Past ten in the evening.
A lamp was on in Chi Yao’s living room as he lowered his head, with a “Scarf Knitting Tutorial” book spread out beside him.
The beige scarf in his hands was already more than half done, with just a small section remaining.
His phone beside him kept vibrating.
Xu Ting: Are you playing games? Are you playing games
Xu Ting: Hurry up, just waiting for you to come online.
Ten minutes later.
Xu Ting: Big bro
Xu Ting: Is your contact information just for show? You don’t reply to messages?
Finding it annoying, Chi Yao reluctantly freed one hand and tapped twice on his phone screen, selecting “Yes” on the “Block this friend?” option.
So when Xu Ting continued sending messages, he saw a prominent red exclamation mark suddenly appear before his messages.
Xu Ting was outraged and directly called him: “You better give me a reason today.”
Chi Yao’s voice was as cold as ever: “My contact information, you can do without it if you don’t want it.”
“So this is your—”
At this moment, Xu Ting felt like a spurned lover: “Reason for blocking me?”
Chi Yao: “There are other reasons, too.”
Xu Ting asked: “What?”
Chi Yao: “You’re too annoying.”
“…”
This reason was even worse than the previous one.
Xu Ting was speechless: “I just wanted to ask if you’re playing games or not.”
Chi Yao: “No.”
Xu Ting: “You haven’t been online for days now. Are you at home?”
Chi Yao: “Where else would I be?”
“Then why aren’t you replying to my messages?” Xu Ting accused, asking in confusion, “What do you do at home all day?”
Chi Yao had his phone on speaker. One leg was bent, with yarn wrapped around his hand, and half-read tutorial book spread out beside his leg.
He said in a low voice: “…Helping someone knit a scarf. What else could I be doing?”
Xu Ting couldn’t hear clearly: “Someone, what?”
“None of your business,” Chi Yao didn’t bother to elaborate, “Hanging up.”
Although Lin Zhexia had asked Chi Yao to help her knit the scarf, she still tossed and turned in bed before falling asleep, feeling somewhat guilty.
She said it was a gift.
But it wasn’t knitted by her own hands after all.
Lin He’s birthday was getting closer and closer.
She thought that giving it like this, the day after tomorrow, seemed rather inappropriate.
Before sleeping, she decided to go to the mall tomorrow with her saved New Year’s money to see if there were any other suitable gifts.
The next day.
To avoid arousing Lin He’s suspicion, she planned to slip out after dinner.
Based on her understanding of Lin He, after cleaning up the kitchen, she would rest in her room for a while. However, just as she carefully pushed her bedroom door open a crack, preparing to sneak out, she saw Lin He and Wei Ping in the hallway.
The two were standing at the bathroom door, with Wei Ping supporting Lin He.
Lin He was leaning against his chest, one hand covering her mouth.
Wei Ping carefully supported her with one hand while closing the bathroom door with the other: “Why has your morning sickness been so severe these past few days?”
Lin He: “Recently, I vomit after eating anything, and the symptoms seem to be getting worse.”
Wei Ping helped her walk toward the bedroom: “Let me help you lie down on the bed to rest for a while. If you still don’t feel well, we’ll go to the hospital this afternoon.”
Lin He didn’t take it too seriously: “No need, it’s not a big deal. When I was pregnant with Xia Xia, the symptoms were even worse. This is relatively mild.” As she spoke, her voice lowered, “More than that, I’ve been thinking lately about how to tell Xia Xia about my pregnancy.”
Hearing this, Lin Zhexia’s hand, which was about to push the door, froze.
Lin He continued: “Last time when she caught me having morning sickness, I didn’t know what to say.”
“Anyway, I still haven’t found the right opportunity.”
“I don’t know how she’ll react to this child.”
“…”
Lin He’s voice grew more distant.