Chapter 25: It doesn’t hurt anymore

At the DS Racing Club’s Saturday night barbecue party, Xie Bo made a rare appearance and handed Li Du a tin foil box, asking him to grill meat for him at the barbecue station.

Li Du diligently grilled a variety of meats including pork belly, loin cuts, lamb chops, and beef ribs, thinking they were for himself. However, Xie Bo, with his chopsticks in hand, selectively picked out the fatty and burnt pieces, leaving behind a few perfectly charred and tender pieces, which he then packed into a bag and took with him. Li Du then realized that these were probably meant for someone back at Xie Bo’s home.

Xie Bo, unsure of what Lin Yiwei liked to eat, took a bit of beef, lamb, and pork. As he entered the elevator, he thought about insisting that the girl take a bath today, even if her legs were still swollen, as he couldn’t let her sleep in his bed without bathing for two days in a row. He was disgusted. Once she was gone, he planned to throw away all the bed linens since he could never use them again.

Lost in his chaotic thoughts, Xie Bo opened the door, half-expecting to see the little girl playing video games on the couch. After figuring out how to use the Nintendo Switch, she had become obsessed with “The Legend of Zelda,” staying up until the wee hours of the morning to play. Last night, she had sneaked out to play until 4 AM, with Xie Bo occasionally yawning and reluctantly guiding her through the game. Sometimes she seemed mature beyond her years, but at other times, she was innocently joyful, like a child who had missed out on her childhood. Xie Bo thought she was a strange girl, and he generally didn’t care for anything too odd, which was why she annoyed him so much. He resolved to make her leave tomorrow.

When the door opened, he didn’t see her usual silhouette on the couch. Instead, he was met with a profound silence of the night. Xie Bo stepped inside, paused, and called her name—

“Lin Yiwei.” No one answered.

He called out more tenderly, “Yi yi, I brought you some grilled meat, it’s still hot.”

But she was gone. On the table was the Switch controller she had used… she had left. Xie Bo suddenly felt as if a great weight had been lifted, not from loneliness—he was not afraid of being alone—but a vast emptiness overwhelmed him. In his nearly two decades of life, nothing had ever truly satisfied him; things he desired eluded him, while unwanted things flooded in.

Frustrated, Xie Bo threw the tin foil box onto the game console, scattering greasy slices of meat and staining the controller. Without a second glance, he turned and went back to his room, lying down on the bed linens he had intended to throw out.

The next second, a scream came from under the covers—

“Ah, damn it!”

Xie Bo was taken aback, immediately stood up, and forcefully threw off the quilt.

The young girl clutched her leg in pain, “Ah! Xie Bo… I’m going to kill you!”

He had accidentally pressed on her injured leg.

“……”

She screamed while clutching her leg and tried to hit him simultaneously. When she couldn’t reach him, she leaned and tried to hit him, like a bullied child, determined to retaliate fiercely.

Xie Bo was aware of his physique and strength and knew he must have hurt her. He didn’t like feeling guilty towards people, so he frowned and questioned, “Why are you sleeping so early?”

“Can’t I even sleep? Don’t be too domineering.”

“Why are you sleeping without turning on the light?”

“Why would I turn on the light when I’m sleeping!”

“At least turn on a night light. There are many things at home. Can you afford to break one?”

“I… I’m afraid of wasting electricity!”

Lin Yiwei was very thrifty. She wouldn’t turn on the light until it was dark. When she was a child, she slept alone. No matter how scared she was, she would rather endure the long night than lose electricity. She had developed this habit.

Xie Bo saw the corners of her eyes were wet. He knew she was in pain and crying. Strangely, a nerve at the tip of his heart also started to twitch. He felt this annoying woman must have cast some spell on him, always making him feel uncomfortable. It was really annoying.

Xie Bo turned around and left the room. Lin Yiwei watched his retreating figure and exclaimed in disbelief, “Didn’t you apologize!”

“Don’t be too much, Xie Bo!” He closed the door, exerting a bit of force, which made Lin Yiwei so angry that she couldn’t vent, “You hurt me, and you’re still angry. What kind of person are you!”

The young girl massaged her leg, feeling slightly relieved. She smelled the aroma of meat, her stomach growled, and she walked out of the room,

“Xie Bo, did you bring me barbecue? I’m so hungry.” Xie Bo was on the phone on the balcony—

“Yes, I just pressed it. Will it affect the recovery? Should I apply medicine?”

Yi Shiqi’s voice was loud, and she could hear it from a distance, “Brother, don’t make a fuss about such a small thing. You didn’t even grunt when you were hit by a car and had a concussion.”

“You still come over, she’s in a lot of pain.”

Lin Yiwei leaned against the gray skin-feeling wall panel, and her heart was indescribable. Besides Lin Xie, no one cared about her feelings like this. He was either a good person or he liked her a bit. The former, Lin Yiwei didn’t think it was reliable.

“Xie Bo, I’m not in pain anymore.” Lin Yiwei leaned against the door and said, “There’s no need to call that Yi… he’s so noisy.”

“I heard it! I heard it!” Yi Shiqi yelled on the phone, “I can’t believe you think I’m noisy. It’s too much! Am I your tool, a part of your play…”

Xie Bo decisively hung up the phone: “Are you sure it doesn’t hurt anymore?”

“Um, just for a while.”

Xie Bo applied the medicine to her as Yi Shiqi said. He wasn’t very good at doing these things and did it very crudely. But it didn’t matter. She wasn’t a delicate and delicate girl.

After applying the medicine, she said to Xie Bo: “I have to take a bath tonight, or I can’t stand it.”

Xie Bo paused with the medicine in his hand: “You just applied the medicine, and you want to take a bath?”

“Um.”

“You are deliberately opposing me.”

Lin Yiwei’s untrimmed natural eyebrows were twisted high and low: “It’s not that deliberate, maybe our natural aura doesn’t match, and we should be mortal enemies.”

“No bath tonight, say it tomorrow morning.”

“I have to take a bath, or it will stink!”

Xie Bo took a bottle of cologne from the cabinet and sprayed it wildly at her.

Lin Yiwei: “Hey!!!”

“Endure just for one night.”

“I’m going to take a shower, I must!”

“Try taking one, and I’ll break your other leg.”

Lin Yiwei felt incredibly suffocated and somewhat sympathetic towards Chi Xiyu, who was bound to marry Xie Bo.

Truly, if Chi Xiyu could last three days without divorcing, it would mean she has a good temper.

For someone as petty as Lin Yiwei, even if she were paid 100,000 a day, she wouldn’t want to live under the same roof as him.

Despite their quarrels, she was really hungry.

Lin Yiwei turned around and saw the barbecue messily spilled over the gaming console, a complete mess.

“Oh my God, Xie Bo, what happened here?!”

“It was too dark earlier, I tripped, because you didn’t turn on the light.”

“Blaming me?”

“I have night blindness.” After saying that, Xie Bo threw the gaming console and the barbecue box into the trash.

Lin Yiwei: “………”

She quickly stepped forward to stop him: “What are you doing?”

“It’s dirty, so I’m throwing it away.”

“Why throw it away just because it’s dirty?” She found his logic unbelievable.

Xie Bo felt that Lin Yiwei’s question was just as unbelievable: “Because it’s dirty.”

“Just clean it!”

Lin Yiwei snatched her beloved Switch console, took it to the kitchen, and carefully cleaned it with paper towels dipped in detergent, making sure no water got inside, wiping it very carefully.

Xie Bo stood with his arms folded, leaning against the door watching her.

With her movements, the hem of her shirt brushed against her straight, pale legs, with nothing worn underneath, as he casually controlled the color temperature dial of the kitchen light.

As the light’s color temperature switched between warm and cold, the scenery beneath her thin shirt became faintly visible.

The more he watched her, the more pleasing she appeared.

He really liked her.

“Even if you clean it, I won’t play with it,” Xie Bo reminded her, “It’s a waste of effort.”

“What a waste.”

“I don’t like greasy things.”

Lin Yiwei looked at the now clean Switch in her hands, hesitating, seemingly at a loss for words.

She found it too direct to just ask for it, preferring to wait for him to throw it away, then retrieve it from the trash.

“The things I don’t want, you can take them and play,” Xie Bo read the young girl’s intention, rolling his eyes, and walked into his room, “I’ve never seen someone so awkward…”

Lin Yiwei put the gaming console into her backpack and gave a sheepish smile: “Thanks!”…

On Monday, Lin Yiwei returned to school, and Chi Xiyu asked her why she had been missing over the weekend.

Lin Yiwei said she was staying at her aunt’s house and had plans to return home on Saturday and Sunday. Before Chi Xiyu could ask further, she quickly counter-asked: “What about Ye Anning’s matter?”

“It’s so annoying.”

Chi Xiyu was very frustrated, “My stupid brother couldn’t handle a woman, summoned some people to lure her to a bar, and somehow she discovered it and escaped! It’s unbelievable how she could slip away right under our noses.”

“How did she escape?”

“Right, I’m wondering too. They say she jumped from the second floor. Although she seems frail and weak, she really dared to jump,” Chi Xiyu sneered, “

And nothing happened to her, I’m really at a loss, it seems like even God is helping her.”

“So… what should we do?”

“We’ll have to find another opportunity.” Chi Xiyu looked at Lin Yiwei, “You also need to hurry up. During this time, Xie Bo will come to the school, and he often goes to the basketball gym. You figure it out.”

“I… will try my best,” Lin Yiwei assured her.

Chi Xiyu had no doubts about her, which relieved Lin Yiwei. Over the next few days, she obediently followed orders and went to the basketball gym every day. In the presence of a group of girls, she clumsily “pursued” Xie Bo, cheering him on, bringing him lollipops, and showing him a flattering and sycophantic smile.

Xie Bo knew this girl was trying to… What cunning little calculations, ignoring her in front of others, not accepting her lollipop, not even giving her a glance.

He didn’t accept it, so Lin Yiwei unwrapped the candy and ate it herself.

Not long after walking away, at the stair corner, she bumped into Xie Bo. Lin Yiwei turned to run, but Xie Bo pulled her back, pinching her face hard enough to make her cry out in pain, “You jerk, Xie Bo!”

“Your smile is too fake,” Xie Bo’s strong arms circled her neck as he whispered hotly in her ear, “So fake, yet trying to lure me in. Do you think I’m that easy to chase?”

Xie Bo is hard to pursue, as evident from Ye Anning and the other girls who throw themselves at him.Lin Yiwei wasn’t really trying to chase him; she just put on an act of pursuit to let Chi Xiyu know she was serious about completing her task.

“I’m not interested in your girls’ games, but Lin Yiwei, I don’t like being used by others. You’d better remember that.”

During the conversation, he maliciously bit her earlobe.

Lin Yiwei felt a dull pain in her earlobe; he really bit her hard!

“It hurts… Xie Bo, it hurts.”

Finally, pressing down like leaving a mark, seeing her obediently stop struggling, Xie Bo then relaxed his grip, his tongue gently teasing her earlobe.

A tingling sensation spread up her spine, nearly making Lin Yiwei collapse in his arms.

As voices of people talking and laughing approached, she anxiously grabbed his wrist, trying to pull him away: “Someone’s coming! Xie Bo!”

“Isn’t it your hope to be seen?” he held her tightly from behind.

“Xie Bo!”

Lin Yiwei was really panicking. She wanted to make it look like she was pursuing Xie Bo but didn’t actually want his reciprocation.

Knowing how petty and jealous Chi Xiyu can be, she was clear about the danger zones she shouldn’t tread into.

The less Xie Bo paid attention to her, the safer she was.

Lin Yiwei stomped on his foot hard and whispered fiercely, “Let go of me!”

Xie Bo suddenly turned her around to face him, his mouth corners coldly lifted, “Are you sure you want to play it tough with me?”

Lin Yiwei knew, like her, Xie Bo didn’t respond well to force.

Hearing the footsteps of people coming up the stairs, Lin Yiwei softened her tone:

“Please, Xie Bo, let me go…”

He liked hearing her beg, and even though he knew this girl was defiant at heart, he still let her go, punishingly pinching the flesh of her palm.

Several girls turned the corner of the stairs and came up.

Seeing Lin Yiwei and Xie Bo standing together, her cheeks flushed, Xie Bo only smiling, the girls looked at them with meaningful glances.

Xie Bo’s long fingers gently tapped her cheek, took the lollipop she had in her mouth, put it in his own, and turned away.

The girls, even as they walked away, kept looking back at Lin Yiwei, whispering among themselves.

Lin Yiwei knew this would reach Chi Xiyu’s ears at the speed of light.

But fortunately, for the next few days, there was no sight of Ye Anning and Xie Bo together in the campus.

Ye Anning publicly claimed she had cut off contact with Xie Bo because he was too flirtatious, not rejecting other girls while being with her.

As for “other girls,” the answer was self-evident.

Chi Xiyu was very pleased with the outcome, attributing it to Lin Yiwei’s efforts.

In the quiet evening at the convenience store, Lin Yiwei pulled out her Switch and started playing “The Legend of Zelda” to relax for a while.

She liked “The Legend of Zelda,” enjoying racing alone through the silent wilderness, heading towards distant mountains or snowy fields, traversing through the rain, everything in sight being a reachable landscape.

Suddenly, a mechanical female voice saying “Welcome” rang out, Lin Yiwei looked up to see Chi Xiyu walking in.

She intended to hide the Switch, but it was too late; Chi Xiyu came towards her with a cheerful smile.

Lin Yiwei put down the controller and naturally greeted her with a smile.

“Playing games, Weiwei?”

“Yeah, it’s a second-hand one I bought online.”

“Why buy such things? It’s pointless.” Chi Xiyu rarely played video games and didn’t understand why her brother liked them so much; she never touched them. “With that money, you could’ve bought a few nice dresses for yourself. No offense, but your clothes and dresses are too ugly to wear out.”

Lin Yiwei wasn’t offended and simply smiled, “Let’s go shopping together sometime.”

“Sure, no problem.”

Chi Xiyu readily agreed, but they both knew they wouldn’t actually go shopping together, because they were on completely different spending levels.

“By the way, I came here to tell you something.” Chi Xiyu pulled out a beautifully designed, unique, light purple envelope from her bag and slowly pushed it towards Lin Yiwei.

“What’s this?”

“I keep my promises,” Chi Xiyu lifted her chin, “My birthday party is next Friday. Come over to my place.”

Lin Yiwei’s adrenaline surged, her heartbeat sped up.

“Really? Xixi, I’m so happy!”

She held the birthday invitation tenderly, her excited and happy demeanor satisfying Chi Xiyu.

Then she added seriously, “Weiwei, you can’t wear your usual dresses to my birthday party. Do you have anything suitable?”

“I can buy one.”

Chi Xiyu’s lips curled into a smile: “Alright, then I’ll be looking forward to it.”

After saying that, she left the convenience store in high spirits.

Lin Yiwei knew that all her efforts to earn the honor of attending Chi Xiyu’s birthday had immensely satisfied Chi Xiyu’s vanity.

Wasn’t she befriending her precisely to provide that kind of emotional value?

Lin Yiwei, of course, did her utmost to “satisfy” her.

She called Ye Anning: “An An, she invited me.”

“That’s great!!!”

“Really, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it! I, too, want to find out the truth and help you find your brother.”

“There might be some clues in her house if my brother’s disappearance is really related to her.”

Ye Anning then asked, “Do you have a dress to wear? The standards for Chi Xiyu’s birthday party are very high, and those young masters and ladies who are invited are all very particular. If you need a dress or jewelry, you can come over to my house to choose.”

Lin Yiwei felt a surge of warmth in her heart.

This was the first time she felt such considerate warmth from someone other than Lin Xie.

She was the kind of person who would repay even the smallest favor with a spring of gratitude. Rubbing her slightly sore eyes, she said to Ye Anning, “Thank you, An An, it’s okay, I have some savings and can buy a dress myself.”

Ye Anning knew she was proud and did not press further.

…

In the basketball court, several young men were vigorously sweating it out.

Yi Shiqi handed a bottle of mineral water to Xie Bo.

Xie Bo caught it with his hand, unscrewed the cap, and took a swig.

Looking at the man’s sharply defined jawline and the prominent sexy Adam’s apple, Yi Shiqi laughed, “How come your little fan with the mole hasn’t been around lately?”

Xie Bo snorted coldly, “Don’t know, may dead.”

“Man, Bo, can your mouth be any more hateful! How are you ever going to win a girl over like that!”

Yi Shiqi came over and gently coaxed him, “I’m telling you, girls like sweet nothings, even if they know none of it’s sincere, they still like to hear it.”

Xie Bo glared at him with his dark eyes: “Which eye of yours sees me chasing her?”

Yi Shiqi pointed to his own eyes: “I have eyes like the fire-god, always seeing through the facade to the essence.”

After that, Xie Bo splashed the half-bottle of water in his face, quenching his ‘fire-eyes’.

“Hey! That’s how it is, you resort to hitting when something hits home, huh.”

Xie Bo couldn’t be bothered with him.

Yi Shiqi, very familiarly pulled over his black backpack, took out a tissue to wipe his face, and then pulled out a pair of rimless, moonlight silver glasses from the bag and put them on Xie Bo:

“Trust me, Bo, that girl definitely likes your dandy nerd look.”

With glasses on, Xie Bo truly looked like a proud and distinguished young noble.

Sometimes he would play the good boy in front of his dad, or act gentle in front of Chi Xiyu, occasionally wearing glasses, putting on a harmless facade.

But Xie Bo himself did not like this hypocritical mask.

The night Lin Yiwei brought him home, he had also worn glasses, like a prey hooked by her.

Xie Bo took off the glasses, casually saying: “Whatever she likes.”

He would never try to win a woman’s favor.

“Oh speaking of which, Bo, I think I saw Weiwei at SKP yesterday.”Xie Bo showed some truth, looking at Yi Shiqi: “She knows she’s unsophisticated, got time to go shopping now?”Yi Shiqi recalled, “Seems she was looking at clothes, at the MSKU store, asked about a dress price, but the clerk ignored her.”High-end luxury stores often judge by appearance, and it was normal for Lin Yiwei, who couldn’t afford those clothes, to be treated coldly.At first, Xie Bo didn’t pay much attention to this incident.But the image of her being looked down upon and treated coldly in the luxury store nagged at him all day, the more he thought about it, the angrier he got.So angry that he developed mouth ulcers.