Lin Zhexia’s vision was blocked by the scarf.

Suddenly, she couldn’t see anything; only a blurry and soft whiteness remained.

Her nose felt even more acidic: “Can you not see me?”

She couldn’t see Chi Yao’s face, only hear his voice very close to her: “Wrapped up like this, do you think I have X-ray vision?”

“But looking like this,” as she spoke, the tears that had been circling her eyes finally fell, “I look so stupid.”

She was already wearing an oversized coat, and now her head was completely wrapped in a scarf.

Anyone who saw her would think she was crazy.

Chi Yao’s lazy voice sounded again: “No one knows it’s you, the only one who’ll be embarrassed is me.”

“…”

That seemed to make sense.

After the tears fell, the rest of the words became easier to say.

She sobbed: “My mom… is pregnant.”

“She hasn’t told me yet, I overheard it by accident.”

“I’m happy for her too, actually, before this, I’ve thought about it many times,” she hiccupped while crying, “she and Uncle Wei will have their child, I’ll have a little brother or sister… but all these years they never had children.”

“I used to wonder if it was my problem, if they were considering me, so they didn’t have children, if I… became their burden.”

“So I am very happy.”

Lin Zhexia spoke with a choked voice, sometimes stopping for a few seconds in the middle of her sentences.

She sniffled and continued: “Happy as I am, I seem to be a bit petty.”

“They’re going to have a child now, and I feel like I might become an outsider.”

“I’m afraid of being left behind, of feeling that in that home, between them, they might be the closest relatives.”

Hidden beneath the scarf, she couldn’t see Chi Yao, nor did she know what expression he had now, or with what kind of gaze he was looking at her.

Would he also think she was petty?

But the next second—

She felt a very light pressure on her head.

It was Chi Yao’s palm.

His palm pressed on top of her head, like gently stroking a stray cat or dog.

“This isn’t pettiness.”

She heard Chi Yao’s voice saying, “It’s cowardice.”

His voice became very gentle, even the mocking tone softened: “And you still say you’re not a coward.”

Some things are clearer to an observer.

And he was an observer who understood Lin Zhexia better than anyone else.

He had long known about her fear, dread, and all the insecurities beneath her exterior.

“It’s you who doesn’t dare to truly accept them, and now you’re turning it around, thinking they might abandon you. If you don’t open your arms to embrace them, how would you know that you’re not the person closest to them?”

As these words fell, Lin Zhexia suddenly froze.

Chi Yao continued: “When I went to your house before, I saw Uncle Wei bring you gifts several times. Have you ever told him that you don’t like pink?”

Lin Zhexia opened her mouth: “I…”

She hadn’t.

She had always been so “well-behaved.”

Never joking with Wei Ping, never making requests of him.

All along, she had played the role of a “qualified” daughter, keeping her distance.

Early on, it might have been genuine unfamiliarity, but later, only insecurity remained.

Because she had been abandoned before.

The unforgettable thunder, the pleading voices.

And in her memory, the blurry figure of a man resolutely leaving.

What Chi Yao said was right; she was just a coward.

She always lacked a sense of security, so she had been avoiding, presumptively keeping a safe distance from others.

“I don’t know,” she cried, “I don’t know why I don’t say it.”

Chi Yao’s hand still rested on her head.

Although he didn’t say a word, the light pressure on her head seemed to give her a tiny bit of courage, so she continued: “Maybe I’m afraid that making requests will make people dislike me, will make people reject me.”

As she cried, she let go of her pride.

Finally, she admitted through tears: “I’m just afraid, I-I’m just a coward.”

After saying everything, Lin Zhexia’s sobs gradually stopped, though she would still sniffle occasionally.

After a while.

She heard Chi Yao ask her: “Done crying?”

The head wrapped in the scarf nodded.

“If you’re done, I’ll pull the scarf down.”

The head wrapped in the scarf paused, then nodded again.

The scarf was pulled down, revealing Lin Zhexia’s reddened eyes from crying, and even her nose was red.

Although it was embarrassing.

But the person in front of her was Chi Yao.

Being embarrassed in front of Chi Yao had always been something she could accept.

And after saying the words from the bottom of her heart, there was an indescribable sense of relief, as if this matter wasn’t as difficult to face as before.

With red eyes, she didn’t forget to warn: “You can’t tell anyone that I cried today.”

Chi Yao: “Bribe me a little, and I’ll consider it.”

Lin Zhexia widened her eyes, not expecting him to take advantage of the situation: “You’re such a dirty-minded person, I won’t stoop to your level.”

But after a while.

She extended two fingers from her sleeve and lightly tugged at the hem of Chi Yao’s sweater: “Um.”

“I just calculated, my saved allowance is about five hundred yuan, is that enough?”

“…”

“So you’re,” he lowered his head, looking at her two extended fingers, “planning to stoop to my level?”

Lin Zhexia didn’t make a sound.

Chi Yao twitched the corner of his mouth: “I was joking. I’m not that bored, I wouldn’t tell even if you begged me.”

Hearing this, Lin Zhexia said, “Then pinky swear.”

She thought Chi Yao wouldn’t bother with her.

Because Chi Yao rarely made pinky promises with her, thinking this behavior was particularly childish.

But this time Chi Yao looked at her hand, then reluctantly bent his finger, hooked onto hers, and made an extremely brief contact with her pinky for a second.

After making the promise, she looked at Chi Yao’s collarbone exposed to the cold air and that sweater that looked like it would let the wind through, and belatedly realized: “Aren’t you cold? Let me give you back your coat.”

Chi Yao had an I-fear-nothing attitude: “Not cold, don’t need it.”

Lin Zhexia: “In this weather, how could you not be cold?”

Chi Yao: “Don’t you think…”

Lin Zhexia: “?”

Chi Yao: “I look better dressed like this.”

“…”

“I just like to pose.”

He did look good.

But it was quite sick.

The sky had completely darkened, and there weren’t many pedestrians left by the lake.

Lin Zhexia suggested: “It’s getting late, let’s go back.”

The two walked back side by side.

When they reached the South Alley street sign, Chi Yao stopped and called her name.

“Lin Zhexia.”

Hearing this, Lin Zhexia turned her head.

She saw Chi Yao take out a piece of paper from the pocket of those seemingly thin jeans.

He held that paper with two fingers: “Is this piece of trash paper you gave me last time still valid?”

The paper had her handwriting: Wish Card.

“If it is,” his fingers bent slightly, “coward, I’m going to make a wish.”

“My wish is—you go home right now and tell Uncle Wei that you actually don’t like pink.”

He added: “Try opening your arms.”

Lin Zhexia dazedly took the paper.

This was a wish she hadn’t expected.

When she jokingly gave Chi Yao the wish card that day, she thought this wish card would eventually be used by Chi Yao to order her around or play tricks on her.

When Lin Zhexia pushed open the door and entered the house, Lin He was watching TV in the living room.

The woman’s hair was gently coiled at the back of her head, and she turned to call out: “Xia Xia, you’re back?”

She immediately frowned: “How could you go out dressed like this? Where’s your coat? It’s so cold outside today.”

Lin Zhexia: “I left in a hurry and forgot.”

Lin He was very angry: “Why didn’t you forget yourself outside too, you still know how to come home.”

Lin Zhexia made up an excuse: “As soon as my classmate and I went out, we found a coffee shop to sit in, so I wasn’t cold at all.”

Lin He didn’t believe her at first, but when she held Lin Zhexia’s hands, she found they were indeed warm.

“Be careful next time,” Lin He could only suppress the scolding on the tip of her tongue, “be more mindful, don’t do anything without thinking it through.”

Lin Zhexia responded with an “Oh.”

Lin He looked at her again and asked: “Why are your eyes so red?”

Lin Zhexia said, “Probably from the wind, it was too strong outside.”

At this moment, Wei Ping walked out of the kitchen.

He held a cup of freshly brewed hot water and placed it in front of Lin Zhexia: “Um… drink some hot water to warm up.”

After these words, the living room quieted down.

Only the sound of the television remained.

The TV was broadcasting news, saying that the temperature would drop sharply tonight, and it might snow.

Lin Zhexia looked at the steaming glass cup on the coffee table, her hands tucked into her oversized sleeves, tightly gripping the note Chi Yao had just returned to her, trying to muster the courage to talk to Wei Ping.

But the surrounding air was too quiet, and she was a bit afraid to speak up.

She clutched the paper.

Recalling Chi Yao’s words before they parted.

—”Coward.”

—”Try opening your arms.”

Wei Ping was sitting opposite Lin Zhexia, about to ask her, “Why aren’t you drinking the water?” when he suddenly heard her call him.

“Uncle Wei.”

Wei Ping responded: “Yes? What is it?”

Lin Zhexia’s fingers were tense, speaking somewhat unnaturally: “I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time, I don’t actually like pink. If you want to bring me gifts, could you not buy those pink stuffed toys?”

Wei Ping was stunned at first, even Lin He beside him was surprised.

Then he laughed with relief and pleasure: “Okay, your uncle understands. So what do you like? Let me make a note.”

Lin Zhexia’s tense hands loosened a bit: “If you ask me now, I can’t think of anything right away.”

“Anyway, I’m a girl with a very tough personality.”

“Good,” Wei Ping nodded, “tough.”

“…”

Wei Ping asked again: “Do you like toy guns? When your uncle was little, he liked these tough toys.”

Lin Zhexia: “That’s a bit too tough, not very suitable.”

They had been a reconstructed family for so many years.

This was the first time she had chatted with Wei Ping with a completely unguarded heart.

The conversation content was ordinary, nothing special about it.

But Lin Zhexia knew clearly that beneath the ordinary appearance, something had quietly changed.

It was like a little girl who very much wanted to open the door and communicate with the people outside, finally opening that door for the first time.

Before opening the door, the little girl thought there would be many dangers outside.

But after opening it, she found that she had been embraced by the outside world all along.

Even though the key to open this door was merely a sentence, “I don’t like pink.”

The atmosphere was so good that evening that Lin He cleared her throat and said: “Xia Xia, I also have something to say… I’m pregnant.”

Lin He explained: “I just found out recently. I wanted to tell you earlier, but this child came so unexpectedly. Your Uncle Wei and I never planned to have children and have always been using contraception.”

Indeed, in all these years, they had never mentioned children to her.

“The main reason I didn’t tell you is that we weren’t sure whether we wanted to keep this child or not.”

Wei Ping continued: “This is something that needs careful consideration, and we need to take your thoughts into account. Having an additional child in a family is not a casual matter. Plus, the doctor also advised us to consider carefully, as your mother is older now, and having a child at this age is very hard on the body and can easily involve risks.”

The wind was strong that night.

This winter was very cold.

But Lin Zhexia felt that all the coldness around her had been driven away.

Finally, she heard herself say: “If you can keep it, I hope it’s a little sister, so I can braid her hair.”

With Lin He pregnant, she needed to go to bed early.

After chatting for a while, everyone returned to their rooms to rest.

After washing up, Lin Zhexia lay in bed, hugging her blanket and rolling around a couple of times.

Then she picked up her phone and sent Chi Yao a message reporting the situation—

I, Young Master Lin, have always been a person of my word—

The wish you made, I’ve already fulfilled it—

[Appears with a rose in mouth]—

[Cool sunglasses]

After sending these messages, she thought of something and got up from the bed again.

Before going home, she had taken off the coat and returned it to Chi Yao, but she still had the scarf around her neck.

It’s just that Lin He was so focused on her not wearing a coat that she didn’t notice the scarf.

This scarf was now lying quietly on the desk.

She held the scarf, and many images flashed before her eyes.

There was the image of her begging him to help knit the scarf at Chi Yao’s house.

There was also the image of her crying hidden in the scarf by the lake just now.

The scarf was soft.

It was knitted stitch by stitch by that young man who seemed to respond coldly to everyone.

She suddenly didn’t want to give this scarf away anymore.

“Anyway, I was planning to change the gift,” she whispered to herself, “and it wasn’t knitted by me either, so it’s not good to give it away. I’ve already worn it, it has my tears on it, so… it’s not too much for me to secretly keep it, right?”

She folded the scarf and solemnly placed it in her wardrobe.

Then she carefully smoothed out that crumpled wish paper and tucked it into one of her favorite fairy tale books.

When she lay back under the blanket, she finally saw the messages Chi Yao had sent back.

There were two messages—

Young Master Lin is still honest and trustworthy

The other one—

Sleep early, coward.