Chai Shuqing looked at the closed door and muttered, "Going to sleep so early..." As soon as she finished speaking, she yawned.
.
Saying goodnight doesn't mean you have to go to sleep. Chai Qianning lay in bed, sent Sheng Muxi a "goodnight" and received the same "goodnight" reply, but she still didn't go to sleep.
She remembered what she had accidentally seen in the elevator, so she opened her phone's app store, searched for a social media app, downloaded it, and logged in.
She heard about this green-themed dating app from Su Ye, who had used it to find a girlfriend, but they eventually broke up.
Su Ye later recommended the software to her, but after playing it for a few days, she found it boring and uninstalled it.
At this very moment, the person upstairs is also still awake.
Sheng Muxi held the black-necked swan pendant between her fingers, sometimes in her palm, sometimes under the light to examine it closely.
The five small characters engraved on it are inconspicuous from a distance, but quite eye-catching up close.
Scenes of her interactions with Chai Qianning would replay in her mind frame by frame, like a movie.
Then she would inexplicably start tossing and turning in bed, seemingly agitated about something.
She opened her phone, her gaze lingering on the bright green dating app for a long time, before finally opening Baidu and typing in the words "narcolepsy".
Chai Qianning can fall asleep at her house while watching horror movies, and she can also fall asleep in the atmospheric movie theater while watching tearjerker blockbusters.
Therefore, she seriously suspected that Chai Qianning might be able to fall asleep anywhere.
Perhaps it was the night that stirred up people's thoughts, but Sheng Muxi inexplicably began to worry about the other person's safety.
She casually searched for information about narcolepsy online, glancing at this and that, and then started scrolling through her WeChat Moments, repeatedly opening Chai Qianning's chat window.
Feeling utterly bored and unable to sleep, she felt as if something was hooking at her soul, tickling her and preventing her from falling asleep.
She picked up the pendant again and looked at it, recalling how Chai Qianning had smiled and told her that this was the same pendant she had worn with her best friend.
But this is clearly a couple's set! The packaging clearly states "couple" and "love," so how could Chai Qianning have picked up the wrong one?
She clicked on the entry for "narcolepsy" again and found that the information stated that people with narcolepsy may experience symptoms such as hallucinations or confusion.
Then she mentally justified having matching keychains on her keychain.
She put down her phone, intending to go to sleep, but three minutes later, she propped her head up and picked up her phone again.
This time, instead of aimlessly scrolling through her phone, she had a clear goal: she opened the dating app and registered an account.
Next, you need to fill in the information step by step according to the system prompts.
When filling in the age section, she entered 49 years old. When it came to the nickname, she thought for a moment and decided to match her age by choosing a corny name like "49-year-old single looking for true love".
She was curious about the app because she suddenly remembered that when they were sitting on a bench after having barbecue in the evening, Chai Qianning held up that eye-catching pendant and asked her if she wanted to play this social media app.
Since the other party asked this question, it means that they must know about this software, and perhaps they are even using it.
At first, she just wanted to go in and wander around to see what was inside.
Then, as she was browsing, she discovered that the app had a "nearby" function, which showed who was using the app nearby.
This way, you can find out if there are any lesbians around you who are like you.
Not only that, it will also show how many meters you are in relative distance from the other person.
Sheng Muxi thought to herself that if Chai Qianning used this app, she might be able to see her in the "nearby" section.
With that in mind, she opened the location.
As a result, she saw a user less than ten meters away, whose nickname was "Girlfriend Power Overload Big Strong One", and whose age was listed as eighteen years old.
Sheng Muxi nervously tugged at the blanket and looked around at the walls.
So close, it must be Chai Qianning, right?
But this nickname is just too... unsuitable for her.
However, nicknames can be chosen randomly.
She opened Chai Qianning's WeChat chat window. Half an hour earlier, the other party had sent her a goodnight message.
Back on the dating app, the profile picture of the user "Girlfriend Power Overload Da Meng Yi" shows that they are online.
While she was deep in thought, several strangers had already sent her greeting messages.
She couldn't help but marvel at how popular she was on this app at 49.
But she had no interest in replying to messages from strangers.
Since she couldn't sleep anyway, Sheng Muxi wondered if she should test the other party to see if this "big fierce one" was Chai Qianning.
As a result, Da Meng proactively sent a greeting emoji, followed by a very polite phrase: "Hello."
Sheng Muxi blinked and replied with a "hello".
Looking at the stiff conversation in the chat box, Sheng Muxi racked her brains trying to figure out how to subtly confirm that it was the other person without revealing her identity.
After a long pause, all he managed to utter was: "We're so close."
The incredibly strong and assertive girlfriend: [Yeah! (starry-eyed)]
A 49-year-old single woman seeking true love: [Why aren't you asleep yet? It's so late!]
A domineering girlfriend with overflowing charm: [I went to see a movie tonight and took a nap in the theater, so I'm not sleepy now.]
If the above conversation gave Sheng Muxi 90% certainty that the other person was Chai Qianning, then the following conversation gave Sheng Muxi 100% certainty that this person was Chai Qianning.
A guy with overflowing girlfriend charm: [When I first saw this distance, I thought you were my upstairs neighbor. But my neighbor said she doesn't use this app.]
Sheng Muxi was stunned for a moment, then quickly turned off the location display in "Nearby".
In this way, the distance cannot be seen.
A 49-year-old single woman seeking true love: [How do you know she's definitely not a player?]
The incredibly assertive girlfriend: [She said it herself.]
Sheng Muxi: ...
It's like asking a pointless question.
Sheng Muxi took a deep breath, lowered her eyes, and typed: 【Do you like people my age?】
Otherwise, why would the other person take the initiative to greet her if they didn't know it was her?
Less than a minute later, Sheng Muxi saw a completely astonished reply.
The incredibly charming and assertive girlfriend: [I like it.]
These three words startled Sheng Muxi. After a moment's thought, she replied: "I really am forty-nine years old."
Chapter 16 A Perfect Match
In the bedroom.
Chai Qianning lay casually on the quilt, her chin gently resting on the soft indentation of the pillow, her hands loosely holding her phone in front of her face.
The light reflected from the phone screen illuminated her eyes, making them appear clear and bright. A faint smile, tinged with amusement and playfulness, flowed from the corners of her eyes.
I had already guessed that the user with the nickname "49-year-old single looking for true love" was Sheng Muxi.
After finishing their barbecue, Chai Qianning casually asked her if she used this app, and at the time, the other person didn't seem to know what it was. But later in the elevator, she accidentally discovered that the other person had downloaded the app.
So she downloaded the app, and when she opened it, she was surprised to see that there was a user nearby who was actually very close to her.
The user's homepage was blank, indicating that they had just registered recently, so she could basically guess that the other party was Sheng Muxi.
Especially after I mentioned my experience of falling asleep in a movie theater, the other person didn't seem surprised at all.
Normally, a stranger, unaware of the situation, would ask: Was the movie boring? Why did you fall asleep in the theater? Were you just too tired?
But the fact that the other party didn't ask means that they had subconsciously assumed that they knew about it.
Since she could guess that it was Sheng Muxi, then by extension, Sheng Muxi could most likely guess that it was her as well.
It can be a little awkward to run into someone you know in real life on a dating app.
Chai Qianning had no choice but to play dumb and pretend that she didn't know the other person was her upstairs neighbor.
——
Seeing the message on the screen, Chai Qianning's eyelashes trembled, and her slender, white fingers danced nimbly across the screen: "I know, I didn't say you weren't forty-nine years old."
Forty-nine years old: [And you? Are you really only eighteen?]
Chai Qianning noticed that the other person had changed their nickname, shortening it from a long one to four characters. Perhaps they felt the original nickname was too corny.
She didn't rush to reply to the other party, but instead changed her nickname, dropping the long nickname and leaving only "Da Meng Yi".
Then he replied: "No, I'm in my twenties. I just filled in the wrong age on my application."
49 years old: [You're so honest, you're easily fooled.]
Chai Qianning stared at the line of text and couldn't help but laugh.
The other party was actually worried that she was being scammed.
Da Mengyi: [Who lied to me?]
Forty-nine years old: [I mean, just in case.]
Da Mengyi: [Oh, okay.]
The chat was silent for a few minutes before the other person sent another message: "Why did you change your nickname?"
Da Mengyi: [I saw you changed it, so I changed it too.]
Forty-nine years old: [Why would I want to copy you?]
Da Mengyi: [I'm not copying you, I just wanted our nicknames to look more matching in length.]
The other party fell silent again.
Chai Qianning rolled over, lying flat on her back with her knees bent and one leg crossed over the other. She held up her phone, waiting for a message from the other party.
A few minutes later, the other party replied: "Why do you say we're a good match?"
Da Mengyi: [Because our nicknames have the same number of characters.]