No wonder when he was young and heard his master tell stories from Journey to the West, his master always said that the hardest trial for Tang Seng and his disciples was actually the Kingdom of Women.
Back then, Chen Yuanchu was still young and thought it was just an amusing anecdote. Now, having descended into the mortal world, he could finally taste its deeper flavor.
As for whether that trial was difficult because the trial of love was hard to pass, or simply hard to endure, perhaps only Tang Seng himself knew the answer.
Now that she had finished helping him download WeChat, Su Wanyin tactfully returned to her seat across from him, and Chen Yuanchu finally regained that initial sense of ease.
Actually, even without outside help, Chen Yuanchu could have figured out the internet connection and registration after some tinkering. But with Su Wanyin's enthusiastic assistance, it had indeed saved quite a bit of effort.
Soon, Chen Yuanchu had registered his personal WeChat, using "Chen Yuanchu" directly as his username.
"Don't you want to change your profile picture?" Su Wanyin leaned over to ask.
"How do I change it?"
"Tap here and you can change it."
Chen Yuanchu didn't have many photos saved on his phone, just some pictures of the Daoist temple, flowers, plants, and sea of clouds that he had taken on the mountain. After a moment's thought, he selected a photo of a sunrise over the sea of clouds and set it as his avatar.
Unexpectedly, when Su Wanyin saw it, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Sister Wanyin, what's so funny?"
"Haha, nothing, I just feel like your lifestyle is sometimes really like an old fogey."
"Huh?"
Chen Yuanchu was puzzled. He thought the sunrise over the sea of clouds was quite well taken! Using it as a profile picture seemed fine too—detached and lofty, tranquil and serene.
"Then hurry up and add me. I want to be the first friend in your WeChat!"
Su Wanyin seemed rather excited. She recalled that the first friend in her own WeChat had been her parents. Back when she first started high school, her parents had bought her a mobile phone, and she got her own QQ and WeChat accounts.
As for whether she had ever been someone else's first WeChat friend, Su Wanyin figured probably not. But now, this opportunity was right before her eyes.
"How do I add someone?"
"Tap here. You can scan a QR code, or enter a phone number or WeChat ID... hmm, just note down my phone number: 1890812..."
As Su Wanyin recited the number, Chen Yuanchu entered it. After clicking search, a WeChat user with the nickname [Little Skylark] appeared on the screen.
"Is this Little Skylark you?"
"...Can you not say the nickname out loud in front of me? It's so embarrassing!"
"It's you. Let me see, the signature... 'Years flow like still waters running deep, in the wind old dreams seem to whisper'... hey, hey, hey?"
Before Chen Yuanchu could finish reading, Su Wanyin snatched the phone away. When he looked at her again, her pretty face was slightly flushed, full of embarrassment.
"Don't read the signature out loud in front of me! Th-that's from years ago, I haven't changed it!"
"Alright, alright..."
Chen Yuanchu didn't understand these online social etiquettes, but he found it rather amusing. Was this a side of Sister Wanyin deep in her heart?
He smiled, took back his phone, and sent a friend request.
Su Wanyin also took out her own phone.
Her phone was better than Chen Yuanchu's senior-friendly model, but not by much. Even with a protective case on, there were obvious signs of wear. Plus, with more apps installed than on Chen Yuanchu's phone, it lagged terribly.
Currently short on money, Su Wanyin had no plans to get a new phone for now. Instead, she had set a goal for herself: after receiving her first paycheck from a formal job, she would spend around fifteen hundred to get a new phone!
"Sister Wanyin, hurry up and approve it."
"Coming, coming, don't rush. Wait for my phone to catch its breath first."
"..."
Su Wanyin finally approved Chen Yuanchu's friend request. The user named [Little Skylark] now lay in his friends list—the first, and currently the only one.
'Chen Yuanchu' sent a [smiley face emoji].
'Little Skylark' replied with a [funny goofy emoji].
The young Taoist looked at the exaggerated funny face in the chat box and couldn't help but chuckle. He asked curiously, "Sister Wanyin, where did you find this expression?"
"Just save it and you'll have it too!"
"I see..."
Chen Yuanchu found it interesting, so he saved the sticker.
The two exchanged stickers, and that counted as finishing the WeChat addition and greeting. Sitting face to face now, it wasn't so boring that they needed to chat on WeChat.
"Sister Wanyin, how many friends do you have on WeChat?"
"Hmm... let me see, a hundred and seventy-something!"
"That many?"
"That's not many, really. They're mainly teachers, classmates, friends, and family."
"Is there a partner among them?" Chen Yuanchu asked curiously.
"You Taoists care about this too?"
"Taoists can be curious too."
Su Wanyin felt a bit embarrassed, but since Chen Yuanchu was much younger than her, she didn't overthink it. She answered frankly, "No. In school I was busy studying, and now that I've graduated I'm busy job hunting. No time for dating. My mom keeps rushing me though."
"Then it seems you're not in a hurry yourself. I imagine Sister Wanyin must have quite a few suitors."
When single people of a certain age are asked about their love life, their first reaction is anxiety. Su Wanyin was no exception. She put on a mature air and asked in return, "What about you? I heard you Taoists can get married and have children, right?"
Chen Yuanchu chuckled, "My fate hasn't arrived yet."
"Wow, what a cunning answer!"
Su Wanyin felt inspired. Just like how she had stolen his sticker, she now stole his answer. In the future, whenever someone asked her the same question, she would respond the same way.
The two tacitly skipped over the emotional topic that neither was good at discussing, and continued exploring WeChat.
"What is this Moments for?"
"It's where you can share your daily life, and your friends can see it. But a lot of people don't post on Moments anymore."
"I see..."
"...What are you doing?"
"Looking at Sister Wanyin's Moments."
"..."
Could you please not do embarrassing things right in front of people!
Fortunately...
"Huh, only showing the last three days of Moments?"
"Hmph, you can set the viewing permissions. I haven't posted in ages."
"What a pity. I was hoping to see how Sister Wanyin posts on Moments."
"Not letting you see~"
After spending this half-day together, Su Wanyin had gained some understanding of Chen Yuanchu. He was indeed different from most people—rarely beating around the bush, saying what he meant, yet knowing how to maintain appropriate boundaries. It was precisely this honesty and the just-right quality of his words that made people feel especially relaxed around him.
"Can WeChat be used to transfer money to each other?" Chen Yuanchu asked.
"Mm-hmm, you can link your card to it. Usually you can just scan codes with WeChat to pay. Do you have Alipay?"
"I do. It's just my first time using WeChat, so I'm not used to it yet."
Chen Yuanchu thought for a moment and said, "Then for the rent each month, I'll transfer it to your WeChat. We'll split the water, electricity, and gas evenly since we use them together."
"Huh, didn't Uncle Zhou say he'd collect half from you?"
"He wouldn't take mine. Sister Wanyin, you can just hand it to him together on my behalf."
"What is Uncle Zhou to you... he treats you so well." Su Wanyin asked curiously.
"Uncle Zhou is an old acquaintance of my master. He does look out for me, but for things within my ability, I still prefer to handle them myself."
"I see, that works then. Hmm... I'm a girl, so I might use more water and electricity. I'll contribute a bit more for utilities."
"No need. Calculating it that way would only make it more confusing. Let's just split it