CS - 71

The next morning, Lin Zhe Xia woke up very early.

She had been sleeping soundly when her nose bumped against Chi Yao’s shoulder. The boy’s bones were too hard, and the impact woke her up abruptly.

Opening her eyes, she experienced for the first time waking up in someone else’s arms on a misty morning.

After taking another shower last night, Chi Yao probably felt warm and hadn’t worn a sweater. Men’s body temperatures seemed to be slightly higher than women’s, so she felt as if she were enveloped by a heater. His sleeping face looked much “cuter” than usual—his sharp brows and eyes softened, exuding quietness.

So this was what it felt like to wake up and see the person you liked right away.

Lin Zhe Xia originally planned to get up immediately and return to her room, pretending that nothing had happened last night.

But the scene before her was just too heartwarming—

Sunlight lazily streamed through the window, and in his sleep, Chi Yao unconsciously tightened his arm around her.

She suddenly thought, why not stay in bed for a little while longer?

So Lin Zhe Xia snuggled into his arms and scrolled through her phone for a bit. There wasn’t much news today, and after scrolling through videos for a while, she got bored. She put down her phone and lifted her head to look at Chi Yao’s face.

Her attention fell on the boy’s eyelashes.

His eyelashes were so long. Lin Zhe Xia reached out to compare them with her fingers.

Then she felt an itch in her hand and wanted to pluck one of them.

As she leaned closer, the person who had been sleeping suddenly opened his eyes, and his lashes lightly brushed past her fingertips.

“What are you doing?”

Lin Zhe Xia blurted out: “I wanted to pluck your eyelash.”

“…”

“Go ahead,” to her surprise, Chi Yao obediently closed his eyes again, “We’ve already slept together. Mine is yours.”

Lin Zhe Xia’s face turned red: “I don’t want to pluck it anymore.”

She wriggled out of Chi Yao’s arms, got up from the bed, and slipped into her slippers, preparing to return to her room: “I’ll go back first. Little Xue might come find me for breakfast later.”

Their travel plans for these two days were simple. Yesterday, they visited a famous local museum and historical sites. Today, they planned to check out an amusement park, and after finishing the rides, they would check out and return to school in the evening.

Having known Chi Yao for so many years, Lin Zhe Xia was well aware that none of these activities were the types he enjoyed.

He came solely because she wanted to.

Sure enough, early in the morning, Lan Xiao Xue came looking for her: “Here, these are the tickets to the amusement park.”

Lin Zhe Xia took the two tickets and asked: “Aren’t you coming?”

Lan Xiao Xue replied: “Of course we’re coming. Although we’re all playing together, neither Qin Lei nor I want to eat dog food, so it’s better if we split up at the entrance.”

After saying that, Lan Xiao Xue winked at her: “Remember to ride the Ferris wheel. They say that at the highest point, you can see a sea of flowers below, which is perfect for lovers. It’s said that couples who ride it will stay together forever. That’s where I’ll leave you.”

If it were in the past, Lin Zhe Xia would have thought such legends were baseless.

But since dating Chi Yao, she had started to become a bit “superstitious.”

After the two finished eating breakfast and packing their things, they entered the amusement park through the ticket gate. After browsing through the attractions, Chi Yao asked her where she still wanted to go.

Lin Zhe Xia couldn’t hide her thoughts: “Let’s ride the Ferris wheel.”

“It’s just that us girls,” she tried to cover up her real intentions and added, “tend to like these girly attractions. There’s no special reason.”

Chi Yao didn’t think much about it.

But he held her hand, and as they walked to the queue, the amusement park, likely to attract customers, had placed a poster at the entrance, deliberately writing about the legend of the Ferris wheel.

“The Legend of the Ferris Wheel”

“Forever With You”

Chi Yao glanced at the poster and turned his head to look at her: “No special reason?”

Lin Zhe Xia: “…”

Chi Yao looked quite pleased: “You really don’t want to separate from me, huh.”

Lin Zhe Xia was rather embarrassed: “…Not really.”

“It’s understandable,” he added.

Lin Zhe Xia habitually denied it: “Stop being so self-absorbed.”

The Ferris wheel was one of the most popular attractions in the amusement park, and there were many people in line. Seeing the long queue ahead, Lin Zhe Xia decided to buy a cup of milk tea nearby: “You wait here in line. I’ll go over for a bit.”

Before she even said what she was going to do, Chi Yao saw through her: “Just buy one for yourself. Don’t buy one for me. I don’t drink.”

Lin Zhe Xia: “Oh.”

This kind of thing often happened between her and Chi Yao.

Her thoughts and ideas could always be seen through by him at a glance.

Lin Zhe Xia temporarily left the queue and went across to buy milk tea. Before leaving, she vaguely saw a pair of girls in the long queue. The two girls must have been best friends visiting together. When she left, they glanced in her direction several times.

Lin Zhe Xia ignored their gaze, ordered a drink at the milk tea shop, waited for a while, and then took the bag handed to her by the staff, saying: “Thank you.”

She picked up her drink and turned around. Looking back in the direction she had come from, the first person she saw was no longer Chi Yao but… two girls surrounding him.

The two girls looked very young.

As she approached, she faintly heard a sweet “Big Brother.”

The girl clearly wanted his WeChat ID: “Big Brother, can you transfer me ten yuan via WeChat?”

Chi Yao stood there, hands in his pockets, coolly lifting his eyelids: “Don’t call me randomly. I don’t use WeChat.”

The girl wasn’t discouraged: “I didn’t bring enough money. I won’t be able to go home later. Can you help me out?”

Chi Yao: “Turn left and walk straight to the service hall.”

Girl: “What should I do at the service hall?”

“Call your parents.”

He said tonelessly, “If you can’t go home, it’s something your parents should handle.”

“…”

“If you don’t have enough money next time, don’t come out to play,” he added, “It’s quite disturbing to others.”

When Lin Zhe Xia walked over, the two girls’ faces turned pale and red alternately, and they quickly left the attraction queue.

She hadn’t seen Chi Yao act like this in a long time.

Since they started dating, Chi Yao had been exceptionally indulgent towards her. Though he always appeared aloof, he mostly clung to her in daily life.

But whether in the past or now, Chi Yao was always special towards her.

Different from everyone else.

While drinking her milk tea, Lin Zhe Xia pretended to be jealous: “Who were those two just now?”

Chi Yao: “Strangers.”

“Strangers called you Big Brother,” Lin Zhe Xia grumbled, “You must have been quite happy, right?”

Chi Yao raised an eyebrow: “What makes you think I’d be happy?”

Lin Zhe Xia: “…Because you like it when people call you Big Brother.”

“Watch your words,” after she arrived, his hands, which had been in his pockets, came out again and hung by his side, instinctively reaching for her hand, “I only like hearing you call me that.”

As they spoke, it was their turn in line.

After the two sat inside, the staff closed the cabin door.

The Ferris wheel slowly began to rotate.

At the peak, they could overlook a vast sea of flowers nearby. Even though it was winter, the flowers were in full bloom, and from above, it looked like a painting on the ground.

Her last memory of the day was when the Ferris wheel paused at its highest point, and Chi Yao suddenly leaned in and kissed her.

A fleeting, pure kiss.

“Why did you suddenly kiss me?” she asked.

The promotional poster clearly didn’t mention this.

“I read it online,” Chi Yao said, “I’m a superstitious person.”

At the end of the semester, a small incident occurred.

Chi Yao joined a project group.

After sophomore year, all students in their major needed to join groups for practical learning, but Chi Yao was the only one to join early in freshman year.

After joining the project, he became even busier.

After lights-out, Lin Zhe Xia went to the balcony to call him: “You haven’t returned to the dorm yet?”

“At the teacher’s place.”

Chi Yao said, “The dorm lights are off. It’s inconvenient to go back without a computer.”

“Oh,” Lin Zhe Xia didn’t bother him further, “Then remember to rest early.”

But obviously, “resting early” wasn’t easy for Chi Yao to achieve. After a week of busy projects, at the end of the semester, he applied to commute next semester and rented a place off-campus.

Before the holiday, Lin Zhe Xia accompanied him to look at apartments.

After viewing a few units, Chi Yao asked her which one she liked. Lin Zhe Xia thought for a moment: “The one with the floor-to-ceiling windows. It seems to have better lighting. But ultimately, it’s up to you.”

Chi Yao chose the one she mentioned: “Up to you. Your opinion matters a lot.”

Initially, she didn’t understand what Chi Yao meant by that.

Chi Yao quickly completed his commuter application.

After moving his things from the dormitory and settling in, winter break began.

“For God’s sake,” on the day Chi Yao moved his stuff, his roommates practically begged him on their knees, “Can you spare us a key?”

“The school turns off the lights at ten—it’s unbearable.”

“A roommate for a day, a roommate for life! Your place off-campus is our home!”

“Exactly, this way we can hang out at your place, surf the web, play games for a bit, and then come back.”

“What are you talking about, playing games? That’s studying! Playing games sounds bad. At least use studying as an excuse to cover it up.”

“…”

“You guys want to stay?”

Chi Yao held two keys between his fingers, one of which was a spare key, and glanced at them.

The other three roommates nodded in unison.

Chi Yao coolly said: “If you want to stay, rent your own place.”

In the end, the spare key was given to Lin Zhe Xia.

After helping Chi Yao finish tidying up the apartment and about to return to school, she was called back by him at the doorway. She asked: “Is there anything else to take care of?”

“No,” Chi Yao said, “But you left something behind.”

Lin Zhe Xia, with her crossbody bag, looked at him helplessly: “You’d better not say I left you behind. Such cheesy lines went out of style ages ago, big bro.”

Chi Yao spun the spare key around his finger, letting it dangle in the air before finally landing in her sight: “…You left this.”

In her moment of astonishment, he straightforwardly grabbed her hand and placed the new key into her open palm.

“Hold onto it.”

This scene was very similar to the one years ago when Chi Yao gave her the key to his house.

Only back then, Chi Yao, annoyed, threw the key to her in a manner that implied not to disturb him again: “Open the door yourself next time.”

And that key had long been invalid.

Only now did she realize why Chi Yao had said her opinion mattered when choosing the apartment.