Bai Yin and Chen Huaixiao played games late into the night.
Since her mother passed away, it was the most relaxing and happiest night Bai Yin had. They played many game cartridges together. Bai Yin didn't want to sleep at all, and Chen Huaixiao was happy to accompany her, indulging with her in the game world.
Like all college students, Chen Huaixiao was used to sleeping in on weekends.
Bai Yin still had the biological clock of a high schooler, so she woke up before 6 AM.
She didn't feel tired at all. She first practiced dancing on the balcony, then went to the open kitchen to make a fragrant breakfast. After eating, she had to do her homework.
Chen Huaixiao walked out of the bedroom with lingering drowsiness, rubbing his hair...
He squinted his eyes and looked at Bai Yin, who was bent over the coffee table doing math homework.
A few seconds later, he seemed to remember something. He lowered his head to glance at the black boxer briefs he was wearing.
The drowsiness disappeared in a flash. Chen Huaixiao calmly retreated back into the bedroom and closed the door with a bang.
Bai Yin quickly grabbed the water glass on the table and took a big gulp.
Stay calm, stay calm!
Although, this brother's figure was really too perfect!
The eight-pack abs were neat and tidy. Wearing clothes, one couldn't tell he had the physique of a devil.
So awesome!
Five minutes later, Chen Huaixiao came out again, already wearing a grey sweatshirt, looking very spirited.
Bai Yin's gaze stuck to him again, watching as he went to the kitchen to drink some warm water, then to the bathroom to wash up and comb his hair... Her eyes didn't leave him for a second.
The rolling Adam's apple, the sharp contours of his side profile, even the smooth forearms revealed when he rolled up his sleeves...
There wasn't a single part of him that didn't captivate Bai Yin.
Her heart raced wildly.
Chen Huaixiao walked out of the bathroom and came over to her, sitting on the soft white carpet to check her math test paper.
She immediately averted her gaze, lowering her head to continue calculating. As she wrote, she secretly glanced at him from the corner of her eye.
The air around them seemed to become hotter.
"Wrong," Chen Huaixiao mercilessly pointed out the mistake in her calculations: "What's 23 times 3? You can't even get simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division right?"
Bai Yin thought: If you weren't so close to me, I wouldn't make mistakes!
She shifted her gaze and noticed her elbow leaning against his chest, becoming more and more nervous.
"Wrong again," Chen Huaixiao bluntly tapped the draft paper with his slender fingers: "What's going on with you?"
"..."
She quickly erased the calculations and redid them.
Chen Huaixiao stared intently at the calculations she was writing, frowning deeply: "Does Elder expect too much, wanting you to be top of your grade before senior year?"
With such frequent errors in basic arithmetic, was this the level of a high schooler?
Bai Yin finally couldn't stand it anymore. She said to him, "Don't look at me!"
"If I don't correct you, everything will be wrong." Chen Huaixiao stubbornly pointed at her work: "How much is 13 plus 8?"
"22."
He unceremoniously patted her head: "I see you're a 22!"
"Ow!"
"I'll give you another chance."
Bai Yin rubbed her head. "23."
Chen Huaixiao wanted to pat her again, but the little girl was prepared this time and dodged it.
Watching parents go crazy tutoring their kids in videos used to seem exaggerated to him, taking out their frustration on the child if their own skills were lacking.
Now... Chen Huaixiao deeply understood that kind of uncontrollable irritability.
It really could drive someone crazy.
He took a deep breath, adjusted his temper, and patiently explained: "13 plus 8 is 21. Why is it 21? Because 3 plus 8 is 11, carry the 1, and the 1 becomes 2."
Bai Yin watched as Chen Huaixiao earnestly gave her a math lesson on elementary school addition and subtraction, seeming to take it very seriously.
"Understand?"
"I understand...understand."
"Redo the calculation. No mistakes this time."
Bai Yin took the pen he handed her. This time, not daring to daydream again, she carefully recalculated the math problem.
When she finally wrote down the right answer, she clearly felt the man beside her breathe a sigh of relief.
"Do you think I'm stupid?" She tilted her head and asked him.
Chen Huaixiao looked very helpless. "Not every child can succeed. Learning to accept your child's ordinariness is a must-take course for parents."
"..."
Who's your child!
Chen Huaixiao smiled faintly. He walked to the open kitchen and opened the refrigerator. "Have you eaten breakfast?"
"I have. Brother, just make your own. You don't have to make me breakfast."
Chen Huaixiao's hand paused. "You only made breakfast for yourself?"
Bai Yin was rendered speechless for a moment.
Seeing Chen Huaixiao's nonchalant appearance, she asked, "Dare I ask, are you...the type who can't cook?"
"It's not that I can't, I just don't like to." As Chen Huaixiao spoke, he took two eggs out of the fridge and cracked them into a pan. "There's nothing in this world that I can't do."
"Oh..." Bai Yin looked at the eggs in the pan. "Are you making fried eggs?"
"Mm."
"Then dare I ask why you didn't add oil?"
"..."
Bai Yin laughed and walked over. She poured the eggs back into the bowl, heated up fresh oil, and fried a fragrant egg. She also blanched some Brussels sprouts as a side dish and placed it in front of Chen Huaixiao. "Eat up, brother."
Chen Huaixiao readily sat at the bar counter and enjoyed the perfect breakfast she had prepared for him. "Consider it tuition for the tutoring."
"No problem." Bai Yin sat on a high stool next to Chen Huaixiao. "From now on if you have nothing to eat, come find me. I'm the best at cooking."
As he ate, he silently nodded.
"I'll come pick you up again next week."
Bai Yin felt a little bad and shook her head. "Not good to come every week. And I have other plans on weekends too."
Chen Huaixiao didn't force her, only saying, "I have a cousin who might come over next week."
"Oh? Another brother is coming?"
Hearing her call everyone brother, Chen Huaixiao's expression darkened. "He's no good. If you see him, ignore him."
"Is that...okay?"
"Mm. He's best at sweet-talking girls with flowery words and empty promises."
"Then I definitely won't pay him any attention!"
Chen Huaixiao nodded, slightly relieved.
...
In the afternoon, Chen Huaixiao carried Bai Yin's schoolbag and took the elevator down with her, ready to send her home.
On the way down, Chen Huaixiao glanced at the white sneakers on the girl's feet. Although cleaned very cleanly, one could still see they were very worn out, seemingly worn for many years already.
He reached out and pressed the 3 button.
Bai Yin asked in surprise, "Aren't we going down to the parking garage?"
"I want to go shopping."
"Oh..."
She obediently followed Chen Huaixiao out of the elevator, but saw that the 3rd floor was a bustling, lively shopping center. He brought her into a sports brand store. Bai Yin thought Chen Huaixiao wanted to buy shoes, so she kindly helped him pick some out.
"Brother, these look nice."
"Those aren't bad either."
Chen Huaixiao breezed right past the men's section and went to the women's section. He picked up a new pair of □□ brand sneakers and looked at Bai Yin. "Come try these on."
"Ah..."
Bai Yin was instantly embarrassed, because she had just noticed the price tags on the men's shoes, ranging from 1-2 thousand at least, up to 3-4 thousand. She would never buy shoes at such prices.
"Brother, I...I don't need to buy shoes. Mine aren't worn out yet."
"Come here."
"Really, it's not necessary."
Chen Huaixiao finally dragged the little girl over, made her sit in a chair, then squatted down to take off her shoes.
"Brother!"
Chen Huaixiao leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "The point of shopping is to try on a lot. It doesn't cost anything to just try."
"But I won't buy them!"
"Won't buy."
Hearing this, Bai Yin finally breathed a sigh of relief and put on the pair of □□ sneakers he handed her. She walked around a few steps.
"Is the size right?"
"Perfect fit!"
"Try these on too." He took another pair of high-top sneakers off the shelf, had the clerk bring the right size, and gave them to Bai Yin to try on.
As long as she didn't have to buy them, Bai Yin was happy to indulge Chen Huaixiao's shopping style. She tried on everything she liked, having a great time.
Just as he said, trying was free.
And as promised, Chen Huaixiao didn't force her to buy shoes. After letting her try on all the styles she liked, he took her and left the store.
"Let's go try on some clothes next. Your fashion sense is too provincial."
"Hmph!"
Chen Huaixiao looked back at the store manager who had personally seen them to the door.
The manager understood Chen Huaixiao's look and said to the clerks, "Pack up all the shoes that girl tried on just now."
"All of them? There are over a dozen pairs."
"What's a dozen pairs? This young master rarely goes shopping, and the whole mall is looking forward to his patronage like it's New Year."
...
Chen Huaixiao then accompanied Bai Yin to try on clothes for another two hours. She tried them on in front of the mirror while he took out his phone to photograph her: "Model, look here."
Bai Yin was awkward in front of the camera: "Let's not take pictures anymore."
Chen Huaixiao raised his dark eyes and said lightly, "Would a big star be afraid of having her photo taken?"
"I'm not scared!"
"Come on then."
Bai Yin posed like the models in fashion magazines, flipping her hair, swinging her shoulders, and lifting her chin.
Looking at the little girl in the viewfinder, Chen Huaixiao thought she looked very cute despite her childish appearance.
When they left the store, he texted the mall manager the address to have everything they had shopped for today packed up and delivered.
Unaware of this, Bai Yin was still in high spirits, having indulged in a carefree try-on spree.
In the arts and crafts shop on the first floor, Bai Yin took a liking to a horn comb and wanted to buy it for her grandma: "How much is this?"
Just as the clerk was about to answer, Chen Huaixiao suddenly said, "It shouldn't be too expensive."
The clerk immediately swallowed back the price he was about to quote, and tentatively said, "50?"
Chen Huaixiao said, "I think 20 should be enough for a common horn comb."
The clerk swallowed hard and summoned all his acting skills to reluctantly reply, "20 really won't work. How about you add 5 more?"
Chen Huaixiao looked to Bai Yin: "It's up to you."
Bai Yin thought for a moment and said, "Alright, that's fine."
So she used the money her grandma gave her to buy a horn comb, and happily walked out of the store.
The clerk revised the original 950 invoice, changing the amount to 925.
The remaining amount was deducted directly from this young master's card.
...
Two days later, Bai Yin received many packages at home, all the clothes and shoes she had tried on!
She called Grandpa Chen over in surprise.
Seeing all these items, even Grandpa Chen was astonished: "You're saying the third master bought all this?"
"It must have been him."
Grandpa Chen was somewhat exasperated.
How could this boy proclaim one thing over the phone but act completely differently?
Seeing the dilemma on the little girl's face, Grandpa Chen came up with a compromise and said to Bai Yin, "How about this - you work for me to pay for these with your labor. What do you think?"
Bai Yin nodded eagerly, "Grandpa, I'll do whatever you ask."
"Then go dig up some earthworms for me first."
Bai Yin was an expert at digging up earthworms. She immediately grabbed some containers and headed to the small mound outside.
That night, looking at her previously empty wardrobe now filled with clothes,
she used her grandma's phone to register a new account, added Chen Huaixiao, and sent him a message: "This is Bai Yin. I don't know what to do with you buying me so much."
She deliberated for a long time before sending out this message.
After it was sent, she lay in bed with her heart thumping loudly. She anxiously and expectantly awaited his reply, covering her blushing face with a pillow, feeling like there were ants crawling all over her body.
Chen Huaixiao did not reply to her message for a long time.
Bai Yin's mood went from excitement to gradual disappointment, like eating a sour plum candy that got stuck in her throat.
She forced herself not to overthink and took out her study materials to read.
Not until 11pm when she was about to sleep did she rub her sore eyes and send him two words: "Good night."
...
In the gymnasium of Nandu University, Chen Huaixiao was drenched in sweat after an intense basketball game. He took out his phone from his backpack.
There were two messages from an unfamiliar number, an hour apart.
Chen Huaixiao wiped off his sweat with a towel and walked out of the gym with his friends. His fingertips swiftly typed a reply to her.
Bai Yin was suddenly jolted awake by the "ding" sound, like a frightened bird. Her heart skipped a beat as she quickly grabbed her phone. Seeing the three letters "chx",
she cautiously tapped open the message. He had replied to her with just one word -
"Be good."
