Chapter 7: An Online Friend’s Invitation
Cars with four wheels are really much faster. In just a short while, they arrived near the neighborhood where Lin Muqing lived.
“Well then, see you tomorrow, Boss!”
Before getting out of the car, Lin Muqing didn’t forget to say goodbye to her good buddy, and even gave him a sweet smile.
Holding her lunch box, Lin Muqing happily walked home.
What she didn’t know was that after she left, Ye Ziming kept watching her back, his eyes looking a little deep in thought.
When Lin Muqing had asked him about the maid outfit earlier, he had wanted to say that she actually looked really good in it. He even thought she should wear cute dresses like that.
But he didn’t say it out loud. Instead, he kept thinking in his heart. If only Muqing were a girl.
The moment that thought came up, it was like a bamboo shoot breaking through the ground. It started growing fast in his heart.
“Young master, we’ve arrived,” the driver, Uncle Liu, said softly, reminding Ye Ziming as the car stopped.
“…Mm.”
Snapping back to reality, Ye Ziming rubbed his forehead and forced himself to throw away those strange thoughts.
I can’t believe I was daydreaming about a guy… Just thinking about it gave him the chills. There’s no way Ye Ziming would ever fall for a guy. Even if the sky fell, that wouldn’t happen!
After struggling with those thoughts in his head, he suddenly remembered what Uncle Liu had just said. He frowned slightly and spoke with a bit of displeasure, “Uncle Liu.”
Though his tone was soft, it clearly carried a hint of scolding.
“Ahem… Ziming, we’ve arrived.”
Uncle Liu quickly realized his mistake and coughed, changing the way he addressed him.
“Forget it. Just be more careful.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ye Ziming walked out of the basement garage and headed home as if on autopilot. He had never told anyone that his family owned the entire neighborhood.
In fact, they were currently working on tearing down the old neighborhood next door, which just happened to be where Lin Muqing lived.
On the other side…
Lin Muqing took a bit longer to get home.
That’s because her old-style apartment building didn’t have an elevator. She had to walk up seven floors every time she went out.
“Huff… Dad, Mom, I’m home!”
She opened the door and called out loudly out of habit, then turned on the living room light.
No one answered her, only a photo hanging on the wall greeted her.
In the photo was a young couple standing on either side, and Muqing stood in the middle smiling brightly with a peace sign.
It looked a little creepy to others, but Lin Muqing didn’t feel anything was strange. She naturally put her lunch box on the table and walked toward the bathroom to take a shower before eating.
That summer after the high school entrance exam had been the darkest two months of her life. A car accident took her parents’ lives, only she survived.
Before her mother passed, she had told Lin Muqing something very important. That secret gave Lin Muqing the strength to go on and the reason to take good care of herself.
After showering, eating, and doing some homework, Lin Muqing still had plenty of time left. It was the perfect chance to play an exciting online game.
Time to call up her gaming buddy!
[Muqing: Online now! Let’s go shopping in-game!]
Because she wasn’t very good at the game, didn’t spend money, and was too chill to grind, she mostly just logged in to walk around the in-game stores.
She really enjoyed the game, even losing didn’t bother her much.
Maybe this was what people meant by “bad at games but still obsessed.” The worse she played, the more fun it was.
[Old Iron: I’m here.]
Not long after, her friend replied on QQ.
While they were chatting, Lin Muqing noticed that her friend had already logged into the game.
She had started playing this game back in middle school, and that’s when she met this older gamer who was pretty good at the game. Both of them were chill players who didn’t like grinding, or were just too lazy to do it.
Over time, they became good online buddies, often chatting for fun even when not playing.
[Old Iron: We’ve been playing together for so long. How about we become an in-game couple?]
[Muqing: No way. If you have too much money, I suggest you transfer it to me, I’ll take care of it for you.]
While the two of them were wandering around the game world, Old Iron suddenly sent this message through the friend chat box.
Muqing was not happy when she saw it. The in-game couple system needed a special item that cost over 100 yuan. In her opinion, that was just a waste of money.
Sure, being an in-game couple unlocked some new features and made the game experience better, but Lin Muqing still wasn’t interested.
By the way, Lin Muqing played as a female character. Specifically, a young, cute, almost loli-style girl.
Muqing: Is it wrong to like lolis?! (serious tone)
[Old Iron: I’ll pay for it.]
[Muqing: Here’s my payment QR code.]
[Old Iron: …]
There was a short pause, and the topic was quickly dropped. The two of them continued exploring the fantasy world, casually slashing any slime monsters they came across.
On the other side of the internet, Ye Ziming was staring at the rare items in his in-game backpack. Each one showed how much money he had spent on the game, and it wasn’t a small amount.
But to keep a good friendship with this online buddy, he chose to stay low-key and just enjoy the game together.
[Muqing: Logging off now. Let’s have tea together sometime.]
[Old Iron: Wait a sec, don’t you live in the south part of the city too?]
Seeing that message, Lin Muqing paused. Her mouse hovered over the “Log Out” button, but curiosity made her stay and reply.
[Muqing: Yeah, why?]
[Old Iron: There’s an anime convention coming up in the south. Want to meet up in real life?]
[Muqing: You sure? I’m a 1.8-meter-tall, 160-kg otaku guy, you know.]
She looked at her actual 160cm (5'3") height, her slim waist without any fat, and her thin little legs, then sent that reply.
[Old Iron: It’s fine. It’s just a meet-up.]
Right after that, as if worried Lin Muqing would say no because of ticket costs, he quickly followed up with another message.
[Old Iron: My friend has a connection. We can get in for free.]
When Lin Muqing saw this message, her eyes lit up with sparkles. Free entry to the anime convention? That was amazing.
Even though the anime con in the south side of the city wasn’t that big or fancy, she had been wanting to go for a long time. Every time, the expensive ticket price scared her away.
[Muqing: I’m free all weekend!]
She completely threw away any sense of pride. Right now, she didn’t need it. She just wanted to go to the anime convention.
In all her life, she had never been to one. Every time her online friends talked about their experiences at anime cons, they always had tons of fun stories. She had been dying to go.
[Old Iron: Cool. Let’s meet at the mall entrance at 8 a.m. on Saturday.]
[Muqing: I’ll be there, rain or shine!]
They chatted a bit more, and Lin Muqing ended the conversation with a funny face emoji.
She shut down her computer and lay on her bed. Just thinking about going to her very first anime convention this weekend made her super excited. She rolled around in bed for a while before finally calming down.