My Online Cloud Girlfriend

Chapter 9

Hanging out

Noon, at the east gate of Kotoshima University, inside Yan’s barbecue shop.

Chen Yan, Yu Qiaoqiao and Zhao Ying hung out together again.

Due to Chen Yan's sincere apology text message and phone call, Yu Qiaoqiao had to come out again to have a meal with Chen Yan.

Of course, eating is a trivial matter. She mainly wants to understand the whole story and return the gifts she received to Chen Yan.

This time, Chen Yan did not order barbecue, but instead ordered a few stir-fries.

The cold dishes are served first. Chen Yan greeted Yu Qiaoqiao and Zhao Ying, and spoke sincerely, "Qiaoqiao. I'm really sorry."

Yu Qiaoqiao looked at Chen Yan with her big eyes, as it flickered in expectancy, and asked, "What the hell is going on? Can you make it clear?.”

Chen Yan sighed and replied sadly, "Actually...I always wanted to be an actor. I thought about it for many years and tried many times, but it failed."

Zhao Ying cracked open a peanut, and said without raising her head, "Without no talent then it's normal to fail.”

Chen Yan: “...”

Yu Qiaoqiao: “...”

Chen Yan ignored her, and then coughed a bit and said, "Yesterday, I went to an audition for a filming crew, but I didn't get the role I wanted."

"I was called by the director who said, ‘You would never be able to perform at all, as you can't even liberate true emotions’.”

“So, I was depressed and decided to talk with you.”

"As a result, who knows what I’m doing. As soon as my brain was working, I said those words, ‘I love you’.”

"Actually... Those are the lines from my character script yesterday."

Yu Qiaoqiao's face had an expression of "Are you sure you are not teasing me?.”

Chen Yan continued, "Don’t believe me. Think about it. Was my confession on the phone very blunt? Wasn’t it very sloppy? That I forgot the words? Because they were being read from a script.”

Speaking of this, Chen Yan sighed deeply, "Later, after being rejected by you, I felt that my career and love had been hit hard. However, I also remembered that the director said that liberating emotions is to let go of yourself in the public, and not caring of the eyes of others."

"So, I brought a gift to your dormitory this morning and am ready to confess in public."

"Actually, after I came, I regretted it. I felt like a bastard. Obviously I got angry at the director, but I came to ‘retaliate' against you. That's why I gave you something in a hurry and ran away.”

"After I went back, I realized that I was in the wrong. So after thinking about it, I decided to tell you clearly and to not continue causing you problems."

Yu Qiaoqiao recalled Chen Yan’s behavior in the past two days, but she felt inexplicable... as if there was something that didn’t make sense.

But, the details do sound correct...?

Is he simply crazy?

Will I believe this?

Yu Qiaoqiao blinked, and she felt that when she faced Chen Yan, her head seemed to be dulled a lot.

She shook her head, and asked, "Then you failed the audition, why did you call me?"

Chen Yan said without hesitation, "I met you the day before yesterday, and I feel pretty destined. It’s also very relaxing to be with you."

Yu Qiaoqiao nodded and replied, "Then, why did you invite me to dinner at noon?.”

Chen Yan responded, "I was really bored and wanted to find a meal partner."

Yu Qiaoqiao frowned, "Then, why did you buy six tickets?"

Chen Yan said, "Appreciating and gifting the girls around the one you love will help the relationship to increase.”

Yu Qiaoqiao glanced at Zhao Ying, who had her head lowered and holding peanuts.

Chen Yan coughed and said, "My answer is reasonable, right?"

Yu Qiaoqiao didn’t respond yet, Zhao Ying, who had peanuts on the side, said without raising her head, "Reasonable."

Yu Qiaoqiao gave Zhao Ying an annoyed stare and decided not to come with Zhao Ying again to another meeting.

Since Zhao Ying had already spoken, Yu Qiaoqiao couldn't say anything.

After a while, the dishes were delivered, and the three of them began to eat.

During the meal, Yu Qiaoqiao whispered, "You will take away the flowers and the tickets.”

Chen Yan waved his hand and said, "No. This is for you."

Yu Qiaoqiao shook her head, "That won't work. I can't just take your things."

Chen Yan spoke gently, "This is not for nothing. I caused you trouble and want to compensate you."

"This is what you deserve."

"And." He paused, and said, "I still plan to invite you to have a meal with your roommates on the weekend to express my apologies this morning."

Hearing what Chen Yan said, Yu Qiaoqiao looked at Chen Yan in surprise, "Huh? Having dinner?"

Chen Yan nodded, with an expectant expression, inquired: "Yes. Did I cause you trouble?"

Yu Qiao nodded, thinking of the strange gazes of her classmates today.

Chen Yan replied, "Then, did I cause trouble to your roommates?"

Yu Qiao accidentally thought of the excitement of her roommates chatting all morning, not even listening to class, and nodded again.

Chen Yan , "Isn’t this wrong? Then, of course I have to invite you to dinner to apologize!"

After speaking, Chen Yan looked at Zhao Ying and asked, "Is it reasonable?"

Zhao Ying, who was still holding peanuts, replied again without raising her head, "Reasonable!"

Yu Qiaoqiao opened her mouth several times and closed it. She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what to say.

Is it reasonable?

Or unreasonable?

Why does it feel weird…

Is there something wrong?

After eating, Yu Qiaoqiao still did not give up when they were parting. She took out the movie tickets and buffet coupons and tried to return them to Chen Yan.

But, when Chen Yan saw those tickets, he felt like his grand scheme was falling apart.

He tried using lots of lines like these to stop Yu Qiaoqiao's return behavior,

"If you give it to me, I can't see it on my own."

"I gave it to you, there is no reason to give it back."

"It expires today, don't waste it. If you don't want it, then give it to your roommate. You can't throw it away, though."

At the end, acting as if he was in a hurry, Chen Yan quickly said, "I don't care. I trouble you to deal with these tickets. I will invite you to dinner next time."

Then, he ran away.

Once again leaving Yu Qiaoqiao and Zhao Ying on the side of the road.

Looking at Chen Yan's escaped figure, Zhao Ying asked curiously, "Coincidentally, did he say that those tickets expire today?"

Yu Qiaoqiao looked at the ticket in her hand that hadn't been returned yet, and she felt a little dazed, "I don’t know..."

On the way back to school, Yu Qiaoqiao and Zhao Ying were silent.

Zhao Ying is thinking about Chen Yan. She feels that Chen Yan seems to be very interesting, as if there is some secret hidden.

Yu Qiaoqiao was thinking about Chen Yan's dinner.

With Chen Yan, Yu Qiaoqiao’s IQ fell dramatically.

The more she thinks about it, the more it feels wrong.

She came out this time to return the things to Chen Yan. Then, why weren’t the things returned but, instead we have dinner?

Even so, Chen Yan not only wanted to pay for this dinner, but host another for her whole roommates

This is too strange!

She received flowers, got more than a dozen tickets, and had a thank you meal...

How weird it is...!

It seems like a routine.

‘Should I talk to Chen Yan again? To see what went wrong.’

　　..........

Back at the dormitory, Yu Qiaoqiao hadn't spoken yet, Zhao Ying said that Chen Yan would invite the entire dormitory to eat buffet and watch movies together on the weekend.

So the dormitory suddenly became a sea of joy.

Seeing the happy expressions on her roommates, and "Thank you Qiaoqiao." "Qiaoqiao, your friend is so nice." "Qiaoqiao, goo~", Yu Qiaoqiao was a little embarrassed at first, but gradually, couldn’t help being infected. There was a slight smile on her face.

Looking at the happy roommates, Yu Qiaoqiao slowly sighed.

‘Hey, since everyone is so happy, it's only this time...

But, in the future, I really can no longer accept Chen Yan’s gifts...

Otherwise, I really can’t explain it.’

....

At the same time, Chen Yan was on his way home.

While walking, he opened the game and took a look.

The Wealth points increased by 230. This was due to the money for Yu Qiaoqiao and Zhao Ying to have dinner at noon today.

This means that it is more than 2,000 yuan. ($314)

Chen Yan couldn't help but evoke a smile.

"Qiaoqiao, this girl is really easy to coax. it's really suitable to spend money on you."

"But... the food at Brother Yan's is too cheap. It's too difficult to make a big profit."