Yi's Private Stash

"Something's wrong with you," Qing Chen said expressionlessly from inside the hovercar.

"What's wrong with me?" Yi asked.

"If you're going to have an online relationship, why do you specifically target rich and beautiful women from wealthy families?" Qing Chen asked.

"What do you mean by targeting rich and beautiful women from wealthy families? Your wording makes me sound like a criminal. I'm the warden of 25 prisons in the Federation. I have social standing!" Yi raised his voice.

"24 seats, thank you," Qing Chen said.

Prison No. 18 was just destroyed, leaving only 24 prisons remaining.

"Moreover, I suspect you're deliberately targeting me. Knowing I'm involved in the Shadow Struggle, you still made me meet another Shadow Candidate in real life," Qing Chen continued expressionlessly.

Yi explained earnestly, "This was purely accidental. I never do background checks on girls before chatting with them; that would make the friendship impure."

Looking out the window, Qing Chen calmly said, "If you really didn't investigate, how would you know her real name is Qing Shi?"

Yi paused for a moment. "I really need to be careful when chatting with you. I need to start up the backup server group, which is dedicated to calculating language logic."

"Save my breath. What do we do now? I'm getting a little scared of this situation," Qing Chen said, looking down at the floating vehicle. He saw two rows of bodyguards in black suits standing at the entrance of the Yunji Cafe, each wearing sunglasses and a communication headset.

It looked like martial law had been imposed.

"It's alright, you're not trying anything bad about her," Yi said. "You just need to make her believe that such a person really exists in reality."

"Wait a minute, I'm going to meet you in person on your behalf. Aren't you going to give me a headset to remotely direct you? I don't know what to say!" Qing Chen said.

"Look at their setup. It's obvious they'll search you before you go in. If you're going to meet someone in person and they find tiny earplugs on you, what do you think they'll think of you? They might think you're there to assassinate Qing Shi. Don't worry, I can listen in through your phone. If there's any problem, I'll send you a message to alert you," Yi said.

"Then you have to show me your chat history, otherwise what if I'm exposed because of my chat with her?" Qing Chen frowned.

"Um," Yi said, "Chat history is private, how can I just let you see it?"

"Fine, even if you don't want to show me the chat history, you still have to tell me your ID," Qing Chen said.

"You don't need to know that," Yi said.

Qing Chen became suspicious. "Why do I feel like you're worried that if I see your chat history and ID, it will ruin your life? What's there to hide?!"

Yi was getting impatient. "I'm the employer now, and you're going to make a deal with me. Why are you talking so much nonsense?"

"Since you're portrayed as a wandering poet, then send me some of your previous poems. I can't be so clueless that I won't even remember what 'I've' written," Qing Chen said.

"I've never written poetry," Yi said. "Does a wandering poet even need to write poetry?"

"I think you're just afraid I'll laugh at you if you post the poem," Qing Chen said. "No way, I'm going to use the Forbidden Item ACE-005 to change my face before meeting you in real life. I don't want to die with you."

Yi raised her voice again. "No, nobody in the Qing family recognizes you anymore, and you're not Qing Chen anymore. What are you worried about? Besides, I've already sent her your photo, and I can feel that her typing speed has noticeably increased after seeing it! Normally she types 49 words per minute, but after seeing the photo, it's 67 words per minute. That means she's very satisfied!"

Qing Chen is obsessed. Does Artificial Intelligence mean that big data-driven online dating can proceed without restraint?

Just as the two were talking, the hovercar slowly descended. Qing Chen suddenly remembered something. "Wait a minute, who's responsible for any expenses incurred during the meeting in person?!"

"I'll switch the payment method on your phone to my account," Yi said. "All expenses incurred during this period will be charged to my account."

"What if you don't have enough money in your account?" Qing Chen asked.

"Who do you think you are?" Yi said. "I'm a well-known freelance writer throughout the Federation, a senior editor at Hope Media, I am..."

"Speak, keep going, why did you stop?" Qing Chen said, "Let me see how many aliases you have left."

However, Qing Chen was somewhat surprised that even Artificial Intelligence had to work diligently and write articles to save money...

The way they made money was so simple and unpretentious that he thought they could just change the numbers directly from the bank.

"Hurry up and complete the deal between us, or I'll make sure Liu Dezhu rots in jail," Yi said.

"Liu Dezhu exclaimed that he was an expert after hearing this," Qing Chen sighed, "And I was even a little tempted."

Yi gave a final reminder: "One last request: the person you're meeting this time is the daughter of a conglomerate, so don't be stingy with money after you meet her. Don't try to save me any money."

Qing Chen thought to himself, "Even Artificial Intelligence has vanity?"

At this moment, the airship finally landed on the ground.

The two rows of bodyguards at the entrance of Yunji Cafe sprang into action. One row guarded the entrance, while the other slowly approached the hovercar. Two of them reached into their coats, seemingly ready to pull out pistols at any moment.

This isn't Online dating becoming real; it's clearly an underground transaction.

As soon as Qing Chen got out of the car, someone searched him and someone else used a strange pen-shaped detector to scan his entire body.

Only after confirming that he only had a cell phone on him did the bodyguards coldly allow him to pass.

Yunji Cafe faces the street, with only a small storefront on the first floor, but the space suddenly becomes spacious as you walk up the stairs.

There were no waiters in the huge coffee shop, only a young girl with pigtails sitting quietly in a booth, and a middle-aged woman in a waitress supervisor uniform grinding coffee at the bar.

The middle-aged woman's hands were covered in calluses, clearly the marks of years of shooting practice. It seemed that the other person was also Qing Shi's bodyguard, disguised as a waitress.

The woman glanced at Qing Chen: "What would you like to order?"

At this moment, a line of small print appeared on Qing Chen's phone: Order the most expensive one.

Qing Chen looked up at the woman and said, "I want to buy this coffee shop."

His phone screen went haywire, and Yi's emotions became somewhat disjointed.

The woman opposite hesitated for a moment. "We don't sell at the coffee shop."

"Oh, then I'll just have a cup of coffee," Qing Chen said, and walked towards the girl not far away.

The girl with pigtails' eyes lit up when she saw Qing Chen, and she waved and said, "Over here!"

Qing Chen sat down opposite her and asked, "Is it 'Little Whale'?"

Qing Shi asked with a smile, "Is it 'Cute and Adorable'? You look exactly the same as in the photos. I was a little worried when I heard that many people use photo editing to deceive others."

Cute and Adorable...

Qing Chen thought to himself, "Yi doesn't tell me his ID, he's really afraid of getting killed by the community."

And this doesn't seem like the ID of a wandering poet. What wandering poet is called "Cute and Adorable"?!

He scrutinized her closely. The Shadow Candidate named Qing Shi wore a black choker around her fair neck, with a lustrous pearl set in the center.

The girl is indeed very beautiful, meeting Yi's criteria for choosing a friend.

After exchanging IDs, the two fell silent, both seemingly a little reserved.

It seems that it takes time for two people to go from online to real life together.

Qing Chen secretly glanced at her phone and saw a message from Yi: taking the initiative to chat, praising her looks, and breaking the ice.

He looked up at Qing Shi: "You are very beautiful."

"Really?" Qing Shi's reserved expression relaxed. "I thought you wouldn't like my type."

Qing Chen said with difficulty, "I like it, but I'm quite surprised by your identity. I didn't expect our meeting to be so grand."

At this moment, Qing Shi said cautiously, "This trip to City No. 18 was a bit rushed, and I didn't get to tell you beforehand. It also broke our agreement that we would only chat online and not meet in person, so thank you for still being willing to see me. I also want to apologize. I know the bodyguards outside searched you, but there was nothing I could do; it was my father's request."

Qing Chen remained silent, unsure of what to say to fit the "Cute and Adorable" persona.

On her phone, Yi sent another message: Don't sit across from her, go sit next to her, hold her hand and tell her you miss her.

Qing Chen was shocked on the spot. This is what you call pure friendship?

He typed on his phone: This is the price.

The girl stared at Qing Chen with sparkling eyes, seemingly very satisfied. "I thought your photos were edited before, but I didn't expect you to be so handsome in person... But are you really a wandering poet? You don't look like one."

"What kind of image do you have of a wandering poet?" Qing Chen asked.

"You should have long hair and an unkempt appearance," Qing Shi said after thinking for a moment. "But you look very clean, not like someone who's homeless."

Another line of small text appeared on Qing Chen's phone: I just want to wander into your heart.

He glanced down at the small print, then placed his phone face down on the table.

Qing Chen felt that Yi's nickname should not be "Cute and Adorable," but rather "disgusting and wicked."

After taking the phone, Qing Chen ignored Yi's thoughts and went straight to the question that concerned him most, "I just tidied up a bit before coming to see you today. By the way, why did you suddenly come to City No. 18? Also, can someone from your family just meet with me like that?"

"I told you the day before yesterday, I'm Shadow Candidate this year. My second round mission is to come to City No. 18, but I can't tell you the specifics," Qing Shi thought for a moment and explained, "I'm meeting you secretly this time. I told you I needed to meet a collaborator from City No. 18 because of the Shadow Struggle. They don't know about our relationship..."

When Qing Chen saw that the other party had brought up the Shadow Struggle, he pretended to be worried and asked, "The federal media has been continuously reporting on the Shadow Struggle. Are you in danger?"

"No, I won't," Qing Shi said with a smile. "I didn't originally intend to participate in the Shadow Struggle, but this time it's our team's turn to have a spot, and we have to send someone. My father told me to just protect myself and not to bother competing for anything. He just wants me to be safe and sound."