Chapter 182 - Grind Sugar and Viktor.

The faint sunlight shines through the blue glass wall, reflecting on the floor beside the bed.

There is a brief silence between the two after Tang Mo has said this. Tang Mo looks up at Fu Wenduo, who looks at him and slowly narrows his eyes.

"... not important?"

Tang Mo understood what he was saying, and curled his lips to ask, "More important than Eve's reward?"

Bang!

Fu Wenduo suddenly pressed one hand against the wall and encircled the young man, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, beneath him.

Seven days ago, Fu Wenduo found a random office building to house Tang Mo, who was unconscious. They are now in a small, cramped and secluded bedroom inside an office. The bed is only one metre two and is close to the wall, which makes it easy for Fu Wenduo to suddenly wallow.

The distance between the two men shrank dramatically.

After a few moments of silent staring, Fu Wenduo suddenly said, "When did you know my birthday?"

Tang Mo : "..."

Fu Wenduo raised an eyebrow: "Last December, in Granny Wolf's monster valley, your secret was having a long-time crush on someone whose birthday was September 9. So you'll know your lucky number is 9. But I never give out personal information, including birthdays, on the internet."

Tang Mo's expression was calm as he maintained his position between the wall and his chest, simply leaning back against the wall and saying indifferently, "Who said it was you?"

Fu Wenduo gave a rare expression of surprise: "Not me?"

Tang Mo cocked her tongue, "It doesn't say it's not you."

Fu Wenduo : "..."

Tang Mo: "You're nervous, Fu Wenduo. In normal times, you would have seen that I was making a joke and would not have asked that question. But anyway, you had a crush on me first, right ... last February?"

Last February, before The black tower came down, Tang Mo and Viktor had known each other for six months, and they often played in online poker teams.

Tang Mo doesn't like to meet people online or give out information about himself on the internet and never participates in offline bridge tournaments. Viktor is even more secretive than him, never even revealing his age.

Instead of going to offline bridge tournaments where the best players are, someone in the circle organised an online bridge tournament in February. Viktor was online a lot during that time, so the two of them signed up. But they didn't make it to the final. The night before the semi-finals, Viktor suddenly left a message on QQ for Tang Mo, telling him that he couldn't make it the next day.

Tang Mo didn't think too much of it, knowing that Viktor was always very busy at work. In hindsight, Fu Wenduo may have had a sudden assignment at the time.

But Tang Mo was more surprised than disappointed when she came home from work and saw the message when she opened QQ.

[Viktor: I can't make it tomorrow, sorry.

Five minutes later.

[Viktor: Going on a business trip to Suzhou next week, wanna meet?

Tang Mo did not immediately agree.

At the time, he had a slight crush on Viktor, but not a crush. Viktor was like a cold cup of coffee, not quite strong enough, and he wanted to taste it, to really feel the richness hidden under the cold temperature, but he didn't want to break his habit of never seeing his online friends.

What's more, ... million will see the light of day.

After a few days of hesitation and seeing Viktor online again, Tang Mo thought twice and replied: [If it's convenient for you, yes.

Viktor, however, was silent for a long time and replied: [Sorry, I've changed my schedule and I can't go].

Tang Mo froze for half a second before saying back, [Good.]

The feeling was instantly odd.

He was prepared to meet Viktor, but he was rebuffed. Tang Mo doesn't know exactly when he really had a crush on Viktor, but it was definitely a turning point. Before that, his feelings for Viktor were more about the way he fitted in, the way he worked together without having to say a word. The powerful and decision-making Viktor drew him in, the gravitational pull was strong but not a black hole.

Since then, he has cared more about the other man and that good feeling has gradually turned into a feeling that he will never hesitate to meet again if the other man offers to do so.

Tang Mo leaned against the wall and smiled in analysis, "With your personality and status, you would never meet an online friend if you weren't really eager to meet. So ... last February?"

This youth is clever to the point of excess.

But this cleverness and acumen is what Fu Wenduo likes best. He avoids Tang Mo's question, closes his eyes for a long time in thought and speaks, "... October of the year before last?"

Tang Mo's body lurches.

Fu Wenduo curled his lips and he knew he had guessed correctly.

In October '16, Mill Sugar and Viktor had just met three months earlier. They met at an online bridge game when they were not teammates, but opponents, with Fu Wenduo on Tang Mo's top table. Although they were opponents, Tang Mo sensed that the man in the seat next to him had the same rhythm as he did, and that every thought and move he made was a mysterious fit.

Tang Mo lost that game, his teammates were so bad that they couldn't even carry the gods, and the game was a clean sweep. After the game Tang Mo added Fu Wenduo as a friend. On the bridge platform they play on, the system automatically sends a greeting to the other player when they are added. Before Tang Mo could send his greeting, his message bar lit up.

[Viktor: You play your cards so well, let's make friends].

[Grind Sugar: You play your cards so well, make friends].

The two speakers were separated by just one second.

Tang Mo faintly flinched and subconsciously pronounced the name: " Viktor ..."

After that, we casually chatted and added QQ friends, followed by six months of teaming up to play poker together.

In October, they were matched with a couple with very interesting IDs. One of them was named "Long time coming" and the other was "My name is Long time coming". These two had funny names, but they were not bad at poker. After five minutes of fighting, when Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo were about to win, the four of them said urgently, "It's my girlfriend's birthday today, so give me some face, bbu.

Tang Mo had his first encounter with this and he scored six points.

Viktor, however, asks: [What does bbu mean?

We've been unlucky enough to run into the gods today, and we've been on our knees for ten games. Give me some face, my girlfriend said she won't sleep until she wins a game.

Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo were less interested in winning than they were in the process of playing, so they simply pressed quit.

In a private conversation, Tang Mo suddenly said, [What's the biggest birthday in the world?

[Viktor: When's your birthday?

Tang Mo didn't expect him to say this: [No, it's early. After thinking about it he asked, [What about you?

[Viktor: It's not too early.]

It was the only time they talked about their birthdays, and it was too soon for either of them to reveal their birthdays. But since then, Tang Mo has subconsciously remembered it. He carefully notes Fu Wenduo's "It's not too early" remark.

It also counts, and the word is very specific.

Later, when Tang Mo deduced Fu Wenduo's birthday, he understood the meaning of his phrase "it's not too early": his birthday had just passed, so it was "it's not too early".

It is hard to say who had a crush on whom first. Tang Mo knows that his heart was moved early on, perhaps from the first time he met Viktor he had a feeling that 'this person is special'. However, he could not say when he liked him. I'm afraid it would have been the same for Fu Wenduo.

But ...

Tang Mo's face didn't change: "You had a crush on me first."

In February '17, given Fu Wenduo's personality and his status, would he have come to meet his online friends if he didn't like himself?

But Fu Wenduo said, "You had a crush on me first."

Why would Tang Mo pay attention to an online friend's birthday and try to guess the exact time without saying anything if he didn't have a good feeling about it?

Tang Mo hadn't eaten steamed buns for a long time, but he wanted to fight for it. Just like that night when Fu Wenduo said that, Tang Mo quickly understood that this man in front of him liked him, but he was a bit surprised when this man liked him. Was it Tang Mo he liked, or was it the sugar? Or maybe it was both.

Fu Wenduo's eyes were downcast, his firm gaze fixed on Tang Mo's face. Tang Mo does not show any weakness either, looking at him calmly.

After a long time, when footsteps were heard near the stairs, Tang Mo laughed, "Are you young or not?"

Fu Wenduo withdrew his hand from the wall and did not reply to this statement, but responded with a look: Are you not as childish?

Tang Mo admits that in some respects, sugar grinding and Viktor have always been very naive.

Footsteps approaching, Fu Wensheng pushes open the door and exclaims, "Eh, Brother Tang, you're awake?"

Chen Shanshan came into the room: " Brother Tang Mo is awake, how is he? Is there anything wrong with him?"

Tang Mo got up from the bed and walked around the house twice, moving his body a bit. "There's nothing wrong, I'm just a bit hungry after not eating for a few days. Fu Wenduo said I had been unconscious for seven days, what happened in those seven days?"

Chen Shanshan took a bag of compressed biscuits out of his bag: "A lot of things. Mr. Fu school didn't tell you?" The young girl helped Tang Mo find an excuse: "You just woke up?"

Tang Mo pauses for a moment as he tears open the biscuit bag, nodding his head in acquiescence.

Fu Wensheng: "Brother Tang, what exactly is Eve's reward, you tell us!"

Tang Mo ate two biscuits and put them back in his bag once his hunger had subsided. He looked seriously at Chen Shanshan with a solemn expression, "This matter needs to be analysed by you Shanshan. First of all ... I didn't get any substantial reward."

The crowd froze.

Chen Shanshan reacted quickly: "Well, there is definitely no such thing as a prop reward. You were knocked unconscious by a red apple, which Mr. Fu's school brought over at the time, but we checked and found that it was the same as Ning Zheng's. It's called 'Eve's Reward' and serves no special purpose, it simply represents Eve's reward." The short-haired girl took a red apple out of her bag and handed it to Tang Mo, "You could say that this apple is like a symbol, it represents Eve's reward, but it has nothing to do with Eve's reward."

Tang Mo nods: " Ning Zheng and Xu Yunsheng both have this apple, and all the returnees, all over the world, have the red apple too. But as long as it's not opened, it's just an apple."

Chen Shanshan : "Well, that's what it means. So there is no reward in substance. I had a discussion with Mr. Fu school and whisper while you were unconscious, and we agreed that the reward for ... Eve might have something to do with the truth of The black tower's descent."

At these words, the young girl looked at Tang Mo with expectant eyes.

Yet she was destined to be disappointed.

Tang Mo sighed: "This is the second point I have to make. I was in a coma for seven days, but in my perception it was only for a moment. I had a dream that seemed long and short, and I woke up and forgot all about it; I don't have the slightest memory of what happened in it. The things you discussed I know, I could hear your voices while I was unconscious, and the sense of voice touch remained."

Fu Wenduo was standing with his arms folded, listening indifferently, when he suddenly heard this and his eyebrows twitched as he glanced at Tang Mo and his fingers.

Fu Wenduo : "..."