When I Woke Up, I Had Three Romantic Partners - Chapter 15

“How should I prove it?”

How could she prove she had been here?

The Taoist priest said, “Believe in destiny, believe in yourself.”

“Words have been spoken; I cannot say too much. Wuliang Tianzun (Immeasurable Heavenly Venerable).”

Chi Jinqing murmured, “…Believe in myself?”

Could she really believe in herself?

The Taoist priest gave her no further answer, only saying that the divination was complete and their transaction was over.

Si Jiamo walked over and pulled her up: “Let’s go. You’re being so cryptic, I don’t know what you’re thinking.”

Chi Jinqing was pulled and stumbled. The Taoist priest suddenly said to Si Jiamo, “What is destined to be yours will eventually be yours; do not strive for what is not.”

“Since you know the truth, why keep burying it?”

Si Jiamo’s hand, gripping Chi Jinqing’s, paused. Her gaze as it swept over the Taoist priest became complex. She released Chi Jinqing’s hand and said coldly, “The truth is not important to me. What I want is what I want. If she doesn’t yield, if she doesn’t take the initiative, I won’t take the initiative again.”

“Chi Jinqing, let’s go.”

Chi Jinqing didn’t know what she was talking about. She always felt like this matter was related to her, but she wasn’t quite sure.

Watching their retreating figures, the Taoist priest shook his head, then packed up his stall and left.

He had opened for business three times today, two of which involved those whose lives were difficult and plagued by misfortune.

Today was a bad start; he would stop here.

As they climbed up again, both women were clearly preoccupied.

Suddenly…

“Ah!”

Chi Jinqing missed a step, her foot twisted, and she fell backward. Si Jiamo subconsciously turned around and caught her.

“What’s wrong?”

She looked at Chi Jinqing’s unnatural right foot: “Sprained your ankle?”

Chi Jinqing felt a piercing pain in her ankle: “…Mhm.”

“Useless.”

Si Jiamo crouched down: “Get on my back. We’re not going up. We’re going down the mountain.”

The production crew hadn’t arranged for a doctor to follow them, so even though her ankle was sprained, they couldn’t treat it right away and had to go down the mountain.

“But I’m hungry…”

Chi Jinqing rubbed her stomach. They had been climbing for over an hour, and it was past nine now. She was genuinely hungry; she hadn’t eaten much for breakfast.

The way down was even longer. They were supposed to take the cable car, but they didn’t have one where they were, as their location was different. So, Si Jiamo had no choice but to carry Chi Jinqing down the mountain on her back.

Si Jiamo didn’t complain of tiredness the whole way, but her breathing grew heavier, and her steps became slower.

Listening to Si Jiamo’s heavy breathing, Chi Jinqing felt very apologetic: “I’m sorry. I’ll be careful next time.”

Si Jiamo: “There won will not be a next time.”

Chi Jinqing: “Okay.”

“Thank you.”

Si Jiamo lowered her eyes and continued walking, saying nothing.

The return journey took two hours. After having lunch at a small noodle shop at the foot of the mountain, they took the program crew’s car to check on her leg.

With Chi Jinqing’s sprained ankle, it was unclear whether she could continue participating in the rest of the program.

At the hospital, it was Si Jiamo who actively carried Chi Jinqing inside. The doctor examined it and said there was no bone injury; she just needed to apply some medicine back home.

Chi Jinqing was quite embarrassed, the first time seeing a doctor for something like this: “Thank you, Doctor.”

Doctor: “Just be careful in the future.”

“Young people should exercise more and not wait until old age when movement becomes difficult.”

Si Jiamo: “Yes, I will remind her.”

Since it was a hospital, the filming crew did not follow them inside.

When they returned after the application of the medicine, the program crew had prepared a crutch for her.

Chi Jinqing felt a little awkward: “…Isn’t this an exaggeration?”

Si Jiamo: “Or do you want me to carry you?”

Chi Jinqing: “…”

Chi Jinqing snatched the crutch and limped away by herself: “I didn’t say that.”

If she didn’t want to carry her, fine; she could walk on her own anyway.

Then, people outside the screen saw Chi Jinqing limping out by herself, followed by Si Jiamo with a faint expression.

PiggyBun: Are they fighting?

My CP is real: No way, they can’t be breaking up this fast, it’s only been three days! Ugh!

Fake, fake, all fake: I knew it; this is just for the sake of the variety show, just like Si Jiamo herself said—doesn’t she often create CPs this way? Her reputation is already ruined, always trying to pair up with people. Chi Jinqing has never created CPs since her debut, even at the peak of her fame. I really don’t know why she’s pairing up with Si Jiamo; her reputation is getting dragged down, too.**

RouJiaMo: Nonsense! Others cling to her! Our MoMo just didn’t refuse; she hasn’t created CPs randomly! What are you all shouting about?!

Anti-fans, who appeared from who knows where, started arguing with Si Jiamo’s fans again. The argument finally ended with the victory of Si Jiamo’s fiercely fighting fans.

Meanwhile, the two women took the car back to their room. The others hadn’t returned yet, as Chi Jinqing and Si Jiamo were still handcuffed together, making them closer. Upon returning to the guesthouse, they realized that their time on the variety show was almost halfway over.

This dating show lasts only seven days in total. To be honest, Chi Jinqing was not optimistic about people getting together in seven days. Unless two strangers fell in love at first sight, it would be impossible to develop affection and commit to each other within a week unless they were already together in the first place.

Besides, this was the entertainment industry, a place where they would constantly run into each other. Who didn’t understand whom?

Both had deep walls built around their hearts. Very few naive people would give away their true feelings upon first meeting and aggressively pursue someone, saying, “I like you, let’s get married.”

They were all ancient foxes; why pretend to be naive?

Most people who participate in this kind of variety show either need the publicity or genuinely hope to find a partner through this channel.

Like Chi Jinqing, she was there for exposure; she needed the publicity.

Now only she and Si Jiamo were in the guesthouse. The destinations of the others were also mountain climbing and sightseeing; their time was definitely more exciting than hers and Si Jiamo’s.

Their segment today was boring, so certainly few people were watching. It was the perfect opportunity for her to relax.

Looking at Si Jiamo, who was consciously washing the dishes and the pot, Chi Jinqing suggested, “Everyone must be tired today, and it’s only one in the afternoon. How about the two of us play a few rounds of games or watch a movie to relax?”

Si Jiamo dried her hands and finished organizing the dishes. Only then did she support Chi Jinqing, who was like a spirit following her, and asked, “What game should we play?”

“How about ‘Dada’?”

Chi Jinqing, limping, pulled Si Jiamo upstairs to retrieve her computer. “Dada” was a very popular game that appeared ten years ago and remains an evergreen tree in the gaming world. It not only has various heroes and combat styles but also many special modes.

It became popular for its unique art style, exciting plot, and team battles in multiplayer versus mode. Chi Jinqing was a novice when she played, only gradually getting better later on.

Si Jiamo was indifferent: “Then let’s play it.”

“Wait for me to download it.”

She hadn’t played it in a long time and didn’t know what “Dada” looked like now. After finally downloading it, Chi Jinqing logged into her account based on her memory.

The game did not delete her account or take it back for others just because she hadn’t logged in for seven years. Instead, it had been preserved, waiting for her return.

Dear player, congratulations on logging in again. Dada looks forward to your return. This return will grant you the following gift package…

Si Jiamo had Chi Jinqing on her back while she went to fetch her computer. She also hadn’t touched this game in several years. Both of their accounts were considered veteran player returns, and soon, two classic veteran player return messages appeared in the world channel.

Seeing the return message, Chi Jinqing paused: “You haven’t played either?”

“Mhm.”

After Chi Jinqing left, she never touched the game again. She never had much interest in games; she initially registered to have more topics to discuss with Chi Jinqing.

Later, when they broke up, there was naturally no need for her to play it anymore.

Little smart one: Look what I heard? You haven’t played either? Their relationship is really something. Chi Jinqing always says some shocking things subconsciously. I really don’t know if it’s intentional or unintentional.

Feifei: You said it was subconscious. Yet you still say she’s doing it on purpose. I really don’t understand you haters; don’t you contradict yourselves?

Long Live Brother: You can’t be sure. Who knows if this ‘subconscious’ is deliberately faked? She looks like a green tea girl; hmph, I hate it.

“I’m online. Ah, they sent so many things! Huh? A rename card?”

“Wow, this game is quite something. So generous, straight to the heart.”

Chi Jinqing quickly changed her name to avoid being discovered by others, especially since the world channel showed a veteran player’s return message just as she logged in. She then remembered that she was still live streaming.

“Wohoo, that’s impressive.”

Over the years, “Dada” had introduced 130 new heroes, each with flashy and intricate mechanics. Chi Jinqing looked through them one by one and eventually bought them all.

The gold coins sent to returning veteran players were abundant, enough for her to buy all the heroes.

Si Jiamo did the same.

Once both of them were finally familiar with the skills, they entered the matching queue.

Not having touched the game for seven years, the two were dazzled by many game mechanic reforms, map innovations, and various realistic-looking monsters, and they were quickly defeated by the opposing team.

In what should have been the simplest Bronze-level game, the two were mercilessly killed by the bots until they felt numb.

Chi Jinqing: “…”

Grinding her back teeth, she felt something was wrong. This game was wrong.

“Bots aren’t that strong, unless we’re being maliciously ganked.”

Si Jiamo also noticed that something was off. She then checked the game reform system and fell silent.

The latest game mechanism reform allows for ‘ambushing’ people. If you and the person you want to ambush queue at the same time and can search for the friend, enabling the interference mode—and if the opponent hasn’t disabled the interference mode—you will have a certain probability of appearing in the same match as the opponent.

And the fans in the live stream, watching Chi Jinqing frown at the computer and loudly proclaim that the bots couldn’t possibly be this strong, kept their secret.

English is so difficult: Telling this to people, I, too, have been in the same frame as an idol sighs and shrugs.

Don’t make me study: Hahaha, don’t tell her that tens of thousands of us simultaneously interfered with her and queued up at the exact same time to ambush her, with a time difference of less than 0.5 seconds, hahaha hands on hips!

Oh my God: You guys are really no well one done.