How could there be someone as bored as Chi Yao in this world???

So bored that he deliberately changed his game ID to humiliate her.

The next day at noon, after lunch, Lin Zhexia went to Chi Yao’s house to protest: “Change your game name back, now, immediately, right away.”

Chi Yao was getting water in the kitchen. The young man, holding a glass, said very nonchalantly: “Sure.”

Just as she was wondering why Chi Yao was being so agreeable today, she heard him add the second half:

“A name change card costs five yuan. Pay up and I’ll change it immediately.”

“…”

“Why so quiet?”

“…”

His voice was light as he continued to ask: “WeChat or Alipay?”

“……”

“Cash is fine too,” Chi Yao extended one hand, leaning slightly toward her, and said, “Pay up.”

Lin Zhexia looked at his hand and, after a moment of silence, said: “Actually, I suddenly think Little Pig Splash is a good name. You should keep using it.”

“Pigs are… quite cute.”

Since she wasn’t willing to spend those five yuan, Lin Zhexia quickly changed the subject.

A few minutes later, she curled up on the sofa, covered with her blanket, head down scrolling through her phone, and while scrolling, switched to a different topic: “I bought something and put your address down for delivery. It should arrive in a few days, please help me receive it, and you must keep it a secret. This is a secret between us.”

Chi Yao: “Beg me.”

“Please.”

“‘Please’?”

“No, I mean, please, most handsome boy in the whole world.”

“Isn’t my mom’s birthday coming up soon?” she continued. “It’s a gift I prepared for her. I want to give her a surprise, and if it gets revealed ahead of time, it won’t be a surprise anymore.”

Lin He’s birthday is next week.

Lin Zhexia prepared small gifts for her every year, so Chi Yao didn’t ask any more questions.

Since Lin Zhexia’s fascination with the game hadn’t worn off yet, during the next few days while waiting for the package, the two would occasionally play as a duo.

After several days, Lin Zhexia became more familiar with the game, occasionally even making some good plays, and wasn’t dragging Chi Yao down anymore.

During this time, a female classmate whom Lin Zhexia wasn’t very familiar with sent a request to join their team: You play this game too? Let’s team up for the next match~

“I have a classmate who wants to play together,” Lin Zhexia said, lying on Chi Yao’s sofa. “Can I add her?”

Chi Yao did not react.

Lin Zhexia clicked “Accept.”

Seeing that a classmate was also online, it was quite normal to add them and play together.

The girl’s voice came through from the team: “Hi, Xia Xia.”

Lin Zhexia also greeted her.

Chi Yao didn’t turn on his microphone, remaining silent throughout like a professional carry who was just there to boost them.

Female classmate: “Why isn’t the other person speaking?”

Lin Zhexia: “Don’t mind him, he’s mute.”

“Huh?”

Since Chi Yao wasn’t using his microphone anyway, Lin Zhexia casually labeled him: “His phone is broken, and he’s from a poor family, so it’ll be a while before he can replace it with one that can make calls.”

“…”

The game ended quickly.

After being carried to victory, the girl remarked before leaving, “Your friend is really strong.”

Then she asked: “Is this a classmate from our class? I don’t think I’ve added them as a friend.”

Lin Zhexia was silent for a moment, not knowing how to tell her that the person she had been playing with was Chi Yao from Class One.

In the end, she could only say: “…Not from our class.”

A few days later, the courier delivered a package: “Is Chi Yao Big Stupid Pig you? Sign here, just sign right here.”

The package wasn’t large and was quite light.

Chi Yao had just woken up and expressionlessly took the pen from the courier.

After the courier left, he closed the door, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly as he muttered, “childish.”

Lin Zhexia was constantly checking the tracking status to prepare Lin He’s gift.

She ran to Chi Yao’s house in her slippers: “Has my stuff arrived—”

“It has.” Chi Yao was about to go back to his room to continue his nap, but before turning around, he warned her at the door, “Next time you use this kind of messy recipient name, don’t blame me if I throw your stuff out one day.”

Lin Zhexia: “You changed your name to insult me first.”

Chi Yao: “Which word did I use to insult you?”

“Your style of insulting people isn’t as forthright as mine,” Lin Zhexia said. “You didn’t use any dirty words, but you still insulted me.”

Chi Yao sneered: “Should I also praise your forthright approach?”

“Sure,” Lin Zhexia waved her hand. “I’m just that kind of straightforward person.”

After saying this, she squatted at Chi Yao’s entryway to open the package, then solemnly took out…

A ball of yarn.

Besides the yarn, there were also several thin wooden needles and a small booklet with “Scarf Knitting Tutorial” written on the cover.

To prevent Lin He from discovering that she was knitting a scarf, Lin Zhexia could only hide at Chi Yao’s house to knit secretly.

At first, she was enthusiastic, exclaiming: “Isn’t my gift great? Practical and original. I’m truly her warm little cotton jacket. Once I finish knitting it, it’ll keep her warm all winter.”

This enthusiasm dissipated within three days.

Because scarves are really.

Very. Difficult. To. Knit.

She had always been bad with her hands since childhood. Before, during craft class, when they had to submit plaster assignments, she tried hard for a week but still ended up begging Chi Yao to finish it for her to turn in.

Not to mention delicate work like knitting a scarf.

In the video tutorial, the person could finish knitting in no time, but her hands were like malfunctioning mechanical arms, completely not listening to commands.

The video tutorial played on loop: “Cast on… for the first stitch, pick up right but don’t knit, place the yarn on the right needle, then use the right needle to pick up the second stitch from the left needle to the right needle…”

“…”

Even math problems seemed simpler than this.

Lin Zhexia listened through once, then silently dragged the progress bar back to the beginning and started over: “Cast on…”

She sat on the carpet with balls of yarn all around her feet.

Chi Yao was taking a nap on the sofa, covered with her small blanket.

The young man’s black sweater and her small floral-patterned blanket created a unique juxtaposition—jarring, yet somehow subtly natural.

The air conditioning was on, making the room quite warm.

The person on the sofa slowly opened his eyes after hearing the phrase “cast on” for the fifth time.

“Lin Zhexia.”

Lin Zhexia was struggling with the tutorial and had no energy to deal with him: “What?”

Chi Yao raised one hand to shield his eyes and asked with some disbelief: “You still haven’t learned how to do it?”

Lin Zhexia replied irritably: “I’ve only watched it five times. It’s very difficult, okay?”

“Is it that difficult?”

He said, “Five times, I could learn it just by listening.”

Lin Zhexia put down her needles and yarn, looked at him, and mimicked his tone to ask: “Are you still half-asleep?”

“If you’re not fully awake, I suggest you continue sleeping. This isn’t a dream, so don’t randomly show off, or you’ll get struck by lightning.”

Chi Yao ran his hand through his hair, then sat up.

He was sitting on the sofa while Lin Zhexia sat cross-legged on the floor.

Lin Zhexia looked up, and from this angle, his legs appeared even longer. Her gaze moved upward, noticing his lean jaw and the slight movement of his Adam’s apple when he spoke.

The young man’s voice was drowsy: “Give me the needles and yarn.”

…

Was he going to show off?

Lin Zhexia bit her lip.

She didn’t believe he could learn just by listening while half-asleep.

“If you’re so capable, go ahead,” she said, handing over the tangled mess of yarn she had been working on. “Let’s see how you knit.”

Chi Yao took the ball of yarn and completely unraveled the part she had knitted.

After untangling the needles and yarn, he hooked his fingers around the thin needle, adjusted his hand position, then casually moved his fingers in coordination, and amazingly, successfully cast on.

He knitted while feeling his way through, and although he was not quite skilled enough twice in the middle and had to pull out stitches to redo them, he quickly finished a row.

The beige yarn was neatly arranged, almost indistinguishable from what was shown in the tutorial.

Chi Yao lifted his eyelids slightly: “See that?”

“…”

After a while, Lin Zhexia didn’t want to admit it and said, “I can’t see, I’m blind.”

Upon hearing this, Chi Yao’s movements paused briefly.

Then he stood up, wearing slippers, and crouched down in front of her—even with his height, even if both were crouching, their eye levels still wouldn’t be equal. He stuffed the needles and yarn into her hands: “Take it.”

When Chi Yao crouched down, Lin Zhexia’s gaze fell on his open collar.

She dazedly took the needles and yarn, saying: “What next?”

Chi Yao reached out to adjust her posture: “Next, I’ll teach you, little blind one.”

Knitting a scarf naturally required hands-on teaching.

The young man’s fingers rested on her hands, guiding her to loop the yarn.

Chi Yao’s fingers were longer than hers, completely covering hers when overlapped. This was more direct and prolonged than any previous contact between them.

When she made a mistake, Chi Yao would gently tap her knuckles with his fingertips.

“You blind people, since your eyes can’t see, your other senses should be more sensitive,” he said. “Remember the movements yourself.”

Lin Zhexia had only been joking when she said she was blind.

But now she had a kind of indescribable, strange feeling.

It was indeed somewhat similar to being blind.

Because she truly felt that what she saw with her eyes was gradually being overlooked, while other sensations were infinitely magnified.

The warmth of his hands.

The subtle movements when he gently squeezed her fingers.

…

Even his shallow breathing.

Lin Zhexia’s fingers grew increasingly stiff, and she forgot even the movements she had previously memorized.

The air seemed to stop flowing.

In the frozen atmosphere, she felt somewhat at a loss.

Until Chi Yao noticed she had been making the same mistakes with her stitches and stopped.

Lin Zhexia seized that moment to catch her breath and broke the atmosphere: “Did… did you not secretly learn this before?”

Chi Yao raised an eyebrow in confusion, as if asking why he would learn secretly.

Lin Zhexia said slowly: “Because you wanted to show off your superior scarf-knitting skills in front of me, taking pleasure in crushing me.”

After hearing her words, Chi Yao was silent for two seconds.

Then he said, “Yes, I learned it.”

“I’ve been knitting scarves in a textile factory since I was one year old.”

“By age three, I could knit fifty scarves a day and was an outstanding employee at the factory.”

“How’s that answer?” Chi Yao said. “If you’re not satisfied, I can give you another one.”

“…”

Lin Zhexia shook her head: “You don’t need to change it, this answer is already ridiculous enough.”

Chi Yao lowered his eyes, looking at the tangled mess of yarn in her hands, and said exasperatedly: “The way you knit.”

It’s a complete disaster.

Before he could finish, Lin Zhexia suddenly stood up.

“I’m, I’m tired of knitting.”

She stammered: “That’s enough for today, I’m going home.”

When Lin Zhexia left Chi Yao’s place, it was already dark outside. As if trying to cover something up, she stood at the door and rambled on nonsensically to Chi Yao: “Remember to hide the needles and yarn well, don’t let anyone find them. If He Yang comes to your place and sees them… although he probably wouldn’t tell anyone either. Anyway, I just don’t want him to know. No one should know. You have to hide them well.”

Without waiting for Chi Yao’s response.

She turned and pushed open the building door, running back home.

After returning home, she went to the kitchen to get a glass of water to calm herself.

It must have been because they were too close just now.

Not used to it.

After all, Chi Yao was a boy.

It’s normal to feel awkward, right?

Even the best of brothers would feel awkward.

Yes.

Awk-ward.

She took deep breaths while holding her water glass.

Holding the glass, she unexpectedly noticed that the bathroom light was on, and slight sounds were coming from inside.

It seemed like… someone was vomiting.

Dim light, a woman’s faint vomiting sounds, followed by the sound of running water.

The lock clicked open.

Lin Zhexia met Lin He’s somewhat tired face.

“Mom, are you feeling unwell?” she asked with concern.

“It’s nothing,” Lin He was a bit surprised to see her and smiled, saying, “I must have eaten something recently that didn’t agree with me. I’m not digesting well. I’ll take some medicine and I’ll be fine.”

Lin He used to work while raising her alone, often not eating regularly, and her stomach had indeed been weak for a period. Even though she had been taking care of it since then, there hadn’t been an obvious improvement.

Lin Zhexia didn’t think too much of it and poured a cup of hot water for Lin He, too, instructing: “Make sure you take your medicine, and if you still don’t feel well, I’ll go with you to the hospital tomorrow.”

Lin He showed no unusual symptoms in the following days.

Lin Zhexia reminded her a few more times, then continued going to Chi Yao’s house to prepare the gift.

Only now, the scene at Chi Yao’s house was completely different from a few days ago.

Lin Zhexia had knitted two rows, but found that the subsequent steps became increasingly difficult, especially with the pattern stitches. She really couldn’t do it, so she resolutely gave up, curled up on the sofa with a bag of chips, and became the supervisor: “Those two rows you knitted are not bad. Maybe you really could work in a textile factory in the future. Keep up the good work.”

Chi Yao had several balls of yarn beside him, needles in hand, with a cold expression: “Have you rested enough?”

Lin Zhexia: “Not yet, I might need to rest a bit longer. You continue knitting for me first.”

“You need to rest for three days? Did your hand break?”

“…”

“Internal injury,” Lin Zhexia said. “I need to recuperate.”

Chi Yao slightly turned his head: “Whose gift is this anyway?”

Lin Zhexia: “Mine.”

Chi Yao: “So why am I the one knitting it?”

Lin Zhexia carefully answered: “…Because the capable should do more work?”

“…”

“But I really can’t learn how,” Lin Zhexia, afraid he might throw the needles at her, explained, “I want to knit it myself. And I’ve thought about changing the gift, but there’s not enough time now, and express delivery might not make it in time.”

And also.

Chi Yao’s teaching method.

She didn’t dare to try a second time, subconsciously wanting to avoid it.

Before Chi Yao could firmly refuse, she tore a piece of paper from the homework notebook on the coffee table, wrote two lines on it, and handed it to him: “Here, payment.”

Chi Yao thought the paper would have words like “one million yuan” written on it.

Lin Zhexia had fooled him with such “checks” many times when they were young.

But when he took it, he found that it said “Wish Card.”

The line below read: You can make one wish to me.

After that line was a parenthesis: Murder is illegal and not allowed, and unreasonable demands are also not allowed.

He snorted lightly but still kept the wish card.

Lin Zhexia finished her chips and started browsing her phone.

She saw several messages from her female classmate.

Female classmate: What are you doing

Female classmate: Have you done that set of papers from the winter break assignments? I want to compare answers with you.

Lin Zhexia wiped her hands and was about to reply: I’m at Chi Yao’s house watching him knit a scarf, the test papers aren’t with me.

Halfway through typing this message, she thought for a moment and deleted it.

Chi Yao’s persona at school was the type that no one dared to approach.

If she said she was watching him knit a scarf.

For this classmate, it might seem quite terrifying.

Lin Zhexia thought about this as she looked up at Chi Yao.

Indeed, his face was hard to associate with the words “knitting a scarf.”

Even while knitting, the young man appeared nonchalant, with an undisguisable sharpness hidden in his eyes and brows. Those hands that had beaten people, broken faces, and left scars were now holding knitting needles.

She felt as if burned by the sight, withdrew her gaze, and replied: I’m at a friend’s house, I’ll take photos for you when I get back.

After replying to the message,

Chi Yao noticed her gaze: “Stop looking, you won’t learn just by watching anyway.”

Lin Zhexia reflexively retorted: “Who’s looking?”

“Not looking at the scarf,” Chi Yao’s tone paused slightly, “so you’re looking at me?”

Lin Zhexia was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: “Don’t be so narcissistic. Your face, I’ve seen it for so many years, it’s not fresh to me anymore.”

Chi Yao finished the row he was working on and placed the yarn aside to take a break. He leaned back like a boneless creature, pinched his finger joints, and said: “Sorry, I forgot you’re blind.”

“…”

“For the blind, having eyes but not seeing is quite normal.”

*Author’s note: Today it’s scarf-knitting Xiao Chi!*

*PS: The knitting tutorial sentence is from Baidu Encyclopedia.*