"Alright, that's all the singing for today. Goodbye, darlings! I'll post an announcement in the group chat before the next stream."
Jiangg Yao ended the stream and let out a long sigh.
Don't be fooled by the fact that she was a shut-in who relied on Jiangg Ning for all her meals. In reality, she was secretly quite wealthy, proving the old saying: the cream always rises to the top.
Jiangg Yao had been privately tutored since kindergarten. She started piano and violin in elementary school, and by middle school, her musical talent was already astonishing. She'd also studied ballet for a time and could speak the languages of the Neon Country, Great Britain, and Gaul.
Her strict childhood education had become her special talents as an adult.
It was precisely these musical talents that allowed her to stand out from the crowd of virtual idols, attracting so many fans who followed her and sent her gifts.
If she took streaming seriously, Jiangg Yao's monthly income would be more than enough to live comfortably in a first-tier city.
Her only weakness was her terrible grades in the sciences; she was the type of student who excelled in one area and failed miserably in another.
However, she only lasted half a month with ballet before giving up. That stuff was simply torture. To this day, Jiangg Yao still shuddered at the memory.
She left the streaming setup in the guest bedroom and shut down the computer.
Jiangg Yao walked into her bedroom, opened the closet, and muttered to herself.
"What should I wear out today..."
She had a few friends online she'd been chatting with for a long time. One of them was a girl from Lanjing whose screen name was Wan. The two of them were especially close.
They were so close that Wan had asked Jiangg Yao to meet up several times to go shopping, grab a meal, or get bubble tea, but Jiangg Yao had always refused, saying it wasn't a good time.
Now that Jiangg Yao's anxiety about going out was gone, she naturally wanted to meet her. So, they had made plans to go to an anime convention in the afternoon and have a nice dinner afterward. She'd already told her sister not to make her dinner, leaving Jiangg Ning to be all lonely at home.
"This one will do."
After admiring herself for a moment in the living room's full-length mirror, Jiangg Yao felt quite satisfied. She slung her bag over her shoulder, headed straight out the door, and after getting Wan's location, hurried over to meet her.
...
At the Wuxi Road bus stop, a petite, cutely dressed girl stood by the roadside, clutching her phone.
She was 5'1" at most, wearing slouch socks, a pair of small leather shoes, a short skirt, and a knit cardigan. All sorts of cute charms dangled from her backpack.
One look was all it took to tell she was an otaku, from her socially anxious expression to her restless fidgeting.
This was undoubtedly Wan herself. It had been less than five minutes since she'd sent her location to Jiangg Yao, and she was now waiting.
Her eyes were filled with anticipation.
She had always been curious about this friend she'd been chatting with for years, hoping they could become good friends in real life, too. But they had never met, not even in photos. As she waited, Wan couldn't help but imagine what Yaoyao was like. 'Is she tall or short? Skinny or chubby?'
Still, she had a gut feeling. 'Yaoyao is probably gorgeous!'
Since Yaoyao had said she was driving to pick her up, Wan paid close attention to every car that slowed down as it passed. However, one after another, none of them turned out to be her.
Until, that is, a Porsche gradually approached.
Wan didn't expect this to be Jiangg Yao at all. But the car clearly slowed as it approached, and a few seconds later, it pulled up right beside her. As she stared, her eyes wide with shock, the window rolled down.
An elegant, mature-looking woman, whose delicate features could rival those of a top celebrity, sat in the driver's seat. She looked over and asked tentatively, "Wan?"
Wan gasped, completely stunned. She stared blankly at Jiangg Yao for a long moment.
"You're... Yaoyao?"
"Yup. Quick, get in."
Although Jiangg Yao had some social anxiety herself, she quickly put on a warm and enthusiastic front to keep Wan from feeling awkward.
"Am I dreaming...? You actually look like this! You're gorgeous, Yaoyao! I can't believe it... Is it really you?" She looked at the stunning Jiangg Yao with her long, flowing hair and felt a sense of distance. She was impossibly nervous.
"You're making me blush. You're very cute too, Wan."
"This is such a huge contrast!" Even after being in the car for several minutes, Wan still kept turning her head to sneak glances at her.
In her imagination, Yaoyao was supposed to be a petite girl like her, lively and quirky. She never expected the real-life Yaoyao to be a pure, elegant beauty! With her focused expression as she drove, she looked cool and distant even with a neutral face, giving off an unapproachable vibe.
'Those long legs!'
'Those features!'
'That aura!'
'This Porsche!?'
"You keep staring at me... What are you thinking?" Jiangg Yao asked, feeling a little shy herself since it was their first time meeting.
"You're just so captivating, Yaoyao. I think I'm falling for you."
"Hey, don't be so cringe. If you keep this up, I'll call you out on social media."
"HAHAHAHA! I wasn't sure it was really you, Yaoyao, but as soon as you dropped that lame joke, I believed it."
The 5'1" Wan glanced at her own legs, then at Jiangg Yao's, and couldn't help but sigh.
'The gap between people can be bigger than the gap between a person and a dog.'
"Yaoyao... I have a strange favor to ask."
"Go ahead, Wan. We're such good friends, you can say anything."
"Okay, I'm really gonna say it then..." Wan averted her gaze, bit her lip, and mustered up her courage. "Can you... insult me a little?"
"?"
...
「On the Landa University campus.」
Chen Yuan's face clouded over the moment he hung up the phone with his mom.
He flopped down onto his dorm bed and let out a sigh.
"Third Bro, your mom really does care about you."
"Care... yeah, she does."
Chen Yuan turned his face to the wall, pressing his cheek against the cold surface. He didn't know how to express the frustration churning inside him. Of course his mom loved him, but Mrs. Chen was a teacher—and the type of parent who desperately wants her son to succeed. Parents like that tend to be extremely controlling.
He could have refused some of their demands, but someone had gotten his mother involved.
So Chen Yuan had no choice but to obey, or else he'd be nagged to death!
"I'm heading out!"
He rolled off the bed, threw on a thick jacket, and bolted out the door, heading off campus.
As soon as he left, Liu Nan peeked curiously out the dorm room door. Once he confirmed Chen Yuan was long gone, he started talking.
"What's up with Third Bro? I've never seen him so upset. And being on the phone for an hour is crazy."
"Heh, you've never met Third Bro's mom. She was our head teacher in our senior year of high school," Quan Yafeng said, shuddering at the painful memories. He looked genuinely traumatized. "She was fierce as hell! It didn't matter if you were a boy or a girl, everyone was scared to death of her!"
"No wonder. So she's a teacher. I hear parents who are teachers are terrifying."
"Terrifying is an understatement! Third Bro was basically one of the school's heartthrobs in high school, but hardly any girls dared to even talk to him. They were all afraid of being called in for a 'talk' with Chen Yuan's mom."
"Yikes..."
While they were enthusiastically discussing Chen Yuan's high school days back in the dorm, he himself had already hurried off campus and gotten into a low-key yet luxurious car.
Inside the car sat a man who bore a strong resemblance to Chen Yuan, though his face was more resolute and mature. He looked to be in his forties at least.
"It's not easy getting to see you."
Seeing Chen Yuan get in and sit beside him, the man's face broke into a smile. The stern, harsh air about him vanished, and he actually seemed rather amiable.