Liu Yue slowly closed her eyes. Mentally and physically exhausted, she felt a hint of drowsiness wash over her. She wanted to sleep well, and when she woke up, it would be a brand new day.
A vibration sound—doot—rang out.
She weakly groped around nearby. Not wanting to get up, she slowly fumbled until, two minutes later, she finally found her phone.
Opening Penguin, she saw it was a message from Chen Xiaoyan.
The first sentence asked why she hadn’t logged into the game today.
The second sentence…
Liu Yue frowned, and anger instantly rose in her heart.
What do you mean, “I kind of like you”?
Was she playing dumb with her?
Come to think of it, she always did this. Whether it was Chong Chong or Mu Qingxue, she never gave a clear response.
What did that mean?
Did she want to string all three of them along at the same time?
At that moment, a word popped into Liu Yue’s mind.
Sea King!
No, she should be Sea Queen.
And the three of them were just pitiful fish in her vast ocean.
No, she had to ask this question seriously, without giving her any chance to escape.
Then, Liu Yue sent two messages in a row.
Chen Xiaoyan: “No problem, no trouble. Will you be online tomorrow?”
Seeing her reply, Liu Yue gritted her teeth.
There she goes again. She was trying to weasel her way out again.
Just as Liu Yue was about to question her again, a new message from Chen Xiaoyan suddenly arrived.
This message left her a bit at a loss, unsure how to answer. The determination she had built up wavered, and her courage once again failed her.
Chen Xiaoyan: “Xiaoyue, do you like me?”
Liu Yue didn’t answer her. Actually, she was afraid to answer.
Right now, only two paths lay before her: either she didn’t like her, or she did. There was no third option.
Otherwise, they would just go back to square one.
Chen Xiaoyan: “You there?”
Chen Xiaoyan: “If you don’t say anything, I’ll video call you.”
Video call?
That startled Liu Yue. She quickly sat up, pulled out a makeup mirror from the bedside drawer, and checked if her appearance needed fixing.
She had shed a few tears earlier, and her face had turned into a little mess.
If she saw her like this…
Suddenly, Liu Yue made an inexplicable decision on this matter: she absolutely could not let Chen Xiaoyan initiate a video call.
A woman adorns herself for the one she loves. In front of the person they like, girls usually put their appearance first, and everything else takes a back seat.
Since she couldn’t let her send a video, she had to reply instead.
Liu Yue typed three characters in the Penguin input box: “Not like.”
Then she held down the send button, but didn’t let go.
She gritted her teeth and held it for about a minute, still not releasing it. Her mind was a battlefield of conflicting thoughts, unable to make up her mind.
“Aiyah!” Liu Yue couldn’t stand her own indecisiveness when it came to feelings. She threw her phone onto the pillow.
She grabbed at her hair, a wave of irritation washing over her.
Then the phone rang with a voice call alert. Chen Xiaoyan was really calling her.
She calmed down, picked up the phone, and pressed decline.
Silently, she deleted the words “not like” from the input box, replaced them with something else, and sent it.
She closed her eyes nervously, waiting quietly for the reply.
Doot.
Liu Yue snapped her eyes open and looked at the chat interface to see Chen Xiaoyan’s response.
Chen Xiaoyan: “Hehe, what a coincidence. I like Xiaoyue too.”
The original conflicting thoughts in her mind were instantly crushed by a pink little person who trampled all over the white little person, winning a glorious victory. Liu Yue’s lips curled up involuntarily, and her mood was extremely joyful.
Hmm?
Wait.
She suddenly snapped back to reality. What kind of “like” was this?
What if this was her wordplay again? Then… no, she couldn’t get too happy too soon. She had to clarify.
Liu Yue: “Xiaoyan, don’t play word games with me, okay? I’m serious.”
Chen Xiaoyan: “Huh? I’m serious too. You don’t believe me?”
Liu Yue: “I’m afraid this is another misunderstanding, and I’m just flattering myself.”
Chen Xiaoyan: “Pfft…”
Chen Xiaoyan: “Xiaoyue, actually, I didn’t mean anything else when I said I’d give you the Qingxin Ring just now. Now I can tell you: yes, I had ulterior motives. I gave it to you because I wanted to hook up with you.”
Liu Yue: “What are you even saying?!”
Chen Xiaoyan: “I was afraid you didn’t like me, and I was scared of losing you, so I didn’t tell the truth. After all, not everyone can accept this kind of twisted relationship, and you’re the heiress of the Liu family. That’s why I was worried.”
She had feelings for her. She liked her.
It was all just a misunderstanding before.
Ah, well.
Why was she always involved in misunderstandings?
Liu Yue didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
But for now, could she at least be happy for a moment?
So she covered her face with both hands and laughed happily out loud, her mouth almost twisting sideways.
Doot.
The vibration notification from Penguin pulled her out of her ecstatic state.
Liu Yue held up her phone with both hands to look.
Chen Xiaoyan: “Why are you not talking again? This habit of yours is bad—I’ll start overthinking.”
Seeing this, Liu Yue let out a coquettish hmph. Hmph! Couldn’t she wait a bit?
After making me cry for so long, the least you can do is suffer for a while. Only then would she feel relieved.
Liu Yue: “Xiaoyan, are you for real? You need to think it through. From now on, I’ll be clinging to you. Think twice.”
Chen Xiaoyan: “What’s there to think about? This Emperor’s mind is made up. My beloved consort, spare me your words.”
Liu Yue smiled wryly: “Oh, calling yourself Emperor now? What’s this, does our dear Xiaoyan also dream of a harem of three thousand beauties?”
Chen Xiaoyan: “Cough, just kidding, just kidding.”
Liu Yue: “Really? I feel like you’re serious, and you’re already working on it.”
Hearing Liu Yue so clearly hint that she was juggling three boats, Chen Xiaoyan was a bit embarrassed and didn’t know how to respond.
Chen Xiaoyan: “Well…”
Liu Yue: “Stop with the ‘well…’ Let’s settle it happily then. From now on, even if you try to get rid of me, you can’t. Because you brought this on yourself today.”
Chen Xiaoyan: “Get rid of you? Xiaoyue, are you trying to make me laugh? A girl as ethereal as a fairy, with beauty that makes fish sink and geese fall, the moon hide and flowers blush, a beauty that can topple cities and nations—I want to keep you by my side for life.”
Liu Yue: “Sweet talk won’t work.”
Chen Xiaoyan: “I’m speaking from my heart.”
Liu Yue: “Yeah, yeah, sure.”
Liu Yue: “Oh, I forgot to tell you something. My mom took my game helmet. She said she won’t give it back until she meets you.”
Chen Xiaoyan: “What happened? So that’s why you weren’t online today—your helmet was confiscated.”
Liu Yue: “Because I wanted to help you deal with Qin Wushuang.”
Chen Xiaoyan: “??? How did you know about that?”
Liu Yue: “Shh—don’t ask. It’s a secret.”
Chen Xiaoyan: “…”
Then, Liu Yue told Chen Xiaoyan everything that had happened that morning.
Chen Xiaoyan: “That’s pretty cheesy. So, your mom agreed?”
Liu Yue: “I don’t know. Judging from her attitude, it seemed like she agreed, but she didn’t show it in front of Dad. Maybe she’ll show her hand once you come over.”
Chen Xiaoyan: “Okay, I’ll find a time to come by.”
Liu Yue: “You said before that you wanted to come to Kyoto to hang out with me. I’ve waited so long. Have you ever come?”
Chen Xiaoyan: “This time for sure. For sure.”