Chapter 8: My rebellious phase started relatively late

Gao Cheng laughed, surprise in his voice.

“That doesn’t sound like you at all; you’re this rebellious, yet you’d obediently listen to your parents and choose a major you hate?”

Shi Kezhen also smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“My rebellious phase came a bit late. I was still very obedient in high school, but once I got to university and away from my parents, I started letting loose.”

“Oh?”
Gao Cheng clearly didn’t quite believe her.

Shi Kezhen’s tone carried a sort of half-true, half-false frankness.
“So, the ‘me’ you know is already the version after I started letting loose.”

“For real?”

Shi Kezhen let out a laugh.
“Of course it’s real. If you’d met me a few months earlier, there’s no way I would have started an online relationship with you.”

The corners of Gao Cheng’s mouth turned up slightly.
“Well, looks like we really were fated to meet the right person at the right time.”

‘The right time, the right person?’

Shi Kezhen was dazed for a split second.

But she snapped back to reality quickly and teased him.
“That’s hard to say; the time might be right, but the person might not be. Who knows, maybe the person chatting with you right now is a scruffy middle-aged man using a voice changer.”

Gao Cheng was amused, his clear laughter coming through the earphones.
“You can use a voice changer to speak, but when you were on video with me last night, what kind of high-tech gear were you using?”

Shi Kezhen got excited and started talking serious nonsense.
“Then you just don’t get it. I’m using high-tech filters specially developed in Northern Myanmar for scams. In videos, it can change a man into a woman so well the other person won’t suspect a thing.”

“Is that so?”
Gao Cheng played along with her nonsense.
“Then you’re too unprofessional for a scammer. I’ve sent you money and red packets, but you never accept them. Could it be because you realized I’m too easy to fool, so your conscience kicked in and you felt bad continuing the scam?”

Shi Kezhen burst into a “pfft” of laughter.

And so, the two of them chatted aimlessly, talking utter nonsense for a long while.
One sentence here, one sentence there—nothing they said was reliable, yet they both found joy in it.

Shi Kezhen’s mood finally brightened.
For this moment, the people and events that had been weighing her down were temporarily forgotten.

They chatted until five in the afternoon.
Shi Kezhen glanced at the time, somewhat reluctant, but she still spoke up.
“I’ll hang up now; I have to go eat.”

Gao Cheng’s heart stirred, and he asked almost subconsciously.
“Are you eating in your school canteen again?”

His tone sounded casual, but his fingers gripping the phone tightened their hold.

Shi Kezhen didn’t notice anything.
“Why?”

Realizing his reaction was a bit too much, Gao Cheng acted nonchalant.
“Oh, nothing. Didn’t you say the food in the canteen isn’t good?”

Hearing this, Shi Kezhen didn’t overthink it.
“I’ll just eat whatever. It doesn’t matter if it isn’t good; I’m not a picky eater anyway.”

In truth, she had been a very picky eater as a child, her tastes very refined.
She would resolutely refuse to touch things she didn’t like, and her parents had to coax her with all sorts of tricks before she would open her mouth.

But that was all before she was eight.
When she was eight, her parents died in an accident, and she was sent to an orphanage.
From that point on, she no longer had the privilege to be picky.

Hearing this, however, Gao Cheng frowned.
He didn’t like her indifferent tone, as if she could just toss her stomach to anyone, as if she herself wasn’t important.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re picky.”
His tone became serious.
“If you don’t like it, don’t eat it. Don’t force yourself.”

Shi Kezhen said casually.
“Being picky isn’t a good habit.”

“My understanding of picky eating is if someone refuses to eat an entire food group; that’s unhealthy and truly isn’t a good habit,” Gao Cheng replied.

He paused and continued.
“But if the issue isn’t the ingredients themselves but because the cooked meal tastes terrible, and you still force yourself to choke it down—that’s the real bad habit.”

After listening, Shi Kezhen nodded slightly.

“Mm, that makes sense.”
She smiled, her tone softening.
“In fact, I just don’t want the hassle. I don’t eat much anyway, so just settling for a few bites in the canteen is more convenient.”

Gao Cheng was speechless.
“No wonder you’re so thin.”

Shi Kezhen looked around.
Seeing no one else in the woods, she teased him with a mischievous smile.
“Thin? Last night you said I was sexy.”

Gao Cheng: “…”

There was silence on the other end for two full seconds.

Shi Kezhen pretended to have an epiphany.
“Oh~~ I get it now. Turns out you like girls with big chests.”

Suppressing her laughter, she spoke with a straight face.
“Well, from tomorrow on, I guess I’ll have to eat more papaya desserts.”

Gao Cheng’s voice sounded like he was gritting his teeth, yet utterly helpless.
“You little demon, don’t tease me if you refuse to turn on your camera these next few days!”

Shi Kezhen finally couldn’t help but giggle.

“Tee-hee… I’m really getting off now. If I’m late, the canteen will be crowded.”

“Alright. Can we talk again tonight?”
Gao Cheng asked.

“Voice chat isn’t convenient in the dorm at night.”

“Fine then.”
Gao Cheng compromised, his tone clearly full of disappointment.
“I’ll wait for you to go online in the game tonight.”

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye.”

***

After hanging up, Gao Cheng stood staring at his phone screen for two seconds.

He turned around, pulled open the balcony door, and walked into the dorm, shouting to the other two.

“Let’s go.”

Jiang Zhexi was lying on his bed flipping through a book, and Jiang Chengshuo was scrolling on his phone.

They both looked up at him at the same time.

“Where are you going?”

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