After Shen Shanshan looked up at the light bulbs, she became even more dizzy: “Do you know why I like him?”

Lin Zhexia asked: “Why?”

Shen Shanshan: “Back in junior high, I came here with my father. My parents got divorced; they deliberately didn’t tell me, but I knew everything. It was raining on the first day of school, and I fell and got my new school uniform skirt dirty.”

“Even though I knew about their divorce, I never cried, but that day, just because of that fall, I suddenly couldn’t hold it together anymore. I stood at the school gate crying like an idiot.”

At this point in her story, Shen Shanshan paused slightly: “That day, it was Chi Yao who handed me a piece of clothing.”

“Strange, isn’t it? Later, I found out he was a person with a very difficult personality, but that day he handed me a piece of clothing.”

Not strange.

Lin Zhexia said in her heart.

Chi Yao was that kind of person. Although usually when people tried to get close, they would always be rejected.

But if he encountered this type of situation, he wouldn’t ignore it.

Having said this, Shen Shanshan began to feel sad again: “I think I drank too much.”

Her voice lowered: “Otherwise, why does thinking about him make me feel both happy and sad?”

Lin Zhexia couldn’t describe her feelings right now.

She had always known that Chi Yao was famous, that many people had tried to get his contact information.

But because this person behaved so poorly, most girls would completely change their attitude: what’s the point of being handsome when even dogs don’t want to get close?

This was her first time, the first time she had encountered a girl who had quietly liked Chi Yao for many years.

And this girl looked very gentle.

Her academic performance was excellent, and she had even squeezed into the physics competition for Chi Yao’s sake, simply because she knew he would participate.

And she had quietly stayed by his side, winning first place together with him.

…

All of these things together made her feel the weight of Shen Shanshan’s “like” for Chi Yao.

It wasn’t like the casual “he’s so handsome” on the forums, nor was it like approaching with a phone saying “can I add you as a friend,” or even like those secretly gazing eyes.

It was a kind of liking that could move people.

Lin Zhexia poured her a glass of water: “Why don’t you drink some hot water?”

Shen Shanshan accepted it: “Thank you.”

After taking it, she asked again: “This might sound abrupt, but do you know… what kind of girls does Chi Yao like?”

Lin Zhexia: “…”

Lin Zhexia thought for a long time.

There was nothing related to this question in her memory, but once, when she had argued with Chi Yao, this topic seemed to have come up.

She couldn’t remember exactly why they were arguing.

She only remembered jumping up and down in front of Chi Yao: “If I ever get a boyfriend in the future, I’ll find a tan, muscular, and gentle boy. Anyway, he’ll be better than you in every way.”

At that time, Chi Yao had snorted, seemingly mocking her for daydreaming.

After being ridiculed, Lin Zhexia became angrier: “What do you mean? Do you think I won’t be able to find a boyfriend in the future?”

…

Finally, she told Shen Shanshan: “I’m not sure about that either.”

Shen Shanshan: “Has he ever been in a relationship?”

Lin Zhexia shook her head.

Shen Shanshan: “Has he ever liked any girl?”

Lin Zhexia continued shaking her head.

Shen Shanshan continued to ask: “Then… perhaps… does he like… boys?”

Lin Zhexia was momentarily speechless: “…I don’t think he would hide it that deeply.”

Shen Shanshan also fell silent.

After the silence, she seemed to gather great courage again and said: “Let me tell you another secret.”

“I might have to transfer schools. My father’s job has changed, and I have to follow him to another city to take the college entrance exam. So this physics competition is probably the last intersection between him and me.”

Lin Zhexia now understood the meaning of “both happy and sad.”

Shen Shanshan, holding the water glass, said another sentence: “So, I plan to confess to him tomorrow.”

At that moment, the private room door was pulled open—

Xu Ting, with his arm around Chi Yao’s shoulder, walked in grinning.

The young man seemed to carry a slight chill from the northern night air. In one hand, he held a convenience store plastic bag, and with the other hand, he raised it to mercilessly brush off Xu Ting’s hand from his shoulder.

Xu Ting: “I just asked you to accompany me out for a bit, can’t you smile a little? People might think I dragged you out to fight.”

Chi Yao still had that ‘you’d better get away from me’ look: “If you want a beating, just say so.”

Xu Ting: “…Well, that’s not what I meant.”

After a while, Chi Yao sat down beside her again.

Lin Zhexia had been stunned by the word “confess” and didn’t even notice Chi Yao’s return.

Until a hand reached out from under the table, entering her field of vision.

The young man’s slender, bony hand was holding a lollipop.

“To reach the minimum order,” Chi Yao said, “it was free.”

Lin Zhexia took it and saw the lollipop wrapped in a light yellow cover, lemon flavored.

Lin Zhexia: “Thank you for bestowing upon me your free order filler.”

Chi Yao: “You’re welcome.”

After Xu Ting and Chi Yao returned, Old Liu paid the bill, and everyone walked back to the hotel along the sea.

Lin Zhexia was worried that Shen Shanshan might fall while walking, so she followed beside her for a while, but quickly discovered that apart from walking a bit slower, she had no other symptoms.

Lin Zhexia walked at the back of the group, slowly unwrapping the candy Chi Yao had just given her.

The sea breeze blew against her face.

Lin Zhexia bit into the candy.

Although it was candy, she couldn’t taste any sweetness, only feeling that this piece of candy was so sour it became bitter.

“Alright, everyone back to your rooms. It’s been a tiring day, go to bed early.”

Before dispersing, Old Liu waved his hand and said, “No need to rush to get up tomorrow. We’ll head back in the evening. Since we’ve made the trip to Haicheng City, you can look around during the day. Now that we’re here, see the sea before leaving.”

Xu Ting, continuously excited, applauded: “Great!”

After applauding, he noticed Lin Zhexia with the lollipop in her mouth: “Young Lin, what’s wrong? You don’t look too happy.”

Lin Zhexia had the candy in her mouth, her mood inexplicably low. After a while, she said: “I don’t know, maybe I’m too tired.”

After saying this, she first escorted Shen Shanshan back to her room, then took out her room key card from her shoulder bag.

Walking forward silently with her head down all the way, when she reached the door of her room and was about to use the key card to open it, the door had just made a “beep” sound when it was opened, and a hand reached out from behind. That hand pressed on the door handle and closed the door again.

“Wait a moment.”

Chi Yao’s voice came from behind.

“?”

“Turn around,” the voice said again.

Lin Zhexia slowly turned around.

The candy in her mouth had already dissolved, leaving only a white, thin stick that wobbled as she spoke: “Why did you close my door?”

Chi Yao bent down slightly and reached out to feel her forehead.

Then he glanced at her now fully scabbed knee.

“Temperature normal,” Chi Yao withdrew his hand, “go in.”

Lin Zhexia realized that because she had just said she was “too tired,” Chi Yao was concerned that she might catch a cold after being exposed to the sea breeze all the way, wearing too little.

“I’m very strong,” Lin Zhexia emphasized with the thin stick in her mouth, “unlike a certain person who would end up in the hospital after being blown by the wind when he was little.”

Chi Yao now didn’t have the good temper he had when checking her temperature earlier.

He directly reached out to take the key card from her hand, then swiped the door open: “Three seconds, disappear from my sight.”

“…”

After returning to her room, Lin Zhexia took a shower, then made a phone call to Lin He.

“Chi Yao got first place, congratulations to him on behalf of mom,” Lin He said on the other end of the phone, “you should learn more from him, don’t always be so rash, with your mind never on your studies.”

Lin Zhexia: “You can praise him without disparaging me in the process.”

Lin He chatted for a bit, then changed the subject: “Your Wei Uncle and I are on the great grasslands. The scenery here is really beautiful. Did you see the photos I sent you? Next time I’ll bring you here to visit…”

Lin Zhexia listened, making affirmative sounds several times.

After hanging up, she found herself unable to sleep, lying in bed.

The words the girl had said with a bit of shyness but with great courage still echoed in her ear:

—I plan to confess to him tomorrow.

Before Shen Shanshan told her these things, she had never thought about the fact that one day Chi Yao might be with someone else.

She picked out this sentence and repeated it to herself:

Chi Yao.

One day.

Will be. With someone else.

This realization was like a nameless monster that had never before invaded her world, heavily striking her heart.

She and Chi Yao had been together for too long.

And throughout this long time, there had never been anyone else.

This was the first time she felt that there might be someone else between them.

But why did she feel sad?

Why did she feel so sad?

A kind of breathlessness, a stuffed and swollen sadness.

Lin Zhexia slept very poorly that night. The next day, when Chi Yao called to ask if she would go to see the sea in the afternoon, she responded with a dull head.

“Who else is going?” She reacted half a beat late before thinking to ask, “If Old Liu is going, I won’t come. I’m a bit afraid of him.”

Chi Yao: “What are you afraid of?”

Lin Zhexia: “Because he’s the director of education, a student like me from Class 7 feels psychological pressure. You Class 1 people wouldn’t understand.”

“…”

Chi Yao listed a string of names.

Near the end, Lin Zhexia heard him say a “Shen” character, then he paused for a moment before finally pronouncing the name smoothly: “Shen Shanshan.”

Lin Zhexia couldn’t help asking: “Are you close with her?”

Chi Yao: “?”

Lin Zhexia: “…Oh, because I heard you were also classmates in junior high, I was just asking casually.”

After saying this, she was a bit afraid to hear the answer.

After all, they had participated in the competition together, so they would naturally be somewhat more familiar than others.

“Never mind, you don’t need to answer me,” Lin Zhexia said hurriedly, “I need to get up. Goodbye for now.”

Old Liu didn’t come to the seaside.

Only a few Cheng’an No.2 High School students took a car from the hotel to see the sea.

Shen Shanshan wore a white dress today, with her long hair loose, looking much more eye-catching than when she wore her school uniform at dinner yesterday. The dress suited her well, making her entire person appear even gentler.

She stood beside Chi Yao, mustering courage to say something to him.

Chi Yao also responded with a sentence.

The two of them, standing together, looked quite compatible.

Lin Zhexia had been told by Lin He since childhood that she wasn’t like a girl.

And indeed, she had hung around with boys for many years, feeling a bit awkward in front of gentle girls wearing white dresses like this.

She looked at her own unisex Taobao T-shirt and a pair of very comfortable pants.

Then unexpectedly, she was poked from behind by Xu Ting: “Young Lin, why did you stop walking?”

Lin Zhexia blurted out: “Mind your own business.”

Xu Ting was a bit surprised: “Why so grumpy today?”

Lin Zhexia quickly adjusted: “I just wanted to slow down and feel the sea breeze. I think in today’s fast-paced life, people walk too quickly, which isn’t good.”

“Just walking, and you have so many insights.”

“People should be good at thinking.”

Xu Ting: “That’s right, we should experience life more. Not like those two.”

When Xu Ting said “those two,” he pointed at Chi Yao and Shen Shanshan ahead: “We’re at the seaside, and they’re still discussing yesterday’s physics problems.”

Lin Zhexia said softly: “…So they’re talking about physics problems.”

Xu Ting didn’t hear clearly: “What?”

“I said,” Lin Zhexia raised her voice, “they’re certainly more studious than you.”

“Come on, that’s called self-torment.”

Xu Ting’s principle had always been to combine education with pleasure. “I don’t want to continue researching physics after the competition is over. When it’s time to relax, you should relax.”

“By the way,” Xu Ting changed the subject, “when we get to the seaside, let’s stay away from them first.”

Lin Zhexia: “?”

Xu Ting: “I don’t know the specifics, but Shen Shanshan said she wanted to talk to Chi Yao alone. Anyway, that’s what she asked me.”

“Could it be a confession?” Xu Ting speculated, “Shen Shanshan seems to like Chi Yao, and she needs to talk to him alone. Tsk, what else besides a confession would need to be said in private?”

Lin Zhexia knew Shen Shanshan would confess to Chi Yao today.

But she hadn’t thought it would be at the seaside, or that it would be now.

She had thought it would be in a place with fewer people, somewhere more secluded.

Her mind was in chaos, ignoring Xu Ting, who treated her like someone to gossip with and kept talking: “Come to think of it, I think they’re quite well-matched, and they both love physics, having common language is important.”

“Chi Yao doesn’t have many girls around him, given his personality, there’s only you, though you’re more like a buddy, can’t count as a girl. Anyway, Shen Shanshan is one of the rare girls, at least they’re on the same competition team—hey, Young Lin, why are you suddenly walking so fast? Wait for me.”

Lin Zhexia: “You’re annoying me, affecting my walk.”

She didn’t want to hear Xu Ting talk.

If there was poison at hand, she would unhesitatingly choose to poison him, mute.

She walked to the seaside, found a quiet place to sit down by herself, but her mind was still in chaos.

She thought randomly: Has Shen Shanshan gone to confess?

Will the confession… be successful?

Shen Shanshan had moved last night.

Would she move Chi Yao in the same way when she confessed?

Time passed minute by minute.

Xu Ting searched around before finding her. Just as he sat down beside her, he saw Lin Zhexia suddenly stand up and ask him, “Where’s Chi Yao?”

Xu Ting was stunned, pointing across: “He should be over there with Shen Shanshan… I think.”

The “I think” had barely left his mouth when Lin Zhexia had already run off.

This beach was very long and divided into several areas. Now, during the small holiday period, the seaside was packed with tourists.

The scorching sun shone on the sparkling sea surface, reflecting excessively dazzling light.

Lin Zhexia ran toward the opposite beach through the bustling crowd with difficulty.

She knew she was being impulsive.

She didn’t even know what she was doing.

She knew she shouldn’t disturb Chi Yao and Shen Shanshan no matter what.

But at this moment, even if she was slow to realize, even with no experience, she finally had to admit a most secret thought in her heart, one she had never dared to acknowledge.

There were still many tourists blocking her way.

She anxiously and frantically searched for Chi Yao’s figure in the crowd.

In this instant, the whole world seemed to have been muted.

The sound of the seaside wind, the noise of the crowd, the vendors’ calls—all of these were far away from her.

Only the voice from her heart became increasingly clear:

She didn’t want Chi Yao to be with someone else.

Lin Zhexia passed through the most densely populated area, coming to a secluded corner.

When she found Chi Yao here, Shen Shanshan was no longer by his side.

In the corner of the seaside, only the young man in the black windbreaker remained sitting on the beach. Uncomfortable with crowds, he sat with his legs bent, his back giving off a sense of unfamiliarity. The seawater was picked up by the wind, making a “swoosh” sound on the rocks. In the distance, the just-receded seawater was about to rise again.

Chi Yao heard her footsteps, turned his head slightly, and asked: “What’s wrong with you?”

Lin Zhexia stopped, panting, looking quite disheveled.

Chi Yao still had that familiar tone: “Are your legs completely healed now, running a marathon at the seaside?”

“…”

Lin Zhexia didn’t answer his question, instead asking: “Are you sitting here alone?”

Chi Yao said nonchalantly, “There was someone else just now.”

“Then… where is she?”

“I found it noisy, so I told her to go see the sea somewhere else.”

Lin Zhexia knew Chi Yao wouldn’t tell her about Shen Shanshan’s matter; after all, a girl gathering her courage to confess was not something to be casually discussed with others.

But she immediately realized that Chi Yao had not accepted.

She bent over, standing less than five meters from Chi Yao, her heart beating so violently she could hardly breathe.

She finally discovered the answer to the question she had asked Chen Lin that day.

It wasn’t as Chen Lin had said, not because she had grown up, not because she had realized Chi Yao was a boy.

It was because of liking him.

A liking that had been overlooked during the long years because of excessive familiarity, quietly happening, without self-awareness.

The increased heartbeat when speaking in the auditorium wasn’t due to nervousness, the reddened ears when wearing a scarf wasn’t because the exhaled breath was too hot, and the unusual feeling on the sports meet day wasn’t because the weather was too stuffy.

Lin Zhexia believed there were countless similar moments.

Countless moments she had once overlooked.

She had never understood.

This was what liking someone meant.

The world spun in this moment.

For an instant, it seemed to turn back to the smoke-filled temple from a few days ago, back to beneath that hundred-year-old tree, back to those words casually mentioned by others.

—If you like someone, you will discover it.

Her attraction to Chi Yao didn’t come with great fanfare, but rather like seawater gathering drop by drop over the long years, until the rising tide was about to silently engulf her, only then did she suddenly realize.