I picked up a boyfriend in the infinite game

Lunch was still prepared by the host and was even more sumptuous than the morning.

There was steak with pasta, vegetable salad on the side, mashed potatoes and cheese pie for dessert, and two plates of roast chicken, filling the table.

Xie Siyou tried hard not to cut the charred steak and swallowed his saliva as he said, "Why is there such a big difference in the meals of a couple? One is like a biological father and the other is a stepmother."

"Kissing is useless," Chen Xinke rolled up a forkful of pasta, "We can't eat meat."

Song Guicheng doesn't have such high requirements for the food in the copy, as long as it can maintain the body's energy consumption, but eating delicious food is still a pleasant thing.

After lunch, the host led the remaining 12 players through the wheat field, climbed a small hill, and walked a long way before arriving at the apple orchard.

The apple orchard is located at the foot of the hill and covers a large area. Now is the ripe season, and the leaves of the apple trees have basically fallen off, leaving only bright red apples hanging heavily on the branches.

This scene is exactly the same as the oil painting hanging in the church.

Xie Siyou held his knees and panted, "No wonder they couldn't get back before the rain yesterday."

The road is so long and bumpy that even if we go back when the dark clouds just start to gather, we probably won’t be able to get back.

Chen Xinke had a layer of sweat on her forehead, but she was in better condition than Xie Siyou. She looked at Xie Siyou who looked extremely weak and teased him, "Young man, you are new, so just practice more."

Xie Siyou gave her the middle finger.

Song Guicheng looked normal, and he did not look embarrassed at all even though he had just walked on a muddy path.

He changed his clothes, exchanging his white cotton shirt for a loose denim shirt and a pair of black overalls.

Song Guicheng has a slender figure, well-proportioned muscles, and a perfect head-to-body ratio. He manages to wear clothes without a pattern and still look free and easy.

Zhao Siming looked at the handsome and elegant Song Guicheng, then looked at his limp clothes that could not hold him up, and secretly pinched his palms.

The host Grayson gave each of them a large bamboo backpack and a special pair of scissors. In the afternoon, each of them had to pick a full basket of apples before they could return to the hotel to rest.

You can go back to rest only after you finish picking, which means you have to stay here if you don't pick all the fruits. The players' hearts suddenly tightened, after all, no one wanted to stay here after dark.

Grayson taught them some tips on picking apples. The players all knew that this was an important mission node, so everyone listened attentively, and some even took out notebooks to take notes.

"The most important point is," Grayson suddenly stopped talking here. He reached out and slowly stroked the apple beside him, as gently as if he was stroking his own child, "the picked apples must be intact, otherwise they cannot be sold at a good price."

At the same time, the electronic sound of the system popped up in the minds of all players:

[Post a side quest: Pick a basket of intact apples]

[System Mall is temporarily closed]

[Task reward: 3000 points]

Song Guicheng looked down at his watch. It was already 1: in the afternoon, and there were only a few hours left before dark.

The backpack was half as tall as Song Guicheng and was padded with a thick layer of straw. It was not difficult to fill the basket before dark, but the difficulty was to make sure every apple was intact.

Apples are very thin and can be easily scratched or punctured by branches. If they are bumped, they will soften easily, so those apples will not be counted towards the task.

Fortunately, there are many apple trees and enough apples, so you don’t have to worry about fighting when picking apples.

"Let's split up and work in pairs," Song Guicheng suggested. "If too many people gather together to pick apples, they will bump into each other. If the basket touches the apples when turning around, they will easily break."

The other three had no objections, so Chen Xinke and Xie Si were in one group, and Chu Wei and Song Guicheng were in another.

Song Guicheng was a little worried about Chen Xinke's physical strength and asked, "Don't you need help? I'm still in good physical condition."

Chen Xinke quickly waved her hands: "No, no." She flexed her muscles and said, "Who says women are inferior to men!" After saying that, she glanced at Xie Siyou, her targeting very clearly.

Xie Siyou continued to raise his middle finger.

Seeing that she was fine, Song Guicheng took Chu Wei to a place with fewer people.

The gray-brown branches of the apple tree crisscrossed like nets of varying sizes, trying to catch everyone.

After walking inside, they found that in addition to them, the players, there were also many villagers picking apples.

They gathered in twos and threes, carrying large baskets on their backs. They moved skillfully and looked relaxed. They talked and laughed as they picked the fruits. They were not at all as nervous as the other players.

Song Guicheng saw a middle-aged couple. The man was sitting on a ladder picking apples from above, while the woman was picking them from below. They cooperated very well.

The two of them chatted and laughed while working, and they seemed to be very close.

This was a rare warm scene in the strange farm. He looked at it twice more and then walked towards a less crowded place in the orchard.

Song Guicheng found an apple tree that was neither too tall nor too short and put the backpack on the ground. Following Grayson's instructions, he placed his fingers on the connection between the apple and the tree and held the apple with his palm.

When his palm touched the apple, he felt a strange touch, warm and soft, not like an ordinary apple at all.

His pupils suddenly shrank, and he pulled his hand back violently. He stood there for a moment, touched his palm, and then touched the apple. The warm and soft touch disappeared, leaving only the cold and hard feeling.

Song Guicheng turned around to look at Chu Wei who was not far from him, but found that Chu Wei was not at all unusual. He pushed and folded the fruits, then used small scissors to cut off the excess fruit stems and put them into the basket. His movements were very skillful.

He frowned slightly and said, "Chu Wei, be careful, Apple is not normal."

He hadn't figured out what was wrong yet, but he always trusted his instantaneous feelings. In most cases, the flaws were hidden in the details.

Chu Wei nodded and threw a candy to him.

Song Guicheng was surprised: "You haven't finished eating yet?"

Chu Wei didn't answer him, so Song Guicheng stopped asking and put the candy in his pocket.

The subsequent picking went smoothly, and Song Guicheng only picked the apples that he could reach.

Although the apples on the top of the tree looked red and big, he didn't have a ladder, so he just took a look and then put on the bamboo basket and found the next tree.

He had just stood still when he suddenly heard the sound of a stone hitting his shoes. A shadow suddenly covered his side, and it was getting bigger and closer, as if someone was tripped by a stone. Song Guicheng subconsciously held on to the shadow.

"Be careful." He withdrew his hand and turned his head to look, only to find that the person he was holding was Zhao Siming.

It was rare for Song Guicheng to see a hint of embarrassment on his face, which was mostly covered by his bangs. He held the scissors in his hand and whispered, "Thank you."

"It's okay." Song Guicheng didn't care too much. He moved his wrist, turned around and went back to picking apples, as if he had just done something insignificant.

Zhao Siming looked at Song Guicheng's casual movements, at the strands of hair swaying slightly on his forehead, at his fair and slender wrists that were constantly exposed as he picked apples, and at his light brown eyes.

Those eyes were fixed intently on the apple in front of them, much more seriously than when they looked at him just now.

The corner of Song Guicheng's clothes was suddenly pulled. He happened to be holding an apple in his hand. He quickly put it down and turned around to see Zhao Siming still standing behind him.

"Is there anything else?" Song Guicheng calmly pulled out the corner of his clothes.

Zhao Siming looked at him steadily, his eyes hidden behind his bangs and glasses fixed on Song Guicheng, and said, "Don't you hate me?"

Song Guicheng:?

He frowned subconsciously, not understanding what Zhao Siming meant by this.

Zhao Siming took a step forward and stared at the young man in front of him: "Am I not worthy of being hated by you?"

Song Guicheng was really confused this time.

Brother, can you pick apples properly?

"It was the same in the last instance. You all only talked to my sister and only cooperated with her. You never asked for my opinion," Zhao Siming tightly grasped the scissors in his hand, his hand trembling slightly. "It was the same in this instance. You all ignored me. You could only see my sister and only listened to her."

Song Guicheng looked at Zhao Siming who was getting closer and closer, took a step back, and kept his eyes on the scissors in Zhao Siming's hand, fearing that he would stab him in excitement.

"My sister and I were the ones who harmed you in the last instance," he gritted his teeth and said, "Why do you only hate my sister and not me? I'm not worthy of being hated by you, right? You never took me as a target for revenge. There's no need. I don't deserve it, right?"

"Stay away from my mother! You are a bad person!" Xiaohua suddenly jumped out of Song Guicheng's pocket, spread out her two little arms, hugged Zhao Siming's head, and twisted it aside.

Zhao Siming staggered back two steps in pain.

Song Guicheng quickly brought Xiaohua back and looked down at Zhao Siming.

Zhao Siming lowered his head, his whole body shaking: "You all treat me as if I'm invisible! You'd rather go pick apples than talk to me!"

Song Guicheng smiled. People really laugh when they are speechless.

It's not that he can't understand how Zhao Siming's taciturn personality and paranoid and dark mentality were formed. He grew up with a beautiful and outstanding sister. People around him could only see his sister, hear his sister's voice, and ignore him, but...

"Are you being fair to your sister by saying this?" Song Guicheng said patiently, "Your sister didn't hesitate to offend me to save you. She took action against me to get rid of you. She rushed to the front of you in everything in the dungeon and protected you from the wind and rain. You think your sister stole your attention, but she also provided you with a safe haven, right?"

Song Guicheng's words were polite, but if it were Shi Suilai, he would probably start to scold Zhao Siming directly, saying that he was mentally ill and did not appreciate what he had.

"Also," Song Guicheng glanced at his watch, there was still plenty of time, "If you want to be seen, you have to be worthy of being seen first, not just throwing tantrums or losing your temper. We have nothing to do with you, so you can't blame us if we can't see you."

After saying this, he carried the bamboo basket on his back and left almost coldly, leaving Zhao Siming alone standing under the apple tree.

"Mom," Xiaohua sat on Song Guicheng's shoulder, "I don't like that man just now. I want to pull his head off."

Song Guicheng picked an apple and said, "Don't just pull someone's head."

"Oh..." Xiaohua leaned on Song Guicheng's neck, "I'll be obedient, and I'll only pinch you when my mother tells me to."

Song Guicheng touched her face and said, "Be obedient baby and you will have candy." Then he gave the candy that Chu Wei had given him to Xiaohua.

Chu Wei, who was standing behind a few trees, took in their smiling faces and continued to pick apples with his head down.

As the sky grew darker, the gray clouds grew thicker, and a cold wind blew among the branches and weeds. Song Guicheng looked at the bamboo basket that was almost full of apples and breathed a sigh of relief.

He picked apples for the entire afternoon with extreme caution, but except for the beginning, there was nothing unusual.

This is really not right. Are NPC tasks so easy to complete? Are 3000 system points so easy to get?

He turned around to look at the others, but there were no other players in sight. Chu Wei was the only one who kept moving, and his bamboo basket was almost full.

Nothing happened the whole afternoon...Song Guicheng turned the jade beads on his wrist.

"Chu Wei..." He was just about to ask Chu Wei if he had encountered anything strange when he suddenly heard a heart-wrenching cry. The voice was panicky and frightened, choking with despair.

It was Zhao Siyu's voice, she was shouting: "Siming!"

Song Guicheng didn't care about anything else at the moment. He put down the apple and ran towards the place where the sound came from.

There were already several people gathered at the place, and they were all speechless after seeing the scene before them. Only Zhao Siyu, who was kneeling on the ground, broke down and cried loudly.

Song Guicheng looked at Zhao Siming's body, was stunned for a moment, and a look of shock appeared on his face.

Zhao Siming was tightly entangled by a bare apple tree. The branches pierced into his stomach and then out of his heart, but no blood flowed out. There was only a dull gray color. It was not a gradual death, but a sudden withering.

He held his hands together in front of his chest and raised his head towards the sky, a very standard posture of worship, with an apple in his mouth.

A red apple, so bright red that it seems as if blood is flowing inside.

It is the only color on Zhao Siming's body.

Song Guicheng looked up at the apple. The red color symbolized life and vitality, as well as blood and death. He suddenly understood why Adam and Eve were tempted by the snake.

No one can resist the whirlpool of simplicity and contradiction, and no one can ignore the shadow of the fusion of life and death.

He walked forward almost uncontrollably, wanting to pick the apple.

Suddenly, the apple necklace in his pocket fell down and hit the stone, making a clanging sound.

Song Guicheng was suddenly awakened.