People Worlds Apart

Probably not... Anyway, the clothes were perfectly normal. She asked for the black stockings herself, and someone else mistook her for my girlfriend-I never claimed she was... The only slightly questionable thing was that sexy little pair of panties, but nobody could see those. Just a little mischievous fun...

"Well... girlfriend means... something like a Dao companion. Yes, a Dao companion." Chu Ge spun his words deftly. "You know 'Dao companion' isn't necessarily that narrow a term, right? It just means companions on the same path, men or women. Look, we're close, we share the same ideals, and we're a step closer than friends. Doesn't that fit our relationship perfectly?"

Qiu Wuji said expressionlessly, "Then what does 'a good match' mean?"

Chu Ge replied cautiously, "Of course, Dao companions can develop into something a little more narrowly defined. That's what they meant."

Qiu Wuji: "..."

Chu Ge: "..."

Silence suddenly settled over them.

Only after a long while did Qiu Wuji ask, "Why didn't you correct them?"

Her tone sounded quite calm. Unable to figure her out, Chu Ge kept bluffing. "Because I think we are Dao companions. Other people assumed the narrow meaning, so why should I deny the broader one? Besides, denying it wouldn't help. We were buying clothes together, even underwear. Would anyone believe another explanation?"

In fact, Qiu Wuji already knew he was spouting nonsense. By that explanation, a girlfriend was really a lover.

Somehow, she wasn't particularly angry. Perhaps it was because she knew this situation was easy to misunderstand and had already prepared herself. Or perhaps it was because she had long since realized that all Chu Ge could manage was a little smart talk. Constantly arguing over it was boring, and she didn't want to beat him up. What else could she do?

Or perhaps it was because the word "girlfriend" wasn't as direct and jarring as "lover." It sounded like a kind of friend, which made it fairly easy to accept...

Instead, a very strange thought occurred to her: this world was truly odd. Everything people did was so seductive and explicit, yet their wording was conservative. They clearly meant lovers, but insisted on calling them friends.

Was this what they called... wanting it both ways?

In the end, she didn't argue with Chu Ge. She asked quietly, "Does this count as my first step toward fitting into this world?"

Chu Ge breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes. At least now you can go outside without people staring at you like a monkey."

Qiu Wuji asked, "And the second step? Acquiring an identity?"

"Hmm... That's a little tricky. I might need to ask some friends... In the meantime, watch some shows and learn more about modern life. If I had to explain everything one thing at a time, I really wouldn't know where to start. Watch first, then ask me about anything you don't understand. That'll give us something specific to work with."

"All right." Qiu Wuji readily took a seat on the sofa and picked up the remote.

While watching Chu Ge operate it yesterday, she had actually been sneaking glances all along, quietly memorizing what he did. This time, she handled it quite convincingly. Under Chu Ge's astonished gaze, she successfully opened a series whose cover showed a female lead dressed much like she was now, then sat there watching quietly.

Chu Ge glanced at it and recognized a popular series from the past couple of years, about the lives, careers, marriages, and romances of several thirty-year-old women... He had heard of it but never watched it. He had once lusted after its female leads too, but now, however he looked at them, none seemed as beautiful as Qiu Wuji. They held no appeal.

As soon as the show began, Qiu Wuji asked, "Is Shanghai the name of a city? What is this place called?"

Chu Ge fell silent for a moment. "This place is called No Real Place Names Allowed, so it's Nanjiang City."

"...Then what is a subway? Do we have one here?"

"It's a means of transportation. I'll take you on it another day."

"What is Pac-Man?"

"A game. I'll download it for you to try later."

Less than a minute into the show, questions were already spilling out like beans. Chu Ge seemed to have expected this, while Qiu Wuji finally understood why he had said he wouldn't know where to begin explaining things one by one.

Because she understood almost nothing.

The gulf in knowledge between two worlds was far too vast to grasp simply by eating a bowl of noodles and buying a few outfits with him.

She couldn't even understand what the female lead was doing. Why was she hanging from the ceiling in a piece of cloth and spinning around? That wasn't how you killed yourself. Was she training? What kind of pointless training was that?

"What is a husband? A spouse?"

"Yes."

"Then why does it look as though they didn't sleep together? The woman is already back from her run, and the man is still asleep."

"...They say sleeping in separate beds is healthier for married couples, though not many actually do it."

"How strange. What is that fruit? It looks delicious."

"Strawberries. That's a strawberry cake." "Why isn't there a follow-up?"

"I'll take you to try it another day?" Chu Ge smiled. "I've overspent today. We'll have to wait for next month's writing payment. It won't be long."

Qiu Wuji turned to glance at him, knowing that this food probably cost several times as much as the soy milk and steamed buns he usually ate.

Suddenly, she lost the desire to keep asking. Even within the same world, different people effectively lived in different worlds. She understood that deeply.

All at once, she realized why Chu Ge wanted to write a story like that.

The quality of life the female lead enjoyed might already be something Chu Ge could only dream of. Perhaps the actress herself was too; just looking at that beauty, she hardly seemed like someone an ordinary person could have.

He couldn't have it, so he couldn't accept that.

And so he fantasized, as did all his readers-a story about a very ordinary boy, with an unremarkable background and unremarkable talent, who had nothing but his own hard work and climbed upward step by step. The flowers he plucked along the way were his rewards.

She was the highest of those flowers.

Viewed from that angle, it really did feel considerably less sleazy.

Though she still couldn't possibly be willing.

A Dao companion? Saying it means nothing. You have to reach that path yourself first... Right now, we truly are people worlds apart.

"Why aren't you asking any more questions?" Chu Ge asked, puzzled.

Qiu Wuji smiled. "One step at a time. If I ask too much at once, I won't remember it all anyway. I'll watch through it first to get a general idea. Some things I can more or less guess from the context, and I'll ask you about anything I truly can't work out. You should have things to do. If I remember correctly, don't you still need to post another chapter?"

"Yeah..."

"Then attend to your own work. There will be plenty of time."

Chu Ge wondered why this woman had become so considerate after putting on modern clothes. Her previous habit of threatening to beat him up at the drop of a hat had undergone an almost three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn... Had that frank talk of his really been so effective?

As though guessing what he was thinking, Qiu Wuji smiled faintly. "It's only living, after all. Wherever you are, you still live. Why be so nervous? My earlier behavior was unbecoming. I've made a fool of myself before the Father God."

Apparently, she really had settled in completely. She took things remarkably well. Chu Ge headed back to his room, looking over his shoulder every few steps. Watching Qiu Wuji sitting on the sofa in an office outfit, engrossed in a show, he felt a strangeness beyond description.

More and more, it was starting to feel real.

Like a home.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, Chu Ge suddenly thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Qiu Wuji, sitting there, was slowly beginning to fade.

His heart jolted, and he hurried back. Sure enough, Qiu Wuji stood up, her figure gradually dissolving into nothingness. She smiled. "It seems your patch hasn't let me stay much longer for now... I can't rely on it. Once I return, I'll have to keep tempering my Divine Soul and try to stay a little longer next time..."

Chu Ge: "..."

How long have I even had to look at that short skirt and those black stockings? At least let me get my fill, won't you?

Qiu Wuji's voice began to grow distant. "To me, that world matters just as much... I also want to see whether the Poison-Hand Demon Lord can still catch me off guard now that I know the plot. That is the path you and I share, isn't it?"

Her voice lingered, but she was already gone.

All her clothes remained on the sofa. She couldn't take even a scrap of fabric with her.

Yet Chu Ge felt no regret at all over missing whether she had exposed herself as she vanished. He stared blankly at the empty room and the clothes on the sofa, speechless for a long time.

He had only just thought of a home, and in an instant it was gone, like some kind of joke.

It was a stark reminder to Chu Ge that she wasn't a mature office beauty from the modern world. They truly, genuinely were people worlds apart.

(End of chapter)

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