Past ten in the evening.

A lamp was on in Chi Yao’s living room as he lowered his head, with a “Scarf Knitting Tutorial” book spread out beside him.

The beige scarf in his hands was already more than half done, with just a small section remaining.

His phone beside him kept vibrating.

Xu Ting: Are you playing games? Are you playing games

Xu Ting: Hurry up, just waiting for you to come online.

Ten minutes later.

Xu Ting: Big bro

Xu Ting: Is your contact information just for show? You don’t reply to messages?

Finding it annoying, Chi Yao reluctantly freed one hand and tapped twice on his phone screen, selecting “Yes” on the “Block this friend?” option.

So when Xu Ting continued sending messages, he saw a prominent red exclamation mark suddenly appear before his messages.

Xu Ting was outraged and directly called him: “You better give me a reason today.”

Chi Yao’s voice was as cold as ever: “My contact information, you can do without it if you don’t want it.”

“So this is your—”

At this moment, Xu Ting felt like a spurned lover: “Reason for blocking me?”

Chi Yao: “There are other reasons, too.”

Xu Ting asked: “What?”

Chi Yao: “You’re too annoying.”

“…”

This reason was even worse than the previous one.

Xu Ting was speechless: “I just wanted to ask if you’re playing games or not.”

Chi Yao: “No.”

Xu Ting: “You haven’t been online for days now. Are you at home?”

Chi Yao: “Where else would I be?”

“Then why aren’t you replying to my messages?” Xu Ting accused, asking in confusion, “What do you do at home all day?”

Chi Yao had his phone on speaker. One leg was bent, with yarn wrapped around his hand, and half-read tutorial book spread out beside his leg.

He said in a low voice: “…Helping someone knit a scarf. What else could I be doing?”

Xu Ting couldn’t hear clearly: “Someone, what?”

“None of your business,” Chi Yao didn’t bother to elaborate, “Hanging up.”

Although Lin Zhexia had asked Chi Yao to help her knit the scarf, she still tossed and turned in bed before falling asleep, feeling somewhat guilty.

She said it was a gift.

But it wasn’t knitted by her own hands after all.

Lin He’s birthday was getting closer and closer.

She thought that giving it like this, the day after tomorrow, seemed rather inappropriate.

Before sleeping, she decided to go to the mall tomorrow with her saved New Year’s money to see if there were any other suitable gifts.

The next day.

To avoid arousing Lin He’s suspicion, she planned to slip out after dinner.

Based on her understanding of Lin He, after cleaning up the kitchen, she would rest in her room for a while. However, just as she carefully pushed her bedroom door open a crack, preparing to sneak out, she saw Lin He and Wei Ping in the hallway.

The two were standing at the bathroom door, with Wei Ping supporting Lin He.

Lin He was leaning against his chest, one hand covering her mouth.

Wei Ping carefully supported her with one hand while closing the bathroom door with the other: “Why has your morning sickness been so severe these past few days?”

Lin He: “Recently, I vomit after eating anything, and the symptoms seem to be getting worse.”

Wei Ping helped her walk toward the bedroom: “Let me help you lie down on the bed to rest for a while. If you still don’t feel well, we’ll go to the hospital this afternoon.”

Lin He didn’t take it too seriously: “No need, it’s not a big deal. When I was pregnant with Xia Xia, the symptoms were even worse. This is relatively mild.” As she spoke, her voice lowered, “More than that, I’ve been thinking lately about how to tell Xia Xia about my pregnancy.”

Hearing this, Lin Zhexia’s hand, which was about to push the door, froze.

Lin He continued: “Last time when she caught me having morning sickness, I didn’t know what to say.”

“Anyway, I still haven’t found the right opportunity.”

“I don’t know how she’ll react to this child.”

“…”

Lin He’s voice grew more distant.

Finally, Wei Ping took her back to their room, and when the door closed, it shut away all the sounds.

Lin Zhexia stood behind her door for a long time.

She stared at the hallway visible through the crack in the door.

It wasn’t until the phone clutched in her hand vibrated that she suddenly came back to her senses.

Chi Dog: Finished knitting.

Chi Dog: Come get it.

Lin Zhexia lowered her eyes.

After a while, she replied: Later, I have something to do right now, not at home.

After replying, she took her keys and left, avoiding Lin He and Wei Ping.

But she didn’t go to the mall, nor Chi Yao’s place.

She didn’t even know where she wanted to go, just following her subconscious and walking outward.

The evening sky was dim, and she walked for a while on the bustling streets, feeling cold all over from the bitter winter wind. When she reached the park and sat down by the lake, she realized she had left in such a hurry that she hadn’t worn her down jacket.

She just wanted to get some fresh air.

Lin He’s pregnancy came as a surprise.

It was good news, and she was happy for Lin He, but deep inside, that unease that had always been hidden in her heart quietly emerged.

Their reconstructed family was harmonious in all aspects.

Wei Ping was good in every way, and he was very good to her, too.

But over the years, their interactions had always remained polite.

A layer of unavoidable politeness.

Lin Zhexia looked up at the gloomy sky. It wasn’t raining today, but she couldn’t help thinking of that stormy day when she was little.

She told herself:

This is just some sudden minor emotion.

It would pass after a short walk.

Afraid that Lin He would worry, she rubbed her cold red fingers and sent Lin He a message: Mom, my classmate came to find me, I’m accompanying her shopping for a while.

Then she switched out and opened her chat with Chi Yao.

Chi Yao had sent her an unread message.

Chi Dog: Young Master Lin’s business seems quite busy.

She didn’t reply to this.

A few minutes later, Chi Yao sent another message: Don’t come after ten, I don’t want to open the door for you.

Chi Yao’s finger joints rested on the side button of his phone.

The screen automatically went dark after the set time, and he pressed the button forcefully, making the screen light up again.

The screen displayed their recent chat history, with the last line being Lin Zhexia’s reply to him.

One word—

Oh.

He Yang was playing games at his house, holding a game controller and shouting: “Damn, I was so close to clearing the level—the BOSS was down to its last bit of health.”

As he said this, he tossed down the controller and moved closer to ask: “You were just chatting with my Xia-ge, not paying any attention to my game progress.”

Chi Yao didn’t respond to his comment and only said: “Something’s off.”

He Yang: “What’s off?”

Chi Yao shook his phone.

He Yang glanced at the chat history: “What’s wrong? This looks fine, the conversation is very harmonious, with questions and answers.”

Chi Yao didn’t speak further. His fingers tapped the screen a few times, and he sent three more words: Where are you?

The person on the other end typed slowly.

After typing for nearly half a minute, she replied with two messages:

Didn’t I say, I’m outside—

My classmate came to find me, we’re taking a walk now.

He Yang: “By the way, you two chat so much, I’m envious. Could you also reply to my messages occasionally? When it comes to me, you two seem to be offline.”

He Yang continued rambling, but then saw Chi Yao suddenly stand up, put on his coat, pick up a bag containing something, and walk toward the door.

“Got something to do,” he said, “Going out for a bit.”

He Yang: “…What thing?”

Chi Yao: “Being with you too long, going out to breathe somewhere else.”

Lin Zhexia sat by the lake for about twenty minutes.

She had just adjusted her emotions and was preparing to act as if she hadn’t heard anything, return home, and then wait for Lin He to find the right opportunity to tell her herself.

However, before she could even stand up from the bench, she saw a familiar figure appear in the distance under the street lamp by the lake.

Even wearing a winter coat, he didn’t look bulky.

He still had that distinctive thinness unique to boys his age. Outlined by the lamplight, he was excessively eye-catching.

“With your classmate,” Chi Yao walked through that patch of light to stand in front of her, each word coming out distinctly, “taking… a… walk?”

“…”

Lin Zhexia rarely lied, and on the rare occasion that she did, she was immediately caught.

She said a bit guiltily: “My classmate just left.”

Chi Yao’s tone was cool: “Is that so?”

“Yes, we were just sitting here discussing life.”

To increase credibility, she began to add specific details: “It was Chen Lin, you know her. She’s been taking extra classes lately, and the academic pressure is too much.”

“Done with your story?”

Chi Yao looked down at her. The person in front of him wore only a thin and oversized sweater jacket, one she often wore at home. The girl’s ears were already red from the cold, and because she was afraid of the cold, her hands were tucked into her sleeves, making her look pitiful.

Chi Yao continued: “Want a few more minutes to call Chen Lin?”

Lin Zhexia didn’t understand: “Why call her?”

“To coordinate your stories.”

“…”

Lin Zhexia was silent for two seconds, then carefully suggested: “If you’re willing to give me that opportunity, I suppose I could…”

Chi Yao looked at her for a long while.

Lin Zhexia thought he would be angry, but surprisingly, he didn’t say anything.

Chi Yao simply raised his hand to unzip his coat, and then that black jacket, still warm from his body, fell onto her, enveloping her completely.

Chi Yao’s clothes were several sizes too large for her.

The coat that reached his knees almost touched her ankles.

She looked like a child wearing adult clothes, appearing extremely awkward.

After putting the coat on her, Chi Yao seemed to think it wasn’t enough.

He took out the finished scarf from the bag and wrapped it around her neck twice.

Chi Yao was indeed a bit angry, but the point of his anger seemed different from what she expected.

After letting go, he smiled without looking in his eyes and said, “Lin Zhexia, is your brain filled with water?”

Lin Zhexia, with the lower half of her face covered by the scarf, spoke in a muffled voice: “My brain is filled with intelligence and wisdom.”

“Two degrees below zero and dressed like this, very intelligent.”

“…”

Lin Zhexia: “Actually, today was an accident.”

“Oh,” Chi Yao said, “You accidentally had your brain eaten by zombies before leaving the house.”

“…”

Fine.

No brain, it is.

She had to admit that forgetting to wear a coat when going out today was indeed quite stupid.

Lin Zhexia felt the warmth gradually rising in her body, the coldness receding, and her fingers no longer stiff: “How did you know I was here?”

After throwing his coat to her, Chi Yao was left with just a sweater, which hung loosely on him.

He sat down beside Lin Zhexia, sitting side by side with her on the bench, and said: “Where else would you go when you’re feeling down?”

This place was Lin Zhexia’s secret base.

Since she was little, whenever she felt bad, from major things like failing exams to minor things like losing arguments with him, she loved to come here.

Lin Zhexia moved her fingers: “Then how did you know I was feeling down?”

Chi Yao said: “That ‘oh’.”

Lin Zhexia: “‘Oh’?”

Chi Yao unlocked his phone and found their chat interface.

Lin Zhexia glanced at it and remembered: “Isn’t replying with ‘oh’ a normal thing? I’m occasionally this aloof.”

“You’re not.”

Chi Yao mimicked her speech pattern with his characteristically lukewarm tone: “You would say ‘I have a key, I can open it myself, I dare you to change the lock right now’.”

Lin Zhexia opened her mouth but couldn’t refute.

That was indeed what she would say.

“So,” Chi Yao changed the subject, “what’s wrong?”

Lin Zhexia pretended not to understand, avoiding his gaze: “…What do you mean, what’s wrong?”

Chi Yao raised one hand, placing his palm on the back of her head, forcing her to face him: “I mean, what’s wrong with you today?”

Their eyes met.

Lin Zhexia looked into those light-colored pupils.

She could even clearly see her reflection in them.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she initially insisted.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

As she spoke, her nose brushed against the soft scarf, and she suddenly felt a bit acidic.

“Just suddenly feeling a bit unhappy, now I’m already…”

Already better.

The last two words got stuck in her throat, taking a long time to come out.

She blinked her eyes and found that she wanted to cry. When she opened her mouth again, her words carried an obvious choke: “I…”

How embarrassing.

She wanted to cry.

A small matter that she thought was trivial, a little emotion without reason that wasn’t worth mentioning.

When someone seriously asked about it, it seemed like she had the right to feel sad.

Lin Zhexia didn’t continue.

She didn’t want to cry in front of Chi Yao, or rather, exposing her inner vulnerability had never been an easy thing.

Chi Yao seemed to notice this, and he lowered the hand that was pressing the back of her head.

Then he raised his hand and pulled up the scarf wrapped around her neck to cover those eyes that looked like they had been drenched by rain, eyes like those of a little deer.

“Go ahead and cry,” he let go of his hand, “I can’t see.”

*Author’s note: The family part of Xiao Xia’s story isn’t sad, and Old Wei is also a good person.*