Online Romance

All morning, Bai Hui didn't say another word to Liu Chang'an or even glance at him. She thought he was doing it on purpose. He'd already realized she'd been sneaking looks at him, so now he was deliberately making things awkward for her. It was embarrassing.

By comparison, her two underlings, Lu Yuan and Qian Ning, were more obedient. At noon, after Liu Chang'an and An Nuan went out to eat, Bai Hui called Miao Yingying over, and the three of them observed the drawing Liu Chang'an had made on his desk.

"It has to be Bai Hui!" Qian Ning said angrily, certain of it.

"Exactly! How could it be a white swan? It's obviously saying that a toad wants to eat swan meat. Who would bother specifying a white swan in that saying? A swan is a swan, whether it's black or white!" Lu Yuan declared. "He's confessing his feelings. He likes Bai Hui."

As soon as Lu Yuan finished speaking, Qian Ning smacked him.

Hearing that explanation made Bai Hui a little pleased, but she couldn't be sure just yet, so she turned to look at Miao Yingying.

"Just leave him alone. We're about to graduate. What's the point of competing?" Miao Yingying muttered with a frown. "I'm the one who's unlucky. I'm sitting next to Gao Dewei, and today, while I was doing a test, he actually leaned over to take a look. Then he stared at me with this completely baffled expression, shaking his head and saying something like, 'Now that Liu Chang'an's gone, there's no one to discuss problems with.'"

"Did he mean, 'How can someone be this stupid?'" Qian Ning burst out laughing. His grades were decent, even if he couldn't compete with a Mount Hua Sword Summit champion like Gao Dewei.

Miao Yingying kicked Qian Ning. Bai Hui smiled faintly. "What are you complaining about? You're sitting so close to Lin Xinhuai. The two of you are gazing at each other affectionately with An Nuan between you."

"You're dead..." Miao Yingying cried, playfully hitting her.

Liu Chang'an and An Nuan were still eating at the same restaurant as last time. Gao Dewei had been summoned by Teacher Liu to enjoy a special tutoring session over a nourishing soup.

"To make bird's nest soup, you soak the nest in boiling water from a mountain spring. These days, naturally carbonated water is best. Then you pick it over with a silver needle and cook it with tender chicken broth, ham broth, and mushroom broth. The finished bird's nest should be jade-colored, neither oily nor greasy. From what I saw, Gao Dewei's had even more supplements added. It might be nourishing, but it probably doesn't taste as good," Liu Chang'an told An Nuan.

"Just eat your fast food and stop worrying about bird's nest." An Nuan picked the beef out of the sour soup beef she'd ordered and put it in Liu Chang'an's bowl. She only liked the wood-ear mushrooms, bean sprouts, and shredded bamboo shoots in it; it was mostly vegetables anyway, with only a few slices of beef. "Besides, science has proven that bird's nest is just bird saliva, some gel, and protein. Eating it is just another example of traditional superstition."

"Using so-called scientific analysis to judge every controversial subject is itself a kind of superstition. Believing in science can be superstition too... Everyone knows that excessive lust makes men lose their kidney energy, but all they actually lose is some protein and water. They can make it right back with a cup of soy milk. But does that really happen?" Liu Chang'an shook his head.

"Keep your voice down!" An Nuan glanced around, her face reddening. Most of the diners here were students from Fu High School. The rumors about the two of them hadn't died down. Did they really want people spreading rumors that Liu Chang'an and An Nuan had become so overindulgent after getting together?

Rumors didn't need any basis in fact. It all depended on how the people spreading them wanted to embellish things.

Liu Chang'an smiled. Girls looked lovely when they were embarrassed. An Nuan sat by the window, where a pot of orchid grass rested on the sill, its dense leaves like An Nuan's eyelashes. Her eyes flickered shyly, her delicate nose was straight, and she bit down on a slick, glistening wood-ear mushroom with her rosy lips. Her neck was as graceful as a swan's, and her newly developed figure was slender and lovely. Her slim waist, especially, embodied everything men imagined as beautiful in a young girl: lightness, vitality, and softness.

"Let me ask you something. Be honest with me." An Nuan stared seriously at Liu Chang'an, but saw her own reflection in his eyes. Her voice softened despite herself, and her gaze wavered. "That online romance you mentioned last time—what was that about?"

"Do you know Qingwu Feiyang?"

"Huh? That's my mom's WeChat name!"

"No, your mom's WeChat name isn't that... Qingwu Feiyang is the heroine of an online novel written by Cai Zhiheng in 1998. It wasn't the first online novel, but it represented how online literature was growing into a new kind of literature, distinct from traditional literature. Its greatest strengths are its mass appeal and immersive quality..." Liu Chang'an looked at An Nuan. "Online romance is the novel's central theme. Back then, Qingwu Feiyang was the ideal online romance partner men dreamed of. You could say she symbolized men's first love on the internet."

An Nuan sighed. Why did Liu Chang'an always have to go off on tangents?

"I like trying everything, but I've never tried online romance, so I had some regrets. While chatting with your mom, I got to experience what the process and details of online romance were like. So that's how it works..." Liu Chang'an said, suddenly enlightened.

"Are you crazy? That's my mom!" An Nuan held back from dumping her bowl of sour soup beef over Liu Chang'an's head.

"I never said your mom and I were having an online romance... By talking with her on a social app, I simply drew conclusions from one example and applied them to another, which helped me understand the details of the online romance between Qingwu Feiyang and Pizi Cai. It's like how you're still an innocent girl, but you've learned all about the intimate details between men and women by downloading Japanese adult videos online." Liu Chang'an noticed An Nuan's hand stiffen and quietly pressed down on the back of it, preventing her from losing her temper and knocking over the bowl of sour soup beef.

"When did I ever download anything online?" An Nuan glared at Liu Chang'an, bristling.

"Curiosity is human nature. Humans and dolphins are the only two species in the animal kingdom that pursue pleasure for its own sake in this regard. It's nothing unusual." Liu Chang'an took both of An Nuan's hands.

"You knew I'd get angry, so why did you provoke me?" An Nuan looked at Liu Chang'an, who was on guard, and said each word distinctly.

"Because you're cuter when you're angry." Liu Chang'an released An Nuan's hands and tried to soothe her. "Calm down... Calm down. I haven't finished talking."

"Be serious!" An Nuan was embarrassed and happy, but also furious.

"Study hard and focus on your revision these next few months. Stop letting your imagination run wild. Your mom and I have some affection for each other, but we just get along as online friends. It's not what you think. What I want most right now is for us to attend the same university. After all, you're so cute. Bai Hui just has a bigger chest, but cute girls are more appealing." Liu Chang'an pointed at An Nuan's bowl. "Eat more wood-ear mushrooms. They're good for your development."

"Hmph! So you still like big breasts!" An Nuan made a heavy sound through her nose. Liu Chang'an was so annoying, but why did her voice sound so sweet and soft, almost like she was acting spoiled?

More importantly, it would be absurd to think Liu Chang'an was having an online romance with her mom. He really did just like chatting nonsense with people. Her mom happened to have plenty of free time, and she treated him like a man her own age... Maybe she just felt the same kind of friendly affection toward him that An Nuan herself did?

An Nuan looked up and glanced at Liu Chang'an guiltily, hoping the friendly affection between the two of them was still a little different from what she and Liu Chang'an shared.