Chapter 48

Thanks to Chi Shen's senior phone, the awkwardness was completely swept away. Qiao Zhenzhen cuddled him for a while longer until his hand grew colder; she then slipped off her coat, rose onto her toes, and draped it over his shoulders. "Let's go back," she said.
"You wear it," Chi Shen said as he reached to give it back.
Qiao Zhenzhen pressed his hand away. "I'm going in now, I'm not cold. You keep it on."
Chi Shen hesitated for a moment, then let go. Her warm scent lingered on the coat; when it settled over him, it seemed to chase away all the chill.
"I'll return it to you tomorrow," he said earnestly.
Qiao Zhenzhen waved him off. "No need. Leave it at your place; I'll grab it when I go to tutoring."
After saying that, she suddenly remembered. "The clothes I left at your place that day, haven't I gotten them back yet?"
She meant the outfit she'd taken off in his bathroom the day Zhao Lianqiao nearly fell, when she'd gotten soaked.
Chi Shen nodded in silence.
"...You threw them away?" Qiao Zhenzhen asked.
Chi Shen hesitated a second. "No, I washed them."
"Washed them?!" Qiao Zhenzhen's voice shot up; her eyes went wide. "All of them?"
If she remembered correctly, her underwear had been there too.
Chi Shen pressed his lips together and looked at her with an innocent expression.
"...Enough. You don't need to say more. Tomorrow I'll come by and pick them up with this coat," Qiao Zhenzhen said, covering her face in embarrassment, unable to look at him.
Seeing her reaction, Chi Shen thought she was criticizing his washing, so after a moment he spoke up: "I washed them thoroughly, by hand."
Qiao Zhenzhen: "..." Oh my god, he hand-washed them. She wanted to die on the spot.
Sorrow and embarrassment washed over her at once; she let out a small, animal-like whimper and fled, cheeks flaming. Chi Shen's heart tightened; his eyes caught the flush on her face and he paused, belatedly realizing she was only shy.
Chi Shen silently exhaled, smoothed the coat over his shoulders, and left with a small smile.
Qiao Zhenzhen jogged home and dived straight under the covers, curling herself into a wriggling cocoon and tossing and turning in bed.
The shock of Chi Shen having washed her underwear himself was so overwhelming that she even forgot the sweetness of their kiss. After a long while of flailing, her hair in disarray, she poked her head out of the covers and called calmly to Xiao Ba.
"Xiao Ba didn't hear anything just now," Xiao Ba said, smartly pretending not to have heard.
Qiao Zhenzhen was speechless for three seconds before she asked slowly, "Is there any way to turn back time?" She wanted to go back to that night and take the clothes before Chi Shen touched them.
Xiao Ba was silent for three seconds then offered earnest comfort: "Honestly, it's normal. When you live together later, he might end up washing them for you every day. It's only because you're still in the innocent phase that this feels so shocking."
"Didn't you hear anything at all?"
Xiao Ba: "..."
After teasing Xiao Ba a bit, Qiao Zhenzhen felt better, turned off the light, and lay back down.
The room was quiet; she could hear her own breath clearly, and minutes earlier she had been able to hear Chi Shen's breathing too.
Thinking of the kiss, she couldn't help but touch her lips; her face slowly heated in the dark.
After an unknown amount of time she finally drifted toward sleep, but a second before sleep claimed her she awoke with a jolt: "Wait, this time was so intense... why did the affection only increase by fifty points?"
If she remembered correctly, when they had that first fluttering peck, the increase had seemed about ten times greater than this.
Facing her question, Xiao Ba began to analyze with her: "Maybe it's because the excitement isn't strong enough. It's like the first time you complimented him, you could win his favor easily, but after too many compliments it's hard to build on that. Likewise, though this was a deeper conversation, it probably still lacked a bit of the thrill of that first kiss."
"So I have to go deeper and deeper?" Qiao Zhenzhen said, then realized how ambiguous that sounded and felt her face flush.
That's one downside of getting older, if she were truly eighteen she wouldn't have picked up on the double meaning in a second. While she was busy blushing, younger Xiao Ba didn't notice anything wrong and kept analyzing seriously: "Based on the current pattern, it should be like this."
Qiao Zhenzhen forced herself to focus. "So according to you, won't it get harder and harder to gain affection points?"
"Not at all," Xiao Ba said. "As his threshold rises, your relationship is deepening too. Haven't you noticed that although each gain is smaller now, the overall increase is still bigger than at the start?"
Qiao Zhenzhen thought it over and, feeling that he was probably right, finally relaxed and flopped back onto the bed to sleep.
This time she really fell asleep.
Not only did she fall asleep, she overslept the next morning; even the alarm couldn't budge her, Qin Jing had to use force to pull her up.
She was still yawning when she climbed into the car.
Qin Jing frowned at her drowsy expression. "You went to bed early last night, didn't you? How are you this tired now?"
Qiao Zhenzhen cut her yawn off halfway, closed her mouth, and sat up straighter. "People need to slack off sometimes."
"You've been slacking off a lot," Qin Jing said flatly. "Ever since the exam results, you've been skipping class to celebrate, and now you're late again. Qiao Zhenzhen, have you let it go to your head?"
"No, no, absolutely not, I'm just sleepy sometimes," Qiao Zhenzhen said, trying to be conciliatory.
Qin Jing snorted. "Being sleepy gives you the right to skip school? Chi Shen waits at the school gate every day, if you were late, wouldn't he be late too?"
Her reminder snapped Qiao Zhenzhen out of her drowsiness; she remembered Chi Shen at once and hurried Qin Jing along.
Qin Jing glanced at her in the rearview mirror, floored the gas, and headed for the school.
Even pushing right up to the speed limit, Qiao Zhenzhen still arrived half an hour late. When the car stopped at the gate, she instinctively looked toward the corner but didn't see Chi Shen.
"See? He's gotten impatient too," Qin Jing raised an eyebrow.
No sooner had she spoken than Chi Shen came running down from the apartment road. He paused at the sight of their car, then hurried over. "Auntie."
"…How come you're late too?" Qin Jing was speechless.
Chi Shen glanced at Qiao Zhenzhen and dropped his head quickly. "I overslept."
Qiao Zhenzhen cleared her throat, inexplicably feeling a little warm in the face.
"They say you take on the color of those around you, when did you pick up sleeping in?" Qin Jing sighed. Seeing the two kids with their heads down, she let them off with a kind tone. "Alright, hurry to class and study hard."
"Got it, Mom!" Qiao Zhenzhen hopped out, grabbed Chi Shen, and ran toward school.
Qin Jing watched the two of them rush off and couldn't help shaking her head with amusement.
Qiao Zhenzhen and Chi Shen burst into the classroom; the roomful of recitation paused for a second then resumed, everyone had grown used to the two of them arriving together. Only Zhao Lianqiao gave them a stiff look; after locking eyes with Chi Shen she flinched and quickly dropped her head.
When Qiao Zhenzhen looked over, she saw the fear on her face.
What a show, Qiao Zhenzhen tutted, and she and Chi Shen took their seats.
Not long after they sat down, the homeroom teacher came in and shot them a warning glance, obviously she already knew they were late. Qiao Zhenzhen forced a dry laugh and avoided eye contact until the teacher left, then looked up and noticed Zhao Lianqiao was gone.
"Where did she go?" Qiao Zhenzhen asked curiously.
"The teacher took her out," Chi Shen answered.
Qiao Zhenzhen nodded and didn't think much of it.
Ten minutes later, the moment the bell for the end of class rang, the PA system let out a sharp noise that silenced everyone. Students who had already rushed out stopped and craned their necks to hear the announcement.
Then Zhao Lianqiao's voice reading an apology letter came over the loudspeaker.
Qiao Zhenzhen paused and put down her pen.
The apology letter had been checked by Qin Jing herself after Zhao Lianqiao finished writing it, anything that wasn't earnest enough or showed insufficient insight was sent back to be rewritten. So what Zhao Lianqiao was reading now dug deeply into her jealousy and darkness; each sentence felt like a sharp blade to her.
As Zhao Lianqiao read, she began to choke up; several times she wanted to throw down the letter and walk away, but thinking of how she'd endured for so many years for the sake of that final gambit, she gritted her teeth and kept going.
The apology came word by word over the loudspeaker; Qiao Zhenzhen listened to a bit and grew sick of it, so she grabbed Chi Shen and headed for the cafeteria.
"If I were her, I'd transfer, better than staying and being stared at," Qiao Zhenzhen shrugged.
Chi Shen remained silent.
"I really don't get what she's thinking. Her mom's pregnant now; from her perspective it's only a matter of time before she's the winner. So why insist on staying?" Qiao Zhenzhen asked.
Chi Shen finally spoke: "Because only by staying is there any chance to become the victor."
Qiao Zhenzhen blinked, speechless. "Isn't that insane? I just can't understand it. It's not enough to get the material benefits, she also wants the prestige to tower over her. This obsession is pathological."
Chi Shen's lips twitched into a small smile; he reached out and ruffled her hair.
Qiao Zhenzhen gave a soft snort and followed him to dinner.
Over the next six or seven days, Zhao Lianqiao kept apologizing. She went from crying in class after the announcement to taking it in stride; it only took a few days, and by the last day she was even bold enough to face Qiao Zhenzhen with a sanctimonious air.
“I’ve finished my week of apologies. Qiao Zhenzhen, I don’t owe you anything anymore.” Zhao Lianqiao declared, then linked arms with her girlfriends and flounced off as if she’d done something remarkable.
Qiao Zhenzhen raised an eyebrow, a flash of disdain in her eyes. “You owe me more than that.” She planned to take it back piece by piece.