PDLP Chapter 3: Honey, are you there?
Chapter 3: Honey, are you there?
"Young Master Lin."
Song Qingning stopped eating her potato chips, tilted her head, and looked at Lin Bei with a suspicious expression: "Hey, hey, hey, you're acting a little strange today!"
She immediately moved closer, lowered her voice, and spoke with a hint of schadenfreude.
"You didn't actually go crazy from the shock of being rejected by Qianqian, did you?"
"Let me tell you, a good horse doesn't turn back to eat the grass it already grazed. Don't do what those TV dramas do after you've been rejected, and then you shamelessly pester her like that."
"No matter what, Qianqian is still my best friend. If you really harass her, I'll beat you up for her!"
As Song Qingning spoke, she shook her small fist and grinned, revealing two little tiger teeth.
Lin Bei suppressed the complex emotions in his heart and forced a smile: "What are you thinking? Who am I, Lin Bei?"
"There are plenty of fish in the sea, why be hung up on just one?"
"Dude, I'm going to make a lot of money someday. Women will only slow me down!"
Are you kidding me? You've already been reborn, why would you still be a simp?
Isn't it better to seize the time and make money?
This was 08! Housing prices hadn't skyrocketed yet, and the Olympics were about to be held. It was like gold was everywhere.
Moreover, Su Qianqian is the daughter of the Su family. How could someone like him possibly lay a finger on her?
Even if Su Qianqian had just agreed to his confession, he would have broken up with her immediately.
After all, there's a saying that goes, "A rich heiress may be immature, but you must be sensible."
"Tch." Song Qingning rolled her eyes again, clearly dissatisfied with this perfunctory answer.
However, seeing that Lin Bei didn't seem sad, she felt somewhat relieved.
She shifted her position, finding a more comfortable corner on the sofa, picked up the Nokia N73, and began fiddling with it intently.
"Alright, alright, if you have nothing else to say, then get lost and don't bother me."
"I'm busy decorating my QQ space right now. I just bought the 'Crystal Love' skin yesterday, and I still have to adjust the background music volume. It's so annoying."
As she spoke, Song Qingning's fingers flew across the keyboard, and the rudimentary interface of the WAP version of QQ Space began to appear on the screen.
Lin Bei glanced at it and saw that Song Qingning's background music automatically started playing that familiar non-mainstream hit song—"Flying to Someone Else's Bed," with the lyrics scrolling:
"The light falls on your face, you're as lovely as ever..."
In addition, there's a screen full of twinkling star effects and Martian-language log titles:
【﹏☆Our love was ultimately misplaced﹏☆】
Lin Bei felt a headache coming on.
At 18, he didn't think there was anything wrong with the unconventional aesthetic at the time.
When 36-year-old Lin Bei went to see it again, he only felt embarrassed and disgusted.
"Your taste..." Lin Bei couldn't help but complain, "Couldn't you choose a more normal song?"
"What do you know?" Song Qingning glared at him, immediately protecting her phone. "This is called trendy!"
"Qianqian said my space looks great, how dare you complain?"
Upon hearing the name "Su Qianqian," Lin Bei's heart stirred, but he didn't say anything more.
Just then, Lin Bei felt a sudden wave of nausea rising from his stomach.
His expression changed, and before he could speak, he hurriedly covered his mouth, stood up, and rushed out of the private room.
"How ridiculous." Song Qingning rolled her eyes even more as she watched Lin Bei's departing figure.
She stopped thinking about it and continued fiddling with her phone.
Inside the restroom.
The small space was filled with a faint smell of smoke mixed with the scent of air freshener.
Lin Bei lay on the sink, splashing cold water hard on his face.
The cool water stimulated his skin, completely pulling him out of that inexplicable dizziness.
He braced his hands on the table and slowly raised his head.
The mirror reflects a young face.
His hair, dyed an unruly flaxen color, hung down in strands over his forehead after being wet, giving him an appearance that was both decadent and flamboyant.
This is him in 2008.
Lin Bei stared at himself in the mirror for a long time, lost in thought.
With the Beijing Olympics just two months away, he could easily take advantage of the information gap to make short-term trades and earn tuition and living expenses during the summer vacation.
"Start with small amounts, then aim for big money; take it one step at a time."
"The first thing to do now is to make sure that Lime gets through tomorrow safely."
Lin Bei took a deep breath, feeling as if his whole body was filled with inexhaustible energy.
It's so good to be young. Unlike in my previous life, when my body was weak and I would be out of breath after running just a few hundred meters.
As Lin Bei reached for a tissue to wipe his face, he touched the old Nokia 5300 in his pocket. The screen was still lit up, displaying a text message interface.
[Tencent QQ] Your friend "Singing of Loneliness" has sent you a message:
【My darling husband~ are you there? (づ￣ 3￣)づ】
【Have you been missing your wife? ﹏☆】
Lin Bei glanced at it, his brows furrowing slightly.
"A soft whisper of loneliness..."
The name sounds familiar; it seems to be a female player he randomly added last year when he was playing QQ Speed.
I married her in the game to complete a couple's quest and get the reward.
The other person kept calling him "husband" all the time, recharged his QQ account with several hundred yuan worth of QQ coins, activated his QQ Blue and Purple Diamond memberships, and even gave him a bunch of top-tier racing cars and outfits.
In your past life, you might have felt this was a kind of vain satisfaction.
but now……
Lin Bei felt embarrassed and annoyed.
The screen is filled with Martian language, pretentious emoticons, and this kind of pointless coquettishness.
For a reborn individual who urgently needs to calmly consider how to earn his first pot of gold and save his childhood sweetheart's life.
This kind of news is just noise.
Lin Bei didn't even bother to think about who this "Singing of Loneliness" was, what she looked like, or if she was an ugly monster.
In his eyes, this was just a stranger who was addicted to online dating and had too much money to spend.
"boring."
Lin Bei snorted coldly, too lazy to reply with a single word, and directly pressed the side button to put his phone into silent mode.
Then, he casually put it back in his pocket and pushed open the bathroom door.
Outside the private room.
At the end of the corridor.
Su Qianqian leaned against the wall, her pink Samsung slider phone tightly clutched in her hand.
The light from the phone screen shone on her cool and beautiful face, but it couldn't hide the panic and unease in her eyes.
Five minutes have passed, and there is still no response on QQ.
The "husband" who used to be so caring and gentle online was the only source of warmth and freedom she felt in her stifling family life.
This time, they actually fell silent.
Su Qianqian bit her thin lower lip and began to ponder.
Did she say something wrong yesterday that made her husband angry?
Or is it that...her husband finds her annoying?
From a young age, Su Qianqian was subjected to extremely strict demands from her parents. Not only did she have to be proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but her words and actions also had to conform to the standards of a wealthy family's daughter.
She lived like a delicate puppet, feeling suffocated at home every day. Only online could she shed her pretense and become a spoiled and capricious little woman.
"The North Wind Howls" is the only light in Su Qianqian's dark life.
If even he is lost...
Su Qianqian dared not think any further.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, and reopened the chat window. Her fingertips trembled as she typed a new message:
Honey, are you busy?
It's okay, you go ahead and do your work. (｡•́︿•̀｡)
Sent successfully.
There has still been no reply.
Su Qianqian's heart sank.
She hesitated for a moment, then sent another message:
[Honey... I just topped up your QQ account with 200 RMB worth of Q coins and renewed your Blue Diamond membership for another year. Remember to claim it!]
【Don't think it's too little, this is my pocket money that I've saved up for a long time... (＞﹏＜)】