My Unconventional Online Dating - Chapter 37

Xiao Nianyuan took a deep breath and asked helplessly, “Won’t this make us even more conspicuous?”

Lian Qiushui looked slightly guilty. “Though it looks better, it’s still quite different from your original appearance.”

Indeed, it now resembled her real-world features more closely—no one should be able to recognize her.

Xiao Nianyuan hesitated for a moment before opening her friends list. Seeing Tan Xialan and Du Xiaotong both online, she couldn’t help but tense up.

But then she reconsidered—if even Lian Qiushui had to sneak in here, how could they possibly find her?

“Are you in there?”

A familiar voice suddenly rang out. Xiao Nianyuan jerked her head toward the door—it was Tan Xialan’s voice.

Lian Qiushui was also surprised and quickly reassured her, “Don’t worry, she can’t get in.”

Tan Xialan’s voice continued from outside, “Our intimacy level is high enough for teleportation, but where is this place? I can’t even open the map.”

Then came a knock. “Open up, I want to come in.”

She seemed certain Xiao Nianyuan was inside.

“Wait a second!”

Xiao Nianyuan hurriedly reached for her veil, but Lian Qiushui was faster, personally tying it on for her.

As the ribbon brushed against the tip of her ear, Xiao Nianyuan’s lashes fluttered slightly. Lian Qiushui, however, acted as if she hadn’t noticed, stepping back to inspect her work before declaring with certainty, “There. No one will recognize you now.”

Xiao Nianyuan eyed the bronze mirror skeptically—the reflection bore an undeniable resemblance to her true appearance.

By now, Tan Xialan was already waiting at the door. Refusing to meet her would only arouse suspicion. Besides, Xiao Nianyuan wanted to hear what Tan Xialan had to say—perhaps she could gather clues about that scammer.

So far, Xiao Nianyuan only knew he was a male student from their school. If she could learn more, she might be able to expose him.

After opening the door, Lian Qiushui deliberately blocked Xiao Nianyuan from view. Tan Xialan greeted her but, noticing her persistent obstruction, shot her a strange look. “What’s the deal? Not letting me see her?”

Lian Qiushui lied without batting an eye. “What if she doesn’t want to see someone she’s not close to?”

“That’s really hurtful,” Tan Xialan pouted, feigning offense. “Don’t I count as her friend?”

As the two stood at an impasse, Xiao Nianyuan lightly tapped Lian Qiushui’s shoulder, signaling her to move aside.

Reluctantly, Lian Qiushui stepped away. Tan Xialan stared at the veiled Xiao Nianyuan for a long while, making her stiffen under the scrutiny.

Just as Xiao Nianyuan was scrambling for an excuse, Tan Xialan suddenly asked with concern, “Why the veil? Did you get hurt on your face?”

Without waiting for a response, she pulled out a jar of ointment and handed it over. “This works wonders for scars.”

Even though it was just a game, injuries were still unpleasant.

Seeing the pure worry in Tan Xialan’s big, beautiful eyes, Xiao Nianyuan couldn’t resist testing her. “Don’t you think I look different?”

Tan Xialan circled her twice before hesitantly turning to Lian Qiushui. “Did you two do something?”

Realizing she genuinely didn’t recognize her, Lian Qiushui suddenly understood. “Wait—are you face-blind?”

“A little,” Tan Xialan admitted, her ears turning pink.

“A little? More like severely,” Xiao Nianyuan thought, relieved. She quickly changed the subject. “Did you need something? Another dungeon run?”

“No,” Tan Xialan waved her hand. “A friend logged off suddenly, so I got bored and came looking for you. By the way, what is this place?”

“Lian Qiushui’s hometown.”

Hearing it was an NPC’s residence, Tan Xialan immediately lost interest.

There are plenty of strange things in the game, like that crazy rabbit that had been pestering Xiao Nianyuan before but ended up following her.

Though the rabbit was reluctant at first, it settled down when it heard it could occasionally see Xiao Nianyuan. Tan Xialan, on the other hand, was overjoyed—after all, she had gained a pet.

Upon hearing that Du Xiaotong had logged off, Xiao Nianyuan was somewhat distracted. Even though Du Xiaotong wouldn’t randomly pull back someone’s bed curtain, the fact that she had hidden her gaming activities still made Xiao Nianyuan feel a little guilty.

Tan Xialan chattered away incessantly. Xiao Nianyuan had been zoning out, but when she suddenly caught a key piece of information, she snapped back to attention: “You mean that incident on the forum?”

Tan Xialan nodded nonchalantly. “Yeah, we’ve already identified the target. Once we gather solid evidence, we’ll report them—make sure they regret ever messing with us!”

They already had a strong suspect in mind and expected to catch them within a few days.

She waved her fist angrily. “How dare they bully someone—and my roommate at that!”

Xiao Nianyuan tentatively asked, “Are you sure you’ve got the right person?”

“Of course we—” Tan Xialan cut herself off mid-sentence and suddenly eyed Xiao Nianyuan suspiciously. “Wait… you’re not from our school, are you?”

She stroked her chin, her tone turning cautious. “But we can’t tell you anything until we’ve confirmed everything. Don’t want to tip them off.”

Xiao Nianyuan feigned hurt. “You don’t trust me?”

“No!” Tan Xialan blurted out, then hesitated. “It’s just… my roommate is the victim. Only the three of us know the details right now. The fewer people who know, the better—in case word gets out.”

She gave Xiao Nianyuan a meaningful glance. “You wouldn’t want to be suspected either, right?”

Xiao Nianyuan was surprised. Tan Xialan, who usually seemed naive and carefree, was being unusually cautious about this.

She checked her friends list to see if Du Xiaotong was online, only to find that Tan Xialan was the only one there. She paused, realizing they had never actually added each other as friends.

“Your friend still hasn’t come online?” Xiao Nianyuan changed the subject.

Tan Xialan frowned. “She said she’d be right back. Weird, why is it taking so long?” As she spoke, her avatar began to fade. “I’ll go check on her.”

With that, she logged off.

Xiao Nianyuan had originally planned to go to Sky City, but after her conversation with Tan Xialan, she felt inexplicably uneasy and decided to log out early.

The moment she took off her headset, she heard Tan Xialan’s raised voice: “What? She’s not answering?”

Xiao Nianyuan quickly put away her gear and pulled back the curtain.

Du Xiaotong’s expression was grim. “She hung up as soon as I finished talking. Now her phone’s completely unreachable.”

Tan Xialan paced anxiously. “Did something happen? She’s always so impulsive—”

Before she could finish, Du Xiaotong covered her mouth. Tan Xialan noticed her staring behind her and slowly turned to see Xiao Nianyuan watching them.

Tan Xialan gasped in shock. Du Xiaotong went to pour her some water while Tan Xialan sipped cautiously, stealing glances at Xiao Nianyuan’s reaction.

Xiao Nianyuan cut straight to the point. “She’s not answering your calls?”

When Du Xiaotong nodded, Xiao Nianyuan immediately pulled out her phone and dialed, only to hear the automated message signaling the phone was off.

“What did you tell her?”

At this point, Du Xiaotong had no choice but to confess. “Remember when you got splashed with milk tea?”

She skipped over the details about the photos and summarized, “We found the person behind it.”

“You told her?”

“Yeah, I just talked to her.” Du Xiaotong hesitated, clearly wanting to say more.

Tan Xialan chimed in between hiccups, “She probably wants to handle it herself, but—hic—we only have a suspect, no concrete evidence yet…”

“If there’s already a suspect, why not report it to the counselor?” Xiao Nianyuan frowned.

She would never have imagined that Ji Rongxue was trying to resolve this privately for her sake, nor that the person framing her was someone she didn’t even know.

Tan Xialan frantically rummaged for her phone, while Du Xiaotong calmly contacted the counselor to explain the situation. The counselor agreed to help locate Ji Rongxue and told them not to worry.

From the counselor’s tone, it seemed they didn’t take it seriously—probably thinking it was just a joke.

Du Xiaotong frowned at Xiao Nianyuan, who continued dialing Ji Rongxue’s number, but it still wouldn’t connect.

“I’m going to find her.” Xiao Nianyuan pushed open the dorm door and left, her expression tense.