Chapter 13: We Are Just Classmates

Taking a deep breath, Su Siyun suppressed the resentment in her chest. She called it resentment, but she wasn't actually sure what this feeling was. Was she really angry? In truth, there wasn't much to be angry about. Was it shyness? That was even more impossible—she had never felt shy a day in her life. More likely, she just felt indignant about Chen Ye's sudden coldness.

In her eyes, Chen Ye's actions were purely meant to humiliate her, all in an attempt to make her curious about him. But his head was in the clouds. Not only would she never be curious about him, but she would also tear off his hypocritical mask right in front of Jiang Xin, leaving him with absolutely nothing.

Having made up her mind, Su Siyun felt a bit better and turned to head upstairs. But the moment she turned around, her expression froze. Jiang Xin was standing in the lobby, quietly looking in her direction.

The elevator had already reached the first floor. After waiting a while and noticing Su Siyun still hadn't caught up, Jiang Xin returned to the lobby to see what was going on. Just as she came out, she saw Chen Ye snatch the letter away and say something with an icy expression. She couldn't hear him clearly, but she could tell it was a warning of some sort. After all, her sister Su Siyun's reaction proved it couldn't have been a love confession. Su Siyun felt nothing toward confessions and would never react like that.

Instead of asking, Jiang Xin simply raised her hand. She extended her thumb and pinky in a phone-call gesture with her palm facing inward, then drew her hand toward her chest. It meant, "Let's go home."

Su Siyun's frozen expression returned to normal. She put on her usual smile and walked over to Jiang Xin. Once they entered the elevator, she suddenly asked in a soft voice, "Do you know him well?"

Seeing the confused look on her younger sister's face, Su Siyun immediately clarified. "I mean Chen Ye. He suddenly gave you a gift, and... and even made up an excuse to come to our home just to get close to you. Aren't you suspicious of his motives?"

Seeing the anxious and slightly concerned look in her sister's eyes, Jiang Xin smiled faintly and wrote on the notepad against her chest: "His family is just going through a tough time, and he needed to use a computer. We're classmates."

She didn't think Su Siyun had seen the contents of the letter. Knowing her sister's personality, she would have already blurted it out if she had. Su Siyun was likely just worried that she was being fooled by Chen Ye's sweet talk. Or perhaps she felt a little indignant about Chen Ye's sudden change in attitude? Jiang Xin knew exactly what kind of temper her sister had.

Looking at Jiang Xin's explanation, Su Siyun instantly felt a surge of frustration. She thought, "You silly girl, you don't even know what he wrote in that love letter! At the end... at the end was my name!"

She couldn't say it aloud, however. If she revealed the truth, it wouldn't just break Jiang Xin's heart—it might even damage the sisterly bond they had worked so hard to build.

"You... you really are..." Su Siyun trailed off, thinking, "You really are so naive that it hurts!"

She decided to drop the subject for now, as the elevator had already reached their floor. "I'll explain everything to you later," she said over her shoulder, taking out her keys to unlock the front door.

Watching her sister's tall figure from behind, Jiang Xin also let out a silent sigh. She naturally couldn't admit that she knew what was in the letter. Under these circumstances, in order to prevent Su Siyun from misunderstanding and to spare Chen Ye from further hurt, playing dumb was her only option. Conveniently enough, she literally couldn't speak anyway.

Early the next morning, Chen Ye woke up bright and early out of habit. This was his first night after his rebirth, as well as his first morning. Feeling the tautness of his body—a sensation he hadn't experienced in a long time in his past life—a smile crept onto his lips. He was eighteen, an age bursting with unbridled vitality, filled with a youthful tension that almost made him feel physically uncomfortable.

After lying in bed and clearing his mind for about ten minutes, he was finally able to get up. With the college entrance examinations over, the students, who were normally cooped up like little beasts in cages, had finally won their freedom. The other guys in his dorm had either gone home or stayed out all night; not a single one had returned.

After a quick wash, he looked in the mirror at his smooth, firm skin and face, which were a shade tanner than most. He smiled and let out a breath. Pushing open the dorm room door and taking a deep breath of the fresh campus air, Chen Ye headed to the track and field first for a morning workout. Despite enduring three grueling years of high school, his young body's vitality still exceeded his expectations. Having grown up doing farm work, his physical fitness was quite robust compared to the average high schooler.

He ran three laps before heading to the cafeteria for a massive breakfast. Watching the freshmen and sophomores rush in to forage for food during their break, Chen Ye couldn't help but feel a wave of nostalgia. He thought to himself, "The last time I was surrounded by so many energetic youths was... well, the last time."

After finishing his meal, he returned to the dorm to pack his luggage. Now that the exams were over, the boarding students would generally all go home within a day or two, though the school usually gave them a three-day grace period. He had to go home, too. However, after visiting home, he still had to come back to the Luzhou City District, even if it meant renting an apartment. His upcoming plans simply couldn't be carried out in his rural hometown. That went for both Jiang Xin and making money. In fact, he couldn't even make that money without Jiang Xin.

Before long, his two roommates who had pulled an all-nighter returned. After a quick greeting to Chen Ye, they immediately crashed into bed and fell asleep. Just then, Chen Ye received the call he had been waiting so long for from his good friend.

He stepped out of the dorm, took a deep breath, and answered. This call would determine whether he could get his hands on his very first batch of capital. Five thousand yuan was no small sum in 2008, so there was no way he could brush it off. If he secured it, many of his subsequent plans could proceed right on schedule. Otherwise, he would have to wait for the bounty from submitting that software bug. That could take anywhere from two weeks to a month, and he couldn't afford to waste that kind of time.

"Hello? How did it go?" he asked.

"Ye, can you come out right now? I've already contacted the guy buying the gear. We're meeting at the internet cafe from yesterday!" Weng Jilin's excited voice came through the phone. Clearly, even a wealthy young master like him couldn't resist the thrill of making his own money—especially when it was a considerable amount.

"Alright, I'll be right there." Chen Ye hung up the phone and let out a long sigh of relief. Still, he couldn't drop his guard. These secondhand gear brokers were all cunning opportunists; there was a high chance the buyer would try to aggressively lowball them once he saw they were just kids. He had to be prepared.

To save time, Chen Ye didn't take the bus and hailed a taxi instead. When it came to money, there was a time to save and a time to spend. There was no need to be needlessly stingy just because he was temporarily broke. Finding new sources of income was always more important than cutting costs.

Soon, the taxi pulled up outside the convenience store. Chen Ye greeted the woman minding the store sweetly. He placed a fifty-yuan bill on the counter and pointed at the cigarettes beneath the glass display. "Miss, let me get a pack of Yuxi. The one in the gold packaging."

"You smoke?" the landlord's daughter asked, probing a bit further. Normally, she wouldn't have pried, but this boy had left a deep impression on her. Plus, knowing he was an orphan couldn't help but stir up a bit of her maternal instinct.

Chen Ye grinned. "I don't smoke. It's for handing out to others."

"That's good, then. There's nothing good about smoking, so it's best you stay away from it," the landlord's daughter advised. She pulled out a pack of Yuxi Harmonious from the counter and handed Chen Ye eight yuan in change.

Weighing the pack of cigarettes in his hand, Chen Ye tossed it up lightly. In Luzhou at this point in time, the Yuxi brand's reputation rivaled that of Chunghwa, and it was perhaps even more popular. Yet, he had no desire to smoke right now. His young body hadn't developed an addiction to it yet. Besides, smoking too much really did give you a bad cough.

Pocketing his change, Chen Ye bought a lighter as well before heading up to the second floor. Weng Jilin was already there waiting for him.