They are still close to me today despite their negative feelings

— Poor students have a lot of stationery.

"Squad leader, thank you too! ... Ah, do you write with your left hand? That's amazing."

"Hey? Class monitor, can you write with your left hand?"

Chen Di, who had been a laborer for quite some time, blinked.

"I've only recently started using my left hand again. Actually, my left hand is my dominant hand."

Wow, I had no idea!

"Writing with my left hand looks really strange."

"I do think writing with my left hand is cool. But why are you only starting to write with your left hand again now?"

An Yu's question made Chen Di pause slightly, then he shook his head and smiled.

"Well, it was just something I thought of after someone casually mentioned it."

"Hey, hey, really? Could it be a girl?" Xu Xingxin's face lit up with curiosity, and the image of him who was so desperate just half an hour ago was now completely gone.

"Is she a girl?" An Yu seemed equally curious, but unlike Xu Xingxin, he was less teasing and joking.

"How could that be? He's just an awkward guy like you guys." Chen Di smiled, but refused to answer any further questions.

The expression and tone of that guy's voice are still vivid in my mind.

"It is said that many left-handed people are forced by their parents to 'correct' their behavior because they are considered 'different,' and use their right hand as their dominant hand. So many left-handed people are actually quite dexterous with both hands."

"Being special or different is not a crime. Compared to ordinary bad people, I still prefer to be with special good people."

"Which hand you use to write is not a matter of right or wrong; it's just a habit, nothing more."

Perhaps it is precisely because he is this kind of person that Chen Di is obediently staying here to take care of the child and do something for that guy.

……

The heavy rain continued to fall outside, and the three of them walked out of the restaurant with umbrellas.

"...Actually, I'm still a little nervous. Is it too hasty to just improvise as soon as I see the other person is available?"

"It's better to make things clear sooner rather than later. And don't worry, Ning Ruoyu is more perceptive than you think. I guess he might actually understand why you're angry."

“Yes, An Yu, as long as you tell him why you're angry, I think there won't be any problems. If it were me, I would actually be quite touched—the biggest problem with our apology team is on my side, okay?”

"No, don't worry, Lanlan is just shy, she's actually a very nice person!"

"That's for you girls. As for the boys, Lanlan seems quite strict with them..."

"Excuse me, I'd like to ask a question. I understand the purpose of the other items you're holding, An Yu, but what's the disposable tablecloth for?"

“At noon, I thought that if Ning Ruoyu forgave me, we could have lunch together on the tablecloth. If she was not willing to forgive me so easily, then she could use it as a kneeling mat.”

"An Yu, are you serious? No, no, no, putting everything else aside, this is the only thing that just won't do, right?"

"Would it be better to offer your face and let him slap you?"

Don't think so pessimistically or to such an extreme!

On the street where the rain was drizzling, the three people who were discussing how to apologize looked up and saw two people across the street who were playfully arguing and being intimate with each other.

The wooden senior student who is very close to me.

...An Yu's face turned pale instantly.

[Next chapter preview: "Well, try to think from An Yu's perspective too, she..."]

"Sorry, I can't imagine it."

"I understand, it's disgusting, let's go."

Chen Di rarely showed a mischievous smile.

The voice coming from the other end of the phone was definitely not Ge Lanlan or An Yu, but it was all too familiar.

Chapter Fifteen: My Friend Might Be My Mother... Sang

"Although I still have some reservations about the description of 'affectionate playfulness'... I roughly understand what it means."

Although President Wu Yuehua was going the same way as me, she went to send Senior Chu Guyin back first. Now, Chen Di, Xu Xingxin, who didn't know where to go but didn't want to go back, and I went back to the family restaurant to continue our meal.

"Well, try to see things from An Yu's perspective too, she..."

"Sorry, I can't imagine it."

Xu Xingxin was speechless for a moment, then picked up the fries in front of him indignantly.

"Let me tell you what I was thinking at the time. It was something I was really anxious about and cared about, but the other person seemed completely unaffected, which made me feel both ridiculously anxious and pathetic. Now you understand?"

Don't you think so now?

"Of course!" Xu Xingxin got excited again when he talked about this. "Just now, Lanlan was acting like that. I felt that even though she still doesn't like me, she's become so much gentler! Am I...?"

"What kind of life does he lead normally? Is he a masochist?" I asked Chen Di.

"Hmm, it's like what you did in the past, but only targeting Grandma, something like that?"

"I understand, it's disgusting, let's go."

Ignoring Xu Xingxin's excessive praise of Ge Lanlan, Chen Di looked at me and asked.

"There's something else I didn't say directly in what I described to you, besides the details of the plan. You know that, right?"

"Oh, speaking of this, I also want to tell you, really, my goodness, I think it would be so pitiful for her if you continued to misunderstand her!"

"But I feel like this is something we can't say out loud, and to be honest, I also feel guilty and ashamed of being the culprit... Ugh, so frustrating!"

Even Xu Xingxin came to his senses, revealing an expression that showed he wanted to stand up for the wronged but was too embarrassed to speak up.

"The reason for slapping me, right?"

"Well, you actually guessed it to some extent, didn't you?"

"Huh? Really? Did you guess that?"

"Given her appearance at the time, how could I not guess? And although I don't know many things, I still have some understanding of her nature."

"So you know that? Then why don't you forgive her?!"

“I have never been unforgiving, I just don’t care.”

If it were just Xu Xingxin here, I probably wouldn't have explained so much.

But seeing Chen Di's repeated hesitation, as the first person I could call a friend in this world, I sighed and spoke up.

“I know she was just angry at how I handled things. She probably felt guilty that I was made to take the blame for what happened, so she was particularly concerned about my situation and thought that she also bore a lot of responsibility for why I was disliked.”

"When she saw that I was dealing with this self-degrading situation by myself again, her slow reaction probably only made her want to shut me up as soon as possible—that's why she said that's not what she was angry about."

“She wasn’t angry because I spoke without thinking, but because I did something that only hurt me. It was like this was tormenting her with guilt.”

"Dude, you know this too?"

Xu Xingxin's eyes widened.

"How can you remain so indifferent? This is An Yu, you know! If it weren't for Lanlan, and if a lovely girl like An Yu were to worry about me for this reason, I would have already thought of names for our child!"

"...Why are you looking at me like that? And you, class monitor, too. Am I wrong?"

"Because you're very tired, right?" Chen Di looked at me.

"Wow, I really regret not meeting you sooner, Chen Di." I nodded in satisfaction.

"Huh? Tired? What nonsense are you talking about? That's An Yu, right? Do you know how many boys in the whole school have a crush on her? No, no, no, do you know how many people, regardless of gender, have the ultimate goal of bringing her home?"

"Then our school will have to step up security."

"Stop joking, buddy, I really don't understand! If you weren't angry, why did you suddenly distance yourself from her?" Xu Xingxin said anxiously.

"I found out about that notebook later, and now I feel like I'm a sinner. Ning Ruoyu, I really can't let you leave until you give me an explanation."

“We didn’t suddenly drift apart. We were actually drifting apart all along. Since you’ve brought up the diary, let me ask you, what do you think An Yu’s feelings for me are? As a classmate, do she like me that much?”

Xu Xingxin was speechless.

"See, you've noticed too. It's mostly guilt." I smiled.

"In the end, I don't even know if this girl knows what 'liking' means—her definition of 'liking' in her notebook gives me the impression of a superficial one that comes from losing a game of truth or dare and just randomly picking an excellent target to apply to it."

"Although, I do believe this guess." Chen Di chuckled.

"But did you have to be so harsh?" Xu Xingxin muttered.

"I don't know about An Yu's feelings for you, but Ning Ruoyu, your feelings for An Yu are ridiculously cold. Honestly, where did you get it wrong? She's An Yu! Have you two switched roles?"

"And actually, that notebook is..."

“If life is a script, then our characters shouldn’t have any interaction in the first place, right?” I interrupted Xu Xingxin and took a bite of a fries.

"You ask me why I remain indifferent despite knowing everything? It's just my personality. I hate trouble and I hate wasting time providing emotional value to others."

"An unimportant passerby, even if she's as beautiful as an angel and everyone envies her when she walks next to me, is still unimportant to me. So what if she's a pretty girl? Does being a pretty girl give you special privileges?"

"For people with whom I occasionally cross paths, I just need to maintain the relationship until the crossover ends. That's my way of doing things."

"So in my opinion, the best way to handle this is simply to say 'I'm sorry' and 'It's okay.' I don't want to get involved in anything else. Any other questions?"

……

"There's a small problem."

Xu Xingxin had been rendered speechless by my words, and could only vent his dissatisfaction on the food, devouring large mouthfuls of fries. But unexpectedly, Chen Di, who had been relatively quiet, took the initiative to speak.

"please say."

“Everything else makes sense, but that’s the logic between strangers, passersby, or even classmates. Friends sometimes don’t reason with each other.”

"What are you trying to say? Chen Di, are you the type of person who can't get to the point when you speak?"

I'm getting a little impatient.

"...I was just thinking, is the logic I just used a little unfair to a girl who's struggling to be 'friends' with someone she hasn't even become 'friends' with yet?" Chen Di took a sip of hot water.

This guy came to a family restaurant and only drank hot water.

"I understand that you don't want to cause trouble, but as a basic principle of social relationships, responding to other people's attitudes is the most basic and ordinary thing, isn't it?"

"Isn't avoiding the desire to be friends just asking for trouble?" Chen Di shrugged. "You yourself said, 'It's mostly guilt.' So what's the rest?"

"Perhaps your theory was reasonable before, but the problem is that An Yu has already developed this kind of emotion—can you still openly say that ignoring it is the simplest and easiest way to deal with it?"

"Ah, right! That's it! Nice, class monitor, that's exactly what I'm unhappy about!"

Xu Xingxin suddenly got excited.

"You almost got me hooked! Seriously, what does it matter if An Yu doesn't know what feelings she has for you? She's always been a bit clueless; she probably doesn't even know the answer to this kind of question herself, right?"

"But so what? What she's expressing is definitely 'wanting to get along, wanting to be friends.' You can't take all of that as guilt and insecurity and then use it as an excuse! Completely ignoring her feelings is unfair to her!!"

"...Are you so angry because you're thinking about your painful past?"

"...So, any objections?"

"No, no." I sighed, glancing helplessly at Chen Di. "Why are you contradicting me? Even if a response is needed, I only care about what the other person has done—An Yu didn't do anything, did she?"

"Oh dear, a rare logical flaw has appeared. It seems the connection isn't broken yet, since they're concerned about whether or not something was done."

Chen Di rarely showed a mischievous smile. "Your attempt at a ridiculous scam failed."

"And doesn't your dwindling conscience hurt when you say things like that? — Haven't you noticed who's been sneaking around peeking out lately? Do I need to remind you? The rooftop, the stairwell, the display window at the school building entrance?"

...I hate being friends with smart people.

"There are no more excuses this time, right? Can we have a proper talk one-on-one now? According to your logic, isn't it simpler and more reasonable for us to just talk things out directly, given this lingering connection? Even if we never speak to each other again in the end, we should at least hear the other person's perspective, right?"

"This is such a hassle, it feels like I'm doing a job." I scratched my head in frustration.

"Why are you so concerned about this kind of thing? Is this really the class monitor's responsibility? You're acting like a mother or madam!"

"I'll just assume you're just angry because you're embarrassed," Chen Di said with a smile.

"Wait a minute, was what you just said also a lie? You two both know the truth, don't you?"

Xu Xingxin was dumbfounded, but also relieved.

"I knew it! I doubt many guys could be so heartless towards An Yu, right?"