Chapter 63: Surprise from the Internet

  "Great! I bought you a piece of clothing! Try it on!" Qin Ke said to me, holding up a sweater as he came out of the room after I emerged from the bathroom.

  "When did you buy it?"

  "The day before yesterday, when I was shopping with Jiajia, I bought it. I saw that this dress was on sale, and Jiajia said you like this color and style, so I bought it for you! Put it on quickly!" I took the clothes handed over by Qin Kaiyi, and at the same time looked at the price tag on the clothes, suddenly feeling a little heavy in my heart. Facing the clothes that Qin Kaiyi bought for me, I felt at a loss for what to do. If it was just an ordinary-priced dress, I might have been very happy to accept it, and even would have shown off to friends to show how good Qin Kaiyi is to me. But the price on the tag made me feel like I'm more like a man who relies on others for food."

  "It's still so expensive even after discount! I've never worn clothes that cost more than 300 yuan since I was a kid!"

  "What's... wrong?" Qin Ke asked me cautiously as he noticed that my emotions seemed a bit off.

  "Nothing! But I'm sleepy and want to take a nap!" I handed the clothes back to Qin Ke Yi, then turned around and walked towards the room.

  "Kang Jian... what's wrong with you? Didn't you tell me that no matter who it is, we should communicate with each other in a timely manner?" Qin Ke asked as he followed me into the room.

  "It's okay, I'm really fine, I'm just sleepy."

  "Alright, you go to sleep!" Qin Ke took a look at me, sighed and said, turned around and walked out, closing my bedroom door. After Qin Ke left, I lay in bed tossing and turning but couldn't fall asleep, so I got up and sat in front of the computer opening QQ chat.

  "Hey! Why did you leave without saying goodbye last time!? It's been so long since we've seen each other, what have you been busy with?" A friend who suddenly appeared on QQ and had previously left our conversation abruptly started questioning me.

  "Haha! Sorry about that, I had an emergency last time so I left in a hurry!"

  "Haha! No worries! I was going down anyway! How come you haven't been online lately? What have you been busy with? Got a new girlfriend?"

  "Haha! That's right!"

  "Ah!? Is it true?! Congratulations! Is it beautiful?"

  "Ah! Beautiful! Very beautiful!"

  "You once showed me a picture of your ex-girlfriend, she was beautiful! How does this one compare to her?"

  "Been there, done that...^-^"

  "Really? Is it true? Are there photos? Let me see..."

  "Not yet, hehe..."

  "Haha! I remember when we first started chatting, you had just gone through a breakup. You even told me that you thought you'd never find another girl who could move your heart again!"

  "Haha! I was quite naive back then!"

  "Is it fun being with her?"

  "Hmm...!? I'm sort of happy, I guess!"

  "Judging from your tone, you often quarrel?"

  "Not at all! It's just that some issues need to be resolved and communicated!"

  "Do you love her?" she asked suddenly after a minute.

  "Uh-huh! I love it!" I replied affirmatively.

  "What about compared to my ex-girlfriend? Who do you love more!?" As I was about to subconsciously type out the word "now", my hand suddenly stopped. This question was one that Qin Ke Yi and I had faced for the first time since we got together, although from time to time, I would naturally compare Qin Ke Yi with Tong Chen in certain aspects, but as for who I loved more, it was a question that I had never seriously thought about... I loved Qin Ke Yi, that was undeniable, but as for Tong Chen, even now, I wasn't clear if I still loved her, at the very least, I didn't hate her.

  "Why aren't you saying anything......? Still no answer?"

  "It should be now..."?

  "Haha! Should be? It seems like you're not entirely sure in your heart either!" She seemed to see right through my inner world.

  "Hehe......" I was just using habitual terms to gloss over it.

  "Did you admit it?" she asked further.

  "I think two people are different girls, incomparable!"

  "Oh? Can you tell me what kind of feeling those two give you? What's different about them?"

  "They are both very clever, which makes me a headache, haha!"

  "Yes! Clever girls will give men headaches!"

  "There is also one more thing in common, which is that both of them give people a first impression that can be misleading..."

  "Optical illusion? Haha! What optical illusion?"

  "My ex-girlfriend gives people a feeling of being a lady, but actually she has a lively personality and is very enthusiastic towards others, doesn't have much temper, and is very gentle with me..."

  "Which one is the current one?"

  "The current one gives people the first impression of being an ice beauty, seemingly very proud, but in fact her personality is also very lively and cheerful, but also has a lot of temper, often with some quirky ideas... standard barbaric girlfriend..."

  "So after going through the previous one, you suddenly came across a 180-degree turn, can you take it?"

  "Hehe, benefits always come with risks. Fortunately, magic has its limits. I have a way to subdue her..."

  "Haha, that's great! Seeing you walk out of the shadow of a lost love and now being so happy, I'm really happy for you!"

  Thank you!

  "It's okay! You're too polite!"

  "I'm really grateful! Really! For over a year now, every time I go online, you patiently put up with me rambling on about my trivial matters, and often offer me guidance, which has helped me a lot."

  "You're a great storyteller, so I love listening to you ramble on more than watching those romance dramas, haha!"

  "I'm not usually like this, during the time I was heartbroken, I rarely showed it on my face, it was all bottled up inside, and I pretended to be the same as usual. Occasionally, I would pour out my emotions to a few close friends, but not many. The reason I'm telling you so much is that you're a stranger. I can tell you anything without worrying because we don't know each other..."

  "So we're friends now?"

  "Even if we're not friends, you know more about me than some of my friends do, and even some aspects that few people know about me, haha!"

  "Hehe, I have a proposal, I don't know if you can accept it......" After a long time, she suddenly came out with a sentence that left me feeling a bit puzzled.

  "Then you tell me!" As soon as I said this, the sound of a bowl shattering in the kitchen also rang out. The thought that "something might suddenly interrupt our conversation" had flashed through my mind before, but it still happened. After hearing the noise, I immediately realized that something was wrong with Qin Ke and rushed out of the room without even saying "88".

  "What's wrong?" I blurted out subconsciously, only to feel a bit redundant afterwards. Everything in front of me had already clearly told me that Qin Ke Yi hadn't held onto the bowl with instant noodles properly and it had fallen to the ground. Qin Ke Yi was now looking at the broken bowl on the ground with some frustration, then started crouching down to pick up the pieces.

  "Here I come! Why didn't you call me when you were hungry?" I asked while squatting down to help Qin Ke collect the scattered items. Qin Ke was clearly affected by my earlier mood and seemed to be sulking, ignoring me.

  "Here I come! Be careful, it's going to cut your hand... Ah!" Possibly the misfortune that was originally about to befall Qin Ke Yi instead came to me due to my boastful words. Just as I finished reminding Qin Ke Yi, my own hand was cut with a gash.

  Qin Keyi got up unexpectedly and walked into her room after seeing this scene. I was stunned, squatting on the ground, thinking about the seemingly foolish question "Are we a couple?"

  After deciding to bandage my own wound first so as not to lose too much blood and affect my thinking, I used my mouth to wrap the injured finger and started searching for a Band-Aid in the living room.

  "Stop looking! The band-aids are all gone! Come quick!" Qin Ke had a roll of gauze and medicine in his hand, standing behind me saying this. Seeing this scene made me feel like the doubts from earlier were somewhat cleared up. I sat down on the couch and let Qin Ke help me bandage my wound.

  "What are you looking at!" Qin Ke, who was bandaging me, suddenly raised her head and found that I was staring at her, so she started her usual reaction to this behavior of mine, glaring at me with wide eyes. And I just kept smiling at her.

  "Ah......! Pain......!" Qin Ke's final tightening of the bandage, fiercely pulling me back to reality from my daze, also gave me a heart-wrenching understanding of "Ten Fingers Linked at Heart".

  "Serves you right! Why didn't it kill you!" Qin Ke glared at me and said, then stood up to go back to the room, but was pulled back by me and hugged into my arms.

  "Let me go!" Qin Ke struggled, but it was clearly symbolic and didn't last very long.

  "Actually, I was the one who was wrong today. I shouldn't have come back to you in that state!" After Qin Ke Yi calmed down in my arms, I spoke to her in a gentle tone that had almost disappeared from me for two years. Perhaps it was my unusual tone that made her uncomfortable, but after hearing me out, Qin Ke Yi's reaction was to lightly nudge me with her elbow.

  "Actually, I really like the clothes you bought for me! However, next time don't need to spend so much money on me, as long as it's from you, any price is fine!"

  "Next time!? You want a next time!? Beautiful you! Are you going to let me go or not!?"

  "I won't let you go!!" I said firmly to Qin Ke.

  "You're not letting go, are you!? Then just hold onto me like this forever! If you let go of me, see how I'll get revenge on you!" Qin Ke still spoke in a tone as if she had some deep grudge against me, but after saying that, her two hands tightly held my waist, so I also hugged her even more tightly.

  "Comfortable! I'm hungry!" The two were quietly enjoying each other's warmth, but Qin Ke suddenly broke it with a relatively coarse reason.

  "What do you want to eat? There's nothing at home, let's go sell vegetables together!"

  "Alright! Wait for me! I'll go change my clothes!" Qin Ke said as she stood up and walked towards the room. It was only then that I remembered the person from online. When I sat back in front of the computer, her avatar had already turned gray, leaving me with just one sentence: "Be my boyfriend..."