CS - 60

Lin Zhexia had initially felt herself float due to the alcohol, only to come crashing back down after saying something wrong.

But now, because of Chi Yao’s words, she was floating again.

Chi Yao had actually told her that she hadn’t misunderstood.

She hadn’t misunderstood—he was pursuing her.

The weight of those words hit her so hard that she almost thought she was dreaming. To confirm, she foolishly asked another question: “Why are you pursuing me?”

When Lin Zhexia recalled this part the next morning after sobering up, she was still so mortified that she completely hid under the covers for a long time before finally emerging.

Last night, there seemed to be stars in the sky.

Chi Yao, who always liked to speak sarcastically, set aside his usual demeanor and sincerely said to her: “Because I like you.”

“Lin Zhexia, I really like you.”

“…”

Then both of them fell into a long silence following this unexpected confession.

It was too sudden.

For either of them, the current situation was overwhelmingly abrupt.

Lin Zhexia didn’t know how to face it. Since he had already said he was pursuing her, immediately responding with “Actually, I’ve liked you for many years” didn’t feel right.

And… she was somewhat expecting it.

Expecting the person she liked to pursue her.

Chi Yao also didn’t know how to continue.

He appeared calm on the surface, but his ears were quietly turning red.

In his plan, telling Lin Zhexia that he liked her should have happened in a more formal setting.

After the atmosphere froze, he sighed and prepared to reach for her hand again to walk her back to the dormitory: “… It’s late. Let me take you back first.”

Lin Zhexia used the last bit of her rationality to restrain herself and dodged his hand.

“Only boyfriends and girlfriends can hold hands,” she said. “We’re not officially together yet.”

She turned her head away: “You should… keep pursuing me for now.”

________________________________________

The next morning, Lin Zhexia woke up with a slight headache.

The first message she saw upon opening her eyes was Chi Yao’s “Good morning.”

After hazily processing what had happened last night, she scrolled through her social media feed and discovered that Chi Yao had, surprisingly, updated his rarely active profile.

Cathead (Chi Yao): [I have someone I like.]

“…”

Chi Yao’s social media feed was almost always empty, and he was constantly criticized for his bad attitude. He never had any romantic gossip associated with him.

But now, he had openly declared his feelings on his profile.

Lin Zhexia’s heart skipped a beat as she scrolled down and saw a string of familiar names in the comments.

Xu Ting: [Did you lose a dare?]

Xu Ting: [No, wait—you don’t seem like someone who’d participate in dares.]

He Yang: [……]

Lan Xiaoxue: [Wow, things are progressing faster than I imagined.]

…

Among them, even Principal Liu from their high school, surfing the internet as an older adult, commented: [Ah, college is indeed different. Support, full support.]

She remembered the words she heard while drunk last night:

—If it’s still not obvious enough.

—I’ll try to make it even more obvious tomorrow.

Indeed, it had become much more obvious.

Very, very obvious.

And this single post made all the unreal, floating feelings she had experienced last night solidify into reality.

Last night wasn’t a dream. Everything that happened between her and Chi Yao—the words they exchanged—had truly existed.

That one-in-a-million possibility she had dared not hope for had now become possible.

Her face flushed red as she exited the app.

Just then, Lan Xiaoxue sent a new message: Didn’t I tell you? Your “brother” definitely likes you.

—Make sure he pursues you for a while longer.

—Girls shouldn’t be won over so easily.

Two days into the new semester, everyone had started to get a basic understanding of their classes and courses. Afterward, the freshmen embarked on a half-month-long military training session.

Nothing particularly special happened during those half months of military training.

She and Chi Yao were in different majors, separated by a considerable distance.

But every morning, they still met at the cafeteria for breakfast as usual, and every evening, after the military training ended, Chi Yao would wait for her to eat dinner.

They returned to the inseparable dynamic they had during high school.

However, Chi Yao still said ambiguous things and did slightly flirtatious things he wouldn’t have done in high school.

The only minor incident during the military training occurred because Chi Yao remained just as popular in university. His photos from the training somehow began circulating online.

Lin Zhexia didn’t know about Chi Yao’s situation, but through Lan Xiaoxue, she learned that the pursuit tactics of female university students were much more aggressive than in high school.

For example, girls from Chi Yao’s major seemed to bring him chocolates every day, though he never accepted them.

Some even went as far as audaciously attending his classes just to see him.

…

As these stories piled up, one evening during dinner with Chi Yao, Lin Zhexia couldn’t help but blurt out: “Lately, has there been… a lot of people approaching you?”

Chi Yao didn’t understand what she meant as he was picking out green onions for her: “What do you mean by ‘a lot of people’?”

“Chocolates,” Lin Zhexia couldn’t help but clarify. “I heard someone from your class gives you chocolates every day.”

Chi Yao simply replied, “Oh, yeah.”

Lin Zhexia waited silently for him to elaborate.

Realizing that Chi Yao was just looking at her without intending to continue, she prompted: “And then?”

Chi Yao: “Should I interpret this as you being jealous?”

“…”

“No,” Lin Zhexia denied outright. “I’m just casually asking.”

Wearing his military training uniform, Chi Yao teased her as he always did, lifting his chin slightly and speaking in a tone that left little room for negotiation: “Since it’s just casual curiosity, I won’t bother answering specifically.”

“…”

Fine, no answer.

Lin Zhexia poked at the rice in her bowl, thinking that she didn’t really have the right to ask.

Even though Chi Yao was pursuing her, they hadn’t officially confirmed their relationship yet.

Just as she was about to say, “Never mind, if you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t,” before leaving the cafeteria after cleaning up their trays, Chi Yao nonchalantly answered her earlier question: “I told them I’m currently pursuing someone. Accepting gifts would make it harder to find a girlfriend.”

All of Lin Zhexia’s thoughts came to a halt at that moment.

Then, tiny fireworks of emotion began secretly exploding in her heart.

She didn’t know what to say, so she simply responded with an “Oh.”

That evening, the two of them went to Lian University to visit He Yang. He Yang’s mother had somehow heard that he dyed his hair and insisted he dye it back. She even made Lin Zhexia and Chi Yao record a video to supervise him, ensuring he didn’t secretly disobey.

Sitting in the hair salon, He Yang lamented sorrowfully: “My charm will be greatly diminished tonight.”

He was reluctant to part with his red hair: “Is there any chance you could spray some temporary hair dye on me instead?”

“…”

Lin Zhexia and Chi Yao sat across from him, each holding a chair, and shook their heads in unison.

By the time they finished dealing with He Yang’s hair and returned to Lian University’s campus, it was already very late.

Throughout the journey, Lin Zhexia was preoccupied with her thoughts.

The conversation from dinner earlier still lingered in her mind.

Although Lan Xiaoxue had said that girls should enjoy the phase of being pursued and let Chi Yao chase her for a while, Lin Zhexia didn’t really want Chi Yao to keep pursuing her for too long.

Or rather, Chi Yao only needed to pursue her a little.

Because this person was someone she had liked for so many years.

She wanted to be with him, but she didn’t want him to chase her for too long.

Moreover, there were so many people in university. Today it was chocolates; tomorrow, who knows what else?

Though she knew Chi Yao had always been harsh toward others, she still worried. What if a very enthusiastic girl appeared, and this girl happened to be Chi Yao’s type…

…

Lin Zhexia thought about many things, which caused her to space out while Chi Yao was talking to her. She didn’t hear a word he said.

“Tomorrow morning, my department has something going on, so I won’t come to see you.”

“Mm.”

“Remember to eat breakfast and don’t sleep in.”

“Mm.”

“Lin Zhexia.”

“Mm.”

“Be my girlfriend.”

“Mm… Huh?!”

Chi Yao knew she was distracted and was only teasing her: “Just joking.”

“…”

In her heart, Lin Zhexia thought, he could have taken it seriously.

She had been mentally preparing herself throughout the journey. By now, they had reached the area near the teaching building. Ahead, there was a stretch of road without lights.

Perhaps there was an issue with the circuitry, as this road was usually brightly lit.

As they stepped into this stretch of darkness, Lin Zhexia’s courage inexplicably surfaced.

Because she couldn’t see Chi Yao’s face in the dark, she could only vaguely make out the tall, slim silhouette of the young man and hear his voice.

Walking side by side with him, halfway through the road, Lin Zhexia moved her fingers and touched the back of Chi Yao’s hand.

After making contact, she cautiously but firmly clasped his hand.

She felt Chi Yao’s entire body stiffen at the moment her fingers closed around his.

There were very few people on this road, and it was pitch black. Even the cicadas sounded fainter.

She was also very nervous after grabbing Chi Yao’s hand and didn’t know what to do next.

Should she say something?

Or should she do something?

In the end, the owner of the hand broke the silence and asked her: “What are you doing?”

Lin Zhexia’s voice was dry: “… I’m holding… holding your hand.”

Chi Yao’s voice drifted down from above: “If I remember correctly, someone once said that only boyfriends and girlfriends can hold hands.”

Silence fell between them again.

It felt like they were waiting for some kind of verdict.

Finally, Lin Zhexia closed her eyes briefly and said: “Since you already know, why do you have to ask again?”

A long while later, Chi Yao’s stiff fingers finally moved in her palm. The young man’s knuckles curved slightly, then took the initiative, forcefully sliding his fingers between hers, intertwining them tightly in a firm grip.

“So,” he said, “we’re officially boyfriend and girlfriend now.”

Lin Zhexia softly replied with an “Mm.”

Thankfully, the road was very dark; otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared to make that sound.

On the other hand, Chi Yao hesitated. Liking someone could make even a normally arrogant and carefree person uncertain.

Chi Yao: “Coward, do you like me?”

Lin Zhexia was too shy to say, “I’ve liked you for a long time,” so she settled with: “You’re not bad-looking, you’ve been very nice to me, and you’ve pursued me for so long. It’s normal for me to develop some romantic feelings for you, right?”

“You better confirm it.”

He held her hand and said, “Once we cross this road, if you want to let go afterward, it won’t be so easy.”

In response, Lin Zhexia tightened her grip.

Chi Yao didn’t lead her across the entire road. Midway through, he suddenly stopped.

Lin Zhexia asked: “Why aren’t we walking anymore?”

“I can’t wait,” he asked, “… Can I hug you?”

“…”

Before his words faded.

Lin Zhexia fell into his embrace. Chi Yao gently pressed his other hand against the back of her neck, pulling her entirely into his arms.

The surroundings were still pitch black, amplifying the other senses. For instance, Chi Yao’s hand, which had been resting on the back of her head, gradually moved down to her waist. Lin Zhexia had changed out of her military training uniform after finishing for the day, wearing only a short-sleeved shirt since she was meeting Chi Yao, and had paired it with a skirt.

Now, her shirt had shifted slightly upward during their movements, and the warmth of his fingertips was just a fraction away from touching the cool skin of her lower back exposed to the wind.

Lin Zhexia also heard a faint heartbeat emanating from him.

This embrace lasted a long time.

Before Chi Yao released her, she felt his hand subtly move upward again. After pressing against her head, his fingers moved a few times, undoing the black hair tie holding her ponytail.

Suddenly, her hair cascaded down.

“I’ll take this,” Chi Yao said after letting her go. Facing the light at the end of the road, he raised his wrist, where the prominent bone now bore the black hair tie he had just removed. He waved it at her and said, “… After all, we just confirmed our relationship. My girlfriend needs to leave her mark.”

Lin Zhexia stared at his wrist for a long time.

The reason for her stunned reaction wasn’t just that his action was so sudden—it was also because she remembered—

Among the countless moments she had shared with Chi Yao, there was one where she had just washed her hair and asked him to hold her hair tie for her.

At the time, she had been in a rush to leave, and her hair was still wet.

It was as if time had come full circle in that moment.

The black hair tie that had once briefly encircled Chi Yao’s wrist was now officially worn by him as her “boyfriend.”

This coincidence, spanning across time and linking in this moment, felt so meticulously planned.

It was as if, from that moment on, he had intended to do this.