Lin Zhexia almost blurted out: You’re full of crap!

Who was the one who fought three people at once before?

And who was the one who bragged about being Cheng’an School’s boss?

She hadn’t seen him get weak-kneed during fights; instead, she remembered him not even blinking.

After a moment, Lin Zhexia asked: “Are you joking?”

Chi Yao replied with a mirthless smile: “You started the joke first.”

“…”

At this point, Lin Zhexia could only tell the truth: “Actually, I want to get my ears pierced.”

Chi Yao’s gaze shifted down a few inches, landing on the girl’s small, fair ears.

Lin Zhexia’s earlobes were clean, with nothing on them.

“But I don’t dare go alone,” Lin Zhexia added, “I’m afraid of pain.”

Chi Yao withdrew his glance: “Does Aunt He know?”

Lin Zhexia: “I plan to act first and report later.”

Chi Yao commented: “You’re quite brave.”

Although he hadn’t explicitly agreed to accompany her, as they talked, they had unconsciously started walking toward the commercial street.

Lin Zhexia: “Actually, I’m still quite nervous, but I’ve already thought it through. If my mom doesn’t let me in the house today, I’ll go to your place to do homework.”

Chi Yao: “You’ve certainly thought everything through.”

Lin Zhexia: “I guess so.”

Chi Yao: “You haven’t considered that I might not let you in either.”

After a moment, Lin Zhexia said: “…I have a key.”

The commercial street after school was crowded with students in No. 2 Middle School uniforms. Some were lining up to buy milk tea, others were buying snacks. As Lin Zhexia pulled Chi Yao through the crowd, she vaguely heard people whispering.

After a full year in high school, Lin Zhexia had become somewhat immune to these discussions.

After all, as someone who often stood at the edge of the spotlight, she was also indirectly the subject of attention.

Fortunately, as they walked further into the alley, there were fewer people.

The shops inside weren’t as busy as those on the main street; many storefronts were empty with seals on their large glass windows.

After walking a long way, they finally saw the accessory shop Chen Lin had mentioned.

A pink sign read: “Xinxin Accessory Shop.”

The shop was brightly decorated, and the glass door had three lines of round, cute writing in colored markers: Necklaces, Ear Accessories, Ear Piercing.

This shop thoroughly understood girls’ preferences; it even had an orange cat inside.

As soon as Lin Zhexia entered, the cat showed no fear of strangers and immediately trotted over to rub against her school uniform pants.

“…” Lin Zhexia said with delight, “A kitty!”

Chi Yao, who followed behind her with his bag on one shoulder, slowly crouched down and reached out to tug at the cat’s ear.

There was a strange harmony when Chi Yao was with cats.

Strange because he didn’t look like the type of person who would like cats at all.

The cat seemed to be more drawn to him, circling his hand.

Lin Zhexia was a bit displeased: “Why does it like you more?”

Chi Yao: “Because it has eyes.”

Lin Zhexia: “Maybe—this cat’s eyesight isn’t very good.”

Chi Yao naturally followed up with something only the two of them would understand: “Then how do you explain Xiao Mi?”

Xiao Mi was a cat Lin Zhexia had rescued when she was little.

There used to be stray cats frequenting the housing complex, and one emaciated stray had given birth in the night.

Early one morning, Lin Zhexia went out and heard faint meowing from the bushes near her building.

She parted the bushes to look and saw a snow-white kitten.

“Your Uncle Wei is allergic to cat hair,” Lin He, seeing her desire to keep the cat, had to persuade her, “I’m afraid it’s not possible.”

She remembered anxiously saying back then: “But if we don’t take care of it, it will die.”

Lin He: “How about this, let’s ask around the complex, maybe someone will be willing to adopt it.”

The first person Lin Zhexia thought of was Chi Yao.

Chi Yao, who was just starting middle school then, was already quite tall.

The young boy, just like now, crouched beside the bushes and lightly tugged at the cat’s ear in a teasing manner.

“You can leave it at my place,” Chi Yao said as he finally stood up, “but you’ll have to take care of it yourself, and remember to keep my place clean.”

Chi Yao had mild germophobia, and cats, being creatures that could easily bring “chaos,” were indeed not his favorite.

But “Xiao Mi” really liked him.

However, Xiao Mi was weak, and despite Lin Zhexia’s careful care, it didn’t survive more than a month.

The day Xiao Mi passed, she cried for a long time.

She finally cried to Chi Yao: “I still have so many things I want to tell you. Can it no longer hear me now?”

That night, she couldn’t fall asleep.

Then, in the middle of the night, she received a message.

The profile picture of the sender was a photo of Xiao Mi. When she opened the message, she almost thought it was from Xiao Mi.

Lin Zhexia still remembered what the message said:-

I heard you still have something to say to me

Followed immediately by two more messages from “Xiao Mi”-

Go ahead-

I’m listening

Her tears, which had stopped, suddenly flowed again. She still felt terrible, as if someone was squeezing her heart, but amidst the pain, it felt like a hand gently patted her head.

Curled up in her blanket, she typed many words-

I’m sorry I didn’t take good care of you-

Next time-

Next time you’ll be healthier, you’ll meet a very good person, and then grow up happily and healthily.

She couldn’t help but ask at the end

Did you go to heaven?

The “Xiao Mi” on the other end typed for a while, and finally sent her one word-

Yes.

…

Lin Zhexia pulled herself out of the memories about Xiao Mi.

She looked at Chi Yao, who was now playing with the orange cat in the store, and then thought of the Chi Yao who had changed his profile picture in the middle of the night to comfort her. For once, she didn’t talk back.

Forget it.

Let him say whatever he wants.

The shop owner, a woman who looked about thirty, saw them enter and warmly greeted them: “What would you like to buy? If it’s a gift, we offer free wrapping. We have a complete selection, feel free to look around.”

Lin Zhexia, pulling Chi Yao along, first browsed through the accessory section.

Although they were already in the shop, the closer she got to doing it, the more scared she became.

She hesitated: “I still don’t dare.”

Chi Yao didn’t hesitate at all: “Then let’s go.”

Lin Zhexia grabbed his sleeve, afraid he would leave: “I didn’t say I won’t do it, I just need to prepare myself.”

Chi Yao: “Getting an ear piercing, what’s there to prepare for?”

Lin Zhexia: “It might be very painful!”

After saying this, Lin Zhexia guessed what he might say and added, “Don’t call me a coward.”

But her addition came too late.

Almost simultaneously with her words, Chi Yao had already scoffed lightly: “Coward.”

Lin Zhexia wanted to argue that she wasn’t always like this.

When she was younger, even if she got hurt accidentally while fighting with He Yang, she wouldn’t cry.

But now, as she grew older, she became more delicate.

Maybe because, no matter what happened, Chi Yao would always be by her side.

And those trivial matters of hers could always be fully shared with him.

“…”

“Three minutes,” Chi Yao checked the time, “if you’re not ready in three minutes, don’t bother preparing anymore.”

Lin Zhexia gave an “Oh.”

After her “Oh,” she suddenly had an idea.

“Since you think getting an ear piercing doesn’t hurt.”

She looked at him and said, “Why don’t you get one with me?”

The more she thought about it, the more feasible this method seemed.

“I’m very scared now, but if someone gets pierced with me, I probably won’t be afraid anymore.”

Chi Yao’s eyebrow slightly arched as he looked at her.

Lin Zhexia slowly said, “…Having more people die together is quite reassuring.”

Chi Yao initially didn’t respond to her, but she started being unreasonable: “If you don’t get pierced, I’ll sit at the shop door until dawn. Even in my dying moments, I’ll remember this day—the day a certain someone with the surname Chi ruthlessly rejected me.”

Finally, Chi Yao couldn’t stand how noisy she was and negotiated: “I’ll only do one side.”

Lin Zhexia thought about it—it wasn’t very suitable for boys to pierce both ears anyway—so she nodded: “That works.”

“Also.”

He added, “What’s in it for me?”

Lin Zhexia didn’t understand: “What benefit?”

Chi Yao: “Am I some deity descending to earth to save all living beings, taking this hit for nothing?”

Lin Zhexia hesitated, reluctantly saying: “My monthly allowance is two hundred yuan.”

“…”

“I can give you one hundred and fifty, and the remaining fifty, I’ll use sparingly.”

She saw that Chi Yao didn’t seem very satisfied with this answer.

So she steeled herself and changed her offer: “Two hundred, I’ll give you all two hundred, okay?”

However, Chi Yao didn’t accept: “Who wants your measly allowance?”

“…?”

“How about this,” he said, as if deliberately torturing her, “call me ‘brother’ once, and I’ll get pierced with you.”

…

Lin Zhexia was stunned for a moment.

She immediately thought:

That’s so like you.

Chi Yao.

Hitting the most vulnerable spot.

Ruthless and merciless, putting people in deadly situations.

Lin Zhexia struggled internally for a while, but in the end, her desire to get her ears pierced won: “That will have to wait until after you get pierced, to prevent you from going back on your word.”

After agreeing to get ear piercings together, Lin Zhexia finally gathered her courage.

She called to the shop owner: “Boss, can you do ear piercings here?”

The shop owner smiled and said: “Yes, of course. Ear piercing is sixty yuan. Do you want to get one?”

Lin Zhexia pointed at Chi Yao: “Yes, but he’ll go first—he’s only doing one side.”

The shop owner rarely saw boys come here for ear piercings, so she couldn’t help but give the boy a few extra glances.

The young man was in his school uniform. Perhaps it was her imagination, but she felt that his face brightened up her shop. Now the young man was accompanying the girl, and there was an obvious height difference between them.

“One side is fine too, just pay thirty yuan,” she said.

“For boys, choose simpler earring styles. How about obsidian? Most boys like to wear that kind. Though for him, he would probably look good in anything.”

But Lin Zhexia felt that wasn’t suitable.

In the end, she picked a simple silver cross from a basket of earrings: “This one.”

She always felt that Chi Yao was the type of person who suited silver.

Proud, dignified, and cool.

Getting an ear piercing was much simpler than Lin Zhexia had imagined. The shop owner first marked the position on Chi Yao’s earlobe, then used a sterilized device, clamped the earlobe, and with a “click,” it was done.

But simple operation didn’t mean there was no visual impact.

Lin Zhexia stood beside Chi Yao, observing his entire ear-piercing process up close, and saw how that “click” went through the earlobe.

The actual scene was more terrifying than she had imagined.

Lin Zhexia’s desire to get her ears pierced completely dissipated after that “click.”

She came to her senses.

After finishing one ear, the shop owner looked at Lin Zhexia: “Young lady, you…”

Before the shop owner could finish, Lin Zhexia stepped back and decisively told the accessory shop owner, “Just him. I don’t need one.”

“…?”

The shop owner, holding the ear-piercing tool, asked: “You’re not getting one?”

Lin Zhexia: “No, I think I should listen to my mother.”

On the way back, the atmosphere was very quiet.

This silence stemmed from the fact that it was she who wanted to get her ears pierced, and after agreeing to do it together, she ended up not getting one.

Lin Zhexia had tricked him and felt a bit guilty.

The two got off the bus, and she finally broke the silence with some difficulty: “Does your ear still hurt?”

Chi Yao, in a tone that sounded indifferent but wasn’t, said: “Get one yourself, then you’ll know if it hurts or not.”

“…”

Lin Zhexia: “I didn’t expect things to turn out this way either.”

“That brain of yours,” Chi Yao said, “what can it think of anyway?”

The two walked from the bus stop toward Nanxiang Street.

Having spent too much time in the accessory shop, the sky had darkened considerably by the time they headed back.

“But you didn’t lose out.”

Lin Zhexia explained the reason, “The earring looks good on you; it enhances your appearance.”

Chi Yao, who had been walking in front of her, stopped upon hearing this, turned around, faced her, and gave a cold laugh: “So I should thank you for this?”

Lin Zhexia boldly continued: “No need to be so polite with me.”

She wasn’t saying this to deliberately flatter him.

Even though she often said Chi Yao’s looks were just average, she had to admit that this person suited wearing earrings.

Suited to the point where… she couldn’t help but steal several glances at him along the way.

Earlier, after finishing, the shop owner had advised him that the piercing needed time to heal before he could change out the temporary earring, but Chi Yao wasn’t afraid of pain at all. Since he only got one side done and found it troublesome, he directly swapped it out.

Now the young man stood before her, the silver, cool-textured earring making his entire presence even more striking.

Lin Zhexia’s gaze, uncontrollably, fell on his earlobe again.

However, one sentence from Chi Yao brought her back to reality.

“Lin Zhexia, haven’t you forgotten something?”

She knew Chi Yao was referring to their agreement and brought out her prepared excuse: “I haven’t forgotten, but we agreed you’d accompany me to get pierced, but I didn’t get one, did I? Since I didn’t get an ear piercing, what we said earlier naturally doesn’t count.”

After she finished speaking, Chi Yao leaned down, moving closer to her.

Under the street light, she could see Chi Yao with his earring even more clearly.

She could even make out the vertical pattern on the silver cross.

Then, she heard Chi Yao say as he leaned in front of her: “—Fine, so you’re backing out of our deal?”

Author’s Note:

Little Chi: About accompanying her to get an ear piercing, but in the end, only I got one.