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

2 PM, Tsinghua and Peking University male dormitory.

When Jiang Yi pushed open the dormitory door, he looked as if he had been pulled out of the water.

He tossed his schoolbag onto the table, rummaged through the cupboard for a bucket of pickled cabbage and beef noodles, tore open the packaging, filled it with hot water, and sealed it with a fork—the whole process was fluid and efficient. The distinctive sour and spicy aroma of the instant noodles filled the air, making his stomach rumble.

While waiting for his instant noodles, he took out his phone and habitually opened Su Xiaoyue's chat interface.

No new messages.

Jiang Yi breathed a sigh of relief, put his phone on the table, picked up the instant noodle cup, and stuffed a mouthful of noodles into his mouth.

The scalding hot noodles made him hiss, but the satisfaction of that cheap carbs still spread from the tip of his tongue all the way to his stomach.

I haven't eaten properly since this morning.

Hey.

The phone vibrated.

Jiang Yi, with noodles in his mouth, freed one hand to pick up his phone and unlock the screen.

Little Moon: Good morning, honey~ Today is another day I've been thinking of you (✪ω✪)

Jiang Yi glanced at the time; it was 2:10 PM.

Good morning?

He swallowed the noodles in his mouth and typed a reply: "It's already 2 PM, and you're still saying good morning? Did you just wake up?"

Little Moon: Hehe, you caught me! (´;ω;`)

Little Moon: I was so excited yesterday that I didn't fall asleep until midnight, and I've been sleeping ever since.

Little Moon: Honey, you won't blame me, will you?

Jiang Yi took another bite of noodles and typed with one hand: "It's not your fault, as long as you slept well."

He thought for a moment, then added, "But don't stay up too late in the future, it's bad for your health."

Little Moon: Mmm! I'll listen to whatever my husband says! (づ￣ 3￣)づ

Little Moon: Honey, what are you doing? Aren't you going to work today?

Jiang Yi glanced at the bucket of instant noodles in front of him, hesitated for half a second, then took a picture and sent it.

He regretted it afterward. The dormitory conditions at Tsinghua and Peking Universities weren't bad, but they certainly weren't good either.

Several old textbooks were piled on the desk, and the bed sheet hanging from the upper bunk could be seen in the background. It was not the kind of living scene that an "internet company programmer" should have.

Just as he was considering whether to withdraw his message, Su Xiaoyue's message arrived.

Little Moon: Honey, are you eating instant noodles? (⊙﹏⊙)

Little Moon: How can you eat this kind of food? Don't you work at a company? Doesn't the company provide lunch?

Little Moon: This isn't good for your health! I forbid you from eating instant noodles anymore!

Jiang Yi's heart skipped a beat.

He almost forgot that in the script written by Jiang Miaomiao, "he" was a programmer at an internet company in Beijing, earning an annual salary of over 400,000 yuan. He usually frequented office buildings and ate business set meals.

A programmer earning over 400,000 yuan a year, squatting in his dormitory eating pickled cabbage and beef noodles—this scene just doesn't look right.

He quickly typed an explanation: "I'm working from home today and I'm too lazy to cook, so I'll just make do with this."

Little Moon: Home?

Jiang Yi paused for a moment.

Oh no, I let it slip again.

In Jiang Miaomiao's script, "he" lives alone in a rented one-bedroom apartment near his company.

But the instant noodle photo he posted now, with the table, bed sheet, and upper bunk railing in the background, doesn't look like the rented room of a single adult male.

He took a deep breath and decided to play along: "Yeah, I'm at home. I share an apartment with someone, and my roommate isn't back yet, so it's a bit messy."

Little Moon: Oh, I see. (•̀ω•́)✧

Little Moon: I thought you were a college student living in a dormitory, honey! You scared me, hehe.

Jiang Yi's fingers tightened slightly as he gripped his phone.

This joke, like a needle, precisely struck his most vulnerable spot.

He didn't respond to that, instead taking a bite of his now slightly soggy noodles and changing the subject: "What about you? What did you do today?"

Little Moon: I just woke up, ate a meal, and then replied to my husband's message.

Little Moon: I'm so bored, honey, can you tell me a joke?

Jiang Yi stared at the screen, his mind racing.

He's alright in every way, except he can't tell jokes.

But Su Xiaoyue said he couldn't not reply.

He bit his lip and thought for a long time before typing: "Do you know why math books are always so melancholic?"

Little Moon: Why?

Jiang Yi: "Because it has too many problems."

After sending it, Jiang Yi himself felt cold.

These lame jokes are so bad they'd be lucky not to freeze someone to death, let alone make them laugh.

However, Su Xiaoyue's reaction was completely unexpected.

Little Moon: Hahahahahahahahaha

Little Moon: Honey, you're so cute!!!

Little Moon: I'm going to write this down so I can look at it whenever I'm unhappy (✪ω✪)

Jiang Yi's lips twitched as he looked at the long string of "ha"s on the screen.

Is this girl's threshold for laughter a little too low?

Little Moon: Honey, I have something to tell you.

Jiang Yi: "What is it?"

Little Moon: My mom asked me today if I'm in a relationship.

Jiang Yi's finger hovered above the screen, his heart suddenly racing.

Little Moon: I said no, but she didn't believe me.

Little Moon: The nanny told her I've been smiling like an idiot lately, and I said it's because I'm happy after the surgery.

Little Moon: But she doesn't seem to quite believe it. (´;ω;`)

Little Moon: Honey, do you think I should tell my mom?

This question was like a time bomb thrown into Jiang Yi's chat box.

Tell Mom?

What should I tell Mom? Tell her that her daughter has been chatting with a "boyfriend" online for almost a year, spent nearly 1.3 million yuan, and has never even met him in person?

What will Su Xiaoyue's mother do?

It's highly likely they'll call the police. Once the police are called, that spendthrift Jiang Miaomiao will be finished.

Jiang Yi took a deep breath, hesitated for a long time, and typed: "Don't tell us yet, let's talk about it when we meet."

"After all, we haven't met yet, and your mother might be worried. It's not too late to tell her after we meet and you feel that I'm someone you can entrust your life to."

After sending the message, he added, "But no matter what, I'll always be good to you. Trust me."

After typing the last three words, Jiang Yi almost bit off his tongue.

What does "I will be good to you" mean?

He's Xia Anmian's boyfriend, so why is he being "good" to another girl?

But the message has already been sent, so it would be even stranger to take it back.

Little Moon: Honey, you're so good to me! (´;ω;`)

Little Moon: I believe you, I believe whatever you say.

Little Moon: I'll listen to you and tell my mom after we meet.

Jiang Yi breathed a sigh of relief and was about to end the topic when Su Xiaoyue's next message popped up.

Little Moon: Oh, by the way, honey, my parents' company is currently negotiating a big project.

Little Moon: It seems to be with Europe. I don't know much about these things, but my mom said if the deal goes through, this year's revenue could exceed 100 billion.

Jiang Yi stared at the words "hundred billion," and suddenly the instant noodles in his mouth no longer tasted good.

Hundreds of billions.

Not tens of millions, not hundreds of millions, but hundreds of billions.

He looked down at the bucket of instant noodles in his hand that cost less than five yuan, then at the casually written "hundred billion" on the screen, and felt that what separated him from Su Xiaoyue was not a phone screen, but the entire Milky Way.

Little Moon: Honey, why aren't you saying anything?

Little Moon: Were you scared? (´•ω•`)

Jiang Yi snapped out of his daze and quickly typed, "No, no, I just think your parents are amazing."

Little Moon: What's so great about them? They're never home all year round.

Little Moon: From childhood to adulthood, the number of times they've celebrated my birthday with me can be counted on one hand.

Little Moon: Sometimes I wish my family wasn't so rich, at least they could spend more time with me (╥﹏╥)

Jiang Yi looked at the message and felt a sharp pang in his heart.

Jiang Miaomiao had previously mentioned that Su Xiaoyue's family was in business and very wealthy.

But he didn't expect to be "rich" to this extent.

What does it mean to have a foreign trade company with assets in the hundreds of billions?

That's someone who could easily make it onto the Forbes list.

Girls from such families have everything they could want, so how could they fall for Jiang Miaomiao's fabricated online dating scam?

The answer is actually quite simple.

Su Xiaoyue lacked nothing, except one thing—companionship.

Her parents are busy making billions in revenue, flying all over the world all year round, leaving her alone in an empty house and a VIP room in a private hospital.

She has money, access to the best medical care, nannies, and housekeepers, but no one is willing to listen to her.

Then Jiang Miaomiao appeared.

A person who "didn't mind her birthmark, was willing to chat with her until the early hours of the morning every day, and stayed up all night sending her hundreds of messages during her surgery."

For Su Xiaoyue, whether this person is real, whether the photo is of the person in it, and how much of the sweet talk is true or false, may not matter.

The important thing is that someone was there for her during her loneliest time.

Jiang Yi pushed the instant noodle cup aside, held his phone with both hands, and after thinking for a long time, typed out a line: "Your parents are busy to give you a better life, but no matter what, I will be with you from now on."

After sending the message, Jiang Yi slammed his phone face down on the table and covered his face with his hands.

He felt like he was walking a tightrope.

Below was a bottomless abyss, behind them were pursuers, and ahead was a precipice.

He had no way out but to move forward. With each step, the tightrope swayed; with each message he sent, he could hear his conscience breaking.

But he had no choice.

Su Xiaoyue's family background was far more extensive than he had imagined.

For a family with assets in the hundreds of billions, once they discover that their daughter has been scammed out of 1.3 million yuan, what awaits Jiang Miaomiao is not just a matter of "more than ten years".

With just a flick of a finger, the other party could ensure that Jiang Miaomiao would never be able to recover her life.

Therefore, he had to meet with them.

It wasn't because he wanted to see her, nor because of Jiang Miaomiao's words, "You go for me," but because he needed time.

We need time to stabilize Su Xiaoyue, time to raise money, and time to find a decent solution that won't put anyone in jail.

He went through all the options in his mind.

Tell his parents? Impossible. Even if his parents emptied their savings, they couldn't scrape together 1.3 million.

Turn myself in to the police? Impossible. Jiang Miaomiao is only twenty-one. I can't let her life be ruined like this.

Continue lying? Even less likely; he's almost at his breaking point.

The only way is to first calm Su Xiaoyue down and buy some time, and then find a way to pay back the 1.3 million yuan.

But, 1.3 million.

Where is he, a college student, supposed to get 1.3 million?

Hey.

My phone vibrated again.

Jiang Yi picked up his phone and saw a long message from Su Xiaoyue:

Little Moon: Honey, let me tell you the truth.

Little Moon: Actually, I know you might not be as good as you say, or as perfect as I imagine.

Little Moon: But I don't care.

Little Moon: Because you are the first person in this world who made me feel less alone.

Little Moon: People have been making fun of the birthmark on my face since elementary school. My parents think that giving me money is a way of being good to me.

Little Moon: I've lived for twenty-two years, and no one has ever asked me "How was your day?" every day like you have.

Little Moon: So even if you're a liar, even if you've been lying to me from beginning to end, I won't regret it.

Little Moon: The days I've spent chatting with you have been the happiest time of my life.

Little Moon: Honey, see you next Wednesday!

Little Moon: No matter what you look like, I will come to find you.