Lin Zhexia felt as if she had been poisoned mute.
After Chi Yao finished speaking, she couldn’t squeeze out a single word for a long time.
Usually, when Chi Yao said one thing, she could reply with ten, but at this moment, she couldn’t respond at all.
Lin He and Wei Ping were focused on watching TV and hadn’t noticed their side.
The lively sounds of the Spring Festival Gala were transmitted from the television, drowning out the sounds between her and Chi Yao.
After a while, Lin Zhexia lowered her head to scroll through her phone.
Actually, no one had sent her messages, but she didn’t know why she was in this strange state of wanting to escape by scrolling through her phone.
She made something out of nothing, seeking one-sided conversations with Chen Lin and Tang Shuxuan-
Are you watching the Spring Festival Gala?
This year’s Gala is quite funny-
[smiling]
No one replied to her.
She continued blindly scrolling through her contact list.
As coincidence would have it, He Yang had just sent her several messages.
Da Zhuang: ddd
Da Zhuang: You’re at home, right?
Lin Zhexia replied: Yes
Da Zhuang: Is my bro Chi Yao there too?
Lin Zhexia continued to reply: Mm
Da Zhuang: ……
Da Zhuang: Want to come out and set off fireworks, my dad bought a lot
Da Zhuang: Also, can you stop replying one word at a time? You spend all day with Chi Yao, couldn’t you learn something else from him instead of just his bad habits?
Lin Zhexia moved her fingers: Oh.
Da Zhuang: ………
Da Zhuang: You two don’t bother coming, I’ll set off the fireworks by myself
After chatting with He Yang.
Lin Zhexia found a new topic, cleared her throat, and finally managed to squeeze out a sentence: “Ahem, um, He Yang is asking us to go set off fireworks.”
When she and Chi Yao went outside, several rounds of fireworks had already been set off.
The night sky occasionally flashed with rising fireworks, going “bang” as they bloomed in the air.
He Yang saw them coming and called out: “Come quickly, we’re about to start, who wants to light them?”
Lin Zhexia ran over: “Me, me, me, I want to light them.”
She took the lighter and carefully crouched beside the box of fireworks.
She was a bit scared.
But thinking that Chi Yao was standing behind her, that bit of fear didn’t seem like much anymore.
She pressed the lighter, and the fuse started burning with a “sizzle-sizzle-sizzle.”
Just as she was about to stand up and back away, almost at the same time, she felt a very light force from behind also guiding her backward—it was Chi Yao’s hand on her hood.
Three.
Two.
One.
The fireworks shot up high into the sky.
Lin Zhexia’s emotions came and went quickly. Looking at the continuously rising fireworks in the night sky, she had already forgotten the strange awkwardness from moments ago.
She said to Chi Yao just as she had in previous years: “Happy New Year—”
Chi Yao’s outer coat was black.
In the night, it almost blended with the surrounding darkness. The only difference was, at a certain moment, that profile illuminated by the fireworks.
He released his hand from her hood and replied: “Happy New Year.”
After the Spring Festival, the winter break quickly came to an end.
On the first day back at school, the first thing classmates did was catch up on holiday assignments.
Because of this unspoken task, as soon as the school gates opened, more than half of Class 7 had already arrived.
When Lin Zhexia entered the classroom, she realized for the first time that the class was so lively.
Tang Shuxuan and Chen Lin were huddled together, discussing what happened during the break.