Online Love, Based on the Real Object - Chapter 18

A dreamless night left Qi Ning well-rested, and she naturally woke up at nine in the morning.

As soon as she stepped out of the guest bedroom, the rich aroma in the air caught her attention. Following the scent to the kitchen, she found Chu Yunjing standing by the stove in an apron, cooking porridge.

“Are we having mushroom and pork rib porridge today?” Qi Ning leaned against the doorframe, craning her neck to peek inside.

Chu Yunjing turned her head to look at her, taking in Qi Ning’s just-woken-up expression before nodding slightly. “Yes. Go wash up quickly.”

Qi Ning gave an obedient “Oh” and headed to the bathroom to freshen up.

“Yunjing, what are your plans for today?”

Chu Yunjing finished the last spoonful of porridge at a leisurely pace, wiped the corner of her mouth with a tissue, and only then replied, “Going to the mall.”

“What for?”

Chu Yunjing lifted her wrist, revealing fair skin. “To change my watch strap.”

Qi Ning immediately tensed up. She had been so busy lately that she’d forgotten about buying a watch. “I’ll go with you!” she blurted out.

Chu Yunjing eyed her sudden enthusiasm with suspicion, hesitating for a few seconds before finally giving a quiet “Hmm.”

The mall had several watch boutiques, and Chu Yunjing already had a specific destination in mind, heading straight for the X brand counter as soon as they entered.

The moment they stepped into the store, Qi Ning was nearly blinded by the bright fluorescent lights. When she glanced up and saw the logo, her eyes lit up.

This was exactly the watch brand she wanted to buy!

A sales assistant approached to greet them. By the time Qi Ning snapped out of her daze, Chu Yunjing was already at the counter discussing which leather option was best.

Finally, she picked up an alligator leather strap, running her fingers over it with apparent satisfaction.

“Jingjing!” Qi Ning called out to her. Chu Yunjing turned to see Qi Ning holding a watch in her hand. “Hmm?”

Qi Ning immediately slipped the watch onto her wrist and waved it at her. “What do you think of this one?”

Hearing this, Chu Yunjing set the strap back on the glass counter, told the assistant, “Just a moment,” and walked over to her.

“You want to buy a watch?” Chu Yunjing examined it carefully. “It suits you.”

“Really?” Qi Ning took it off and handed it to her, straightforwardly saying, “Let me see how it looks on you.”

Assuming Qi Ning genuinely wanted to buy it, Chu Yunjing didn’t suspect anything and put the watch on her own wrist for reference.

Qi Ning studied that hand slender fingers, the arm appearing even paler under the white lights, the veins on the back clearly visible. She nodded. “Looks good.”

Chu Yunjing took the watch off, glanced at the price tag, and raised her eyebrows slightly. “A bit expensive. So extravagant?”

“Ouch,” Qi Ning muttered before returning the watch to the sales assistant and rejoining Chu Yunjing at the strap counter.

The assistant recommended the alligator leather durable and, of course, pricier. Chu Yunjing seemed inclined to buy it, and Qi Ning only needed a casual glance to see the four-digit price.

Qi Ning: “…”

“Then I’ll take this,” Just as Chu Yunjing was about to confirm the purchase, Qi Ning grabbed her arm. “I think this strap is ugly!”

“…” Chu Yunjing stared at her. “Is there such a thing as a ‘pretty’ leather strap?”

“…” Qi Ning was speechless.

In the end, under the pretense of checking out other stores, Qi Ning half-pushed, half-dragged Chu Yunjing out of the boutique.

“A three-digit watch face paired with a four-digit strap are you serious?” Qi Ning finally spoke up once they were a distance away.

“What’s wrong with that?” Chu Yunjing looked entirely unfazed.

“The cost of changing the strap is enough to buy you a better watch. Why not just get a new one?”

“I’m happy with it.” Chu Yunjing tossed the remark over her shoulder as she strode ahead.

After all, they were childhood friends Qi Ning could read between the lines of that statement.

She jogged forward, positioning herself in front of Chu Yunjing, then walked backward with hands clasped behind her back, matching her steps with a triumphant grin. “Is it because I gave you that watch?”

Chu Yunjing shot her a sidelong glance, refusing to answer. But Qi Ning, taking the silence as confirmation, burst into delighted laughter.

“Our Jingjing is still so sentimental! Big sister hereby grants you permission to get a new one. This old thing is so outdated, how embarrassing for President Chu to wear it out!”

Chu Yunjing remained silent. To Qi Ning, this watch was just a long-retired gift, but to her, it was a memento that had seen her through the hardest times.

When they’d first graduated, VER was still in its infancy funds were tight everywhere, and they’d taken some wrong turns. At the lowest point, after paying her employees, she’d been left with just fifty yuan in her pocket.

Qi Ning, equally broke at the time, had bailed her out. Worried that Chu Yunjing’s irregular work hours meant skipped meals, Qi Ning had gifted this watch so she could check the time at a glance and remember to eat.

Back then, Qi Ning’s internship salary hadn’t been much either. But since Chu Yunjing was technically a CEO, wearing some cheap, mass-produced online watch wouldn’t do so this had been a genuinely lavish gift by their standards at the time.

Qi Ning had never spelled this out, but Chu Yunjing understood.

After browsing the mall, Qi Ning found fault with every option until they left empty-handed though they did purchase several unnecessary items.

As dinnertime approached, they settled on a cha chaan teng in the mall, planning to resume their search afterward.

No sooner had they ordered than Qi Ning stood with her phone, casually announcing a bathroom trip before leaving.

Chu Yunjing thought little of it until the dishes arrived and Qi Ning still hadn’t returned. She was about to call when Qi Ning reappeared at the entrance, clutching a plain black bag.

The nondescript pouch, devoid of branding like a convenience store sack, concealed its contents mysteriously.

“…Did you really go shopping during a bathroom break?” Chu Yunjing asked, half-disbelieving despite the evidence.

“Yep.” Qi Ning carelessly dropped the bag beside her seat, earning an impressed look. “Let’s eat before the food gets cold.”

The meal passed pleasantly. Chu Yunjing remained intent on replacing the watchband, planning to revisit the earlier store for the crocodile leather strap after eating, a plan Qi Ning didn’t oppose.

As Chu Yunjing dabbed her lips, signaling readiness to leave, Qi Ning opened the mystery bag. With a dramatic flourish, she slammed a watch box bearing a prominent luxury logo onto the table.

The sudden motion startled Chu Yunjing. “What are you doing?”

“This is for you.” Qi Ning withdrew her hand with finality, leaving the box gleaming between them. “Surprised?”

Chu Yunjing gaped, reaching for the box. “You went to buy this just now?”

“Obviously.” Qi Ning tilted her chin up. “Took forever to get them to find a plain bag. So? Shocked? Thrilled?”

As soon as the watch box was opened, the timepiece she had tried on earlier unexpectedly leaped into view.

Chu Yunjing was taken aback, then immediately began worrying about the cost. “Why buy something so expensive? The one you have now is perfectly fine just change the strap and it’ll work just as well.”

Qi Ning patted her shoulder with a knowing air. “Xiao Chu, you’re already President Chu now. A new chapter of your life is beginning, and so should your accessories. Understand?”

“I don’t care what you think just listen to me. Woman, tell me straight: do you like it or not?”

“…” The faint trace of emotion Chu Yunjing had been feeling was instantly wiped away by Qi Ning’s domineering CEO speech. She swatted away the hand lifting her chin and replied flatly, “I like it.”

Qi Ning had specifically asked the salesperson to remove two links from the bracelet, and now it fit perfectly. She admired it gleefully, temporarily pushing aside the fact that she’d be broke for the next month.

After dinner, Chu Yunjing drove Qi Ning home.

The moment Qi Ning stepped inside, she opened her work WeChat and saw a message from You Man.

It had been sent that morning, but she was only seeing it now. The message expressed gratitude for last night not just verbally, but with an invitation to dinner that evening.

Qi Ning read the words, thought for a moment, then typed a reply. The gist was that it was all part of her job, politely declining the dinner invitation.

She had already gone out once today, and for the rest of the weekend, she planned to stay home lying around, reading novels, and browsing forums.

Qi Ning had once worried that reading too much yuri fiction might affect her sexual orientation. She’d even posted about it on a forum, only to discover that many straight women enjoyed yuri too, which put her mind at ease.

But she also came across a post claiming that all women were potentially bisexual it just depended on who they fell for.

She thought about it. Did she really have any aversion to beautiful women? So far, though, she’d never felt anything beyond friendship for someone of the same sex.

Some forum users would pour out their unrequited feelings in anonymous posts, and to her own surprise Qi Ning found herself deeply engrossed in these real-life confessions.

Today, the OP had updated again. She wanted to test whether the senior she had a crush on and shared a somewhat ambiguous relationship with was actually queer, and was asking for advice.

The thread had plenty of replies.

Qi Ning read with great interest, treating it as a learning experience. One reply in particular had an unusually high number of upvotes, but the content puzzled her.

“One coming-out tip a day: OP, you could ask your senior if she’s winked today.”

Qi Ning’s mind instantly filled with a giant question mark.

What the hell was a “wink”? Flirting? Why would anyone ask that? If someone asked her that, she’d probably send back a confused meme.

It wasn’t until she clicked into the nested replies that she finally understood what “wink” meant.

It referred to a certain local LGBTQ+ dating app where the way to greet someone was to “send a wink.” If the other person was interested, they’d respond, and thus began a magical encounter.

So, if the person was queer, they’d most likely have this app. And if they were using it, this question would instantly make sense to them.

Qi Ning had an epiphany today, she’d learned another sapphic life hack! Burning with curiosity, she downloaded the app, named [Hottest].

She sat cross-legged on the sofa, fiddling with her phone. Out of boredom before, she had downloaded dating apps, but her impression of the people on them wasn’t great, so she quickly uninstalled them.

This time, even though it was a same-sex dating app, she downloaded it with a mix of curiosity and caution, still maintaining a sense of wariness.

To avoid revealing too much personal information, when given the choice between logging in via WeChat or Q.Q, she opted for the long-unused Q account, binding it to her work phone number.

Next, she needed to input a nickname, age, and sexual orientation. To her surprise, the app even allowed selections like “T,” “P,” “H,” or “Bisexual.”

Without hesitation, she chose “Bisexual” and set her age range to 24–28.

As for the nickname,

Qi Ning didn’t want to use her real name. Propping her chin in thought, she finally typed in “70.”

The next step was selecting a profile picture. Finding the default avatar too ugly, Qi Ning opened her photo album to pick one.

A full-face photo was out of the question, what if someone she knew was also using the app? After some deliberation, she settled on a half-body shot of her back.

The photo had a filter applied, making only her slender figure vaguely visible, with even her hair color hard to discern.

Once her profile was set up, she finally entered the main interface. Seeing the screen filled with avatars, Qi Ning suddenly realized she had only downloaded the app out of boredom so why had she filled out her profile so meticulously?!

She browsed the homepage for a while and noticed a “Nearby” feature. Clicking in, she was surprised to find quite a few active users in her vicinity, the closest was only about a hundred meters away, meaning they were in the same neighborhood?!

The profile pictures varied in style some with long, gentle hair, others with short, edgy cuts and Qi Ning was stunned all over again.

Before she could process it, a notification popped up in the message bar below.

A winked at you! Click to respond >>>

Support