My Online Date is My Roommate - Chapter 7

Jiang Mingbo’s focus had shifted entirely away from simply pretending someone liked him. He took a deep breath; his mind fixed on one goal: reeling in Fei Wenxu and then dumping him ruthlessly. He was going to watch that arrogant jerk fall from grace, crashing down until he was battered and broken!

After washing up, he slowly climbed back into bed and pulled his curtains shut. He switched to his secondary account and pondered what excuse he should use to message Fei Wenxu next.

Being too forward might make the guy suspicious, but staying silent wouldn’t build his presence. It was a real dilemma. Who knew “husband-hunting” could be this difficult?

After thinking for a long time, Jiang Mingbo gritted his teeth and started typing.

Little Fishy: [Hello. I have a question.]

Fei Wenxu felt a surge of confusion again. What was this girl’s deal? Was she casting a wide net? She’d just broken it off with Jiang Mingbo and now she was immediately contacting him?

Fish: [Go ahead.]

Little Fishy: [Is Jiang Mingbo back in the dorm?]

Fei Wenxu frowned. So, she isn’t here for me after all…

Fish: [He’s back.]

Little Fishy: [How does he look? Is he really upset?]

Fei Wenxu glanced at the tightly drawn curtains across the room. Ignoring the low, dramatic sigh he’d just heard from behind them, he raised an eyebrow and typed: [He’s fine. Doesn’t seem too upset.]

Jiang Mingbo scowled. Was my acting not perfect enough? I felt sufficiently depressed!

He let out a few huffs and typed furiously: [That dead jerk! He looks down on this Great Master] He paused and quickly deleted “Great Master.”

Little Fishy: [That dead jerk. He doesn’t appreciate me, and I don’t care about him anyway!]

Even though Jiang Mingbo was technically insulting himself, the more he typed, the better he felt.

Fei Wenxu’s brow knitted. He wondered how he had managed to get caught in the middle of this pair’s drama.

Little Fishy: [Anyway, you don’t need to help me anymore. Consider me blind for ever liking him. I’m over it.]

Fei Wenxu let out a short laugh. This girl was a bit dramatic.

Lying on his side, Jiang Mingbo’s ears perked up at the sound. What is Fei Wenxu laughing at? What’s so funny? Did he find a hole in my story?

He listened intently, heart pounding, until his phone vibrated.

Fish: [Don’t be too sad. He just has bad taste.]

Jiang Mingbo rolled his eyes so hard they nearly stuck. He knew Fei Wenxu was a fake. The guy clearly disliked him but pretended to be civil all day. What a weirdo!

Little Fishy didn’t reply again. Fei Wenxu unconsciously clicked on her Moments, looking at those beautiful photos again before realizing what he was doing. He abruptly shut his phone and opened the game on his computer.

He was curious. Do I… actually like this look? Otherwise, why would he be wasting time chatting with her about this nonsense?

Jiang Mingbo insulted the guy a thousand different ways in his head before burying himself in the phone again.

Little Fishy: [I’ve decided to move on and find someone new.]

Fish: [Is that so? Tell me about it.]

Jiang Mingbo grinned maliciously. He knew that response meant Fei was interested. The fish was starting to nibble!

Little Fishy: [Wasting time on a jerk is pointless. I think you’re actually pretty decent. Want to date me?]

Fei Wenxu chuckled. He didn’t think she was actually targeting him; he figured she was just blowing off steam.

Fish: [You don’t have to be that upset. Don’t torture yourself.]

Jiang Mingbo almost laughed out loud. What did that mean? Was he… caring?

Little Fishy: [Forget it, this is boring. I’m done talking to you.]

After sending that, Jiang Mingbo quickly switched accounts. He knew when to stop being too eager would make him look cheap. He wanted to leave a bit of mystery for that idiot Fei Wenxu.

It worked. Fei Wenxu waited for a while, but when no reply came, he felt like she’d just lost interest in him. He frowned. Is she actually angry?

After a long weekend lie-in, Jiang Mingbo was in a great mood. He changed clothes and got ready to head out. Before leaving, he even had the heart to turn back and ask, “Son, does Daddy need to bring you some food?”

Tan Rui’s head popped out from his curtains. “Dad! Please, bring food!”

Jiang Mingbo planned to eat at the cafeteria. After getting his meal, he remembered he hadn’t replied to Fei Wenxu from the night before. He switched WeChat accounts and found two messages sent after he’d gone offline.

Fish: [I was just telling the truth.]

And then, ten minutes later:

Fish: [He really isn’t worth your sadness.]

Fei Wenxu didn’t say this out of pity; he genuinely believed Jiang Mingbo was a two-faced hypocrite who wasn’t worth anyone’s tears.

Jiang Mingbo was delighted. He bit his chopsticks and typed with both hands.

Little Fishy: [Sorry, I was too upset last night and forgot to reply.]

On the other side of campus, Fei Wenxu had just woken up. He had ordered a delivery and was browsing lunch options when Little Fishy’s message popped up.

Fish: [No problem.]

Jiang Mingbo hummed. He could feel the guy softening. The attitude was completely different from their first conversation.

Little Fishy: [I’m not that petty. I wasn’t angry.]

Fish: [That’s good.]

It was almost noon, and the daily tasks for Fei Wenxu’s guild had refreshed. Managers in the guild chat were tagging everyone to get online.

Fei saw the notifications and typed one last message to her:

Fish: [You could try playing some games to distract yourself. It’ll help you stop dwelling on things.]

Jiang Mingbo pouted. Hmph, poser. Now he’s a life coach?

He followed the suggestion: [I don’t really play games. Is there anything fun? Any recommendations?]

Fish: [ ‘Vision of the East’ is pretty popular right now. It’s not bad.]

Jiang Mingbo knew with his pinky toe that Fei would recommend that game. He weighed his words: [I’m a bit of a klutz… I’d probably get flamed out of the game immediately.]

Fish: [Not necessarily.]

Fei Wenxu didn’t mention that he played it too. He found the girl interesting, but not enough to reveal his identity yet. He chose not to reply further.

Unfortunately for him, Jiang Mingbo knew his “identity” inside and out.

Little Fishy: [Do you play too?]

Fish: [Occasionally.]

Little Fishy: [Perfect! You can carry me.]

Fei Wenxu’s lips curled. He got that “she’s flirting” feeling again.

Fish: [You’re certainly familiar with me already, aren’t you?]

Little Fishy: [Didn’t I tell you? I want you to date me. If we’re dating, aren’t you going to play with me?]

Jiang Mingbo was fully immersed in the roleplay. He found this “spoiled brat” character incredibly liberating, he could say whatever he wanted and act as crazy as he liked.

Fei Wenxu laughed. This girl is all over the place. When did I ever say I’d date her? Did Jiang Mingbo reject her because she’s actually mentally unstable? He shook his head. He was clearly letting this eccentric person distract him.

Little Fishy: [Alright, I’ll stop teasing you. A friend told me about this game before. I’ll go check it out.]

Fish: [Good luck.]

Jiang Mingbo stared at the message and went back to his gallery to pick another photo. He chose an abstract, funny meme and posted it to his Moments with the caption: “I, Hu Han-san, have returned!”

He put his phone down and went back to his meal, satisfied. A beautiful face needs an interesting soul to match. He didn’t believe for a second that he couldn’t take down Fei Wenxu.

Little Fishy posted frequently. Fei Wenxu, seeing her new update, stared at the extremely abstract meme and couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

This person is actually pretty funny.

Tan Rui, starving to death, rolled over in his bed. “Bo-er, why aren’t you back yet? I’m dying of hunger~”

Since he was awake, his curtains were open. He caught the lingering smile on Fei Wenxu’s face. “Fish-ge, what are you laughing at so brightly?”

Fei Wenxu looked up. “Just ran into something funny.”

Luckily, Tan Rui’s hunger took priority over his curiosity, and he went back to groaning.

Fei Wenxu closed his phone and started clearing guild tasks. Just then, Jiang Mingbo returned to the dorm. He tossed the food onto Tan Rui’s desk and went to the balcony to wash his hands, humming a little tune.

Tan Rui hopped down. “Bo-er, I sent you the money.”

“OK, got it,” Jiang Mingbo replied, continuing his humming.

Tan Rui chuckled. “You’re in a good mood today, Bo-er?”

Fei Wenxu paused his monster-slaying in the game and glanced at Jiang Mingbo.

Jiang Mingbo shrugged and grinned. “I’m in a great mood. Today’s cafeteria side dishes were amazing!”

He could almost see the image of Fei Wenxu being led around by the nose like a fool.

“What…” Tan Rui didn’t care about the side dishes. Jiang Mingbo happily opened his laptop and started researching Vision of the East. He had wanted to play it for a while; now he had the perfect excuse.

Tan Rui turned around with his lunch box, saw the game interface, and shouted, “Bo-er! Are you finally joining us?”

Jiang Mingbo’s hand froze on the mouse. Right. I can’t play this openly or the whole dorm will know.

“What? No, it just popped up as an ad…” He quickly closed the window. “Any movie recommendations? I’m looking for something to watch.”

The topic shifted, and Tan Rui started talking about movies.

Jiang Mingbo breathed a sigh of relief. He chatted idly with Tan Rui while secretly looking up guides on his phone. Fortunately, these large games all had mobile versions now. He didn’t believe anyone would catch him playing on his phone behind his bed curtains.

The game file was massive. The campus Wi-Fi crawled so slowly he couldn’t even load a webpage. He put the phone aside and rested his head on the desk to take a nap. But because he’d eaten too much, he fell fast asleep the moment he closed his eyes.

When Fei Wenxu got up to grab his own food, he caught a glimpse of the back of Jiang Mingbo’s head. Their desks were adjacent. Seeing that Jiang hadn’t moved an inch, he realized the guy was asleep.

Fei sat down with his meal and glanced at the sleeping Jiang Mingbo. For some reason, he thought the guy looked… quite clean.

The thought immediately made him annoyed. What’s wrong with me?

What does him looking “clean” have to do with anything?

Jiang Mingbo wasn’t bad-looking Fei had realized that on their first day. But after living together, he’d found the guy to be fake, and that one “good” trait had been buried.

But why did Jiang Mingbo’s face suddenly seem so familiar?

Jiang Mingbo yawned and checked his phone, only to find the game wasn’t even 30% downloaded. Unaware of Fei Wenxu’s internal conflict, he stood up grumpily and climbed into bed for a proper nap.