My Online Girlfriend Has a Twin Sister

Habit is a terrifying thing.

Chen Yuan didn’t understand how he’d become this way. He had always considered himself a purist when it came to love, absolutely certain he would find one person to spend his life with. This simple wish had stayed with him from his teenage years, when he first started longing for romance, all the way until he entered university. But now, he actually found himself in love with two girls at the same time.

And his feelings for them were equally strong.

In the end, he had become the very person he’d always detested.

Faced with this, he seemed to have only one answer that could offer some temporary comfort, one that kept the overwhelming guilt toward his purer, younger self at bay.

Chen Yuan turned his head and said in a low voice, "All I can say is that I’ll follow my heart. That’s the most I can promise. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair to Yaoyao."

"That... alright." Jiangg Ning’s gaze dimmed.

Although Chen Yuan had refused, she didn’t get too discouraged, though a sense of crisis still rose in her heart. Before, she had been very confident of victory. She didn’t think her younger sister posed much of a threat. But it was precisely that underestimation that had led to the current situation.

If she had just pushed forward relentlessly, giving her sister no room to breathe... Forget it. Jiangg Ning knew she couldn’t do it. If she were even half as daring as Yaoyao, she would’ve won by a landslide long ago.

"I’ll work hard to balance my studies and my love life. I won’t lose to her," Jiangg Ning said, lightly biting her lip. Where Chen Yuan couldn’t see, she clenched her small fist.

As if cheering herself on.

This adorable, almost childish, gesture would occasionally surface, but sadly, no one ever saw it. It was these tiny moments that made Ningning so captivating. The luckiest boy in the world was the keeper of her girlish secrets.

"Let’s go. They’re about to close," Chen Yuan said, gathering the takeout containers.

By now, the cleaning lady in the cafeteria was glancing over frequently, her eyes urging them to leave. Closing up early meant she could get off work early, so she was naturally eager for Chen Yuan’s table, the last one, to clear out.

"Alright then."

The two of them threw out the trash together, cleared the table, and washed their hands.

Stepping out of the cafeteria, they were met with a crisp night breeze. In a few more hours, this fulfilling day would be over. Jiangg Ning walked silently beside Chen Yuan, quietly keeping pace, her purse slung over her shoulder. Her high heels clicked on the patterned stone tiles, and she squinted against the unruly strands of hair the wind blew across her face.

She was reluctant to walk any faster, thoroughly enjoying this quiet moment.

Chen Yuan belonged to her and her alone. They could walk openly on the school paths, just like any ordinary couple, happy in a simple, quiet way.

"I don’t want to walk anymore," she said softly all of a sudden.

"Tired? I thought you had sneakers in your car. Why didn’t you change into them when you came over? Walking in high heels must be exhausting." Chen Yuan glanced down at her slender heels.

Beauty is pain, but he couldn’t bear the thought of Ningning’s beautiful feet being tormented. Even though she did look truly elegant in high heels.

"I’m not tired. I just want to walk a little slower, to make our walk last longer... I have to go to Mingzhu City tonight. Now I’m wondering if I should delay it by a few days. Maybe I just won’t go today?" Jiangg Ning’s eyes were bright as she looked at Chen Yuan.

She was full of anticipation, hoping Chen Yuan would ask her to stay, say something like he couldn’t bear to see her go. That way, she would have a perfect excuse to convince herself to stay. To be honest, she really needed that reason.

"We have a long future ahead of us. I don’t want to hold you up. Besides, you’ll be back in a couple of days, right?"

"..." After hearing his words, Jiangg Ning lowered her gaze and said softly, "It’s three days."

"Well, you’ll be back just in time for the weekend. We can go do something fun together. We haven’t had a chance to go out and relax together since we got back from Sanya."

"Now that you say that, Chen, I have even less motivation to deal with these tedious things," Jiangg Ning said with a shrug. "Looks like I’ve really changed a lot. I used to be very patient with this stuff. My drive has been worn away..."

Her mood had clearly soured. Even someone as dense as Chen Yuan could tell. He secretly glanced at Ningning’s expression and thought for a moment.

"How about this? You go take care of your business, and when you come back, I’ll pick you up from the airport. Then we can have a nice meal together, and we can stay together the whole time."

"Really?"

"Pinky promise." Chen Yuan held out his pinky, looking at her and motioning for her to do the same.

"That’s a little childish... but okay, pinky promise. You have to pick me up then."

Only then did a hint of a smile return to her cheeks, the corners of her mouth curving upwards.

Since Ningning’s car was parked off-campus and Chen Yuan didn’t have an evening study session, the two of them had to walk all the way from the on-campus cafeteria to the street outside. At this hour, most students were out having fun, some were studying in the library, and the rest were in their dorms, furiously mashing their keyboards in heated battle.

There were very few students on the paths.

It seemed as though Chen Yuan and Jiangg Ning had endless things to talk about. They walked side-by-side under the streetlights, their shadows stretching out infinitely on the ground behind them.

They didn’t take the tree-lined avenue, instead taking a shortcut along a small, stone-paved path behind the garden. There wasn’t another soul in sight here.

Perhaps the atmosphere was just too perfect, or perhaps a subtle, unspoken feeling suddenly arose in both their hearts.

When Chen Yuan turned his head and tentatively reached out his hand, Jiangg Ning lowered her head and silently took it.

Her slender, pale hand was enveloped in his warm palm.

Shyly, secretively, they savored this unripe yet sweet fruit, like little children in kindergarten playing house.

...

Liu Nan and his friends were, for the most part, textbook straight guys when it came to handling things—otherwise, they wouldn’t have been single for so long. But surprisingly, they were quite good when it came to taking care of girls.

It was already evening. Liu Nan scanned a QR code to rent a campus share-bike and escorted Lu Yiyi to the entrance of her dorm at the neighboring Art Academy.

Then he rushed back, eager to get back to his game.

Along the way, Lu Yiyi asked many questions about Ms. Jiangg Ning. After all, she had offended her and felt extremely guilty.

Walking from the dorm entrance back to her room, she was in a daze. As she pushed open the door and sat on her bed, she was still thinking about the mistake she had made.

She lived in Room 5078 of the Art Academy’s female dormitory building #2. Most girls’ dorms were a bit cleaner than the guys’, though there were always exceptions. Lu Yiyi’s room was full of dance students, and everyone got along very well.

There were no messy girls among them, either.

Walking into the dorm room, it was clear that most things were arranged in a neat and orderly fashion. Although the desks were full, the arrangement was a neat freak’s dream: bottles were grouped with bottles, jars with jars, and there were plenty of storage boxes.

Her three roommates were all in the room. One was binge-watching a drama, one was playing *Eggy Party* on her bed, and the third was learning makeup techniques from a Xiaohongshu influencer.

"Yiyi, you’re back so late. Did you finish the task the teacher gave you?" the girl with the slender, arched eyebrows who was doing her makeup turned her head and asked.

"Finished... SIGH."

"I saw the photo you sent in the dorm group chat just now. You went to the main campus?"

"Mhm."

"Was it great? I’ve actually always wanted to check out the main campus, but Dean Zhou strictly forbids us from sneaking over."

"It was just okay, I guess."

Lu Yiyi’s string of downbeat replies caught her roommates’ attention. They all stared at her with strange looks. The roommate who had been watching a drama even paused the show and rolled her chair over to her side.