Not Familiar

Li Ting had a notebook and books spread out in front of him, which he was reading very seriously. Although Library A was not as crowded as it was during the peak hours, the sitting area Li Ting chose was extremely packed with students. Since the air-conditioning was very strong, the seats were already 90% full in a short time.   

Fang Huaining saw the two vacant seats—one beside Li Ting and the other behind him. He was about to approach, but another boy got ahead of him. However, when the boy got closer, he didn’t sit down right away. Instead, he kept muttering to himself, as if he wasn’t sure on which seat was better.    

At this time, Fang Huaining saw Li Ting raising his head. Perhaps he was annoyed, as he stared at the boy coldly. In Fang Huaining’s eyes, that gaze no longer belonged to an angry stray cat, but rather, an annoyed little kitten.

In any case, in the eyes of other people, he had transformed into some sort of big lion. And with a murderous look, he successfully scared the person to another seat.    

There was only one seat left, so Fang Huaining naturally didn’t have to think twice. Quickly, he walked over and sat down.    

Li Ting obviously noticed him sit, but he didn’t say anything. Only his eyes flickered lightly towards him, and then he went back to normal, as if the sharpness earlier was just Fang Huaining’s illusion.   

Fang Huaining naturally took out a book and began reading it. But, out of some professional intuition, his gaze fell to Li Ting at the side again. Fang Huaining was not mistaken; what Li Ting was reading was indeed some computer book, but they were all in a foreign language that was very obscure and difficult to understand.    

Why is he reading this? Could it be that he is interested in computers?!    

But Fang Huaining quickly dismissed this idea as he saw two more books in Li Ting’s hand—one was about economics, and the other was about geography. The contents of each books were completely different. It seemed to be homework of the foreign language department, and this book was also one of the several books that the other party had recorded in the memo software.

Fang Huaining understood it, but for some reason, he felt little lost in his heart.    

He guessed it right; Li Ting’s broken school had assigned essay writing homework. While most of the students would choose classics or other novels to read and write about, Li Ting had not.

He had no clue what such stories were or whether they were good or bad.

In comparison to novels, whether it was romantic or sad, he would rather write on theoretical content that is more difficult to read. Even if they are boring and profound, they are more understandable to him than those books that have nothing to do with him in real life.

But halfway through, Li Ting suddenly felt someone staring at him from the side. So, he looked back questioningly.    

Fang Huaining did not evade, “You…” 

He opened his mouth, but he found that the location was inappropriate for talking. So, he could only point to Li Ting’s notes and make a few gestures at them. The other party quietly tore a few blank pages from the end and handed them over.    

Fang Huaining picked up a pen and wrote, “You got the meaning of these words wrong.”   

Then, he carefully listed out the explanations and pushed the paper back.    

Fang Huaining: “Do you understand?”    

Li Ting looked at it seriously; as he slowly blinked, his long eyelashes cast dark shadows underneath his eyes.    

After a long time, Li Ting nodded and did not resist accepting the correct knowledge.    

Fang Huaining was satisfied.    

Then, they each threw themselves into the books in front of them.   

Sometime later, Fang Huaining felt an itch on his elbows. He looked sideways to see someone poking his hand lightly with the cap of a pen, and then, a notebook was carefully pushed over. There was a new sentence on it, and there were some problems listed beneath. It was also marked with a red pen.

Obviously, Li Ting had encountered difficulties.    

Fang Huaining raised his head to face Li Ting. Perhaps, it was because he was asking others for advice that Li Ting’s usual coldness had disappeared a lot.

On the contrary, there was a touch of softness between his brows and in his eyes. This can clearly be understood as modesty, but in Fang Huaining’s view, that look seemed very obedient. And it reminded him of the fragile appearance of the other party as he lay on the hospital bed that day.

How can this be a vicious cat? This is obviously a pitiful kitten.    

Fang Huaining cleared his throat calmly, took the notebook, and answered the questions in a chic manner.    

They went back and forth like this for a while. And after an unknown amount of time, a soft reprimand rang out, “Can you two stop flirting in the library!”    

Fang Huaining was startled and raised his head, only to see someone pointing at a man and a woman at the adjacent table. As soon as these words came out, there were whispers from both sides.    

“Yes, yes! If you want to show your love, can you go out and show it? Don’t abuse the single dogs in public.”

“I have tolerated this for a long time, flirting with each other so hard even the table is shaking!”   

“If you can’t hold back, can’t you send text messages? After all, you are still in public…”    

“If you’re afraid of balance consumption, just pass a note.”    

The young couple in the corner were embarassed after being discovered by the crowd, and they had to leave with their heads hanging low. Still, the girl couldn’t help but refute the last sentence.    

“Who still passes notes now? What era are we in…”    

Fang Huaining: “…”

The fingers holding the stack of little papers twitched nervously.  

Li Ting, on the side, didn’t seem to pay attention to it; he just looked out the back window and stood up.    

Only then did Fang Huaining realize that the sun was setting, and he had spent an entire day in the library, which was an unusual case except for just before the final exams.    

After Li Ting tidied up his things, he took the stack of papers from a dazed Fang Huaining. He, then, put them away with his own notes and made his way out. Fang Huaining also stood up, and as he walked out, he found that Li Ting was going to put the books back in their shelves.

 Didn’t he write in the memo that he wanted to borrow it? Fang Huailing was puzzled.   

“Why don’t you…”    

Li Ting guessed what he meant and said, “I’m not a student of University A.”

The fact is that Liu Lei’s library card had been borrowed for long time, and he came in today with his library card to return it; however, without the card, he could only read the books but couldn’t borrow them, which is why Li Ting stayed late.    

For some reason, Fang Huaining felt a little uncomfortable hearing these words. He thought for a while before saying, “But I am.”    

Li Ting was taken aback.    

Fang Huaining took the books that Li Ting was waiting to return and said, “I don’t usually use it much.”

What’s more, he had already found all of the books he wanted to borrow.    

Without waiting for Li Ting’s objection, he walked towards the door and took out his library card from his pocket, then handed it to the administrator.    

“Swipe this.”    

He went and swiped his library card like a black credit card.    

Probably because Li Ting really needed those books, in the end, he didn’t refuse it. Then, the two walked out of the library together.

Then Li Ting suddenly handed something to Fang Huaining.    

“I’ll give this back to you.”  

Fang Huaining recognized that it was his USB flash drive. He should have talked about the situation with the software at that moment, but he couldn’t manage it and stayed silent for a while.  

It was Li Ting who said again, “Thank you, the software can be used.”    

Just that ‘it can be used’? !  

That was almost all of Fang Huaining’s university knowledge compiled!    

The ace felt a tightness in his chest and thought, ‘sooner or later you will know its power’. Still, he did not show any self-absorbed behavior and only said: “The content you read today is too professional. If it is only because of the language, it is better to choose other computer books. I know a few books; the knowledge points are relatively simple, but the vocabulary is huge.”    

Li Ting looked at the other party, his face didn’t have any fluctuations but he still asked, “Which books?”    

Fang Huaining lowered his head, tapped a few times on his phone, and sent a URL link, “From here, you can download them directly.”    

Li Ting nodded.    

After walking out of the campus of University A, Fang Huaining saw a broken scooter parked in the distance that he hadn’t seen for a long time. It was Li Ting’s small vehicle that never died. It had been repaired and had returned.    

Li Ting stopped, making Fang Huaining also stopped. And after thinking for a while, he still couldn’t help but say: “If you have any problems, you can tell me.”

Then he felt that this was a bit abrupt, so he added: “I mean that the software…it was made for customers. You try it out, and if you find something that is not good, it can be regarded as helpful feedback to the maker.”    

Li Ting expressed his understanding and suddenly asked: “What about the books?”

Fang Huaining: “If you don’t understand anything, you can ask me…”    

********  

In the evening-

After taking a shower, Li Ting went back to his room and resumed writing his thesis. When he opened the newly borrowed books, the stash of notes were scattered and fell out one by one.

Li Ting picked them up and looked carefully.

Two completely different handwritings were interlaced and spread all over the pages, forming a complete dialogue. One was his familiar rough and unruly writing, while the other, clearly belonging to a boy, was unexpectedly beautiful and pleasing to look at, not as cold and indifferent as the person’s appearance suggests.    

 Two-sided.

Li Ting defined the other party in his heart.    

After observing silently for a long time, he walked out of the room and chased away Tian Dian who was dying in yet another game. He then turned on the computer by himself.  

“Hey? What are you doing? Are you going to try online dating?”

Tian Dian was puzzled.   

Li Ting ignored him, pulled out the URL he’d received in his mobile phone, typed it into the computer word by word, and pressed Enter. A new page popped up. It was a website called Lemon Tree.   

Unlike the difficult-to-use APP that Fang Huaining had given him, this Lemon Tree website has a sense of design, with neat and clean lines and columns, obviously a version fit for public use. 

Li Ting clicked open the menu and found that all of the pages were easy to navigate to.

The books section had all of the study materials organized by Fang Huaining himself, as well as some application programs he had designed and uploaded there.

It was clearly his personal website, also having a very high number of views. Tian Dian, who was not far away, came over and sighed, “Wow, what is this? It looks so advanced…”    

Li Ting couldn’t understand many technical terms, but he still browsed carefully and discovered a private section of the website as well.

When he was searching for the file he wanted to download, his phone screen blinked. Then, a text message was displayed, the sender, who had a lemon as his profile picture*, had shared a series of numbers just in time.  

[TL: FH’s profile picture is a lemon]

Li Ting realized right away that this was the password for the private section.