That evening, Xu Yuan took a shower and lay in bed.
The air conditioner hummed. She rolled over, then rolled again, twisted the blanket into a cocoon, then loosened it. Finally, she picked up her phone.
She opened WeChat, switched to her alternate account, and stared at that black square avatar for a few seconds.
Would Yan Ting think she was some weirdo who added him on WeChat and then never said anything?
Or had he not even noticed there was a new person in his friend list?
With that “the sky could fall and it’s none of my business” attitude of his, it was probably the latter.
She bit her lip. Money is hard to earn, shit is hard to eat.
To scrape together the money to buy Brother Shuqing a gift and confess her feelings, she had to go all in!
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [Bro, want to chat for five bucks’ worth?]
After sending it, there was no reply for a long time.
Xu Yuan stared at the ceiling, thinking, was that too flippant?
Then she decided it was fine.
Her friend request message had been a hundred times more flippant than this. Why worry about one line now?
He was probably asleep.
Just as she was about to scroll through videos, his reply came through.
Yan: [Five bucks isn’t enough.]
Xu Yuan sat up in bed.
Well, that’s new. This guy was actually joking with her?
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [Then name your price]
Yan: [First tell me what you can talk about.]
Staring at that line, the corners of Xu Yuan’s mouth slowly curled up.
He wasn’t rejecting her—he was negotiating.
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [I can talk about anything]
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [I know astronomy above, geography below, and gossip in between. Feelings, life, dreams—all fine. I even know about Little Wang next door.]
Yan: [Why is Old Wang next door called Little Wang?]
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [Little Wang is the dog Old Wang keeps]
Yan: [Oh.]
Yan: [What did Little Wang eat tonight?]
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [Old Wang’s dog food, of course! Little Wang has principles—he doesn’t eat other people’s dog food.]
Yan: [What about you?]
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [What about me?]
Yan: [What did you eat?]
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [??? I feel like you’re calling me a dog]
Yan: [You’re overthinking it. I’m just asking what you ate.]
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [I had noodles—super delicious, best in the whole city!]
There was a minute of silence on the other end.
Yan: [You really like noodles?]
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [No, my family runs—]
She almost typed “runs a noodle shop,” but thankfully she stopped herself in time.
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [Not my family’s shop—it’s downstairs from my building. But I eat there so often the owner says I’m an unofficial employee]
Yan: [Do unofficial employees get paid?]
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [Yeah. One bowl of noodles, free of charge.]
Yan: [Then you’re making a profit.]
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [I think so too]
Xu Yuan looked at the screen, feeling pleased with herself.
She’d thought Yan Ting would be so aloof it’d make her want to smash her phone, but surprisingly, the conversation was flowing smoothly.
His replies were short, sure, but every one of them picked up her thread—no sense of him brushing her off.
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [Handsome, what are you doing this summer?]
Yan: [Staying home.]
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [Not going out?]
Yan: [No.]
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [Why?]
A few seconds passed.
Yan: [Can’t be bothered.]
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [Then what do you do at home?]
Yan: [Play games. Sleep. Get yelled at.]
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [Yelled at for what?]
No reply for a long time.
When the reply finally came, five minutes had passed.
Yan: [How old are you?]
Xu Yuan froze.
Weren’t they talking about him getting yelled at?
That was quite a sharp turn in the conversation.
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [20.] And she added offhandedly, [Why do you ask?]
Yan didn’t answer, but the next question came right after: [Which school?]
School? Say B University? That would basically be telling him which city she was in.
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [Just an ordinary university, you wouldn’t have heard of it]
Yan: [Try me.]
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [It’s just a second-tier school, not worth mentioning.]
She laughed it off and changed the subject.
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [What about you? Do you have a girlfriend?]
Yan: [No.]
The corners of Xu Yuan’s mouth lifted. Strike while the iron is hot.
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [Then do I have a chance?]
If Yan Ting said yes—even a perfunctory “maybe”—that would prove he wasn’t averse to girls, and it would also prove he wasn’t the gay man her brother suspected.
Half the mission would be accomplished.
Twenty thousand yuan was right in front of her.
She stared at the screen, waiting for the answer.
Yan: [Send a photo, let me see.]
The smile froze on her lips.
A photo?
There was no way she could send him a photo.
They’d seen each other at the campus gate last time.
She didn’t know if he remembered her, but if he did, he’d realize that “Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods” was Xu Shen’s little sister.
Then where would her brother’s pride go?
How would she complete her mission?
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [I’m not really in a position to right now]
After typing that, she felt the excuse was too flimsy, so she added another line.
Wishing on Myself Beats Praying to Gods: [Just tell me—do I have a chance or not?]
She clutched her phone in her palm, waiting for an answer—one that would let her call it a day.
Yan: 【I don’t do online dating.】
Before Xu Yuan could string together her next sentence, another message came through.
Yan: 【Going to sleep.】
Xu Yuan glanced at the time. It wasn’t even eleven yet.
Wish Upon a God, Not Xu Yuan: 【This early?】
Wish Upon a God, Not Xu Yuan: 【Well then, sweet dreams~】
Wish Upon a God, Not Xu Yuan: 【Make sure I’m in them.】
Yan: 【Wouldn’t that make it a nightmare?】
Xu Yuan stared at that line and rolled her eyes.
So smug. Once she finished her mission, she was blocking him.
No, deleting him. Permanently.
Wish Upon a God, Not Xu Yuan: 【You’re so mean.】
She hit send, then realized—her brother had told her he didn’t like girls who acted clingy.
She couldn’t use that tone again.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the city.
The noise of the bar street was just starting to heat up at this hour.
Yan Ting leaned against his motorcycle in the alley, the glow of his phone screen casting shifting light and shadow across his cold, expressionless face.
He looked down at the last message in the chat—staring at the words “You’re so mean”—and the corner of his mouth curved up slightly.
Whether he was laughing at that lunatic for actually buying his nonsense, or at himself for chatting with some stranger for nearly half an hour, he couldn’t say.
The bar door swung open, and a burst of raucous music spilled out before being cut off as the door swung shut again.
Shen Xing stumbled out, spotting Yan Ting leaning against the motorcycle at a glance.
He walked over, slung an arm around Yan Ting’s shoulder without a word, and craned his neck to peek at the screen.
“Ooh, chatting up a girl?”
Yan Ting’s finger moved, and the screen went dark.
“Who is she?” Shen Xing grinned slyly. “Someone from your school?”
“Online friend.” Yan Ting slipped the phone into his pocket.
Shen Xing fished a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, put one in his own mouth, and offered another to Yan Ting.
Yan Ting took it but didn’t light it right away, twirling it between his fingers.
“Online friend?” Shen Xing flicked the lighter, lighting Yan Ting’s cigarette first, then his own, exhaling a plume of white smoke. “You met in person?”
Yan Ting put the cigarette between his lips, took a drag, and let the smoke drift out, blurring his features.
“No.”
Shen Xing leaned against the other side of the motorcycle. “You’re bold, chatting without meeting first? What if they’re actually a guy? There are tons of scammers out there these days.”