SATURATION Chapter 1

 Chapter 1: Pearless Beauty

Translator: Abo Dammen

The pot of colorful peppers that Sui Cannong had been nurturing in his classroom had died.

It had lasted a bit longer than Sui Cannong had expected. After all, it had started to wilt at the beginning of the month, and the biology classroom didn’t get the best light. Sui Cannong hadn’t really expected it to make it to the end of the month.

The dried branches and leaves of the colorful peppers had rotted into the slightly damp soil. Its life had truly come to an end.

Two young girls, holding notebooks where they had recorded its growth, squatted on either side of the pot for nearly half an hour. One looked crestfallen, unable to speak, while the other was on the verge of tears.

They were both shy girls. Since neither had chosen Sui Cannong’s biology class, they had initially just stood at the doorway of his classroom, peeking inside.

Sui Cannong sighed inwardly.

He said, “I still have some other seeds. How about you two come to my classroom before lunch on Monday, and we’ll plant them together, okay?”

One of the girls asked, “Can’t we do it today?”

Sui Cannong smiled. “I have something to do today.”

Five minutes later, the two girls, each holding a small packet of tomato seeds, said goodbye to Sui Cannong and then ran off hand in hand, skipping happily.

Sui Cannong straightened up and let out a breath.

He stared at the pot of colorful peppers for a moment, then turned and went back into the classroom. He glanced at the clock—it was 4:30 in the afternoon.

Normally, Sui Cannong would stay at school until around 5:30 on a Friday, but today was different. He tidied up the unfinished test papers on his desk, stood up, and prepared to leave.

It might sound a bit absurd, but today Sui Cannong was actually going to meet an online friend.

After nearly three years as a biology teacher at this international school, Sui Cannong’s hairline was visibly receding. Life’s pressures needed an outlet, and at the end of last year, he started playing a game.

The game was a good one—vast maps, excellent artwork, and appealing characters. As long as you kept a steady mindset, you didn’t need to spend a lot of money or grind excessively. Whether playing solo or in a team, there were multiple modes to enjoy.

In the game, there was a channel called “Nearby,” which connected players within a 50-kilometer radius. Though it was quieter compared to the public channels, it was convenient for local players to make friends and team up.

Sui Cannong thought playing solo wasn’t much fun, so he lingered in this channel for a couple of days.

Several people privately messaged him, but Sui Cannong knew the online world could be deceiving, and there were far more oddballs than he had imagined.

So, he first judged the other person’s age and maturity based on their avatar style, then considered their level and commonly used heroes, filtering out elementary and middle school students, as well as those weirdly seeking relationships.

Then Sui Cannong noticed this message:

[Antelope]: Hello.

[Antelope]: I can help you organize your home. Could you take me through the weekly dungeons and daily tasks every day?

Sui Cannong clicked on the other person’s profile.

Level 46—a bit low. Their collection rate was average, indicating they weren’t a big spender, and their commonly used heroes weren’t particularly strong either… but their home’s prosperity level was maxed out.

When Sui Cannong clicked into their home, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

—There was a sea, mountains, and a house. It wasn’t just a haphazard arrangement to boost prosperity. It was a meticulously constructed seaside villa, brick by brick.

Sui Cannong didn’t hesitate any longer and immediately added them as a friend.

The conversation went smoothly. They agreed to team up every day around 8:30 PM, and their routine was quite fixed.

Sui Cannong would quickly take Antelope through the dungeons, and then Antelope would quietly go to Sui Cannong’s home to build and farm. Sui Cannong would also help gather materials for them.

He noticed that Antelope was a person of few words.

Sui Cannong didn’t mind much, though. After all, Antelope was skilled in dungeons and had a great sense of aesthetics when it came to building. Within a week of teaming up, Sui Cannong’s home already had the beginnings of a grand villa.

By the end of the month, Sui Cannong had finally leveled Antelope up to 50.

At the same time, Sui Cannong’s villa was completed, and Antelope was putting the finishing touches on the backyard.

Using small puddles and stones, they had created a central fountain by carefully angling and positioning the materials. A few pots of daisies were even placed around the fountain.

For a moment, Sui Cannong felt the urge to cry.

He teleported to Antelope’s location and found them quietly collecting oak wood in the forest, chopping trees at a pace so slow it was like watching a 70-year-old.

Sui Cannong was puzzled. “Why aren’t you using Little Butterfly to chop trees?”

Little Butterfly was a hero in the game. As a forest spirit, she had a special ability that made her chop trees 1.5 times faster than other heroes.

[Antelope]: I didn’t get her.

Little Butterfly had been a limited-time character in the previous version’s gacha pool, so there was no way to obtain her at the moment.

Sui Cannong pondered for a moment, then opened the friend interface. He noticed that their intimacy bar was almost full. He also checked his home’s prosperity level and saw that he had already achieved the highest rank.

Since they had added each other through the “Nearby” channel, it was likely they were in the same city.

“How about we meet up?” Sui Cannong tentatively suggested. “You’re probably in C City too, right? I happen to have an extra Little Butterfly. We could connect via Bluetooth, and I’ll transfer her to you.”

Antelope was silent for a long time before replying, “I’m in C City.”

Then they said, “Okay.”

After logging off that day, Sui Cannong felt a bit uncertain.

They hadn’t even exchanged WeChat IDs. They had only agreed on a time and place—a coffee shop in C City—through the game. Later, Sui Cannong reflected on it and realized how immature the whole arrangement seemed.

There was some traffic on the way, and Sui Cannong arrived at the shop just on time. When he pushed the door open, he found only a server mopping the floor. It seemed he was the first one there.

He ordered a coffee and opened the game, only to see that Antelope’s avatar was grayed out.

Antelope’s commonly used heroes included both male and female characters, making it hard to guess their gender. But based on their tone, Sui Cannong felt they might be a quiet college student or perhaps a shy office worker.

After casually clearing some daily tasks, Sui Cannong looked up and saw the coffee shop door open.

First, he saw a young, handsome face.

The person was slim, wearing a trench coat and metal-framed glasses. His expression was neutral—a good-looking yet somewhat aloof young person.

Sui Cannong’s brain short-circuited as he stared at his face.

Then, a subtle, indescribable sense of strangeness washed over him because this was someone Sui Cannong actually knew.

Sui Cannong had never understood what people meant when they talked about “curling up in embarrassment,” but now he felt like he got it.

It was a feeling of your blood temperature skyrocketing, your cheeks burning, your scalp tingling, and even your fingertips starting to feel numb with shame, to the point where you couldn’t help but curl them up.

—Meeting an online friend you’ve been playing games with for nearly two months, only to realize they’re your colleague… This was probably the pinnacle of awkwardness a working adult could experience.

Although the biology classroom was on the second floor and the physics classroom was on the third, and the students’ labs were different, it wasn’t like Sui Cannong and Ji Ling had no interaction at all—if you counted nodding at each other in the cafeteria while carrying trays or exchanging a few words during science competitions, that is.

They were acquaintances, but not exactly close.

Ji Ling stood still, his gaze calmly resting on Sui Cannong’s face. Sui Cannong felt the muscles in his cheeks tighten.

Realizing his expression might not be the most pleasant, he coughed to cover it up and stood up. “Uh, Teacher Ji…”

But Ji Ling didn’t respond.

He just stared at Sui Cannong’s face for a while, making Sui Cannong feel a bit uneasy.

Ji Ling’s expression remained neutral, as if he were deep in thought, but Sui Cannong guessed he was probably too shocked to react.

Then Ji Ling tilted his head slightly and gave a small nod.

“Teacher Sui,” he said.

The glow of the sunset outside filtered through the clouds. The coffee had a thin layer of white foam on its surface, and the metal sugar jar on the table reflected Sui Cannong’s slightly distorted expression.

The air was almost frozen in silence. Neither of them spoke, perhaps both too afraid to confirm what they were thinking.

Maybe Antelope wasn’t Ji Ling after all.

Sui Cannong began to convince himself: Maybe Antelope was still on the subway or bus. Maybe Ji Ling just happened to arrive at this time and coincidentally showed up at a coffee shop ten kilometers from the school, where there wasn’t even a single customer…

But Ji Ling cut off Sui Cannong’s self-delusion.

“So,” he asked, “you’re the Peerless Beauty Sui Meili?”

Author’s Feed:

Sui Meili is the gong! Gong! Gong!

The text uses some exaggerated descriptions, but his hair is actually quite thick!

Translator's Feed:

I will be posting my tls here, but I plan to move this as well on CG because its sister novels that I've translated are there. Yey yey!