Once the locksmith had gone downstairs, Zhang Zhaomu silently gave Duan Chan'er a thumbs-up and said:
"I really thought he'd given you a discount because you were pretty."
Duan Chan'er looked a little embarrassed. "He's working, too. He came all this way to earn money. Why would he earn less just because of how I look?"
Exceptional looks could indeed earn someone a lot of unspoken kindness, but Duan Chan'er also understood that this kindness came at a corresponding price.
No one would harm their own interests for someone else without a reason.
"True." Zhang Zhaomu nodded. "But waiting until he'd opened the door and you were inside before saying all that was pretty cautious of you."
Duan Chan'er said quietly, "It was only another thirty yuan, and it really was late. I was worried that if I said it beforehand, he wouldn't open the door for me. That would've been trouble."
"Class rep, sorry you had to see that."
Zhang Zhaomu waved a hand. "Not at all. A girl living alone really does need to be careful about these things."
Duan Chan'er nodded. "Sorry for the trouble today, class rep. I'll head inside, then?"
Zhang Zhaomu smiled. "Yeah, get some sleep."
"Okay."
With that little bedtime interlude over, Zhang Zhaomu stretched and lay back down on his bed.
Then his phone beeped.
Bing Chan: "The locksmith just came. Finally got inside!"
Bing Chan: "Sorry I haven't replied. I went to borrow my neighbor's bathroom, then chatted with him for a bit. It wouldn't have been polite to play on my phone in front of him."
Zhang Zhaomu couldn't help feeling a little odd.
Duan Chan'er would never imagine that the person she was messaging and her neighbor were one and the same...
But Zhang Zhaomu couldn't come clean about that fact, either. He could only reply as though nothing were amiss:
"It's fine. As long as everything worked out."
Then a thought suddenly struck him, and he sent a message as if possessed: "You were pretty lucky, though, that your neighbor was still awake this late."
Bing Chan: "My neighbor's a high school student. Young people these days all stay up late."
Zhang Zhaomu couldn't help chuckling. With that old-fogey way of talking, if he hadn't known Duan Chan'er was on the other side of the screen, he really would have thought he was talking to a middle-aged man.
Jasmine Meow: "A high school student? Studying must be pretty tough on him, then?"
Bing Chan: "He doesn't seem very interested in studying."
Jasmine Meow: "Hmm? You seem to know your neighbor pretty well, Great Bing Chan?"
It took a little while for the reply to arrive: "Somewhat. I heard it from my daughter."
"My daughter's in high school, too. She's in the same class as my neighbor."
Zhang Zhaomu couldn't hold back his laughter.
Was she really going so far to maintain her online persona that she'd fabricated a daughter out of thin air?
No, she'd most likely just grafted her own identity onto a fictional daughter, hadn't she?
Zhang Zhaomu found chatting with her from this perspective rather interesting. He quickly replied:
"Your daughter's already in high school, Great Bing Chan? How are her grades?"
Bing Chan: "Yeah, she just started her second year. Her grades are average. She doesn't like studying much, either."
Jasmine Meow: "With a writer for a dad, she must have absorbed something from being around you since childhood. Her Chinese grades should be pretty good, at least?"
Bing Chan: "I wouldn't call myself a writer. I just write webnovels. But my daughter's Chinese grades really are good. Her other subjects are barely satisfactory."
Jasmine Meow: "Everyone emphasizes well-rounded education these days. Poor grades in her other subjects aren't a big deal. Maybe your daughter will become a writer like you someday?"
"Speaking of which, has your daughter read your books?"
Bing Chan: "She's not interested in webnovels. She mostly reads print literature."
Zhang Zhaomu smiled again.
That description matched his earlier impression of Duan Chan'er perfectly. It seemed Duan Chan'er knew what sort of persona she had in other people's minds, too.
"So your daughter's a literary girl. She must be popular at school, right?" Zhang Zhaomu replied with mischievous intent. "Aren't you worried she'll start dating too young?"
Bing Chan: "I'm pretty open-minded about that. If she likes someone and wants to date, I won't object. Still, she probably won't date during high school, at least."
Jasmine Meow: "Why? Isn't that the age when girls look forward to romance the most?"
Bing Chan: "It's a long story. Although my daughter's quite outstanding in every way, she actually doesn't have many true friends at school, and she doesn't have a single friend of the opposite sex."
Zhang Zhaomu froze for a moment.
Did Duan Chan'er not have many friends at school?
Thinking it over carefully, he really hadn't seen her being particularly close to anyone these past two days. During breaks, she always sat in her own seat, either staring out the window in a daze or sleeping with her head on her desk.
Yet from his actual interactions with her, Zhang Zhaomu had found her quite talkative, not the cold and aloof type.
Someone with that personality shouldn't lack friends.
Perhaps her exceptionally good looks, coupled with the halo of a literary girl, made her seem a little too far out of reach to others?
No, that didn't seem to be the only reason.
Zhang Zhaomu recalled their few conversations and suddenly realized that she was overly polite and courteous.
That politeness was more like an invisible barrier, disguising herself behind the persona of "Duan Chan'er, the literary girl" and preventing anyone from getting to know her deeply.
If she wasn't willing to bare her heart to others, how could she make true friends?
After some thought, Zhang Zhaomu replied, "That's not very good. Humans are social animals, after all. If she doesn't have friends she can speak her heart to, doesn't your daughter get lonely?"
Bing Chan: "Sometimes, I suppose."
"But these things have to take their natural course. There's nothing I can do to help her with that."
Zhang Zhaomu ventured, "Didn't you just say your neighbor and your daughter were classmates? Maybe you could encourage her to try starting with her neighbor?"
Bing Chan: "...That hadn't occurred to me."
Zhang Zhaomu pressed, "Do you think your neighbor isn't very suitable?"
Bing Chan: "That's not it. Apart from not liking studying, my neighbor's pretty good in every other respect. He's quite handsome, and his personality seems nice, too. He's one of the few types who can hold a conversation with my daughter."
Zhang Zhaomu raised his eyebrows slightly, secretly pleased.
It seemed he had a pretty good image in Duan Chan'er's mind.
"Then there's no problem," he replied. "You live so close anyway, and you know his background. There's nothing to worry about."
Bing Chan: "Well... I'll try talking to my daughter. She really should make a friend. Even if they can't share secrets, it'd still be nice to chat about everyday life and hobbies."
Zhang Zhaomu understood. By sharing secrets, she meant having an alt called "Bing Chan," right?
Sorry, I already know.