Chapter 52: Not Knowing Which One Was Her True Self

Gao Cheng had grown up in military camps with his grandfather and father, and even among the fiercest special forces soldiers in the military, few were his match in direct hand-to-hand combat.

If Gao Cheng truly wanted to use them as punching bags, Jiang Zhexi and Jiang Chengshuo combined would only be on the receiving end of a beating.

Jiang Chengshuo sneered in contempt.

“You traitor!”

Jiang Zhexi ignored him, heading into the bathroom to wash his hands.

Coming out, he shot Jiang Chengshuo a glance and kindly offered a warning.

“Take it easy; if you get beaten in a moment, I won’t help you.”

Seeing that Gao Cheng’s face was still sour, Jiang Chengshuo didn’t dare fool around anymore.

He let out a dry laugh and went over to pull his arm.

“Don’t be upset; come eat supper, bro will go corner her with you tomorrow.”

Gao Cheng shook his arm off in annoyance.

“Hey, don’t be like that; bad moods need good food to heal.”

Jiang Chengshuo grabbed his arm once more.

“We got takeout from Hong Kong Cheung Kee—roast goose rice—hurry over and eat.”

Gao Cheng finally acknowledged him, though only to give him a look as if he were an idiot.

“Who the f*ck eats rice for a midnight snack?”

Jiang Chengshuo curled his lip.

“Isn’t it because we didn’t eat well at dinner and got hungry? We didn’t want anything else, just rice.”

Gao Cheng’s expression softened slightly, and he let Jiang Chengshuo pull him to his feet, walking over to sit at the square table in the middle of the dorm room.

Jiang Zhexi was already seated, having opened the takeout boxes ahead of time: roast goose, scallion-oil chicken, char siu, and a portion of stir-fried choy sum.

He set a container of rice in front of Gao Cheng.

“Knowing you like their roast goose, we specifically drove for over half an hour after playing billiards just to buy it.”

There was barely half an hour left before the dorm lights went out; eating such heavy food on a full stomach, how could anyone sleep afterward?

Gao Cheng was utterly speechless with these two idiots.

However, realizing they hadn’t eaten well at dinner because they had accompanied him to the canteen, he refrained from complaining further, picking up his chopsticks to stuff a piece of roast goose into his mouth.

Once the three of them had nearly finished eating, Jiang Chengshuo set down his chopsticks, looked at Gao Cheng, and couldn’t help feeling puzzled seeing that his face was still foul.

“I say, hasn’t your wifey always been like this? She often leaves you waiting for nothing, and you never reacted this strongly before; what happened tonight?”

Jiang Zhexi also looked at Gao Cheng.

“Your reaction tonight was indeed rather exaggerated.”

Logically speaking, he had just video-called with his online wife that afternoon and even sat at the same table eating with the real person that evening, so his mood should have been quite good.

Even if she had stood him up tonight, he shouldn’t have been this furious.

Jiang Chengshuo raised his brows.

“Could there be something else?”

Gao Cheng pushed against the table and stood up, walking back to sit down on his beanbag chair, remaining silent for a while before finally speaking in a sullen voice.

“She wasn’t online all evening, which normally wouldn’t be a big deal; she’s often like that anyway, and I’ve gotten used to it.”

Jiang Chengshuo asked:

“Then why are you like this?”

Gao Cheng replied:

“At nine o’clock, I went downstairs. When I reached the stairwell, I happened to run into Shi Yanzhou a few steps ahead of me, on the phone.”

Jiang Chengshuo guessed:

“On the phone with… her?”

Naturally, this “her” referred to Shi Kezhen.

Gao Cheng nodded.

“Yeah, I didn’t pay much attention to what he said, but I heard him call her name.”

“Uh…”

Jiang Zhexi attempted to soothe him.

“They’re both from the Shi family after all, brother and sister in name; it’s completely normal for them to talk on the phone.”

Gao Cheng glanced at him.

“Do you think I don’t know that?”

Jiang Zhexi asked:

“Then what are you mad about?”

Gao Cheng’s expression turned foul again.

“I followed him downstairs and heard him say a few words before hanging up. I immediately sent her a WeChat message, yet she hasn’t replied to me up until now.”

Jiang Zhexi: “Uh…”

Jiang Chengshuo: “…”

Gao Cheng continued:

“Every time I wait for her to reply to a message, waiting several hours is considered lucky, and sometimes I have to wait a day or two. Whenever I ask her, she always says her phone ran out of battery or that she didn’t have it on her.”

He paused.

“Could it really be that coincidental this time? The moment she finishes a call with Shi Yanzhou, her phone immediately dies and turns off?”

Jiang Chengshuo couldn’t resist joining in on the complaints.

“Even if it really were that coincidental, it couldn’t be so coincidental that she happened to not have a charger on hand, right?”

Jiang Zhexi glared at Jiang Chengshuo; Gao Cheng was already very displeased, and instead of helping to calm him down, he was adding fuel to the fire.

Seeing Jiang Zhexi glare at him, Jiang Chengshuo refused to back down.

“Why are you glaring at me? Did I say anything wrong?”

Jiang Zhexi rolled his eyes at him, not bothering to entertain this fool.

Gao Cheng opened his phone; the chat box with Yao still only contained the two messages he had sent.

[21:07]

Cheng: [Wifey, what are you busy with? Not getting on the game tonight?]

[21:58]

Cheng: [Reply to me when you see this.]

He let out a cold scoff and turned off his screen again.

Jiang Chengshuo patted Gao Cheng on the shoulder.

“Don’t be mad; tomorrow I’ll go with you to find her and get things straight.”

Gao Cheng retorted irritably:

“In what capacity would I ask? As a classmate who can’t even get added to her contact list?”

Jiang Chengshuo was surprised.

“You’ve already confirmed her identity, so you don’t plan on laying your cards on the table? Tell her that you’re her online hubby?”

Gao Cheng knitted his brows tightly.

“When I video-called her this afternoon, I did want to find an opportunity to reveal myself. But after interacting with her at the canteen during dinner, I dropped that idea.”

He paused, then continued:

“…The gap between who she is in reality and who she is online is far too vast. If I rashly confront her, I’m afraid it will backfire.”

He didn’t know which one was her true self.

If Yao was her truest self, and the Shi Kezhen outsiders saw was merely a mask she chose to display to the world…

Then rashly revealing himself would be equivalent to tearing off her mask against her will.

Based on his understanding of Yao, the two of them might not even be able to remain friends after that.

Then it would truly become “death upon meeting.”

Jiang Zhexi stepped forward to offer a word of comfort:

“Don’t overthink it; I’ll help you keep an eye on the Shi family and keep an eye on her. Lights out soon, go brush your teeth and get ready to sleep.”

***

Every Tuesday and Thursday were Shi Kezhen’s busiest days, packed with classes from morning till night.

Shi Kezhen woke up early, ate a quick breakfast at the canteen, and immediately headed toward the Business School building.

A habit developed over many years: her walking, much like her dining, remained steady no matter how hurried she was, never showing the slightest hint of fluster.

The Finance Department and the Business Administration Department shared the same academic building, and several major lecture courses were combined classes for students from both departments.

On Tuesdays, there were three of these combined lectures.

At eight in the morning was Basic Accounting, held in lecture hall 101 with students from both departments and four classes combined, totaling over a hundred people.

Gao Cheng hadn’t slept much all night, standing outside room 101 early on, leaning against the railing and gazing downstairs.

After watching for over ten minutes, the person he had been waiting for finally appeared in his line of sight.

Unlike the surrounding students who hurried along with scattered steps because they were running late, she walked unhurriedly, taking each step with great composure.

With barely two or three minutes left before class, she showed not the slightest hint of urgency; she truly was an unusual person.

From the moment she appeared, Gao Cheng’s gaze remained fixed on her until she entered the academic building and her silhouette vanished.

Standing beside him, Jiang Chengshuo and Jiang Zhexi saw that time was running short and began urging him inside:

“There are only two minutes left before class; let’s go in.”

“What’s the rush?”

Gao Cheng withdrew his gaze from downstairs, turning instead toward the other end of the hallway, waiting for that person to emerge from the stairwell in a moment.

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