Lin Zhexia had no technique when it came to kissing.

After all, her only kissing experience was that “first kiss” with Chi Yao in the emergency stairwell last time.

After pressing her lips against his, she didn’t know how to proceed to the next step.

An innocent and unstructured kiss.

It carried the characteristic bewilderment of a young girl, yet also showed rare boldness.

Chi Yao reacted before her, and during her hesitation, he raised his hand and pressed it against the back of her neck, controlling her and giving her no chance to retreat, deepening the kiss in return.

Afraid of startling her, he tentatively tried to entangle with her.

Lin Zhexia felt completely dizzy, experiencing a sense of oxygen deprivation, but because of this feeling, she had to rely more on him, as if needing to steal what little oxygen remained from his mouth.

Around the wishing tree, people were hanging wish cards.

But no one happened to be in their corner at that moment, and in that brief silence, Lin Zhexia slightly opened her eyes just before the kiss ended.

She saw blurry yet brilliant sunlight and a vision filled with red.

The summer she once thought had ended had returned.

This was a summer with Chi Yao in it.

Before releasing her, Chi Yao pressed against her lips and deliberately asked, as if holding a grudge: “Now do you still want me to reconsider?”

“…” Lin Zhexia blushed, letting go of his collar that she had been clutching, no longer having the earlier “forced kiss” posture. Her whole body softened, “I think… there’s no need to reconsider.”

Chi Yao: “An illusion?”

Lin Zhexia: “…It’s not an illusion. Last time I was just saying that offhandedly.”

Her feelings for him were not an illusion.

On the way back, Lin Zhexia didn’t feel tired at all despite traveling to several places today. She enthusiastically pulled him along, asking questions: “You’ve liked me for a long time, huh?”

Chi Yao made an affirmative sound.

Like countless girls, Lin Zhexia cared about the specific date: “Can you be more specific? When did it start? Which day? What did I do that day that completely won you over?”

Chi Yao thought for a moment.

He realized he couldn’t pinpoint a specific date.

Between him and Lin Zhexia, they had known each other for too long and experienced too much together.

For him, liking her was never a sudden event.

It was an affection that had unconsciously gathered through countless moments over the years.

At the moment of discovery, he thought it was just a passing breeze, not realizing that this breeze came from an enormous current.

Falling for Lin Zhexia happened naturally, just as natural as eating and drinking water every day.

It was as if his life had been installed with a program called “Lin Zhexia,” and once he began to understand what “liking” meant, he could only fall for her.

Countless trivial fragments replayed in his mind.

These fragments began with two sentences.

—”I’m his big brother.”

—”If you want to hit him, you’ll have to get past me first.”

Then, at the hospital.

The girl would always rush to the hospital when Lin He wasn’t home, sitting beside his bed and bothering him.

—”You’re in the hospital again, so I’ve come to visit you. Our teacher went over the test papers today, and since you don’t seem very bright, I’ll reluctantly explain the test papers to you.”

—”Chi Yao. It’s me again. Mind your own business, I just like visiting hospitals.”

And countless lonely holidays.

—”Come to my house for the New Year, then we can stay up together to welcome the New Year.”

—”Happy New Year, Chi Yao. I hope you stay safe and sound. Here, I’ll share half of my New Year’s money with you.”

Plus, her childish understanding of dreams.

—”If I don’t have a dream yet, does protecting someone else’s dream count as a dream?”

These fragments came together, forming a certain part of him.

Without realizing it, Lin Zhexia had grown from that little kid always fighting with He Yang into a young woman.

…

“During middle school,” he finally said, “There was a group of vocational school students hanging around outside the neighborhood back then.”

That was the first time he wanted to become stronger, to protect someone.

After he spoke, Lin Zhexia also remembered that Chi Yao’s transformation from a “sickly boy” seemed to have started in middle school.

Before middle school, Chi Yao was still that sickly boy who needed her protection.

Since analyzing such content—laying bare to another person how one came to like them—was somewhat difficult for Chi Yao, he sped up as he talked, walking ahead of Lin Zhexia.

“You started working out to protect me?”

Lin Zhexia hopped as she caught up with him, “I was wondering why you suddenly became so tough in middle school. I couldn’t even beat you anymore.”

“And there was a period in middle school when you suddenly started growing taller. Were you secretly drinking milk behind my back?”

Lin Zhexia was too excited, causing her thoughts to scatter: “What brand of milk did you drink? Recommend it to me, I need it.”

“…” Chi Yao slowed down, glancing at her, “Shorty, drinking milk probably won’t help you much.”

Lin Zhexia: “Don’t think that just because you’re my boyfriend now, I won’t hit you.”

“…”

On the bus ride back to Lian University, Lin Zhexia fell asleep.

Before drifting off, she thought that if she had known she would receive such a formal confession today, she would have asked Lan Xiaoxue to do her makeup before going out.

After that day, their relationship was “officially” established.

Lin Zhexia no longer felt insecure, nor did she feel inferior because of Chi Yao.

She finally confirmed.

They were truly together—

As the semester passed its halfway point, the relaxed atmosphere of university life disappeared. As time progressed, coursework became more intense, and assignments grew heavier.

After Chi Yao’s major’s exam week ended, Lin Zhexia’s major also entered its exam period.

She was busy reviewing speaking skills and memorizing key points that teachers had marked for the exams.

When she finally looked up from her busy exam preparations, she realized that she and Chi Yao hadn’t seen each other much for over a week.

However, they still sent each other many messages every day.

Lin Zhexia would complain to him about having too much homework—

Our teacher assigned so much homework [puking blood]—

I probably won’t be able to memorize everything—

And there’s also an oral exam, the kind where you have to converse with the teacher—

I just practiced improvising, and I looked so stupid.

Chi Yao replied: Finished your exam?

Lin Zhexia: Not yet, there’s another one this afternoon. What about you, what are you doing?

After sending this message, Chi Yao didn’t reply again.

She didn’t mind and continued preparing for her exam.

Before the exam, they had a study period for making final preparations. Everyone was at their seats preparing for the afternoon exam.

Just as she was writing halfway through, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure in her peripheral vision, and then the empty seat beside her was taken. She finished the translation question she was working on, looked up, and saw Chi Yao sitting next to her, resting his chin on his hand.

Everyone was busy reviewing, so no one noticed the “outsider” from another major in their classroom.

“Why did you come over?” she asked softly, putting down her pen.

Chi Yao was exceptionally eye-catching even sitting with her in the corner. He had also been busy for a week, his eyes showing some fatigue. He said, “If we don’t see each other any longer, I’m afraid my girlfriend might run away.”

Lin Zhexia muttered: “…Where could I possibly run to?”

Chi Yao gave a light snort: “There’s already one in your class.”

“Even posted on the confession wall.”

“Sat next to you on the first day of school.”

“…”

Lin Zhexia hadn’t expected he’d been keeping track of this all along: “Why are you so petty? Do you have an account book in your mind? How many other things about me are you keeping track of in there?”

But after his mention, she realized something: “So you came over on purpose that day?”

“So… when you left, Fang Huai automatically assumed you were my boyfriend.”

Chi Yao’s voice grew colder, and he drawled: “You even remember his name.”

“…”

“Classmate’s name,” Lin Zhexia protested quietly, “It’s normal that I remember it.”

Chi Yao hadn’t come over this time to bring up old grievances.

He just hadn’t seen her much lately and wanted to see her.

So at this point in the conversation, he tapped his knuckle on her assignment notebook: “Keep writing, I’ll stay here with you.”

Lin Zhexia responded with an “Oh” and wrote a few more problems, then couldn’t help saying: “It feels like we haven’t sat together to do homework for a long time.”

In the past, she often went to Chi Yao’s home, and they would share a desk to work on problems.

When she encountered problems she couldn’t solve, Chi Yao would explain them to her.

That time had unknowingly become something from the distant past.

But Chi Yao didn’t feel any regret. He noticed the gazes of other classmates and, to avoid disturbing others, he hunched down a bit, supporting his chin with his hand, looking as if he’d come over to catch up on sleep: “You can do other things with your boyfriend in the future.”

“…”

He added, “Don’t always think about homework.”

Lin Zhexia turned her head to check if any other classmates had heard, and after confirming no one did, she said with suppressed breath: “…It’s normal that I want to do homework. You’re the one thinking about other things, that’s not right.”

“What am I thinking about?” Chi Yao asked.

“…”

Lin Zhexia poked the paper with her pen: “Although you didn’t spell it out, I can tell your thoughts are dangerous.”

Afterward, they stopped talking, and Chi Yao quietly accompanied her during class.

Like a study companion.

She originally wasn’t very confident about the afternoon exam.

But after Chi Yao accompanied her in class, she seemed to gain a bit more confidence.

However, twenty minutes later, this study companion very unprofessionally lay his head down for a nap.

Although he had entered silently and only half his face was visible as he lay there, by the time half the class had passed, someone had spotted Chi Yao. As Lin Zhexia was working on problems, her phone vibrated. She opened it to find a female classmate tagging her in the class group chat—

@Lin Zhexia, is that Chi Yao next to you?

Lin Zhexia replied with an “Mmm.”

College wasn’t like high school. High school had fewer students, and information spread quickly. In college, there were all kinds of majors, with several different campus areas, so even though Chi Yao would walk her back to the girls’ dormitory and they had confirmed their relationship, most people still didn’t know their specific relationship status.

Moreover, compared to who Chi Yao’s girlfriend was, most people focused more on Chi Yao himself.

Sure enough, the girl tentatively probed—

I heard you two are childhood friends, the kind with a close relationship—

Didn’t he come looking for you last time, too?

Lin Zhexia stared at the words “childhood friends” for a while, and for the first time, she earnestly typed a reply, publicly acknowledging their relationship—

No, he’s my boyfriend.