My Virtual Girlfriend

Meanwhile, just as Chen Yan was plotting his "conniving schemes" against Yu Qiao Qiao and her roommate,

at Qin Island University, Ruisi Building, classroom 301. Yu Qiao Qiao was also being grilled by her roommates.

"Qiao Qiao, tell us the truth. Who was that guy?"

"Yeah, Qiao Qiao. How come you never mentioned him before?"

"The guy doesn't look anything special. Is he your admirer?"

Yu Qiao Qiao, confused by the flood of inquiries from her roommates, stuttered, "No. No. I... he..."

Before she could finish her sentence, her roommates impatiently fired more questions.

"Qiao Qiao, he sent you so many things! He must really like you, right?"

"Right! It feels so romantic. How did you meet him?"

"He may not be much to look at, but he's certainly generous. Are you planning to get together with him?"

Yu Qiao Qiao grew even more flustered, "I... I..."

In the end, it was the "silly big sister" who had accompanied Yu Qiao Qiao to meet Chen Yan the day before, who couldn't bear it anymore, broke into the circle and said, "Alright! Stop asking her. I'll tell you."

The "silly big sister," named Zhao Ying, was a very unconventional girl. She was straightforward and carefree, more boyish in her demeanor than girlish.

Moreover, having studied Taekwondo since childhood, she carried a sort of heroic air about her, like a knight-errant, making her the undisputed, dominant figure in the dormitory.

Once she spoke up, the roommates immediately fell silent and looked at her attentively.

Zhao Ying, feeling the gaze of everyone on her, lifted her head and coughed to clear her throat.

Then... she spun a yarn about the story between Yu Qiao Qiao and Chen Yan from her point of view, heavily embroidered with her own flair.

While narrating, her eyes glowed with the intense light of gossip.

And the content she "revised" was indeed very legendary.

Roughly speaking... it was a magical encounter, fate's entanglement, tender care, overbearing affection, and the sensational confession from this morning.

The group of girls, all in the throes of adolescent springtime, listened with stunned expressions.

Yu Qiao Qiao, on the sidelines and looking dazedly at Zhao Ying, had only one thought in her mind, "Is this... me and Chen Yan? Are you sure it's not some CEO romance novel?"

Afterward, as Zhao Ying's narrative strayed further, even touching on stuff like "giving birth to ten babies in one go" and "super strong daddy," Yu Qiao Qiao sighed inwardly and decided to disregard this story that had seems to become completely unrelated to her.

She frowned and glanced at her phone, but Chen Yan still hadn't replied to her.

She quietly sighed, put down the phone, and took out the movie tickets and buffet vouchers Chen Yan had given her, staring at them somberly.

The movie and buffet were both located in a large mall not far from Qin Island University. The movie theater was on the fourth floor, and the buffet was on the second floor.

Yu Qiao Qiao had passed by that shopping center on the bus before, its huge OLED screens flickering with large photos of celebrities or adverts in the night, all glitz and glamour, showing off the bustling big city life.

Yu Qiao Qiao bit her lip gently.

These tickets must be expensive, right...?

Can they be returned?

Yu Qiao Qiao looked at the time; there were still 7 minutes before class started. She had a little time.

She held the tickets and left the classroom, then dialed the phone numbers listed on the back of the tickets.

Five minutes later, Yu Qiao Qiao exhaled and put down the phone.

She had inquired about both the movie and the buffet, and both were strictly non-refundable and non-exchangeable.

She also asked about the prices—12 tickets in total came to almost 800 yuan.

Yu Qiao Qiao looked out the window at the sky, "800 yuan..."

That was one and a half months of living expenses for her.

Oh... and that bouquet of flowers.

According to her roommates, a bouquet of 99 flowers was very expensive, usually costing six to seven hundred yuan.

So that made over a thousand.

Such expensive items were certainly not something she could accept. She had to find a way to return them to Chen Yan.

After all, if she didn't give them back, how could she justifiably explain to him that she didn't want to date and that he should stop bothering her?

Thinking about it, Yu Qiao Qiao felt somewhat at a loss.

But even if she returned them, Chen Yan had already spent the money, and there was no way for him to get a refund. She would still be the cause of his wasted spending.

Could she just pretend nothing had happened?

For a moment, Yu Qiao Qiao was even more troubled.

"Ring, ring, ring..."

The class bell rang, and Yu Qiao Qiao slapped her tender, cute face to pull herself together.

She was here to study, after all. She must put all these distractions behind her and not let them interfere with her education.

"Yu Qiao Qiao! You got this!"

She clenched her small fist and pumped herself up adorably.

Yu Qiao Qiao turned and reentered the classroom.

By the time she got back to the classroom, her roommates had dispersed and stopped discussing.

But Yu Qiao Qiao felt the gazes of her other classmates on her were a bit strange.

Indeed...

Being confessed to so dramatically early in the morning, the whole department must have heard about it by now.

With flowers and movies and all, it was too conspicuous.

At the thought, Yu Qiao Qiao's face felt hot to the touch.

Oh my god. How is she going to explain this...

...

Through the next two lessons, Yu Qiao Qiao tried hard to concentrate and study diligently.

But...

She found that no matter how hard she focused, she just couldn't absorb a thing.

The thought of that "debt" of over a thousand yuan echoed in her mind from time to time.

The strange looks from her classmates earlier kept circling in front of her.

Despite two classes, she... had learned nothing.

When the teacher dismissed the class, Yu Qiao Qiao, somewhat annoyed, snapped the textbook shut: the principle said early romance harms people, and it certainly does!

She hadn't even started dating, and it was already hindering her studies!

"Qiao Qiao, shall we go? To the cafeteria?" Just then, Zhao Ying, who sat in the row next to her, stood up and called her.

"Oh, okay." Yu Qiao Qiao replied meekly, hastening to gather her things.

And just then, her phone in her pocket suddenly buzzed.

Then it buzzed twice more.

Someone looking for her?

Yu Qiao Qiao put down her book, then took out her phone and saw she had received several texts.

[Qiao Qiao, it's Chen Yan. Sorry to bother you again. I'm here to apologize.]

[I replied to your WeChat and saw you didn't reply, so I took the liberty of texting you.]

[Actually... I've lied to you these past two days. I don't like you at all, and I don't want to pursue you. I... am actually an actor.]

Yu Qiao Qiao's mind was flooded with question marks: ?? What the heck! Actor?! How is this related to lying to me?

She continued to read, [These past few days, I've been doing an actor's requisite course: Unleash the Nature. And some other... uh, accidents occurred.]

[That's what led to my confession this morning.]

[I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused. Truly sorry.]

Reading Chen Yan's texts, Yu Qiao Qiao was dumbfounded for a moment, her mind a mess, but she also spotted an "issue" unrelated to the message content.

She replied, [Why do you have my phone number?]

"Buzz buzz."

Chen Yan, [Zhao Ying gave it to me.]

Yu Qiao Qiao abruptly looked up at the carefree Zhao Ying who was stretching herself, annoyed she bit her lip, just like an angered yet adorable little kitten...