Chapter 3: Like Two Different People

  Wan Chao Hui walked out of the classroom and caught sight of Ye Cai Yun's slender and tall figure in the distance, wearing flat shoes that made her appear to be over 1.7 meters tall. Her small eyes, nose, and mouth formed a striking contrast with Wan Chao Hui's features, which made Ye Cai Yun often compare herself unfavorably to Wan Chao Hui. However, Wan Chao Hui thought Ye Cai Yun's features were delicate and refined, complemented by her shoulder-length black hair, giving off an innocent and pure vibe. This made Wan Chao Hui often encourage Ye Cai Yun to appreciate the gifts she had been given by heaven and stick to her own style.

  "Caiyun!" Wan Chao Hui's face revealed a rare smile, it was so beautiful and radiant, completely different from her usual demeanor in school. She quickly ran towards Ye Caiyun.

  "Zao Hui!" Ye Caiyun smiled as she looked at Wan Zao Hui. "Good fellow, it's been a long time since I've heard from you! You're really not considerate enough. Fortunately, Zeng Tao and you are in the same school, so I knew your news!"

  "I'm not ashamed to see you at all!" Wan Chao Hui said with a smile, showing her cute and lovely side in front of Ye Cai Yun. Zeng Tao was their high school classmate, now studying in the computer science department next door to Wan Chao Hui, who told Wan Chao Hui that Ye Cai Yun had enrolled in a second-tier university in this city to study finance and accounting.

  "What do you look like? Besides, I didn't do well on the exam either! Sigh!" Ye Caiyun originally had ideals and goals too, which were Beida and Qinghua. Several classmates in her class got into Northern Jiaotong University, and one even entered the International Politics Department of Beijing University.

  "Alright, it's not easy for us to meet, so don't sigh in front of me! Come on, today I'll take you to the snack street near our school and we can have a good meal!" Wan Chao Hui said with a smile to Ye Cai Yun.

  "Okay! Hey, why are you the only one carrying a backpack out? Where's Zheng Hongxia? Why didn't she come out? And what about Zeng Tao? Today is the weekend, shouldn't their computer class be let out early like yours too? It would be more fun with more people together!" Ye Caiyun asked curiously.

  "And I'd say, for your visit today, I'm willing to risk my life to accompany you!" Wan Chao Hui said with a pretentious tone.

  "What does it mean?" Ye Caiyun asked curiously.

  "Let's get out of school first, and then I'll tell you everything!" Wan Zhaohui didn't want to stay in school for another moment. Moreover, she hadn't seen Ye Caiyun for a long time, and she didn't want to play with others later. She wanted to accompany Ye Caiyun to have a happy meal together, which was also a kind of long-awaited release! Facing her true friend Ye Caiyun, Wan Zhaohui had never been stingy with money.

  "Okay! It's been so long since we last met, let's just have some fun on our own!"

  As they walked along the bustling snack street, Wan Chao Hui and Ye Cai Yun each ate two strings of lotus root, strolling around and searching for other delicious snacks. When Wan Chao Hui told Ye Cai Yun about what had happened in class earlier, Ye Cai Yun hadn't expected that Wan Chao Hui would be so reckless and disobedient towards the teacher just to see her sooner. She was actually worried about him, "So how do you plan on dealing with your accounting teacher tomorrow?"

  "Don't worry about this, I've already thought of a plan!" Wan Chao Hui had indeed thought it out. Tomorrow was a rest day, he would go to Third Uncle's house and ask him to find someone at the hospital to "forge" a medical record, then get a few sick leave slips, give one to Teacher Li, and keep the rest for backup.

  "Hey, Chao Hui, do you remember in high school when Yang Zi behind you was being annoying and you stood up, ready to fight him? Luckily we held you back. But your fierce expression scared Yang Zi off. Later, Yang Zi secretly threw your tea cup into the bucket used for cleaning, but Lin Bo Yang helped pick it up, washed it clean and put it back on your desk. Another time, Liu Qiang, the most mischievous one in our class, joked that Lin Bo Yang was your horse, you pointed at his nose with your index finger and scolded him severely: 'Say that again and see!' It scared Wang Qiang so much he just stared at you, but other boys pulled him away. Even our class monitor Wang Jia Cheng told me he's afraid of you! Afraid of those cold, icy eyes of yours! Look how intimidating you are! My dad even said your appearance is more suitable for a man, a handsome and authoritative one! If only you were gentler, many boys would have liked you instead of fearing you!" Ye Cai Yun clearly recalled the events from high school.

  "My tenderness is only for you! Who made you my best friend?" Wan Chao Hui looked at Ye Cai Yun with a gentle gaze, her face always wearing a smile, but when she said the next sentence, her expression turned icy cold again. "Want me to be tender to any boy? Unless the sun rises from the west!"

  "Zhaohui, haven't you gotten out of the shadow of discovering your father's infidelity yet? Actually, there are many excellent boys! I think Lin Boyang seems to like you! I heard he is now studying business administration at a vocational college, has he been in touch with you?" Ye Caiyun said cautiously while looking at Wan Zhaohui's expression.

  Wan Chao Hui looked at Ye Cai Yun, and suddenly tears welled up in her eyes. She fell silent.

  After a while, Wan Chao Hui forced a smile on her face, "Cai Yun, we finally met, let's talk about happy things!" Wan Chao Hui did not expect Ye Cai Yun to ask about the painful experience she had last winter. It was as if it happened yesterday, and the scene replayed vividly in her mind. On a cold winter day, she rushed back home from her third aunt's house to review her homework, only to accidentally witness her father's infidelity with a strange woman. Her mother was resting at her third aunt's house at that time, and Wan Chao Hui couldn't face her father's affair. In a fit of rage, she overturned all the dishes on the table, then wandered aimlessly in the snow-filled streets for an entire day. Since graduating from elementary school, Wan Chao Hui had heard about her uncles' extramarital affairs and remembered the tearful faces of her aunts. But it wasn't until she saw her father's infidelity with her own eyes that she lost all faith in men's sincerity.

  "Alright!" Ye Caiyun knew that Wan Zhaohui was avoiding talking about her father, it seemed she still hadn't walked out of the psychological shadow. Indeed, thinking back to last year when Wan Zhaohui poured out her grievances to her after the incident, crying like a tearful person.

  "Caiyun, look, this lamb skewer stall is packed with people, it must be very delicious, let's go try some too! Hurry up!" Wan Chao Hui excitedly pulled Ye Cai Yun into the crowd, her lively and innocent appearance was like that of a simple junior high school girl, completely different from her previous cold demeanor in school. If their classmates saw them now, they would probably think that Wan Chao Hui was born to be an actress, otherwise how could she have two versions of herself with such a huge personality difference? As early as when Wan Chao Hui was in the third grade of elementary school, she had thought about becoming an actress in the future. At that time, she was obsessed with Huang Rong from "The Legend of the Condor Hero" and would ask her uncle who worked at a printing company to get her stickers of Michelle Yim, the actress who played Huang Rong. To express her admiration for actors, she even sent a letter to famous actor Liu Xiaoqing, but didn't receive any response, probably due to a wrong address.

  "Chao Hui, wait for me!" Ye Caiyun could no longer see Wan Chao Hui's figure, they were separated by the crowd.

  After a while, Wan Zhaohui emerged from the crowd again, continuously shouting "Excuse me, let me pass!" and appeared in front of Ye Caiyun with many steaming hot lamb skewers in his hand.

  "Wait a minute, let me help you wrap it with a paper towel so the oil doesn't drip onto your hand and burn your arm, leaving a scar." Wan Chao Hui said as she took out a paper towel from her bag and wrapped the tail of the lamb skewer. For over three years, she had been taking care of Ye Cai Yun with such meticulousness and thoughtfulness. In fact, she was a girl who knew how to take care of people very well, with a warm and kind heart. However, her gentleness was only reserved for her close friends and confidantes. As for boys, she remembered that during high school, Lin Bo Yang had accidentally cut his hand while playing basketball in gym class, and blood had seeped out from the wound. He had pretended to be pitiful and came to Wan Chao Hui, trying to get her sympathy and see if there was any genuine concern behind her icy exterior. But what he got instead was a sentence without any concern: "A big man like you, bleeding a little is nothing!" Lin Bo Yang felt his pride wounded, but he also felt that his self-esteem had been hurt. He had never been ignored by a girl before. This kind of thing didn't just happen once, and it wasn't just Lin Bo Yang who had experienced Wan Chao Hui's cold shoulder. Other boys thought Wan Chao Hui was a beautiful but unsophisticated girl who didn't understand romance, plus her poor grades, so their impression of her gradually became worse and faded away. Only Lin Bo Yang felt that there was something special about Wan Chao Hui, a kind of untamed personality that made him feel curious and want to conquer her.

  "Here you go, it's hot and delicious, but be careful not to burn your lips!" Wan Chao Hui's tone of voice had also become softer.

  "It would be great if you were a man, we could be lovers!" Ye Caiyun joked.

  "My paternal grandfather and maternal grandfather both said I was born wrong, that I should have been a boy! In the past, I also wished I were a boy, how great would that be?! Now I think being a girl is just as good, like me, as long as I want to, I can be just as capable as men!" Wan Chao Hui said with a rise and fall in her tone, but she was also surprised by her own sudden words. She couldn't help but think of her attitude towards Teacher Li that afternoon, who seemed like a kind and honest person from head to toe, and had not intentionally offended her. Her emotions had gotten the better of her, leaving Teacher Li in an awkward position. Now that she had calmed down, Wan Chao Hui suddenly felt that she had overreacted.

  "That's also true, when men have more pressure! In the future, they still have to support their families, it's better to be a girl!" Ye Caiyun said thoughtfully.

  Wan Zhaohui just listened quietly, and from Ye Caiyun's words, she understood that their thoughts were different. Ye Caiyun had misunderstood her meaning, but she had never thought of relying on a man to support herself in this life, was it reliable?

  "This lamb skewer is really delicious!" Wan Chao Hui changed the subject, in fact she was not a foodie. When she was five years old, her grandfather retired from his job and opened a restaurant at home. Although she suffered from gender bias and her young heart was hurt, but when it came to eating, there was always enough at home, and her mother could cook all kinds of snacks. This lamb skewer, her mother had already made many times for her because she thought the oil on the street stalls was not clean. It's just that she and Ye Caiyun were good friends, every time they went out, she would reluctantly follow Ye Caiyun's wishes, as Ye Caiyun loved snacks more.

  Two people walked along the way, eating snacks to satisfy their cravings. When they arrived at the station, both of their stomachs were already uncomfortably full. Ye Caiyun suggested walking back home on foot, and Wan Zhaohui reluctantly agreed. In fact, Wan Zhaohui didn't think Ye Caiyun understood her very well, but she cherished this friend, so she always accommodated Ye Caiyun and often used her lively and playful side to make Ye Caiyun laugh.

  As dusk approached, Wan Chao Hui and Ye Cai Yun finally arrived near Ye Cai Yun's home. Ye Cai Yun's house was a two-story private residence. Wan Chao Hui and Ye Cai Yun parted ways at the entrance of her alley and continued walking forward to return home.

  On Monday morning, Wan Zhaohui came to Teacher Li's office on her own initiative and gently placed the medical records and leave application form on Teacher Li's desk. Teacher Li was no longer angry, he quietly looked at the medical certificate, the medical records and the leave application form all clearly stated the condition, and also had the official seal of a municipal hospital. Teacher Li couldn't say much anymore, thinking to himself: either this girl has connections or she really had stomach pain at that time, why should I be so stubborn? The one who ended up losing face was actually myself. So he looked at Wan Zhaohui calmly and said: "It's all right, you can go!"

  Looking at Teacher Li's honest and kind face, Wan Chao Hui felt a little guilty and couldn't bear it. She couldn't help but say to Teacher Li: "Teacher Li, last Friday was my fault for being impulsive and not respecting you. Actually, I didn't have stomach pain, and this medical history and leave slip were also obtained through connections to deceive you. But I don't want to cheat you anymore. That day, I rushed out of the classroom because my best high school classmate came to the school specifically to find me, and we hadn't seen each other for over three months. At that time, I was very excited, so I was reckless. Please forgive me!" Wan Chao Hui said gently and humbly to Teacher Li.

  Mr. Li did not expect Wan Chao Hui to do this, and his surprise was even greater than her arbitrary behavior last Friday, which made him embarrassed in front of the students and lost his dignity as a teacher. He began to carefully observe Wan Chao Hui, listening to her sincere apology and looking at her gaze, feeling somewhat moved: What a girl with personality! Her inner sincerity and virtue were more unforgettable than her beautiful appearance!

  "Don't worry, I was young too, and I completely understand! Go ahead, but don't be so impulsive next time. If there's anything, communicate with the teacher properly, and we'll consider it accordingly!" Teacher Li said with a smile to Wan Chao Hui.

  "Thank you, Teacher Li!" After saying that, Wan Chao Hui smiled and walked out of the teacher's office. She felt much more at ease in her heart, and her footsteps were unusually light and brisk, a rare joyful sight to see in school!