In the honeymoon phase of their relationship, Jiang Yao wished she and Chen Yuan could become conjoined twins.
Ever since they finished talking about the topic of cheating, she hadn’t gotten off of him for a single second, just clinging to his body.
Even when he was playing games on his phone, she would watch intently and backseat game.
"Why didn’t you attack that one just now?"
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! If you don’t go now, you’ll get wiped in one push."
"You missed your hook again! No, let me play one life! Just one!"
Chen Yuan gave her a helpless look. ’Babe,’ he thought, ’you’re hugging my neck, pulling my arm, and dangling your legs in those ultra-thin black stockings right in front of my eyes. You’re not even wearing shoes, your feet just wrapped in nylon and exposed to the air.’
’Who could possibly concentrate on the game?’
’It’s a miracle I’m not feeding.’
After finishing the match, Chen Yuan tossed his phone aside and collapsed onto the sofa, feeling like his will to live had been drained.
Her backseat gaming had made him dizzy.
"Why’d you stop playing?" Jiang Yao asked, looking adorably clueless.
"My arm’s asleep."
"Is it too cold? I don’t feel it. The apartment is pretty warm."
"Babe... do you have any idea how heavy your butt is?"
"Oh, so that’s why," Jiang Yao said with an embarrassed laugh, shifting her little butt off him. Only then did she notice a large red mark on Chen Yuan’s arm where she’d been sitting. "Hey, you should have said something! I didn’t do it on purpose."
"Whatever. I’m going to the bathroom."
"You’re not allowed!" Hearing this, Jiang Yao suddenly flopped back onto his chest. The abrupt increase in weight made it impossible for Chen Yuan to get up.
"I really have to go. I drank too much water at lunch."
"But if you go, I’ll have to get off you, and I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna..."
Honestly, Chen Yuan felt Jiang Yao was wriggling like a maggot, nuzzling against him like a succubus draining his life force. She kept rubbing against him, sniffing at his neck.
It was like she was high on something.
"You can be as clingy as you want when I get back from the bathroom, but I really can’t hold it anymore."
"Fine... then carry me to the bathroom."
"Do you hear the words coming out of your mouth?"
Chen Yuan couldn’t understand it. He’d heard that some girls get clingy in a relationship, but Jiang Yao was taking it to an absurd extreme. She couldn’t even be apart from him for a few seconds? The apartment was only so big; it’s not like he could run away.
’This is ridiculous.’
"Why not? It’s not like you can’t carry me. Just give me a princess carry." She looked completely at ease, even a little smug, as if it wasn’t a difficult request at all.
"No, I just have to ask, if I’m carrying you, how am I supposed to unfasten my pants? How am I supposed to use the toilet... And if you’re watching, it’ll be really awkward."
"I won’t look, I promise I won’t look!"
"What about the first problem?"
"Hmm... you’re right. How about I help y—"
"Stop, stop, stop!"
Chen Yuan could tell Jiang Yao was just being a playful little devil on purpose, so he cut her off. With a burst of strength, he unceremoniously dumped her to the side and headed straight for the bathroom.
Although he didn’t look back, he knew Jiang Yao was probably clutching her stomach, laughing.
Just from the past few days together, Chen Yuan felt he was starting to get a handle on Jiang Yao’s personality. She was the absolute ’says one thing but means another,’ green-tea, black-bellied type of girlfriend.
When it came to being adored, she was a natural.
But when it came to tormenting people, she didn’t hold back either.
He could already foresee that with Jiang Yao in his life, things would never be dull again.
...
"I’m so bored!"
When he came out of the bathroom, things were just as Chen Yuan had expected.
Jiang Yao thoroughly tormented him, insisting on stepping on his abs with her feet just to see what it felt like.
After she had her fun for a while, leaving him "on the verge of death" with a vacant look in his eyes, she actually had the nerve to complain about being "bored."
Suddenly feeling that life was meaningless, Chen Yuan, who had entered a state of enlightened detachment, remembered that he still had homework to do. He’d spent the whole afternoon just playing around with Jiang Yao.
He felt as if he’d found his last shred of hope.
"You go find something to do for a bit."
"Why? What are you going to do?" Jiang Yao eyed him warily.
"Homework. It’s due on Monday."
Jiang Yao wanted to hold him back, but then she had another thought. They still had to find something to do tonight, so it might be better to let Chen Yuan finish his homework now. A little quiet time wouldn’t be so bad.
So Chen Yuan went to the bedroom, turned on his computer, organized his files, and clicked on a document.
He started on his homework.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yao stayed in the living room for a bit. She shot a sly glance toward the bedroom before returning to the sofa and opening a certain secret group chat.
Professional streamers usually have fan groups.
Jiang Yao was no exception.
Her fan group had been around for at least two years. When she had nothing better to do, she’d go there to act crazy. It had thirty members, all of them pretty and cute "wife fans," and the group chat was named "Yaoyao’s Harem."
One thing was for sure: many of them were quite wealthy.
They accounted for half of all the donations in her stream.
Jiang Yao’s relationship with them went beyond just streamer and fans; they were very good friends. Wan was one of the members of this group.
However, Wan hadn’t told anyone about seeing her that day. After all, in the VTuber industry, it was crucial to keep one’s professional and personal lives separate and not reveal the real identity of the person behind the avatar to prevent the boundary between the 3D and 2D worlds from collapsing.
Normal people might not understand, but for the 2D world, this was a serious matter.
At this moment, as she opened the group chat, Jiang Yao was about to do something she had always wanted to do but never had the chance.
...
Yaoyao:
"Fam, who gets it?"
Yiye Feng:
"?"
Tu Miao:
"?"
Tyrannosaurus-Defying-Dark-Emperor-Pretty-Girl:
"?"
The moment she appeared, the group chat, which had been buzzing with activity, suddenly filled with a synchronized flood of "?" messages.
What followed was a heartbreaking barrage of insults and accusations.
...
"What’s with the crazy act now?"
"Instead of streaming, you’re here yapping. You’ve streamed six times this month. You’ve practically got ’professional’ tattooed on your forehead."
"If you have something to say, spit it out."
...
Jiang Yao was clearly used to trading barbs with them and didn’t care in the slightest.
She raised an eyebrow, her slender fingers dancing across the phone screen:
"Sigh, I’ve been busy these last few days, spending time with my 18-year-old boyfriend, no time to stream... My little boyfriend is just too clingy, I can’t shake him off. What can I do?"
After sending the message, Jiang Yao covered her mouth, a perfect picture of a scheming green tea.
She even added a matcha-flavored panna cotta sticker.
...
Tyrannosaurus-Defying-Dark-Emperor-Pretty-Girl:
"Since when do you have a boyfriend?"
Miss Kawashima Fumie:
"She’s probably hallucinating. VTubers are like that."
Tu Miao:
"It’s fine to lie to us, girl, but don’t start lying to yourself."
Yiye Feng:
"I remember Yaoyao did have a little boyfriend, but it was an online thing. Don’t tell me you two actually met up? You’d even go for someone you met online? Yaoyao, you must be really desperate."
...
’Desperate, am I?’
Jiang Yao smiled sweetly. She stood up and skipped toward the bedroom.
’Little master, it’s your turn to make me look good!’
...
「In the bedroom.」
Chen Yuan was focused on typing, his expression cool and detached. The hood of his sweatshirt was down around his neck, his long fingers moved nimbly, and his bangs fell lazily across his forehead. This, combined with the backdrop of the setting sun outside the window as dusk approached, left Jiang Yao momentarily stunned.
"Don’t look at the camera!" she whispered.
Chen Yuan ignored her and continued with his homework.
With a CLICK,
she snapped a very atmospheric photo of his side profile.
Jiang Yao examined it for a few seconds, extremely satisfied, and sent it directly to the group chat.
A few seconds later, just as she had predicted, the chat exploded:
"HOLY SHIT!!!"
"Who is that?! Your little boyfriend?"
"His hands are so nice! His face is so nice too!"
"No way, girlie, you’re eating this well? (Crying emoji)"