“I’ve been tricked a few times before. Every time, we’d hit it off so well, deep in the feels, and then my assistant would go meet them in my place. Right after that, every single one of them sent me a breakup message.”
When he said “breakup message,” his voice dropped.
Like a puppy that had been abandoned.
“Not a single exception.”
Qiao Liuyue looked at this ridiculously unlucky and openly foolish guy in front of her, and suddenly, a crucial question popped into her mind.
Wait. Before you did all this testing, did you even ask Dong Jiaoyan if she was single?
She literally has an actual online boyfriend named “Thanks, Goodbye.”
She couldn’t help herself. She had to say something.
Her words came out slowly.
Like she was confirming something incredibly important.
“You two… you’re not even boyfriend and girlfriend. You’re just good gaming buddies, right? You didn’t have to go through all this trouble testing her.”
The moment Zheng Qingyuan heard that, his handsome face completely changed.
He was angry.
His brows furrowed, and his lips pressed into a thin line.
“Who said we’re not boyfriend and girlfriend?!”
Qiao Liuyue was shocked again.
Oh great, there’s an even bigger contender here.
Didn’t Dong Jiaoyan tell her that “Thanks, Goodbye” was her online boyfriend?
Then how come this guy, “Brother Suifeng,” also claims to be her boyfriend?
Was Dong Jiaoyan’s “pool of fish” really that deep, or were all these fish just delusional about their own status?
She took a deep breath and asked again to be sure.
“Are you Jiaojiao’s online boyfriend?”
Zheng Qingyuan hesitated for a moment.
Then he nodded firmly.
“Yeah. If she didn’t see me as her boyfriend, why would she call me ‘Brother Suifeng’?”
Qiao Liuyue paused for a second.
Then she lifted her head and looked at this poor, clueless guy with the pity you’d give a lost child.
She spoke earnestly, like she was giving life advice.
“I could call you ‘Brother Suifeng’ too, you know.”
“That’s different.”
Zheng Qingyuan shook his head.
“Forget it. This whole thing really is…”
Qiao Liuyue opened her mouth, hesitating whether to tell him that Dong Jiaoyan already had an online boyfriend—“Thanks, Goodbye.”
She thought it over and decided to swallow her words.
After all, her primary mission was to get close to “Thanks, Goodbye.” If she told Zheng Qingyuan now and this delusional guy went straight to Dong Jiaoyan to confront her—asking, “Didn’t you say I was your boyfriend? Why is there another one?”—everything would fall apart.
Her entire plan would go up in flames.
She couldn’t take that risk.
Zheng Qingyuan didn’t notice her hesitation. Instead, he switched topics, his tone turning serious again.
“How much do you want to keep this quiet? Ten thousand? Twenty thousand? Thirty thousand?”
Classic rich, simple-minded pushover—straight to five-figure offers.
Qiao Liuyue shook her head, swift and decisive, no hesitation.
“No need. I’m not going to tell Jiaojiao about this.”
She paused and added another line.
This time, it was pure curiosity.
“But are you seriously just going to keep sending your assistant to take her out to dinner and meet-ups? You’re not going to show your face?”
Zheng Qingyuan’s expression softened, like he was thinking something over carefully. His brow furrowed slightly, and his lips moved as he considered his words.
“Jiaojiao is a good girl. She didn’t even mind that my assistant is average-looking and dresses old-fashioned. That means she doesn’t like me because of my looks.”
As he said it, the corner of his mouth involuntarily lifted a little.
A look of relief—like he had finally found someone who didn’t care about appearances.
“So lately I’ve been thinking about the right time to come clean with her. Use my real identity to meet her.”
Qiao Liuyue was almost dying of laughter.
But she held it in. Only the corner of her mouth twitched.
She screamed internally: Are rich people really this dumb?
Dong Jiaoyan didn’t run away after meeting the assistant standing in for “Brother Suifeng” because, duh, a free meal at a fancy restaurant?
Why not? She got to eat for free, post on social media, and each time, she brought her tool bestie along for safety.
This had nothing to do with feelings. It was about free meals at expensive places.
After mentally running through that rant, she just nodded, ready to leave.
“Alright, good luck to you!”
“Hey, wait.” A voice came from behind her.
“What now?”
Qiao Liuyue turned around and saw Zheng Qingyuan with a hesitant expression.
Like he was trying to find the right words for something awkward to say.
“Spit it out,” she urged.
“Thanks for not telling Jiaojiao about this.”
Zheng Qingyuan thanked her first.
Then, as if gathering his courage, he added:
“Even though you won’t take a ‘confidentiality fee’… I still want to send you a little red envelope. It’s a small token of my appreciation.”
“Deal!”
Turning down free money would be stupid.
The two of them added each other on WeChat. Zheng Qingyuan’s profile picture was a blue-eyed husky—perfectly matching his personality.
As soon as the friend request went through, he instantly sent three red envelopes, two hundred each, totaling six hundred.
When Qiao Liuyue tapped to open them, her finger moved with zero shame.
Six hundred kuai—that was plenty of meals from the cafeteria for her.
After sending the money, Zheng Qingyuan looked visibly relieved.
But he didn’t seem satisfied ending it there, so he added one more line with a sly tone.
“Liuyue, thank you again.”
“So… does that mean we’re friends now? When I finally come clean with Jiaojiao, if she gets mad at me, I hope you can… put in a good word for me.”
When he said this, his eyes lit up, like he was impressed by his own cleverness.
Alright, even this pushover had some tricks up his sleeve.
Who said he was fully dumb? The guy was playing the long game.
Zheng Qingyuan’s strategy was clear: win over the best friend first, secure an escape route, so when the truth came out, someone would vouch for him.
After all, in everyone’s eyes, Qiao Liuyue was Dong Jiaoyan’s ride-or-die bestie.
One word from the bestie counted more than a hundred from an outsider.
Qiao Liuyue nodded half-heartedly, letting out a couple of grunts in agreement.
She turned around, reached for the door to the private room, and was about to step out.
But just then, someone came walking down the hallway toward her. A head of chestnut hair swaying under the light—it was Dong Jiaoyan, back from the restroom.
Dong Jiaoyan saw Qiao Liuyue come out of the small room with its door half-open. Her expression shifted from confusion to alert in an instant.
She quickened her pace, practically running.
“Liuyue, what are you doing in here by yourself?”
“N-nothing.” Remembering Zheng Qingyuan was still inside, Qiao Liuyue instinctively moved half a step to the side, trying to block Dong Jiaoyan’s line of sight into the room.
