Jiyue is curious and asks to meet Jianjun, who is depressed and wants to cancel the appointment.
The deepening night concealed Gu Quyu's demanding attitude and her worries about tomorrow, but it also revealed Xue Jiuyue's memories of the past. Xue Jiuyue returned home and quickly went online to find the person who knew the most secrets, "the one who spitted in your face."
"Good morning, beautiful. You're especially early today. Is there any unexpected surprise?" The news came as punctually as Liu Che's voice every time he woke up from hypnosis.
"You can tell fortunes, can't you tell your own fortune?"
"Is there any point in figuring this out? You're still in the mood to chat this early in the morning. You must have some unresolved issues that you want to discuss with the hermit. Is that right?"
"Wrong! Today is just because I miss you!"
"What? Am I seeing things? Oh my god, Buddha, Heavenly Lord, Lord, Allah, ancestors, what's wrong with you? Why are there smoke rising from your graves? Although I am well-versed in the classics, well-versed in both Chinese and Western learning; I am dignified and imposing without a trace of frivolity, and I am gentle and refined without a trace of shabbyness; I am truly a person of great talent and a centenarian. But to be remembered by the beautiful Yue is a blessing from heaven."
Xue Jiuyue skipped over his long speech and said, "You read it right, but I was careless and forgot a word. I just thought of you today! I was browsing the news and saw that a local charlatan was brought to justice!"
"Oh my God, Miss Yue and I have never met before, we just met by chance, but she actually cares about my safety. Although I am indeed a little bit outstanding and stand out from the crowd, it also shows that Miss Yue cares about me deeply." The face of "Spit Star" can withstand all erosion.
Xue Jiuyue followed the other party's words and said her true purpose, "We have known each other for such a long time, and we chat almost every day. You are also in Xialin, why not meet up?"
"Did I go to another dimension and save the world last night? So many good things happened today. The beautiful Yue actually wants to meet me in person! Let me hold on to the wall quickly, I'm going to faint!"
Compared to the "phone addicts," Xue Jiuyue didn't spend much time online, but she also understood the importance of meeting in person. "Go to hell! You're going to mess around! Seriously, I just feel like we've been chatting for over two months, so we're considered friends. We should meet in person to make it official!"
"The revolution hasn't succeeded yet, comrades still need to work hard! Are we satisfied with just being friends? No! I have to wait until the beautiful Yue is willing to be my girlfriend!"
Xue Jiuyue's reaction was completely unexpected. Instead of being overjoyed and making an appointment for a time and place, he rejected her in disguise. Could it be that their coincidental acquaintance stemmed from deliberate waiting, and that all his predictions were due to a preconceived notion?
Xue Jiuyue ignored the other party's reply and continued to invite him, "You know I'm the manager of the bookstore. I'm holding an event to celebrate the store's anniversary and invite you to try the new products for free. It's a good opportunity for us to get to know each other formally. We can make an appointment to have dinner or coffee in the future. Don't worry, I won't curse offline! And don't you want to see if I am really a beauty?"
"Then can I first listen to what Miss Yue imagines me to be like, and then we can talk about meeting?"
Xue Jiuyue didn't refuse this time. Her slender fingers tapped out her impression of "Spit Star" on the keyboard. "You, poor, chatty, and incredibly thick-skinned! You have some knowledge but love to show off. You have good observation and reasoning skills but love to be mysterious. Sometimes you are very annoying, but sometimes you can have a brilliant idea. I feel like you are a pretty good rogue!"
"I didn't expect Miss Yue to think so highly of me. I feel like I'm almost one of the city's top ten outstanding young people. But, how did you determine my gender?"
"Does this need to be confirmed? Are you a woman?" As soon as the words were typed out, Xue Jiuyue realized she had assumed the other person was a man based on their online profile, but it was entirely possible they were female. This was Xue Jiuyue's first time chatting with someone online, and she had never considered using voice or video chat, so she couldn't be sure.
"I am really a woman! I pay my respects to you, sister. Didn't you guess I was a girl last time? I admitted it."
"If you say so, then it is. Prove it to me!" Xue Jiuyue's head was full of question marks.
I originally thought the other party would send a voice message, but it turned out to be a text message, "This is a poem written by me in which I long for my lover to return home and my dreams come true. I beg Sister Yue to correct me and prove my innocence:
My makeup is lightly applied for the evening, my hair is tied up in a loose knot, and I lean against the side, exhausted. Looking forward to the evening's journey, my sorrow fills the misty waters and my tears flow. When I think of you, my soul is already broken.
"Mandarin duck pillows on red silk quilt, secretly untied, who is intoxicated by the wind and moon? The voice is soft and the words are low, the shy smile and frown are charming, the dream comes back, and spring has faded."
This poem depicts the emotions of a young woman in such detail that Xue Jiuyue was too embarrassed to savor it. However, Xue Jiuyue still refused to believe that the person she had been chatting with for so long was actually a woman. "Send a voice message!"
"Sister Yue, let me know about the voice changer. Can't the voice be faked?"
"Then video!"
"Sister Yue, video fabrication seems effortless with the now-popular generative AI. Some are sold on e-commerce platforms, and you can buy them for the price of a cup of coffee."
"Then let's meet. If not, we won't chat anymore and we'll be blocked."
"Beautiful Yue, okay, I admit, I'm a man! If I really want to lie to you, is it difficult to meet a woman? Is it difficult to meet a handsome man at random?"
"Why do you insist on lying to me instead of showing your true face? You don't dare to see me? Do we know each other?" Xue Jiuyue asked what was in his mind.
"We don't know each other! It's not that I have to lie to you, but I really have never met an online friend and don't want to meet one either."
"Other guys chat just to meet up in person, why don't you want to?"
"Because I'm not planning on meeting in person, isn't it good for us to chat like this right now? Aren't you just worried that I'll know you and that I'll know your so-called secret? Think about it, if I knew you, why would I chat with you like this? There has to be a purpose! And if I knew you, who do you think I would be by your side? Who could be as good as me? We've been chatting for two months now, and your so-called secret, thrown into the vast sea of people, is like cracking an egg into the Pacific Ocean—it just becomes egg soup?"
The word "spitting" revealed Xue Jiuyue's doubts. Since the names of the people involved in the secret she was confiding were all hidden, there was indeed no danger. But another worry was, what if the other person was someone she knew? Who could it be? The most likely person was Liu Che, but Liu Che was invisible. Even if it was Liu Che, why? Wouldn't it be good if it really was Liu Che? This last question actually brought a hint of sweetness and anticipation to Xue Jiuyue's heart.
Xue Jiuyue couldn't help but continue asking, "It's strange why you don't want to meet. Online communication always gives people a vague feeling, just like I can't even be sure of your gender. If we can meet in person, I think we can become close friends who can talk about anything."
This time, "Spit Star" didn't make any more jokes. "Is the truth that important? The truth only affects choices. We're just chatting now, and there's no choice involved, so how can the truth be useful? Moreover, the truth is often just a result. Isn't the feeling more important than the result? Because it's precisely the feeling that is unique to humans. Kissing is just a means for animals to reproduce; reproduction is the result. But humans are not like that. People kiss for feelings, for love. So I want to try to have a friend who is purely spiritual. It's the age of the metaverse, why do we need so many material attributes? Isn't it good to communicate only on the spiritual level? The friendship between gentlemen is as pure as water."
Xue Jiuyue was speechless, because what "Spit Star" said was not only reasonable, but many of his views were also his own voice. In particular, the sentence "Truth only affects choices" was simply a replica of the sentence in the dream "Truth only matters to choices." So Xue Jiuyue put aside his entanglement and changed the question, "What about your River Legend?"
"Why would you care so much about the truth after you just said it?"
"I don't care, just write a song for me and you'll pass. Don't be sissy, be heroic!" Xue Jiuyue started to play tricks.
This time, after waiting for a few minutes, she handed in her answer sheet and said, "I have fulfilled my mission. Please review it, Miss Yue."
The heroic spirit roars across the mountains.
The lonely star and the setting moon make the dream shattered.
A drop of green dew contains the morning color,
A little bit of loyalty breaks the chill of dawn."
The poem's opening two characters directly reference Xue Jiuyue's request, and, as before, the use of the characters "star" and "moon" to identify them as exclusive to the two is quite interesting. A closer look reveals the poem's depiction of waking from a dream and watching the sunrise early in the morning. The first two lines express the feeling of being a lost gem, a talent left unappreciated, while the following two lines, in their antithesis, offer a form of self-motivation. It's a truly remarkable seven-character quatrain.
"It's okay. I wanted a lyric, but it turned out to be a poem. I guess you've passed!"
"Next time, next time I will definitely write a lyric for the beautiful Yue. But on such a beautiful day, do we really have to just talk about love and sex?"
"Walk!"
While playing cards, Xue Jiuyue couldn't help but think that Liu Che couldn't play online since he couldn't see. Thinking of this, she couldn't tell whether she felt relieved or disappointed. The faint emotion was eventually magnified into a fault of "spitting".
The past few days felt like a day of drug use for Qian Jianjun. The endless addiction from his soul whipped his rationality to pieces, leaving him struggling to survive. Carrying a sense of guilt and a final hope, Qian Jianjun waited long in anticipation for "every inch of time."
"Xiao, Xiaoyue, can we chat for a while?"
Xue Jiuyue was surprised to see Qian Jianjun before her. Was this still the same Qian Jianjun who had set his sights on a goal, steadfast in his resolve, and looked down upon the world despite all odds? His radiant confidence was gone, his eloquence was gone, and his star-like eyes had lost their piercing brilliance, becoming dim and lost. He must have slept in his clothes last night; his white T-shirt was wrinkled. He must have not slept well, as he had noticeable dark circles under his eyes. He had neglected his grooming this morning, with stubble growing on his chin and his short hair drooping over his broad forehead. He looked exhausted.
"Please sit down and have a cup of homemade yogurt." Xue Jiuyue guessed that Qian Jianjun was still hungover.
"Okay, okay, thank you, Xiaoyue."
After saying that, Qian Jianjun lowered his head and remained silent until Ke Yike brought him yogurt, then he said thank you.
Xue Jiuyue waited until Qian Jianjun finished his yogurt in a few bites before breaking the deadlock, "Mr. Qian, did you have another social event last night?"
"No, I was upset and drank a little, then fell asleep while drinking."
"What's troubling you? Tell me if you want to."
"Xiaoyue, I'm sorry. Maybe, maybe I can't continue to fulfill our agreement. I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Qian Jianjun said in an extremely conflicted tone.
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