Chapter 5: You don’t already have a Boyfriend in Real Life, Do you?

The last message had been sent just after eight in the morning, meaning over three hours had passed.

She smiled and began typing.

Yao: [#Drooling# Wow! Everything looks so delicious; I want to try a bite of every single one~~]

Less than two seconds after the message was sent, he replied instantly, as if he had been staring at his phone waiting for her.

Cheng: [Wifey, you finally noticed me.]

Yao: [Hubby, I had classes all morning. I replied to you the moment I finished.]

Cheng: [What major are you studying? How can there be so many classes on a Monday morning?]

The finger she was typing with paused for a moment as she hesitated.

Yao: [A boring major. Don’t ask, I don’t want to say.]

On one hand, she did not want to reveal too much of her private life.

On the other hand, it was the honest truth; it was not a major she liked, and it really was uninteresting.

During the rare moments when she could be her true self, she did not want to spend a single word discussing that topic.

Cheng: [If you don’t want to say, then don’t. Why find so many excuses? If it’s a major you don’t like, why did you choose it when you filled out your applications?]

Yao: [It’s not like I chose it myself. I simply followed directions.]

Yao: [#Helpless#]

Cheng: [I don’t believe it.]

Cheng: [With your personality, you don’t seem like the kind of good kid who would obediently follow their parents’ arrangements.]

Shi Kezhen stared at the message, a self-mocking bitter smile appearing on her face.

Yao: [Heh heh.]

She did not want to explain.

Cheng: [It’s about time for lunch. Is the food in your school canteen good?]

Yao: [Let’s just say it’s fit for human consumption.]

Gao Cheng tapped on his phone a few times.

When he saw a certain line of text while making the payment, his finger hesitated for a beat.

[Transferring to Xiang Yao (**Zhen).]

It seemed she really was not using her real name.

He pressed the payment button and confirmed with his fingerprint.

Cheng: [Transfer: 10,000 Yuan]

Cheng: [Don’t force your stomach. If you don’t like eating there, go out to eat. Hubby’s treat.]

She looked at the transfer amount and blinked.

She had never transferred money to anyone before, so she did not know that transfers would expose the last character of a name.

She simply thought that ten thousand yuan was roughly three months’ living expenses for an average university student.

It seemed Cheng was quite likely a rich second-generation heir.

She tapped to reject the transfer.

Yao: [Thank you, hubby, but it’s not necessary. I’ll buy whatever I want to eat.]

Cheng: [Don’t be polite with your husband. It’s only right and natural for a wife to spend her husband’s money.]

She smiled again.

It was not because she was touched, but rather due to a complex, indefinable emotion.

Yao: [It’s really not necessary. I’m too lazy to head outside to eat. I’ll stop here; I’m going to the canteen now. I woke up too early this morning and want to nap for a bit after eating. I have more classes in the afternoon.]

Cheng: [Fine then. When you’re eating, take a photo for hubby so I can see what you’re having.]

Yao: [We’ll see. Bye-bye, mwah.]

Cheng: [Mwah.]

Shi Kezhen exited the “Privacy Space” and switched her phone back to the main system.

She re-fastened the top two buttons of her top.

She stood up and checked her appearance in the vanity mirror on her desk.

Only after tidying herself up did she pull back the desk curtain.

When she reappeared in front of her roommates, she was once again the dignified and rigid Shi Kezhen.

She did not ask her roommates to join her, heading out of the dormitory alone.

Given her habitual solitary nature, her roommates were long accustomed to it.

Watching her close the door, Cai Jiaqing lowered her voice.

“Does she ever actually smile?”

The other two girls shrugged, neither of them responding.

The food at the Beijing University canteen truly did not suit her tastes.

But ever since she was a child, she had forced herself not to be a picky eater.

In the orphanage and within the Shi household, being picky was a sign of immaturity.

And “immature” was a charge she could not afford to bear.

Therefore, during her school days, she almost always settled for the canteen.

After getting her meal, she carried her tray to a quiet corner and sat down.

Remembering Cheng’s request, she hesitated for a while.

With people coming and going, she did not really want to fiddle with her phone in such a setting.

It did not match her public persona.

But ultimately, she picked up her phone and quickly snapped a photo of the tray before starting to eat.

She sat up straight as she ate, taking small bites elegantly.

Her chopsticks never clicked against the bowl’s rim, her chewing made no noise, and her spoon never scraped the bottom—exactly how she acted in front of Mother Shi.

No matter the occasion, she maintained this level of dining etiquette.

Meanwhile, all around her, students were chatting while eating, laughing while scrolling, or stretching their legs into the aisles.

They were relaxed, casual, young, and energetic.

“Isn’t it exhausting acting so stiff all day?”

“Exactly, she’s such a fake. I’m tired just looking at her.”

A few whispers drifted over from nearby.

Shi Kezhen heard them and knew they were talking about her, but she appeared completely unaware, continuing her meal in silence.

They were right; she really was good at faking it.

In public, she could always put on this elegant facade of a noble daughter without ever slipping up.

Was it exhausting?

It was actually manageable.

Mainly because she had been doing it every single day for ten whole years.

It had long ago become as natural as breathing.

***

Upon returning to the dorm, she pulled her curtains shut.

Shi Kezhen transferred the photo she had taken to her secondary account, switched into her “Privacy Space,” and forwarded the photo to Cheng.

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