My Virtual Wife From my Phone Has Come to See Me - Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Could it be the Same Dumpling Shop?

When Xing Xiaochu entered the house clutching a shopping bag, she peeked around cautiously. Qi Ying wasn’t home. She let out a sigh of relief, sat on the entryway bench to change her shoes, and set the bag down. The half-grown kitten, seeing the paper bag, became extremely excited, pouncing on it and making it rustle loudly.

“Don’t play with that! What if you tear it?” Xiaochu picked up the little rascal. Ignoring Guazi’s indignant meows, she tossed the cat onto the sofa and quickly scurried into her bedroom with her things.

The kitten stared down from the height of the sofa, wiggled its butt cautiously, and slowly inched its milky-white paws downward. Eventually, it let go, landed in a clumsy sit, scrambled up, and dashed to Xiaochu’s door to scratch at it, determined to get that paper bag.

Xiaochu hid the bag deep in her wardrobe. She opened the door and looked at the tiny, arrogant creature. “It’s gone. You can come in and look, but you won’t find it.”

Guazi didn’t believe in magic. The cat darted past Xiaochu’s feet to patrol the room. Xiaochu ignored the kitten and sat on the sofa with her phone to text Qi Ying, asking when she’d be back.

Qi Ying was still rushing to finish her work when she received the message. She replied: [Still working overtime, eat first.]

Back at the studio, Xia Ruoxin was also swamped. Seeing her friend find time to text, she asked curiously, “Who is it? Another client? We can’t take any more orders, A-Ying! We’re overbooked. Even if just the two of us work until the end of the month, we won’t finish!”

“It’s not a client,” Qi Ying said casually. “Just a personal matter.”

“Personal?” Xia Ruoxin’s curiosity peaked. She set down her work and leaned in. “Hey, A-Ying, tell me the truth. Are you in a relationship?”

Qi Ying looked at her, shocked. “What makes you think that? When did I ever say I was dating?”

Xia Ruoxin crossed her arms and hummed triumphantly. “Stop pretending. I’ve felt something was off for a while. Shi Yu chases you, and you’re indifferent. You take leave every other day and disappear, and when I ask where you went, you get all vague. Plus, you’ve started actively soliciting business.”

Xia Ruoxin leaned on her hand. “Before, you wouldn’t stand if you could sit, and you wouldn’t sit if you could lie down. You were ‘take it or leave it’ with clients. Now? You’ve booked us solid from the start of the month to the end. If it weren’t for the fact that there’s only two of us, you’d probably have booked next month too.”

Qi Ying felt a bit guilty. She glanced at Xia Ruoxin. “That’s not it. It’s just that autumn clothes are in demand now, so business is naturally better. Aren’t you happy the shop is busy? Would you rather it be empty so we can barely pay the rent?”

“I’m happy the business is good, obviously,” Xia Ruoxin said, putting an arm around Qi Ying’s shoulder. “But give me the lowdown—do you have a girlfriend? Why are you trying to earn so much money all of a sudden?”

Qi Ying rubbed her cheek. Just as she was wondering how to explain that all her earnings were going into a mobile game, Shi Yu stepped out of a car outside, carrying a package.

“Look,” Qi Ying said to Xia Ruoxin. “Your girlfriend is here.”

Xia Ruoxin turned to see Shi Yu entering and immediately let go of Qi Ying. She greeted her with a beaming smile. “Why are you here? You didn’t even text me.”

Shi Yu rolled her eyes playfully and handed over the bag. “I knew you two were busy, so I brought dumplings. You haven’t eaten, right? Don’t let these go to waste.”

“We haven’t! We definitely haven’t,” Xia Ruoxin said quickly. “What filling is it? It smells amazing.”

“Chive and egg, and pork and cabbage. There was another one, but I don’t remember,” Shi Yu said. She looked over at Qi Ying, who was still buried in work. “A-Ying, stop for a bit and come eat!”

Qi Ying gave a muffled response. Watching Xia Ruoxin and Shi Yu sit together, she slowly shuffled over.

Sitting there together was a bit awkward—mostly for Qi Ying. Xia Ruoxin and Shi Yu chatted naturally while Qi Ying just focused on her food.

There were three boxes of dumplings. Qi Ying picked one up and bit into it. Chive and egg.

“Mmh?” Qi Ying froze mid-chew. She looked at Shi Yu. “Where did you buy these?”

“Is something wrong?” Shi Yu blinked. “At the shop under my best friend’s apartment. The one who ordered the wedding dress from you guys. I went to drop something off this morning and bought them on the way. Are they bad? My friend said the shop is super popular; I had to wait in line.”

Xia Ruoxin took a bite and raised her eyebrows. “They’re delicious! This pork and cabbage one is great!”

Qi Ying reached over and tried a pork one from Xia Ruoxin’s box. The taste was hauntingly familiar—exactly like the dumplings Xiaochu always ate in the game.

“They really are good,” Qi Ying said, her lips twitching. “Did they give you vinegar?”

“Yes, yes,” Shi Yu said. “The shop gave a container of vinegar and some side dishes. Try them! If you like them, I’ll bring more next time.”

Qi Ying ate in silence. Not just the dumplings—even the vinegar and the side dishes tasted familiar. She checked the takeout bag, but there was no name on it. When she asked Shi Yu, the girl said she didn’t remember the shop’s name.

Maybe all good dumplings just taste the same, Qi Ying mused.

…

Despite the busy schedule and overtime in reality, Qi Ying didn’t forget her promise to Xiaochu. Two days before the girl’s birthday, she finally finalized things with a record label, paid the deposit, and got the contract. She just needed Xiaochu to sign it on her birthday.

As for the clothes, Qi Ying had finished them long ago.

Since autumn was coming, dresses wouldn’t be practical for much longer. Instead, Qi Ying had bought high-quality leather and crafted a leather trench coat for Xiaochu.

The brown, glossy leather coat was a casual cut, with stylized shoulders and decorative leather straps on the cuffs. With the matching belt tied, it looked stunning even on the mannequin. Qi Ying knew it would look perfect on Xiaochu.

With the clothes ready and the contract in hand, Qi Ying felt at peace, despite the red countdown timer on her phone screen.

She looked at the increasingly prominent red numbers and muttered, “That countdown UI is so ugly. It makes it look like something dangerous is about to happen…”

Despite her complaints, the timer kept her organized. She placed the contract on the table in the storage room and even quietly locked the door after leaving.

In truth, she didn’t really need to lock it. The two of them had lived together long enough to have a strong sense of boundaries. Xiaochu never entered Qi Ying’s bedroom, and Qi Ying never entered Xiaochu’s without knocking. To Xiaochu, the storage room was Qi Ying’s territory; she wouldn’t enter even if the door were wide open.

With the gifts ready, Qi Ying decided to head out to order a cake.

There was a bakery at the entrance of the complex that used excellent ingredients. It required ordering a day or two in advance. After placing her order and stepping out, she saw the dumpling shop next door.

Thinking back to the dumplings she ate recently, Qi Ying frowned slightly and stepped inside.

The owner was a kind, middle-aged woman who ran the shop with her husband. She handled the front—cashiering, cleaning, and packing—while he worked in the back, making and boiling the dumplings.

Since it wasn’t peak mealtime, the shop was empty. The owners were sitting together wrapping dumplings. “Oh, you’re back!” the lady greeted. “Raw dumplings again?”

Qi Ying nodded. “Chive and egg, and pork and cabbage.”

“Oh dear,” the lady said. “We haven’t started the chive and egg ones yet. Can you wait? Or maybe pick another filling? Chives get watery if you wrap them too early, so we usually wait until right before the dinner rush.”

Qi Ying didn’t know much about cooking. She looked at the menu on the wall. There were many flavors, but she really wanted the chive ones. “My kid really loves that filling. If you don’t have them, I’ll just take all pork and cabbage.”

The woman hesitated, whispered to her husband, and he nodded before heading to the back. “Can you wait a bit?” she asked Qi Ying. “I’ll have him mix the filling now. Or, you can leave your number, and I’ll call you when they’re ready.”

“Is that too much trouble?” Qi Ying asked. “Don’t bother then, pork is fine.”

“Nonsense!” the owner said, wiping her hands. “You’re a regular. It’s our fault for not being prepared. Today’s batch is on the house—just keep coming back to support us!”

Qi Ying tried to refuse, but the woman was too insistent. Eventually, Qi Ying agreed, making a mental note to buy from them more often.

While waiting, Qi Ying asked casually, “Do you do delivery?”

The owner smiled gently. “We’re too old for that. We tried it for a while, but it was too chaotic. Now we just focus on the walk-in customers.”

Qi Ying nodded and fell silent.

The dumplings were soon ready. The owner pulled a plain white plastic bag from the counter, packed them up, and handed them over. Qi Ying thanked her and left.

The bag had no logo—just a generic white plastic bag. Qi Ying figured the game artists were just too lazy to design a logo for a minor shop.

Carrying the raw dumplings, Qi Ying finally let go of her doubts.

How could there be the exact same dumpling shop in the game and reality?

She must be getting a bit confused because she was too immersed in the game. She sighed, deciding that once Xiaochu’s birthday was over, she’d dial back the gaming. At the very least, she couldn’t keep taking time off work for it.

In the future, she’d just check on Xiaochu after work or spend more time with her on weekends.

Thinking of Xiaochu, Qi Ying’s steps felt lighter. She found herself wanting to see her beautiful, well-behaved girl more and more.