Maintaining a smile that kept people at a distance, Ning Wanciu felt somewhat glad that Ning Dongli hadn’t come along.
The purpose of this banquet was indeed impure.
Though it was called the An family’s recognition banquet, the so-called recognition was just a gimmick; the protagonists were less An Qing and more the two young masters of the Chen family.
Watching the two being fawned over like stars around the moon, Ning Wanciu understood this—and also why she had been required to attend.
Because the two Chen young masters would be present, and both were unmarried.
“Sigh…”
Ning Wanciu somewhat wanted to escape.
She had no interest in those high-status young masters, but there was no choice; her mother, whom she hadn’t seen in ages, was right beside her.
Ning Wanciu had no way out.
On the stage, An Qing behaved elegantly, not a hint of stage fright, as if she were born a great young miss, drawing many admiring gazes.
An Qing was very beautiful, yet a trace of sympathy rose in Ning Wanciu’s heart.
She was like a bird in a cage, only able to dance within the bars; even the stage had been built for others.
Still, at least on the surface, An Qing was very successful.
Even if being used by others, her performance was nearly perfect.
Regardless of her own will, the gazes of the two Chen young masters were indeed captured by her.
No longer watching An Qing, Ning Wanciu turned her gaze away.
Her mother beside her seemed somewhat dissatisfied with her attire but said nothing due to the occasion.
As expected, this was troublesome…
Ning Wanciu once again felt fortunate in her heart for not bringing Ning Dongli.
This heavy atmosphere would only make Dongli uncomfortable.
Speaking of which, it was a banquet set up by the An family—how come she couldn’t see An Yu anywhere?
Ning Wanciu secretly scanned the room several times but didn’t spot An Yu’s figure.
This was strange.
Though the protagonist of the banquet was An Qing, they wouldn’t go so far as to not let An Yu attend, right?
Subconsciously lifting her head, she noticed An Qing on stage smiling somewhat unnaturally; her eyes unconsciously drifted toward a certain direction before quickly pretending nothing had happened.
Catching this trace of unnaturalness, Ning Wanciu followed An Qing’s line of sight.
“Ah…”
There was An Yu, tiny and curled up in a chair, head lowered as she continuously operated her phone, looking extremely focused.
Her figure was mostly blocked by the crowd.
Beside her was a plate of small cakes; from time to time, An Yu would pick up a little fork, spear a piece, and pop it into her mouth to chew, looking utterly at ease.
As expected of An Yu, huh?
Ning Wanciu’s lips unconsciously curved upward, her smile carrying a touch of genuine feeling.
In a place like this, under circumstances like these, An Yu was still being herself—something Ning Wanciu couldn’t do.
For example, right now Ning Wanciu wanted to go find An Yu and escape these useless social interactions, but with her mother beside her, she couldn’t.
But judging from An Yu’s reaction, tomorrow would probably be business as usual.
Thinking of this, the faint irritation in Ning Wanciu’s heart vanished, replaced by a bit of anticipation.
Completely unaware of Ning Wanciu’s thoughts, An Yu was immersed in the world of gaming.
From the start of the banquet, aside from sneaking off at the beginning to grab some small cakes, she had been playing games the whole time.
Now, there was good news and bad news.
The good news: the games in this world had no issues.
Because Ning Wanciu’s sister slaughtered everything in whatever she played, An Yu just had to watch.
The bad news: she, An Yu, really wasn’t a gaming genius?!
This was truly upsetting.
An Yu had specially downloaded every game Ning Wanciu’s sister played, but after trying for so long, she found not a single one suited her!
Take the one she was playing now: her sister was leading her on a map-wide killing spree, yet An Yu hadn’t even fired a shot.
Wasn’t that ridiculous?!
An Yu operated her phone quite seriously, not even eating the small cakes anymore, but she still couldn’t keep up…
Hmm, wait?
Good news: she had caught up to her sister’s pace. Bad news: her sister had stopped moving.
An Yu blinked in confusion. Suddenly, a message from Ning Dongli slid across the social app in the background.
An Yu instinctively tapped in, tilting her head in puzzlement.
Strange, wasn’t she playing a game with her?
How could she still send messages…
【Pillow Sister】: Killed too many, got kicked by the system.
Huh? That could happen?
An Yu blinked blankly for a moment, not reacting for a long time to what “kicked for killing too many” meant.
Well, because up to now she hadn’t gotten a single kill.
What Ning Dongli didn’t mention was that just killing too many wouldn’t easily get you kicked; the main issue was An Yu not killing any, so Ning Dongli was flagged for boosting.
【Sleep Well Tonight】: Switch games?
An Yu sent the invitation to switch.
No way—she wasn’t willing to give up. There were still so many games left to try; she refused to believe it!
But after waiting a long time, Ning Dongli—marked as Pillow Sister—didn’t respond.
“Hmm?”
What was wrong?
Phone out of battery?
Fortunately, after a while Ning Dongli replied, with just one word.
【Pillow Sister】: Okay.
For Ning Dongli, this answer was truly too painful to give, but she still agreed.
Ning Dongli lay sprawled on the sofa; the living room was pitch black, lights off.
She usually enjoyed gaming in the dark like this—it felt more atmospheric.
But now, she really couldn’t enjoy it.
Her sister hadn’t found her a good gaming buddy—this was like finding her an unpaid boss!
This person was even worse than that support from the other day.
If that support’s skill was a maggot, then her sister’s friend was just a paramecium—even if cured, it would still drool.
Playing together now was purely for Ning Wanciu’s sake.
After this, she absolutely wouldn’t pay attention to this person again!
With a ferocious expression, Ning Dongli opened the next game An Yu wanted to play together, already bracing herself for suffering.
But a message came from 【Sleep Well Tonight】 on her phone.
It was a 3-second voice message.
Ning Dongli instinctively tapped it.
“Sorry, next time.”
Just this short sentence, yet it stunned Ning Dongli.
That voice was cold as ice yet carried a faint sweetness, lingering in Ning Dongli’s ears.
It was the voice that haunted Ning Dongli’s dreams.
It was the voice of the newbie support she could never find.
She logged into that game every day just to check if the friend request had been accepted, but every time there was only disappointment.
Ning Dongli had thought she would never hear this voice again in her life—she never expected…
Putting on her earphones, her finger lightly touched the 3-second voice message; the cold voice reached Ning Dongli’s ears once more.
Absolutely the same person—Ning Dongli wouldn’t mistake it.
She had scoured the internet and never heard a matching voice.
“Waa… so nice to hear.”
All thoughts of never paying attention to An Yu again were thrown out of Ning Dongli’s mind.
Her hand holding the phone trembled lightly; she didn’t know how to reply.