Online Love, Based on the Real Object - Chapter 21

The resort area had quite a few private kitchens and many vendors pushing carts selling fruits. It was currently lychee season, and each lychee was plump, bright red with thick flesh and small pits.

After lunch, Chu Yunjing took Qi Ning to buy lychees. They ended up purchasing five pounds of them, along with other fruits like watermelon and oranges, filling two large bags.

“You don’t actually expect me to finish all these alone, do you…” Qi Ning looked down at the bulging bag of lychees. The weight made her fingers turn white from the strain, and she started feeling intimidated.

Chu Yunjing gave her a sidelong glance. “What do you think?”

“Hey, hey! Wait for me!”

Chu Yunjing walked briskly with the two bags of fruit while Qi Ning hurried after her, lugging the lychees and shouting for her to slow down. Hearing this, Chu Yunjing actually stopped and turned around. Seeing Qi Ning struggling with just one bag as if her life depended on it, she found it amusing.

She walked over and snatched the lychees from Qi Ning’s hands, effortlessly carrying all the bags.

“You didn’t seem this weak when fighting cockroaches?”

“Oh my,” Qi Ning said theatrically, forming Orchid fingers with her hand. “I’m just a five-year-old child.”

“…You should be ashamed of yourself.”

After walking some distance, Qi Ning noticed Chu Yunjing was carrying all the bags while her own hands were empty. A pang of guilt struck her conscience.

“Let me carry some,” she offered, reaching for the bags. Chu Yunjing dodged her. “No need, these are quite heavy.”

Qi Ning was slightly moved by her protective words, but before she could respond, Chu Yunjing added, “You’re wearing high heels. If you twist your ankle, I’ll be the one who has to deal with it.”

“…” Qi Ning glared at her. “That was a nice sentiment, but somehow I really want to hit you right now.”

Chu Yunjing raised an eyebrow but didn’t reply.

Qi Ning quickened her pace, walking backward in front of Chu Yunjing with her hands behind her back. “If you keep being this sarcastic when you start dating, your partner is definitely going to suffer a lot from you.”

This time, Chu Yunjing responded bluntly, “Don’t worry, I’ll treat my partner much better than I treat you.”

Annoyed by Chu Yunjing’s “friends before lovers” remark, Qi Ning snorted disdainfully. “I can’t wait to see who the unlucky one will be!”

When they returned to the villa, Xu Lu was checking the delivered barbecue ingredients, while a few colleagues helped decorate the place for the party.

Chu Yunjing placed the fruits on the table and told everyone to help themselves. The employees, even during a team-building event, remained somewhat reserved around her and quickly acknowledged her instructions.

She turned and saw Qi Ning chatting with someone. Without a word, she headed upstairs to rest.

Once the boss was out of sight, the atmosphere instantly relaxed. Qi Ning couldn’t resist teasing them, “Are you all really that scared of your President Chu?”

He Hao hurriedly replied, “Not scared—it’s respect, respect! Hahaha…” As one of the oldest employees at Ver, He Hao was in charge of operations and maintenance. Skilled in socializing, he could talk to anyone—except for the big boss, whom he never dared to joke around with. Qi Ning, being an old acquaintance, often exchanged playful banter with him.

Even the most sociable people would still be nervous in front of a cold-faced boss. After working with Chu Yunjing for four years, he still hadn’t figured out her temperament, so naturally, he remained quite reserved. And those below him, seeing this, became even more hesitant to speak much with her.

Qi Ning chuckled a couple of times and didn’t continue the topic, instead asking, “Why are there so few of you here?”

“Oh, the others went to the nearby forest park after lunch. The ones who stayed behind are us lazy folks who didn’t feel like moving,” He Hao said with a laugh. “We’re having a barbecue tonight—why don’t you call President Chu down to join us?”

It was strange, really. Team-building events were supposed to be great opportunities to bond with colleagues, but their President Chu always acted like a lone wolf. During outside dinners, she would leave the table quickly after eating, and when they went out for activities, she rarely stayed with the group.

Truth be told, there were quite a few people in the company who admired the boss. It was just a shame she was so aloof.

“We’ll see about tonight. Barbecue is too heaty—your little fairy might not be too fond of it,” Qi Ning joked. There were still some uninflated balloons on the table, so she casually picked one up. “Where should these balloons go?”

Qi Ning helped them decorate. The courtyard was set up with a barbecue grill and picnic tables—everything was ready, just waiting for everyone to return in the evening to get busy.

He Hao tried to rope her into playing Werewolf, but Qi Ning wasn’t very skilled at such games and declined.

The weather was cloudy today, not too hot. A cool breeze blew in the afternoon, and since Qi Ning figured Chu Yunjing might be napping, she didn’t go upstairs. Instead, she sat down on the backyard swing.

She opened [ZuiRe], where there were two unread messages from strangers—but none from Yun Yu. The other party still hadn’t sent a private message. Clicking into Yun Yu’s profile again, she saw that the user was online.

Qi Ning couldn’t help but wonder—was this person really that aloof?

Humans were strange creatures. The more unattainable something was, the more they wanted it.

Just as she opened the private chat window to send a message, she suddenly remembered their first unpleasant conversation.

What if the person who winked at her just wanted to flirt? What if, when chatting with Yun Yu, the other party turned out to be as unrestrained as A, asking invasive personal questions? Wouldn’t that shatter her illusions?

This was truly a dilemma.

Qi Ning scratched her head, torn all over again.

So torn that she even forgot her original reason for downloading [ZuiRe]—just idle curiosity about what same-sex dating apps were like.

In the end, her curiosity about Yun Yu won out over her hesitation. It was just casual chatting, after all! If the conversation turned unpleasant, she could just stop replying. Behind a screen, who was afraid of whom?

Qi Ning tapped her finger and sent a simple “Hi~” over.

…It looked a little awkward.

She had expected a quick reply since the other person was online, but after five minutes, then ten, Yun Yu still hadn’t responded.

Qi Ning forced a fake smile at her screen and uttered the classic domineering CEO line: “Hmph, woman. You’ve successfully caught my attention.”

With Yun Yu still silent, she suddenly felt too listless to do anything. She put her phone down, grabbed the swing’s ropes, and started swaying back and forth, all the while wondering why Yun Yu hadn’t replied.

Then a thought struck her. Digging her toes into the soft grass to stop the swing, Qi Ning picked up the phone resting on her lap and opened Yun Yu’s profile once more.

She wanted to check Yun Yu’s location. She remembered this was a local dating app that prioritized showing nearby people. Since Yun Yu had sent her a wink, it meant she was also in Chonghai City. Maybe they were even close to each other?!

But to her surprise, Yun Yu had hidden her location. Qi Ning thought she couldn’t blame Yun Yu—after all, she had also turned on location hiding herself…

Just as she was about to exit the page in disappointment, a pop-up window suddenly appeared at the top.

Yun Yu had sent her a message.

“!!!” Qi Ning instinctively sat up straight, a smirk tugging at her lips.

Hah, women.

She reached out to tap open the pop-up, feeling a little nervous inside.

What would Yun Yu reply with?

When she opened the message, the response was so brief it left her slightly disappointed.

Yun Yu: Hi

Not even a punctuation mark or an emoji.

Qi Ning thought the other person might reply again, but no—the conversation stopped at the greeting. This attitude didn’t seem like that of a frivolous person.

She waited for a while, thinking about how to respond.

Then she suddenly remembered the yuri novels she’d been reading recently. It seemed like everyone had a soft spot for girls who spoke in a cute, endearing way.

70: What are you up to~?

Qi Ning stared at that cheerful little tail at the end… Surely that was cute enough?

Yun Yu: Taking a nap. You?

70: Waiting for your reply~

Qi Ning typed out the line without thinking, but as she stared at the words, she suddenly felt it was a little… cringey. If she received something like this from a guy, she’d definitely never reply.

Her heart sank a little.

Unexpectedly, there was a brief silence on the other end before Yun Yu replied with a “Hahaha,” as if she wasn’t too put off by the cheesy line—or maybe she was just masking awkwardness.

Since she had nothing better to do, Qi Ning ended up chatting with Yun Yu, sticking to harmless topics that didn’t touch on personal details.

She noticed Yun Yu was quite passive in the conversation, rarely asking questions about her. She just answered whatever Qi Ning asked, staying pretty serious.

But Qi Ning knew—only someone interested would ask questions. Yun Yu’s passiveness might just mean she wasn’t that into her.

After a dozen or so exchanges, Qi Ning had basically taken control of the conversation. After some thought, she asked the question she’d been wanting to bring up.

70: I responded to your wink, so why didn’t you message me?

She even sent a sticker of a sulky red panda.

Yun Yu replied with a few awkward laughing emojis, and her next response made Qi Ning’s heart sink.

Yun Yu: That day… I clicked it by mistake…

70: And here I was, thinking about it all this time! So it was just an accident? Ouch! Hmph!

70: Women are all liars.jpg

70: Pouting in grievance.jpg

Qi Ning genuinely felt stung—so much that she sent a bunch of sulky and pouting stickers in a row. All this time she’d been overthinking it, and it turned out to be just a misclick. No wonder Yun Yu hadn’t DM’d her.

The worst part? This woman was brutally honest!!!

Yun Yu: Are you mad? I’m sorry [head pat]

Yun Yu: Don’t be upset~ Be good [head pat]

70: I feel like you’re talking to a kid!

Yun Yu: Am I? Haha~ I just think you’re cute.

70: I’m super cool and tough!

Yun Yu: Even cuter now [meow]

After bickering with her for a while, Qi Ning suddenly remembered something important—in the hottest section, there probably weren’t many “straight girls” as idle as her. Yun Yu was likely 99% gay, with the remaining 1% being bi.

She had a decent impression of Yun Yu and didn’t mind delving deeper into conversation, so it was better to address the question of sexual orientation sooner rather than later.

70: I’m bi. Do you mind?

At this point, she didn’t dare claim to be purely straight anymore.

Yun Yu: Why would I mind? Whether you’re with a guy or a girl is your right. I have no say in it—as long as you’re happy [smiley face].

“Damn…” Reading this reply, Qi Ning felt unexpectedly touched. What a gentle soul.

In an instant, Qi Ning, the master of overactive imagination, conjured up the image of a gentle, mature older sister from a novel and couldn’t help but let out a little lesbian squeal.

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