Chapter 48: Chapter 34: The Introverted and Reserved Su Zelin

"OK, I’ve submitted the friend request. Once Xiaoyanzi is online, she’ll accept it."

Quickly helping Lu Haoran send the friend request to Xiaoyanzi, Su Zelin continued chatting flirtatiously with the group of female netizens.

The honest guy next to him was watching with wide eyes.

Can you really chat like this? Aren’t these women just friends Zelin met online? Why does it feel like they are his girlfriends?

Surfing the internet is actually quite simple; you can do it with a mouse. The advanced part is chatting, because it requires typing on the keyboard.

Just like that non-mainstream girl Su Zelin saw at the internet cafe that day, Lu Haoran was also staring wide-eyed at the keyboard, using both index fingers to slowly peck at the letters, taking forever to type a complete sentence. Fortunately, Su Zelin taught him to use the first letters of pinyin for common phrases, otherwise, he would be even slower.

As for the likes of Kato Forest who could touch-type with lightning speed, Lu Haoran couldn’t even dare to dream of that.

After chatting with the female netizens for over half an hour, Su Zelin also got a bit bored.

Seeing Lu Haoran still struggling to learn typing, he lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "Haoran, stop playing for a moment, I’ve got something exciting to show you!"

He typed "www.().com" into the browser.

The website opened, and with just one glance, Lu Haoran’s face turned red with embarrassment.

There’s actually even this kind of thing on the internet, it’s really an eye-opener!

"Zelin, this, isn’t this not okay?"

The honest guy looked around nervously, as if having done something wrong, afraid of being caught.

"Haoran, how you view something depends on your attitude. If I approach it with the attitude of observing and learning, then it’s pure, just like the saying ’meat and wine pass through the intestines, but the Buddha remains in one’s heart’, get it?"

Su Zelin said earnestly.

What Zelin said seemed to make some sense, but somehow it felt off.

The little innocent one didn’t know how to argue, but he was convinced by Su Zelin.

After all, as young people, there’s always some curiosity.

Fine, I might as well observe and learn a bit too.

Lu Haoran thought to himself.

While watching a foreign film, the little innocent finally understood why Qin Shiqing and Xiaoyanzi had such a strong reaction when they mentioned this. They looked disdainful, and it turns out he was just naive and innocent!

Staring dumbfounded at the screen, the honest guy felt a bit inferior at the same time.

Su Zelin showed understanding and patted Lu Haoran on the shoulder to comfort him.

"Haoran, don’t feel inferior, it’s mainly due to inherent racial differences. Even I, with my reputation as the king of the public restrooms, have to admit it’s normal to be less endowed!"

"..."

As the two were observing and learning, a knocking sound indicating a friend came online was heard through the headphones, coming from Lu Haoran’s machine.

Checking the friend list revealed a new person; Xiaoyanzi was online.

Her nickname was "Xiaoyanzi," using an avatar of a short-haired girl with bangs, which quite resembled her bob cut, just with a different hair color.

Lu Haoran suddenly got nervous: "Xiaoyanzi is here, Zelin, how should I chat with her?"

Without thinking, Su Zelin replied, "Hmm, just type ’Wow, great, caught a cute one alive!’"

Lu Haoran: "???"

Su Zelin: "Not working? Then let’s change it, how about this, ’When you came online, my heart started pounding, didn’t you hear it?’"

Lu Haoran: "???"

Su Zelin: "Still not working? Okay, let’s go with a more conservative one, ’Finally seeing you, my mood is very excited, can’t calm down for a long time!’"

Lu Haoran: "..."

While they were discussing how to start the conversation, the other side sent a message first.

Xiaoyanzi: "Hey, Lu Haoran, you learned how to surf the internet too?"

Realizing that Su Zelin was unreliable, the honest guy decided to rely on himself.

Haoran: "Yes."

This was one of the pinyin initial combinations he had just learned, so he typed it fairly quickly.

Xiaoyanzi: "Not bad, you’re keeping up with the trend!"

Haoran: "Haha!"

Xiaoyanzi: "Speaking of which, we haven’t seen each other since the farewell party."

Haoran: "Oh!"

The other side didn’t reply.

Lu Haoran felt a bit puzzled: "Why isn’t Xiaoyanzi replying to my messages? Maybe she’s busy?"

Su Zelin rolled his eyes: "She’s not busy, it’s just that you’re too dull!"

"Haoran, do you know the top one hundred ways to kill a conversation? Among them, ’oh’, ’yes’, and ’haha’ are ranked right up there!"

Lu Haoran was dumbfounded: "What should I do then?"

If I’m this uninteresting, would Xiaoyanzi not want to chat with me anymore?

"Let me handle it, you step aside!"

Su Zelin pushed him aside and quickly typed out a sentence.

Haoran: "Xiaoyanzi, I like you!"

The situation happened so suddenly, Lu Haoran didn’t have time to stop him before Su Zelin hit Ctrl+Enter to send it.

"Ugh, Zelin, how could you send such a message, Xiaoyanzi will misunderstand!"

The honest guy was getting anxious.

"Alright, let me clarify!"

Su Zelin typed another line.

Haoran: "Sent the wrong message, Xiaoyanzi, I don’t like you."

Just as he was about to hit Ctrl+Enter, Lu Haoran finally reacted quickly enough: "Zelin, no, don’t send it!"

Su Zelin laughed: "Don’t you want to clarify?"

"Geez, I do want to clarify, but not like this."

Lu Haoran was almost in tears.

If things go wrong, Xiaoyanzi might get angry and not talk to him anymore, and not even want to meet in real life.

Just then, Tang Yan’s icon popped up again.

Xiaoyanzi: "Su Zelin, it’s you, isn’t it!"

It was clear that Lu Haoran definitely wouldn’t say something like that to her.

And the little innocent had just learned to surf the internet, there was no way he could type that quickly.

The truth pointed to one thing: an honest guy was sitting next to Su Zelin, and he had overstepped his bounds.

On the day of the graduation photo, Lu Haoran had mentioned having Su Zelin teach him to surf the internet and apply for a QQ account.

Haoran: "It’s not me!"

Xiaoyanzi: "Huh, if it isn’t you, Su Zelin, I’ll write my name, Tang Yan, backward!"

Haoran: "You’ve seen through it, it’s boring. Alright, you guys continue chatting, I’m out!"

Su Zelin made space for him.

Lu Haoran finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Luckily, Xiaoyanzi was sharp-eyed and didn’t misunderstand; otherwise, things would have gone south.

He also couldn’t help but admire his best buddy.

No wonder Zelin is so smooth and fluent in chatting with others, always more interesting than me.

Haoran: "I’m here!"

Xiaoyanzi: "Lu Haoran, fess up, did Su Zelin make you do something bad?"

Lu Haoran got a bit nervous; earlier, Su Zelin showed him some new stuff, although it was just for learning, it wasn’t entirely appropriate.

An honest person can’t stay honest at this moment.

Lu Haoran found the letters "my" on the keyboard and typed out "No," just about to send it when Su Zelin beside him said, "Congratulations, Rat, you’ve learned another trick of killing the conversation with a hundred little techniques."

Lu Haoran’s mouse was about to click send but pulled back immediately.

Zelin was right, such a reply is too boring.

"Zelin, what should I reply to Xiaoyanzi? Give me a tip."

"Hmm, it’s actually simple, the secret can be summed up in one word—long!"

"Long?"

"Yes, it has to be long!"

Lu Haoran understood this time.

Su Zelin was implying that he needed to type more, can’t always be just a few short words.

Indeed there was some truth to it.

So Lu Haoran added a few more lines.

Haoran: "No! Certainly not! How could you think that!"

These were all common single-letter words in pinyin, but it took him a minute to type out slowly.

Xiaoyanzi: "Such a big reaction, seems like I guessed right, Lu Haoran, I thought you were pretty honest. Huh, men!"

Lu Haoran was completely flustered.

"Zelin, what should I do, Xiaoyanzi knows!"

Su Zelin thought to himself, I asked you to type more, and you gave them a triple denial, isn’t this just like admitting it with a guilty conscience?

What a hopeless case!

Dealing with someone so straightforward makes Su Zelin’s head ache too.

Seems like I’ll have to step up and take the blame myself.

Su Zelin opened Xiaoyanzi’s chat window.

Always Handsome: "It’s not Rat’s fault, I was the one giving him an education session, can’t have him going astray in the future, right? You didn’t want to personally teach him, what else could I do? [Sly Smile]"

Xiaoyanzi: "Jerk, go to hell [Knife]"

Always Handsome: "Anyway, that’s the whole story, so that’s that, I’m out!"

Su Zelin didn’t want to chat with her much either.

There’s not much to talk about with Xiaoyanzi, better to use that time chatting with female netizens about life and ideals.

Xiaoyanzi: "Wait, Shiqing is here with me, she just applied for a QQ ID and said she wants to add you!"

Uh, Qin Shiqing applied for QQ...

Su Zelin suddenly recalled, it was indeed the summer after graduation when Qin Shiqing started learning to go online.

The cute one saw this and was about to collapse.

Shiqing is indeed here, now I’m completely ruined!

Always Handsome: "We see each other every day, if there’s something to say we can say it at home, what’s there to talk about on QQ!"

Xiaoyanzi: "You can see each other every day now, but come September, Shiqing is going to Yanjing, add QQ for easier contact, I’ll help her add you as a friend, quickly accept it!"

Soon, a system message popped up; it’s a new friend with the nickname "Sunny Day."

Su Zelin naturally wasn’t unfamiliar.

In his previous life, Qin Shiqing hadn’t changed this online name for over ten years, which showed her character difference from Su Zelin.

The mischievous type would change names more than twenty times.

"Always Handsome," "Chasing the Wind," "Happy Mischief," "Quiet Handsome Guy," "Driving Ferrari Single-Handed"... and so on, all very cheeky, none serious.

Until Su Zelin started a company, he finally got a presentable QQ name for networking—President Su of XX Company.

Still full of show-off flair, by then he didn’t need a cheeky username to attract girls’ attention anymore, this more serious name surprisingly had greater appeal, paired with a custom avatar of driving Ferrari single-handedly, unknown how many girls added him as a friend.

Su Zelin hesitated for a moment and accepted the request; there seemed to be no excuse to refuse.

Xiaoyanzi: "Okay, Su Zelin, teaching Shiqing to chat on Q is up to you now, take your time!"

Always Handsome: "Oh!"

Opening Sunny Day’s chat window, Qin Shiqing used a calm girl avatar with a maroon hairstyle, a frequently used recommended avatar for young women.

Always Handsome: "What are you doing?"

After a while, a reply came through.

Sunny Day: "Chatting with you, what else [Eye Roll]"

Despite Qin Shiqing’s conservative mindset, she was smart, and her ability to embrace new things was faster than an honest person, after seeing Xiaoyanzi and Su Zelin chat briefly, she learned to use QQ expressions to convey emotions.

Always Handsome: "Oh!"

A minute later.

Sunny Day: "How long have you and Rat been here?"

Always Handsome: "Just arrived!"

...

They exchanged some casual words; Lu Haoran was puzzled beside him.

"Zelin, didn’t you say typing longer keeps a conversation going? Why are you and Qin Shiqing exchanging just two or three words?"

"Too familiar, nothing much to talk about!"

The silly one shrugged his shoulders.

With Qin Shiqing, of course, the cheeky chatting methods wouldn’t work.

In his past life, he and Qin Shiqing went to different universities, kept their relationship through QQ, and eventually, he successfully pursued his childhood friend; naturally, he wouldn’t repeat that approach now.

Very soon, Tang Yan also couldn’t stand it.

Xiaoyanzi: "Is this how you teach Shiqing to chat? A newbie says more words than you, Su Zelin, where did that silver tongue of yours go?"

Su Zelin thought to himself if the chat partner were a female netizen, he could unleash a silver tongue with gusto, but Qin Shiqing is not someone you can just sweet-talk causally; one careless move and it’s trouble.

Always Handsome: "My dear daughter, what are you talking about, your Dad here is very introverted and reserved online, okay!"

Xiaoyanzi: "Introverted and reserved Su Zelin, my foot!"

...

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com