My Online Friend Can't Be This Cute

"Feeling guilty?" Zhong Taihong stared at him darkly.

"Guilty about what?" Mo Xiangwen calmly glanced at them, then continued picking up a piece of meat and placing it in his bowl. "I've never even held a girl's hand. What could I possibly feel guilty about?"

"Then you must be entertaining thoughts of betraying the organization." Zhong Taihong slapped the table and immediately began a stern interrogation. "Confess and be treated leniently. Resist and be punished severely."

"Don't worry, I've never even had the thought of dating." Mo Xiangwen sighed and shook his head. "I saw through the things you guys are talking about back in high school. Why would I need to wait until now?"

"Heh, acting all profound."

Sure enough, he knew telling the truth would lead to this.

"Alright, drink up." Mo Xiangwen raised his cup. "Stop pinning these baseless charges on me. Nothing has even happened yet, so how am I supposed to confess?"

"That's true." Zhong Taihong froze, then thought it over. "But orange juice isn't exciting enough. How about some adult beverages?"

"Forget it, forget it. We're basically full already." Mo Xiangwen tried to stop him. "Drinking hurts your body. Don't waste the money."

"I'm the one treating you anyway. It's not like I'm short on cash." Zhong Taihong waved a hand.

Qin Yongfeng, who had remained silent the whole time, also advised against it. "That stuff doesn't even taste good. There's no need."

"Since Old Mo and Old Qin both said they don't want any, let's forget it." Xi Shaojie also chimed in. "Old Mo still has to go back and sort out his bedding later."

"Exactly, exactly. You guys have already sorted yours out, so it doesn't matter. If you get drunk, you can just lie down wherever." Mo Xiangwen complained. "Am I supposed to sleep on the bed board?"

"You can squeeze in with me."

"Get lost. I'm not squeezing in with another man."

Seeing that all three of them objected, Zhong Taihong had no choice but to give up on the idea.

Suddenly, Xi Shaojie patted his arm and lowered his voice. "Old Mo, look. Pretty girls."

Though his voice was quiet, Zhong Taihong and Qin Yongfeng were sitting so close that they naturally heard him.

The three of them followed his gesture and looked over. Four girls in long skirts happened to be passing through the aisle beside them.

They seemed to know one another, chatting every now and then as they walked.

The first two girls had pretty good figures and were fairly attractive, but compared with the two walking behind them, they were far inferior.

The latter two had their arms linked together and looked like a pair of twins.

They wore matching light-blue shirts and light-blue skirts decorated with floral patterns, looking airy, romantic, and elegant.

Though both were exquisitely pretty, their temperaments were not quite the same.

Still, he had only taken a quick glance and did not analyze the differences between them too closely, lest it cause a misunderstanding.

Mo Xiangwen keenly noticed that they seemed to glance in their direction as well.

So he reminded them worriedly, "Stop staring. It'll be troublesome if they take offense."

"You're right. Women are merely beautiful skeletons." Zhong Taihong took a deep breath and withdrew his gaze.

Xi Shaojie simply closed his eyes. After a while, he said, "But those twins really were gorgeous. My Dao heart almost wavered."

"Pretty, aren't they, Wuji?" Mo Xiangwen chuckled.

"Fuck, so the prettier a woman is, the better she is at deceiving people, huh? I understand now, Master," Xi Shaojie cursed with a laugh.

"But they did seem to look over here just now, didn't they?"

"Yeah, but they probably just happened to glance this way. Do I need to remind you what the three great illusions of life are?"

"You're right, but at least 'I can turn the tables' might not be an illusion."

"Speaking of which, Old Qin didn't react at all." Zhong Taihong patted Qin Yongfeng's shoulder. "A beauty stands before him, yet his expression doesn't change. Old Qin truly is a model for our generation."

Qin Yongfeng adjusted his glasses. "No matter how pretty a girl is in the three-dimensional world, she's still fake."

Mo Xiangwen glanced at him and asked faintly, "So you're two-dimensional?"

"Fuck, who are you calling two-dimensional?" Qin Yongfeng cursed with a laugh. "Careful, or I'll fight you."

"It's fine, it's fine. Two-dimensional is good. At least it's safe." Mo Xiangwen patted his shoulder.

"Keep pretending." Qin Yongfeng glanced at him. "Don't think I didn't see that Shiyin is your phone wallpaper."

"Old Qin, I don't think we have to hurt each other, do we?" Mo Xiangwen immediately raised the white flag. "I think being a shut-in is pretty nice. It isn't hurting anyone, anyway."

"Hehe, you sure had fun attacking me just now."

"My bad. I was wrong, really wrong."

The four of them ate for a while longer. Once they all felt they were about done, they went to the counter together to pay.

After all, they were four male college students, so they had indeed eaten quite a lot.

"How about we split the bill? It feels like we ordered quite a few dishes tonight," Mo Xiangwen suggested.

"Let's split it. We can't seriously make Old Zhong pay for everything himself," Xi Shaojie agreed.

Qin Yongfeng naturally had no objections and nodded in agreement.

Zhong Taihong, on the other hand, was rather unwilling. "I said I'm treating, so I'm treating. It's not that much more."

"Hello, could you settle the bill for Table Three?" Zhong Taihong asked the young waitress.

"Table Three, the total comes to 240 yuan... but the bill for Table Three has already been paid." The waitress checked the receipt, then looked again at him in his gray shirt.

"Already paid? Who paid it?" Zhong Taihong asked strangely. "Didn't we just finish eating? Did someone pay the wrong bill?"

The waitress patiently explained, "It was paid by a friend of this student in gray."

"Old Mo, you secretly paid the bill?" Zhong Taihong frowned. "Didn't we agree that I was treating?"

"No, didn't you hear her say it was paid by my friend?" Mo Xiangwen was also somewhat confused. "But I just got to school. Other than you guys, I don't know anyone. Where did this friend come from?"

Suddenly, his phone vibrated.

Mo Xiangwen took it out and saw that Xiaohuo had sent him a private message.

Xiaohuo: Don't worry, I paid the bill. I said I'd treat you to dinner.

Mo Xiangwen smiled helplessly. So she really had not lied to him before. She had actually come with the president.

But if they had come, why had they not gone in to say hello to him?

Alright, thanks. When you two have time, I'll treat you and the president to a meal. He typed those words and sent them.

"It really was paid by a friend of mine. I'll treat her to a meal another time." Mo Xiangwen explained to the others. "Since there's no issue with the bill, let's head back."

"Fuck, then didn't that make you spend money, Old Mo? We'll transfer our shares to you when we get back," Zhong Taihong said, shaking his head.

"No need. I was planning to treat them to dinner anyway." Mo Xiangwen shook his head. "Even if she hadn't paid this bill, I still would've had to treat them to a meal."

"Alright." Zhong Taihong thought for a moment, then suddenly frowned and asked, "Wait, Old Mo, this friend you mentioned isn't some pretty girl, is she?"

"Fuck, are you sick?" Mo Xiangwen cursed with a laugh. "Do I look like some social butterfly to you? Pretty girl, my ass."

"Try to understand him." Xi Shaojie shook his head. "Right now, he thinks everyone is someone about to betray the organization."

PS: I'll see if I can write another chapter. You guys should get some rest and read it tomorrow. Even though no one said anything, I should mention that if anyone felt my wording at the end of the last chapter was inappropriate when I was joking around, I apologize. I'm very sorry.

Submitting the Manuscript

Baibai: Sent a file.

Baibai: Xiao Yi, can you see if this is okay?

Mo Xiangwen opened the file and enlarged the image.

Mm, the hair and clothes were drawn quite meticulously, the expression was very vivid, and even the white stockings had... uh... a lot of texture.

It was obvious that this artist had put a great deal of care into his commission.

He had originally thought that since the other party had already given him a discounted price, she might not put much effort into it. Now, it seemed he had judged a gentleman's heart with a petty man's mind.

Not only was the quality far beyond his expectations, she had even delivered the work ahead of schedule.

Weren't creators supposed to be a bunch of people who would never work hard until the deadline was about to kill them?

Baibai: Is there something wrong with it? I can ask her to make changes.

Human-Dragon Unity: No. Honestly, the quality is much better than I expected.

Human-Dragon Unity: Thank you very much for helping me contact this artist, Baibai. Please thank her for me too.

Baibai: Mm-hm, I will.

Baibai: Xiao Yi, can I ask you a question?

Human-Dragon Unity: Go ahead.

Baibai: What are you commissioning these illustrations for?

What for? Of course, he planned to use them as the cover art and character illustrations for his novel.

But even though she was an online friend, honestly admitting that he was writing a novel still felt far too embarrassing.

Baibai: I was just curious. If Xiao Yi doesn't want to say, then forget it.

Crap, why did he suddenly feel guilty for no reason?

Uh, at least with Baibai, it should be okay, right?

...At worst, he could just say he was writing a novel without telling her its title.

Human-Dragon Unity: These illustrations are going to be used in a novel.

Baibai: Huh, Xiao Yi is writing a novel?

Human-Dragon Unity: Yeah.

Baibai: Can you tell me the title so I can read it?

Human-Dragon Unity: No way. It'd be way too embarrassing if someone I know saw the novel I wrote.

Human-Dragon Unity: After all, half of a novel is essentially the author's fantasy.

Baibai: Alright, if that's what Xiao Yi says.

Seeing Baibai give up on asking further, he finally relaxed a little.

Even if she had pressed him, he would not have told her, but somehow he still felt like he was being unfair to Baibai, especially since he had asked her to help him find an artist.

No matter what, it was good that Baibai did not seem to take it to heart.

As for being exposed, he felt it was unlikely.

His book was not on any rankings yet. To find it, someone would have to search through the library little by little.

No one would really flip through every single book just to dig up a group member's personal information, right?

By now, his new book, Junior Girl Development Plan, finally had cover art and character illustrations. It had been using the default cover all this time, which had seriously affected its traffic.

As for where to submit it, he still chose Kitty, who was also in H City.

After all, his writing style had always leaned toward being light and upbeat. In terms of compatibility, Kitty's readers were more likely to accept his style.

Thanks to the experience of failing miserably in his previous life, this book had naturally been signed early on. Its results, however, could only be called average.

But that was fine. With pretty-girl illustrations, the junior girl's image could finally be presented more directly.

Though white hair and red eyes were indeed a little unrealistic, it did not matter. Everyone liked white hair and red eyes. Being unrealistic was hardly a big deal. It was unimportant.

White hair, red eyes, a sailor uniform, white stockings, and a soft, sweet voice calling you Senior or Brother.

What kind of person could refuse a junior girl who blushed and looked away the moment her eyes met the protagonist's?

At least, he could not. And he had every reason to believe readers could not either.

As for why he did not simply give her the dual elements of little sister and junior girl, hehe, he wanted to, but he could not pull it off.

Lying on his bed, Mo Xiangwen suddenly remembered that it was time to buy a computer. His computer was still at home, and he had never brought it over. Writing on his phone all this time had really been hard on him.

So he patted the headboard of the neighboring bed and asked, "By the way, Old Qin, how are computer prices these days?"

He had not been paying much attention to the prices of computer parts recently, so he might as well ask his roommate, who was always checking prices.

"Prices? They're pretty high right now." Qin Yongfeng thought for a moment. "Because of the mining boom, prices have gone up quite severely. You aren't planning to buy a computer at a time like this, are you?"

"Can't be helped. A computer is a necessity." Mo Xiangwen sighed. "Anyway, I'll just put together a set to use for now."

"That's true. Going to an internet café every day without a computer is pretty expensive too." Qin Yongfeng agreed. "I'll put together a build for you, then you can buy the parts yourself from online stores using the list."