Zhang Dai and Chen Shuangshuang were neighbors who grew up playing together. Both were the only children in their families, went to school together, and ended up moving to the same city in order to pursue their careers. They were extremely familiar with each other, but that didn’t stop them from finding the other person to be annoying. Therefore, they got into frequent arguments and fights.
Their parents once joked that if they were still single by the age of thirty, they should just settle down together.
The two implicated parties immediately responded, insisting that it was absolutely impossible!
Now that both of them had passed the age of thirty, and were still single, their scheming parents had almost started planning the wedding. However, it seemed that their dream would be shattered by Chen Shuangshuang!
Recently, Chen Shuangshuang had been acting mysteriously, always holding her phone and smiling slyly. She frequently updated her social media with daily posts and often shut herself in her room. Anyone who has ever been in love would recognize her sneaky behavior!
At the dinner table, with a chopstick in her mouth and her other hand typing on her phone, she wore such a sweet smile that it nearly made the whole family nauseous!
Chen Shuangshuang’s father was curious if his daughter was seeing someone, so he craned his neck to peek at her chat messages. Unfortunately, she noticed and turned her phone face down on the table, asking, “Dad, what are you doing?”
Her father, dropping the pretense, asked directly: “Shuangshuang, who are you chatting with?”
Chen Shuangshuang lied without a hint of guilt, “Just my college roommate!”
Shuangshuangs’s mother pinched the foolish husband who startled their daughter, then smiled and served her more food, “Shuangshuang, focus on eating and stop playing with your phone.”
Seeing that her parents didn’t seem suspicious, Chen Shuangshuang breathed a sigh of relief and obediently ate her meal.
After dinner, Chen Shuangshuang returned to her room, but before she could video call her online boyfriend, a certain annoying person called her.
“Hey, Chen Shuangshuang, you’ve really made it! I heard you found a boyfriend?”
Chen Shuangshuang’s alarm bells went off, and she immediately denied it, “Who? Who’s spreading such rumors about me? I’ve been a single dog for 30 years, how did I suddenly get so lucky as to have a boyfriend fall from the sky?”
“I knew it! How could someone like you, a stubborn and straightforward woman, possibly have a love life?” Zhang Dai mocked mercilessly.
“Who are you calling a stubborn and straightforward woman?” She hated his mouth that had no filter.
“Slip of the tongue! I’m a stubborn and straightforward man, okay?”
She wasn’t usually someone who quibbled over small matters, but since word had gotten out, something must have gone wrong somewhere. She pretended to be serious and questioned, “Who has been spreading rumors about me?”
“My mom! My mom said, ‘Look at the girl next door, Chen Shuangshuang, she already has a boyfriend. Look at you, how come you haven’t even found a girlfriend?'” Zhang Dai, eager to save himself, quickly used his mom as a shield, mimicking her lecturing tone.
“Tell your mom that I don’t have a boyfriend yet!” Chen Shuangshuang was really worried that Zhang Dai’s mom might tell her own mom and cause misunderstandings.
“Alright, I’ll definitely tell my mom!”
After hanging up the phone, Zhang Dai let out a long sigh of relief. Looking at the posts on the dating app, he finally felt less conflicted.
Flashback to a month ago:
During the National Day holiday, they both took the high-speed train home. Zhang Dai keenly noticed that Chen Shuangshuang was using a dating app and couldn’t help but tease her, “Oh, feeling lonely, huh? Going online to find a partner now?”
Chen Shuangshuang, not embarrassed at being caught, ignored him and shifted her position slightly to avoid him.
Wanting to protect her from online scammers, he registered an account in the same dating app. The app required real-name verification, education, company details, etc., and without these, you couldn’t access the app. It was really troublesome!
He then hastily filled in a bunch of information and waited foolishly for the review process. After finally getting approved, he quickly searched for Chen Shuangshuang, but couldn’t find her. She had likely used a nickname. He searched by distance, but still couldn’t find her. After a long while, he finally spotted a familiar profile picture in a public post. He decisively clicked into her profile, and it was indeed Chen Shuangshuang. Carefully examining her profile, he noticed it was quite artistic, as if she was genuinely looking for a partner.
Gender: Female, Age: 30 years, Height: 168cm, Weight: 48kg, hoping her partner works in City A as well… she had also added a few heavily beautified lifestyle photos.
Suddenly, a message popped up on the screen: “Hey~ Young Master Zhang, feeling lonely and playing around with this, huh?”
He didn’t expect to be caught so suddenly! Zhang Dai initially considered pretending he had mistaken the person, but after thinking it over, he decided against it. She would definitely shove the phone in his face and make him confess truthfully.
“Alright, alright, Young Master Zhang, feel free to look all you want! So, did you find any charming ladies that caught your eye?”
He pressed his forehead in frustration and replied earnestly, “No, I just got through the verification! Haven’t started looking yet!”
“Just a reminder, many of the girls here are heavily Photoshopped beauties. About eighty percent are deceptive photos, so don’t get fooled to the point of not knowing what’s what!”
The other party was showing concern for him, which made him somewhat happy, but he still habitually responded with sarcasm: “I’m not as stupid as you, I know my limits!”
Good intentions taken for granted! Chen Shuangshuang angrily retorted, “You’re the stupid one! Your whole family is stupid!”
“Do you believe I’ll complain to your mom that you called my parents stupid?”
“Young Master Zhang, you’re thirty years old and still playing the tattletale game. How childish can you be?”
“Older sister Chen, you’re thirty years old. You’re mature and steady!”
“Are you looking for a beating? Age and weight are taboo topics for women, and you still call me ‘big sister’? You’ve committed three serious crimes! I’m mercifully giving you a chance to make amends!”
Zhang Dai, unfazed, copied and pasted his previous message: “Old sister Chen, you’re thirty, you’re mature and steady!”
“Just you wait!!!” The three exclamation marks indicated someone’s fury.
With a bang, the sliding door of the balcony next door was flung open, making Zhang Dai jump in fright.
A tall woman, fiercely stomping in flip-flops with a small bun on her head, agilely grabbed the balcony railing, jumped across the narrow gap between the two houses, and easily landed on the other balcony, heading straight for him.
Zhang Dai had no time to defend himself as a strong choking sensation hit him from behind.
A slender arm reached in through the window, grabbed his neck, and yanked him forward, forcing his upper body to lean out of the window.
“Cough, cough! Are you trying to murder me?” he struggled to push away her arm to avoid suffocating.
Chen Shuangshuang loosened her grip slightly and commanded imperiously, “You have one minute to list thirty of my good qualities, and I’ll let you go!”
Zhang Dai finally managed to catch his breath, with tears streaming uncontrollably from his eyes, blurring his vision.
“One, two, three…” Chen Shuangshuang began counting down slowly, her tone full of warning: “Hurry up and speak, or face the consequences!”
“You are beautiful and generous, elegant and smart, talented and brave…” He effortlessly recited these compliments, a set he had memorized for every time he got into trouble.
Gradually, after his tears slid down his face, he could see her clearly. The soft moonlight illuminated her fair and radiant face, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, and her pink lips moving as she counted. Her big, dark eyes glared at him fiercely, looking both serious and adorable.
“You’re lucky today, I’ll let you off the hook!” Finally, having reached the required number, Chen Shuangshuang released him, made a threatening face, and then swiftly climbed back over the balcony to her side.
Watching the mischievous person leave, a faint smile appeared on his face. Seriously, every time she punishes someone, it’s always so dramatic!
Diary entry:
Chen Shuangshuang, you cannot like anyone else!
— Zhang Dai
