Chapter 36: So Cute

The winter night seemed unusually long, as the stingy owner of the convenience store refused to turn on the heating. Lin Yiwei sat behind the counter, bathed in the warm yellow light of a small sun, illuminating her delicate face.

Underneath the table, she flipped through a thick IELTS vocabulary book, earnestly memorizing the words.

No longer in contact with Xie Bo, her life became much simpler. She only needed to deal with Chi Xiyu every day and maintain her warm friendship with her, without the need to expend extra energy on being vigilant about anything else.Safe, calm.

But sometimes at night, she would suffer from insomnia and miss Xie Bo’s soft bed. Closing her eyes, she would still see fragments of their intimacy in her mind.

Lin Yiwei was a girl with needs, and she never felt ashamed of having those needs. If guys could have them, why couldn’t girls?

Perhaps this was the only thing she wasn’t accustomed to after their separation.

She hadn’t found anyone who could replace him yet.

Clearing her cluttered thoughts from her mind, Lin Yiwei continued to silently memorize vocabulary.

Several boys in uniforms entered the convenience store, chatting and joking among themselves. They were discussing the outcome of last night’s esports match, their voices clear and melodious, devoid of worries.

Innocent, naive.

Lin Yiwei smiled at them as she continued to memorize words.

A few boys pushed the tallest one forward. He had a sturdy build, somewhat reminiscent of the popular Korean double-door physique, yet his features were delicate, with single eyelids and no wrinkles. His dark, bright eyes gave off an aura of innocence, akin to a big puppy.

The boys surrounded him, pushing him towards the counter, jokingly saying they wanted to buy some oden.

Lin Yiwei quickly set aside her vocabulary book and picked up the tongs.

“May I help you with something to eat?”

“Chu Ang, the lady is asking you something.”

“Yeah, hurry up and tell the lady what you want to eat.”

The boys smirked mischievously, continuously exchanging ambiguous glances with the tall boy named Chu Ang.

Chu Ang felt incredibly embarrassed, signaling with his eyes for them to stop, but the more shy he appeared, the more the boys teased him.

“He’s Chu Ang, the ‘flower’ of our police academy. What do you think, miss?”

“Are you guys done?” Chu Ang’s face flushed with embarrassment.

Addict, causing addiction.

Lin Yiwei’s mind was still focused on memorizing words, completely oblivious to what they were up to.

“What do you want to eat? Choose for yourselves,” she said as she noticed their hesitation. “They’re freshly cooked.”

After saying that, she handed the tongs to Chu Ang.

“Sorry,” he took the tongs, picked some food, and handed it to Lin Yiwei.

Lin Yiwei punched the order, handed over the payment code, and skillfully mixed the seasoning for the oden.

“Do you want it spicy?”

“Yeah, extra chili.”

She inexplicably remembered the scene of eating noodles with Xie Bo in the small town… A guy who couldn’t handle any spice.

After mixing the seasoning quickly, Lin Yiwei handed over the oden and went to the counter to punch the order and pay. Several boys took the opportunity to pass some napkins and snacks, saying with playful smiles, “Thanks, Brother Ang.”

Chu Ang decided to check out with them without arguing.

He carried the oden and left with the boys, who kept pushing him and whispering something.

Lin Yiwei continued to focus on her vocabulary, not paying attention to them, until she heard the automatic female voice outside the door say, “Thank you for your visit.”

She thought they had already left and didn’t pay much attention. After a long time of concentrating on her words, she raised her head and saw that Chu Ang hadn’t left; he was sitting in the dining area, eating oden.

Lin Yiwei saw this tall guy, 185 centimeters tall, with such a sturdy figure, eating so gracefully.

He had been eating a box of oden for almost half an hour.

Lin Yiwei couldn’t help but sneak a glance at him.

His facial features were rugged, yet his gaze was gentle and warm, with a slightly raised jawline and bright, clear black eyes.

As if sensing something, Chu Ang also looked up, straightening up and looking directly at her. Lin Yiwei smiled at him openly, but his gaze seemed to dodge and evade, lowering his head, his face flushing red again.

Lin Yiwei didn’t mind and continued to focus on her vocabulary book.

Ambiguous, ambiguous.

He had been eating this box of oden for over forty minutes. When Lin Yiwei and her colleagues changed shifts and left the convenience store, Chu Ang finally gathered the courage to catch up.

The streetlight illuminated his tall figure as he fidgeted, keeping his head down like a nervous child in front of her.

“Um, I actually… I wanted to ask if you have a boyfriend.”

Lin Yiwei vaguely remembered him coming to the convenience store to buy things a few times. His figure and appearance were both excellent, so she had an impression of him.

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” she answered truthfully.

“Um… can I have your contact information? WeChat or phone number, either one?” Chu Ang’s cheeks burned even more.

Lin Yiwei assessed his figure. If it were rated out of a hundred, he could easily score eighty.

On the first day she met Xie Bo, in the dimly lit bar, she gave him an 85, but after seeing all of him when he led her into the room, his score soared to 120.

She added 20 points for his gentlemanly behavior—he would wait for her to initiate before asking for his own needs. Lin Yiwei believed that a man who wasn’t like this wasn’t a good partner.

Xie Bo almost flawlessly hit all the points she appreciated in a guy.

Chu Ang’s broad-shouldered figure, slightly muscular, obviously wasn’t the well-proportioned physique Lin Yiwei admired, but it didn’t matter.

She didn’t plan to pursue another relationship. At least, not in the near future.

“Sorry, I…”

Suddenly, Lin Yiwei noticed the dark uniform Chu Ang was wearing.

“Are you from the neighboring police academy?”

“Yeah, I am.”

Just across the street from Feige University’s northeast gate was a police academy. Lin Yiwei’s dorm was close to theirs, and she could hear their morning exercise chants every day.

Lin Yiwei had a vague intuition in her mind; she felt that Chu Ang might be able to help her.

Though she hadn’t figured out what to do yet, she quickly recited her phone number, gave him a smile, and didn’t care whether he remembered the number or not, then turned and left.

Chu Ang took out his phone, standing at the street corner for a long time, until the thin figure of the girl disappeared at the end of the street, engulfed by the crowd.

…

Lin Yiwei returned to her dorm and checked WeChat to find a new friend request message.

“I’m Chu Ang, the clumsy guy who just added you.”

Lin Yiwei accepted the friend request and saw that his profile picture was a cute kitten.

She casually clicked into Chu Ang’s Moments. He was willing to share his life, but the content was monotonous, either daily physical training or reposting esports content. In just a few minutes, Lin Yiwei had outlined the simple personality of this big boy in her mind. He was more manageable than Xie Bo.

With a ding, Chu Ang sent her a message.

Ang: “hi, I was really presumptuous just now.”

Breeze: “No, I think you’re brave.”

Ang: “You must encounter many similar situations every day, right? [scratch head]”

Breeze: “Not too many, but some.”

Ang: “Would you add everyone?”

Breeze: “Do you think I’m idle?”

Ang: “No no no, I didn’t mean that.”

Breeze: “Because you’re cute.”

He replied with a shy cat emoji.

Ambiguous, ambiguous.

Lin Yiwei continued to focus on her vocabulary. She knew that his heart must be fluctuating.

It was strange; Lin Yiwei seemed to have a talent for understanding how to mix praise with teasing, stirring people’s hearts. She hadn’t learned these things, but she just knew. Usually, simple guys would take the bait, but not Xie Bo, that cunning fox. Why did she think of him again? Lin Yiwei cleared him from her mind and chatted with Chu Ang without much enthusiasm.

Breeze: “Is your profile picture your mom’s cat?”

Ang: “It’s my mom’s, six years old this year, named Xiao Mianhua.”

He sent her many cute photos of cats taken from different angles. In fact, Lin Yiwei didn’t really care about the cat in his profile picture; she just said it casually.

She didn’t open the pictures and replied, “So cute.”

Ang: “Do you come home this late every night?”

Breeze: “No, my working hours are not fixed; it depends on my class schedule.”

Ang: “If you finish work late in the future, can I come pick you up?”

Breeze: “Sure.”

Ang: “Um… are you free this weekend? Would you like to go for bubble tea together?”

Lin Yiwei hesitated for a moment and replied, “Hmm, let me check my schedule, when I should be free.”

Neither a direct acceptance nor a direct refusal, delaying satisfaction, was also a way to play with someone’s feelings. Probably for the next few days, he would anxiously await her reply.

Lin Yiwei, oh Lin Yiwei, you’re such a bad girl, and so naturally bad, you don’t even need to think about it…

In conclusion, it’s necessary to maintain an ambiguous relationship with Chu Ang. Even if it doesn’t develop into something romantic, there’s nothing wrong with making a friend from the police academy. Perhaps he could help her.

After chatting for a while with neither rhyme nor reason, she said she was going to take a shower, ending this rather uninteresting conversation.

…..

During that time, the relationship between Lin Yiwei and Chi Xiyu also entered the “honeymoon period.”

This arrogant yet not foolish rich girl, under Lin Yiwei’s persistent pursuit, distanced herself from the group of sisters led by Xu Qianxi.

Distancing herself from Xu Qianxi and the others… was not really Lin Yiwei’s achievement. Chi Xiyu was indeed not foolish, she just often liked to pretend to be innocent.

She was well aware of the conflicts Xu Qianxi and the others had with her. Even though they didn’t say it to her face, they must have secretly complained about her numerous times behind her back.

Why did they become close to Lin Yiwei? Not because she saved her, or because she was always accommodating to her… but simply because Lin Yiwei didn’t have any other friends. She was always alone on campus, unable to form cliques, so she could only have her as a friend.

What Chi Xiyu wanted was this sense of uniqueness, which made her feel secure.

Xu Qianxi noticed her growing indifference and tried several times to chat with Chi Xiyu, inviting her out for coffee and desserts with a smile, but Chi Xiyu coldly rejected her, making the atmosphere between them increasingly awkward.

Chi Xiyu grew tired of the typical entertainment like shopping with her group of sisters on ordinary days, so she asked Lin Yiwei to take her somewhere else for fun.

Lin Yiwei took her to the riverside under the bridge.

Wild reeds grew along the banks here. When the wind blew, the reeds scattered, and the area was deserted. Above the bridge was the subway line, with trains roaring by from time to time, causing the gravel on the ground to tremble.

There was an echoing effect when speaking here, giving a distant and ethereal feeling. Chi Xiyu loved this place, it was perfect for recording singing and dancing videos or live streams.

She told Lin Yiwei that she actually didn’t like learning painting at all. It was her dad who forced her to. Singing and dancing were actually her favorite hobbies and talents that she wanted to learn.

Lin Yiwei, of course, knew why. Painting took a long time and was niche in appreciation, not easy to garner applause, unable to satisfy her bottomless vanity. Singing and dancing were different; a little showing off would win applause.

So she secretly did singing and dancing live streams online, receiving praise and attention.

Chi Xiyu was a girl who needed attention and approval. In fact, with her mediocre posture and lack of natural talent, this was exactly what she lacked from childhood to adulthood.

“I love it here! Whether taking photos or recording videos, it feels great!” After finishing a dance live stream, Chi Xiyu exited the room and turned to Lin Yiwei, saying, “How did you find such a great place?”

Lin Yiwei didn’t mention that she and Lin Xie often came here to sketch in the past.

For the wealthy Miss of the Feige Art Institute, sketching required going to distant ancient towns and staying in expensive internet-famous inns.

But for Lin Yiwei and her brother, anywhere could be a place to set up an easel—whether it was the windy riverside under the bridge, the crowded and noisy dirty alleys, or the bustling streets.

“If you like it, we can come here often.” Lin Yiwei, sitting on a pile of construction steel slag, said with a smile.

“Weiwei, it’s really great to know you.”

As the subway train passed by, stirring up a gust of wind and lifting the flying reed fluff, Chi Xiyu retrieved her phone from the stand and handed it to Lin Yiwei.

“Quick, quick, hurry and take a dynamic video of me!” Lin Yiwei took the phone and filmed Chi Xiyu playing with movements, gracefully dancing in the video.

Actually, even though she felt she liked singing and dancing, she indeed lacked talent in this area. Her dancing wasn’t that pleasing to watch, only some simple movements, not even as good as going to a club.

The live stream was also filled with a lot of insults and mockery. Netizens didn’t care whether you were a rich girl or not; they would criticize you if they wanted to.

But Chi Xiyu’s brain could always filter out all the negative comments, only seeing the comments she wanted to see, hearing the voices she wanted to hear.

This was also a skill, and Lin Yiwei admired her for it.

“Xixi, you don’t like painting so much, yet you can still win so many international awards. That’s impressive,” Lin Yiwei said enviously.

“Yeah, that’s talent,” Chi Xiyu proudly replied, “something you can’t envy.”

“Yeah, I don’t have your talent. Professor Mai said my paintings were too emotional, too purposeful, and lost the original purity of art. By the way, did Professor Mai evaluate your paintings?”

“Um, maybe he did, but I don’t really remember,” Chi Xiyu impatiently said, “I don’t want to talk about painting. Don’t bother me while I’m filming.”

With that, she took the phone from Lin Yiwei and went to the riverside to take selfies.

Lin Yiwei sat on the hollow cement pillars stacked under the bridge, expressionless, watching the girl by the river.

If, if she were to threaten Chi Xiyu now, force her to reveal Lin Xie’s whereabouts, or even threaten Chi Youhuai’s safety, would it succeed? Would it successfully save Lin Xie?

Lin Yiwei’s mind raced, analyzing the pros and cons, calculating the risk of failure…

If, if it were indeed her who kidnapped Lin Xie, and she now had control over her, would it be possible…

Knowing this was a foolish act, but Lin Yiwei was really losing patience!

Her blood flow noticeably increased, adrenaline surged, she jumped off the hollow cement pillar, taking heavy steps towards Chi Xiyu by the riverside.

The girl still held her phone high, adjusting beauty filters, taking pictures from different angles, completely unaware of the danger approaching behind her.

Suddenly, Chi Xiyu’s phone rang, and she impatiently answered it—

“Bro, are you out of the hospital?”

“You still want to find the person who beat you up? Didn’t they say there was no surveillance?”

“How could it be Xie Bo? You can’t just randomly guess because you don’t get along with him.”

“No, bro, you can’t go looking for trouble with Xie Bo, you dare!!!”

Chi Xiyu hung up the phone and turned around to see Lin Yiwei standing just behind her, startling her.

“Damn! Can’t you walk with some noise?”

Lin Yiwei restrained her irrational impulse and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“My brother…” Chi Xiyu stamped her foot irritably. “He insists that the person who beat him up that day was Xie Bo and says he wants to trouble him.”

“Does he have any evidence?”

“Of course not, just guessing randomly, saying that Xie Bo and he don’t get along. It’s really… Xie Bo wouldn’t do such a thing, especially not in front of me!”

She anxiously pressed Xie Bo’s phone number and called him—”Answer the phone quickly! Ugh.”

After several attempts, the call wasn’t answered. Most of the time, Chi Xiyu couldn’t easily reach Xie Bo; only he could contact her when he needed something.

“Weiwei, I’m going back first. Let’s meet next time.”

“Oh, okay, I also made plans with someone else.”

“Who did you make plans with?”

“A guy, just met him, from the Police Academy.”

Chi Xiyu showed a hint of a smug smile. “Oh~ I see, hurry up then.”

The two parted ways at the intersection, with Chi Xiyu taking a taxi back, and Lin Yiwei boarding a crowded bus.

On the way, she took out her phone and opened the contact of someone she hadn’t contacted in a while—Thin.

Her fingertips hesitated, typing a few words, then quickly deleting them.

Forget it, there was no need for her to remind him. Chi Xiyu would surely do everything possible to contact him.

She put away her phone.