Chapter 3: Absurd
Shen Yan: [What are you doing?]
Wen Nianqi picked up her phone. [Weren’t you playing games?]
Shen Yan: [You haven’t checked in for 13 minutes.]
Wen Nianqi suddenly remembered—this guy’s possessiveness was out of control. Every single thing she did each day had to be synced with him, and messages had to be replied to instantly.
Annoyed, Wen Nianqi tossed the phone aside.
Then she recalled the scenes from her past life where Shen Wang had tormented her to death, and helplessly picked the phone back up.
[Baby, I was just washing up, chatting with my roommate for a bit.]
Shen Yan: [Mm.]
Wen Nianqi scratched her head in frustration. Always just "mm," knew nothing but "mm." What else could he even type besides "mm"?
She did have an exam, though. Just not tomorrow.
She studied until midnight.
Out of habit, she logged into the game to take a look. In-game, she was using matching couple profile pictures with Shen Wang. She clicked on his profile—it showed he was currently in a three-man queue.
She recognized one of them. Shen Wang’s good bro, they used to play together all the time.
The other one was a girl.
Curious, she clicked into the girl’s profile. Turned out she was pretty damn good.
An idea popped into her head.
"What if Shen Wang suddenly finds me boring and breaks up with me? Guys probably like playing with skilled people. If I’m trash..."
"Would he get sick of me and break up with me!"
That was the plan.
A team invite suddenly popped up on her screen.
After Wen Nianqi joined, the team became four people. Four people couldn’t start a match.
This game only allowed queues of three or five.
Fu Yan didn’t want that little sister to leave—he’d obviously been carried by her last game.
"How about we recruit one more?"
Shen Wang spoke up. "No need. My girlfriend and I will duo queue."
He said it and backed out, creating a private room.
"Weren’t you studying?"
Wen Nianqi said, "Tired from studying. Just relaxing a bit."
"Mm."
The game started.
Duo queuing with Shen Wang, Wen Nianqi still chose support to follow his marksman.
In a hundred-star lobby, she insta-locked Yao in first pick.
Her teammates immediately started complaining.
[If you pick Yao, I’m throwing.]
[Green lucky bag reporting in.]
Shen Wang didn’t say anything. He locked in the marksman Gongsun Li.
"I’ll drag you down so hard, let’s see if you dare play with me next time."
Wen Nianqi grinned so wide she couldn’t close her mouth, ready to intentionally throw the game.
For the entire match, her plays were baffling. This wasn’t her actual skill level.
Shen Wang noticed something was off with Wen Nianqi.
They won that game purely because Shen Wang turned the tide all by himself.
At the post-game screen, Shen Wang said bluntly, "You played really badly today."
"I’m sorry, I’m too noob... if you think I suck, then don’t play with me anymore..."
Wen Nianqi went straight into acting mode. "Other little bros and sisters play better than me, their voices sound nice, and they give emotional support. I’m just trash. Not playing anymore. I’m going to sleep."
She quit the game right after saying that.
One second slower and she was afraid she’d laugh out loud and blow her cover.
If they broke up now, she wouldn’t have to pay the penalty money, right!
"I was being this unreasonable, he should break up with me, right? Hurry up and break up with me."
Switzerland.
Shen Wang leaned against the sofa, expressionless, not saying a word.
Fu Yan had heard everything crystal clear just now. Was Brother Wang actually mad?!
This girl had some serious guts, daring to talk back to Brother Wang. She clearly had no idea who he was.
"Brother Wang... you okay?"
Shen Wang curled his lips. "The kitten is throwing a tantrum."
Fu Yan: "..."
Wait, you’re not even mad at this?
Fu Yan swallowed. "It was super obvious she was intentionally trolling you just now."
"So what? I have the skill to carry, so it doesn’t count as trolling."
Fu Yan understood less and less. "Huh?"
Is that right?
...
All night long, Wen Nianqi didn’t receive a single message from Shen Wang.
She was ecstatic inside. Last night must have really pissed him off.
He was probably figuring out how to break up with her right now.
Wen Nianqi had no classes today. Early in the morning, she dragged her suitcase to the second-hand luxury shop she’d booked yesterday.
When she reached the door, Wen Nianqi regretted it.
There was a yellow tag stuck to the door reading 'Clearance! Everything 90% off!'
Bro, it’s a second-hand luxury shop, why does it look like a wet market?
Could this place be a scam?
She hadn’t stood at the door for long before a young girl walked over, looking like a fresh college grad.
"Hello, are you the one who booked an appointment last night to sell bags?"
"Yeah, that’s me."
Thinking 'well, I’m already here,' Wen Nianqi braced herself and walked in.
The luxury bags inside were piled up like mountains, genuinely looking like supermarket discount goods.
"Sorry, I run this shop all by myself, haven’t had time to tidy up yet."
Wen Nianqi asked doubtfully, "You’re the boss?"
"No, I’m just an employee."
Then Wen Nianqi pointed at her suitcase. "I brought quite a lot of stuff."
Xiao Fang looked at the huge suitcase. "Yeah, that’s a lot. I need to call the boss to confirm."
The shop didn’t have enough cash on hand to settle up.
"Okay."
Xiao Fang walked to the side to call the boss.
"Hey, Boss, there’s a girl selling bags. She brought a whole suitcase, plus a bunch of jewelry."
Fu Yan slowly opened his eyes and took his feet off the table. "Oh? A big order came in."
"Turn on the video. We’ll authenticate one-on-one."
"Got it."
Xiao Fang adjusted the computer, pointed the camera at the desk, and said to Wen Nianqi, "Our boss is abroad, we need to do the authentication over video."
"Can you really authenticate accurately over video?"
"Our boss is amazing."
The video connected.
Fu Yan sat up, saw the girl’s face on the screen, and froze. "..."
"Boss?"
"Boss?"
Realizing he’d spaced out, Fu Yan coughed. "Sorry about that. Beautiful lady, may I ask what you’re selling?"
Wen Nianqi wondered if she’d misheard.
Xiao Fang smiled awkwardly and explained, "The boss... is a bit of a chuunibyou."
Wen Nianqi said, "I have a lot of things. Let’s look at them one by one."
Wen Nianqi took out a bag. The moment she held it in front of the camera, the other side named a price the very next second, without even showing the details.
And the kicker was, every price he gave was perfectly reasonable.
Wen Nianqi couldn’t help asking, "Are you sure you can tell accurately over video? Aren’t you scared I’m selling you fakes?"
Fu Yan laughed out loud. "The person who can sell me a fake hasn’t been born yet."
He dealt in antiques, but his grades sucked, so his living expenses got cut off. Couldn’t afford that hobby anymore, so he could only flip second-hand luxury goods to earn some pocket money.
Shen Wang, sitting to the side, opened his eyes and looked at the computer screen.
His gaze was lazy, like he hadn’t fully woken up yet.
That voice sounded familiar.
Fu Yan noticed him open his eyes, leaned over, and asked, "This girl’s pretty, right? I think I’ve fallen for her."
Shen Wang pushed him away in disgust. "That’s your fifth crush this month."
"This time it’s real. I really like this one."
Shen Wang snorted coldly and ignored him.
He remembered his little kitten had also gone to sell bags yesterday.
He glanced at his phone. Still no message from her.
Normally, even if she pretended to be mad, she’d coax herself out of it by the next day.
Shen Yan: [Talk to me.]
Ding-dong—
The phone resting by her hand chimed.
Wen Nianqi picked it up and glanced at it. "Sorry, let me reply to a message."
Wen Nianqi shifted her body slightly, moving out of the frame.
Kitten: [Won’t!]
At the top of the chat box, it showed the other party was typing...
Wen Nianqi bit down hard on her lower lip!
Hurry up and say we’re breaking up!
Shen Yan: [What do you want?]
Usually when Wen Nianqi threw a fit, it was just to ask for money.
Shen Wang curled his lips. This trick really never failed. But this time alone, his mood carried a hint of something different.