That night, Lin Zhexia lay on her familiar bed, chatting with Chi Yao-

Your dad sent me a red envelope. Should I accept it?

Boyfriend: Why wouldn’t you-

I feel a bit embarrassed.

Boyfriend: Accept it

Boyfriend: Also, call him our dad

Lin Zhexia: …

Lin Zhexia didn’t have thick skin. She couldn’t bring herself to say it, no matter what, and finally sent: Thank you, Uncle Chi.

Chi Hanshan: You’re welcome

Chi Hanshan: If Chi Yao bullies you, just tell me, I’ll buy a ticket and come over to beat him up

…

Meanwhile.

Chi Yao was sleeping in He Yang’s room, with He Yang’s mother laying out bedding on the floor for him.

When he was young, he would occasionally stay overnight at He Yang’s house, usually when they were playing games together until too late. They would even fight over the bed.

He Yang’s room was still the same as before, with a Slam Dunk poster hanging on the wall that had been eroded by time, turning yellow with curling corners. The desk by the window used to be piled with books, but now it was empty, filled with various odds and ends by He Yang’s mother.

He Yang went to bed early. He squinted and saw a light emitting from a phone screen below the bed: “Aren’t you going to sleep yet?”

Chi Yao: “Chatting with my girlfriend. You’re single, you probably wouldn’t understand.”

“…” He Yang was awoken from his drowsiness. “Damn.”

He Yang: “I’m just focusing on my studies right now, it’s not that I can’t find a girlfriend.”

Chi Yao: “Really?”

He Yang: “Could your response be any more perfunctory?”

Chi Yao: “Oh.”

Finally, He Yang gave up: “Goodnight, brother.”

But Chi Yao didn’t plan to let him continue sleeping. He pressed the power button on the side of his phone, and the screen went dark, extinguishing the only light in the room: “Hey.”

“I’ll say it again, I have a name.”

He Yang turned over and said, “What do you want?”

Chi Yao suddenly asked: “When did you find out?”

He Yang continued to play dumb: “Find out what what what?”

Chi Yao: “Still pretending.”

“Your acting that day wasn’t very good,” he added. “It could only fool that simpleton.”

At first, he hadn’t realized it, after all, He Yang was always scatterbrained.

But thinking about it later, he found that his reaction was much more exaggerated than Lin He’s reaction, so exaggerated that it was a bit abnormal.

“…”

He Yang opened his eyes and stopped concealing it from him: “The day you left, I accidentally opened the door and saw.”

The situation was pretty much as Chi Yao had guessed.

Now that it was out in the open, He Yang could finally express the feelings he had suppressed for more than a year. He sat up in bed: “Why did you have to kiss her? Did you consider my feelings—even if you had to kiss, couldn’t you have closed the door properly first? Couldn’t you be a bit more careful and not cause unnecessary trouble for your good brother?”

“Do you know how exhausting it was for me to pretend I didn’t know anything, and then you two even made a special announcement in front of me!”

No wonder.

No wonder during the year and more they were apart, He Yang would often take the initiative to share updates about Lin Zhexia with him.

For instance, telling him when she was confessed to by a classmate but didn’t accept.

…

Although he had never really replied to He Yang’s messages, he had read every single one that was about her.

“Thanks,” Chi Yao finally said.

He Yang was momentarily stunned, then quickly said: “That’s what brothers are for. Remember to keep an eye out for suitable girls at Lian University and introduce them to your brother. I plan to work on both schools simultaneously.”

The only response he got from his brother was two cold words: “Good night.”

“…”-

Lin Zhexia stayed at home for two days.

On the third day, she, Chi Yao, and He Yang had to return to school.

Before leaving, she was packing things in her room, with Chi Yao leaning against the doorway, waiting for her.

“What are you taking?”

“Some clothes for the changing season,” Lin Zhexia said. “Have a seat, I’ll be done soon.”

Chi Yao sat on the chair at her desk for a while, then got up and wandered around her room. Finally, probably out of boredom, he stopped in front of her bookshelf, opened the glass cabinet door, and prepared to pick out a book to read.

Lin Zhexia, who was packing, felt a pang in her heart and wanted to stop him, but his hand had already reached for that fairy tale book—

Inside the book were photos and wish cards.

Although there was nothing wrong with him seeing them, she still panicked a little.

She hadn’t figured out how to tell him yet.

“Wait.”

She quickly pulled out the fairy tale book, “Choose another one, I’m taking this one with me too.”

Chi Yao’s hand caught empty air, his fingers paused, then landed on another book beside it: “How old are you, still carrying fairy tale books around?”

Lin Zhexia: “None of your business.”

She hugged the book and stuffed it into her suitcase.

She thought to herself that she couldn’t say it before.

Now that they were boyfriend and girlfriend, it seemed even harder to find the right moment to say it.

That secret crush she had on him during high school was, to her, the most private secret of her girlhood-

After adapting to the rhythm of university studies, freshman year passed quickly.

As coursework became busier, they often arranged to do homework together in the library.

Lian University’s library had five floors, two of which were study rooms.

On this day, they had arranged a time in advance, and Lin Zhexia went to save a seat for him.

The weather had gradually turned cooler, entering winter before they knew it.

When Chi Yao arrived, he brought her a cup of hot milk tea.

The study room required silence, so Lin Zhexia bit on the straw while writing two words on a draft paper: “Thank you,” followed by a big smiley face. After writing, she passed the draft paper to the person across from her.

Chi Yao was looking up information. He hooked a pen with his fingers and circled her “Thank you.”

He wrote in the margin: [Thank who.]

Lin Zhexia wrote another line, then pushed the note back: [Thank you, big brother]

After a while, the note was pushed back to her.

[That’s not the right title. Who wants to be your big brother]

The two had never been in the same class and had rarely passed notes like this.

Usually, when she went to Chi Yao’s house to do homework, they would just speak directly.

The only time she remembered them passing notes was once after they had an argument and weren’t speaking to each other.

She couldn’t remember the specific reason for the argument, only that they were sitting face to face doing homework, but neither was speaking to the other.

Half a day later, she couldn’t hold out anymore and slipped him a note.

The note said: I don’t understand this problem.

Just five simple words, and Chi Yao surrendered, actively asking her: “Which problem?”

Thinking of this, Lin Zhexia boldly and deliberately wrote a new sentence on the note: [Thank you, gege]

After all… it was just writing.

It wasn’t real.

And she didn’t have to say it out loud.

But these four characters disrupted Chi Yao’s concentration on his research.

Moreover, she found that this person who always wanted her to call him “gege” actually became oddly “shy” when he saw the characters “gege.” The pen in the young man’s hand had been spinning before, but then he suddenly put it down, raised his hand to pull up his collar zipper, covering half his face, and leaned back against the chair.

Lin Zhexia was a bit embarrassed at first, but seeing his reaction, found it amusing, so she continued writing: [Why isn’t gege saying anything?]

The tips of Chi Yao’s ears were a bit hot.

People surrounded them, and some would look in their direction, but no one knew what they were secretly writing in their notes.

Although he was usually very calm when talking to Lin Zhexia, he had never actually expected her to use this term of address.

He silently exhaled, pinched his knuckles, and pulled the note over to write: [Call me that out loud when we leave]

Lin Zhexia: [I refuse]

The note exchange ended there, and they both focused on their study materials.

The study room was open 24 hours.

Many people would come to cram before exams, staying up all night.

That day, they planned to pack up and go to the cafeteria for dinner in the evening. Before eating, Lin Zhexia received a message from Lan Xiaoxue: Are you there, are you there?

Yes, what’s up

We’re planning to travel nearby this weekend, do you want to come with Chi Yao?-

Reply quickly, we’re about to book tickets.

Just as Lin Zhexia was worried Chi Yao might bring up the note-passing once they left, she immediately changed the subject as they walked out: “Xiaoxue is asking if we want to go traveling together this weekend. She said there’s a famous scenic spot nearby, and if we go, we’ll stay there for one night.”

“Do you want to go?” Chi Yao asked in return.

Lin Zhexia thought for a moment: “I’m fine either way, but I’ve heard that place is quite beautiful, especially in autumn and winter. My mom and Uncle Wei had discussed going there before…”

Chi Yao: “Then let’s go.”

So Lin Zhexia replied to Lan Xiaoxue while eating: We’re in.

That night, in the girls’ dormitory.

Lan Xiaoxue curled up in her blanket, making travel plans, and asked: “I’m booking the hotel. Qin Lei and I both want single rooms. She snores when she sleeps, and I can’t help it in the dorm, but I don’t want to suffer through it on our trip. What about you? Should I book one room for you two?”

Although they had been dating for half a semester, she wasn’t ready for the idea of staying together.

It just felt… hard to face.

Lin Zhexia hurriedly said, “No need, we won’t share a room.”

Lan Xiaoxue thought she was worried about what others might think: “It’s not a big deal.”

Lin Zhexia: “…Really, no need.”

Lan Xiaoxue heard that she genuinely didn’t want to, so she said: “Alright then, four single rooms it is.”

Lan Xiaoxue’s plan was very thorough, and there were no issues with the hotel or tickets. But when the weekend came, Lin Zhexia followed Chi Yao off the bus, entered their hotel rooms to drop off their things, went out for half a day, and when it was time to formally check in that night, she discovered the bathroom water heater was broken while she was halfway through her shower.

Lin Zhexia froze for a moment with a head full of soap bubbles she hadn’t had a chance to rinse: “…”

She hurriedly changed into her clothes and called the front desk. The front desk responded, “We apologize, guest, we’ll send someone to check it as soon as possible,” but despite saying “as soon as possible,” she waited for more than ten minutes without any maintenance staff showing up.

She couldn’t just stand there waiting with a head full of foam, so she called Lan Xiaoxue and the others: “Are you in your rooms? I…”

Before Lin Zhexia could finish, she heard very noisy sounds from Lan Xiaoxue’s end.

“We’re still outside! There’s a night market here at night, you two went back too early—what’s wrong?”

Lin Zhexia swallowed the rest of her words: “Nothing, just wondering when you’d be back. It’s fine, carry on with your fun.”

After hanging up, she had only one person left to ask for help.

Her boyfriend.

In terms of closeness, she should have called Chi Yao first.

But her current situation was somewhat embarrassing, and she didn’t want to look foolish in front of Chi Yao.

Beyond that reason, it was more than showering was something too private… she wasn’t prepared at all.

Strangely, the more familiar and close she became with Chi Yao, the more reserved she became in certain aspects.

Five minutes later.

Lin Zhexia, with her wet, dripping hair, shivering slightly from the cold, knocked on Chi Yao’s door.

Chi Yao had just showered. When he opened the door, his hair had just been dried and was a bit messy. Seeing Lin Zhexia, he frowned instinctively: “What happened to you?”

Lin Zhexia, holding her hair, said: “Bad luck, the water heater broke halfway through my shower.”

The next part was a bit difficult for her to say: “So could I… borrow your bathroom?”