CS - 33

The infirmary fell into an unusually quiet state.

Lin Zhe Xia almost dared not breathe.

She hadn’t expected Chi Yao’s skills to remain as sharp as ever, if not sharper.

The girl was clearly taken aback, unable to respond for a long while. Finally, she hastily said, “Sorry to bother you.”

And Chi Yao, without batting an eye, accepted her apology: “Yes, it was quite bothersome.”

……

After a while, the girl probably left, and the area outside the curtain became completely silent.

Lin Zhe Xia was just about to pretend she had just woken up when, before she could start acting, she heard a voice:

“If you’re awake, get up.”

“...”

She sat up on the bed. “How did you know I was awake?”

Chi Yao: “You were tossing and turning while pretending to sleep. The only way someone wouldn’t notice is if they were blind.”

She hadn’t moved that much, had she?

Just a little movement, and he still noticed.

Lin Zhe Xia didn’t pursue this topic further. She pulled back the curtain: “I feel like my knee doesn’t hurt much anymore. Let’s head back to the stands.”

Chi Yao helped steady her: “Can you walk?”

Lin Zhe Xia tested by taking a couple of steps: “Yes, but I’ll walk a bit slowly.”

When they returned to the stands, Chen Lin and Tang Shu Xuan immediately surrounded her.

Chen Lin examined her injury: “What happened? Does it still hurt? I was so nervous when I saw you fall.”

Tang Shu Xuan: “What did the doctor say?”

Lin Zhe Xia shook her head: “It’s nothing serious, just a scrape. It was my carelessness, and I even caused our class to come in last place…”

Chen Lin: “No way. Old Xu praised you.”

Lin Zhe Xia interjected: “Praised me for what? For being ‘disabled but determined’?”

Chen Lin: “… Something like that.”

Lin Zhe Xia: “… I knew it.”

The sports meet was nearing its end.

The afternoon events were special, with all the teachers participating.

The school staff were taking photos with a video camera, and students were required to sit in the stands to watch.

During this time, a girl from the neighboring school who had overheard the rumors from the infirmary suddenly approached her.

The girl, clearly informed about the earlier incident, immediately asked: “Is Chi Yao really that poor?”

Lin Zhe Xia: “…………”

She paused briefly, then decided to play along: “Extremely poor.”

“He almost couldn’t continue his education because he couldn’t afford tuition fees when he was little. At seven years old, he started collecting plastic bottles from the community trash bins to sell for money. By ten, he went to work as a child laborer. At twelve…”

“All right,” the girl couldn’t take it anymore.

She turned to another girl next to her and whispered, “That’s so poor.”

“So poor… We definitely can’t consider him.”

“…”

After that group left, Lin Zhe Xia, bored, secretly messaged Chi Yao on her phone:

• I just reinforced your impoverished image -

• After all, we’re good brothers. I can’t expose you in public -

• Do you want to hear about my brilliant performance just now?

Chi Dog replied with two words: No.

After ending that topic, Lin Zhe Xia shifted the conversation to the ongoing teacher race below:

• I think our Old Xu definitely won’t run fast -

• Last time, he went to an internet café off-campus to catch people, but didn’t catch anyone -

• When he came back, he secretly told us how embarrassed he felt -

• But it shouldn’t be a big issue for him -

• Because his opponents don’t seem too strong either.

……

Lin Zhe Xia transformed into an off-field commentator, updating Chi Yao on the race situation.

As she chatted, she casually typed: Why is it so sunny this afternoon?

After chatting for a while, she switched screens and half-heartedly responded to He Yang.

Big Strong: Did you fall? Are you okay?

Big Strong: After this ends, we don’t have to return to school with the bus. We can leave freely. What about you guys? Shall we leave together later?

Lin Zhe Xia replied: I’m fine, not sure, maybe.

Big Strong: I advise you to chat less with Chi Yao.

Big Strong: One becomes tainted by association.

Lin Zhe Xia: .

Big Strong: You’re even using my brother Yao’s texting style now.

Lin Zhe Xia typed back, lowering her head: I can do better.

Big Strong: How so?

Lin Zhe Xia: If you keep annoying me, I’ll block you.

Big Strong was impressed: … Damn.

She and He Yang often gossiped about Chi Yao privately. In the middle of their chat, something light suddenly pressed down on her, covering her head entirely. Her vision went dark for a moment, and the previously scorching sunlight was completely blocked out.

Two seconds later, she realized it was a jacket.

“It’s too hot,” Chi Yao had appeared behind her at some point. After dropping the jacket, he stood up as if storing something and said, “Hold onto it for me.”

“…?”

Lin Zhe Xia pushed the jacket back slightly and turned to look at him, “Can’t you carry it yourself?”

Chi Yao: “Too lazy.”

Before Lin Zhe Xia could say anything else, Chi Yao had already walked down the stadium steps.

She sat under the jacket for a while and realized it was indeed very effective at blocking the sun.

After a while, the heat wasn’t as intense.

……

So, earlier, he had come specifically to give her the jacket?

She found herself anticipating an answer to this thought.

Lin Zhe Xia scrolled through her recent chat with Chi Yao. Among the dense updates of the race situation, her casual comment—”Why is it so sunny this afternoon?”—was inconspicuously nestled in the middle.

But the next second, she dismissed the thought.

What was she thinking?

The sports meet ended, and since there was no need to return to school, the three of them boarded a car to go home.

Lin Zhe Xia’s knee was still injured. While sitting in the stands, she was fine, but the distance from the station to their residential area was a bit too long for her. Her pace slowed increasingly.

Midway, Chi Yao offered to carry her, but Lin Zhe Xia suddenly felt a stubborn resistance, feeling awkward about getting too close to him: “I can walk myself.”

He Yang praised: “My sister Xia has an iron will.”

Lin Zhe Xia: “….”

The three slowed their pace as they walked toward Nanxiang Street.

He Yang brought up something about their class and asked Chi Yao: “Did you hear about meeting one of our classmates in the infirmary?”

Chi Yao didn’t want to talk about it.

He Yang continued: “A girl, quite pretty, very popular in our class. After coming back from the infirmary, she cursed you out in the class group chat.”

Chi Yao: “Don’t remember.”

“…”

As lifelong friends, He Yang couldn’t help but remark: “You’ve been on our school confession wall before. After this incident, even those girls who wanted to ask for your contact info have given up. Your reputation now is just like it was in middle school.”

He Yang added: “No, it’s even worse now.”

Lin Zhe Xia didn’t know much about their middle school days. She only remembered the phrase “Don’t get close” from online posts and a few words He Yang had mentioned before.

Curious, she asked: “What reputation?”

He Yang: “Infamous hottie.”

“…”

Very fitting.

“It’s also a kind of skill,” He Yang said, “Such a waste of that face.”

As they spoke, the three had reached the signpost of Nanxiang Street.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the tree shade. The stone slabs on the road were scorching, the air stiflingly hot and humid, yet Lin Zhe Xia felt inexplicably happy.

A happiness she knew she shouldn’t feel, but couldn’t suppress from bubbling up from somewhere deep inside.

He Yang asked again: “By the way, the short holiday is coming up. Do you two have any plans? My parents want to travel, but with this weather, isn’t traveling just going to be crowds upon crowds?”

Lin Zhe Xia and Chi Yao almost simultaneously spoke up—

Lin Zhe Xia: “Studying at home.”

Chi Yao: “Got a competition.”

“You have a competition?” Lin Zhe Xia turned to look at him. “What competition? Why didn’t I know about it?”

“Physics Olympiad.”

Chi Yao briefly explained, “Going to Haicheng City for three days and two nights. Teacher Liu is leading the team.”

Lin Zhe Xia gave an “Oh”: “That far?”

Back at home, Lin He and Wei Ping were discussing the upcoming short holiday.

“Xia Xia,” hearing her enter, Lin He’s voice immediately called out from the living room, “Your uncle Wei and I are planning to travel during the short holiday. What do you think?”

Lin Zhe Xia’s thoughts aligned with He Yang’s: “It’s too hot. You two go ahead, I’ll stay home and do homework.”

Wei Ping: “It’s rare to have a holiday. Don’t you want to go out and explore?”

Lin Zhe Xia: “If I have to choose between going out and writing an extra test paper, I’d rather stay home.”

Wei Ping wanted to say more.

Lin Zhe Xia quickly interjected: “You two rarely get the chance to enjoy a two-person trip. I advise you to cherish this opportunity.”

Seeing her resolute attitude, Lin He and Wei Ping stopped insisting.

While talking, Lin Zhe Xia moved from the entrance to the living room, appearing before them. Lin He asked in surprise: “What happened to your knee? And… where did you get that oversized black coat?”

“I tripped while running, but it’s nothing serious.”

Lin Zhe Xia explained the first part, but didn’t realize the second question until following Lin He’s gaze downward to see the overly large black sun-protective coat on her body.

“Oh, it’s Chi Yao’s,” she realized she hadn’t returned the coat yet and explained, “We were sitting on the open-air stands, and it was too sunny. I borrowed it to shield from the sun.”

Hearing it was Chi Yao’s coat, Lin He didn’t say much, only adding: “Be more careful next time… When you shower, don’t soak in water for too long.”

Mentioning Chi Yao, Lin He asked: “Does Chi Yao have any plans for the holiday? If not, maybe you can study together. That way, we’ll feel more at ease leaving you alone.”

“He’s going to participate in a physics competition during the holiday.”

Lin Zhe Xia reassured them, “Don’t worry, I’m not a three-year-old kid anymore. I can manage staying home alone for a few days.”

“That’s good,” Lin He said, “I remember he used to love physics when he was younger. He even said once that he wanted to be a physicist.”

Lin Zhe Xia remembered too.

That was from their second year of knowing each other.

One weekend, they were assigned to write an essay titled “My Dream.”

Lin Zhe Xia scratched her head, too young to understand what a dream was.

After struggling for a while, she reluctantly wrote on her paper: My dream is to protect the environment.

She chose this angle not because of lofty ideals, but simply because it was easier to elaborate. She criticized the act of littering on roads.

Chi Yao finished his essay faster than her. She originally wanted to copy ideas from him, so she sneakily grabbed his paper and glanced at it, seeing two words: Physics.

“Your dream is so strange. Why do you like this?”

At that time, Chi Yao said: “Because it’s interesting.”

Lin Zhe Xia couldn’t understand what was interesting about it.

Dissatisfied with her barely started essay, she wanted to rewrite it and began staring blankly at the desk.

Fiddling with her pen on a draft paper, a sudden thought flashed in her mind: “If I don’t have a dream, does protecting someone else’s dream count as a dream?”

……

That night, Lin Zhe Xia lay in bed scrolling through her phone when she stumbled upon a post from their class teacher, Old Xu.

Old Xu had shared an article from the school’s official account titled: Our School Sends Competition Team to Participate in Lianyun City’s Third High School Physics Olympiad.

Lin Zhe Xia clicked into the article, which was rich with text and images.

She saw names of many prestigious schools, including Lianyun No. 1 Middle School.

After reading, she realized the scale of the competition was much larger than she had imagined. The winning team from the previous competition had even made it to the newspapers. On the day of the competition, numerous media outlets covered the event, making it a very formal occasion.

After finishing the article, she exited and sent a message to Chi Yao:

• When are you leaving?

Chi Dog: The day after tomorrow

Lin Zhe Xia: What time on the day after tomorrow?

Chi Yao seemed to notice something in her tone:

• Spit it out if you have something to say

Lin Zhe Xia typed back: As your beloved father figure, I naturally have to see you off.

He quickly replied:

• No need for a limping old father leaning on a cane to see me off

Lin Zhe Xia: …………

Unable to argue, she decided to skip the question: Your jacket is with me; I forgot to return it.

He replied with a “.” to acknowledge receipt.

Thinking of how he had earlier commanded her to hold onto his clothes, she lowered her head and typed: Storing clothes with me comes with a storage fee. How do I pay the storage fee?

After sending it, she braced herself for some annoying reply from Chi Yao.

However, this time, Chi Yao surprisingly replied in a human-like manner:

• In the pocket, take it yourself.

Lin Zhe Xia: ?

Lin Zhe Xia: What -

• Storage fee

Lin Zhe Xia put down her phone and felt the jacket pocket.

Through the thin fabric of the sun-protective coat, she touched something hard.

Hesitantly, she reached in and pulled out… an unopened candy.

Where did this candy come from?

Why was there candy in your pocket?

Chi Yao didn’t reply for a while.

In the gap while waiting for his response, Lin Zhe Xia unwrapped a piece and discovered it was lemon-flavored.

She bit into the candy in her mouth, tasting the unique sourness of lemons mingled with an undeniable sweetness.

For no apparent reason, she suddenly thought of that can of soda from last summer.

—That icy-cold can of lemon soda, fizzing with coolness.

After a while, her phone vibrated lightly, and she received two new messages:

• Bought it from the convenience store -

• Didn’t expect someone to not notice it for half a day

Her relationship with Chi Yao seemed to have begun with that can of soda. From the sound of that “pop,” a subtle chemical reaction had occurred between them.