Chapter 6: Thick-Skinned

When Di Ye came out of the Computer College office building, he remembered his *Compilation Principles and Technology* textbook was still in the classroom, so he walked back to get it, only to see Xia Fangfei sitting in the seat he had just occupied, with a short-haired girl keeping her company.

"Zhu Zichun said you left your book here and didn't attend the last class; where did you go?"

"Went to the college to take care of some business."

Di Ye checked the time and found it was exactly 12 o'clock; the last class of the morning had ended 10 minutes ago, so he asked, "What are you doing here?"

Xia Fangfei stood up, handed him the textbook, and said, "Came to find you to go get lunch together and talk about last night."

Di Ye had just earned a large sum of money and was in a great mood, so he took the book casually and said, "You gave me a New Year's gift yesterday, so today I'll treat you to a big meal; this classmate should come along too."

Upon hearing this, the short-haired girl gave him a huge eye-roll and turned to leave.

As soon as Di Ye saw her expression, he knew the two were very close and definitely not strangers, so he hurriedly added in a joking tone, "Hey, don't go, I'm genuinely inviting you."

"Forget it! I'm just 'this classmate,' I won't be a third wheel."

Xia Fangfei trotted two steps to catch up and pull the short-haired girl, persuading her, "What third wheel, it's just eating a meal together; Huang Ya, you and Di Ye are middle school classmates, you're much closer to him than I am."

Hearing that the short-haired girl was a middle school classmate, Di Ye felt something was amiss, so he had a sudden flash of inspiration, gave a light cough, and signaled to her with an exaggerated expression.

Seeing this, Huang Ya was both annoyed and amused, and she secretly set a condition, "I have things to do this afternoon and don't have time to go eat a big meal with you two; call me next time."

"No problem, order whatever you want next time, anything is fine."

Huang Ya was very satisfied with Di Ye's answer; she broke free from Xia Fangfei's half-hearted attempt to keep her, let out a string of Zhou Xingchi-style strange laughs, and strode away.

Xia Fangfei felt a bit embarrassed by the strange laughter and lingered on the spot; Di Ye stepped forward, snapped his fingers, and said, "Let's go, let's go eat that big meal; what do you want to eat?"

"How about we go eat KFC? One just opened in the city center, and I haven't eaten there yet."

Di Ye's footsteps paused; he originally wanted to refuse, but on second thought, he felt it wouldn't hurt to go experience it, so he said, "Sure, where is it?"

"It's over on Qingyun Road, I'll take you."

The two came out of the main teaching building, and on the way to the Beimen, Di Ye pretended to ask casually, "Xia Fangfei, where did you buy that electronic watch you gave me yesterday?"

"My second brother went to Dongying for an inspection a while ago, and I had him help me buy it."

"What does your second brother do for a living?"

"He's a technician at Panda Electronics."

Panda Electronics was a well-known enterprise in Jinling; the television in Di Ye's home when he was a child was this brand, so he gave an "oh" upon hearing this and asked again, "What do your parents do?"

"They also work at Panda Electronics; my dad is a workshop director, and my mom used to be an accountant, but she has passed away."

Di Ye gave a soft "oh," and to prevent future trouble, he asked again, "Have you told anyone in your dormitory or your classmates about your family situation?"

Xia Fangfei felt it was a bit strange and tilted her head to ask, "This is Yuncheng, not Jinling, why would I tell others about my family situation?"

By this time, the two had walked out of the school's Beimen and arrived at the bus stop by the side of the road. While waiting for a vehicle, Di Ye urged, "If anyone asks about your family situation recently, don't say anything; just use the word 'confidential' to brush them off."

Xia Fangfei was even more surprised and pressed, "Why?"

"Don't worry about why, just remember to say that."

Just then, a Changhe minivan with a taxi sign came down the road. Di Ye hurriedly waved it down. Xia Fangfei's attention was diverted, and she said in surprise, "Why are you so generous today, actually willing to take a taxi?"

Di Ye pointed at the electronic watch and teased, "It's already past 12 o'clock; if we take the bus, I'm afraid you'll starve to death, and I wouldn't be able to answer for that."

"I think you're the one who's about to starve to death, right?"

"I can barely hold on..."

In 1995, the urban area of Yuncheng was very small, and even the Second Ring Road hadn't been finished. It only took the two of them ten-plus minutes to reach the KFC in the city center by taxi, but ordering and picking up the food took over half an hour.

By the time they carried the tray to their seats, Di Ye was exhausted and sore, complaining, "This KFC should change its name to 'Weight-Loss Chicken'; eating one meal can make you lose three pounds."

It was Xia Fangfei's first time in such a place, and she was very curious. She picked up a french fry to taste it and said, "It's quite tasty."

Di Ye didn't like french fries; he helped tear open the ketchup packets and then buried his head in eating his burger. Xia Fangfei stared at him for a while and said, "Di Ye, you've changed quite a bit these past few days."

"Changed for the better or for the worse?"

"I don't know, but you've changed; it's like you're a different person."

"Girls change eighteen times, boys change twenty-two times; I'm about to turn 22, what's so strange about changing early?"

Xia Fangfei was drinking cola with a straw; hearing this, she nearly spat it out with a 'pfft' and complained with a smile, "Look at you, you used to be like a wooden person who didn't like to talk, but now you're talking nonsense like you're performing crosstalk."

Based on what he had gathered last night, Di Ye wasn't interested in Xia Fangfei; the two had basically never spent time alone and didn't communicate much, so they didn't really know each other. Therefore, Di Ye wasn't worried about slipping up at all. He handed her a tissue, looked straight into her eyes, and asked, "What kind of me do you like?"

Xia Fangfei looked at him blankly, then lowered her head to continue eating fries, saying vaguely, "I like all of it."

Di Ye wanted to end this inexplicable relationship early and didn't intend to be vague, so he pressed, "If you like me, there has to be a reason, right?"

"Like is like, there's no reason for it."

"If that's how you're going to put it, I'm leaving now, and let's not be in contact anymore."

Xia Fangfei used a fry to draw circles on the tray paper. After a while, she looked up, her cheeks flushed, and said, "I think our heights are a good match, and you're a bit like my second brother—earnest and steady in doing things, it feels very reliable, so I just liked you."

This girl is actually a brother-complex?

Di Ye was caught between laughter and tears and said, "Which eye of yours saw me as earnest and steady?"

"I've seen you explaining problems to classmates, and I've also seen you writing programs in the computer room; your face was focused, your eyes were shining, you were especially handsome."

"Silly! Anyone's eyes will shine when sitting in front of a computer, because the screen reflects light."

Xia Fangfei was a girl who dared to love and hate. After the words were out, she had no more psychological burden and was no longer shy. She took the initiative and said, "Why don't you like me? Is it because you think I'm not pretty, or because you think my figure isn't good enough?"

Di Ye was speechless for a moment.

Xia Fangfei had a round face, a delicate nose, and full lips; she belonged to the type of girl who was dignified and grew on you. Although she was dressed bulkily in winter, hiding her figure, judging by her height of nearly 1.7 meters and her straight, long legs, she certainly wasn't bad.

"Say it!"

Di Ye sighed, pulled the fry box in front of him, and took them out one by one, saying, "You've got it wrong; I'm not a steady person, but a fickle one with a lot of desires. Just like these fries, today I want to eat this one, tomorrow I want to eat that one. So it's not that I don't like you, but that I'm afraid of hurting you. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I don't believe it; Huang Ya said you've never been in a relationship before."

"That was before; I didn't like to talk before either."

After Di Ye finished speaking, he continued to bury his head in his burger. When he finished both chicken burgers, he looked up and found Xia Fangfei staring blankly at the fries, so he said, "Falling in love isn't writing a novel; self-delusion... self-fantasy is unreliable. You don't know me at all, so stop looking for trouble for yourself. From now on, let's each go our own way, how about that?"

Xia Fangfei was in a terrible mood and had completely lost her appetite. She got up and left the KFC. Di Ye followed behind, accompanied her on the street for a while, and said, "I'll send you back to school."

"I don't need you to worry about me, I'll go back by myself."

"Have you forgotten about last night so quickly? If it were just a prank or a joke, they would have at most tricked you out of the dormitory building; they definitely wouldn't have asked you to meet in that small grove."

Xia Fangfei stopped in her tracks, turned her head, and said, "Why do you still care about me?"

Di Ye smiled and said, "Aren't we friends?"

Xia Fangfei was only nursing a crush and hadn't invested deep feelings, so her sadness was more out of disappointment than heartbreak; hearing this, she glared at him and coquettishly scolded, "You are so thick-skinned!"

"Congratulations, you finally understand me a little bit."

"You clearly don't like me, yet you accepted my New Year's gift, so you're not only thick-skinned but also love to take petty advantages, right?"

"Wrong, I must clarify this. Yesterday, I didn't know the gift you gave was so valuable, so I accepted it. The packaging box has already been thrown away, so I can't return it to you. Now, either I give you the money, or you can choose any item on this street, and I will buy it for you as a return gift."

"Really?"

"Really."