My online dating circle has millions of followers, why would she put a collar on me?

Little Moon: You scared me to death, you know that?!

Little Moon: I thought something had happened to you. I didn't sleep all night, waiting for your message.

Little Moon: How could you not charge yourself? Do you know how worried I was about you...?

Jiang Yi let out a long breath, feeling his heart finally fall back into his chest.

He typed quickly: "I'm so sorry, I was too tired last night and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I forgot to charge my phone. I'm really fine, please don't come."

Little Moon: Are you sure you're okay? You're not lying to me, are you?

"I'm sure, everything's alright."

Little Moon: Then why didn't you answer the phone? I called you several times and you didn't answer...

Jiang Yi was stunned for a moment, then checked the call log and found more than a dozen missed calls, all from Su Xiaoyue.

His phone was off last night, and he didn't receive any calls.

What if he didn't turn it off?

He dared not think.

"My phone was on silent, I didn't hear it. Honey, I'm really okay. You can stay home and relax. Didn't we agree to meet next Wednesday?"

There was a long silence on the other end.

Jiang Yi stared at the "typing" message on the screen, his heart starting to race again.

A few seconds later, the message came:

Little Moon: Honey, I want to see you.

Little Moon: Not next Wednesday, it's now.

Little Moon: Shall we video chat? I just want to see you and make sure you're really okay.

Jiang Yi's fingers suddenly clenched the phone.

video.

Su Xiaoyue wants a video call.

His first instinct was to find an excuse to refuse—his phone camera was broken, it was too late, or his roommate was sleeping and it wasn't convenient.

But before he could type anything, Su Xiaoyue's next message arrived:

Little Moon: Honey, I've already booked my plane ticket. If you don't answer the video call, I'll fly straight over to you.

Little Moon: I'm serious.

Jiang Yi looked at the words "I'm serious" and felt his temples throbbing.

She wasn't joking.

A girl who can stay up all night, pack her bags, and book her flight just because her boyfriend doesn't reply to her messages is definitely capable of doing something like "flying straight there".

He gritted his teeth, his finger hovering above the screen.

video?

Still no video call?

If he refuses, given Su Xiaoyue's current condition, she will definitely fly directly to Kyoto.

He won't even have time to prepare.

If he agrees...

He looked down at himself—just woken from a nightmare, covered in sweat, his hair a mess, his face pale, with dark circles under his eyes, looking like a ghost that had just crawled out of a grave.

This person looks completely different from the one Jiang Miaomiao posted in the previous photo.

In that photo, he was wearing a white shirt and standing under a ginkgo tree. The sunlight fell on him, making him look clean, refreshing, and handsome.

And now he...

Jiang Yi took a deep breath, quickly rolled out of bed, and rushed into the bathroom.

He turned on the tap, washed his face twice with cold water, and then roughly ran his fingers through his hair in front of the mirror. He still looked haggard, but at least he looked like a human being.

He went back to the bedside and picked up his phone.

Su Xiaoyue sent two more messages:

Little Moon: Honey, are you still there?

Little Moon: Don't you want to video chat with me?

Jiang Yi took a deep breath and typed a few words on the screen:

"Honey, wait a minute, I just woke up, I went to wash my face."

Then he turned on the bedside lamp—only the dimmest setting, the dim light barely illuminating his face, but not very clearly.

He checked the background.

The dormitory walls, the upper bunk bed board, and the coat draped over the back of the chair were barely presentable.

He glanced at his clothes again: a simple black T-shirt.

It should be possible.

Then he started a video call.

The words "Connecting" flashed on the screen for two seconds, and then the screen lit up.

Su Xiaoyue appeared on the screen.

This was the first time Jiang Yi had "met" Su Xiaoyue.

It's not a photograph, not a blurry half-face, but a living, breathing person.

She was wearing a light-colored nightgown, her long hair draped over her shoulders. Perhaps because she hadn't slept all night, her face was somewhat pale, and there was a faint dark circle under her eyes.

But her eyes were very bright.

It was so bright that Jiang Yi felt a burning sensation even through the screen.

"husband!"

Her voice came through the phone's speaker, filled with the joy of something lost and found, and her eyes instantly welled up with tears.

"You scared me to death, you know... I thought something had happened to you... I didn't dare close my eyes all night..."

Jiang Yi opened his mouth, as if to say something, but his throat felt blocked by something, and he couldn't utter a single word.

He looked at the face on the screen, at her reddened eyes, at her haggard appearance from not sleeping all night because she was worried about him, and felt as if his heart was being squeezed tightly by a hand.

This was not the Su Xiaoyue he had seen in his dream, the one holding a knife and covered in blood.

This is a real, living girl who has given her whole heart.

The person she handed over was a fake from beginning to end.

"Husband? Why aren't you saying anything?" Su Xiaoyue tilted her head to look at him, and tears finally fell.

Are you angry with me? I know I'm a bit too clingy... but I'm really worried about you...

"No." Jiang Yi finally found his voice, dry and hoarse, with a sense of unfamiliarity that even he himself found strange. "I'm not angry."

"Then why don't you reply to my messages..." Su Xiaoyue's voice was choked with sobs. She raised her hand to wipe away her tears, but more tears welled up.

"I sent you over a hundred messages and made dozens of phone calls... I thought you didn't want me anymore..."

"No, it won't happen." Jiang Yi said these three words in a voice as soft as if he were comforting a frightened child.

Does he know what he's saying?

He didn't know whether he knew or not.

All he knew was that the girl on the other side of the screen was crying, and he was the reason she was crying—not for anything else, but because her "boyfriend" wasn't replying to her messages.

"Really?" Su Xiaoyue sniffed and leaned closer to the screen, as if trying to see his expression.

Jiang Yi subconsciously shrank back a little.

Her face instantly filled the entire screen, her features incredibly clear.

He could see the faint mark on her left cheek, which was more noticeable than in the photo, but not nearly as shocking as he had imagined.

Under the dim light, the mark looked like a thin blush, which not only did not ruin her appearance, but also gave her a unique charm.

"Honey, you look so tired today." Su Xiaoyue's voice suddenly softened, filled with concern. "Have you been working too hard lately?"

"It's...it's alright," Jiang Yi said.

"Your dark circles are so bad." Su Xiaoyue touched the screen with her finger, as if she were touching his face through the screen. "I really want to hug you right now..."

Jiang Yi's Adam's apple bobbed, unsure of what to say.

"By the way, honey, your face..." Su Xiaoyue suddenly asked, "Is the injury healed?"

face?

Jiang Yi was stunned for a moment, then remembered the lies Jiang Miaomiao had made up before.

She said her face was scratched, so it was inconvenient for her to video chat.

"Much better." He subconsciously touched his face. "You can barely tell."

"That's good." Su Xiaoyue breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

Her smile made Jiang Yi's heart skip a beat.

It's not that I'm attracted to you, it's that I feel sorry for you.

That clean, unguarded smile was like a child who had waited a long time to finally get the candy they wanted—satisfied, joyful, and wholehearted.

"Honey, I miss you so much." Su Xiaoyue's voice was soft, as if she were telling a secret that only he could hear. "I think about you every day, so much so that I can't sleep. I feel like I'm sick, with a disease that only you can cure."

Jiang Yi's fingers tightened around his phone.

"Four more days until I see you," Su Xiaoyue continued, her eyes curving into two crescent moons. "Honey, have you missed me? You have to tell me the truth."

Jiang Yi opened his mouth, but his throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

He wanted to say "I have," but the two words were stuck in his throat and he couldn't get them out.

He can't fool her anymore.

It wasn't because his conscience had awakened to something, but because he realized that when faced with a real, living person who had given "him" their whole heart, he couldn't type out those insincere words as easily as typing.

"Husband?" Su Xiaoyue's voice carried a hint of doubt. "Why aren't you saying anything? Don't you want to...?"

"I've been thinking about you," Jiang Yi interrupted her, his voice low, almost as if he were talking to himself, "I miss you."

He didn't know what he felt when he said those three words.

But he saw Su Xiaoyue's eyes light up on the screen, shining like two stars.

"Hehe." She laughed, like a child who had received candy. "I knew my husband was the best."

The video call lasted about ten minutes.

Su Xiaoyue rambled on and on about how well she was recovering from her surgery, how busy her parents were, and how much she was looking forward to next Wednesday.

Jiang Yi listened most of the time, occasionally responding with a "hmm," "okay," or "I understand."

Su Xiaoyue didn't seem to care that he didn't talk much; as long as he appeared on the screen and was listening, she was satisfied.

"Honey, you should go back to sleep. You look really tired." Su Xiaoyue yawned and rubbed her eyes. "I need to sleep for a while too. I've been up all night and I'm exhausted."

"Okay," Jiang Yi said. "Good night."

"Good morning!" Su Xiaoyue smiled, then blew a kiss to the screen, "mua~ Bye-bye, honey, see you in my dreams!"

The video call ended.

Jiang Yi held his phone and sat on the edge of the bed for a long time.

After the screen went dark, the dormitory fell into darkness and silence once more. Only the fan hummed, and his own breathing echoed in the empty room.

He looked down at his hands.

Those hands were trembling.

It wasn't because of the cold, but because he finally realized what kind of situation he was in.

He thought he was cleaning up his sister's mess, helping her pay off her debts, and doing something "understandable."

But he just told a real girl, "I miss you."

The girl on the other side of the screen stayed up all night for "him", packed her bags and prepared to travel a thousand kilometers for "him", and gave him all her trust and feelings.

He was lying to her.

He used the lies his sister fabricated, the persona his sister created, and his own face.

Jiang Yi threw his phone on the bed and covered his face with his hands.

"Jiang Yi, what the hell are you doing...?"