Lin Zhexia sat by the lake for about twenty minutes.
She had just adjusted her emotions and was preparing to act as if she hadn’t heard anything, return home, and then wait for Lin He to find the right opportunity to tell her herself.
However, before she could even stand up from the bench, she saw a familiar figure appear in the distance under the street lamp by the lake.
Even wearing a winter coat, he didn’t look bulky.
He still had that distinctive thinness unique to boys his age. Outlined by the lamplight, he was excessively eye-catching.
“With your classmate,” Chi Yao walked through that patch of light to stand in front of her, each word coming out distinctly, “taking… a… walk?”
“…”
Lin Zhexia rarely lied, and on the rare occasion that she did, she was immediately caught.
She said a bit guiltily: “My classmate just left.”
Chi Yao’s tone was cool: “Is that so?”
“Yes, we were just sitting here discussing life.”
To increase credibility, she began to add specific details: “It was Chen Lin, you know her. She’s been taking extra classes lately, and the academic pressure is too much.”
“Done with your story?”
Chi Yao looked down at her. The person in front of him wore only a thin and oversized sweater jacket, one she often wore at home. The girl’s ears were already red from the cold, and because she was afraid of the cold, her hands were tucked into her sleeves, making her look pitiful.
Chi Yao continued: “Want a few more minutes to call Chen Lin?”
Lin Zhexia didn’t understand: “Why call her?”
“To coordinate your stories.”
“…”
Lin Zhexia was silent for two seconds, then carefully suggested: “If you’re willing to give me that opportunity, I suppose I could…”
Chi Yao looked at her for a long while.
Lin Zhexia thought he would be angry, but surprisingly, he didn’t say anything.
Chi Yao simply raised his hand to unzip his coat, and then that black jacket, still warm from his body, fell onto her, enveloping her completely.
Chi Yao’s clothes were several sizes too large for her.
The coat that reached his knees almost touched her ankles.
She looked like a child wearing adult clothes, appearing extremely awkward.
After putting the coat on her, Chi Yao seemed to think it wasn’t enough.
He took out the finished scarf from the bag and wrapped it around her neck twice.
Chi Yao was indeed a bit angry, but the point of his anger seemed different from what she expected.
After letting go, he smiled without looking in his eyes and said, “Lin Zhexia, is your brain filled with water?”
Lin Zhexia, with the lower half of her face covered by the scarf, spoke in a muffled voice: “My brain is filled with intelligence and wisdom.”
“Two degrees below zero and dressed like this, very intelligent.”
“…”
Lin Zhexia: “Actually, today was an accident.”
“Oh,” Chi Yao said, “You accidentally had your brain eaten by zombies before leaving the house.”
“…”
Fine.
No brain, it is.
She had to admit that forgetting to wear a coat when going out today was indeed quite stupid.
Lin Zhexia felt the warmth gradually rising in her body, the coldness receding, and her fingers no longer stiff: “How did you know I was here?”
After throwing his coat to her, Chi Yao was left with just a sweater, which hung loosely on him.
He sat down beside Lin Zhexia, sitting side by side with her on the bench, and said: “Where else would you go when you’re feeling down?”
This place was Lin Zhexia’s secret base.
Since she was little, whenever she felt bad, from major things like failing exams to minor things like losing arguments with him, she loved to come here.
Lin Zhexia moved her fingers: “Then how did you know I was feeling down?”
Chi Yao said: “That ‘oh’.”
Lin Zhexia: “‘Oh’?”
Chi Yao unlocked his phone and found their chat interface.
Lin Zhexia glanced at it and remembered: “Isn’t replying with ‘oh’ a normal thing? I’m occasionally this aloof.”
“You’re not.”
Chi Yao mimicked her speech pattern with his characteristically lukewarm tone: “You would say ‘I have a key, I can open it myself, I dare you to change the lock right now’.”