My Online Girlfriend Has a Twin Sister

The atmosphere at the dinner table had been great. Everyone was laughing and talking, making quick work of the food. But with a single sentence, Lu Yiyi silenced the entire table. Except for Wei Zhen, who was coughing violently, the rest of them might as well have been stone statues.

All conversation had abruptly stopped, and a strange silence descended upon the table.

Chen Yuan’s three roommates stared intently at the bottom of their bowls, their gazes fixed as if they were trying to decipher the theory of human evolution in the grains of rice.

Lu Yiyi was confused for a moment. Noticing their strange expressions, she pursed her lips, slowly realizing she might have said the wrong thing...

She thought for a moment, then suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, no!" She quickly waved her hands. "I wasn’t trying to throw shade at locals... I just meant I’m envious, that’s all! Please don’t get me wrong. If an older relative brought me food, I’d feel incredibly lucky."

"Don’t say another word..." Wei Zhen couldn’t stand it. This Lu Yiyi was only digging herself into a deeper hole, determined to say the most shocking thing possible. "Just eat. Weren’t you starving? Here, have this dish... and this one... and this one!"

"Okay, okay, I’m eating."

Looking at Jiangg Ning’s increasingly cold expression, Lu Yiyi didn’t dare press the issue. She hastily shoveled a few bites of food into her bowl and stuffed her mouth, her cheeks puffing out.

For some reason, under Jiangg Ning’s gaze, her cheeks burned. She felt like she was about to turn into a steam engine, with puffs of steam about to rise from her head.

Wei Zhen’s intervention didn’t work.

Then came the question that made everyone’s hair stand on end: "Lu, do you think I’m that old?"

Jiangg Ning’s voice was placid, betraying no emotion.

GULP.

Several people swallowed hard in unison.

"Of course not! That’s not what I meant at all," Lu Yiyi said, stunned.

"I found your comment quite rude, but I can forgive an unintentional slip-up. However, I feel I must make one thing perfectly clear," Jiangg Ning said, staring into her eyes and articulating each word with care. "I am not Chen Yuan’s elder relative. Remember that."

Liu Nan and the others started shoveling rice into their mouths. They didn’t even bother with the other dishes, just wolfing down plain rice. All they wanted was to become invisible.

Chen Yuan was at a loss for words. ’I don’t really mind, but Jiangg Ning and Jiangg Yao clearly hate it when people get our relationship wrong. It just makes the sisters more aware of the age gap. It’s a thorn in their hearts, a sharp spear.’

’Maybe it’ll only go away once I graduate from college.’

’Otherwise, they’ll always feel a sense of guilt, like they’re cradle-robbing.’

’But who made the rule that you can’t date a guy eight years younger? True love can overcome any practical hardship. It’s the unconventional nature, the twists and turns, that make it all the more beautiful, right?’

’She’s with a young man as he grows up. There’s no crime in that. She’s lucky enough to witness every part of him, to see him transform from a naive boy into a responsible, mature man. She gets to see the marks time leaves on him, to watch him change day by day. That’s a rare and precious thing.’

’It’s the long years ahead that make the waiting so meaningful.’

"Then I guess I misunderstood," Lu Yiyi said quietly. "Where I’m from, we consider older sisters to be elders too. After all, they say the eldest sister is like a mother... Maybe I just phrased it badly. Honestly, you’re super young and beautiful."

"No, sis, please! I’m begging you, just stop talking! Can we please just eat in peace?" Wei Zhen was in despair. He wanted to slap himself twice. Why had he agreed to bring this clueless upperclassman to dinner?

’It would have been so nice if we could all just have a happy meal together.’

He could clearly see Jiangg Ning’s face had darkened. It was the first time any of them had seen the usually gentle Jiangg wear such an expression.

’The eldest sister is like a mother... My ass!’

"I’m full!" Liu Nan suddenly stood up. He turned to Lu Yiyi. "Are you full?"

"I’m good."

"Then we’ll make a retreat. Bye, Yuan," Liu Nan said, picking up his bowl. His other roommates tacitly stood up as well. The best solution now was to get Lu Yiyi out of there. "Jiangg, we’re heading out."

Jiangg Ning said nothing. She didn’t even raise her eyelids, just continued to eat slowly.

Seeing her like this, Chen Yuan looked away, his feelings a complicated mess.

’Great. In the end, I’m the one who’s dead meat. I didn’t say a single word, but the disaster still landed on my head. I just managed to smooth things over with her yesterday... Lu Yiyi, oh, Lu Yiyi, you’re really something else. You’ve managed to screw me over twice in one day.’

Utterly resigned, Chen Yuan lowered his head to blow on the hot soup in his spoon. ’Might as well enjoy one last sip before I die.’

...

The group of three men and one woman walked through the now-emptying cafeteria, carrying their bowls. The air had a greasy smell, unavoidable in a dining hall. Cleaning staff were already starting to mop the dirty floors.

It would close at seven o’clock.

As they stepped out of the cafeteria, a cool breeze washed over them. Outside, the night was hazy, and the streetlights lining the road had all come on.

"I said the wrong thing, didn’t I? I must have." After a long hesitation, Lu Yiyi finally couldn’t hold back the question any longer.

"You think?" Wei Zhen snapped, losing his composure. ’So she still hasn’t figured it out.’

"What were you thinking, senior? Wasn’t it obvious they’re in a relationship? And they’ve been dating for a long time," Liu Nan added.

"Huh?" After hearing Liu Nan’s words, Lu Yiyi’s jaw dropped wide enough to fit an egg.

"What do you mean, ’huh’?" Wei Zhen said. "You just had to touch on the one sore subject. I’m honestly impressed."

"But... but the age gap between Jiangg and Chen is huge, isn’t it?! How is that possible... That’s kind of insane." Lu Yiyi was dumbstruck. No matter how she racked her brain, she’d never have considered that possibility. Chen was two years younger than her!

’And he has such a stunningly beautiful girlfriend.’

Her worldview shattered.

"Think about it. They’re a couple, and you just had to harp on the age issue. How do you think Jiangg would feel? It was pretty offensive, to be honest."

"How can Jiangg and Chen be a couple! The gap must be, what, seven... eight years?! That’s not normal. Why not just find someone their own age? I can’t accept it." Lu Yiyi’s brow furrowed in consternation. "Besides, it should be easy for either of them to find someone. Why would they... do this?"

"All I can say is, what does that have to do with you?" Liu Nan said, suddenly serious.

"Me?" Lu Yiyi pointed to herself. "What does it have to do with me?"

"Exactly! What *does* it have to do with you? They can date whoever they want. The Qing Dynasty fell a long time ago, senior!"

"...That’s true." The comeback hit its mark, and Lu Yiyi suddenly realized she had been meddling. Their relationship was none of her business.

Besides, both Chen and Jiangg were perfectly nice people, yet here she was, having caused trouble for Chen with the tricycle that afternoon, and now offending the beautiful Jiangg that evening.

A bitter taste filled Lu Yiyi’s mouth, and she was overwhelmed with regret.

’She’d just spoken without thinking. Looking back now, it was so awkward. No wonder everyone went silent...’

Lu Yiyi instantly shut down. She wished she could turn back time by ten minutes. She would have kept her mouth shut, eaten her food, and not said a single word more.

...

「Inside the cafeteria.」

Only Chen Yuan and Jiangg Ning remained in the vast dining hall, but the atmosphere hadn’t eased in the slightest.

Chen Yuan thought for a long time, trying to find the right thing to say. He finally ventured, "This soup is actually really good. You want to try some, Ningning?"

Jiangg Ning swallowed her food, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and didn’t answer right away. After a moment, she turned to look him in the eye.

"Chen, I’m going to ask you something, and I want an honest answer. Do I look old? Am I too old? Are we a complete mismatch?" Her tone was calm, but the calmness was more frightening than anger. "Is this outfit something an auntie would wear? Do I look like your mother? Do I?"

The moment this lethal barrage of questions began, a cold sweat broke out on Chen Yuan’s back. ’Here we go,’ he cursed internally. ’There’s no escaping it.’

"No, absolutely not!"

"Then why would she say that..." Ningning bit her lip and stubbornly turned away. "Forget it. From now on, you can just call me your godmother. That way, we’ll look like a ’proper’ match when we go out, and we won’t have to worry about what people say."

"Don’t be angry..."

"I’m not angry. I’m being perfectly serious."

"I was wrong, okay?" Chen Yuan sighed, pressing his hand to his forehead.

"You weren’t wrong. *I* was. I’m the one who looks old."

"No... I think, Ningning, let’s just calm down. Let’s not get upset. Let’s finish our dinner first, and we can talk about this later, okay?"

"Okay, I’ll be calm," Jiangg Ning said, taking a deep breath. She paused for a few seconds, and just as Chen Yuan was starting to feel overjoyed, thinking he’d placated her, she spoke again. "Actually, you should just find a girl your own age at the university. That would be a better match, don’t you think?"

"I’m sorry, okay? My fault, grandma."

"Oh, good. Another generational upgrade. Fantastic."

Chen Yuan’s eyes widened. ’He was astonished to discover that Ningning’s talent for sarcasm was in no way inferior to Yaoyao’s!’