t have anything to eat. Not working for three months must mean a lot.
“Stop daydreaming.”
Fu Heqing flicked the little skeleton on the forehead with a bent finger. “No one can afford to commission me.”
“Oh! I see. I get it now.”
Mu Mu immediately understood—Mr. Painter was a top-tier artist.
Very, very expensive!
Having gotten a clear answer, Mu Mu went straight back to his tablet. Just as he unlocked the screen, a flood of messages popped up again.
[Reply! Reply!]
[No way, you actually went to ask!]
[Oh my god!! It’s over, it’s over, it’s over—little bro, you’re not about to get thrown out of the villa, are you?]
Mu Mu understood each word on its own, but strung together like this, he had no idea what they meant.
[Why would I get thrown out of the villa?]
He was very puzzled, but he still honestly answered Five Cats’ earlier question first.
[But I did ask! Mr. Painter said he doesn’t take commissions. His price is too high—three months isn’t enough, you’d need at least a whole year’s worth of food!]
Seeing that Mu Mu had really gone to ask Fu Heqing—and had even gotten a direct answer from him—Li Xunyang was instantly struck dumb with shock.
“Sis, do you think this person could be a scammer? Would Brother Fu really answer a question like that?”
Li Yiyi shook her head frantically. “Who would dare ask Brother Fu something that trivial? Comparing Brother Fu to those amateur illustrators online, wouldn’t that be courting death?! His works start at tens of millions just to open the bidding.”
“But I know Mu Mu. He’s a bit slow and kind of naïve, if anything, he’s the type who gets tricked. There’s absolutely no chance of him tricking anyone else.”
“And you’ve been Brother Fu’s full-time agent for so long. His paintings—whether they’re authentic or fake knockoffs—you can tell at a glance, can’t you?”
“Tch—”
Precisely because he could tell at a glance, Li Xunyang felt something was very wrong. Deeply wrong.
“Th-then there’s another possibility,” Li Xunyang ventured boldly. “This kid has an unusual relationship with Brother Fu. Earlier, Brother Fu ordered a rose-bell tracker and even said he was keeping a… little beauty!”
Li Yiyi sucked in a sharp breath. Little beauty? The term was both intimate and perfectly captured the boy’s looks and aura.
If that wasn’t Mu Mu, then who was?
So the devious person tricking an innocent kid… was actually Brother Fu himself?
“Oh my god, doesn’t that mean he’s the only living person in Brother Fu’s villa? Brother Fu actually kept him by his side?”
“Quick, ask him out, and bring Brother Fu’s doctor too. Let’s talk face to face, maybe Brother Fu’s condition can still be salvaged.”
[Mu Mu, sweetheart, want to come out and play? Let’s go shopping together. I’ll take you to buy a gift. Didn’t you say before that you’ve never been to a theme park? Want to go together?]
Mu Mu felt very tempted when he saw the invitation. Normally, humans invited their good friends to go out together—but he wasn’t truly human, and had no way to accept.
Reluctantly, Mu Mu tapped on the screen, slowly and with great reluctance, and politely declined.
[No, thank you. I’m not suited to going out. As for the gift, I’ll think about it myself a bit more.]
No sooner had Mu Mu’s refusal been sent than a voice call request popped up on the other side. It rang for just a second before being immediately hung up.
[Sorry, I pressed it by mistake.]
[I’ve thought it over carefully. We’re really just online friends, and meeting casually would indeed be risky. You’re absolutely right to be cautious, Mu Mu.]
Then another message came through, this time with a very solid reason.
[But I already prepared a gift for you, Mu Mu.]
[I went out earlier and brought back souvenirs for all my friends, and I prepared one for you too. So how should I give it to you now? Would it be okay if I left it at a café and you went to pick it up yourself?]
[We wouldn’t need to meet. I’d leave it there and go. You could pick it up yourself, or bring a friend along, either way, everyone stays safe.]
Mu Mu found the suggestion very tempting.
Miss Five Cats counted as his second friend. Even though they’d never met, that didn’t stop them from chatting happily, and Kitty had helped him a lot when he first started using the internet.
Since the other party had specially prepared a gift for him, he really wanted to accept it.
[I’ll go ask Mr. Painter if he’s willing to take me out!]
After replying to Miss Five Cats, Mu Mu immediately went off, brimming with excitement, to discuss the matter with Fu Heqing.
“Mr. Painter!”
Clutching his tablet, Mu Mu hopped from the small side table that the little skeleton used for sunbathing onto the paint rack nearby, then made his way forward along the coffee counter.
The entire studio layout had changed from its former minimalist style into what it was now—extremely convenient for a little skeleton to scamper and climb about. From the sunlit windowsill to the spot where Fu Heqing painted, there was now the easiest, most efficient route to dash straight over.
Calling out to the painter all the way, Mu Mu arrived in front of Fu Heqing. “Mr. Painter, Kitty prepared a small gift for me. Can I go pick it up? It’s not far, just a café near the villa.”
“You want to go out?”
Fu Heqing paused for a moment, then asked slowly.
“W-well… I probably can’t go out by myself,” Mu Mu said softly, answering his own question as he went. “A wandering spirit can’t touch things, and a little skeleton would scare people.”
“So that’s why I came to you,” Mu Mu continued in a small voice. “You could tuck me into your pocket and we go together, okay?”
Fu Heqing didn’t answer. Instead, he asked again, “Who is ‘Kitty’?”
“Kitty is an online friend I met on a forum. Her full ID is Five Cats. Her avatar is a group photo of five cats together. She’s a girl, and she’s from Shangjing.”
“She says she’s socially anxious, a homebody, unemployed, living off her brother,” Mu Mu added honestly. “But I think she’s a really good person.”
After finishing, Mu Mu obediently looked at Fu Heqing, waiting for his response.
Under Mu Mu’s expectant gaze, Fu Heqing remained cold and detached. “I refuse.”
Mu Mu’s eyes widened. “Why?!”
“I’ve said it before. I don’t like going out.”
“Not even once?”
“No.”
Hearing Fu Heqing’s refusal, Mu Mu was instantly put in a difficult spot. “Then… I’ll think of a way myself. I’ll disguise myself as a robot and go out.”
“No.”
Hearing Fu Heqing say “no” again, Mu Mu froze. He stared in disbelief, and only after thinking for a long time did he react.
“Do you mean… I can’t go out by myself either?”
Fu Heqing didn’t speak, but from his expression, Mu Mu could clearly tell—that was exactly what he meant.
“Why not? You don’t like going out, so I’ll go instead. I’ll just go get the gift Kitty prepared for me and come right back,” Mu Mu tried to reason with him.
But Fu Heqing clearly had no intention of reasoning. He glanced at the little skeleton toy standing in front of him and, almost without hesitation, said—
“If you go out, then don’t come back.”
Mu Mu was angry when he heard that.
Very angry. Extremely angry.
“Why would you say something like that?!” Mu Mu’s voice was hurt and serious, and he tried with all his might to raise it a couple of pitches higher.
“I’m cutting ties with you!”
Fu Heqing suddenly lifted his gaze and stared straight at the little skeleton in front of him.
“At least for ten minutes!”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
The two voices rang out at the same time.
Mu Mu was stunned, then blurted out angrily, “You don’t even have any friends!”
After saying that, Mu Mu hugged his tablet and stormed off in a rage. He found a corner and told Five Cats how things had turned out.
[What?! You had a fight with him?! That’s rare!!!]
[The other party withdrew a message]
[No—Mu Mu, sweetheart, don’t mind stinky men.]
[How did you end up fighting? What did he say?]
[The other party withdrew a message]
[There, there. Don’t take it to heart.]
Li Yiyi snatched her keyboard back, comforting Mu Mu, and sent several stickers in a row.
[Sweetheart, don’t be sad. I’ll have someone bring the gift directly to your place later. I think I kind of know the painter you mentioned.]
[It’s Mr. Fu, right? He doesn’t go out—maybe he’s worried it wouldn’t be safe for you to meet an online friend alone.]
Mu Mu looked at Kitty’s messages, feeling a bit lost.
[He doesn’t go out?]
[Mm-hmm. Mr. Fu doesn’t mean to target you. He’s trapped himself in that villa…]
[For four years now.]
