Chapter 25: Eat More Vegetables
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“Hey, hey, hey, Brother Yan, why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Is my microphone not working, or do you not have yours on?”
“Brother Yan…”
Mi Xiaoyue’s voice abruptly fell silent. On the screen, Yan Xuan had already typed out a reply.
Yan Xuan: Let’s just type. I can’t use voice chat today.
Mi Xiaoyue: Okay, Brother Yan. I’ll mute myself.
The two of them chatted idly through the game client for over an hour. After agreeing on a time to talk again, Yan Xuan exited the game and shut down the computer.
He turned toward the balcony. Fang Lian was still curled up on the sofa, casually scrolling through her phone as if she had heard nothing.
When she noticed Yan Xuan looking at her, her scrolling slowed ever so slightly.
Then, suddenly, the short video playing on her phone began broadcasting aloud.
“Take a close look. This man is Little Liu. Online, he met a sweet-voiced beauty named Little Zhou through a gaming-companion service. Her username was Baby. After the two entered into an online romance, Little Zhou tricked Little Liu into transferring a total of 32,511 yuan and demanded gifts worth more than 20,000…”
Next video.
“Police recently cracked an online fraud case. The suspect, Zhao, used voice-changing software to impersonate a highly ranked young goddess online. While earning hefty fees as a gaming companion, he also deceived several people into transferring money, with the total exceeding 200,000 yuan…”
Next video.
“I run a gaming-companion shop myself, and I can tell you with complete responsibility that nine out of ten of those cutesy-voiced companions are fat…”
Yan Xuan was torn between laughter and exasperation.
Fang Lian did not dare show jealousy openly in front of him, so she could only resort to sarcastic insinuations.
Still, Yan Xuan was secretly relieved that she had not overthought things and had merely taken Mi Xiaoyue for a gaming companion.
“Oh no, my Bluetooth earphones ran out of battery. I didn’t disturb you, Godfather, did I?”
Fang Lian pinched her throat and deliberately imitated Mi Xiaoyue’s soft, childish voice. Unfortunately, she had no talent for it at all. The moment she forced her voice higher, it became shrill and thin, painfully grating to the ears.
Yan Xuan walked over and looked down at her with a smile.
“Good daughter, are you trying to sound like a eunuch or a little girl?”
“I’m sorry, Godfather. My voice isn’t as pleasant as that young lady’s online.”
“Well, well. Addicted to that voice already, are you?”
Seeing Fang Lian continue her sarcastic performance, Yan Xuan lunged forward like a tiger pouncing on its prey and wrapped his arms around her. With another rolling twist, he reversed their positions.
His left arm locked around Fang Lian’s slender waist, while his right hand rose high above her.
Smack!
The sound was crisp and bright.
“Ow, Godfather, that hurts…”
After striking her seven or eight times in succession, Fang Lian lifted her head and gazed at Yan Xuan pitifully. Pouting, she pleaded for mercy.
“Your daughter knows she was wrong. Please stop hitting me, Godfather.”
Fang Lian then shifted positions, wrapping both arms around Yan Xuan’s neck. Instead of lying face down, she sat sideways across his lap.
Yan Xuan gently stroked and kneaded her thigh, clad in black stockings, and asked with a smile, “Still jealous?”
“Your daughter won’t do it again…”
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Fang Lian leaned against Yan Xuan’s chest like a sweetly dependent little bird and murmured, “Godfather, may I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“Godfather, have you taken care of any other daughters?”
In Fang Lian’s eyes, Mi Xiaoyue was probably just a female gaming companion who happened to be fairly close to Yan Xuan. Even so, the encounter had served as an indirect warning.
If Yan Xuan could find her, Fang Lian, online and make her his “goddaughter,” then naturally he could find other girls as well. After all, it was no different from hiring a gaming companion. As long as one was willing to spend money, countless women would eagerly come forward to call him Daddy.
Besides, ever since Yan Xuan had altered her personality, Fang Lian had been trapped in a state of inner conflict.
She knew perfectly well that her relationship with Yan Xuan was deeply warped and in serious violation of her current values. Yet she could not bring herself to let go, nor could she accept the existence of any other “daughters” in Yan Xuan’s life.
Yan Xuan patted her on the head and assured her, “Don’t worry. You’re my only good daughter.”
Fang Lian looked delighted. “Really?”
“Would I have any reason to lie to you?”
“Then hook fingers with me, Godfather.”
Fang Lian held out her little finger. Yan Xuan cooperated willingly, and after they completed the solemn ritual of promising to remain bound for a hundred years, Fang Lian had already forgotten all about the gaming companion.
After soothing Fang Lian, Yan Xuan returned to the university. As he passed the athletic field, he suddenly caught sight of someone familiar.
Yang Qingqing?
The high-jump competition had just ended, and the equipment had not yet been removed. Dressed in athletic clothes, Yang Qingqing stood at the beginning of the approach, gazing eagerly at the bar set at 1.6 meters.
Ready. Approach. Acceleration. Takeoff. Lean back…
She cleared the bar, rolled once across the landing mat, then rose and glanced back, using both hands to smooth the disheveled strands of hair beside her ears.
Precise and elegant.
The entire sequence flowed as smoothly as water.
The setting sun blurred Yan Xuan’s vision, and his thoughts drifted into a daze.
Could the girl before him really be that loud, carefree goofball of a sports student?
“Hey there!”
Yang Qingqing turned around, spotted Yan Xuan, and strode quickly toward him on her long legs.
They spoke at the same time.
“What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?”
Yang Qingqing answered first. “Little Lian messaged me and said you were going back to take a shower, so she asked me to go out and walk around for a while to avoid you. I had nothing better to do, so I came to your university to watch the sports meet.”
Yan Xuan teased her. “Couldn’t resist showing off after watching?”
No wonder he had not seen Yang Qingqing when he returned earlier. Fang Lian had already sent her away in advance.
“Hehe, I was only making a fool of myself.”
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Yang Qingqing gave an embarrassed laugh. Her high-jump skills were merely passable, and she really was not as good as some of the specialist athletes at South River University.
“What about you? Aren’t you having dinner with Little Lian?”
“Little Lian already made plans with someone else tonight.”
“Someone else?”
Yang Qingqing’s expression suddenly turned strange.
She had deliberately avoided answering directly. Most likely, the “someone else” was some old man.
It was already dinnertime, so Yan Xuan took the initiative to suggest, “Want to try our university cafeteria? My treat.”
“Oh… sure.”
Yang Qingqing secretly resolved to keep an eye on Yan Xuan for her best friend, lest he suddenly return and run into that old man.
The two of them went to the cafeteria and sat down. Yan Xuan brought over a meal and set it on the table.
“As expected of South River University. The cafeteria food is both delicious and cheap. It’s far better than my lousy sports college.”
Looking at the three dishes and soup before her, all of them appetizing in color, aroma, and flavor, Yang Qingqing sighed.
“I regret it. I regret it so much. Why didn’t I study harder in high school?”
Yan Xuan handed her a pair of chopsticks and asked, “Little Lian got into South River University, so her grades in high school must have been pretty good. Didn’t she tutor you?”
“Tutor me? Give me a break. If it weren’t for her, I probably wouldn’t have ended up at that lousy sports college.”
Yang Qingqing began shoveling rice into her mouth as she rambled on.
“Let me tell you, my grades in my first year of high school were actually just barely acceptable. Then I met Fang Lian. Every day, she taught me how to dress, put on makeup, and style myself. In the end, I never even finished memorizing my textbooks, but I learned plenty about cosmetics and luxury goods.
“Now that I think about it, we were really stupid. Neither of us could afford to buy any of that stuff, so what were we wasting our time figuring it out for?”
The moment the words left her mouth, Yang Qingqing realized she had misspoken and hurriedly corrected herself.
“No, no, I mean I couldn’t afford it. Little Lian’s family is quite wealthy…”
Yan Xuan deliberately asked, “If Little Lian’s family was so rich, didn’t she give you any presents?”
“She did, actually!”
“What did she give you?”
“Near the end of our senior year, she gave me a phone for my birthday. It cost more than six thousand yuan.”
Yan Xuan was not surprised. By her senior year of high school, Fang Lian had already begun flirting with him online, and he had transferred nearly a million yuan to her over time. Giving her best friend a phone was nothing.
“Oh, so Little Lian already had plenty of pocket money back in high school.”
“Of course she did. After all, she had such a good ‘daddy’!”
Yang Qingqing pronounced the word “daddy” with unusual emphasis. Then she picked up a piece of bright green vegetable and placed it in Yan Xuan’s bowl.
“Here. Eat more vegetables. They’re healthy!”
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