OFR – Chapter 42 Shield.

Qian Yiwen is one of the most attractive girls Mu Bai knows, second only to Han Mengyun. Her quirky personality and solid academic record, along with being a successful online writer, make her the ideal girlfriend for many boys. However, seeing Qian Yiwen’s message about deleting him as a friend made Mu Bai feel uneasy.

Still, with a mindset of giving it a try, Mu Bai messaged her, “You don’t need to repay my tips. Can we talk about something?”

…

Ten minutes later.

Mu Bai looked at Qian Yiwen’s reply, surprised that she agreed.

He had thought he’d need to offer a large tip to sway the slightly materialistic Qian Yiwen. But things didn’t go as Mu Bai expected.

Qian Yiwen: “If you don’t want to seriously date me but just want to have an online relationship, I agree. But there’s one condition: don’t be so cold to me. I’m your online girlfriend, after all.”

Qian Yiwen’s request was simple, and Mu Bai found it unlike her usual quirky self.

Thinking for a moment, Mu Bai replied, “Is there anything else I should do?”

…

In another part of Nanjing, Qian Yiwen lay lazily on her sofa in a robe, watching her favorite TV show while occasionally chatting with Mu Bai on her phone.

Seeing Mu Bai’s reply, she smiled slightly.

In truth, her agreement to be Mu Bai’s online girlfriend was partly to use him as a shield, just as she had done by tagging him in a QQ status update previously.

However, what had really upset her—almost enough to delete him as a friend—was that Mu Bai hadn’t responded to her status for several days. Since her QQ updates were public to all her friends, including her college classmates, his lack of response had made things awkward. It gave her enemies fodder to spread rumors that she was desperately trying to get the attention of a wealthy guy and being ignored.

But seeing Mu Bai now offering to be her online boyfriend dissolved her anger. After all, once they started publicly showing affection, those rumors would automatically die down.

She thought for a moment and sent a voice message: “You’re smart. I can agree to be your online girlfriend, but you also need to protect me from other guys bothering me. There are a lot of seniors and juniors who are chasing me, some even close friends. It’s really hard to turn them down. But don’t think I’m just using you as a shield. You probably want to use me as one too, right?”

Qian Yiwen was clever, and from Mu Bai’s sudden proposal, she knew there was a reason behind it.

Despite her bit of vanity and materialism, Qian Yiwen’s charm outweighed her flaws.

After a short while, Mu Bai responded.

“Deal.”

Seeing Mu Bai agree so readily, Qian Yiwen realized she had been right—he wasn’t doing this out of affection for her but for some other purpose.

This realization annoyed her a bit.

“That cold Mu Bai, can’t he see what a beautiful woman is right in front of him? Doesn’t he know how to chase me?”

Though she complained, she sent another voice message: “I’ll add you to a group. Some of my classmates who are chasing me are there. Get ready for some challenges. You can add me to your group too. I’ll fulfill my role as your shield girlfriend.”

…

Meanwhile, in his bedroom, Mu Bai smiled at her playful yet alluring voice. Qian Yiwen misunderstood his intention, but that was fine—it saved him from explaining.

The QQ notification sounded.

“Your friend Qian Yiwen has invited you to join the Nanjing University Literature Department group. Do you accept?”

Mu Bai clicked “accept.”

Now that their online relationship was confirmed, it was time to publicly display their affection. Joining the group was one way to do it.

After entering the group, Mu Bai noticed it was quite active. It was nearly 9 PM, prime time for most college students to chat in group chats, especially since those in dorms didn’t have much else to do.

As soon as he entered, a few people welcomed him and asked him to post a photo, but their messages were quickly lost in the flood of conversations. Mu Bai skimmed through the chat and saw they were discussing the “Flower Charm Ranking.”

“Wow, the vice president of the student council is impressive, getting Lan Lan to the top spot.”

“Yeah, over 8,000 charm points. That’s like 800 yuan.”

“That’s my entire month’s allowance.”

“Wasn’t the student council vice president chasing Qian Yiwen before?”

“I’m not sure, but watching this unfold is entertaining.”

“Sigh, I want a girlfriend too. Anyone interested in me?”

“Nope. Next.”

“All the good girls are taken.”

…

While everyone was chatting, a user named Lan Lan, who had a pink title showing she was top of the charm leaderboard, spoke up.

Lan Lan: @Chang Kun: Thanks, Kun. Mwah!

“Lan Lan made an appearance! Congrats on surpassing Qian Yiwen!”

“Haha, first time seeing that title on anyone else.”

“Should we vote for a department beauty queen?”

“Do we even need to? Isn’t Qian Yiwen the obvious choice?”

“Is she your mom? Who said she’s the beauty queen?”

“I heard Qian Yiwen has a boyfriend now. Saw her tag him on QQ recently.”

“Yeah, I saw that too. Heard he’s a rich guy, but he didn’t reply to her. Awkward.”

“Haha, that must be embarrassing.”

…

Mu Bai read through the messages and realized that his silence on Qian Yiwen’s previous QQ post had caused quite a stir, and the other girls didn’t seem to like her much.

As Mu Bai was reading, another user with a pink title, “Wealthy Magnate,” joined the conversation.

[Wealthy Magnate] Chang Kun @Lan Lan: “No big deal, just some flowers. I’m no rich guy, so I won’t go after the girl who loves being ignored and mistreated by rich guys. Haha, I’ll consider the flowers I gave before as feeding the dogs.”

Chang Kun’s words instantly made the group go quiet, as they realized the drama was about to unfold. His comment clearly referred to Qian Yiwen, the well-known beauty of the Literature Department.