Chapter 16: Family
Probably not… Anyway, the clothes are normal, the black stockings were her idea, and being called his girlfriend was a misunderstanding by others, not something he claimed… The only thing that might be a bit problematic was the erotic underwear, but no one can see it anyway, it’s just a little kinky…
“Well… the meaning of girlfriend… It’s similar to a Dao companion, yes, a Dao companion.” Chu Ge spoke fluently, “You know that the meaning of a Dao companion isn’t so narrow, it’s simply two people with a shared path. It can be a man or a woman. Look, we’re close, we share the same goals, and we’re closer than friends. Doesn’t that fit our relationship very well?”
Qiu Wuji was expressionless as she asked, “So what did they mean by saying we’re a good match?”
Chu Ge answered cautiously, “Of course, Dao companions can also mean something more narrow, that’s what they meant.”
Qiu Wuji: “…”
Chu Ge: “…”
The atmosphere suddenly quieted down.
After a while, Qiu Wuji asked, “Why didn’t you argue?”
Feeling that her tone was quite calm, Chu Ge was momentarily puzzled and continued to babble, “Because I think we’re Dao companions. As for the narrow meaning, it’s what others guessed. Why should I bother to deny? Besides, is there anyone who would believe otherwise when we bought clothes and panties together?”
In fact, Qiu Wuji already knew he was talking nonsense. According to this interpretation, “girlfriend” actually means lover.
However, she wasn’t really angry. Perhaps it was because she knew this was easy to misunderstand and was mentally prepared, or perhaps it was because she knew that Chu Ge wasn’t very articulate, and she didn’t want to beat him up, so what else could she do?
Perhaps it was also because the word “girlfriend” wasn’t as blunt as “lover,” it sounded like a friend and was easier to accept…
At this moment, a strange thought popped up in her mind: this world is really strange, everything is so explicit and vulgar, but the words used are conservative. Clearly, it means “lover,” but we have to say “friend.”
She ultimately didn’t argue with Chu Ge, and whispered, “Have I taken the first step towards blending in with the world?”
Chu Ge sighed, “Yes, at least now you won’t be looked at like a monkey when you go out.”
Qiu Wuji asked, “What about the second step? Getting an identity?”
“Well… that’s a bit troublesome, I might need to ask some friends about it… in the meantime, you can watch some dramas and learn more about modern information. Because if I have to explain everything, I really don’t know where to start. You watch first, and if you don’t understand anything, ask me. That way, it’s more targeted.”
“Okay.” Qiu Wuji obediently sat on the sofa and picked up the remote control.
Yesterday, she had been secretly watching Chu Ge operate the remote control, and had already quietly remembered how to do it. This time, she followed suit and successfully clicked on a series whose female lead’s appearance was similar to hers. She sat there quietly and watched.
Chu Ge glanced over and recognized this drama as one of the more popular ones in recent years, telling the story of the lives, careers, marriages, and love of several thirty-something women. He had heard of it but never watched it. The several female leads used to be tempting, but now they all seemed less attractive than Qiu Wuji, and the show was uninteresting.
At the beginning of the drama, Qiu Wuji asked, “Shanghai is the name of a city? What do we call it here?”
Chu Ge was silent for a moment. “We’re not allowed to use real place names here, so we call it Nanjiang City.”
“…What’s the subway? Do we have it here?”
“It’s a mode of transportation. I’ll take you on it another day.”
“What’s Pac-Man?”
“It’s a game. I’ll download it for you to play later.”
The drama hadn’t even started for a minute, and there were already as many questions as there were beans. Chu Ge seemed to have known this would happen, and Qiu Wuji only then realized why Chu Ge had said to introduce things one by one.
It was because she didn’t understand almost anything.
The information gap between two worlds was far from being glimpsed by eating a bowl of noodles and buying a few clothes.
She couldn’t even understand the actions of the female lead in the drama. Why was she spinning a cloth around on the roof? Suicide wasn’t done like this. And another one was she practicing martial arts? Doing it this way would make her too full to eat!
“What’s Lord? A husband?”
“That’s right.”
“Then why does it seem like they didn’t sleep together? The woman has already come back from running, but the man is still sleeping.”
“… Sleeping in separate beds in a marriage is said to be more scientific, although few actually implement it.”
“That’s strange. What is that fruit? It looks delicious.”
“Strawberry. That’s strawberry cake.”
“Shall I take you to try it another day?” Chu Ge smiled, “I’ve overdrawn today, I’ll wait for next month’s payment, it’s almost due.”
Qiu Wuji turned to look at him and knew that this type of food was probably several times more expensive than the soy milk and buns that Chu Ge usually ate.
Suddenly, she lost the urge to continue asking questions, because even in the same world, different people were actually living in different worlds, and she knew this very well.
Suddenly, she realized why Chu Ge wrote stories like this.
The quality of life of the female lead in the drama was perhaps already beyond Chu Ge’s reach, and maybe even the actress who played her. Look at that beauty; it didn’t seem like something an ordinary person could possess.
He couldn’t have it, and he was unwilling.
So he was fantasizing, and all his readers were also fantasizing–the story of an ordinary, mediocre, and self-made young man who climbed step by step. The flowers he picked along the way were his rewards.
She was the highest of them all.
Looking from this perspective, that feeling of sleaziness is actually much lighter.
Although she herself still couldn’t accept it.
Dao companion? Words alone won’t do, you have to walk on that path to say it… Now they were truly people from different worlds.
“Why aren’t you asking anymore?” Chu Ge was puzzled.
Qiu Wuji smiled: “Take it slow. If I ask too many questions at once, I won’t be able to remember them all. I’ll try to piece together a general idea first, and if there are some connections I can roughly guess, I’ll ask you if I can’t figure them out. You probably have things to do too, right? Don’t you need to write the novel?”
“Um…”
“Just do your own thing. There’s plenty of time.”
Chu Ge felt she became more understanding after putting on modern clothes. Her previous attitude of wanting to beat people up at the slightest provocation made an almost 360-degree turn… Could it be that his words had such a profound effect?
As if she guessed what he was thinking, Qiu Wuji smiled slightly. “It’s just life. It’s not like we’re not living elsewhere. Why be so nervous? I was rude before and embarrassed my creator god.”
It seems like she really adapted to the modern world. Her heart is so big. Chu Ge returned to his room with three steps and two turns. Looking back at Qiu Wuji, who was sitting on the sofa in an OL suit watching TV dramas, he felt even more weird.
It’s like becoming more and more like a family.
Just as he was thinking this, Chu Ge suddenly felt a bit dizzy.
Qiu Wuji sitting there began to slowly fade away.
His heart skipped a beat, and he hurried back. Sure enough, Qiu Wuji stood up and gradually turned into nothingness, revealing a smile. “It seems that even after the changes you made, I can’t stay here for too long… I can’t rely on this. I have to continue to cultivate my soul and strive to stay a little longer next time…”
Chu Ge: “…”
I’ve only been able to see her in a short skirt and black stockings for a short while. Can’t you let me see her for a bit longer?
Qiu Wuji’s voice began to sound distant. “That side is just as important to me… I also want to try. Now that I know the plot, can the Poison Hand Devil Lord still plot against me? Isn’t that our Dao?”
As her voice echoed, she was already gone.
All her clothes on the sofa couldn’t be taken away, not even a thread or a strand.
Chu Ge however, did not regret not seeing her disappear without any clothes on. He stared blankly at the empty room and the clothes on the sofa, speechless for a while.
He had just thought of a family, and it disappeared in an instant, like a joke.
It reminded Chu Ge blatantly that she is not a modern OL sister. They are truly people from different worlds.
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