Lin Zhexia was left speechless by this person’s shamelessness.
But she couldn’t argue back.
Because she had indeed tricked him before PE class.
Lin Zhexia: “I just forgot to bring money today, at worst, I’ll pay you back later.”
She said this while closing the page on her phone.
“Besides, who wants to look at you anyway?” she said, “you’re just average-looking at best.”
The words had barely left her mouth.
The bus happened to arrive at the next stop, jolting violently as it braked.
At the same time, Chi Yao, who had been standing next to her looking down, suddenly bent over, reducing the distance between them, bringing his face close to hers.
He pulled at the corner of his lips, looking at her up close, and said with a cold smile: “I’m just average-looking?”
“…”
Lin Zhexia maintained her position looking up at him, took another serious look, and then candidly said: “Getting closer won’t help, no matter how I look at you, I still think you’re quite ordinary.”
Chi Yao tugged at the corner of his mouth: “So who was it that sent me a message during break, calling me a handsome guy?”
Lin Zhexia: “As you said yourself, I was going crazy then.”
Chi Yao had only bent down to get close to her for that moment, then quickly straightened up, appearing as if he couldn’t be bothered to argue with her: “Take a day off tomorrow, I’ll take you to the hospital.”
Lin Zhexia: “What for?”
Chi Yao said coolly: “Since you don’t need your eyes, you can donate them to someone who does.”
Lin Zhexia looked at him, couldn’t help shaking her head, and sighed sincerely: “Not only are you average-looking, but you’re also petty.”
After returning home, Lin He had already prepared dinner and was waiting for her.
Lin Zhexia showed the test paper she had taken today to Lin He, who expressed satisfaction with the score: “I told you, the early bird catches the worm, there’s truth in that saying.”
Lin Zhexia lowered her head to eat, too lazy to correct the idea that she wasn’t a “slow bird” anymore.
Lin He put down the test paper: “Although you did well on this first test of the semester, you can’t get complacent. The upcoming studies are important… By the way, you did well this time, and it’s largely thanks to Chi Yao.”
Lin Zhexia couldn’t help but protest: “I think it’s mainly because I’m quite smart.”
Lin He: “You’re smart? Count for yourself, how many problems on this paper did Chi Yao not teach you?”
Lin Zhexia: “…” fought
“But you know,” Lin Zhexia continued, “there’s a saying that goes, even a skilled housewife can’t cook without rice.”
Lin He: “I don’t want to argue with you. After you finish eating, take this fruit basket over to Chi Yao.”
Lin Zhexia had no choice but to agree.
That evening, before she could see Chi Yao, she ran into He Yang on her way to deliver the fruit basket.
He Yang was carrying a game cartridge: “Going to Yao-ge’s place? Shall we go together?”
Lin Zhexia didn’t really want to go in the first place, and seeing a potential errand-runner, she shoved the fruit basket into He Yang’s hands: “You go, help me take this to him.”
He Yang held the fruit basket: “You’re not going?”
“Fine, I’ll be off then.”
He Yang had barely taken a few steps before Lin Zhexia called him back.
“Wait.”
Lin Zhexia stopped him and said, “I have something to ask you.”
The sky had already darkened, and insects were buzzing constantly.
The two of them squatted by the edge of a garden bed, chatting while swatting mosquitoes.
He Yang was confused: “Xia-ge, hurry up and ask. I’ve already got several mosquito bites on my legs.”
Lin Zhexia recalled those forum replies and didn’t know why she had impulsively called him back. She organized her thoughts and asked: “You were in the same school as Chi Yao before. Back then at school… well, were there also many blind people who thought he was very handsome?”
He Yang’s expression became somewhat complex.
Although he didn’t understand why Lin Zhexia suddenly cornered him with this question, he answered honestly: “By your standards, there might not have been many people with normal vision at our old school.”
He Yang continued: “But why are you asking about this?”
Lin Zhexia wanted to ask about the meaning behind “will be rejected terribly,” but thinking about it, she felt it would be strange to ask such a question, so she dropped it: “Nothing, just suddenly realized there are quite a lot of blind people in this world.”
A beep sounded.
He Yang opened the door to Chi Yao’s home.
As soon as they entered, they ran into Chi Yao coming out of the bathroom.
Chi Yao had been adjusting his clothes, the neckline of which was too large and looked somewhat improper.
Seeing it was He Yang, he didn’t bother fixing it anymore.
“What are you carrying?” Chi Yao said, “Don’t put it in here.”
He Yang: “A fruit basket. Lin Zhexia just gave it to me to bring to you.”
Lin Zhexia wouldn’t deliver a fruit basket to him for no reason.
It was sent on Lin He’s instructions, so Chi Yao didn’t say more.
But He Yang had more questions: “Why didn’t she come herself? Did you two have another fight?”
Chi Yao raised his eyelids slightly: “She said we fought?”
He Yang: “No, she didn’t, but she did say something very strange.”
Chi Yao motioned for him to continue.
He Yang: “She asked me if there were many blind people at our old school, and I told her there were quite a lot.”
Chi Yao: “…”
Even though it sounded like nonsense.
It was indeed the kind of question she would ask.
Chi Yao sat down on the sofa with his wet hair, his collar open down to below his collarbone. He picked up the remote to turn on the TV, turned his head to glance at the game cartridge in He Yang’s hand, and asked: “Want to play?”
He Yang was almost entranced by the “male beauty” before him.
Perhaps it was Lin Zhexia’s strange question earlier that triggered certain memories, and he suddenly recalled some scenes from when he attended school with this young master.
It was true that Chi Yao was famous at their previous school.
But that kind of fame wasn’t ostentatious; it was more like an unspoken understanding.
A person everyone tacitly acknowledged from a distance, difficult to approach, and beyond reach.
Chi Yao had good grades, but he was casual in class.
Sometimes he would secretly play games during class and get sent out to stand in the corridor as punishment.
The young man would lean in the shadows, back against the wall, tall with long legs, wearing the school uniform.
—Drawing many furtive glances.
After a moment, He Yang snapped back to reality and said: “Let’s play.”
“But could you put your clothes on properly first?” He Yang added, “Even though I’m also a guy, and I’m very straight, aren’t you afraid I won’t be able to control myself?”
Chi Yao pulled his collar back and cursed at him: “Idiot.”
A moment later, the two sat on the sofa, each with a game controller.
He Yang manipulated his game character: “But have you finished your homework? Is Second Middle School that relaxed, with hardly any homework?”
Chi Yao: “Some preview assignments, not worth doing.”
“You already know all of it?”
“Thanks to a certain person,” Chi Yao said with his fingers resting on the controller, speaking casually, “I studied it during the break to teach her.”
Lin Zhexia found herself learning the new semester’s content unusually quickly.
For several consecutive days, whether it was the material covered in class or the difficult problems assigned by teachers afterward, she grasped everything quite well.
Soon, it was time for PE class again.
Lin Zhexia thought about the eight yuan she had tricked Chi Yao out of last time and considered buying him something to eat as repayment.
She went to the school store with Chen Lin, who suggested buying sandwiches, but Lin Zhexia refused: “He doesn’t like bread.”
“He doesn’t eat fast food either.”
“Snacks are also not good.”
“…”
“He’s so difficult,” Lin Zhexia looked around and found that the school store didn’t sell anything Chi Yao liked. Finally, she went to look at the refrigerated section, “Let’s just get water, it’s more practical.”
Chen Lin: “How do you spend eight yuan on water?”
Lin Zhexia: “This time we’ll buy something more expensive, like this twelve-yuan imported mineral water. It’s four yuan more than eight, showing how generous I am.”
Chen Lin: “…”
Chen Lin recalled that after sending Lin Zhexia the link yesterday, her deskmate had only replied with a speechless expression emoji.
So she couldn’t help asking: “You didn’t know before? About him being famous.”
Lin Zhexia finished paying and said, “I wasn’t at the same middle school as him, so I wasn’t aware.”
Chen Lin was still amazed that the school-wide sensation of a handsome guy she had discovered while browsing the forum turned out to be her deskmate’s childhood friend.
“Let me ask,” Chen Lin said, “what’s it like growing up looking at a face like that?”
She was about to say, “If it were me, I’d be smiling in my dreams.”
However, Lin Zhexia thought for a moment and answered seriously: “…Itchy hands.”
Chen Lin: “?”
Lin Zhexia: “Like, many times, I want to punch him, but can’t win—that kind of feeling.”
“…”
After assembly in this class, there was free activity time. Lin Zhexia carried the fancy imported mineral water to the basketball court to find Chi Yao. Before she got close, she saw many spectators around the court from a distance.
Chi Yao was already on the court. He dribbled past several people, and the next second, the ball went straight through the hoop, immediately drawing cheers from around.
Although they weren’t being obvious about it, it wasn’t hard to identify who exactly these people were gathered to watch.
Amid these cheers and the excessive attention from those around, Lin Zhexia hesitated.
The last time she had run out was before class, and she had been completely unaware of Chi Yao’s popularity at school.
But this time was different.
She looked at the crowd and thought that with so many people, pushing her way in would be quite awkward.
She wasn’t there to watch Chi Yao play basketball anyway.
And besides.
She would have to give Chi Yao water under everyone’s watchful eyes.
No matter how fancy this bottle of water was.
It still felt somewhat.
Awkward to give.
“Maybe I’ll give it to him after school,” Lin Zhexia stood beside several female students, muttering to herself, “…it seems like others are planning to give him water too, these girls next to me look quite eager. Since he’s not short of water, maybe I’ll just drink it myself.”
Just as Lin Zhexia was preparing to enjoy this fancy mineral water alone, a whistle sounded.
The first half ended, and the halftime break.
Chi Yao left the court.
He seemed to have spotted her earlier and walked straight in her direction.
Chi Yao walked up to her and naturally extended his hand.
Seeing her freeze, he reminded her: “Water.”
Since she had come to repay the favor, Lin Zhexia ignored the surrounding crowd and handed him the water like she was serving a master: “Here you go.”
Chi Yao hesitated for a second before unscrewing the cap.
Lin Zhexia quickly said: “I’m being charitable today, no delivery fee. Feel free to drink.”
“And this water,” Lin Zhexia emphasized its price, “twelve yuan.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not charging you the difference—after all, I’m just that generous and magnanimous, unlike certain people who charge fifty yuan just for a glance.”
After Lin Zhexia finished speaking, seeing that the water had been delivered, she prepared to leave.
However, Chi Yao played the master role quite skillfully. After drinking the water, he screwed the cap back on and pushed it back into her hands.
Lin Zhexia: “Can’t you hold it yourself?”
Chi Yao said before going back on the court: “Someone like me with a bad temper who likes to overcharge doesn’t like to carry my water.”
“…”
Lin Zhexia, restraining the urge to smash the water bottle on Chi Yao’s head, found a spot to sit down around the basketball court, holding the water for Chi Yao, watching him play basketball from a distance.
Under the scorching sun, the entire court was covered in blinding sunlight, including the people on the court.
Chi Yao had the ball again, dribbling with both hands, guarded by two defenders.
After making a fake move, the young man on the court jumped up, and the wind blew under his shirt, lifting the hem slightly. The whole person seemed to soar into the air—
“Boom.”
The ball dropped rapidly through the center of the hoop.
Lin Zhexia stared at the ball, suddenly recalling what Chen Lin had said last time—”He’s very famous, you know.”
As class was about to end, the second half finished.
Chi Yao probably came to get his water after leaving the court, still walking in her direction.
However, this time, halfway there, someone stopped him.
Lin Zhexia noticed that the girls who stopped him were the two who had been standing next to her earlier. One of them was also holding water. She seemed to have gathered her courage, her ears turning red, and said something quietly to Chi Yao.
Lin Zhexia couldn’t hear exactly what was said.
But she heard Chi Yao’s reply.
The young man’s tone was casual.
Polite, but with a clear sense of distance.
He said, “Thank you, but I’m allergic to water from strangers.”