Chapter 15 Part 1

If it weren’t for the fact that the voice from the receiver sounded too real, Lin Zhexia almost thought that she was dreaming.

Otherwise, why would Chi Yao call as soon as she thought of him.

“Lin Zhexia,” While she was stunned, the other end called out her name again, “can you hear me?”

“Reply if you can hear me.”

Lin Zhexia sat up, pressed the light, and the bedroom lit up.

She lifted her blanket and got out of bed, then said to her phone, “I hear you.”

Holding her phone, Lin Zhexia opened the door and saw the person leaning against the elevator.

Chi Yao came out in such a hurry that he didn’t even wear a jacket. His hair hung messily on his forehead and he seemed to be tainted with cold air. He was carrying a transparent umbrella in his hand. The tip of the umbrella was facing down, dripping with water.

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Fllkdt bla srld vbl essa, bl xshle bkp qkdtlap yde bwdt wr vbl nyzz.

Gqvla ldvlakdt vbl bswpl, Nkd Hblmky ypjle, “Zsw’al olyakdt ps zkvvzl? Rpd’v kv nsze? Ps usw oydv bsv oyvla sa vly?”

“Eyvla.”

Fbl vwadle vs vbl jkvnbld yde ypjle ytykd, “Ebu yal usw wr ps zyvl?”

Ubk Zys, “R’x blal vs pll kq psxl pnyaleu nyv kp pbkhlakdt wdela vbl czydjlv.”

Jlkdt nyzzle y pnyaleu nyv, Nkd Hblmky nbsjle qsa y plnsde.

Fbl bydele vbl nwr vs bkx yde pyke, “Gzvbswtb obyv usw‘al pyukdt kp vawl, nyd’v usw zlyhl xl psxl ektdkvu?”

Ubk Zys vssj kv, “Tso?”

Lin Zhexia, “For example, find some other excuse, just don’t say it so directly.”

Chi Yao’s white knuckles rested on the glass cup. Lin Zhexia was ready to be refused when she saw him slightly turn his head and thought for two seconds. He said, “Then let me try again?”

“Sure.”

Lin Zhexia nodded and asked again, “Chi Yao, why are you up so late?”

Chi Yao said in a flat tone, “I have insomnia and couldn’t sleep. I’m taking a stroll in the middle of the night.”

Lin Zhexia, “…”

Chi Yao, “Is there a problem? Does the law stipulates that I can’t walk in the middle of the night?”

Lin Zhexia, “Taking a stroll at 1:30 in the morning seems a bit far-fetched.”

It seemed that Chi Yao was quite easygoing tonight.

He was silent for two seconds, and then found another excuse, “Actually, I’m also very timid. I was awakened by the thunder, and I’m very scared.”

“That’s a good reason.” Lin Zhexia followed naturally, “Don’t be afraid. Since you’ve come to me, I will protect you.”

Chi Yao nodded slightly, “Thank you.”

Lin Zhexia, “You’re welcome.”

“Since you are so scared,” Lin Zhexia took the blanket out of the bedroom, “why don’t we sleep in the living room tonight? I’ll sleep on the sofa, and you sleep on the floor. This blanket is for you.”

Chi Yao leaned against the wall and watched her busy herself, he said in a faint voice, “Your family stipulates that guests cannot wash dishes, yet they can sleep on the ground. What a unique way to treat guests.”

Lin Zhexia, who was laying a mat on the ground, “…”

“You can only blame yourself,” She placed the pillow on top. “I actually really want to let you have the sofa, but you are too tall. Due to your superior genes, the sofa may be a little inappropriate for you.”

Before Chi Yao opened his mouth, she put herself down again, leaving him completely speechless, “On the other hand, me, I’m just a shorty.”

Which leaves Chi Yao with only one thing to say, “I didn’t expect you to be so self-aware.”

Lin Zhexia, “Of course.”

The living room had the heat on, they wouldn’t feel cold even if they weren’t covered with blankets, but Lin Zhexia still wrapped herself up and curled up on the sofa, preparing to sleep.

Chi Yao didn’t sleep for the time being. He sat on the carpet with his legs bent and his back against the sofa.

Outside the window, thunder and lightning continued to strike. There was an instant when it lit up the sky.

Maybe it was because there was one more person in the room. Lin Zhexia suddenly felt that the thunder was much further away.

The light in the middle of the living room was turned off.

The only dim light that remained was the lamp.

Lin Zhexia opened her eyes and saw the youth’s thin neck through the light.

“Chi Yao.” Lin Zhexia called him.

Chi Yao let out an “Mn” to express that he was listening.

In addition to the sounds outside the window, only the sound of two people talking with each other remained.

“What are you doing?”

“Xu Ting’s looking for me, I’m answering his messages.”

“He’s still up even though it’s already so late?”

“Mn, he’s crazy.”

Lin Zhexia reminded, “We’re also awake.”

Chi Yao said, “It’s different.”

Lin Zhexia, “…What’s different?”

Chi Yao, “Because of my double standards.”

After that, it was quiet for a while.

Lin Zhexia asked quietly, “What do you want to eat tomorrow morning?”

She added, “I’m a little hungry. I want to eat steamed buns for breakfast tomorrow.”

“Then you must go to bed first.” Chi Yao said.

“Kay.”

Lin Zhexia closed her eyes.

The thunder stopped outside. When she closed her eyes, what she heard was the intermittent rain.

She remembered that it was many, many years ago when she first exposed her fear of thunder to Chi Yao.

It was so long ago that she can’t remember the exact year.

It should be around the second year she moved here, there was a thunderstorm one night.

At that time, Lin Zhexia was still a “tigress” who fought all over the neighborhood, and Chi Yao was still her “underling”.

Lin He and Wei Ping went to a dinner party with their colleagues that day. After dinner, they went to karaoke. It was already past 12 o’clock when they were getting back home. At that time, the rain became heavier and they were stuck on the road because of the weather. In addition, their phones were dead.

Lin Zhexia’s fear of thunder had never been revealed to Lin He, because she wouldn’t be as afraid as long as there was someone at home. Lin He only knew that her daughter did not like thunderstorms, she knew nothing of her fear of thunder. So Lin He thought that her daughter must’ve already gone to bed since it was so late.

But Lin Zhexia didn’t fall asleep that night.

She held her phone tightly and kept calling Lin He.

“The number you dialed has been turned off…”

“Please leave a message after the beep…”

Lin Zhexia’s lips turned pale as she thought:

Why won’t it go through?

Even if it’s just a quick pick up.

It’ll be enough for her if she can hear a little bit of a voice.

The ensuing fear was like a rising tide that almost swallowed her.

In the end, who knew what she was thinking, she didn’t even take an umbrella with her when she squatted at the door of Chi Yao’s house in the rain. When Chi Yao opened the door, she was soaked all over.

“I, your big brother, went out just now,” She said, shivering with an excuse, “and forgot my keys.”

The minified version of Chi Yao stood at the door and looked at her for a while, “You went out in the middle of the night?”

“I can’t?” She said trembling, “I like to go out in the middle of the night.”

Finally, Chi Yao let her in and gave her a set of unopened clothes and towels.

Lin Zhexia’s hair was short at that time, she looked like a little boy after putting on boy clothes.

At first, Chi Yao thought that she was too exhausted from the rain and wouldn’t stop shivering. But half an hour later, Lin Zhexia was still shivering on the corner of the sofa.

Chi Yao seemed to have asked her several times “Are you cold?”, but she didn’t respond.

It wasn’t until Chi Yao stood in front of her and reached out to test her temperature that she regained her senses.

“When I was a child,” Lin Zhexia felt the temperature on top of her forehead, which dragged her back from her thoughts. She suddenly said, “My father left like this.”

“He has another woman outside, and… other children.”

“The thunder was loud. I begged him for a long time, but he still left.”

These words have been hidden deep in her heart.

She was afraid that Lin He would be worried, so she never said it.

This fear that she had been hiding, even Lin He did not know.

From that moment on, there was one more person who knew.