"You are banned from gaming for a month,"

  "But, Jie, I finished the project on time. The beta test was successful."

  "Two months."

  "But...but..."

  When she saw that her appeals were going to have no effect, Li Yue's shoulders sagged, and she let out a defeated sigh.

  "Anything else you want to say, Xiao-Yue?" asked Li Fen.

  Li Yue, who was standing in front of the CEO's desk like a naughty child before her mother, looked down at her shoes and mumbled, "No, Jie."

  "You are the CTO of the Wu Long Group, Xiao-Yue. How long are you going to keep acting like a child? You see Xiao-Wei? He is 6 years younger than you, and he is already so responsible. When are you going to grow up?"

  "Jie, but I finished everything on time."

  "That's not the point. The delay you caused made things difficult for people in other departments as well. You are not just responsible for your team, girl. Your actions have consequences for many others. Do you understand?"

  "Yes, Jie. I am sorry."

  "Don't be sorry; try not to repeat this mistake again."

  "I won't, Jie, promise."

  "Good. And since you have so much free time that you can waste three entire days in the middle of a work crunch, I am doubling your workload for a while."

  "Double?! Jie, It's going to kill me."

  "I could triple it."

  "No, no, double is fine."

  Once the corporate discussion was concluded, Li Fen, the CEO, was replaced by Li Fen, the matriarch.

  "How is Xiao-Yan doing these days?" Li Fen asked in a motherly tone.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  "Fine. He also had a very busy week," Lu Yue said.

  "How is his therapy going?"

  "Good. I mean, the progress is limited, but it's not like anything is going to change rapidly. We are fine with taking things slow."

  Li Fen gave her youngest sister a rare smile and said, "Alright. Now get back to work. And I don't want to hear that you were slacking off."

  *  *  *

  While Li Yue was getting scolded by her eldest sister, a completely different scene was unfolding in Li Wei and An Mei's apartment. An Mei's motivation for joining the game was simply to spend time with her husband, sister, and sisters-in-law. She was not really interested in the game, and that fact hadn't changed even after her spectacular defeat of the Pixel Tyrant. But An Mei had figured out that gaming with Li Wei afforded her other kinds of opportunities, which she could certainly appreciate as a wife.

  "No, Mei, it's this way," Li Wei said while guiding her hands over the correct controller buttons. He was sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch. An Mei was sitting in front of him using his chest as a backrest. Technically, An Mei held the controller, but Li Wei's fingers were completely intertwined with hers, and he often guided her actions. An Mei did not mind. She had no idea of what was going on in the game, and she didn't really care. But she was getting frustrated with the lack of neck kisses from Li Wei. There had been a few at the beginning, but then Li Wei got so into the game that he forgot the real purpose of all this gaming.

  "Weiwei, stop," said a miffed An Mei.

  "Huh, what? Do you want to stop playing, Mei?"

  "Yes. No. I mean, I don't want to just play the game."

  "You don't like this level? Do you want to go to another level?"

  An Mei shook her head and extracted herself from her husband's embrace. She got up for a moment and then sat down on Li Wei's lap, facing him.

  "What I want is to kiss you."

  Pretty soon the game and the controller were forgotten as the couple started making out right there on the floor of their living room.

  *  *  *

  The defeat of the Pixel Tyrant had over the past two months led to a surge in recruitment for the Cult of Ying. The guild was becoming a major player in the Dragon Gate community, and these days you could find the guild members all around the servers.

  SaltedSpicyFish, still wearing his magnificent loincloth, was scanning the distant terrain with a telescope. "Boss bro, I see the Pixel Tyrant, and she has someone with her. Looks like a team mate," he said.

  An Jing was sitting on a nearby rock, and Mei Lin was staring into the distance. Xiaoxiao, who was back from visiting her family, was talking to the newer guild members, which now also included Chen Yi, who had decided to start playing the game.

  "She must be on a date with her boyfriend," An Jing said.

  "You wanna go after them, man?" SpicySaltedFish asked.

  "No. Let's leave them be. Let's go to Crystal Peaks. Let me show you guys how to craft some diamond tear equipment there. There is also a secret boss we can fight."

  "Cool bro. I was thinking of getting my loincloth to Diamond tier. Let's get going."

  "You ready, Linlin?" An Jing asked.

  "Always," Mei Lin replied.