My Virtual Girlfriend

Chen Yan pulled out the six pens from his pocket and approached Yu Qiao Qiao and her friends, then said to Yu Qiao Qiao, "Qiao Qiao. I'm really sorry about what happened a few days ago."

"Today I'm treating everyone to a meal, but I didn't prepare any gifts."

"Just these pens I bought before."

"Now I'm giving them to you."

"Share them with your roommates as a way to express my apology."

"I hope everyone won't disdain them."

"They should still be pretty good for writing stuff regularly."

When the girls had seen Chen Yan coming over, their eyes had involuntarily been drawn to him.

Now hearing what Chen Yan said, the girls were curiously looking at the pens in his hands.

But at first glance, they were immediately disinterested. The black pens, wrapped with colorful ribbons, just looked too ugly...

Yu Qiao Qiao, however, did not disdain the pens.

But considering she still hadn't returned all the gifts and things Chen Yan had given her before, she didn't want to accept any more gifts from him.

So, she opened her mouth intending to refuse.

Chen Yan didn't give her a chance to refuse at all and just stuffed them into her hand. Then... he pulled out an exquisitely crafted box from his pocket.

As soon as he took out the box, it immediately attracted everyone's attention again.

Because the box was not only very beautiful, but it also... had the TAKA Jewelry logo on it.

TAKA Jewelry was very famous in the country, so famous that even a college student would have heard of this jewelry brand and knew that whether it was gold, jade, or gems, nothing was cheap in this store.

Seeing Chen Yan take it out, the girls were all a bit stunned.

However, Chen Yan directly opened the box, revealing a beautiful colored gold bracelet inside.

Holding the bracelet, he spoke to Yu Qiao Qiao with "deep affection," "Qiao Qiao. Besides the gift for the whole dorm, I've also specially prepared an apology gift for you."

"This is a bracelet I selected especially for you these past few days."

"It is said to be a new style for this year; I hope you'll like it."

Hearing Chen Yan say that, Yu Qiao Qiao's hand retracted as if burned, and she quickly pulled it back.

She waved her hands and said, "No, that won't do. That's really not okay."

Chen Yan "seriously" said, "Qiao Qiao, I don't mean anything else. I just want to apologize."

He paused for a moment and added, "And... this isn't expensive."

It wasn't just inexpensive; compared to the pens, it was super cheap.

He never planned to give it away in the first place...

But by now, Yu Qiao Qiao had already been frightened by Chen Yan giving such an expensive gift.

She looked at Yang Nuannuan somewhat pleadingly, hoping this 'big sister' of the dorm would help come up with an idea.

Yang Nuannuan noticed Yu Qiao Qiao's gaze and stepped forward, saying, "Chen Yan, this gift is too valuable, Qiao Qiao can't accept it."

Then she used various reasons to explain, such as:

"Such an expensive gift would only make a girl feel pressured, not happy."

"At this stage where the two are just getting to know each other, accepting such an expensive gift could taint the relationship," and so on.

Originally, Nuan Nuan was prepared to argue with Chen Yan, but after explaining just a few words, to her surprise, he agreed.

"Hmm..."

"I think you make sense."

"Maybe I was indeed too impulsive."

After speaking, Chen Yan pondered for a moment and then said,

"I won't give you the necklace then. But you can keep the pens."

"They are not expensive, and you can use them for homework and other things."

Hearing Chen Yan would not give the necklace, a great weight lifted from Yu Qiao Qiao's heart.

But not accepting the necklace and taking the pens...

Still didn't seem quite right.

Yu Qiao Qiao was still a bit hesitant.

Seeing this, Chen Yan looked "distressed" and said, "Qiao Qiao. I've prepared two gifts with care; you can't reject both, can you?"

"After all, that's an apology gift for your whole dorm."

Hearing Chen Yan say this, Yu Qiao Qiao became even more hesitant.

Indeed, like Chen Yan said, rejecting both gifts would look bad.

What's more...

She looked down at the pen in her hand. Its crude appearance didn't seem all that valuable.

Plus, it was meant for everyone in the dorm, refusing it alone wouldn't be right.

Thinking this way, she reluctantly said, "Okay..."

"I'll accept the pens."

"But..." she looked at Chen Yan, her eyes complex as she spoke, "really don't send me any more gifts in the future."

"It's really too much pressure for me."

Hearing Yu Qiao Qiao agree, a weight also lifted from Chen Yan's heart.

A smile appeared on his face as he said, "Don't worry. It won't happen again."

Not tonight.

Hearing Chen Yan's promise, Yu Qiao Qiao's expression finally eased slightly.

In front of Chen Yan, she distributed the pens one by one to her sisters.

The roommates didn't care much about the pen, toyed with it for a while, and then slipped it into their bags.

Yang Nuan, however, seemed to take special interest in this pen.

For some reason, she had the feeling that the pen was not as simple as it appeared.

Although the other roommates seemed to look down on the pen, when she first held it, it felt slightly heavy in her hand, and upon closer inspection, she found the craftsmanship to be very fine.

This made her think that the pen's value might not be as ordinary as it looked on the outside.

But after scouring the pen all over, she didn't see any logo or mark.

It seemed like just an unremarkable off-brand pen.

This made her doubt her own judgment for a moment.

Maybe... she was overthinking it?

With these doubts, she raised her head. Just as she was ready to temporarily dismiss this question, she suddenly remembered a detail she had discovered before.

These past few days, she had researched this store.

The reputation and traffic were good.

But why were they the only customers tonight?

That was too strange.

Thinking this, she tentatively asked the front desk sister, who had been serving the group, "Excuse me. I'd like to ask why there are no other customers in the store tonight?"

Originally, the front desk sister had been looking bored to the point of yawning while watching the group's antics.

But as soon as she heard Yang Nuan's question, she instantly perked up.

Because... she knew the answer to this question!

Chen Yan had specially prepared an answer for her today!

She cleared her throat, ready to explain, but then Zhao Ying interjected, "Why else? Poor business, obviously. Those internet-famous stores are all hype, not as popular as advertised."

Yang Nuan: ...

Front desk sister: ...

The front desk sister was almost popping veins in her forehead.

Our store is not unpopular, thank you very much!

Listening from the side, Chen Yan smiled and explained, "Their business is actually quite good. But today some equipment is under maintenance, so they couldn't open more widely. That's why they're only accepting a few tables of customers."

"We just happened to have this great opportunity."

"There will still be other customers coming after we leave."

The front desk sister also chimed in with a few explanations on the side.

Only then did Yang Nuan slightly nod her head, feeling it made some sense...

With Yang Nuan's doubts eased and the pens handed out, Chen Yan's mission for the evening was essentially accomplished.

He chatted with the girls for a while longer, then found an excuse and headed to the restroom.

Because...

He couldn't wait to get home to check his wealth, he wanted to see his earnings right now!

After all the effort, the question was whether he was going to cashback a couple of hundred thousand or a million, this was the moment to find out!