Parasite (11): Getting married

When Wen Yi saw that message, he suddenly stood up from his chair, forcefully pushed open the general manager’s office door, and emotionally arrived at the technical department office where Tan Xiao was.  

After becoming the department head, Tan Xiao’s position had also changed. Previously, he had been squeezed into a row of cubicles with a few other people. The white plastic panel office long table was simply divided into six workstations, ostensibly to facilitate coordination among colleagues.  

The department head next door had a more spacious area, with a separate solid wood desk topped with a layer of black glass, giving it a high-end and sophisticated look.  

The company provided him with a computer, in addition to the bulky desktop fixed to his office desk, there was also an expensive silver-white lightweight business laptop, which was convenient for the department heads to discuss business.  

The ergonomic chair Tan Xiao sat in was a bit more high-end, and there was another chair in front of the desk for visitors.  

After General Manager Wen Yi came out, he sat down on the chair in front of Tan Xiao. When he entered, the other employees at their desks instinctively glanced at Wen Yi, and upon realizing he was their direct supervisor’s boyfriend and their top boss, they all averted their eyes.  

But this group of people had lost their focus on work one by one, and everyone’s ears were quietly perked up, clearly eager to know what these two would say.  

Wen Yi tried hard to maintain a composed expression, but his eyes couldn’t hide the joy and excitement: “I didn’t approve your leave request.”  

Tan Xiao followed his words and asked, “Why?”  

Wen Yi said, “The time is wrong. Didn’t you say you wanted a month? You only applied for 5 days of personal leave, plus the annual leave, that’s only 20 days.”  

Honeymoon, it’s called a honeymoon, how could it be less than a month?  

“The company has regulations; personal leave can’t be requested for too long, a maximum of 5 days, and you can make up for it later.” Big companies were always lacking in human touch in this regard.  

Wen Yi said, “You’re about to resign anyway, so why do you care? Go ahead, I’ll approve it!”  

Tan Xiao then nodded and said, “Then I will resubmit my leave request.”  

Wen Yi still sat in the chair in front of him, unwilling to leave, looking at the other person with anticipation: “Is it really like this?”  

Tan Xiao, this guy, didn’t he feel like something was missing?  

With a wink and a smile, Tan Xiao asked, “Has the company added any new procedures for taking leave?”  

Wen Yi couldn’t hold back any longer. He said disappointedly, “You took leave to get married without my permission. What kind of marriage is this? Who do you want to marry?”  

Although he was very happy to marry Tan Xiao, how could there be no proposal ceremony? He didn’t need a particularly grand proposal ceremony, but the difference between having one and not having one was very significant!  

“Wow, getting married!” The employees who heard the gossip became even more excited. On the surface, they looked serious, but in reality, they were communicating with other colleagues in small groups, providing real-time updates.  

The Broken Class Support Group (678)  

Xiao Li from the gossip front line: “Extra, extra, they’re getting married!”  

Did my ship get married today?: “I didn’t expect the ship I support in the two-dimensional world didn’t get married, but the ship I follow in the three-dimensional world is getting married!”  

True couples are indeed the easiest to ship: “It hasn’t even been a few days since they went public, and now they’re getting married in less than half a month. Is this considered a flash marriage?”  

The one in charge of this broken class: “Haven’t the details been dug up? On his first day, General Manager Wen got in his car with Tan Xiao and went home. They must have been dating for a long time; their marriage can’t be considered a flash marriage, right? They definitely dated first, then had an office romance.”  

After they got together, countless fans emerged, and some even dug up some details that logically supported their speculation: CS Group had so many subsidiaries, and General Manager Wen was a member of the board. Why would he parachute into a small subsidiary like KK Smart, which had mediocre performance? It must be for his boyfriend. General Manager Li had already been reassigned long ago, and this was what they called “a fit of rage for a blue-eyed boy!”  

Xiao Wang, from the gossip front line: “Don’t celebrate too early. It seems they haven’t reached a consensus. Apparently, our department head didn’t propose, and Mr. Wen isn’t very happy.”  

The people at KK Smart Company called him General Manager Wen Yi, while many at the headquarters called him Little Director Wen Yi. After all, Wen Yi was the chairman’s son. The broken class group was just a small group of secretaries from the CS Group headquarters.  

The one in charge of this broken class: “This time I’m siding with Little Director Wen, our group’s beautiful love truly deserves a grand proposal ceremony!”  

The clever secretary privately knew how to poke fun at Wen Yi: “Little Director Wen, do you need our help arranging the proposal ceremony? We guarantee it will be fast and excellent, just to your liking!”  

Mingming: “What? Getting married? Just let me know when, and I’ll have the wedding gift money ready!”  

This was clearly Wang Mingming, who saw the news. After learning about the CP group, he immediately managed to infiltrate the organization. Of course, with his gossip account, he deliberately avoided the live stream screen, and only his big head appeared in the frame, so as not to expose his and others’ privacy.  

Although he didn’t understand why the boss was planning to date and get married in the instance, he must have had his own reasons for doing so. Maybe this marriage was just to lure out the snake and catch the parasite!  

After all, if you wanted to score high, simply avoiding enemies would definitely result in low points. In this kind of instance, you definitely needed to rely on solving puzzles or defeating the opposing faction, such as the Parasites.  

According to Tan Xiao’s description, the parasite had almost no weaknesses and couldn’t be killed. Wang Mingming’s talent wasn’t for detecting weaknesses but for a blood-locking skill. After clearing the game for the first time and becoming a full-fledged player, he drew a passive skill for seeking benefits and avoiding harm from the pool.  

The parasites were indeed very dangerous to him, and with no combat ability and not running fast enough, Wang Mingming gave up on this idea.  

This time, because of the information provided by Tan Xiao, Wang Mingming unlocked a side quest related to the storyline of the parasites and also received some points and items. That’s why he trusted this big shot so much at that time.  

Hitching a ride was also a skill. Although Tan Xiao didn’t agree to add him as a friend, Wang Mingming still had to perform well. He entered the instance twice, and both times he was in the same department as Tan Xiao. If he was lucky, he might run into the big boss again next time.  

Did my ship get married today?: “Xiao Li, how’s it going now? They had a fight, and then what? Are they done fighting?? Speak up! @Xiao Li from the gossip front line, @Xiao Wang from the gossip front line, half the melon, instant noodles without seasoning packets! No toilet paper in the bathroom!”  

Eating a big melon but only being able to eat half of it really made one scratch their ears and cheeks, and scratch their heart and lungs.  

Xiao Li from the gossip front line: “Ahhh, live broadcast, our department head held Mr. Wen’s hand, and Mr. Wen blushed and said he was willing! I was clapping so hard just now, they kissed, and it was so sweet, so desirable!”  

Tan Xiao didn’t notice the gaze of his department colleagues following him. To be precise, after knowing about the parasite’s existence, he didn’t care much about how the outside world viewed the two of them.  

After Wen Yi finished questioning him, Tan Xiao didn’t say anything. He just lowered his head and tapped on his phone, then sent Wen Yi an animated video he had been hand-drawing earlier, which was nearly 99% complete, but he always felt it wasn’t perfect enough.  

“Mr. Wen, check your phone.”  

Wen Yi lowered his head, a bit sulky, and took out his phone to check the message Tan Xiao had sent him. It was a small animated video sent from a secondary account, visible only to Tan Xiao and Wen Yi.  

The video was a hand-drawn stop-motion animation, meaning that each frame had been painstakingly drawn by Tan Xiao. The stop-motion animation featured two cartoon characters: a tsundere little prince wearing a crown and a corporate worker in a suit with a blue tie.  

In just a few minutes of animation, the office worker Xiao Tan lived an ordinary life in a black, white, and gray world, until a colorful little person intruded into his world. Pink hearts popped up above Xiao Tan’s head, and in that moment, the entire scene turned pink.  

Cupid shot an arrow at each of them, meaning Xiao Tan and Prince Wen Yi fell in love at first sight.  

The Little Prince who descended from the sky was an angel fallen to the mortal world, instantly bringing vibrant colors to the monochrome world of the little talker. They strolled through gardens together, played with kittens and puppies, and the gentle animated figures even grew wings. They roamed through beautiful seas of flowers, flew in the sky, and shared pure kisses in the flower fields.  

In the end, the office worker’s blue tie on his suit turned into a red bow tie. He knelt on one knee before his beloved little prince, holding a sparkling large diamond ring in his hand: “Dear Wen Yi, thank you for appearing in my life. Will you marry me and spend the rest of our lives together, which may not be that long, but even if the sky falls and the stars shift, I will remain devoted to you until death?”  

In reality, Tan Xiao took out a salary card and a large diamond ring from the drawer. Actually, this diamond ring wasn’t worth much, but it really sparkled, just like in the video, shining with a rainbow of colors.  

Such a large diamond was certainly not a natural diamond, but rather handcrafted using 3D printing.  

In his original plan, Tan Xiao actually didn’t intend to get married so early, so the engagement ring wasn’t just this artificial big diamond.  

It was just too sudden. The appearance of other parasites in the company was too sudden. Tan Xiao felt that whether or not they had that kind of real diamond ring between them was not important.  

After all, for Wen Yi, he didn’t lack precious gems, and even if Tan Xiao were to spend all his current savings, he still couldn’t afford a very dazzling diamond ring. They didn’t need these external things to affirm anything between them.  

In this short period of time, the animation was hand-drawn in secret every day, every frame and every stroke told a story of sincerity.  

However, Tan Xiao still presented his salary card with both hands. Where his love was, his money was too. His person, love, and money were all given to Wen Yi.  

Wen Yi’s eyes turned red, overwhelmed with emotion: “I do.”  

When love reached its peak, there naturally needed to be a perfect kiss to conclude the proposal.  

However, hearing the applause and cheers from their colleagues, the kiss wasn’t very intense; it was just a brief taste, and the two quickly parted ways.  

“Thank you all for your blessings. If we decide to hold a wedding, we will invite everyone.”  

City A was a sufficiently open and inclusive metropolis, so same-sex couples could naturally get married.  

After Tan Xiao finished his work, the household registration was directly signed to the company. His house was bought in City A, and the household registration book was also moved there. He proposed in the morning and went to get the marriage certificate in the afternoon.  

This time, the two of them each posted photos of their marriage certificates on their social media, instantly attracting countless friends.  

On Wen Yi’s side, whether it was the work account or the personal account, both posted it once, and both accounts received a lot of likes and comments.  

“Is this for real? Getting married so soon? Wen Yi, you’ve really made it!”  

“Congratulations, congratulations! Wishing you both a long and happy life together.”  

“I don’t know when you’re having the wedding, but you must invite me, okay?”  

Tan Xiao, because he only had one number, all the well-wishers were crowded together.  

Wang Mingming seized the opportunity and sent early blessings. In addition to liking the post in the friend circle, he also privately sent a big red envelope to Tan Xiao.  

“Boss, here’s the red envelope money. Don’t complain it’s too little, it’s just a token of my appreciation.”  

The red envelopes Wang Mingming sent were not small. As a streamer, he had given away half of the tips he received during this period. The main reason was that he couldn’t take the money out of the game, so he didn’t mind spending it.  

Except for some players with special skills, everyone else couldn’t take the money or other valuables earned in the instance with them.  

The only rewards that could be brought into real life were those given by the system. Anyway, he would only stay here for fifteen days before clearing the game, so he might as well be generous.  

However, Wang Mingming did not receive a timely reply; instead, he received an automatic refund for the red envelope the next day.  

At that time, Tan Xiao just said with a smile, “No need, thank you for your blessing. Earning money isn’t easy, you should keep it for yourself, at least you can eat and drink better.”  

He didn’t click on the large red envelope. After all, in Tan Xiao’s view, Wang Mingming’s current status was not wealthy enough, and he didn’t want money that didn’t belong to him.  

However, it wasn’t just Wang Mingming who actively sent him money. As soon as the news spread that day, many people sent their blessings privately outside of WeChat Moments.  Tan Xiao’s “real mom,” and the red envelope she gave was much larger than Wang Mingming’s. After all, she was a successful female entrepreneur and had money.  

To be precise, she couldn’t send that much in red envelopes, so she directly transferred 1888 and 888 to Tan Xiao through a bank card.  

As Tan Xiao’s “mom” in the three instances, Li Li could be said to have seen the message posted by her cheap son at the first opportunity.  

At that moment, she was shaking her wine glass while facing a player, and suddenly a message popped up. She spat out her wine all over the player in the instance.  

A month ago, when Tan Xiao woke up in the hospital, Li Li noticed that an account that had been offline for a long time on her phone suddenly lit up again. She knew her adopted son had returned to the game.  

She discovered that Tan Xiao was indeed very diligent, coming and going every few days. Through the lens of a doting mother, Li Li believed this child would surely achieve great things.  

She inquired a bit and found out that Tan Xiao had entered the large urban version this time, City A.  

The 18-year-old pretty boy suddenly became a corporate slave after three years of work, and he also took on a 5 million yuan mortgage. Ms. Li Li had a small moment of schadenfreude: “The brat should also experience the hardships of being a worker.”  

However, when faced with the wedding invitation from Tan Xiao, Ms. Li Li cowardly chose to decline.  

She had no intention of entering the City A instance, because the NPCs inside were difficult to deal with. Even though she wasn’t human, but a special NPC, she still feared the presence of the parasites inside.  

If she were to be possessed by that kind of creature, it would be very troublesome to get rid of it later.  

Li Li was determined not to attend the wedding, but as it was her first time being a mother-in-law, Ms. Li Li found it very novel.  

She checked Wen Yi’s identity in this instance, and without a doubt, this time the other party was much wealthier than her.  

Ms. Li Li expressed her deep feelings: her son, who she considered a “cheap son,” had now “married into a wealthy family.”  

After all, they were mother and child, ah, no, mother and child three times, she, as a mother, couldn’t just not show anything.  

“My company is very busy. If your wedding is held early, I won’t attend. I’ll send you some wedding supplies later.”  

The wealthy and generous Ms. Li Li casually said, “Did you receive the money I transferred to you? This money is for your wedding. When getting married, don’t be stingy. Don’t embarrass our Li family.”  

With a smile, Tan Xiao handed over his salary card to Wen Yi. All his savings from the past three years, including every penny he would earn in the future, were given to his wife.  

However, because of the mortgage, Tan Xiao actually didn’t have much money in his card. He was just promoted to department head half a month ago, and yes, his salary tripled, making his annual salary a million, but his salary for this month hadn’t been paid yet.  

The card Ms. Li Li transferred the money to, was the same card he used when he was in college.  

This huge sum of money indeed surprised Tan Xiao: “Mom, you are my real mom. This money won’t empty all the family’s savings, right? We don’t need this much money.”  

“This amount of money is nothing. Back then, I spent 5 million to buy you a house. This is just a little over 1/3 of that, and isn’t your wife the heir of the CS Group?”  

Although this property would be inherited by Li Li once Tan Xiao left the instance, according to the character setting, it was equivalent to the other party giving her a few years of free labor. However, Li Li would never mention such a thing.  

Tan Xiao might earn her some money now and she definitely wouldn’t lose out.  

“No need to say more, just take it. After all, I can’t be there in person, but the money has to come in. Just keep an eye on things yourself.”  

“You don’t need to say it, I already know.” When it came to his wealthy mom, Tan Xiao’s attitude was very good.  

Actually, City A was very dangerous right now, so it was probably for the best that Mom wasn’t coming. Speaking of which, would this parasitic species spread beyond City A? For safety’s sake, shouldn’t he go abroad with Wen Yi? The world wasn’t just City A, just like Wen Yi said back then; they could go to an uninhabited island and bring enough supplies with them.

Tan Xiao’s expression momentarily faltered, then the sudden thought that had popped up was suppressed again.  

The system had blurred the perception of NPCs and players; escaping was impossible. This area was the game field. Forcibly leaving the game field within the game time would only result in getting lost in the void, then being devoured by terrifying monsters, or being directly strangled by the rules.  

The money that Ms. Li Li gave to Tan Xiao was immediately handed over to Wen Yi.  

However, this time Wen Yi refused: “Since it’s money from our mom, just take it.”  

It is said that when men have money, they become bad, so you shouldn’t leave money with the other person. But they were both men, so it didn’t make sense for the money to be with one person while the other had nothing.

They were in an equal and loving relationship, not one where one person supported the other.  

Wen Yi was not an exploiter, and his man deserved the best: “You’ve given me so much, I should give you the same.”  

He took out the black card from when they first met: “I wanted to give you this card back then, but I never got the chance. Now it’s yours. The card has no limit, just like my love for you—forever limitless.”  

Sweet words were loved by everyone, and no matter how many times you heard them, you never got tired of them.  

Tan Xiao couldn’t help but laugh out loud, looking down at the two bank cards: “I guess this counts as exchanging tokens of love.”  

The cardholders were named, with their names written on the bank cards, which they exchanged with each other. How could this not be considered a token of love?  

Other families exchanged tokens of affection that were personal items; ancient people gave jade pendants, fans, and pouches, while modern people gave rings, bracelets, and earrings.  

It was just that they were both so unconventional, exchanging bank cards with each other.  

“The black card is worth much more than my salary card,” Tan Xiao said with a laugh, “Looks like I’ve hit the jackpot.”  

Wen Yi shook his head and said, “You gave me all your love, but the black card isn’t everything to me. Clearly, I’m the one who got the better deal.”  

He said somewhat regretfully, “I regret it. We rushed into getting the marriage certificate. We should have signed a prenuptial agreement.”  

Tan Xiao was taken aback for a moment. Even at this point, he still regretted not signing a prenuptial agreement. Was this what it meant to be wealthy? Always worried that others were after their fortune.  

Although he felt a subtle discomfort in his heart, it was understandable after all; it was the hard-earned property of their family: “Actually, it’s fine. We can sign it now.”  

Let’s not even mention the invasion of the parasites; the world would be thrown into chaos, and the wealthy would undergo a major reshuffling. Even if the world weren’t in chaos, he wouldn’t covet Wen Yi’s wealth.  

In a light-hearted manner, Tan Xiao thought it was actually a mistake on his part. In a moment of impulse, he had dragged the other person to get a marriage certificate and got married. It was fine to be impulsive in love, but marriage should be approached with caution, especially considering the significant difference in their family backgrounds.  

Wen Yi said, “I should transfer all the properties under my name to you, so that what I give away is everything. This is fair love.”  

He immediately said, “I’m going to call my legal team and have them draft a contract. You just need to sign it when the time comes, baby.”  

Thinking about the properties under her name, Wen Yi somewhat sheepishly said, “It’s just that the quantity might be a bit much, the contracts will take a few days to sign.”  

The mood of Tan Xiao, which had just hit rock bottom a moment ago, soared straight to the heavens the next moment.  

“Don’t, I don’t want those assets, and we still have to plan the wedding. When do we have time to sign such a contract?”  

Fortunately, it was Tan Xiao he encountered. If Wen Yi had run into one of those gold-digging “phoenix men,” he would have been completely taken advantage of.  

Tan Xiao stopped Wen Yi from making the call, his long fingers pinching the glossy black card: “Just accepting this is enough. You work hard to earn money, and I’ll work hard to spend it.”  

However, thinking about it, Wen Yi was not human. If he really encountered a rotten-hearted scumbag, who knew who would end up eating whom.  

Due to the time constraints, the two decided to hold the wedding in five days.