Before parting with Chi Yao, Lin Zhexia hugged the bag of snacks and solemnly thanked him again: “If you ever need anything in the future, just tell your little brother. As long as it’s not illegal, I’ll go through fire and water without hesitation.”
Chi Yao lowered his eyes: “What else?”
Lin Zhexia suppressed her exasperation: “And the essay, I’ll write it. Three hundred words is nothing. I’m just afraid three hundred words won’t be enough to express your handsomeness.”
After Chi Yao left, Lin Zhexia tiptoed back to the dormitory.
Standing at the door, she cleared her throat: “Comrades, I’m back, look what I’ve brought.”
Chen Lin heard her voice and sat up in the upper bunk.
She peeked out and saw Lin Zhexia looking like a ghost, one hand holding her phone with the flashlight on to light her way, the other hand holding up a cup of instant noodles high: “…”
Lin Zhexia struck a pose and waited for a long time, but Chen Lin didn’t react.
Without the delight she had expected, Chen Lin calmly lay back down: “I’m dreaming.”
Tang Shuxuan was also awakened by their movement. She opened her eyes, and two seconds later, closed them again: “It’s amazing. I finally fell asleep and even dreamed of instant noodles.”
Lin Zhexia: “…”
“This isn’t a dream,” Lin Zhexia tugged at Tang Shuxuan’s ear, “Get up—we have food to eat.”
A few minutes later.
Six people gathered around the only desk in the dormitory, with several cups of instant noodles on it.
They ate cookies while smelling the gradually spreading aroma of the instant noodles.
Chen Lin: “I’m alive again.”
Tang Shuxuan: “The best thing I’ve ever eaten in my life is tonight’s instant noodles.”
After saying this, she asked: “Chi Yao gave them to you?”
Lin Zhexia unwrapped a piece of milk bread and chewed it slowly: “Mm, he climbed over the wall to buy them.”
“I didn’t expect him to sometimes act like a human being,” Tang Shuxuan said, “I’ve unilaterally reconciled with Chi Yao.”
When the instant noodles were ready, Tang Shuxuan lifted the lid: “But he’s nice to you, climbing over the wall to buy you food. Your friendship is so deep.”
“It’s alright.”
Lin Zhexia hadn’t thought about this.
Her interactions with Chi Yao, whether fighting or his occasional “charity” toward her, were all quite normal to her.
And besides, it wasn’t without a price.
The price was a three-hundred-word English essay.
Soon, someone else said, “After all, you’ve known each other for so many years, almost like family, so it’s normal.”
After everyone had eaten and cleaned up the mess on the table, the night finally truly quieted down.
While the others had gone to sleep, Lin Zhexia hid under her blanket, racking her brains to write the essay.
She managed to write the first fifty words with some effort, but as she continued, she couldn’t resist the drowsiness, and besides, her English vocabulary wasn’t rich enough, so she opened Baidu Translate.
Translation: [You are truly too handsome, I have never seen anyone as handsome as you.]
Translation: [Your handsomeness is dazzling, shining, glowing, and imposing.]
…
After barely reaching the word count, Lin Zhexia prepared to sleep, but before falling asleep, she suddenly thought of the phrase “almost like family.”
She suddenly realized that she and Chi Yao were closer than family in some ways.
Things she couldn’t tell Lin He, she could easily tell Chi Yao.
Some confessions she couldn’t share with friends, Chi Yao was a suitable recipient.
Including some unexplained emotions.
When unhappy, she could curse at Chi Yao.
When happy, although Chi Yao would pour cold water on her, she could still be happy with him.
Thinking of this, as if discovering her conscience, Lin Zhexia added a “good night” after her essay, along with a cheesy emoji—a flower blooming in the center of the screen, with changing large characters between the petals saying “My Friend”-
The five-day military training soon entered its countdown.
Lin Zhexia and her classmates were still practicing the formation march they hadn’t mastered yesterday. Boys and girls were divided into two teams, walking back and forth, and required to walk in a straight line.
During the break, the girls went to drink water under the shade of trees.
Chen Lin looked at the parade ground: “Where did our instructor go?”
Tang Shuxuan: “I don’t know. The instructors from other classes aren’t around either. Maybe they went to a meeting.”
Lin Zhexia didn’t pay much attention: “Maybe they’re organizing a new activity. I heard there will be an instructor performance on the last day.”
Chen Lin nodded: “Probably.”
Everyone thought there might be a new activity being organized.
However, unexpectedly, before the afternoon training, instead of training separately as usual, they were all gathered together.