Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat
Chapter 431 - 431 426 Underestimating Human Nature

Chapter 431: Chapter 426: Underestimating Human Nature Chapter 431: Chapter 426: Underestimating Human Nature Dai Lei had called Gao Jie after finishing the barbecue and returning to the dormitory; by then, it was already ten o’clock at night.

“Hello, may I ask who is calling?”

Gao Jie’s voice was soft and pleasant, as always. Back in high school, because of her voice, she had been recommended by the homeroom teacher to be the school’s broadcaster. Prose, poetry, and other texts that seemed dry and dull were brought to life through her reading.

During the long class breaks, as he rested on the railing at the classroom door, he often found himself unconsciously reciting along with her voice.

It hadn’t been many years since those days, yet the memories now seemed like a world away. The girl who would laugh with dimples in her cheeks as soon as she spoke was on the other end of the phone, making Dai Lei feel uncertain for no apparent reason.

He had intended to just make a call to explain, but now he didn’t know what to say.

“Hello?” Gao Jie asked again, not hearing a response.

“It’s me, Dai Lei.”

“…”

Now it was Dai Lei’s turn to hear no sound from the other end. He took a deep breath and said bluntly, “The day after our college entrance exams ended, didn’t you give Du Fei a letter for me? She didn’t give it to me; she burned it, so I didn’t know…”

He didn’t need to finish for Gao Jie to understand, but she still didn’t utter a sound, and the phone was filled with silence for a time.

After a while, Dai Lei said, “I didn’t have any special reason for making this call, just wanted to tell you Du Fei’s true colors. And, I stopped sending her stamps a long time ago, and I’ve deleted her from my contacts. Don’t think of her as a friend anymore. Someone like her doesn’t deserve your sincerity.”

After he finished, Gao Jie still hadn’t spoken, so Dai Lei had no choice but to say, “This is my mobile number here, you can reach out to me if there’s anything in the future. So… should I hang up?”

“Wait, wait a minute.”

The voice was somewhat frantic, and seemed to carry a nasal quality, as if… she had been crying?

Dai Lei was taken aback and quickly said, “I won’t hang up, take your time.”

Who would have expected that after a long wait, he would only get the words, “I’m hanging up.”

Then Gao Jie on the other end hung up the phone, and Dai Lei was left with a “beep beep” busy tone ringing in his ear.

He was dumbfounded. What’s with this girl, what does she mean?

“Tian Xiaohui, what are you doing over there?”

Dai Lei turned around abruptly; he had been on the phone on the balcony and hadn’t expected to turn around and see Tian Xiaohui, that rascal, sneaking back into the dormitory. Jin Dapang was holding the doorknob, standing at the door, curiously watching him.

Damn it…

“Hey, hey, hey, I didn’t hear anything, didn’t hear a thing.”

After Tian Xiaohui finished, he burst into roguish laughter; given his sleazy demeanor, it was obvious that the rascal had probably heard everything that was meant to be heard.

Dai Lei snorted, “Both of us have been in university for two years, and you can only get a thrill from some fantasy online, not sure what you’re laughing at.”

Tian Xiaohui: …

Damn it, deliberately stabbing your brother in the heart, aren’t you?

While the two guys bantered, on the other side, Gao Jie’s eyes were red as she stared down at her phone.

She opened her messaging app, scrolled to Du Fei’s name, a long list of past messages—

[Little Jie, you’re both in Beijing. Have you run into Dai Lei?]

[Even if you do, don’t bother with him. He rejected you, after all. You’re so talented; in university, for sure you’ll have other, more outstanding guys chasing you.]

[That… Little Jie, there’s something, I don’t know if I should tell you?]

“Dai Lei sent me dozens of stamps, each one pretty and hard to come by. Don’t get me wrong, he probably knew I collected stamps and just happened to find them, so he thought he’d buy them for me.”

“I’ve told her to stop sending them, I don’t like collecting stamps anymore, but she keeps on mailing them. Is this person really that stubborn?”

“Little Jie, why didn’t you come to the class reunion today? Dai Lei was there, but I ignored him.”

“Little Jie, why haven’t you been replying to my messages lately? Are you mad at me? I told you, I really have nothing to do with Dai Lei.”

…

There were some more delusional texts that were actually quite laughable.

Gao Jie had actually realized a long time ago that something was off with Du Fei. She had told her, if Dai Lei likes you and you like him, then you two should just be together, and she didn’t need to worry about her.

Who hasn’t had a crush when they were young?

What’s past is past, she wasn’t the type to dwell on things. But Du Fei kept bombarding her with texts like a lunatic, ranting on and on. Did she think she was an idiot, unable to hear the bragging?

So, later on, she simply stopped taking her calls and replying to her messages.

She wanted to pull these two people out of her mind and forget about them completely.

But just when she had started to feel a little better, she suddenly received a call from Dai Lei. The moment she heard his voice, she was livid. This isn’t over, is it? Are you two taking turns tormenting me?

At that moment, she was both angry and aggrieved, but unexpectedly, Dai Lei had actually called to expose Du Fei and to warn her.

She hadn’t seen that coming…

She was puzzled, why would Du Fei do such a thing? Where had she offended her?

If she had liked Dai Lei, it might have made sense, but since she wasn’t with him, was this only to play with her?

Gao Jie’s chest heaved with anger.

Although it was already past ten o’clock, since they had just finished exams, her roommates were out on dates and hadn’t returned, so she was alone in the dorm. Without hesitation, she dialed Du Fei’s number.

The ringtone was nearly at its end when it was finally picked up. Gao Jie was straightforward, but because she was so angry, her voice trembled slightly as she spoke, “Du Fei, why would you do this?”

“…Heh, you two really did meet up. You really know everything now.”

“Why?”

“Because I hate you, do you know that, Gao Jie? Every time my mom compared me with you, I was seething with hatred. From elementary to middle school and then high school, when were you not the top of the class? Which English competitions did you join? Which magazines published your articles… I bet your mom doesn’t even know as much as mine does. She said that when she was in school with your mom, your mom’s grades were just average, nowhere near as good as hers. But now the tables have turned. She berates me for being useless, a waste.”

Gao Jie sneered, “The useless one should be me, right? I never would have guessed you could act this well, acting from childhood until now, and I only just discovered your true face.”

It was not she who had found out, if not for Dai Lei making a special call today to explain, she would have continued to think of Du Fei as just boasting, boasting that the top science student from Beijing University who got into high school was chasing after her.

After all, the two had grown up together. How could they do such a thing?

Had she underestimated human nature?

If someone else is successful and your mom compares you to them, that’s their fault?

Now that she knew the reason, Gao Jie no longer wanted to say anything to Du Fei. Such a person was full of negative energy and not in her right mind, not worth wasting any more time on.

But after hanging up on Du Fei, Gao Jie still felt terrible.

Annoyed, she paced back and forth in the dorm, and eventually picked up her phone to send a message to Dai Lei:

“You an idiot?”