Online Love, Based on the Real Object - Chapter 54

Having swapped seats, Qi Ning finally found her appetite. She buried her head in her food, completely ignoring the world around her. Whenever Wang Hongwen showed even the slightest sign of trying to strike up a conversation with her, he was instantly frozen by Chu Yunjing’s icy stare.

Wang Hongwen felt a bit unnerved. Based on Chen Yi’s introduction, he realized that this woman was the class monitor. He remembered that back in school, Qi Ning and Chu Yunjing were very close. It seemed that after all these years, their relationship remained just as strong.

Even a straight man knows that to pursue a girl, you have to start with the best friend. Getting on the good side of the “inner circle” makes the pursuit much easier.

With this in mind, he raised a glass to toast her. “Monitor, we haven’t seen each other in years. I’d like to toast you.”

Chu Yunjing hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol all evening, sticking to tea. When others toasted her, she reciprocated with tea, and she certainly wasn’t going to make an exception for him. She shot Wang Hongwen a glance. They say you shouldn’t hit a smiling face, but Chu Yunjing clearly wasn’t the type to just play along.

She lifted her teacup slightly. “I’m driving, so I don’t drink.” Before he could even try to persuade her, she drained the tea in one gulp.

Wang Hongwen: “…”

Having hit a brick wall, Wang Hongwen—who considered himself a man of the world—fell silent for a while before launching a new offensive. “Where is the monitor working these days?”

“I wouldn’t call it ‘working’ exactly.” Chu Yunjing slowly set down her chopsticks and wiped her mouth with a tissue. “I just started a company. We’re preparing to go public within the next two years.”

“…” After a long pause, he said, “My company does auto repairs. We have a few chain stores in Chonghai. If your car ever needs parts replaced, you can come to me. I’ll do it for free.”

“What do you think about me just getting a new car instead?”

Wang Hongwen: “…………”

Is your company in the business of manufacturing steel bars? You’re so rigid!

Wang Hongwen finally realized this was a tough nut to crack. He rubbed his nose and stopped trying to talk to her, quickly getting drawn into a conversation with other classmates.

The meal was quite lavish. Any expensive dish you could name was on the table. Fearing there wouldn’t be enough, they had even ordered double portions of high-end seafood like wild leopard coral grouper and Australian lobster.

“Once we’re done eating, we have more activities! The private room has KTV equipment. Nobody leaves before midnight! Let’s play to our hearts’ content! I’m picking up the tab for everything tonight!”

After several rounds of drinks, Wang Hongwen was starting to show the true colors of a “nouveau riche” boaster. Since someone else was paying, everyone was incredibly supportive, acting as if nobody was allowed to leave until they were so drunk they had to crawl.

Qi Ning tugged at Chu Yunjing’s sleeve. “When are we going back?”

“Are you full?”

“Wait, let me eat a little more.”

“…”

While she was still eating, Wang Hongwen and a few other male classmates were fumbling with the KTV equipment at the other end of the room. He even called a waiter over to place an order, his voice booming: “Start with two bottles each of Maotai and Rémy Martin. Then two cases of beer. And bring one of every snack on the menu.”

“Whoa, Boss Wang is truly loaded!”

A single female classmate at the table heard this and nudged Qi Ning. “Qi Ning, look how rich he is. You should just give in. It would be so nice to stay at home and be a lady of leisure as the boss’s wife.”

“…” Qi Ning suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. “Aren’t you two single as well? Since sparks are flying tonight, why don’t I step aside for you?”

“Ha, we wish! But he’s too devoted. His feelings haven’t changed after all these years; there’s no room for us to cut in.”

“…” Qi Ning couldn’t help but rub her arms at the nauseating goosebumps.

Chu Yunjing, who had been silent, suddenly let out a cold laugh. She said tonelessly, “As if he’s even worthy.”

She didn’t name names, but given the context, everyone knew exactly who she was talking about. The atmosphere at the table instantly turned rigid. Several classmates grumbled inwardly; after all, they were eating on his dime, yet she acted so holier-than-thou. A silent look of mutual disdain flickered between them.

Chu Yunjing naturally felt their hostility, but she didn’t care to argue. She turned to Qi Ning. “Let’s go home.”

“Hey, you two are leaving already?” They hadn’t gone far before one of the classmates by the speakers spotted them. Wang Hongwen happened to be in the restroom, so several people rushed over to try and stop them.

To be precise, they wanted to keep Qi Ning there. Everyone knew Wang Hongwen had come today for her and they were just along for the ride. To show their gratitude for the “big boss’s” hospitality, they felt they had to do their part.

“I’m tired. I want to go home and sleep.” Caught red-handed trying to sneak out, Qi Ning was a bit helpless.

“It’s still early! It won’t be too late if you leave at nine.”

Qi Ning turned to Chu Yunjing, wondering if she should compromise.

A waiter walked in holding a long receipt, likely looking for someone to settle the bill, but couldn’t find the “boss” who had placed the order.

“Tell you what,” Chu Yunjing said suddenly. “I know leaving early spoils the fun for everyone. But Qi Ning is truly exhausted today. To show our sincerity, I’ll settle the bill.”

She called the waiter over.

“Hello, ma’am. The total consumption is 103,570 yuan.”

Hearing it was over a hundred thousand, the male classmates looked at each other, shocked that it was so expensive. The female classmate who had been snapped at earlier waited with a “schadenfreude” expression, thinking the scene of this arrogant person getting slapped with a massive bill would be spectacular.

Instead, Qi Ning whispered, “That’s so cheap.” Given the way the nouveau riche guy was ordering, she thought it would be at least two hundred thousand.

The onlookers: “…”

Chu Yunjing very calmly handed her bank card to the waiter, and the two followed the waiter out to pay. The remaining classmates looked at each other, all thinking the same thing: Did I just offend these two wealthy ladies?

Wang Hongwen came back from the restroom. After making himself throw up, he felt much more sober, but he was puzzled by the stunned silence of the crowd. “What’s going on?”

Chu Yunjing took her card back and led Qi Ning toward the exit. They had only brought one car today. Just as she pulled the keys from her coat pocket, she heard someone call Qi Ning’s name. They were standing at the entrance of the club as Wang Hongwen came running out.

“You’re leaving so soon? We’re going to sing in a bit.”

Chu Yunjing squeezed Qi Ning’s hand, signaling her to stay quiet, and replied to Wang Hongwen, “She’s tired and needs to go home and rest.”

“Oh, I see.” Facing that cold face again, Wang Hongwen didn’t dare push it. He hurried to say to Qi Ning, “Can we add each other on WeChat?”

Chu Yunjing turned and asked, “Are you adding her to pay her back?”

Wang Hongwen was stunned. “Pay back what?”

“The 103,570 yuan I just paid inside for you. Since we’re old classmates, just transfer a flat 100,000 to Qi Ning.”

“…” He had already heard from the others that Chu Yunjing had paid. A hundred thousand wasn’t a small amount, and he had actually felt a sense of relief when he heard someone else had covered it. Now that he was being asked to pay up, his businessman’s brain immediately started calculating.

The classmates inside already knew Chu Yunjing paid. Even if he gave the money back to her now, he couldn’t exactly go back in and shamelessly take credit for the meal. This meant that while 100,000 yuan could have originally bought him social status among his peers and Qi Ning’s contact info, now it only bought him a WeChat add.

After thinking it over, he decided to try a different angle. “…It’s cold out here. Let’s go back inside, or I can drive you home and we can chat on the way.” As he spoke, he pulled his car keys out, pointedly showing off the luxury car logo.

Chu Yunjing glanced at him with undisguised disdain. “Did you forget you’ve been drinking? Are you trying to kill someone with a DUI?”

Hearing this, Qi Ning almost burst out laughing. She had to pinch her thigh hard to keep a polite, albeit awkward, smile on her face.

Hahahaha, this is too funny!

She felt like Jingjing was a professional “hater” tonight. Poor Wang Hongwen had been shut down so many times he could only swallow his grievances. How pathetic!

The atmosphere turned rigid again. Fortunately, Chu Yunjing showed some mercy and spoke up. “I’m just joking.”

“We drove here ourselves; we don’t need a ride.” As she spoke, Chu Yunjing pulled her own keys from her pocket.

The keys “accidentally” fell to the ground, and a certain logo with a propeller in a circle was quite prominent. She leaned over to pick them up, looking at the keychain and saying in a mocking tone, “Why did you fall? Since you want to be treated like trash, I’ll replace you tomorrow.”

“…” The smile on Wang Hongwen’s face finally crumbled. He forced a couple of laughs, realized he wasn’t going to get anywhere, and made an excuse to slink away.

Any persistent pursuit only continues because it hasn’t received a total, crushing rejection.

Once he was gone, Qi Ning laughed until she couldn’t breathe. “Oh my god, hahaha, holy crap…”

“You are the literal queen of shutting people down!” Thinking about that man’s shattered expression as he left, she was going to laugh every time she remembered it.

“Aww, so pitiful. A young man’s heart, ruthlessly destroyed by you.” Qi Ning clicked her tongue, mourning for Wang Hongwen for half a second.

“Is that so?” Chu Yunjing raised an eyebrow and said flatly, “If you think it’s such a waste, feel free to go back and add his WeChat.”

“No way!” Qi Ning affectionately tucked her arm into Chu Yunjing’s. “Giving me flowers in front of all those classmates… that’s so greasy.”

It was a blatant attempt to get their old peers to pressure her into agreeing. Besides, she never liked men who tried too hard to show off. Time is truly a butcher’s knife; the young boy had turned into a nouveau riche show-off desperately trying to save face. If he were truly sincere, why would he be so reluctant to part with a hundred thousand yuan?

They got in the car, with Chu Yunjing driving and Qi Ning in the passenger seat. The interior lights were off, leaving them in darkness.

Qi Ning curled up in her seat and pulled out her phone to scroll through videos, but her eyes weren’t focused. She replayed the events of the evening in her head and realized in hindsight that Chu Yunjing had been very unusual tonight. Normally, she wouldn’t bother “flaunting wealth” like that. But tonight, ever since Wang Hongwen appeared, she had been… off.

She didn’t act like an old classmate; she acted like an enemy.

Wait, “enemy” wasn’t quite the right word…

She racked her brain until two words popped into her head: Love rival.

A bold idea began to sprout in her mind.

“Yunjing.”

“Hmm?”

Qi Ning crossed her hands, her fingers unconsciously twisting together. She opened her mouth, but ended up swallowing the words she was about to say. After a pause, she turned and asked:

“What kind of girls do you like?”

“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“Just curious.” She used a casual tone, secretly observing the other’s expression in the side mirror.

Chu Yunjing glanced at the mirror. It reflected Qi Ning’s face, but in the dark car, she couldn’t see the expression clearly.

After a long silence, she finally spoke.

“You.”

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