Chapter 11: The Real Culprit

Di Ye fabricated a prestigious family background for Xia Fangfei, firstly to intimidate Shi Yucheng and ensure her safety, and secondly to inflate his own value, so he could sell his IBM internship spot for a good price.

He instructed Xia Fangfei to keep it a secret afterward, with the goal of stalling for time to prevent Shi Yucheng from discovering the truth before the winter break, which would make him fly into a rage and bring about new dangers.

As long as he could drag it out past the winter break, Di Ye would be able to convert that 50,000 yuan into various resources and possess the strength to contend with Shi Yucheng.

But the person who came to ask about Xia Fangfei's family situation now was not Shi Yucheng, but the counselor of their class, which was very strange, because Shi Yucheng had a withdrawn personality and thought highly of himself, not even bothering with the Computer College's counselors, let alone those from other colleges.

"Is your class counselor a man or a woman?"

"A man."

"What method did he use to ask about your family situation? Did he call you, or did he call you into his office?"

"He called me, saying a foreign company wanted to come to our department to recruit and needed to register students' family backgrounds. I followed the method you taught me yesterday, saying my parents' unit was rather special and couldn't be disclosed casually, and he hung up the phone after hearing that."

"Are you sure it was your counselor who made the call?"

"Of course I'm sure. He speaks in a soft, mushy way and likes to draw out his words and talk in official jargon; I could tell as soon as I heard him."

Di Ye looked down at his Electronic Watch and found it was not yet 4:30, then asked, "Do you know where the counselor's office is?"

"Of course I do. Why?"

"Take me there; I want to ask who exactly told him to inquire about your family situation."

Xia Fangfei didn't understand and asked in surprise, "Why ask about this? What exactly is going on?"

"It has to do with the person who pretended to be me and called you the night before last. Don't worry about it for now; I'll explain it to you once I've figured it out."

Di Ye waved his hand and urged, "Put on your shoes, we're going now. Leave your change of clothes here for now, we'll come back to get them later."

Seeing his furrowed brows and grave expression, as if he had encountered an extremely important matter, Xia Fangfei didn't dare to delay. She hurriedly took off her disposable slippers, put on her own short leather boots, left the hotel with Di Ye, hailed a taxi back to school, and headed to the Foreign Languages Institute's office building.

Di Ye was preoccupied and didn't say a word the whole way. Only when they reached the vicinity of the office building did he ask, "What is your counselor's surname?"

"His surname is Cai, his name is Cai Wenhao, and his office is 212."

"Is the office shared with others, or is it just him?"

"That office is very small; it's just him."

Di Ye nodded and let Xia Fangfei wait for him downstairs. He went to Room 212 alone. Inside was a man in his 30s who was lecturing two students with a glib tongue. He stood to the side and listened for a moment, and seeing it was all official nonsense, he interrupted and asked, "Teacher Cai, which foreign company is coming to our department to recruit?"

"Can't you see I'm busy? Go wait in the hallway for a while, and we'll talk after I'm done."

Di Ye had no patience to wait. He walked up, braced his hands on the desk, raised his tone, and asked again, "Teacher Cai, who told you to inquire about Student Xia's family situation?"

"Which class are you from? How can you be so..."

Di Ye grabbed the *Reader* magazine from the desk, rolled it up, slammed it hard against the table, and demanded by name, "Was it Feng Shijie?"

Cai Wenhao was so startled he leaned back and nearly fell off his chair. He hurriedly said, "It was him, it was him."

Di Ye took a deep breath, threw the magazine back where it was, nodded at Cai Wenhao, said "thanks," and told the two students "sorry to interrupt" and to continue, then turned and left the office.

Feng Shijie!

It really was him!

That night in the small woods, just as Shi Yucheng appeared, he had called out my name...

That night outside the small woods, his expression was very unnatural after he saw Xia Fangfei...

Xia Fangfei was tall and athletic with great stamina; Shi Yucheng was a shut-in, thin and weak, and couldn't have killed her alone...

Di Ye's thoughts raced, and he instantly understood the many suspicious points. He took Xia Fangfei away from the Foreign Languages Institute's office building, found a quiet place nearby, and asked, "Did you know Teacher Feng before? The one who was in the woods with me the night before last looking for the BB Pager."

"I don't know him."

"Think carefully, he lives in 105 on the first floor of the Tongzi Building I rent."

Xia Fangfei thought hard and said, "I went to find you on Christmas Day and ran into him on the way. He was carrying several plastic bags, one of which broke, and things fell out. I helped him pick them up."

"How was his attitude toward you at the time?"

"Quite good, actually. He was very enthusiastic and insisted on inviting me into his room for tea. I was in a hurry to find you to go eat, so I didn't go."

The night before last, when sending Xia Fangfei back to her dormitory building, Feng Shijie had no self-awareness about being a third wheel; not only did he keep staring at her, but afterward, he also repeatedly asked about her situation in an envious tone.

"... Someone like me who is short and poor doesn't even get to choose their personality, only their gender; as long as it's a woman, that's fine."

Di Ye recalled Feng Shijie's self-deprecating words at the time and felt more certain. He warned, "This person has psychological issues and might be plotting against you. Stay far away from him in the future and never be alone with him."

Xia Fangfei was confused and asked skeptically, "You two were together looking for the BB Pager that night; it's impossible for him to have pretended to be you and called me."

"The person who called you wasn't him, but it's very likely he instigated it."

"How do you know?"

"I've already found some evidence."

Di Ye's thoughts were in chaos, and he hadn't fully sorted out the timeline and chain of evidence. He rubbed his forehead, thought for a moment, and said, "Stay at the hotel with me for these next few days. Don't go back to the dormitory until I've figured things out, otherwise it's not safe."

Xia Fangfei's cheeks turned red instantly. She looked down at her toes and said softly, "We've already broken up."

This sounded like a refusal, but her tone and posture were those of someone ready to be taken. Although Di Ye's heart was in a tangle, he couldn't help but be captivated. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm a gentleman; I have the willpower to remain unmoved even when holding a woman."

"One moment you say you're a playboy, the next you say you're a gentleman. What exactly are you?"

"Both."

"You're so shameless!"

At this moment, the sun was setting. Xia Fangfei's dignified and beautiful face appeared exceptionally vivid under the glow of the afterglow. A surge of uncontrollable impulse suddenly rose in Di Ye's heart. He reached out his right hand, gently stroked her cheek, and said softly, "Xia Fangfei, I won't let anyone hurt you."

Xia Fangfei stared blankly at Di Ye. Her eyes turned red, but her gaze was shining brightly. Her voice choked up, yet her tone was joyful and excited as she said happily, "I knew you liked me."

Just at this moment, Di Ye felt a scorching meteorite descend from the sky and crash into his body, stirring up surging giant waves in his mind and igniting a raging fire in his heart. The waves and fire clashed, making his head ache as if it were splitting, his vision going black, and he felt he might faint at any moment.

"Di Ye, what's wrong with you?"

"I'm not feeling well."

Seeing Di Ye's face turn crimson, his lips pale, and him swaying as if about to fall, not appearing to be faking it, Xia Fangfei stepped forward and touched his forehead with the back of her hand, exclaiming, "So hot! Why did you suddenly get a fever? I'll take you to the Hospital."

The cool and soft touch gave Di Ye a boost of energy, and his brain regained a sliver of clarity. He hurriedly pulled back his sleeve and pressed the four buttons on the Electronic Watch in sequence. The result was that only the Light Screen popped up, but there was no sign of Di Ye.

"No need to go to the Hospital, let's just sit on the steps at the entrance of your college for a while and it'll be fine."

"What is wrong with you today? You're so jumpy. You were fine just a moment ago, and then you suddenly got sick."

"It's nothing, perhaps I've been overusing my brain lately."

Di Ye sat down on the steps at the entrance of the Foreign Languages Institute, sent Fangfei away under the pretext of wanting hot water, then pressed the button on the top right of his Electronic Watch repeatedly and whispered: "Di Ye, come out!"

After a long while, Di Ye appeared on the Light Screen; his image was blurrier than before, but his tone was as calm as ever as he asked: "What is it?"

"Was it you who controlled my body just now? And said those things to Xia Fangfei?"

"Yes."

"Why did you do that? And how did you manage to do it?"

"Because that body of yours was originally mine. When it encounters emotional stimuli, it resonates with me, and then I can control it."

Di Ye didn't believe it at all, sneering: "If you can't lie, don't try to copy me and make up tall tales."

Di Ye adjusted his glasses, and after a moment of silence, said: "Your observation and imagination are much stronger than mine; you've actually already guessed it, haven't you?"

When Di Ye thought about things, he liked to rub his forehead. This time he rubbed it for an exceptionally long time, a full minute, before carefully choosing his words: "You have been in this Electronic Watch the whole time, and you didn't swap bodies with me from 2023, did you?"

"Yes."

"Those materials from 2023, including the study you are currently in, actually come from my memories, don't they?"

"That's right. Everything is simulated by me based on your memories."

Di Ye waved his hand, and the walls, furniture, and computer behind him all vanished, leaving only a void of space. He then explained: "All the information you have encountered from childhood to adulthood is now stored in this Electronic Watch. For example, those postgraduate entrance exam papers—they were actually materials you looked at online when you were taking the exam in 2018. At the time, you thought they were too outdated and just glanced at them briefly before skipping over them. You didn't have a deep impression of them, so they were forgotten in the depths of your memory."

Di Ye recalled it for a moment and felt that he had indeed done such a thing back then, so he asked again: "Why did you simulate me from 2023?"

"Because this Electronic Watch stores not only all your memories but also all of mine. Mixed together, the amount of information is massive. Your brain couldn't process it and you would have been unconscious for a long time. But at that moment, Xia Fangfei was in critical danger, and I had to wake you up as quickly as possible so you could save her. So, I disguised myself as you from 2023 and used conversation to transmit the information to you step by step."

At this moment, Xia Fangfei walked out of the office building carrying a cup of water, and Di Ye had no choice but to pause his communication with Di Ye.