CS - 1

In the height of summer in August, the sun blazed like fire, and cicadas chirped incessantly.

Lin Zhe Xia curled up on the sofa, a bag of chips by her side. The room was dark, save for the faint glow of the projector in front of her. The movie was reaching its climax when suddenly, a ghost leapt out with a menacing snarl—

The room lit up momentarily, revealing glimpses of the furnishings through the projector’s light.

The entire apartment was meticulously tidy—too tidy, in fact.

On the table lay a few books titled Competition Practice Problems, a black alarm clock, and two or three black pens.

Aside from that, there was nothing else.

The only things that seemed out of place were the snacks scattered haphazardly around.

Lin Zhe Xia watched the movie for a while, then picked up her phone to type a few messages into a chat box.

• Scam.

• Definitely a scam.

• The scariest movie of the year isn’t scary at all—it’s reportable to the National Anti-Fraud Center.

Ten minutes later:

• Awooo.

• Though this ghost’s scream is kinda unique.

• Awooo, awooo, awooo.

Another ten minutes passed.

• It’s been half an hour.

• You haven’t replied to me.

• Are you out messing around somewhere?

Head down, Lin Zhe Xia typed the second half of her sentence with great seriousness: And having so much fun that you forgot about me, your dad.

Just seconds after sending it, the other person finally responded.

At the top of the chat window, under the contact name “Medicine,” appeared a line: [Typing…]

A moment later, several arrogant-sounding messages appeared on the screen.

• Messing around, super busy.

• As for not replying to you, it’s because

• I’m too lazy to chat with someone who doesn’t understand seniority.

Before she could reply, another message came through: Where are you watching the movie?

Lin Zhe Xia glanced around the room. This place was completely different from her own bedroom—it was clearly a boy’s room, with a projector installed in the living room. That was why she had brought snacks over today.

But she felt a bit embarrassed to admit it outright, so she replied with three words: Movie theater.

• ?

Realizing there weren’t any horror movies currently showing in theaters, Lin Zhe Xia quickly corrected herself: …private cinema.

• Oh.

She knew this person wasn’t so easily fooled. Sure enough, the next message read: Send me a picture. I’ve never been to a private cinema before; let me see what it’s like.

• …

Where was she supposed to take a picture from?

There was no point in hiding it anymore, so she answered honestly: Your house. Didn’t you just buy a new projector? But you left on a trip right after buying it, so I came over to test it out for you.

The person on the other end seemed to have already guessed this answer.

A few seconds later, another arrogant message popped up:

• So, who’s the dad here?

• …

• You.

Lin Zhe Xia tapped her screen, skipping any resistance and sliding smoothly into submission:

• I didn’t understand seniority properly.

• Dad.

The conversation was interrupted by a phone call.

On the other end of the line was Lin He’s familiar voice: “Xia Xia, dinner’s ready. When are you coming back?”

“I lost track of time,” Lin Zhe Xia scrambled to pause the movie. “I’ll be right back.”

She returned quickly.

After finishing the call, Lin He had just set the dishes on the table when Lin Zhe Xia arrived at the door: “Mom—I’m home!”

Lin He glanced at her: “You came from Chi Yao’s place, didn’t you?”

Lin Zhe Xia hadn’t expected her to guess correctly: “Maybe you should switch careers and become a fortune-teller.”

“No need to guess,” Lin He could estimate her daughter’s movements based on the time. “You came back so quickly—you couldn’t have been taking a walk around the neighborhood. Besides, Chi Yao’s supposed to be out of town during the vacation, visiting relatives. If he’s not home, why did you go to his place?”

Chi Yao.

Her childhood friend.

The same person who had been speaking arrogantly in the chat earlier.

The two had known each other since they were very young.

The Chi family lived in the building opposite their own, less than a three-minute walk away.

From her bedroom window, Lin Zhe Xia could even see the curtains drawn at his place.

She slowly stuffed food into her mouth, feeling too embarrassed to admit that she had unilaterally gone over to test out Chi Yao’s new projector. Moreover, being at home during the vacation always made her susceptible to Lin He’s constant nagging, so she came up with an excuse: “He… he said he left in such a hurry that he forgot whether he closed the windows, so he asked me to check.”

Lin He didn’t suspect anything.

As a soon-to-be high school freshman, Lin Zhe Xia had spent her vacation quite freely.

Her performance on the middle school entrance exam had been good, and with graduation came a homework-free holiday.

But Lin He couldn’t stand seeing her daughter live so carefree: “I bought you a few high school textbooks. Start studying over the summer so you won’t fall behind when school starts.”

“…” Lin Zhe Xia swallowed her food. “High school… textbooks?”

“The early bird catches the worm. You should understand this principle.”

Lin Zhe Xia defended herself: “I got into the district key high school, same as Chi Yao. I’m not exactly a slow bird, am I?”

The results had come out long ago, along with the cutoff scores for various schools.

Lin Zhe Xia’s mock exam scores had fluctuated wildly—sometimes skyrocketing with the right test, sometimes mediocre with the wrong one. Until the very last moment, no one could predict what score she’d get.

Fortunately, the final exam suited her well.

Lin He summarized: “That was an exceptional performance—an anomaly.”

“And how can you mention being in the same school as Chi Yao so casually?”

Lin He spoke slowly, her tone tinged with disbelief: “Though you’re in the same school, you barely scraped in. He surpassed the admission cutoff by more than ninety points.”

“…”

Lin Zhe Xia found the food in her mouth suddenly hard to swallow.

“But come to think of it,” Lin He changed the subject, “with his high score, he could’ve applied to No. 1 High School. Why did he choose to stay here?”

No. 1 High School was the city’s top public high school.

Lin Zhe Xia hadn’t applied to schools in the city—first, she wouldn’t have gotten in, and second, it was too far from home.

Mainly, she wouldn’t have gotten in.

She firmly chose No. 2 High School, which, though differing by only one stroke in Chinese characters, had a significantly lower cutoff score.

She and Chi Yao, despite being childhood friends, had only attended the same elementary school. Back then, she used to hang out with boys, and Lin He, thinking her personality wasn’t girlish enough, sent her to an all-girls school after elementary school.

Now that her all-girls school days were over, she would finally be attending the same school as him again.

Lin Zhe Xia thought for a moment: “Maybe it’s because it’s close to home.”

After saying that, she tried to change the topic. Seeing only her and Lin He at the table, she asked: “Where’s Uncle Wei?”

Lin’s family was a reconstituted family. Lin’s father had left when she was very young, and Lin He had raised her alone. When Lin Zhe Xia was seven, Lin He met Uncle Wei. Because of the separation, Lin Zhe Xia moved to this neighborhood at the age of seven.

“Your Uncle Wei has some business matters at the company,” Lin He served her some dishes. “He’ll probably be back late.”

After serving the dishes, Lin He steered the conversation back: “Are three textbooks enough? I’ve heard that high school is significantly harder, and many people are hiring tutors.”

“Three is already… plenty.”

“You don’t have anything else to do during the vacation anyway. Might as well study.”

Lin Zhe Xia held her bowl of rice, finding the food too dry to swallow.

In the days that followed, Lin Zhe Xia’s life became a living hell.

The days of sneaking into Chi Yao’s house to use his projector were long gone.

In front of her now were three textbooks: Selected: Summer Improvement Exercises, Step into High School Early, and 100 Thinking Training Problems.

Twenty pages every day.

Every. Single. Day.

• 555

• Life is crushing me.

• I’m suffering.

• I can’t go on.

During breaks from doing problems, Lin Zhe Xia hid her phone under the textbook and typed, one word at a time:

• I’m about to be crushed.

The person on the other end responded with his usual arrogance.

• I’ll burn joss paper for you during Qingming.

Lin Zhe Xia: “….”

After taking a deep breath, she exited the chat and opened the contact profile. She changed the nickname “Medicine” (a homophone for Chi Yao) to “Chi Dog.”

Even “Chi Dog” wasn’t satisfying enough.

But with her limited vocabulary and good manners, she couldn’t think of a more insulting term.

She decided not to chat with Chi Yao anymore.

She scrolled through her contacts and opened another chat window.

Then she typed furiously.

• Chi Yao.

• You’re not human.

• You’re a dog.

• When you get back, I’m going to beat you up.

The contact named “Big Zhuang” replied with a long string of ellipses.

Big Zhuang: ………

Big Zhuang: What did you two fight about this time?

Big Zhuang: Also, if you’re cursing him, don’t do it in front of me.

Lin Zhe Xia replied: This is because I’m afraid I can’t beat him.

Big Zhuang: Understood.

There were many kids of the same age in the neighborhood. Big Zhuang, whose real name was He Yang, was also part of the group they had grown up with. He Yang had been chubby as a child, hence the nickname “Big Zhuang.”

After asking for the full story, He Yang consoled her: “Be grateful. When I send him messages, he barely replies. Occasionally, he sends two words: ‘Read.’ You got six whole words. Compared to that, my brother Yao’s response to you was practically warm and enthusiastic. Be secretly happy.”

Now it was Lin Zhe Xia’s turn to fall silent.

• Thank you.

Lin Zhe Xia put down her phone and did a few more problems. When the clock struck eleven, she was about to rest when she suddenly remembered the pile of snacks she had left at Chi Yao’s house.

“I originally wanted to leave them for you to eat, as thanks for letting me borrow your projector,” Lin Zhe Xia muttered softly, tapping the page of her book with her pen. “But I didn’t expect you to act so inhumanely.”

With that thought, she made up her mind.

She dropped her pen and decided to retrieve her snacks.

When she rushed out, she didn’t notice that a window in the opposite building, previously pitch-black, had suddenly lit up.

It was past eleven.

The neighborhood was pitch-dark, except for the streetlights still glowing faintly.

Lin Zhe Xia took her keys and ran into the opposite building like she always did.

The reason she had Chi Yao’s keys was that she had been running to his house since she was little. After pestering him too often, Chi Yao, annoyed, had tossed her the spare keys and told her to let herself in.

That set of keys had stayed with her for years.

Chi Yao’s parents were always busy traveling for work, leaving Chi Yao alone at home most of the time.

So when Lin Zhe Xia inserted the key into the lock, she didn’t notice any sounds coming from inside.

She opened the door and was surprised to find the lights on.

Glancing around the living room, she spotted a black suitcase.

She hadn’t seen this suitcase the last time she came over.

She didn’t even have time to wonder who had returned before the next moment arrived.

The bathroom door was pulled open.

A figure emerged, draped in a loose black T-shirt. His hair was still damp, un-dried, with slightly long bangs clinging to his forehead.

He was tall, still in his teenage years, and though his frame hadn’t fully matured yet, the first impression he gave off was one of narrow hips and long legs. His skin was strikingly pale against the dark fabric of his shirt, almost sickly so.

The boy’s features were sharp, his brows and eyes seemingly outlined with an exaggerated touch—untamed and carefree. At that moment, his gaze was lowered, revealing long, slanted corners of his eyes and a deep-set double eyelid. In contrast to his bold, dramatic eyes, his irises were surprisingly light, carrying a faint glint of sharpness.

Chi Yao glanced at Lin Zhe Xia, who had just walked in. After a pause, he said indifferently, “Surprised, aren’t you?”

“?”

As if he hadn’t noticed Lin Zhe Xia’s bewildered expression, he added another line:

“Your dad’s home.”