The three of them agreed to meet at a teahouse at the wayside to continue with their mission. Then, Liangqiu Min departed while Shangguan Yu and Ao Jing remained.

"Do you want to go over right now?" Ao Jing turned to look at his husband, waiting for his input.

Shangguan Yu shook his head. While clues could vanish while you were currently doing a mission, and things like Liangqiu Min still being alive might depend on the time that passed until you got there, it was different when you had the task of meeting up with somebody.

After all, the company didn’t want players to completely stop going about their normal lives. Well, maybe the company would like that but it would only be a matter of time until the game was shut down because it corrupted moral values. Thus, the company had had to give the players opportunities to frequently take breaks as well while not harming their enjoyment of the game.

It really came in handy today. Even if they didn’t go immediately, it wouldn’t be a problem so they didn’t need to rush.

"No, let’s leave that for another day. I need to get up early tomorrow to catch the train back home. I guess I should go off soon."

Ao Jing felt a little disappointed that they wouldn’t have as much time together as they usually had but he also understood that it wouldn’t do to have Shangguan Yu stay up late if he couldn’t do so. "It’s alright. I guess we’ll see each other tomorrow evening then? Or do you want to spend the day with your family?"

Shangguan Yu stepped closer, reached up, and hooked his arms behind his husband’s neck. "Don’t worry, you won’t have to miss me for too long! My mom doesn’t mind if I play at home. As I said, they aren’t strict. So I’ll definitely be able to go online tomorrow as well. I’m not quite sure if it will be at the usual time though. So keep an eye out for me!"

Ao Jing laughed and then hugged his husband’s waist, giving a nod. "I’ll think of that. I’ll get online as soon as I can and wait for you the whole day if I need to. Right, since you need to go, you should do so immediately. Otherwise, I’ll just loathe to part with you even more."

Shangguan Yu laughed and already wanted to step back but looking at Ao Jing from up close, he couldn’t help himself. He tiptoed and then pecked his cheek, before finally stepping out of his embrace. "Alright. See you tomorrow then!" With that, he logged off, not daring to look at him any further.

Ao Jing raised his brows, before reaching up and touching his cheek. While they had always been close and joked around a lot because they were married in-game, it was a different thing altogether to act like this. He really wondered what he should make of that. If things didn’t turn out well on that date …

He shook his head at himself and then logged off as well. Anyway, there was no reason to fret about it. Everything might go well. They might even end up being a real couple. He would definitely look forward to that.

The two of them were a little unaccustomed to not playing until the usual time and with their date coming closer, they both had trouble sleeping that night.

When Shangguan Yu got up the next morning, he rubbed his eyes with a groan, promising himself that he definitely wouldn’t freak out over his date just as much the night before. Otherwise, he would go into it looking like a panda. That definitely wouldn’t be appealing.

Still tired, he dragged himself and his suitcase out of the door and over to the station, getting onto the train and finally going home.

For the whole time of the ride, he stared out of the window, wondering about the previous evening and how things would be when he got home. He felt that after asking Ao Jing to meet up with him, things had become slightly different between them. Even if they didn’t get to meet up, things wouldn’t be the same as before anymore. So it was still best to just get it over with and see what it brought them.

It still made him anxious though. He really hoped that they could meet up soon. He wanted to go back to leisurely spending his evenings with Ao Jing again. Being able to tell him about his day, asking about his, just talking about anything in general, and playing around, going sightseeing in the game … He would miss it if things weren’t like this anymore.

He sighed to himself but there was nothing he could do. For now, there was only waiting. Well, at the very least, as soon as he was back home, he could start to prepare things. He first needed an outfit. And maybe he could ask his older sister for dating advice. Anyway, she had managed to get a nice husband. She definitely should have an idea of what to look out for.

After that, it would be time to set up the date. Ah, where could they go? Thinking of that, he pulled out his phone and looked around for places that might be fitting for a first date.

There were several websites giving tips on where to go and what to do. Most of them seemed to agree that you should go somewhere with people around and quite a few also mentioned that having something to do together would be a good idea. Going to the museum, going out to eat, going to a course for painting, or something like that and even going to an amusement park were all pretty high up in the list.

If he considered what he knew about Ao Jing, then he probably wouldn’t mind either way. As long as they could meet up, he should be alright with it. He probably wasn’t somebody who liked to just sit around either. In the game, while they had some moments where they would just sit at their favorite place and watch the scenery, they were mostly traveling and doing missions. He would probably be like this in real life as well, right?

Shangguan Yu still wasn’t sure. In the end, he put his phone away and just leaned back to close his eyes. He should really ask somebody else first. Anyway, he could also bring it up with Ao Jing when they were considering which day to choose. It wouldn’t be too late by then.