CS - 76

Although Chi Yao seemed to be in a bad mood right now, Lin Zhexia was feeling quite cheerful.

“Are you jealous?”

Lin Zhexia felt a bit happy inside and deliberately said, “Even though he does fit my somewhat random... initial criteria for choosing a partner... I am actually a very loyal person, so don’t worry.”

At first, she didn’t take it seriously and tried to comfort him during the meal.

“You’re also very handsome; you should have confidence in yourself.”

“I won’t fall for someone else.”

“...”

But even after finishing the meal, Chi Yao’s reaction was still a bit distant. His wrist with the black hair tie turned slightly as he picked up her tray: “I’ll go dump it after we finish eating.”

On the way back, Lin Zhexia was still trying to liven up the atmosphere.

Since the club recruitment lasted two days, she wasn’t in a hurry to return. So she asked him: “What club do you plan to join? Let’s sign up for one together.”

Chi Yao had his hands in his pockets: “Not joining any.”

“Why not?”

“No time.”

Lin Zhexia cautiously probed: “Then... then I’m signing up for the skateboarding club with my roommates?”

Chi Yao glanced at her, practically wearing the words “don’t sign up” on his face. But he restrained himself and didn’t interfere with her social freedom, saying: “If you want to sign up, go ahead.”

“I’m really going.”

“...”

“You promise not to get mad.” Lin Zhexia added.

Chi Yao sneered: “Should I be overjoyed and give you a grand send-off?”

Lin Zhexia: “Well, that’s not necessary either.”

After they finished eating, they parted ways.

Chi Yao had things to attend to in his major, and she had classes in the afternoon.

She went back to the dormitory to grab her textbooks and, while waiting for the teacher to enter the classroom, thought about why Chi Yao would be jealous.

Lin Zhexia believed that she might be the person who understood Chi Yao the best in the world—no one else.

But even so, she still couldn’t quite understand.

Why would Chi Yao care so much about a joke she made when she was a child?

No matter how she thought about it, it should be clear that it was just something she said to tease him.

It was purely to annoy him and gain an advantage during their argument.

“Class is starting,” Lin Zhexia was lost in thought when her classmate next to her reminded her, “What are you thinking about? The teacher has been looking at you for a while.”

Lin Zhexia snapped back to reality and temporarily put aside the question.

Meanwhile, in the professional classroom of Lian University, which had its own standalone teaching building...

“The progress of our project is still a bit slow...”

The professor explained the tasks for the next stage and summarized before class: “For the next phase, we’ll continue as before. Chi Yao, you’re in charge.”

The person called upon sat in the back row of the classroom.

The classroom was a computer lab, and he seemed to have just woken up, with his cap hanging loosely behind his head. He responded indifferently.

After entering the project team, it wasn’t like regular classes where the teacher would explain everything in the classroom. They mostly needed to complete their practical tasks independently. After the professor finished speaking, he left the classroom, and the leader of the entire classroom became Chi Yao.

However, he didn’t resemble a class president but rather the “boss” of the class.

“Brother Yao,” several people gathered around to ask questions, “Explain it to us, we’ve been pondering for half a day.”

Chi Yao usually didn’t have a good attitude when explaining problems to them, but today it was particularly bad: “Go straight out and turn right, teacher’s office. Ask by yourselves.”

“Don’t dare to ask,” one of them said, “Last time I went to ask, I got lectured about lacking independent research spirit. I don’t want to walk into another scolding.”

Chi Yao cracked his knuckles and then took the pen from the person beside him.

That person understood and opened a draft paper, placing it on top of a book: “Please.”

Chi Yao casually wrote down a few steps on the paper.

As he dropped the pen, he rarely asked: “Who brought cigarettes?”

Smoking wasn’t allowed in the teaching building, and several people immediately declared their innocence: “I didn’t bring any.”

“I don’t have any either. I’m very health-conscious and never smoke.”

“Yes, Brother Yao, no one in our class has cigarettes. Rest assured, we are very law-abiding.”

“You can search the whole classroom and won’t find a single one.”

“...” Chi Yao’s temple twitched, and he felt a headache being surrounded by these people. Rarely, he cursed: “Who the hell told you to be law-abiding!”

“What I meant was, if anyone has some, give me one. Understand?”

The entire classroom fell silent for a few seconds.

Then those who previously claimed not to have any cigarettes started pulling out cigarette packs of various colors and brands from their pockets.

They lined up like handing in homework, holding their cigarette packs and voluntarily said: “Which brand do you want? We have everything here. Do you prefer domestic or imported?”

Chi Yao raised his hand, took a lighter from one of them, and randomly pulled out a cigarette from the nearest pack.

Someone kindly reminded him: “Remember to smoke at the end of the corridor, around the corner. There’s no surveillance, so you won’t get caught. If you don’t like the environment there, you can go to the small garden downstairs. You can enjoy the plants while...”

Before he finished speaking, Chi Yao had already walked out.

After Chi Yao left, several people whispered among themselves.

“...Brother Yao’s temper today.”

“He doesn’t usually smoke, why did he suddenly start now?”

“Could it be a breakup? No way.” Someone said, “With such good looks, he could date seven girlfriends, one for each day of the week. How could he possibly experience a breakup? If he can’t handle it, how can we survive?”

“...”

In the eyes of everyone, Chi Yao, who was “suspected of a breakup,” walked to the end of the corridor.

The corner was hidden by greenery. He leaned against the wall and took the lighter out of his pocket.

There were many classrooms on this floor, and occasionally, the sound of teachers instructing could be heard.

Although it had been some time since he last smoked, his gesture of holding a cigarette was still very practiced. He held it between his fingers, lowered his head, and bit it gently near his mouth. Just before pressing the lighter, he thought of something and put his hand down.

The unlit cigarette remained quietly clamped between his fingers.

Chi Yao lowered his eyes.

He suddenly remembered Lin Zhexia’s eyes—the eyes that earnestly told him “smoking is bad” under the streetlights at night.

Never mind.

...

Anyway, the craving for a cigarette that had risen due to his irritation had already subsided quite a bit on the way over.

He casually threw the unlit cigarette into the nearby trash can and then idly clicked the lighter.

A faint flame flickered up.

After clicking it one last time, he put the lighter away and called He Yang.

He Yang was in the middle of gym class and had just come off the basketball court when he answered the phone, panting: “What’s up?”

“Playing basketball?”

“Just finished the first half,” He Yang said. “What’s going on?”

He Yang walked over to the rest area and took a sip of water. “If you have something to say, just say it.”

The words were at the tip of Chi Yao’s tongue, but he hesitated about whether to say them. In the end, he only said: “I just wanted to catch up with you.”

He Yang knew him well: “Bullshit. When have you ever thought of catching up with me? I’m already grateful if you haven’t forgotten about me.”

Chi Yao fell silent on the other end of the line.

Then he suddenly said: “I’m with Lin Zhexia now. I pursued her.”

He Yang: “I know. You’ve already bragged to me countless times about your love affairs. There’s no need to call and tell me again.”

But this time, the situation was completely different from what he imagined.

Chi Yao wasn’t calling to show off or to bring up old matters. He abruptly changed the subject, his voice low: “—Do you think I shouldn’t have pursued her?”

He Yang: “?”

He Yang was a bit stunned: “Wait, what’s going on? Did something happen between you two?”

“You were fine before. You’ve liked her since forever, and now that you’re finally together, are you one of those guys who doesn’t cherish what they’ve got once they have it?” He Yang made his stance clear, “That’s not cool, man. We’re such close friends. You can’t pull that ‘start something and then abandon it’ nonsense. I advise you to get rid of that idea as soon as possible.”

“...”

Chi Yao found his head hurting from He Yang’s speech and interrupted: “Are you done yet?”

He Yang: “Just one last thing.”

Chi Yao: “Hold it in.”

He Yang: “But it’s really hard for me not to say it. I want to call you a jerk.”

“...”

After He Yang finished speaking, he waited and waited: “Yao Yao, why aren’t you talking anymore?”

Chi Yao’s voice was cold: “I’m calling a car.”

“Why are you calling a car? Shouldn’t you be in class right now?”

“Calling a car to go to Lian Yun Normal University,” Chi Yao said, “and then to the basketball court.”

“To play basketball?”

“To beat someone up.”

He Yang rubbed his nose: “...So I guessed wrong. What’s really going on?”

Chi Yao fell silent again on the other end.

Finally, he rubbed his dry fingertips and after a long while, blurted out a cryptic statement: “She would have met many people.”

He Yang didn’t understand at all: “What do you mean by ‘many people’?”

“It’s nothing,” Chi Yao wasn’t the type to easily open up, especially about things deep in his heart. He swallowed back the words he wanted to say, “I’m hanging up.”

He Yang raised his voice: “Wait—half a sentence and you leave me hanging like this?”

The response he got was an icy prompt: The call has ended.

After hanging up, Chi Yao leaned against the wall again, staring at the corridor in front of him, mentally completing the thoughts he originally intended to say.

—She would have met many people, after turning eighteen, after entering university, her life was just beginning. Before being with him, her world was small, and she hadn’t met or interacted with many people.

So perhaps, she still didn’t fully understand what it meant to like someone.

Her agreeing to his pursuit might just be because she thought he was decent enough.

Perhaps she hadn’t met the person she truly liked yet.

That person could be today’s skateboarding club member who fit her criteria, or it could be someone else.

In short, she would encounter more people and might end up liking someone who better matched her standards.

Thinking about this, Chi Yao helplessly realized that he was actually feeling insecure.

They were together, and their relationship was stable. But because he cared so much, even though they were together, he still cared too much about her.

Whether her feelings for him would last.

“Ding ling ling.”

The bell rang, signaling the end of class.

After two large classes in the afternoon, Lin Zhexia packed up her books, just stepped out of the classroom, and sent a message to Chi Yao.

-I’m done with class.

-When will you finish? I’ll come find you for dinner?

They used to always meet up for meals together.

But today, Chi Yao unusually refused her.

Boyfriend: It’ll be late.

Boyfriend: Eat first.

Lin Zhexia replied with an “Oh.”

Even though it was just text chat, without hearing his tone, based on some special telepathy between her and Chi Yao, she vaguely felt that he still seemed to be upset.

As if to confirm her guess.

He Yang’s message happened to come through: Did you and Yao Yao have a fight?

Lin Zhexia: ?

He Yang originally hesitated whether to say anything, since no matter how familiar they were, it was still a matter between the couple. But based on his understanding of Chi Yao, he believed this call was probably important, so he honestly reported: He randomly called me this afternoon and said some strange things.

Lin Zhexia: ...

Lin Zhexia felt a bit dazed.

This jealousy of his.

It must be aged vinegar, still sour after all this time.

In the end, she replied to He Yang: There was a small disagreement, nothing serious. Don’t worry about it.

Big Zhuang: Alright, I just wanted to let you know.

Lin Zhexia kept her head down, following the crowd out of the classroom. While replying to He Yang’s message, Lan Xiaoxue, who had class in the same building, happened to arrive at the stairwell. Lan Xiaoxue patted her: “What a coincidence.”

Lin Zhexia looked up: “Xiaoxue, can I ask you for a favor?”

Lan Xiaoxue: “Huh?”

Lin Zhexia handed her the books in her hand: “Take them back to the dormitory for me, and also help me ask for leave. I might have something to do tonight and won’t be able to make it back.”

After handing over the books, Lin Zhexia was left with only a set of keys in her hand.

The cartoon keychain held three keys: one for her home, one for the dormitory, and the last one for Chi Yao’s rented apartment outside school.

After such a long time, she had almost forgotten what it felt like to use a key to sneak into his place.

After arriving at Chi Yao’s place, she glanced around and found the furnishings pretty much the same as when she left.

She originally planned to tidy up a bit before Chi Yao returned, but found there was nothing to clean, so she could only curl up on the sofa, eating snacks while waiting for him to come back.

Chi Yao indeed had a lot of “work” tonight; he was still tied up in the classroom after ten o’clock.

He managed to send Lin Zhexia two messages during a break.

-Are you back in the dormitory?

-The lights are out, go to sleep early.

Lin Zhexia replied with a nodding emoji.

Girlfriend: Mm-hmm.

After eleven o’clock, he finally returned from the computer room.

At this hour, the apartment lobby was empty, with hardly anyone around.

He pressed the elevator button, went upstairs as usual, opened the door, and flipped the living room light switch. The moment the light came on, a figure on the sofa stirred.

Lin Zhexia, who had been curled up in a blanket sleeping, was startled awake by the sound of the door opening and the sudden light.

Chi Yao saw the girl on the sofa with her hair loose, eyes squinting, her whole body wrapped in the blanket, sitting up drowsily from the sofa and saying to him: “You’re so late coming back.”

He never expected anyone to be at home.

Even less did he expect Lin Zhexia to be waiting for him at home.

“...” Chi Yao placed the keys on the rack by the entrance, still carrying the chill from outside, “Why are you here?”

Lin Zhexia quickly shook off her sleepiness and said while wrapped in the blanket: “Nothing much. I just felt my boyfriend seemed a bit unhappy, so I came over to cheer him up.”