My Online Lover Lives Next Door (GL) - Chapter 4

“What meeting? Meeting who?” Lu Feng had average hearing and only caught half of He Qing’s words. Not hearing the full sentence made him extremely curious, so he turned his head and asked.

“It’s nothing.” He Qing turned off the phone screen, her expression blank, but her mind was still tangled up in Jian Fanxing’s words.

Little Star must have been hoping to see her. As for the part where she tried to persuade her otherwise, the words seemed to be for her own good, but He Qing couldn’t help adding a deeper meaning to them.

Did she not want to see her anymore? Or was she afraid… of seeing her?

“Oh.” Since his boss didn’t want to talk about it, Lu Feng, as a secretary, knew better than to press. He simply responded and turned his head back.

But just as he did, He Qing’s voice came from behind.

“Lu Feng, how long have you been dating your girlfriend?”

Lu Feng: “???”

“Ms. He, this is…?” Why was she suddenly asking about his love life?

A trace of panic flashed through Lu Feng’s eyes. Had his boss found out that he was chatting with his girlfriend during work hours? Did she think his relationship was affecting his work efficiency? Was she planning to fire him?

Lu Feng visibly tensed up.

“Ms. He, I won’t—”

“If your future partner wants to see you but won’t actually meet you, and even thinks that you wanting to meet her is impulsive—do you think she wants to see you or not?” He Qing asked.

“Ah, this…”

Lu Feng stared at his boss in disbelief. Was his boss… dating someone?

His expression made it way too obvious. He Qing glanced at him, cleared her throat, and said, “I’m asking for a friend. She… met a girlfriend online.”

“Online dating?” The term alone made Lu Feng freeze. His eyes widened in disbelief.

He didn’t buy this whole “asking for a friend” thing. Given how his boss had been acting strangely lately, this question was obviously about herself.

But the biggest shock was—his wise and capable boss was actually in an online relationship?!

“Yeah.” He Qing confirmed, then frowned at Lu Feng’s reaction.

“Is online dating… bad?” she asked.

“It’s not bad.” Lu Feng felt like that statement was too absolute, so he added, “But it’s not exactly good either.”

“There’s a term called ‘meeting in person ruins everything.’ I think it fits online dating pretty well.”

“Meeting in person ruins everything?” He Qing frowned. She was always busy with work and rarely had time to keep up with trendy internet slang.

Lu Feng knew his boss well, so he explained, “It means that two people who got into a relationship online might meet in person and realize that the other person isn’t what they imagined. So, they break up immediately after their first meeting.”

He Qing understood. But Jian Fanxing’s picture had been on her desk for a long time, and she was very satisfied with her. As for whether Jian Fanxing was satisfied with her…

He Qing touched her own face. Normally, she was confident, but after being turned down, she wasn’t so sure anymore.

The thought that Jian Fanxing might reject her because of her face made He Qing’s chest tighten with pain. Her expression darkened.

The atmosphere in the car became instantly heavy. Lu Feng, seeing his boss’s stormy expression, was even more convinced that this wasn’t about “a friend.”

“Uh… Ms. He, while online relationships often end badly, some do turn out well,” Lu Feng tried to comfort her before quickly turning back to face forward, hoping to avoid getting caught in the storm.

But his words didn’t seem to help much. For the rest of the day, the entire He Corporation was on edge because of He Qing’s foul mood. It wasn’t until she left for the day that the employees finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like they had just barely survived.

***

After leaving the office, He Qing first went to a mall to buy a gift for Jian Fanxing.

She ignored Lu Feng’s suggestion to buy chocolate and instead picked a bracelet.

She remembered that once, while chatting with Jian Fanxing, she had mentioned passing by a UK store and falling in love with a bracelet that had a star-shaped charm. But the bracelet was too expensive, so she couldn’t afford it.

Back then, He Qing had offered to buy it for her, but Jian Fanxing refused.

She had said that making money was hard, and that He Qing could just buy her bubble tea and snacks—there was no need for expensive jewelry. She wouldn’t even look good wearing it anyway.

But He Qing knew that Jian Fanxing only said that because she was worried about money. She was worried about her.

That was the first time He Qing regretted pretending to be an ordinary working woman in front of Jian Fanxing. If she hadn’t, she could have given her everything she wanted.

Carrying the gift, He Qing drove straight to her new home.

Standing in front of her door, she didn’t rush to go inside. Instead, she knocked on the door of Apartment 301 across from hers.

The door opened quickly. When Jian Fanxing saw He Qing, she instinctively tried to close it.

But He Qing was quick. She grabbed the doorframe before it could shut.

“Miss… Do you dislike me?” He Qing stared at Jian Fanxing. She almost called her “Little Star” but caught herself just in time.

Still, Jian Fanxing’s reaction made her chest tighten. Her eyes were filled with hurt.

Jian Fanxing looked at He Qing’s hand gripping the doorframe. If she forced the door shut now, she would definitely hurt He Qing’s hand. So, she hesitated.

Hearing He Qing’s question and seeing the hurt on her face, Jian Fanxing moved her lips.

“No… I don’t.”

In fact, she didn’t just not dislike this woman—she actually liked her.

And that scared her.

She already had a girlfriend. How could she like someone else?

To avoid temptation, Jian Fanxing had decided to keep her distance from this woman.

She just hadn’t expected He Qing to come knocking.

“Really?” He Qing was doubtful.

Jian Fanxing quickly nodded. All she wanted was for He Qing to let go so she could shut the door and make her disappear from sight.

He Qing stared at her for a long time. Seeing that her sincerity wasn’t fake, she finally looked away—but she still didn’t let go of the doorframe.

Instead, she handed Jian Fanxing the gift she had bought and said, “For our first—oh wait, second—meeting. Hello, I’m your new neighbor. My name is He Qing.”

He Qing?

Jian Fanxing, who had been trying to avoid He Qing’s gaze, snapped her head up in shock.

“Your name is He Qing?” Her eyes burned with intensity. She stared at He Qing without blinking, excitement and anticipation flashing in her gaze.

But just as quickly, the light in her eyes dimmed.

“No, you’re not her. You can’t be. This morning, when we were chatting, she was still overseas.” Jian Fanxing murmured to herself.

“Who is ‘she’?” He Qing’s deep eyes glimmered with amusement. The way Jian Fanxing reacted made it clear she was talking about her. Seeing her in such a flustered state, He Qing suddenly felt like teasing her.

“My girlfriend. Her name is also He Qing.” Jian Fanxing, still shocked by the name coincidence, answered honestly.

Hearing Jian Fanxing so firmly declare that she was her girlfriend, the smile in He Qing’s eyes deepened. She said meaningfully, “Since we have the same name, how can you be so sure I’m not her? What if I am?”

What if I am?

Jian Fanxing’s mind kept replaying that sentence over and over. She was so dazed that she didn’t even notice He Qing handing her the gift and going back to her own apartment.

After closing the door, Jian Fanxing casually tossed the gift aside and immediately called Lu Yao on video.

“What’s with that gloomy face? Did your online girlfriend break up with you?” Lu Yao teased.

Jian Fanxing immediately defended He Qing. “Of course not!”

Then, she glared at Lu Yao. “Yaoyao, can’t you just wish me well for once?”

“Wishing for you to break up is me looking out for you,” Lu Yao replied. “Online dating isn’t reliable. I’m just worried you’ll get scammed.”

Jian Fanxing wanted to argue, but Lu Yao waved her hand. “Alright, alright, let’s stop talking about your online girlfriend. Tell me, why do you look so troubled?”

Jian Fanxing knew she couldn’t change Lu Yao’s negative opinion about her relationship in just one conversation, so she dropped the breakup topic.

“Yaoyao, I have a new neighbor.”

“A new neighbor? Hmm, and then? Is she ugly and harassing you?” Lu Yao glanced at Jian Fanxing’s face. With her fair skin and beautiful looks, she definitely attracted attention.

Jian Fanxing: “…”

“No.” Jian Fanxing shook her head. “She’s not ugly. In fact, she’s very beautiful.”

Thinking about He Qing’s face, Jian Fanxing added, “Very beautiful, very beautiful.”

That description immediately piqued Lu Yao’s interest. She leaned in excitedly and asked, “Do you have a crush on her?”

“A crush?” Jian Fanxing quickly shook her head like a drum. “No, no, I’m not the kind of person who falls for someone so easily.”

“It’s just… her name is He Qing.”

“Sister’s name is also He Qing.”

Lu Yao’s interest grew even more. She quickly asked, “The exact same name?”

Jian Fanxing looked troubled. “Not just the same name, their voices are very similar too.”

“Even their voices are alike? Are they the same person?”

Jian Fanxing shook her head and denied it. “No. I was chatting with Sister this morning, and she was still overseas.”

“What if she lied to you?” Lu Yao never had a good impression of Jian Fanxing’s online girlfriend, so she immediately took this chance to throw in some doubt.