And just like that, the two of them were acquainted.
Chen Xanyu struck up a casual conversation with her. “You look really young. Still a student, aren’t you?”
Yu Jinyao grew wary inside, but she mumbled a vague acknowledgment while continuing to eat.
If she could help it, she still didn’t want the three books to overlap with one another, because her personas would clash.
But she also knew that was somewhat unlikely, since this was, after all, the same world.
Chen Xanyu could tell she didn’t want to say more. He raised an eyebrow and smiled understandingly. “Tomorrow’s Monday. Want me to drive you to school?”
“No need, thanks—uh, thank you!”
Getting the answer he’d expected, the warmth in Chen Xanyu’s eyes deepened by a fraction.
“If you don’t mind, just call me Xanyu-ge from now on. I should be a few years older than you.”
Yu Jinyao looked at his handsome face, at the friendly, good-natured demeanor he was putting on, and was actually a little surprised.
But her mind was racing, and her tone relaxed a bit. “Then you can call me—Little Yu.”
“Sure thing, Little Fish.”
The upside of living with someone who had paranoid delusions was that whether it was cooking or doing the dishes, none of it was your problem.
Chen Xanyu put on an apron and headed to the kitchen to busy himself with practiced ease, while Yu Jinyao naturally retreated to her room.
She opened her phone and checked her unread messages.
[Jinjin’s Star: Sister, I missed you so much~]
[Jinjin’s Star: kitten acting cute.jpg]
[Jinjin’s Star: Eating dinner? Jinjin baby, I really want to video call you…]
[Jinjin’s Star: || 3]
The girl instinctively tapped the voice message.
Then, expressionless, she turned the volume down while the tips of her ears flushed red.
The sticky-sweet voice seemed to have contaminated her phone anyway, and she pulled out a few tissues to wipe the speaker grille.
Shen Xinghe sent her messages every day, but only sent voice messages every couple of days, and video calls once a week.
She didn’t know if it was some standard technique for keeping big spenders happy that all the voice chat rooms taught, but this young master, who had been pampered for over a decade, had gotten remarkably good at it.
[Jinjin: one hand covering face.jpg]
[Jinjin: Just finished eating. I miss you too~]
Shen Xinghe looked at the message she’d sent, as if he could picture the girl on the other end, frowning slightly while typing out that tilde.
The corner of his lips couldn’t help but curl up—only to flatten again when a group message popped up on his computer screen.
The boy pressed his lips together. In the small room where the curtains were always drawn, only the glow of the screen lit his face.
A flicker of disgust passed through his pitch-black pupils. Disgust at himself.
But he had no choice but to lean closer to his phone again, lower his voice, and send a voice message.
“Sister, can you come see me today? I’ll sing ‘Bright Moon, Far Horizons’ for you, okay?”
The boy’s voice was clear and pleasant, carrying a warm, smiling quality when he spoke normally.
Neither as steeped in desire as last night, nor as clingy and saccharine as that earlier voice message.
Yu Jinyao really liked listening to him sing.
Besides, her task was to help him get through his difficulties and return to the country to make trouble for the real young master.
[Jinjin: Okay.]
Shen Xinghe worked as a voice model on a niche voice chat platform called MS.
The first time Yu Jinyao entered their room, [Evening Breeze Tales], Shen Xinghe had the best voice of all—but also the worst audio quality.
Because at the time, Shen Xinghe was hiding from pursuers, squeezed into a kind local’s storage closet, singing raw into his phone.
Later, as Yu Jinyao tipped him more and more, he could afford to rent a place and buy equipment.
Slowly, with his quality voice and singing ability, he’d accumulated some fans.
“Welcome home, Sister Jinjin!”
The host on the mic greeted her with the usual enthusiasm. Yu Jinyao didn’t waste words and dropped a round of all-mic gifts first.
[Wanna Get Rich Today tipped all-mic Starry Night (1000 diamonds) x1]
An all-mic gift was a hundred yuan, enough to feed Shen Xinghe’s coworkers and get them through their quotas.
“Wow, Sister Jinjin is so generous!”
“Thank you, Sister Jinjin! You’re my god, ahhh!”
“Boo-hoo, how is Xingxing so lucky?! Having such an amazing girlfriend, ahhh!”
“Jealousy has disfigured me beyond recognition…”
Jinjin was Xingxing’s online girlfriend—the whole room knew it.
And because of that, Shen Xinghe never attracted any new big-spender patrons, only a scattering of small listeners who liked hearing him sing.
Hearing the wailing gratitude on the mic, Shen Xinghe wasn’t happy at all.
Every time Jinjin came to the room, those men swarmed like flies drawn to the smell of meat, even more excited and eager than he was—the actual boyfriend.
He didn’t like seeing Yu Jinyao gift other people either.
Not because of the money—hadn’t he lived through days of extravagance and extravagance? Even now, fallen into the mud and aware of money’s importance, he had no obsession with it.
He’d rather spend his own money on all-mic gifts than watch Jinjin gift other men.
But these little thoughts, he also felt, were a bit unreasonable.
Unworthy of being voiced, and they’d only ruin Jinjin’s impression of him.
Shen Xinghe turned on his microphone, his gentle and clear voice drowning out the wailing and howling from the other mics.
“Back off, Jinjin is my baby.”
His voice carried a hint of laughter, but his face remained expressionless.
Only when his gaze fell on the cartoon puppy avatar did his expression soften slightly.
“What does Jinjin want to hear? Still ‘Bright Moon at the Horizon’?”
“Get Rich Today: Mm-hmm.”
Shen Xinghe’s voice was best suited for this kind of traditional-style song, though he sounded wonderful singing anything else.
As soon as the intro began, Yu Jinyao was already rubbing her hands together, ready to send gifts.
Actually, she was pretty happy about it.
In real life, she had never spent money in voice chat rooms or livestreams because she couldn’t afford it.
This time was different—she was spending with a mission, so she felt completely at ease.
“Only in this world of rivers and lakes, young and bold, I love to roam the world
With grudges and debts in youth, light sword and swift horse…”
Yu Jinyao clicked through all the expensive gifts without even blinking.
“Get Rich Today tipped W.Star Rose Manor (13,140 diamonds) x1”
“Get Rich Today tipped W.Star Confession Balloon (13,140 diamonds) x1”
“Get Rich Today tipped W.Star Romantic Castle (22,660 diamonds) x1”
…
“Get Rich Today tipped W.Star Vast Galaxy (30,000 diamonds) x1”
No one spoke while Shen Xinghe was singing; everyone was screaming excitedly in the public chat.
“W.Zhiyu: Damn, Xinghe got fed again!”
“W.Xiahe: Thank you, Sister Jinjin, for all the gifts! The effects are so pretty~”
“W.Nian’an: Ahhh, why isn’t such a good baby my girlfriend…”
Shen Xinghe finished the song, and his voice seemed to carry a hint of a smile.
“Thank you, baby…”
The gifts didn’t stop.
“Get Rich Today tipped W.Star Vast Galaxy (30,000 diamonds) x10”
“Get Rich Today: Picking you up from work~”