My Virtual Girlfriend-Chapter 469

That friend request was just the easiest reason he could find that Yang Nuannuan would accept.

"Business," "related to yourself."

Chen Yan thought that with these two pieces of information, Yang Nuannuan would likely accept the friend request.

And that was indeed the case.

Less than a minute later, Yang Nuannuan had accepted the request.

But after the verification, Chen Yan also had to think of a way to explain the situation.

While thinking, Chen Yan suppressed the excitement in his heart.

He hesitated for a moment, then sent a message that said, "This is the situation. Mr. Chen said you’ve been away from the job for a while. But he has always appreciated your talent. May I ask if you would like to come back to work at the company?"

After sending that, he continued, "The offer is a generous one, about twice what you were making before."

"Mr. Chen mentioned that you are going to start an internship in the second half of the year. He said you could directly intern at the company and then your salary would be increased again."

...

Meanwhile, on the other end of WeChat, Yang Nuannuan sat in the library.

She was dressed in black clothing and black stockings, her hair tied up, and she wore black-framed glasses without lenses, giving her a cool, female CEO vibe reminiscent of Yang Rou.

Sitting in the library, she had a book on her desk and was flipping through it while taking notes.

More than half a year of adjustment had gradually awakened her from the despair and disarray of a collapsed career, family, and love life.

Humans are highly adaptable creatures.

Although her life had changed drastically, she had found a new balance.

In this low-pressure environment, she lived at a slow pace, discovering unnoticed yet touching moments and joys in life.

Later, she would share these moments in her Moments feed to... Chen Yan.

Even though she knew that given Chen Yan’s busy schedule and the level of attention he had for her, there was a 99% chance he wouldn’t see her Moments.

Even if he did see it, there was a 99% chance he wouldn’t realize she was talking about him.

But this had become one of her few pleasures.

It was like a secret hole, a tree hole where no one knew, she could express her emotions and add a bit more color to her otherwise colorless life.

Apart from sharing on Moments, what she constantly dreamed about and looked forward to was perhaps Chen Yan reaching out to her again to discuss stocks, gold, or futures trading.

It wasn’t that she was money-hungry.

On the contrary, she wasn’t interested in money.

The money she earned, save for a little she kept for herself, she gave to her mother.

What she enjoyed was the feeling of standing beside Chen Yan.

Fighting alongside someone she liked, plundering world capital, whether they won or lost, made life feel utterly different for Yang Nuannuan.

Unfortunately, since their last encounter, Chen Yan had never reached out to her again.

She had already decided not to take the initiative anymore. Yang Nuannuan, who was quietly enjoying her own life, did not seek him out either.

Instead, she silently waited.

The extreme emotions of the past, yet still not achieving anything, had gradually made her realize: some things are truly about fate. No matter how hard you try, there might not be any results.

It might be better to lie low and live life slowly.

Who knows? Maybe luck would strike from above eventually?

So today, like the past few months, after finishing her classes, she bought a coffee and went to the library, quietly reading and enjoying this rare leisure time.

Just when she felt today would be as calm as usual, suddenly, her phone in her pocket vibrated slightly.

In the library, being silent is a common courtesy.

So feeling the vibration, Yang Nuannuan took out her phone and glanced at it.

It was a stranger’s friend request.

Because she was beautiful, and her dressing had become increasingly mature, radiating a more severe and cold demeanor recently, this paradoxically attracted many pursuers.

Men seem to like women who are mature in body but have a repressed appearance.

Maybe it sparks their desire to conquer?

So, like before, Yang Nuannuan planned to ignore this friend request.

But just when she was about to exit WeChat, suddenly, she saw the content of the friend request: from company HR, following Mr. Chen’s request to add you.

"Chen Yan?" Yang Nuannuan’s mind conjured up the image of that handsome, amiable yet assertively charismatic man.

In that instant, Chen Yan’s image was especially vivid before her eyes.

For a moment, she felt like chuckling: It’s not suddenly missing you, but never having forgotten about you at all.

She shook her head and muttered, "Is it someone he arranged to look for me?"

Then, she quietly accepted the friend request.

Beyond this friend request, there were dozens, even hundreds of unaccepted friend requests, as if to signify the girl’s intentions.

After accepting the friend, Yang Nuannuan opened the person’s WeChat and then sent a message,

"Hello. Are you from HR? Mr. Chen asked you to contact me, what is the matter?"

...

The message Chen Yan sent was not an excuse.

He genuinely felt that Yang Nuannuan was suitable for the company.

Not to mention others, just Yang Rou. With or without Yang Nuannuan, her efficiency in handling matters differed markedly.

Maybe it’s because they’re mother and daughter...

Or maybe it’s that Yang Nuannuan’s skills are indeed outstanding.

Anyway, with Yang Nuannuan around, Yang Rou was at least not as stressed as she is now.

On many occasions, Yang Nuannuan could even replace Yang Rou in making some minor decisions, and she did them very well.

So, even discounting the personal relationship with Yang Nuannuan, Chen Yan thought Yang Nuannuan was a talent who could bring a lot of help to the company, ideally someone who should stay.

Therefore, he had offered her very favorable terms.

However, Yang Nuannuan clearly wasn’t keen on returning to the company. Even though the conditions Chen Yan offered were very generous for a student who hadn’t yet graduated.

But Yang Nuannuan still replied in less than two seconds, "Sorry. I only want to focus on finishing my studies right now."

Reviewing Yang Nuannuan’s response, Chen Yan wasn’t surprised.

If Yang Nuannuan were easily persuaded, Yang Rou wouldn’t have argued with her, and she wouldn’t have become so negatively fixated.

So, Chen Yan just replied, "Okay. I’ll make a note of that here."

Then, he stopped the WeChat conversation.

He was originally just looking for an excuse to check Yang Nuannuan’s Moments.

As for the plan to persuade Yang Nuannuan to return to the company, he had one. But that would at least have to wait until he had explained the past affairs between Yang Rou and Zhao Qingtian to Yang Nuannuan.

Thinking this, Chen Yan logged out of WeChat and then opened a secondary QQ account. He sent a message to Yang Nuannuan’s "housewife author pseudonym," "Are you there?"

...

In the library, Yang Nuannuan, who had just rejected the company "HR" person, was ready to continue reading.

However, her phone hadn’t even been put away when it suddenly vibrated again.

She glanced at it nonchalantly, and was stunned.

Because... it was Chen Yan reaching out to her.

Or rather, Chen Yan’s pseudonym reaching out to her alias.

Since leaving the company, Yang Nuannuan and Chen Yan’s only connection had been through these pseudonyms.

But Chen Yan, being busy, didn’t chat often.

So, she kept logging into this account, silently waiting for Chen Yan to one day contact her.

Unexpectedly, that day came so quickly.

And... what surprised her was that.

Chen Yan reached out to her just after company HR had contacted her.

Was there... a problem with that?

The sensitive and sharp Yang Nuannuan slightly connected these two events.

She opened QQ and replied, "I’m here."

She still hadn’t forgotten that her current persona was a "working beautiful housewife," so she added, "At work. What’s up?"

...

On the other end of QQ, Chen Yan read Yang Nuannuan’s response and smiled.

He then replied, "No problem. I just encountered something a bit odd, so I wanted to talk about it."

...

Seeing Chen Yan’s message, Yang Nuannuan was a bit puzzled.

’An odd incident?’

’Did Chen Yan encounter something supernatural?’

She replied, "Although I’m at work, I’m actually paid to slack off. So go ahead."

...

Chen Yan chuckled, feeling that Yang Nuannuan was truly "spoiling" Yang Rou’s reputation behind her back.

Yang Rou would never accept paid slack-off.

She even liked working overtime for free...

Thinking this, Chen Yan replied, "Nothing much. Just that these past few days I’ve been chatting with one of my female subordinates at work."

"And she got a bit drunk and told me about some of her past experiences, which strangely match what you’ve told me about your own experiences by about 80%."

...

Seeing Chen Yan’s message, Yang Nuannuan felt a chill run through her.

Because she had verified Chen Yan’s identity long ago. So she knew that Chen Yan was not some financial company’s operator, but the big boss of the Chen Group.

There was no need to mention who his female subordinate was.

It was obviously Yang Rou... who was Yang Nuannuan’s mother.

Yang Nuannuan felt that with Chen Yan’s intelligence, he might have guessed her identity as soon as he heard her mother talk about these matters.

So, she feigned composure and asked, "Really? What did she say?"

...

Chen Yan smiled as he read Yang Nuannuan’s message.

He knew Yang Nuannuan had "taken the bait."

So he said, "Actually, the story started off quite similar to what you told me. For a moment, I thought you were that female subordinate."

"But later, I found out that couldn’t be possible."

"Because, in that matter, my female subordinate was the victim."

"It wouldn’t be possible for a victim to deliberately distort her own experiences online and portray herself as a villain, would it?"

...

Seeing Chen Yan’s words, Yang Nuannuan furrowed her brows.

’Similar at first, but later found out my mom is the victim?’

’Distort her experiences and portray herself as a villain?’

’What does all this mean?’

Fortunately, Chen Yan did not keep her guessing longer.

After giving Yang Nuannuan some psychological preparation, he started to recount how he had verified the story.

During his narration, Chen Yan also employed some "literary exaggeration."

After all, given Yang Rou’s quiet nature and her way of telling the story, if Chen Yan told it as it was, Yang Nuannuan would most likely think her mother was lying.

So, after Chen Yan vividly recounted the story from Yang Rou’s perspective, Yang Nuannuan was completely stunned.

A single thought dominated her mind: Is this a joke? How could this be so different from what my dad described?

But Yang Rou was still the mother who had "given birth to her" and raised her for over twenty years. This connection was much deeper than the superficial bond with Zhao Qingtian.

Yang Nuannuan had initially believed Zhao Qingtian mostly because Yang Rou had kept silent about this matter, allowing Zhao Qingtian to take advantage and convince her.

Now that Chen Yan had shared the story from Yang Rou’s perspective, Yang Nuannuan was somewhat shaken.

She was unsure if this was true or not.

She couldn’t even tell if Chen Yan knew her identity and was saying this deliberately.

She felt incredibly confused.

Especially thinking about how upset she had made her mother last night, she became restless.

She didn’t even reply to Chen Yan’s messages and just gathered up her books, scrambling out in a hurry.

She wanted to find Yang Rou and clarify everything.

Because this could completely shatter her worldview.

Destroy everything she had built over the years—her understandings of hatred, gratitude, and learning.

If "worldviews" could be materialized, hers would definitely be full of cracks, as if it could break at any moment...

...

Meanwhile, Chen Yan, though he had not received a message back from Yang Nuannuan,

did not mind at all.

He felt he had achieved his goal.

Yang Nuannuan’s lack of response precisely proved her internal conflict and surprise.

The truth could not be hidden forever; Yang Nuannuan had been deceived only because she lacked a way to understand.

Now that Chen Yan had given her that, he believed she and Yang Rou, with their logical thinking, would not find it hard to uncover the real truth.

The only regret was... Chen Yan had to sacrifice some reputation.

After all, he had just learned these details from Yang Rou and had turned around to tell Yang Nuannuan.

Even though his intentions were good, it would inevitably disappoint Yang Rou.

Chen Yan hoped that Yang Rou’s rational thinking would prevail, letting her know he was trying to save their mother-daughter relationship and clear up their misunderstandings.

While Chen Yan was thinking this, suddenly, he heard a firm knocking sound from outside.

The knocking didn’t seem like someone was at Chen Yan’s door but rather as if the knocking at the opposite door was so loud it created a "noise."

Chen Yan went to the door and peered through the peephole.

Then he saw Yang Nuannuan with sweat dripping down her face, clutching books, and knocking on Yang Rou’s door.

In a moment, Yang Rou opened the door.

She looked surprised and puzzled upon seeing Yang Nuannuan.

But Yang Nuannuan couldn’t wait anymore.

She directly grabbed her mother’s hand and started speaking to her.

Yang Rou’s expression turned into shock.

She blinked but didn’t say anything; instead, she stepped aside to let Yang Nuannuan in.

Then, she closed the door, cutting off everything outside.

However, before she closed the door, she seemed thoughtful and glanced towards Chen Yan’s direction.

Their gazes seemed to meet through the peephole, across the distance.

But Chen Yan knew, all this was just his imagination.

After all, it was impossible to see inside from the peephole.

Seeing Yang Rou close the door, Chen Yan sighed softly.

He felt he had done all he could. Whether Yang Nuannuan could believe the truth about the past, uncover Zhao Qingtian’s conspiracy against her over the years, and resolve the misunderstandings between the mother and daughter, everything now depended on Yang Rou...

The afternoon passed quickly.

Chen Yan had been waiting for a thank you or accusation from Yang Rou.

But... he waited in vain.

And he observed the situation across the street several times through the peephole.

Every time, he found no changes whatsoever.

Neither Yang Rou nor Yang Nuannuan had come out since they entered the room earlier.

This was somewhat agonizing for Chen Yan, and he even became unable to concentrate on other matters.

Fortunately, during the evening, Qin Ming brought Chen Yan some good news.

He had managed to arrange a meeting with Zhao Family’s Tianfu branch Family Head, Zhao Hengyu.

The other party agreed to meet Chen Yan and was even willing to come to Qin Island for the meeting.

This came as a pleasant surprise to Chen Yan.

Not just because Zhao Hengyu was the best candidate for the plan but also because his attitude showed how much he valued this cooperation and his positive regard for Chen Yan.

Thus, Chen Yan called He Mengxue that very night.

He asked her to prepare a gift for Zhao Hengyu to show the host’s hospitality.

The meeting was scheduled in two days, giving Chen Yan some time to prepare.

...

The next day, Yang Nuannuan and Yang Rou still had not given Chen Yan any feedback.

Neither his main account nor any of his reader pseudonyms received any messages from either of them.

Chen Yan was somewhat at a loss.

’Could it be... That the mother and daughter fainted at home?’

But now, even if Chen Yan was worried about them, given his "guilty conscience," he was still not willing to face them proactively.

So, he pretended as if nothing had happened and went to his company.

After arriving at the company, Chen Yan focused on handling public affairs.

The recent public affairs were rather busy.

Not only was the "Sunrise Plan" second batch of works about to premiere.

But a new game had also entered development with many planning aspects needing Chen Yan’s approval.

And there were even more matters in other companies.

A heap of big and small matters, especially those related to the film and television sector which were the company’s main performance drivers, required a lot of Chen Yan’s effort.

This reinforced Chen Yan’s idea of establishing a film and television business group.

The morning hours flew by quickly.

At noon, after finishing his tasks, Chen Yan prepared to call the Twin Towers Hotel to order some food.

But before he could make the call,

his desk phone rang.

Chen Yan picked up, but before he could speak,

the caller said, "Hello? Mr. Chen? Haven’t had lunch yet? How about we have a meal together?"

It was Yang Rou who had called.

Her voice was cold, devoid of any emotion.

Then, three words spontaneously appeared in Chen Yan’s mind: Banquet at Hongmen!