My Online Friend Can't Be This Cute

"I haven't been playing. I just looked up some new releases."

"There haven't been any fun new releases lately." Qin Yongfeng shook his head. "Better wait a while longer."

"Oh, then forget it."

Having finally escaped everyone's questioning, Mo Xiangwen couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. If his roommates found out he wrote novels, his college life would probably be over.

"So what's so important? Don't tell me you're going out on a date with a girl." Zhong Taihong asked casually.

"Can you think about something other than girls for once?" Mo Xiangwen sighed. "Instead of wasting your thoughts on that, think about how to improve your gaming skills. Your mid lane was the worst just now."

"Damn, wasn't it because your jungle ganks sucked?" Zhong Taihong cursed. "Their jungler kept coming mid. What was I supposed to do?"

"You fed their mid laner three kills without dying, then asked me to gank? That'd just hand them a double kill. I'd been pinging you a year in advance, but you insisted on showing off."

"Then why didn't you countergank?"

"Thanks for the invitation. I was bot lane. Their bot lane had already burned Flash because of Old Qin and Old Xi, so I had to go gank them."

"Stop talking. Your jungle sucks."

"Hehe. I'll let you see how well I work with others someday."

"So what exactly are you going out for?" Qin Yongfeng was also confused. "Couldn't you just say it? Why keep dodging them? How long were you planning to drag this out?"

"Yeah, yeah. Are you hiding something?" Xi Shaojie chimed in.

Seeing that he truly couldn't escape the topic, Mo Xiangwen sighed inwardly and honestly said, "I'm going out to eat with someone."

"Damn, no wonder you didn't even order takeout with your brothers." Xi Shaojie laughed and cursed, then suddenly frowned. "Wait, that's not right. School just started, and you've been staying in the dorm playing games with us all day. You've barely even met anyone from class. Who are you going to eat with?"

The moment he said that, all six eyeballs in the four-person dorm stared at him.

"The friend who paid my bill a couple days ago." Mo Xiangwen glared back at them one by one. "You guys are seriously nosy."

"Oh, oh. Then it's fine."

After wasting half the day, he finally managed to persuade the three of them to let him go. Before leaving, he didn't forget to shut down his computer first.

The moment he stepped out of the dorm, someone immediately urged him on.

A Seductress: @Human-Dragon Unity, where's Xiao Yi? You said you'd treat me and the guild leader to Haidilao. Why aren't you here yet?

Human-Dragon Unity: You got there that fast? There's still half an hour left, isn't there?

Don't Play Holy Slash: Xiaohuo was in a hurry, so we came early.

Don't Play Holy Slash: Did you reserve a table online? We can go in and wait for you.

Human-Dragon Unity: I did, table eight, but I don't know if it's free yet.

Don't Play Holy Slash: They're not that busy. The table you reserved should've been free half an hour ago.

Don't Play Holy Slash: I just asked. It is free.

A Seductress: The guild leader and I will go sit down and wait for you first. Hurry up.

Human-Dragon Unity: Go ahead and order. You don't need to wait for me.

Human-Dragon Unity: I'll pay when I get there anyway.

A Seductress: All right, then we won't stand on ceremony.

Human-Dragon Unity: Order whatever you want. I owe the guild leader my life for sending me those textbooks.

Don't Play Holy Slash: ? That's not quite that exaggerated, right? Besides, you mailed the books back, and I checked them. You kept them in great condition.

Human-Dragon Unity: I still think it is. If you borrow something from someone, of course you have to take good care of it.

A Seductress: Where are you now?

Human-Dragon Unity: ? I just left.

A Seductress: And you're still chatting? Hurry up.

Human-Dragon Unity: Don't rush, don't rush.

Baibai: ? What are you guys doing?

A Seductress: Eating. We said we'd have a meal together after Xiao Yi got to H University.

Baibai: I'm officially jealous.

Flaked Out: I'm officially jealous.

A Seductress: Hehe, if I get the chance, I want to have a meal with Baibai too.

Human-Dragon Unity: Same. If I get the chance, I'd like to meet Baibai and Pigeon too.

Baibai: Really?

Human-Dragon Unity: Really.

Baibai: Then I'll work hard!

A Seductress: Keep it up, keep it up.

PS: This cursed sleep schedule really feels like it's going to kill me. I'll try to update during the day tomorrow.

Why Is My Online Friend a Beautiful Girl?

Mo Xiangwen strolled leisurely toward Haidilao while playing on his phone, completely unaware that three little tails were following behind him.

"I'm saying, isn't it kind of bad for us to stalk Old Mo like this?" Qin Yongfeng said hesitantly. "What does him having a meal with his friend have to do with us?"

"Old Qin, aren't you curious who Old Mo could know when he just got to school?" Zhong Taihong countered. "He's been eating and gaming with us the whole time. We haven't seen him go out at all."

Xi Shaojie coughed lightly. "This isn't stalking. It's just time for us to go out and eat too. We just happened to be heading the same way."

"Old Xi has a point." Zhong Taihong nodded.

"I'm not curious." Qin Yongfeng sighed. "We could've played a few more games with this time."

"Old Mo went into Haidilao. Hurry and follow him."

"Do you have a reservation?" The senior student working part-time in uniform gave him a standard service smile.

"Mm, table eight."

"For table eight, please come this way."

The senior student, who seemed not yet fully familiar with the job, thought for a moment before leading him inside.

"It's the table up ahead. Your friends have already arrived."

"Okay, thank you, Senior." Mo Xiangwen nodded to thank her.

"You're welcome. Enjoy your meal."

Following the direction the senior student had pointed before leaving, he checked the table numbers one by one.

There weren't many people in Haidilao today. Nearly half the tables he passed were empty, so it probably would have been fine even without a reservation.

Table six... Huh? Before he even saw his group chat friends, he ran into someone unexpected.

A silver-haired girl sat alone on a booth seat, playing on her phone.

As if sensing his gaze, Yan Nuoya looked up and discovered him. She smiled and waved at him in greeting.

Since she had taken the initiative to greet him, it would have been a little rude to ignore her and walk away.

Other than Yan Nuoya's fondness for little pranks, they got along fairly well. There was no need to avoid her.

"Nuoya, good evening." He asked curiously, "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Good evening." Nuoya nodded. "Yes."

"Then I won't disturb you." Mo Xiangwen nodded to her, waved goodbye, and continued forward.

Table seven, table eight. He was here.

The moment he looked up, he met the girl's interested gaze.

Mo Xiangwen blinked, then instinctively lowered his head and opened the reservation information on his phone to check again.

Table eight. I remembered correctly, didn't I? Did I come to the wrong place? Where are my idiot group chat friends?

When he looked up again, the playful black-haired girl blinked at him too. The smile on her face had become even more obvious than when he first saw her.

The girl beside her, who looked almost exactly the same as her, was frowning at the menu with her head lowered.

Aren't these the twins I ran into a few days ago when I was eating Chicken Pot with my roommates? Why are they here?

Still unwilling to give up, he glanced at the table sign again. A bright red number eight was printed in the center of the translucent sign.

Then I probably came to the wrong branch. There being two or three Haidilaos on such a big commercial street was perfectly normal.

He turned around without hesitation and prepared to leave. The very next moment, the girl's anxious voice came from behind him.

"Hey, hey, hey, Xiao Yi, where are you going?"

Mo Xiangwen felt as though his heart, which had been hanging in the air, had finally died.

The three of them dragged their feet for quite a while before entering. The instant they did, they saw this shocking scene.

"Damn, there's a traitor." Xi Shaojie cried out softly. "I knew Old Mo couldn't be trusted, but I didn't expect him to betray us so fast."

"Keep your voice down!" Zhong Taihong hurriedly covered his mouth. He poked his head out for a look and only sighed in relief after seeing that Mo Xiangwen hadn't reacted.

"Are you three waiting for someone else? You can sit down and wait first."

Seeing the three of them skulking around the corner and having no idea what they were doing, the senior student could only come over and remind them as gently as possible, "Standing in the aisle will affect other customers coming and going."

"No, no, we came to the wrong branch." Zhong Taihong shook his head. "We're leaving now."

"Huh? We're not going to keep watching?" Xi Shaojie was stunned. "At worst, we can just eat at Haidilao too."

"Don't be stupid. You can see Old Mo, but do you think Old Mo can't see you?" Qin Yongfeng sighed and reminded him.

"Let's go, let's go." Zhong Taihong also sighed. "I just wanted to prove that my feeling about Old Mo being a traitor was right. I have no interest at all in what they're going to talk about afterward."

"Damn, twin beautiful girls. Don't tell me they arranged a date after meeting just once a few days ago." Xi Shaojie complained, unable to accept it. "How come nobody asks me out?"

"You're not as handsome as Old Mo." Qin Yongfeng quietly mocked, delivering the final blow.

"Damn it, I'll fight you."

"All right, all right. I was joking. He's having a meal with two girls, so they're probably just friends." Qin Yongfeng sighed. "I really don't know what you two think about all day."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're purely innocent friends." Zhong Taihong sighed. "Forget it. I don't want to stay here anymore. This is too infuriating. Let's go already."

"Let's go. We'll interrogate him when he gets back."

Before the senior student could get truly angry, the three of them hurriedly slipped away.

Meanwhile, Mo Xiangwen was caught in a dilemma.

If they hadn't noticed him, he might really have turned around and left.

But since they had directly called him "Xiao Yi," it meant they had not only seen him, but had known who he was all along.

No wonder. No wonder they had been able to pay his bill directly at the gathering a few days ago.

He hadn't considered it at the time. If they hadn't recognized him already, how would they have known which table to pay for?

"Hm? Xiao Yi?" Su Mengli looked up at the sound. Seeing that he had his back to them, she was confused for a moment. "You're here, so why aren't you sitting down?"

"I saw you were still ordering." Mo Xiangwen forced out a smile before turning around and saying, "I was just going to ask the server for another menu."

Su Mengli smiled faintly. "Mm, then you can order. I just happen not to know what I want either."

"No, you were trying to run away." Su Mengyao snorted twice and exposed him without mercy. "You saw us and ran. Isn't that a bit too much?"

"Huh, really?"

"No, absolutely not."

He reflexively shot back, sighed inwardly, then resigned himself to sitting down across from them.

If he had to eat with beautiful girls, he would rather it be Yan Nuoya than new beautiful girls—especially two of them.

At least, at least he had already gotten somewhat used to Yan Nuoya.

Mo Xiangwen did his best to keep smiling as he accepted the menu. At that moment, he wished he could hide his entire face behind it.