My Dating Sim Just Got an Update - Chapter 83

Ren Chenxi rolled her eyes in annoyance. She pointed at the blurred profile on the screen a result of the low pixel count and said with complete conviction, “That is obviously not me! That’s Ren Muhui! Are you satisfied now? Ren Muhui is a man!”

Prompted by Ren Chenxi, Mu Ning stared at the photo in a daze. After a long moment, she suddenly shook her head. “No… no! He… he isn’t Ren Muhui either…” In her mind, the real Ren Muhui should be the Ren Chenxi standing right in front of her!

“Hey, hey, hey! Yang Xiangrui literally said the person he snuck a photo of was Ren Muhui! If this isn’t him, then who is it?” As she spoke, Ren Chenxi snatched the phone from Mu Ning’s hand and tossed it to Tang Ying and the others. “You girls take a look too. This person in the photo—it’s my brother, right?”

To be fair, looking at a semi-naked photo of a man made the girls a bit bashful. But their shyness was no match for their curiosity. Not only did Tang Ying’s group lean in, but even Jian Dan and Song Xin crowded around to see.

“Eh? This really is Senior Ren!”

“Yeah, Senior Mu, didn’t Senior Ren look exactly like this?”

Hearing the confirmation from Tang Ying and the others, Mu Ning’s expression grew even more grim. Something was wrong; it shouldn’t be like this! The Ren Muhui in the photo… and the Ren Chenxi before her.  were truly not the same person!!! Had she really mistaken her for someone else?

Ren Chenxi ignored Mu Ning’s darkening face and sharpening gaze. She returned the phone to Yang Xiangrui, then spun around gracefully. She flashed Mu Ning a smug, triumphant smile. “Remember this: I am myself, and Ren Muhui is Ren Muhui. Don’t get us mixed up again!”

Following Ren Chenxi’s declaration, Mu Ning felt as if she had been dealt a heavy blow. Her body swayed involuntarily for a moment, but she quickly steadied herself, her eyes still fixed stubbornly on Ren Chenxi.

In contrast to Mu Ning’s look of defeat, Tang Ying’s expression was visibly ecstatic. Anyone else hearing Ren Chenxi’s final words would just find them strange, but Tang Ying was already mentaly composing a 500,000-word “Angsty Substitute Lover” web novel in her head. Having been “brainwashed” by Tang Ying for so long, the looks Song Xin and Chang Ling gave the pair were also filled with suggestive ambiguity.

Though they didn’t dare say it out loud, they were screaming internally: It’s true! Senior Mu really did treat Chenxi as a substitute for her boyfriend!

Back inside the house, Mu Ning’s gaze remained glued to Ren Chenxi. Her stare was so intense it felt as if she were trying to see through Ren Chenxi’s clothes to determine once and for all if the body underneath was male or female.

Ren Chenxi was no longer afraid of that gaze. Instead, she raised a provocative eyebrow. “Still looking? Still doubting my gender? I’m nothing like Ren Muhui. He was all brawn and no brains; he worked out constantly at home. You saw it just now, right? His pecs and abs. I’m different. I’m lazy. I could never maintain eight-pack abs like him…”

As she spoke, Ren Chenxi lifted the hem of her shirt. A fair, flat stomach flashed before them. Though it was only for a fleeting second, Mu Ning didn’t miss that slender waist.

It was nothing like the rugged, powerful “alpha” waist of the Ren Muhui in the photo. It was soft and delicate, looking as if it could be encircled by a single hand. Looking at the photo of a shirtless Ren Muhui had stirred nothing in Mu Ning, but a mere glimpse of Ren Chenxi’s waist sent ripples of emotion through her heart.

Most of the time, Mu Ning trusted her instincts. Over the past two years of the apocalypse, those instincts had helped her dodge countless crises and avoid lethal dangers. Right now, she preferred to trust her gut over the evidence.

Regarding the photo in Yang Xiangrui’s phone that everyone called “Ren Muhui,” Mu Ning felt none of the heart-fluttering sensation she used to feel before the world ended. Yet, when it came to this “Ren Chenxi” who had suddenly appeared, she could clearly feel that her every emotion was deeply affected by her. This feeling was identical to what she had felt for the “Ren Muhui” of the past!

Mu Ning believed her instincts. Therefore, something had to be wrong!

With this thought, the tangled mess of emotions in her heart eased significantly, and her tightly furrowed brows relaxed.

She couldn’t help but steal another glance at Ren Chenxi’s waist, now hidden by fabric. She was already missing that fleeting moment of the “wasp waist.” The glimpse was too short; she could never see enough of it. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if she had the chance to look at it constantly—whenever she wanted?

Ren Chenxi didn’t notice Mu Ning’s wandering mind. She was feeling very proud of herself, believing that the photo was an ironclad piece of evidence. No matter how much Mu Ning doubted, she could no longer claim Ren Chenxi and Ren Muhui were the same person.

“Ren Muhui is a man, okay? If you’re still skeptical, feel free to ask Yang Xiangrui for the photo and inspect it thoroughly,” Ren Chenxi said. To ensure Mu Ning couldn’t back out, she added a “kind” reminder: “After all, it’s likely the last photo of Ren Muhui you’ll ever see. I just specifically told Yang Xiangrui to take good care of it and not to delete it by mistake~”

Hearing Ren Chenxi’s punchable tone paired with that smug face, Mu Ning felt a mix of irritation and amusement. She felt she had to take this girl down a peg. She nodded directly and said, “I know now that Ren Muhui is a man.”

“Ah! Good that you know. Then in the future…” Then stop saying stupid things like Ren Muhui is a woman or that I am him!

Before Ren Chenxi could finish her thought, Mu Ning continued, “But now, I have a new doubt.”

“…What are you doubting now?!” This person is so suspicious! It’s exhausting! Ren Chenxi fumed.

“It’s not exactly a new doubt, but something I’ve suspected from the beginning…”

Mu Ning paused intentionally, watching Ren Chenxi. At the same time, a sense of foreboding rose in Ren Chenxi’s heart. Sure enough.

Mu Ning continued slowly, “Ren Muhui is a man, that’s fine. But how do you prove that Ren Muhui didn’t have gender reassignment surgery? Do you have evidence? I don’t ask for much—just a photo that proves it clearly~”

“…” This woman! Ren Chenxi glared at Mu Ning, gritting her teeth as she hissed, “You’re basically saying you think I’m Ren Muhui after a sex change!”

“Mm-hmm~ exactly~” Mu Ning admitted cheerfully.

“But! You already confirmed it yourself—I am a woman!!!” Fire almost spat from Ren Chenxi’s eyes.

“Eh? When was that?” Mu Ning widened her eyes in mock surprise, acting like a complete rogue.

When?! You know damn well when! You literally grabbed my chest the moment we met! And you have the nerve to ask when! Ren Chenxi took a deep breath. Under the burning gazes of the gossiping girls, she could only hint vaguely: “When you bandaged my shoulder…”

“Eh? When I bandaged your shoulder? But back then I was only focused on your injury. I didn’t get to properly confirm your gender… or check if there were any surgical scars on your body~” Mu Ning looked at Ren Chenxi with an innocent face. “Tell you what, I won’t even ask for a photo. Why don’t you just let me do a thorough inspection from head to toe, inside and out? What do you think?”

“…” Inspect your grandmother! Looking into Mu Ning’s eyes, which were brimming with amusement, Ren Chenxi was certain—this woman was playing with her!

Before Ren Chenxi could explode, a very excited female voice came from the side: “Sister Xi! Agree to it! To prove you aren’t anyone’s substitute, let Senior Mu inspect you!”

Ren Chenxi turned her head and saw Tang Ying, whose face was flushed with excitement. She reminded her coldly, “Plug your nose first. If you don’t stop that nosebleed, I’m afraid you’ll die from blood loss…”

The moment Ren Chenxi spoke, the other girls who were enjoying the gossip hurriedly dragged a flailing Tang Ying toward the bathroom.

Now that the audience had tactfully departed, Ren Chenxi shot Mu Ning a glare, huffed, and turned to go upstairs. Mu Ning laughed and shook her head, following close behind. She couldn’t resist teasing her one last time: “So, when do you plan to come to my room for that full-body inspection?”

“Go inspect your [censored]!”

Ren Chenxi responded with a string of crude profanities.

After that night, Mu Ning stopped pestering Ren Chenxi about her gender and didn’t mention anything related to Ren Muhui again. On the surface, it seemed the matter had been put to rest. However, Ren Chenxi could see from Mu Ning’s still-maxed-out affection meter that this was far from over.

Nevertheless, since Mu Ning stopped bringing it up, Ren Chenxi was happy to act as if nothing had happened. She continued to go to the beach with everyone to scavenge for seafood and return home to enjoy various feasts.

Due to the attacks by mid-level mutant sea creatures and the resulting casualties, the number of survivors scavenging on the beach had noticeably thinned out. But those mid-level monsters that terrified others meant nothing to Mu Ning’s team. With Ren Chenxi and Mu Ning there, it was the sea monsters who had to be careful. In fact, because Mu Ning had been fishing so manically lately, the number of monsters that could have attacked survivors had actually decreased significantly.

Thanks to her obsessive fishing, Mu Ning finally collected fifty Level 6 crystal nuclei and exchanged them for the Level 8 nucleus in Ren Chenxi’s backpack. Of course, since Mu Ning couldn’t currently absorb a Level 8 nucleus, Ren Chenxi continued to hold it for her.

One might think that after reaching her goal, Mu Ning would slow down. But she didn’t. Although Ren Chenxi said that the fifty Level 6 nuclei were enough, Mu Ning felt she had to give her more. After all, Ren Chenxi was the one who had heavily wounded the octopus, giving her the chance to kill it while it was dying. Consequently, Mu Ning continued to gather ten more Level 6 nuclei for Ren Chenxi. Meanwhile, she also needed more nuclei for herself to reach the next rank.

Ren Chenxi now had sixty Level 6 nuclei. Mu Ning didn’t know exactly how many cards Ren Chenxi had synthesized or how powerful she had become. She wondered. if the gap between her and Ren Chenxi would only continue to grow wider and wider.

Mu Ning is quite the overachiever when it comes to her “fishing” goals!

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