After arranging the sparring schedule, Chen Jia finished her cake, checked the time, and saw it was almost up, so she logged on early to wait for the group to assemble.
The guild territory was already bustling with people—almost every member of the guild had shown up. As the guild quests began, most of the people standing around AFK in the territory dispersed, hurrying to complete their tasks.
Someone familiar invited Chen Jia to a team, and she accepted.
It was a forty-person raid group.
Chen Jia had no intention of turning on her mic. This kind of guild war had two commanders, usually led by two vice-leaders, with everyone else’s mics muted. But since there were still ten minutes before the war started, some people had been given mic permissions by the team leader, and their microphone icons were lit up white.
Chen Jia heard “Xiao Yu Didi” speaking: Peach is here.
Chen Jia’s in-game ID was Peach. Hearing her call her out and even give her mic permissions, Chen Jia still had no intention of speaking.
She wasn’t familiar with this Xiao Yu Didi anyway—what was there to respond to?
She typed: 111.
At that moment, the other commander took over the conversation, and the two chatted freely among themselves in front of over thirty people.
Chen Jia muted her mic, immediately unable to hear their voices. She scrolled through her phone for a bit, and by three minutes before the war started, she noticed that three people were missing from the team.
By then, quite a few people in the team were spamming question marks. The chat box was scrolling extremely fast, with people also spamming emotes.
Chen Jia turned her mic audio back on and frantically scrolled up through the chat history, but everyone’s messages were flying by too quickly. By the time she finally reached the top, she hadn’t found anything useful.
The guild war had already begun. Despite missing three people, the two commanders calmly executed the original plan, and everyone followed along.
The opposing guild wasn’t strong to begin with. Within half an hour, Chen Jia’s side had captured the stronghold, secured a high score, and won directly. Only then did she quickly switch over to the WeChat guild group to catch up on the drama.
The chat history wasn’t easy to scroll through, but from the chatter of various people, Chen Jia gathered that a healer named Yueliang Chuan had gotten into an argument with Xiao Yu Didi. It started when Yueliang Chuan typed that she wished Xiao Yu Didi would just shut up. Then Xiao Yu Didi responded to her over the mic and even gave Yueliang Chuan mic permissions. That was the last straw—Yueliang Chuan went off on the mic, saying that back when the game had just launched, the two of them had been in the same Blood Oath Alliance. Xiao Yu Didi had been very polite when she first joined, but once they got familiar, she started sowing discord, driving away everyone in the alliance. After that, Xiao Yu Didi ran off to a different alliance. Yueliang Chuan also said she had most of the chat logs of Xiao Yu Didi’s troublemaking.
The group was buzzing with heated discussion over the chat logs Yueliang Chuan had posted. Some sided with Yueliang Chuan, some sided with Xiao Yu Didi, and some took a neutral stance, saying everyone should just let it go.
The guild leader, Qin Qin, was a wealthy young woman studying abroad. Due to the time difference, she generally didn’t participate in guild management. When she showed up in the group, it was usually to hand out perks. There were three vice-leaders—two men and one woman. Two of them organized the guild wars: one was the male doctor from City 32a, whose in-game ID was Chunfeng, and the other was someone Chen Jia wasn’t very familiar with, whose in-game ID was Jiangjun. The female vice-leader, Yueyue, was the guild leader’s friend back home and rarely chatted. Jiangjun was the most talkative of the vice-leaders, very skilled at livening up the atmosphere—things like filming guild promotional videos and organizing various events were all his doing.
Since the WeChat group couldn’t enable mute mode, Jiangjun had already spammed the chat with multiple messages, telling Xiao Yu Didi and Yueliang Chuan to take their argument to a private group. Chunfeng showed up and sent red packets, and only then did the gossip chatter in the group gradually die down as people started making plans to run dungeons or go shopping together.
Chunfeng truly lived up to being someone on Chen Jia’s contact list—loaded with money.
Five red packets of two hundred yuan each, sent back to back, turned the group from a heated argument into a wall of messages reading: “Thanks boss, boss is generous!” scrolling across the screen.
Chen Jia counted up how much she’d grabbed from the red packets and was surprised to find she’d gotten over two hundred yuan.
She went to check the guild war group, where Chunfeng had also sent two hundred yuan in red packets. This time, Chen Jia managed to grab 26 yuan.
She happily took a screenshot and sent it to Wang Xiaobao, a good friend she got along well with in the game: Holy crap, Chunfeng’s got serious money.
Wang Xiaobao: [Screenshot] [Screenshot]
Wang Xiaobao: I only got a little over fifty total from both groups’ red packets! Damn!
Chen Jia: LOL, so satisfying. Hope they fight more often, then Chunfeng will send even bigger red packets next time.
Wang Xiaobao: Never thought Xiao Yu Didi would have drama like this. I was actually pretty close with her a while back—scary. Good thing I never told her anything ( )
Chen Jia and Wang Xiaobao were two peas in a pod, getting along perfectly, and they’d privately trash-talked several people in the guild behind their backs.
Chen Jia wasn’t worried about Wang Xiaobao exposing her either, because Wang Xiaobao had said plenty herself. And Chen Jia never cleared her chat history.
Wang Xiaobao: Uncle Chunfeng’s got real money, but I’ve never seen Jiangjun send red packets. You joined the guild before me—have you ever seen him send any?
As for Jiangjun, he’d tried to flirt with Chen Jia a few times shortly after she joined the guild, but since she didn’t like his whiny, high-pitched voice, she’d always been cold and distant toward him, and Jiangjun eventually stopped bothering her.
But because Jiangjun was enthusiastic about hyping up the group atmosphere and was a high-powered player who came across as approachable, he had plenty of girls buzzing around him.
Chen Jia: No, why are you asking?
Wang Xiaobao: He’s been saying all sorts of stuff to me lately. I feel like he’s trying to flirt with me, but I don’t think much of him—he’s got way too many girls around him.
Chen Jia: True. He’s got all those girls around him but hasn’t gotten into a relationship, and he likes getting chummy with them. I think he definitely has a partner in real life.
Wang Xiaobao: That’s what I think too! This guy’s so weird… kitten question mark.jpg
Chen Jia had only been chatting with Wang Xiaobao for a few minutes when Chen Yue walked over and handed her phone to Chen Jia. “I’m done playing. Pay me.”
Chen Jia transferred eight yuan to Chen Yue and watched her head back to her room. She thought for a moment, then ordered four cups of milk tea for Abs Guy, and also ordered two cups for herself and her sister.
Twenty minutes later, Chen Jia had already showered and was lying in bed when she received a message from Abs Guy: Why did you order milk tea for me and my roommates?!
Chen Jia: I thought this flavor was really good, so I wanted you to try it too~
Abs Guy: You didn’t have to order that many, it’s wasteful. My roommates don’t even drink milk tea. Next time you don’t need to order for them, and you don’t need to order for me either.
Chen Jia: It’s no big deal. Did you try it? Do you like the flavor?
Abs Guy: I like everything you order!
Chen Jia: cat rolling around
After flirting with Abs Guy, Chen Jia noticed that today’s paid companion client hadn’t sent any messages. She thought about sending a funny video over, but decided against it in the end.
At this moment, his sister finished showering and knocked on Chen Jia’s door. Chen Jia went over and opened it. “What’s wrong?”
Chen Yue remembered that there was a parent-teacher conference next Friday and said, “Sis, do you have time next Friday evening? The school is holding a parent-teacher conference.”
With their parents away, as the eldest sister, even the socially anxious Chen Jia had to tough it out. Besides, Chen Yue’s grades were decent—she wasn’t sitting at the last desk—so it shouldn’t be a big problem.
She sent Chen Yue off, then suddenly sprang up from the bed like a fish leaping, walked to the wardrobe, and checked if there were any clothes that looked elegant. After a look, the two long dresses she bought last year were already out of style, so she picked out two woolen skirts online.
Abs Guy’s call came in again. Xu An’an saw that everyone in the dorm was still awake, but they were all studying. He didn’t want to disturb them, so he walked to the entrance of the hallway to talk to Chen Jia.
The sound on Chen Jia’s end was much quieter—no background noise like the traffic sounds from the street during their daytime calls. Only in the tranquil night did Chen Jia’s voice sound even softer and gentler.
Chen Jia was telling him that she had to go out next Friday and wouldn’t have time to get on the game.
Xu An’an said, “No problem, I can just do your dailies for you, right?”
Remembering that Xu An’an had mentioned having an exam last time, Chen Jia declined. “You focus on your studying first. I can find a booster, or ask someone from the guild to help me play.”
Was it necessary? It wasn’t some hidden quest, and hiring a booster for a day wasn’t expensive. Xu An’an’s account had been handled by boosters recently—three hundred yuan a month, covering all the daily dungeons and boosting combat power. There was no need for Xu An’an to reinstall the game he’d uninstalled just to do Chen Jia’s dailies.
Seeing that Chen Jia’s gentle voice was full of insistence, Xu An’an had no choice but to agree. “Then after I finish my exams, I’ll help boost your combat power.”
Xu An’an asked her, “Have you showered yet? I haven’t. Are we still staying on the call tonight to sleep together?”
Ever since he and Chen Jia confirmed their relationship, they’d been on call every day, though not talking every second. Most of the time, the mic was just left on without being muted, each of them busy with their own things.
Chen Jia could hear the voices of Xu An’an’s dormmates, and Xu An’an could hear the sounds of Chen Jia drinking water and the clatter of her typing on her phone.
Chen Jia said she was going to sleep with her sister tonight, and after a few more words, they hung up.
Xu An’an looked at the black screen of his phone and inexplicably felt a tightness in his chest. He didn’t know what this feeling was—was it the loss of having gotten used to staying on call with Chen Jia, a habit that was hard to break?
Yan Qinggong from the same dorm walked out of the elevator and saw Xu An’an standing there, head lowered, looking like he wasn’t in a great mood.
He walked up and patted his shoulder. “What are you standing here catching the wind for?”
Xu An’an snapped back to reality and, seeing it was Yan Qinggong, relaxed. “You scared me. I was just standing here talking to my girlfriend on the phone.”
Yan Qinggong had naturally heard of Chen Jia’s reputation, and he scoffed inwardly.
He’d never seen a beautiful woman do a long-distance online romance. A beauty just needed to crook her finger and a flood of people would chase after her. Ugly girls had plenty of ugly guys around them; gorgeous girls had plenty of rich guys around them.
Someone like Xu An’an doing an online romance was just bizarre.
He himself never did online dating. Every day he’d go out for a stroll, and bold beauties would come up to add him on WeChat. In his mind, Chen Jia was just some plain, chubby girl who couldn’t find anyone in real life and could only fish online.
Although Xu An’an wasn’t as good-looking as Chen Jia, this wasn’t his first relationship either—so why was he acting like he’d completely lost his mind?
Thinking about it, he seriously wondered if Xu An’an had been put under some kind of spell. As a close roommate, he didn’t just mind his own business like before, but asked, “So you two are just going to keep being in a long-distance relationship forever?”
If they never brought up meeting in person, then there was a good chance Chen Jia wasn’t serious about Xu An’an.
Unexpectedly, Xu An’an said, “No way, I actually said we could meet up in Country X during the National Day holiday and hang out together. Jiajia said she’d come visit me after I finish my exams.”
Oh ho, Yan Qinggong was a bit surprised. “Want us brothers to go with you to meet her? I’m afraid you’ll get your organs harvested.”
Xu An’an laughed out loud. “What are you doing? She’s not scared—she’s the one coming to see me proactively. I definitely trust her. It’s just that this is our first meeting, and the necklace I asked my sister to buy for me in Country X has been out of stock. I’m still thinking about whether I should get something else instead, but I can’t think of anything else Jiajia would like, because I think that necklace is really beautiful and would suit her perfectly.”
As he spoke, he pulled up the picture and showed it to Yan Qinggong. Yan Qinggong took the phone, didn’t swipe left or right, but stared at the necklace for a moment, then said, “I’ll make a call later and ask for you. I’m sure they have it in stock.”
Xu An’an was third-generation wealthy—born already ahead of eighty percent of the country’s population at the starting line. But his roommate Yan Qinggong and the others weren’t ordinary people either. According to rumors, Yan Qinggong’s grandfather was General Yan, and his grandmother was a former minister. His family had serious connections, so naturally he had more channels than Xu An’an. Xu An’an didn’t stand on ceremony. “As expected, Brother Qing has a way.”
Yan Qinggong didn’t think Chen Jia was a gold digger either. Although the value of that necklace, to Chen Jia, was money she could never earn in a lifetime, in his eyes, it was just a trinket—something that could even be thrown away.
Xu An’an suddenly touched his stomach. “I’ve been busy studying these past few days and haven’t worked out. I feel like I’ve lost two of my abs.”
Yan Qinggong: “…”