Online Love, Based on the Real Object - Chapter 56

Chu Yunjing did not react for a long time. She only snapped back to reality when she felt a soft tongue slip past her teeth. She never expected that this person would become so bold while drunk. The nimble tongue only made a brief feint inside before quickly retreating, leaving the thick and slightly bitter taste of red wine filling the space between their lips and teeth.

Chu Yunjing unconsciously bit her lip when she heard the other person speak.

“See? When have I ever been a coward?”

With that haughty expression, it was Qi Ning herself without a doubt.

“You are not a coward. Our A-Ning is the toughest.” Chu Yunjing could not help but laugh while looking at her smug little face. She reached out to wipe the tears from the corners of Qi Ning’s eyes. Fortunately, she had stopped crying.

As if remembering something else, Qi Ning patted Chu Yunjing’s shoulder with a resentful tone. “I am so annoyed. I called someone else a pig, but I ended up insulting myself too.” Her voice carried a bit of a whimper, and there was none of her usual shrewdness left.

“Do not be angry anymore. Be a good girl,” Chu Yunjing coaxed her in a voice even gentler than usual. “Let me see how your knee is doing.” She lowered her head to check the injury. There was a small bruise. Luckily, she was wearing long pants, or it would have been worse.

Qi Ning looked at the other woman’s face. From her angle, she could see the long and curled eyelashes, the exquisite features, and that tear mole. She called out, “Yunyu?”

“Hmm?”

Something did not seem right. She called again, “Jingjing?”

“I am here.”

Qi Ning bit her lip and suddenly reached out to cup Chu Yunjing’s face, forcing her to look up. Then, with her mouth slightly parted, she leaned in.

The morning alarm rang inside the covers. Qi Ning sat up while clutching her aching head. She fumbled around under the quilt for a while before finally finding her phone. She had blacked out last night and could not remember what happened at all. Her knee was mysteriously bruised.

She felt like she had a dream. She could not remember the detailed fragments, only that she seemed to have forcibly kissed Yunjing. She sat on the bed for a long while until the second alarm rang and brought her back to her senses.

“What kind of dream was that?” She rubbed her temples, got out of bed, and shuffled out of the room in her slippers.

After washing up, she did not see breakfast on the table. Rubbing her head, Qi Ning walked into the kitchen. “Yunjing?”

Chu Yunjing was making lunch. Seeing her walk in, she curled her lips into a smile. “You are awake. How do you feel?”

“My head hurts.” Qi Ning frowned while thinking of the scattered fragments of the dream. “I had a dream. It was terrifying.”

“What dream?”

“You will not believe it if I tell you,” Qi Ning said mysteriously. “I actually dreamt that I kissed you. Is that not scary? Is it because I have been single for too long?”

Chu Yunjing’s movements paused. She turned to look at her quietly without saying a word. After a long pause, she finally asked, “Do you remember what happened last night?”

“Huh?” Qi Ning looked completely confused. “Last night, we ate, opened presents, and watched a movie together.” She scratched her hair. “I forgot the rest.”

As she struggled to recall the night, she suddenly realized something was wrong and gasped. She wondered if the dream could be real. She was instantly stunned.

Chu Yunjing took in Qi Ning’s shocked expression. After seeing her dazed for a while, Qi Ning asked in an incredulous tone, “So what happened last night? I did not actually kiss you, did I?”

Qi Ning was so scared she started stuttering and her face turned pale. She wondered if she was really capable of a forced kiss when drunk. If it were true, she would not have the face to see Jingjing again.

A flash of gloom appeared in Chu Yunjing’s eyes. Her fingers gripped the knife handle so hard they lost color. After a moment of silence, she gave the answer the other person wanted most.

“No.”

“That scared the life out of me!” Hearing the denial, Qi Ning’s first reaction was to pat her chest. She almost had a heart attack. Fortunately, she had not done something so shameless. Otherwise, she would have been so embarrassed that she would want to find a crack in the floor to crawl into. She told herself that a rabbit does not eat the grass near its own burrow.

Her reaction only confirmed Chu Yunjing’s suspicion. This person did not want anything to happen between them at all. The mere suggestion had turned her face white with fear, and the look of relief after hearing the word “no” made Yunjing feel even more dejected.

So, last night was really just a dream that only one of them remembered.

Last night’s birthday cake had been put on hold because Qi Ning was unconscious. Chu Yunjing had not made breakfast, so the untouched cake was only just being opened.

“Eating cake in the morning is so heavy,” Qi Ning remarked.

Chu Yunjing glanced at her and opened the lid of the cake box. “Who was the one who got drunk last night?”

Qi Ning gave a dry cough and fell silent. She still had not remembered the specifics of last night. Since Chu Yunjing said nothing happened, she was relieved and did not force herself to remember.

The cake had been kept perfectly in the refrigerator. Black jam outlined the patterns of two small figures. Qi Ning was quite satisfied with her masterpiece. She winked and asked, “Guess which one is you?”

Chu Yunjing identified them by the hairstyles. She was hesitant at first, but she became certain when she saw the tear mole on the left figure’s face. “The one on the left, I assume.”

“How did you know?”

“The hair and the mole.”

Qi Ning chuckled. “That mole of yours is really iconic.” As she spoke, her gaze unconsciously landed on Chu Yunjing’s actual tear mole. She noticed the skin around the mole seemed a bit red. Upon closer inspection, it really was a small red patch that was not there last night.

“What happened to your face?” Thinking it was lipstick, she reached out to touch the mole. She rubbed it a few times, but it did not come off. It was actually inflamed.

Recalling last night, a trace of speechlessness flashed in Chu Yunjing’s eyes. She brushed the hand away and looked at her with a fake smile. “A mosquito bit it.” If one listened closely, they could hear her gritting her teeth. She looked like she really wanted to hit someone.

“Oh,” Qi Ning replied without thinking much. “That must have been a pretty big mosquito.”

After eating the cake, they both went to work. Qi Ning’s mother had sent some local specialties, including homemade dried radishes. After receiving the package, Qi Ning told Chu Yunjing she wanted fried eggs with dried radishes for dinner. However, Chu Yunjing replied that she had an appointment to eat with a friend tonight. Qi Ning pouted and replied with a simple “okay.”

Since Chu Yunjing was not coming home for dinner, Qi Ning did not want to cook for herself. She ordered takeout on her way home. What she did not expect was to see Chu Yunjing’s shoes in the entryway when she opened the door. Clearly, she was home.

Qi Ning was confused. She wondered if this person had a sudden change of heart and canceled her dinner plans. Just as she walked into the living room, she came face to face with Chu Yunjing. The moment their eyes met, Qi Ning looked her up and down.

She had changed her clothes. She had been wearing a suit this morning, but now she was in casual wear. A beige knit sweater paired with a ginger-yellow wool coat made her whole aura seem very soft.

Qi Ning’s eyebrow twitched involuntarily. As soon as she spoke, she sounded sarcastic. “Are you going out on a date?”

When had she ever seen Chu Yunjing come home specifically to change clothes just to grab dinner with someone?

Hearing the question, Chu Yunjing did not hide it and replied bluntly, “That is right.”

Caught off guard by the straightforward answer, Qi Ning felt stifled. Her gaze landed on the other woman’s face, and the sparkling earrings caught her attention. They were the birthday gift from last night.

“Are you going on a date with the person who gave you those earrings?” she asked.

Chu Yunjing nodded. “Yes.”

Qi Ning felt a surge of frustration. Neither of them spoke, yet they both stood there in a stalemate. After a long while, Qi Ning asked, “Who is it?”

Chu Yunjing tilted her head and looked innocent. “You do not know?”

“You never told me!”

“Fine.” Chu Yunjing let out a sigh of helplessness and replied, “It is that online friend I met before.”

“Heh.” Qi Ning let out a sarcastic snort and said sourly, “An ex, probably.”

Chu Yunjing shrugged, having no intention of explaining. Instead, she said, “I am heading out.”

She watched Chu Yunjing leave. Until the door was completely closed, Qi Ning held her breath for a long time before finally snapping, “I hope you do not even come home tonight!” With that, she sat on the sofa, huffing with anger. The sofa that was usually so comfortable now felt like it was full of needles. She slapped the sofa hard. Her gloominess was completely inexplicable.

After Chu Yunjing left the house, she sent a message to the friend she was meeting. Once in the car, she did not start the engine immediately. Instead, she pulled down the sun visor to look in the mirror. She took a box out of her pocket, swapped the earrings, and put on a pair of black onyx studs instead. Having done all this, she finally started the car and drove to the restaurant.

They met at a century-old hotpot restaurant. When she arrived, her friend was already there. Among the various people in the shop, she was uniquely flamboyant. The friend scrutinized her for a moment before laughing. “Finally, you are not wearing a suit to eat with me. When you sit there in a suit, I feel like I am in a job interview.”

Chu Yunjing smiled. “It is a hassle to go home and change after work.”

“Then why were you willing to go home and change today?”

“You said you wanted me to treat you to dinner to thank you for the gift.”

The other woman pointedly looked at her ears. “You say thanks, but I do not see you wearing them. I have never seen you wear these studs before. Let me guess, is this also a gift from someone? Between me and her, you chose the latter.”

Chu Yunjing gave a non-committal smile. The other woman understood her meaning immediately and put on a dejected expression. “My dear, your honesty is truly heartbreaking.”

“I am sorry.” She said it, but there was no apology on her face.

“So, am I heartbroken again?” The woman frowned.

“Youman,” Chu Yunjing said helplessly. “Did we not agree to be friends?”

Her acquaintance with Youman started on an app. After chatting for a few days, Chu Yunjing felt they got along well, so she agreed to meet offline. After meeting, she found Youman was much more flirtatious and bold than she was online. Chu Yunjing did not like someone so flighty, so she proposed staying friends.

“Alright,” Youman sighed. “But eating with me and not wearing the gift I gave you still makes me very sad. How are you going to compensate me for that?”

“What do you want?” Chu Yunjing paused. “If it is something I can do.”

“How about this. If my company has a team building event, you accompany me.”

“Why should I accompany you? You can just go by yourself.” Chu Yunjing had a strange look on her face.

“That is different,” Youman said. “I just jumped to this new job and I am not very close with some colleagues yet. I do not want to be alone. That would be so miserable.”

Chu Yunjing had attended team building events with Qi Ning before. Seeing this person’s pitiful look, her heart softened. “Alright.”

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