Why was the elevator descending so slowly?

Was it always this slow?

…

Lin Zhexia wondered as she stared at the floor numbers displayed above the buttons.

Seeing that she hadn’t responded for a while, the hand resting on top of her head suddenly loosened, then moved down slightly and gently tugged at her earlobe: “…Say something.”

“The wind is too strong,” Lin Zhexia finally pressed her lips together, determined to avoid the subject, “I can’t hear clearly.”

Chi Yao: “Where’s the wind in an elevator?”

Lin Zhexia: “My brain has a draft.”

“…”

She added, “I just have something wrong with my brain, take me to the hospital for a check-up.”

Chi Yao stopped talking.

Just then, someone entered the elevator, and Lin Zhexia hurriedly stepped forward, shaking off the person hanging on her.

All the residents in this building were familiar faces.

The auntie who entered greeted them warmly: “It’s Zhexia, home for the holiday?”

Lin Zhexia nodded: “Yes, Auntie Liu.”

The auntie then turned her head and saw the person standing behind her. Though they were standing some distance apart, there seemed to be an invisible magnetic field surging between them-

Lin Zhexia’s feeling of having a “secret affair” with Chi Yao continued throughout the entire day.

When they went to the grocery store to buy soy sauce, after she paid, Chi Yao habitually reached out to take it, but she clutched the soy sauce bottle tightly: “Thank you, kind Mr. Chi, but it’s not necessary. I can carry it myself.”

Chi Yao’s outstretched hand froze in mid-air.

In just half a day, his status had changed from boyfriend to “Mr. Chi.”

Chi Yao: “It’s just carrying soy sauce. Aren’t you overthinking this?”

Lin Zhexia: “Mr. Chi, please be cautious with your words and actions, and talk to me less.”

As she walked, she thought of something, “Oh right, we need to tell He Yang not to let anything slip.”

“…”

At first, Chi Yao firmly believed she was overthinking and that making their relationship public wouldn’t have any impact.

Halfway along the route, seeing no one around, Lin Zhexia shoved the soy sauce bottle into his hands: “Here, take it.”

Chi Yao took it.

Right in front of Chi Yao, she took out her phone and opened her chat with Tang Shuxuan.

Then, with a straight face, she sent two messages-

Let me tell you something secretly-

Chi Yao and I are dating.

Since it was a holiday, Tang Shuxuan replied quickly.

Tang Shuxuan: Let me tell you something secretly, Chen Lin and I are also dating.

Tang Shuxuan: Actually, we’ve been together behind your backs for a long time.

Chi Yao: “…”-

“Mom—soy sauce.”

After returning home, Lin Zhexia ran into the kitchen.

“Why did it take so long to buy soy sauce? I’ve almost finished cooking the dishes,” Lin He complained.

Lin Zhexia made up an excuse: “The mighty ruler of Nanxiang Street rarely comes back, the grocery store owner missed me a lot, so I caught up with the owner.”

Lin He saw through it with one glance: “If someone missed you, that would be a miracle.”

Because Chi Yao and Lin Zhexia had returned, the Lin household became unusually lively.

Lin Zhexia hid in the kitchen, keeping Lin He company while secretly stealing bites to eat.

Lin He: “Stop eating, what kind of behavior is that?”

Lin Zhexia: “We’re all family here, no one will mind.”

In the living room, Wei Ping and Chi Yao sat chatting like they used to.

Wei Ping wore glasses as he read the newspaper: “The current international situation…”

Compared to the home in Jing City over the past year, Chi Yao sitting here now finally felt like he had truly “come home.” Countless familiar details softly surrounded him. For so many years, his impression of “home” seemed to have always been here.

Here, where Lin Zhexia was.

When everyone sat down to eat, no particularly unusual incidents occurred.

Except that all the delicious dishes were placed into Chi Yao’s bowl by Lin He, and Chi Yao, noticing her gaze, would then pass them to her.

In the past, she wouldn’t have needed him to serve her; she would have actively grabbed them herself.

But today was different. She constantly reminded herself to maintain distance from Chi Yao, so she held her bowl and politely declined: “No need, you eat it yourself. In this home, plain rice is enough for me.”

Lin He didn’t pay much attention and casually asked: “Do you two see each other often at school?”

The two answered as if they hadn’t coordinated their responses—

Chi Yao: “Yes.”

Lin Zhexia: “No.”

Lin He became suspicious: “So do you see each other or not?”

Lin Zhexia firmly stated, “We don’t. The campus is too big, and we’re not in the same major. How could we possibly see each other often? He’s lying to you.”

Chi Yao put down his chopsticks and gave her hand a moderate pinch under the table.

Sometimes they could communicate without words.

Lin Zhexia could interpret his meaning from this small gesture: Just you wait.

This “wait” didn’t keep her waiting for long.

Retribution came quickly.

After dinner, Lin Zhexia volunteered to wash the dishes in the kitchen.

Lin He, of course, wouldn’t miss any opportunity to make use of her, sitting with Wei Ping watching TV, and also reminded her: “Remember to wash the pot on the stove too—”

Lin Zhexia put on the dishwashing gloves and, halfway through washing, felt her shoulder strap slipping down.

With gloves on her hands and dishes half-washed, she couldn’t use her hands, so she could only tilt her head, trying to salvage the situation.

When Chi Yao entered the kitchen, that’s exactly what he saw—her shrugging her shoulders and tilting her head.

“What’s wrong?”

Lin Zhexia was startled: “Why did you come in?”

Chi Yao closed the kitchen door: “Don’t worry, they’re watching TV.”

Lin Zhexia was too embarrassed to say her shoulder strap was slipping down, so she continued washing dishes with her head down.

Chi Yao walked behind her: “Where is it itchy?”

“…”

Dude.

It’s not itchy.

No matter how close we were as buddies before, you wouldn’t understand the pain of a shoulder strap suddenly slipping down.

But before she could come up with another excuse, Chi Yao had already “kindly” placed his hand on her shoulder: “…Here?”

Her shoulder was now especially sensitive, with Chi Yao’s fingers touching that area through the fabric, intensifying a certain teetering sense of unease.

“No,” she wanted to avoid it, but the kitchen had such limited space that she could only say, “Don’t touch it, it’s not itchy anymore.”

Chi Yao curled his fingers, and before making any movement, he vaguely felt a thin strap under the fabric.

That strap was positioned a bit crookedly.

Curiously, he fiddled with it through the fabric, and the shoulder strap that had been barely holding on completely fell.

Lin Zhexia’s dishwashing hands paused, somewhat distressed: “…I told you not to touch it.”

At her shoulder, the young man’s bony fingers also paused for a moment.

“Is this what you were trying to fix?”

“…Mm, it suddenly slipped down.”

At that moment, the atmosphere in the kitchen became ambiguous.

It was so quiet that only the sound of running water remained.

The two had been acting as “good friends” in front of Lin He and Wei Ping all day, and now this restriction was unexpectedly broken.

Chi Yao seemed intent on tearing this restriction apart more thoroughly. After his fingers paused, he pulled aside the girl’s loose collar and slipped two fingers inside. With his long fingers, he easily found the fallen strap and hooked it back up.

Lin Zhexia had her back to him, her entire face burning red.

This action felt even more intimate than kissing.

His fingers were very hot, and everywhere they touched felt numb with heat.

“Done,” Chi Yao withdrew his fingers, “…Does the other side need fixing too?”

Lin Zhexia sped up her dishwashing pace, saying softly: “No need, just get out quickly.”

“I’ll help you wash,” he offered.

“No need,” Lin Zhexia continued to refuse.

Chi Yao still didn’t leave.

He lowered his eyes, staring at the girl’s slender neck and the white shoulder strap that occasionally peeked out from her collar.

“Girlfriend, I just helped you,” he said. “Asking for a small reward shouldn’t be too much, right?”

Lin Zhexia: “?”

Lin Zhexia: “You call that helping me?”

Chi Yao asked in return: “Doesn’t it count?”

Lin Zhexia: “That’s called acting on your initiative.”

Chi Yao made an “Oh” sound: “Since you don’t need it, then I’ll pull it down again, back to its original state.”

“…”

Once was enough for this kind of thing.

Lin Zhexia surrendered: “What reward do you want?”

Chi Yao didn’t answer her, just told her not to move. Then, maintaining her position of washing dishes with her back to him, watching the water flow steadily in front of her, the next second, the person behind her lowered his head and moved closer, placing a scorching kiss on the side of her neck.

Even without seeing, she knew their current position was very intimate.

The location of this kiss reminded her of the shoulder strap that had just been hooked back up, and she was momentarily lost in thought.

In these few seconds, something unexpected happened—

The kitchen door was suddenly pulled open.

Lin He came in holding two bowls: “Xia Xia, I just remembered, there are two more bowls that need…”

Her words abruptly stopped there.

She stared at the intimate scene before her, immediately frozen in shock.

Wei Ping, sensing something was wrong, also got up and came over, asking: “What’s the matter?”

Chi Yao hadn’t expected to be caught.

He had only come in to tease her a bit, and since she didn’t want to go public yet, he hadn’t planned to actively reveal their relationship.

“Uncle Wei, Auntie He.”

Just as he was about to explain, Lin Zhexia interrupted him.

In this urgent situation, Lin Zhexia somehow found courage somewhere. She first turned off the faucet, removed her rubber gloves, and then, with extraordinary composure, said to Lin He and Wei Ping: “Things are exactly as you see them. Since you already treat him like a son, now you’ll have to treat him as a son-in-law, which shouldn’t be a problem for you, right?”

“…”-

Ten minutes later.

The four of them sat face to face, having a family meeting.

Lin He was unusually serious: “When did this start?”

Lin Zhexia was about to speak, but Chi Yao pressed her hand under the table: “We just started dating recently. We wanted to tell you this time we came back, but couldn’t find the right opportunity. That’s my fault.”

Lin He recalled the subtle, unusual details from this visit.

Like when Lin Zhexia had asked her, “What do you think of Chi Yao,” these details had been overlooked at the time, but looking back now, there were signs.

Before Lin Zhexia went to college, she had thought about her daughter’s dating issues to some extent.

Privately, she and Wei Ping had speculated whether Lin Zhexia would date.

If she did date, what kind of boy would she choose?

…

She just hadn’t expected this day to come so quickly.

And the person she brought home was Chi Yao.

That was Chi Yao, whom she had watched grow up since childhood.

The two children had been inseparable since they were young, growing up together with constant bickering, regardless of gender.

Though Lin He was shocked, rather than being unable to accept it, her considerations went deeper: “Have you thought this through? You’ve known each other since childhood. Are you sure your feelings for each other are romantic love? Dating isn’t like the small quarrels you had as children. This is a serious matter, not to be taken lightly.”

“Auntie He,” Chi Yao looked at her and said, “I’ve liked her for a long time.”

Lin He was momentarily speechless.

Coming from Chi Yao’s mouth, these words weren’t without persuasiveness.

She had witnessed how close their relationship had been before and how much Chi Yao had always taken care of Lin Zhexia.

Lin He: “One last question.”

She pointed a finger at her daughter, “How did you end up choosing her?”

Lin Zhexia: “…?”

“That’s not right,” Lin Zhexia’s voice rose, “What do you mean ‘how did you end up choosing me’?”

Lin He: “Anyone with eyes would find it difficult to choose you.”

Lin Zhexia: “…”

In the end, it was Wei Ping who smoothed things over: “Feelings develop over time, I think it’s great. Besides, it’s better to keep the water in the family field. Rather than finding someone unfamiliar outside, it’s better to find someone whose background you know well…”

Lin Zhexia hadn’t expected their relationship would be revealed in this way.

Finally, Lin He and Wei Ping sat in the dining room for a long time, telling them, “Since you’ve made your decision, we won’t interfere. Now that you’re together, you have a good relationship. We want your happiness more than anyone else.”

On the way to take Chi Yao to He Yang’s house, she still felt a dreamy sense of disbelief.

“We just… went public like that?”

Lin He hadn’t broken down or scolded her.

She had even blessed them.

Lin Zhexia asked again: “Do Uncle Chi and Auntie Bai know about us? Should I go meet them too?”

In her imagination, Chi Hanshan and Bai Qin didn’t know.

However, Chi Yao said, “They know about you.”

Lin Zhexia: “Huh?”

“They’ve known for a long time,” he showed her his chat history with Bai Qin, “A while ago, she even asked if I’d won you over yet.”

On the phone screen, Bai Qin’s profile picture was an image of wealth and prosperity-

Son-

If you haven’t won her over after more than a month, don’t say you’re my son when you go out.

Lin Zhexia asked: “How did they know? Did you tell them early on?”

Chi Yao exited the WeChat interface and tapped his screen lock.

Lin Zhexia saw that landscape photo with her in it.

Before today, she had thought Chi Hanshan and Bai Qin seemed so unapproachable that they might not like her.

And… she had even talked back to them when she was young.

She never imagined that long before she knew it, she had already been accepted by them.

Then Chi Yao sent her Bai Qin and Chi Hanshan’s WeChat contact cards.

After seeing Chi Yao off, she returned home and carefully added them.

Before she could figure out what to say, messages from Chi Hanshan and Bai Qin arrived first.

Chi Hanshan was simple and direct, sending a money transfer with the note: A meeting gift for my future daughter-in-law.

Bai Qin sent a smiley face.

Lin Zhexia deliberated and replied with a middle-aged-style rose emoji.

This rose.

To the elders, it should look quite friendly, right?

Even knowing that Chi Hanshan and Bai Qin had a good impression of her, facing the parents of the person she liked, she was still very cautious, afraid of making any mistakes.

She continued typing on the screen: Hello, Auntie Bai, I…

Her little composition had barely begun.

Bai Qin sent her next message: Thank you for growing up with him.