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Psst! We're moving!
The anxious, uneasy heart paused for a moment.
Chi Zhiyu looked at him and softly repeated, “You’re not leaving?”
“Mm.” Xie Ye lowered his eyes to look at her. “Not leaving.”
He wouldn’t abandon her, nor would he leave alone.
Because he had said—
He wouldn’t leave.
The tense nerves relaxed at this moment.
Chi Zhiyu raised her eyes. “Don’t lie to me.”
Hearing that, Xie Ye smirked, “You’d rather believe Li Taoran’s stupid words than trust me?”
The implication was clear: I’m not that idle to bother lying to you, fool.
Chi Zhiyu understood, but still muttered softly, “Who knows if you’re lying on purpose.”
Xie Ye scoffed, “Just focus on class and use your brain more.”
Chi Zhiyu hadn’t replied yet.
Xie Ye glanced at her, “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be this dumb.”
“...”
Chi Zhiyu was in a good mood today, so she endured it, turned to tidy her desk, and prepared to study and do homework.
Xie Ye watched her with his eyes slightly curved, obviously relieved, and tugged at the corner of his lips.
Ahead, Su Le turned around, saw him back, hurriedly placed a test paper on his desk, and said, “Here, explain this problem to me.”
Xie Ye glanced over. “Where?”
“Here.” Su Le pointed at the third question.
Xie Ye scanned the problem, grabbed a pen, and circled some numbers. “There’s an extra friction force besides gravity here; after decomposing the forces and plugging into the formula, the result is—”
“Hey! Wait!” Su Le quickly interrupted, “I got it, I got it.”
Xie Ye didn’t continue. Su Le wrote down the formula, then remembered what happened earlier. “Oh, right, what did they say about your early admission?”
Xie Ye: “Not much.”
“Did you agree?”
“Mm.”
Su Le kept writing and asked, “So you don’t have to take the college entrance exam?”
Xie Ye lowered his eyes at him. “Li Taoran said that?”
“Yeah.” Su Le nodded, calculating numbers on scratch paper. “He also said you might stop coming to class.”
Xie Ye let out a cold chuckle. “Is that so?”
“Yeah, but what do you think?” Su Le looked over at Chi Zhiyu beside him, who was wearing headphones listening to a listening exercise, and raised an eyebrow at Xie Ye. “You really quitting school?”
Xie Ye leaned back in his chair and smirked. “Li Taoran is me? Does everything he says have to be true?”
Su Le understood immediately. “Okay, got it.”
Xie Ye glanced at him. “And what do you know now?”
“Nothing.” Su Le wrote a number on the test paper. “I think you’re just mad at Li Taoran for talking too much.”
Xie Ye retorted:
“Doesn’t he talk a lot?”
Su Le laughed, “He was just guessing, saying it casually.”
“Guessing?” Xie Ye’s lips relaxed into a sly, arrogant smile, “No one complains about him talking too much.”
Su Le nodded, “Alright, alright, got it. I’ll be sure to tell him later.”
After saying that, Su Le glanced at Chi Zhiyu, “Just now when Li Taoran mentioned you might not come here anymore, Chi sister looked pretty upset. Remember to comfort her later.”
Xie Ye glanced sideways, “What’s that got to do with you?”
Su Le raised an eyebrow, “I’m just helping you two find something to talk about, didn’t you know?”
“...”
“And Chi sister actually cares about you, so don’t lose heart, put some effort in.”
Hearing this, Xie Ye said “Oh,” then teased, “You really noticed she cares about me?”
“Hmm?”
Su Le was a little confused by what he meant — was he asking how he noticed she cared, or was he implying that’s all he noticed?
Before he could ask, Xie Ye lifted his chin and sent him off, “Go write your homework, scram.”
Su Le was a little speechless at his attitude, clicking his tongue, “Who cares?”
He didn’t bother to ask further, took his test paper, and turned to leave.
Xie Ye heard that and raised an eyebrow, then turned to look at the girl focused on her listening practice beside him.
Chi Zhiyu selected the last answer, took off one earphone with one hand, and met Xie Ye’s gaze.
She paused for a moment, blinked, and asked, “Why are you looking at me?”
Xie Ye gave a slow “Hmm” and leisurely said, “I remembered something and want to ask you.”
It was rare for him to have something to ask her.
Chi Zhiyu was a bit caught off guard. She was about to say, “Whatever it is, I’ll tell you everything,” but as the words reached her lips, she suddenly felt something was off. Her eyes scanned him up and down suspiciously. “What is it? Ask first.”
“I forgot to ask earlier.” Xie Ye lazily looked at her, dragging out his words in a teasing tone, “Why did you react so strongly when you heard Li Taoran say I wouldn’t come to school?”
“...”
This sudden question made Chi Zhiyu blank for a moment.
Then she heard Xie Ye continue, “Can’t bear to part with me?”
“...”
“Or just can’t leave me,” Xie Ye said casually, raising an eyebrow slowly, “Want to be with me?”
Those last few words popped out unexpectedly.
Caught off guard, Chi Zhiyu choked a bit, “Wh-what?”
“Didn’t hear?” Xie Ye nodded, “Alright, I’ll say it again.”
“No, no need!” Chi Zhiyu quickly interrupted with her hand.
She definitely couldn’t listen to it a second time.
“Oh.” Seeing her reaction, Xie Ye clearly understood her little secret, and called it out, “Trying to pretend you didn’t understand?”
“No.” Chi Zhiyu coughed lightly, “I just didn’t react in time.”
Xie Ye seemed to understand and nodded, “Now you’ve reacted, spill it.”
“...”
What was she supposed to say?
Say yes?
I want to be with you?
Crazy!!!
Chi Zhiyu licked her lips, pretending to be calm as she asked, “What do you want me to say?”
Xie Ye turned his head and kindly reminded, “Explain why you reacted so strongly.”
“Oh.” Chi Zhiyu recalled the main point, trying to calm herself, and pondered aloud, “I reacted so strongly because...”
Before she could finish, Xie Ye added, “Oh, Su Le also said you were very upset, like,”
He seemed to be choosing his words carefully, then slowly uttered one word: “Heartbroken.”
“...”
“Who?” Chi Zhiyu was stunned, “I’m heartbroken?”
Xie Ye: “Yeah.”
“...”
How could his expression be so straightforward and arrogantly cool?
Chi Zhiyu choked a little.
Alright then.
Just treat her as heartbroken.
“I just thought if you left, I’d be all alone, so I was that upset.” Chi Zhiyu gave a reasonable answer.
Xie Ye concluded, “Oh, so you can’t bear to part?”
“Mm.” Chi Zhiyu looked at his expression and hesitantly nodded, “Probably.”
She thought that was the end, but unexpectedly, after hearing her answer, Xie Ye looked at her with amusement and continued, “So if you can’t bear to part, does that mean you can’t leave me?”
“...”
Chi Zhiyu thought he might add “want to be with me” after that, so she quickly said, “No, just because I can’t bear to part doesn’t mean I can’t leave you.”
Xie Ye raised an eyebrow, “Is that so?”
“Yeah,” Chi Zhiyu feigned calmness, “I can’t bear to part because you’re my deskmate. At least we’ve been deskmates for a year. If it was someone else, I’d be sad too.”
After saying that, she nodded in affirmation.
Yeah, exactly like that.
Xie Ye lazily said, “You treat others the same way?”
Chi Zhiyu blinked, “Of course, how can I forget my deskmates so easily?”
“Can’t forget? Oh, so you remember everyone you meet.” Xie Ye glanced at her, like he’d figured her out, his tone teasing and sarcastic: “You’re quite the flirt.”
“...”
Chi Zhiyu corrected him, “I’m loyal to feelings.”
Xie Ye twitched the corner of his mouth, “Yeah, that’s what all flirts say.”
“...” Chi Zhiyu was amused despite herself and nodded, “Fine, to be honest, it’s not just you I can’t bear to part with.”
Xie Ye: “?”
“I just think that if you leave,” Chi Zhiyu looked at him, “then no one will help me with my homework anymore.”
“...”
—
Chi Zhiyu successfully turned the conversation around and was fairly satisfied.
But what pleased her most was that Xie Ye wasn’t leaving, and they could take the college entrance exam together.
Her good mood lasted until after school. When Wu Xuan came over to ask her to walk home together, she also casually asked about the matter.
Chi Zhiyu casually said, “Xie Ye isn’t leaving. We’ll take the college entrance exam together.”
“Not leaving?” Wu Xuan asked, “Then what about classes? Is he coming to class?”
Chi Zhiyu nodded, “He is.”
Wu Xuan clicked her tongue, “As expected, you can’t trust anything Li Taoran says.”
Thinking about Xie Ye’s words, Chi Zhiyu frowned. “He says all kinds of things. From now on, let Li Taoran talk less and do more.”
“Hey, why do you sound kind of angry?” Wu Xuan looked at her and teased, “Afraid your Ye-ge won’t be by your side?”
Chi Zhiyu didn’t hide anything, “I’m afraid. You know my mom doesn’t want me to be around him, right?”
“Oh, right, right,” Wu Xuan said jokingly, “Your mom is really over the top. If she doesn’t let you meet normally, you still have to see him at school, right? And you two are even desk mates.”
“You’re wrong.” Chi Zhiyu pulled a bitter smile. “She actually thought about going to school to ask the homeroom teacher to move our seats apart.”
“???” Wu Xuan was shocked. “No way.”
Chi Zhiyu smiled, “Surprised or not? Excited or not?”
Wu Xuan said, “I’m seriously shocked. Your mom’s control is terrifying.”
“Yeah.” Chi Zhiyu smiled softly, “So I’m scared too.”
“...”
Wu Xuan was stunned by her expression.
“Do you know I don’t want to go home every day now?” Chi Zhiyu said, “Because whenever I get home, I have to face all my mom’s demands and plans. I don’t know when Bai Li will drive me crazy, but I feel like thinking this way is wrong.”
“...”
“But one day I suddenly realized,” Chi Zhiyu smiled slightly, “She never seems to think I’m tired.”
It’s actually not that surprising.
Since childhood, Bai Li has been involved in everything.
One demand after another piled pressure onto her, constantly emphasizing:
— Mom needs you to be the best.
Because of this,
Everyone’s attention will be on you.
Including your father.
Because that’s something she can’t have.
“So I don’t expect her to love me, but at least,” Chi Zhiyu paused, “don’t treat me like a doll.”
“You’re not a doll. You’re a person — a living, breathing person.” Wu Xuan frowned and emphasized, “You’re doing great now. Your mom’s just got issues. After the college entrance exam, when you get to university, you can do whatever you want. Don’t listen to her.”
Chi Zhiyu smiled at the joke, “So I’m going to let myself loose?”
“Exactly. High school is too restrictive. After university, your mom’s far away and can’t control you. And Xie Ye is right by your side — just rope him in and have him protect you.”
Chi Zhiyu whispered, “No need to rope him in.”
“Huh?”
Her gaze was a little absent, “He’s actually been protecting me all along —”
“Since childhood.”
So she was scared and afraid of losing him.
She didn’t even dare to imagine what would happen if he left.
Would her life have already fallen apart?
...
Every time Chi Yan came, Bai Li’s nerves would be out of control.
Sometimes too extreme, sometimes too violent.
And when Chi Yan watched her madness, it was like watching a clown — his expression completely unmoved, cold and ruthless.
He let her act out but never paid attention.
Chi Yan’s indifference was innate. But maybe because Chi Zhiyu was his only blood-related child, his attitude towards her was not cold, though it was only the minimum required by their genetic father-daughter relationship.
No so-called fatherly love.
Chi Zhiyu remembered one weekend in middle school. After Chi Yan had given her superficial caring words and left, Bai Li was once again standing amid the wreckage of broken things.
At that moment, Chi Zhiyu looked at her calmly and was about to turn away, but Bai Li suddenly called her.
“Ayu, come here.”
Chi Zhiyu looked at her cold expression and didn’t move. “What is it?”
Bai Li said faintly, “Mom called you, you should come first. Didn’t you know?”
That day Bai Li’s mood was unstable and nerves sensitive.
Chi Zhiyu didn’t resist and stepped in front of her.
Bai Li silently looked down.
Looking into her icy eyes, Chi Zhiyu instinctively felt something was wrong.
Before she could react, Bai Li glanced at the clock on the wall and said, “Training time is up. Go to the dance studio.”
It was like a curse.
The beginning of a nightmare.
Chi Zhiyu stepped back, but it was too late to resist. Bai Li noticed her intention and grabbed her arm, forcibly dragging her toward the dance studio.
Chi Zhiyu remembered it as a cold prison.
The harsh, cold lighting all around.
Pale white.
Mirrors wrapped around the room, cruelly reflecting every fall and rise of her body.
Like a replay on a video recorder.
Endlessly repeating.
Outside the frame was Bai Li’s voice—
“Again, your hand was wrong.”
“Your foot was wrong.”
“Your backbend isn’t right.”
“Do it again, start over.”
...
Again.
The word Bai Li said most.
Accompanying Chi Zhiyu’s dance moves.
Repeatedly, over and over.
The words were like knives cutting her spinning toes, ankles, and whole body.
At that moment, Chi Zhiyu felt something wetting her clothes — she didn’t know if it was sweat or blood.
She didn’t pay attention.
In the empty dance studio,
Chi Zhiyu only remembered that day she felt like a machine, being reset over and over, endlessly dancing.
Countless falls and the sounds of her body hitting the floor echoed, mixed with Bai Li’s cold voice, slowly pounding on her nerves.
Just as they were about to snap—
Suddenly—
A heavy door slammed open, the door handle banging against the wall.
“Bang!” The sound interrupted Bai Li’s repeated “Again.”
Chi Zhiyu’s mind was dull and slow as she raised her head toward the door.
The figure who came in was blurry, but she recognized him instantly.
It was Xie Ye.
At that moment, the tension in her fraying nerves loosened.
Chi Zhiyu’s posture was unstable; she helplessly let herself collapse. Just as she was about to fall to the floor—
Suddenly—
She landed in a warm embrace.
It was the familiar sandalwood scent.
At that moment, all her grievances, pain, and tangled emotions seemed to find a breakthrough.
Her nose tingled with emotion; she forced her eyes closed, her voice trembling involuntarily, “Xie Ye.”
“Let’s go.”
Xie Ye caught her body, hearing her voice, said nothing but gently wrapped his arms around her waist and stepped outside.
There was no warmth in his eyes. Passing by Bai Li, he didn’t slow his pace at all. Without looking away, he calmly said,
“I’m taking her with me. If this happens again, I’ll call the police.”
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