Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)

Chapter 8

It was ten o'clock at night again. Lin Xu tidied up his desk, washed up, and was about to go to bed when he couldn't help but remember that he had left Gu Jinzhi hanging for a whole night.

He didn't know how to respond.

So, after carefully reading through all the messages Gu Jinzhi had sent over this period, he dryly replied, "I was working overtime tonight, so I was quite busy."

Now he understood the convenience of being a working adult — when at a loss for words, just blame it on overtime.

In reality, Lin Xu had diligently reviewed some high school subjects all night. The difficulty wasn't great for him, but awakening his past learning memories required a process.

Gu Jinzhi, who seemed to be glued to his phone, instantly replied, "I don't believe you."

Gu Jinzhi, a typical office worker, always got off work promptly at 5 PM. He was home now, so there was no way he could be working overtime. He felt like Amour just didn't want to respond to his messages.

But no matter how hard Gu Jinzhi tried to think about it, he couldn't figure out why the other person wouldn't reply to him. Also, why would he not accept his money transfer? He felt confused.

For Gu Jinzhi, any problem could be solved with money. After all, the older man at the other end had approached him with that intention in the first place, right?

"I'm not lying." Lin Xu felt a twinge of guilt, but he also thought that for a student, studying was indeed work, so he hadn't lied.

"Then prove it to me." Could he be fooling around outside? Gu Jinzhi had heard enough about the unreliability of online relationships from netizens. Maybe the other party's nightlife was vibrant and colorful.

Gu Jinzhi thought the older man should be good at coaxing young men, otherwise he'd be feeling a bit angry right now, as if he'd been betrayed. This odd possessiveness made him quite unhappy.

Perhaps it was because the other party had shown concern for him online during the day, which made him feel a bit touched, but in real life, he didn't know who he was giving his heart to.

At this moment, Gu Jinzhi thought if he caught him cheating, he would definitely make Amour die a social death online! After all, this was his "first love," sigh~

Lin Xu felt a headache coming on as the pressure mounted. He reluctantly dug out a white shirt from the closet, changed into it with a grimace, then opened his laptop pretending to work from home. He awkwardly snapped a photo with his phone.

He then sent it over to Gu Jinzhi.

The photo showed a pair of slender fingers resting on a keyboard, with Lin Xu's white shirt and part of a wooden floor in the background. At the very least, the photo confirmed he was at home.

Gu Jinzhi hadn't expected Amour to react without getting provoked. He had thought the other party would argue back.

However, the image of the other person in Gu Jinzhi's mind became clearer, as if the veil of mystery was lifting slightly.

As for the photos Amour had posted in the group chat before, they were obviously highly edited, with fake backgrounds. Moreover, they were distant shots that only showed the outline of his face.

Gu Jinzhi looked at the faint veins bulging on the other person's forearm and the shirt that revealed his waistline, as if he could feel the warmth of a real person. His voice was probably as cool as his appearance, not greasy at all.

Lin Xu never imagined that the casually taken photo he had snapped to fulfill his duty would have such a vibe in the eyes of others. Nor did he expect Gu Jinzhi to proudly show it off to his friend.

"I bet my older boyfriend is handsome, at least not a fatty otaku~" Gu Jinzhi casually remarked to Xu Zhou.

Xu Zhou was speechless on the other end. "Do you have any sense? It's just a random photo of a hand. Who knows, maybe he has a face full of acne scars? Besides, aren't there plenty of handsome trainees in your company? Why is Second Young Master Gu's taste so narrow?"

Gu Jinzhi rolled his eyes. "It's not the same. They are outsiders. Haven't you heard of the allure of mystery?" No matter how good-looking someone was, Gu Jinzhi rarely took notice. Right now, all of his interest in Amour stemmed from the unknown and the image he'd built up of him.

Currently, Gu Jinzhi considered Amour to be a mysterious and reliable older man, with a hint of aloofness, even though deep down he was probably one of those men who eat soft rice.

However, for now, he was willing to continue observing. To put it bluntly, he also wanted to see how long the other person could keep up this big scam.

"He hasn't asked you for money?" Xu Zhou couldn't believe it. He knew everyone wanted to take a bite out of Gu Jinzhi, this big fatty meat.

Gu Jinzhi found it a bit strange too. But at least he'd won this round against Xu Zhou. He quickly pulled up the screenshot of the red envelope he had sent. "Look carefully, my dear grandson, he didn't accept it!"

"Alright, go play by yourself then. Just be careful not to get too deep into it, or it might really suck your blood dry," Xu Zhou warned. After all, those who weren't obsessed with petty gains tended to have deeper thoughts.

"F*ck off, f*ck off, f*ck off." Gu Jinzhi was so f*cking annoyed by this idiot. Did he take him for a fool?

"But what's going on? He actually looks quite young." Gu Jinzhi glanced a few more times, feeling that the other person's hands didn't give off a mature vibe. Then he thought he might be crazy — not even a palm reader was as good at this as he was.

"Okay, I was wrong (rolling around)," Gu Jinzhi replied.

"Gege, I have insomnia, keep me company." Gu Jinzhi guessed the other person was probably going to tell him to go to bed early again, so he preemptively made the request.

Sure enough, Lin Xu didn't know what else to say and simply replied, "Rest well."

Lin Xu furrowed his brows, reluctantly changed into his pajamas, neatly tucked himself into bed, and blankly stared for two seconds.

He thought to himself that he really didn't have insomnia.

Gu Jinzhi sent another sticker of a rolling cat. Lin Xu couldn't refuse. After all, it felt like his duty to accompany his partner at a time like this.

After taking a deep breath, Lin Xu opened his eyes a bit wider to stay awake, and replied with a single word, "Okay."

Gu Jinzhi had long been unhappy that Amour went to bed so early. Clearly, in online relationships, people chatted passionately until two or three in the morning, getting more flirtatious as they talked. But here with him, it felt stagnant like a dead pond.

"Gege, are you reluctant? Or are you chatting with someone else? (cute)." Gu Jinzhi snorted.

Who else would disturb someone at this hour like you do?

However, Lin Xu simply and bluntly captured his chat screen, which was clean and only showed Gu Jinzhi's messages. The group chat was even set to "do not disturb" mode. It was his way of saying, "See, it's only you bothering me," feeling inexplicably resentful.

Gu Jinzhi figured the other person couldn't have deleted all the chats that quickly, considering Lin Xu messaged him back within a second of his remark.

Still, he was a bit dissatisfied. "Sigh~ Why am I not pinned?" No, that was not how online romances worked.

Lin Xu was speechless. In reality, his WeChat was always quiet, with few contacts and little effort to socialize. Thanks to Gu Jinzhi's bombardment of messages, he didn't need to pin anything. He saw them every day as soon as he opened his eyes.

Nevertheless, he complied and sent a screenshot of the pinned conversation to Gu Jinzhi.

Gu Jinzhi was satisfied. This kind of obedient boyfriend wasn't bad at all. He felt that the other party never argued with him but always proved things to him. Although he was sometimes ignored, it actually made him feel quite secure.

Despite this, Gu Jinzhi couldn't shake off the unease about his unaccepted money transfer. It annoyed him that it was so difficult to be a generous boyfriend sometimes.

Plus, whenever he thought about Amour eating plain noodle soup, he couldn't help feeling guilty. Love shouldn't let someone go hungry.

So, he simply put his brain to work and came up with a perfect excuse.

"Gege, our two-weeksary is coming up soon. What gift would you like?" Since it wasn't money, there was no reason for the aloof Amour to refuse, Gu Jinzhi thought smugly.

Lin Xu's drowsiness vanished instantly.

Two-weeksary? He had never been in a relationship, so he wasn't sure if such a day really needed to be celebrated.

Hearing the word "gift," Lin Xu was reminded of the expensive watch the original Lin Xu had. Suddenly, he felt pressured.

Zhizhi was not his cp. He was clearly his creditor.

Just as Lin Xu was about to rack his brain for a polite way to decline, Gu Jinzhi cut in, "I can't wait to see what gift you'll give me~"

Lin Xu couldn't bring himself to refuse outright. It would seem like he didn't want to give a gift, which was very embarrassing.

So he could only respond, "That... Zhi...zhi, it's better to spend the money on yourself. You're just a student, and you have to spend the money of your parents. Besides, we're just trying out to be a couple for the event. In case we don't develop feelings, we can still be friends later."

Actually, Lin Xu had always felt they weren't a serious couple and didn't have deep feelings. It was just that Gu Jinzhi was quite clingy, and he couldn't find a way to distance himself. He could only follow the pace and fulfill the duties of a boyfriend.

Saying it out loud now felt much better.

Gu Jinzhi kicked off the blanket with his foot and sat up abruptly. "F*ck, is this motherf*cker trying to dump me?"

If it were any other time, Gu Jinzhi would have started arguing already, but now he suppressed his anger. "But... but this is my first love. Is it just casual in your eyes?"

Even if it was an online relationship, it was still his first love, damn it! Gu Jinzhi was about to explode. The pain of being dumped in the virtual world was no different from the real world. He felt he had been generous and should have been a good boyfriend.

Lin Xu felt guilty again for a moment. Even though he had been tactful, he hadn't realized the other person was serious in this ridiculous online dating game.

He thought again of the cannon fodder shou in the book. If he wasn't serious about relationships, how could he have been deceived and became a laughingstock? Lin Xu didn't want to be as ruthless as the male lead, nor did he want to hurt Zhizhi Mangmang.

So, in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation, he ammended, "I mean, even though we're just a game cp, I'm willing to seriously develop feelings with you."

Worried that he didn't sound sincere enough, Lin Xu even sent a voice message. "I will take it seriously."

Lin Xu was completely caught off guard by Gu Jinzhi and felt he was in the wrong. Since he had already entered into this online relationship, he couldn't break up hastily.

In time, once the other party realized that theirs was a fast-food romance, or if they met the right person in real life, they would naturally drift apart, and no one would be hurt.

Gu Jinzhi was still angry, but hearing Lin Xu's urgent voice message made him feel a little better. Breaking up now would make him lose face.

"Then I'll trust you," Gu Jinzhi reluctantly said.

"If you don't want to give a gift, then let's forget about celebrating. It's okay," Gu Jinzhi added, tugging at his blanket.

Lin Xu felt embarrassed now. Since this day meant a lot to Gu Jinzhi, how could he not take it seriously? He earnestly replied, "I will carefully choose a gift. Trust me."

"Oh..." Gu Jinzhi mumbled, touching his face.

In truth, when Gu Jinzhi suggested exchanging gifts, he didn't really expect anything, especially since Lin Xu was so broke he could barely afford meals. What kind of gift could he give?

But now that Lin Xu said he would take it seriously, Gu Jinzhi found himself starting to believe a little. It was similar to when Lin Xu had sent him a voice message earlier, promising to take their relationship seriously.

Actually, Gu Jinzhi's anger and sense of injustice stemmed from being dumped. Deep down, they both knew it was just a game. How could anyone take online relationships seriously?

Lin Xu didn't want to play games, so he had initially tried to back out. But he also genuinely cared about not hurting Gu Jinzhi, so he was willing to continue, willing to be serious.

As strangers who had never met, Lin Xu was genuinely concerned about him.

In that fleeting moment of emotion, Gu Jinzhi felt willing to let Lin Xu deceive him a bit more for his sake.

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