The voice from the receiver was as pleasant as ever, clear as shattered jade, and seemed to say something very lighthearted. But to Lu Yan Zhi, it was not like that at all. For some inexplicable reason, his steady heartbeat skipped a beat and became erratic.
‘…What?’
Wasn’t she completely money-oriented?
Lu Yan Zhi was silent for a few seconds and did not voice his inner thoughts, afraid of breaking something. Instead, he asked about her plans afterward. “Where are you going after today?”
At the same time, Song Fu lay on her back on the bed, staring at the snow-white ceiling. After a brief moment of thought, she said, “I definitely won’t stay at home. I should rent a place near school for a month, and then… we’ll see.” She should be able to find a proper internship. After all, it was a top-tier university. Regardless of whether she had actually learned anything there, just saying it out loud was quite impressive.
Lu Yan Zhi said, “Rent a place to play games?”
Song Fu laughed it off. An internship did not fit the lazy female supporting character’s persona, so she could not mention it. “Good night~”
With the conversation ended, Song Fu yawned, freshened up a bit, and went to bed to sleep. In contrast, things were different on Lu Yan Zhi’s side.
He told his good friend about it.
His roommates, who could only enjoy weekends before the winter break, pondered for a moment, set down their mice, and boldly speculated. “So, your current goal is to get the money back? It’s small change to you, but it’s a bit much that she won’t even show her face. How about taking it step by step and video calling first?”
“When did I say I wanted the money back?” Lu Yan Zhi said irritably.
His good brother fell silent again for a few seconds. What was the point of telling him about being a sucker then? He widened his eyes in disbelief. “Are you the type to eat a silent loss?”
Lu Yan Zhi did not think he had taken a loss at all. “I want to ask you what that sentence of hers meant.”
“Which one?” His friend had no impression at all.
Lu Yan Zhi reminded him. “The one about emotions not being enough.”
This time, his friend was cautious and asked first, “What do you think it means?”
Lu Yan Zhi said uncertainly, “She doesn’t want to talk only about money with me anymore. She wants to talk about emotions.”
His friend was greatly shocked and muttered a curse under his breath. In his impression, his good brother did not have the potential to become a love-struck fool. “Is there a possibility that she just casually found an excuse to refuse meeting? By the way, how do you know she only wants to talk money with you?”
Lu Yan Zhi only replied to the second half. “…Hard not to know.”
He did not say it out loud, but he still believed his guess made more sense. His friend did not know the more specific details, so it was normal for him to be wrong.
To be honest, Lu Yan Zhi had never entertained the idea of an online romance. He felt it was childish and stressful, which was why he had changed the subject back then. “Do you think I acted too ambiguously?”
His friend said in exasperation, “Can you stop taking the blame yourself? You were at most a su…”
“Mm?” A chilling sound.
His friend chose to shut up.
Lu Yan Zhi tossed and turned and did not sleep well. He read through his chat history with Song Fu from beginning to end. But Song Fu, the other party involved, slept soundly.
The only flaw was that she was woken up early the next morning by a phone call. The hotel’s blackout curtains were of good quality, leaving the room pitch black.
Song Fu groggily answered the phone and heard the other side introduce themselves as from the town police station. They had received a report from her family about her running away from home and going missing, so they called to inquire about the situation.
Song Fu sat bolt upright on the bed with a “whoosh.” One had to say, it was the first time she had encountered such thick-skinned people. She corrected them. “It wasn’t running away from home. On a cold winter night, my phone was robbed, and I was kicked out the door. If not for my old phone, Officer, I might have frozen to death last night.”
She could hear noisy sounds from the other end, the two parents cursing her for being petty and holding grudges, telling her to hurry back home. The officer making the call, annoyed by the disturbance, told them to watch their words and advised Song Fu. “You’re a young girl out there on your own. It’s not very safe, right?”
“I’m already an adult. I plan to find an internship during the winter break to make it easier to find a job after graduation. I’m just not going home. Nothing to worry about.” Song Fu explained her actions. “I can take good care of myself.”
Another burst of noise came, as if someone tried to grab the phone from the police but failed. They could only shout at the top of their voices toward Song Fu. “With a bit of money, you don’t know the heights of heaven and earth. Who knows…”
Song Fu had said what she needed to and simply hung up.
On the other end, the hung-up officer had also witnessed some shameless entanglement. He patiently explained, “As an adult, if she doesn’t want to go home, we can’t tie her up and drag her back, right? The child is grown. You have to let go when it’s time. She’s not going off to do bad things but to find an internship, which will make job hunting easier after graduation.”
Neither parent listened. They clamored that it was only natural for the child to obey her father, then tried to lecture the police in turn. The other people present looked speechless and kept their distance.
Anyone who heard the whole story could tell these two were eyeing the child’s money. From the moment they arrived, they kept mentioning hundreds of thousands and even asked if the police could help transfer their daughter’s money to them. They were completely legally illiterate. “Shameless.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Whoever feels it fits.” The burly man who had come in for a fight showed no fear at all.
Unable to keep up their tough act, the two fell silent grudgingly.
Song Fu found an internship smoothly. After polishing her resume a bit and going through a few interviews, she successfully got the job.
With the System’s help, the apartment she found was also good, with no major issues. She moved in with her luggage, and right across was where the landlady auntie lived. The landlady lived healthily, made her own breakfast around seven and went to dance in the square. When she ran into Song Fu, she would invite her to eat together, always saying, “If only my grandson were as worry-free as you.”
Song Fu, the intern with a nine-to-five job that was not actually heavy: “…”
She did not have the heart to tell the auntie that she had failed some final exams in university and was not a good student.
As the New Year approached, there was not much festive atmosphere on the streets, except for hearing “Gong Xi Fa Cai” songs occasionally in the supermarket.
Song Fu bought a small bag of milk candies and some ribs to treat herself on New Year’s Eve. When she got home and opened the door, she ran into the landlady across the hall again.
“When are you planning to go home?” The landlady reminded her. “Don’t forget to turn off the appliances, and lock the doors and windows.”
Song Fu said she was not going home.
The auntie cursed her company for being heartless, not letting people off for the big holiday.
Song Fu quickly explained that she had time off and not going home was her own choice. She said no more, but still saw sympathy in the auntie’s eyes.
“Come eat dumplings at auntie’s place then.”
With work plus preparing for the start-of-term makeup exams, Song Fu was busy in real life. She had little time for the game, and moreover, her laggy computer was still at home. To log in, she even had to go to a nearby internet cafe.
The smell of instant noodles and cigarettes mixed in the internet cafe was truly off-putting. Song Fu had to psych herself up each time she went. Fortunately, the female supporting character was not supposed to be online often during winter break.
However, the information gathered from the Game Forum showed that the plotline was progressing very smoothly.
The new player female lead had triggered a rare encounter and made contact with the male lead. The two often appeared together in various game scenes, screenshot by onlookers.
Some onlookers had to admit they had skill. A scene of the two virtual avatars standing on a cliff was captured with a lingering, pink-bubble atmosphere. Even then, they humbly said: It was not that they were good at screenshots; the expensive outfits were just so ethereal.
The comments called the poster a shill running to the forum to sell items, saying there was no need to rush; they would buy if they had money.
Song Fu had also consciously reduced her harassment of the male lead and faded from existence. The male lead showed no special reaction. Everything was smooth. Even if someone noticed the disappearance of the “Fu Guang Luo” character she controlled, it was too common in pay-to-win games, so it did not attract much attention.
Only Tiantian, who had her contact info, came to tip her off: Aren’t you going to play the prison arc?
Tiantian: Recently, Big Shot Yan is always playing with a new small account. You know?
The New Year passed, and the start of school loomed. Song Fu looked at the latest message she received and felt a weight lift from her heart.
These two sentences from her little sister matched the plot exactly.
It was time for her, as the female supporting character, to play her role.
The computer Song Fu had ordered yesterday arrived that morning. She had just finished redownloading the game. She logged into her account and found her top-listed Romance partner “Yan” in the friends list, then directly clicked the teleport-to-side function.
The pretty little figure in red clothes appeared beside the male lead’s game character after about three seconds of loading. With the two little figures standing together, pink petals exclusive to Romance relationships floated around them.
Song Fu did not private message but chose to open voice in the nearby channel.
A female supporting character had to make a scene for everyone to see and make clear her “status”!
【Nearby】Fu Guang Luo: Brother, how can you be with other people?
【Nearby】Yan: ?
Even this simple question mark conveyed the male lead’s exasperation, since he was actually alone at that moment.
【Nearby】Yan: Can’t play this game without teaming up with others?
【Nearby】Yan: You’re free now?
Song Fu mustered her emotions and hammered the keyboard furiously, as if stress-testing the new computer.
【Nearby】Fu Guang Luo: No, how can you play with other girls?
【Nearby】Fu Guang Luo: TT, do you even remember you’re in a Romance?
【Nearby】Yan: It’s a rare encounter quest. Her alt needs to level up.
【Nearby】Yan: You’re mad?
【Nearby】Fu Guang Luo: Of course!
Just like the words she typed, Song Fu furrowed her brows, but her displeasure came entirely from the male lead’s explanation.
Faced with such brazenness that knew its place, the male lead should have indifferently replied, “What does it have to do with you?” There was no need for that explanation. Just as the System said, her relationship with the male lead was still too good.
To avoid saying too much and erring, Song Fu chose to log off after venting.
But before she even shut down the computer, her phone rang with a voice call from the male lead.
Song Fu pursed her rosy lips repeatedly and chose to hang up.
The ringing persisted relentlessly.
Song Fu scratched her head in frustration and hit reject.
Yan: Are you jealous?