“Where’s Chi Yao?”

In the hotel lobby, before departure, Old Liu counted the team members and only then discovered one was missing.

Just as he was about to shout, Chi Yao walked out from behind.

He took his place in the line and casually said, “Just took a phone call.”

Old Liu: “Oh, a phone call, that’s fine. I thought you’d disappeared, frightened me.”

But Xu Ting, standing next to him, felt something was off: “Who called?”

Chi Yao: “A friend.”

Xu Ting continued: “Why do I feel like your mood improved after taking that call?”

Chi Yao glanced at him, neither confirming nor denying: “Did it?”

Xu Ting, having interacted with him for over a year now, understood him fairly well: “Yes, under normal circumstances, when I just asked ‘who called,’ you wouldn’t have answered ‘a friend.’ When the hell did you ever answer my questions so directly?”

Xu Ting, as a long-term victim, spoke with heartbreaking proficiency: “Normally, you’d say ‘what does it have to do with you?'”

“Or ‘none of your business,’ or even ‘shut up.'”

“…”

Xu Ting: “Though your tone is still cold, you answered me just now, you said a friend—”

Chi Yao, annoyed beyond measure, cut him off at the source: “Then let me answer again.”

Xu Ting: “?”

Chi Yao: “None of your business.”

Xu Ting: “…”

Lin Zhexia returned to her hotel room.

She lay on the bed and took a nap. When she woke up, she found that the clothes she had hung out to dry last night were almost dry.

After tidying up, she sent a message to Lin He: Chi Yao has gone to the competition, I’m alone in the hotel now, don’t worry about me.

After receiving it, Lin He transferred some money with a note: Be very careful when you’re out.

She replied to Lin He: Thank you, Mom.

She felt quite embarrassed.

Sneaking out had caused so much trouble for so many people.

After doing these things, she started tuning into news channels, hoping to find something on TV about today’s physics competition.

She flipped through several channels and found a local station broadcasting competition-related content.

It was a program called “Local Fresh News,” with the host holding a microphone outside the venue: “Today, high school competition teams from various cities have gathered here… We can see that the scene is very lively. The competition has already begun, and to provide the students with a better competition environment, we won’t go in to film. We hope they all perform excellently today.”

The brief report ended there.

Lin Zhexia stared at the television, thinking absently: she was probably overthinking.

How could there be live TV coverage of the competition?

That kind of exam-like environment required quiet; they definitely wouldn’t allow media inside.

Just after Lin Zhexia turned off the TV, Chen Lin called her: “Deskmate, have you done that set of English papers? The printing on my copy has issues. Can you take a photo of yours for me?”

Lin Zhexia: “Ah, I’m not at home right now. Can I take photos for you when I get back tomorrow? Or if you’re in a hurry, you could ask Shuxuan.”

Chen Lin was a bit surprised: “You’re not at home?”

Since Chi Yao wasn’t around, Lin Zhexia blamed him: “Chi Yao was so nervous about his competition that he called me in the middle of the night, crying and begging me to come cheer him on. I wanted to see the sea anyway, so I came to Haicheng City.”

Chen Lin: “Chi Yao… middle of the night… crying…”

Chen Lin found the image quite terrifying, just thinking about it: “Never mind, let’s skip him.”

But once mentioned, it couldn’t be easily skipped.

Lin Zhexia: “I wonder how his competition is going now.”

Chen Lin: “It must have started already. Wait a bit, it’ll be over in a few hours, and the results will come out quickly. Keep an eye on your friend circle, I’m sure the teachers at our school will repost about this kind of competition first thing.”

Lin Zhexia made an affirmative sound.

Chen Lin continued: “By the way, their competition team has six people, right? I heard there’s an amazing girl.”

Lin Zhexia: “A girl?”

Chen Lin: “Called something like… Shen Shanshan?”

“Right, I checked Old Xu’s friend circle, that’s her name. You know our grade’s class system—all the competition participants are from Class 1, but she’s the only one from Class 2. They say she’s especially good at physics, so she’s famous.”

Chen Lin couldn’t help but marvel: “How hard must she have worked to squeeze in from Class 2? Those Class 1 people are all monsters with terrifying grades, especially that guy who refused to go to No.1 High School and came to our No.2 instead, that crying-in-the-middle-of-the-night Chi.”

“…”

She chatted with Chen Lin for a while until Chen Lin’s mother called her from outside, so she quickly hung up.

With nothing to do alone in the hotel, Lin Zhexia scrolled through videos for a while and fell asleep again.

When she woke up from her nap, it was already past four in the afternoon.

At this time… the competition should be about over, right?

Just as she was about to poke Chi Yao on WeChat, he sent a message first: Finished.

She was about to reply when he directly called her.

Lin Zhexia answered: “Although you spoke arrogantly when you left, I wouldn’t mock you even if you didn’t get first place. So, what place did you get?”

Chi Yao’s end was a bit noisy. He walked a distance, seemingly boarding the return bus, moving away from the noise.

After a while, he said: “First.”

He added, “Your lucky charm was somewhat useful.”

Though she wasn’t the one competing, she indirectly felt the joy of the competition through this call.

The weight in Lin Zhexia’s heart lifted, and she said cheerfully: “Well, consider who personally got that charm—the first-place winner of the tenth speech competition at Cheng’an No.2 High School.”

“…”

The other end was silent for a moment.

Then the familiar mockery came through the receiver: “This title, are you planning to take it to your grave?”

“I rarely win anything,” Lin Zhexia frankly admitted, “I need to brag about it for at least ten years. When I graduate from university and look for a job, I’ll even put it on my resume.”

Chi Yao’s end became noisy again.

More people got on the bus, and having won the team championship, everyone was exceptionally excited.

Lin Zhexia even heard Xu Ting screaming: “—I’m so awesome! I did it! I knew I, Xu Ting, am the strongest in the universe! Oh yeah!”

“…”

Then there were people discussing a “celebration feast.”

“Old Liu is arranging a dinner tonight, asking what you all want to eat?”

Chi Yao casually asked her: “What do you want to eat?”

Lin Zhexia repeatedly declined: “I’m not part of your team, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to come. Don’t mention I’m here at all, you go ahead, I won’t…”

Just as she said this, she heard the overly excited Xu Ting shout: “Who are you calling, is it Young Lin? Ask her to come eat with us! We’re all classmates, let’s eat together tonight!”

Old Liu was next to Xu Ting and asked: “Who’s Young Lin?”

Xu Ting excitedly shared with Old Liu: “It’s Lin Zhexia, from Class 7. She and Chi Yao grew up together, and she’s also come to Haicheng City.”

Lin Zhexia: “……”

Xu Ting.

Do I have a grudge against you?

Old Liu, as the grade leader, was quite familiar with everyone in the grade. His mental state wasn’t much better than Xu Ting’s, as if he were drunk: “Oh, Lin Zhexia? She performed well in the speech competition. Invite her to join us. We’re all part of Cheng’an No.2 High School. Today I’m treating, don’t be polite with me.”

This statement had a strong “all expenses today will be covered by Young Master Liu” vibe.

Xu Ting applauded: “Old Liu is generous! It’s settled then, Young Lin, come quickly, everyone’s waiting for you.”

Lin Zhexia felt suffocated: “I… thank you, Xu Ting, I thank you.”

The restaurant for the gathering was near the hotel.

Before going, Lin Zhexia tried countless excuses: I suddenly have a stomachache.

Chi Dog: Call 120

Lin Zhexia: It doesn’t seem to hurt anymore, but I just found a hole in my shoe, might not be able to walk

Chi Dog: Really? Send a photo to see

Lin Zhexia: …

How was she supposed to take a photo?

Should she poke a hole in her shoe right now?

Finally, Lin Zhexia reluctantly tidied up her things, changed into her now-dry clothes, and went to freeload Old Liu’s meal.

Even before entering, she was already embarrassed to the point that her scalp tingled. Upon entering, without saying anything else, before Old Liu could greet her, she bowed deeply to him: “Hello, Teacher Liu! Hello, everyone!”

Old Liu, holding a teacup, froze for a moment.

Lin Zhexia fully embodied the principle of “if you can’t beat them, join them.” Maintaining her bowing posture, she continued with her head down: “Congratulations on getting first place, Cheng’an No.2 High School did it, congratulations on the excellent achievement, creating glory once again!”

“…Thank you, worthy of being the first-place winner of the speech competition,” Old Liu put down his teacup, “Please sit, Lin.”

Only then did Lin Zhexia straighten up. She scanned the circle of unfamiliar faces, seeing Xu Ting trying hard to suppress his laughter, and Chi Yao sitting there looking at her.

The most embarrassing situation had already happened.

Everything afterward seemed calm and composed in comparison.

She sat down in the empty seat next to Chi Yao, just about to use hot water to rinse her bowl and chopsticks, when the person beside her said coolly: “Already rinsed.”

Lin Zhexia put down the hot water kettle: “Oh.”

After saying this, Chi Yao added, “Your shoes are of good quality.”

Lin Zhexia: “?”

Chi Yao: “They can automatically repair holes. Which store did you buy them from? Give me a link.”

Lin Zhexia: “…”

She couldn’t be bothered with him, keeping her head down throughout the meal, trying not to participate in topic discussions, and lowering her presence.

Sitting next to her was a girl who seemed quite interested in chatting with her, especially after Xu Ting dragged Chi Yao out to accompany him while buying something, leaving two empty seats beside her. The girl actively asked: “Do you want more to drink? I’ll get you a glass while I’m at it.”

Lin Zhexia noticed her cup was almost empty and said, “Ah, thank you.”

After saying this, she looked up at the girl.

Long hair, delicate features, quite gentle.

With only two girls in the whole room, Lin Zhexia immediately connected her with the person Chen Lin had mentioned earlier.

After pouring the drink, the girl introduced herself: “I’m Shen Shanshan, from Class 2.”

Lin Zhexia thought, so it is her: “I’m…”

Before she could finish, Shen Shanshan smiled and interrupted: “I know, you’re Lin Zhexia, Chi Yao’s very good friend.”

Chi Yao’s very good friend.

Lin Zhexia opened her mouth, then realized this statement wasn’t wrong.

“Yes,” she took a sip of her drink and repeated, “very good friend.”

Shen Shanshan rested her chin on her hand, saying a bit enviously: “I heard you two talking just now. This is the first time I’ve known that Chi Yao also jokes around and says things like that. Usually in class, it’s rare to see him like this. Sometimes when people try to talk to him, he doesn’t even respond.”

Lin Zhexia thought to herself that this person could be very harsh with his words.

Not experiencing it is a kind of luck.

Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly caught a key point: “Class? Aren’t you from Class 2?”

Shen Shanshan said, “I was in the same school as him in junior high, always in the same class.”

Junior high—this was an area she wasn’t very familiar with.

Lin Zhexia didn’t speak, and Shen Shanshan continued: “I originally thought he would go to No.1 High School with his grades, and No.1’s score requirement was something I could never reach at that time. Initially, I put No.1 High School as my first choice, and my mom scolded me terribly until I changed it to No.2.”

Hearing this, Lin Zhexia vaguely guessed what she was going to say next.

Sure enough, Shen Shanshan looked at her, slightly pursing her lips in happiness, and said: “I never expected he would also apply to No.2. On the day school started, I was happy for a long time.”

“Although we couldn’t be in the same class due to the grade difference, I knew he liked physics a lot and would participate in the physics competition.”

Lin Zhexia recalled what Chen Lin had said.

—All the competition participants are from Class 1, but she’s the only one from Class 2. They say she’s especially good at physics.

—How hard must she have worked to squeeze in from Class 2?

She might now understand why Shen Shanshan was able to squeeze in from Class 2.

As if to confirm her intuition.

Just as Old Liu put down his teacup with a “thud,” Shen Shanshan’s voice softly rose in the private room, at a volume only the two of them could hear: “I like him, very, very much, and I’ve liked him for a long time.”

When Shen Shanshan leaned closer, Lin Zhexia vaguely smelled a faint scent of alcohol.

“Have you been drinking?” she asked.

Shen Shanshan gestured with her hand: “A little bit.”

“How much is a little bit, one glass?”

“Three glasses.”

“I drank secretly,” Shen Shanshan smiled, “because I’m too happy today.”

No wonder.

It was because she had been drinking.

Otherwise, telling a secret from the bottom of one’s heart to a classmate whom one has just met would be somewhat offensive to both parties.

Lin Zhexia asked: “How do you feel now, dizzy? Can you stand up and walk later?”

Shen Shanshan: “Not dizzy, I can.”

Lin Zhexia pointed to the ceiling light: “How many bulbs are there?”

Shen Shanshan looked up and counted for a while: “Five.”

Lin Zhexia: “Three.”

“…”