Seventeen hours earlier—
Lin Hua felt he lacked the courage to move forward boldly.
It was Monday morning at six o’clock, an hour and a half before the first morning class at Haizhou No. 3 Middle School.
Of course, this hour and a half was relative to students from other classes at Haizhou No. 3 Middle School.
Since Class Teacher He Yanli was the homeroom teacher of Grade Three, Class 3-6, she required her students to arrive half an hour earlier for morning reading, so Class 3-6’s actual start time was seven o’clock.
But even arriving at seven, Lin Hua was still far too early to be near the school at this time.
On the street, not only were there no students in sight, but hardly any pedestrians either.
Occasionally, some elderly folks going out for morning exercise or heading to the market for vegetables and breakfast passed by, giving Lin Hua a suspicious glance.
Walking further east, unable to see the school gate anymore, Lin Hua stopped.
This street was the route Zi Yan took from home to school, something Lin Hua had noticed days ago. And where Lin Hua was standing now was still several hundred meters away from the school gate…
So if he waited here for Zi Yan, no one else would bother or disturb them, right?
“Ha…”
Lin Hua put his hands in his pockets, his left hand just brushing against a small tube of Medicine Ointment. He pinched it lightly, his palm already sweating.
Milk tea and desserts—having something like that for lunch was far too informal.
Yesterday at ten in the morning, Lin Hua had invited Zi Yan to have milk tea on the first floor of Haizhou First Department Store.
They chatted for a bit, discussing the dialectics between fashion design and literature, but then fell into an awkward silence.
Awkward until eleven o’clock, Lin Hua couldn’t find a reasonable excuse to invite Zi Yan to lunch, so they reluctantly parted ways.
Even though he didn’t know what else to talk about, just hearing Zi Yan’s voice was enjoyable enough; it never felt like enough.
Actually, “parting” was more like Lin Ruo hiding in the bookstore opposite the milk tea shop. After Zi Yan disappeared from the store entrance, she rolled her dead fish eyes and walked over to Lin Hua.
Lin Hua glanced at his younger sister, pressed his hand to his forehead, and sighed deeply in frustration.
“I say, big brother,” Lin Ruo said, a vein twitching on her forehead, “where did your skills at writing love letters go?”
She stressed the “you” heavily.
“Fantasy and reality really are two completely different things…” Lin Hua muttered, feeling sentimental.
“Enough, enough, stop feeling sorry for yourself, Great Literary Scholar!” Lin Ruo glared with dead fish eyes.
She had hoped to witness a sweet mutual confession scene but instead got this flavorless performance from Lin Hua.
It was a pity since Lin Ruo used to be enamored with Lin Hua’s romance stories.
Lin Hua didn’t have any other special hobbies; he often fantasized about all sorts of things and would quietly jot them down whenever inspiration struck.
Unlike the sharp, argumentative persona Lin Hua showed to the public in his essays, at home he mostly wrote short romance stories about school youth life.
Though he hid these stories well—stuffed page by page into thick piles of review materials…
This might fool their parents, but it was impossible to fool Lin Ruo’s sharp eyes!
Well, Lin Ruo wouldn’t admit to Lin Hua that she peeked at his novels anyway.
“Um, sis.” Lin Hua suddenly spoke.
“Hm?”
Lin Hua teased, “Your expression right now looks exactly like a freshly dead fish.”
“…”
No one knew how this brother, so hopeless at charming girls, could write such decent romance stories…
Lin Ruo adjusted her expression a bit, returning to a faint smile.
Although Lin Hua hadn’t given her the real-life romance drama she wanted, it was a pity. But the “evidence” she needed was in hand, so no matter what, this should be a particularly joyful thing.
Sitting opposite Lin Hua, Lin Ruo didn’t worry about Lin Hua peeking as she casually flipped out her phone in front of him.
On her phone’s screen was a very clear photo.
In the photo, a boy and a girl sat across from each other, chatting and laughing, tasting pastries—it looked exactly like a couple deeply in love on a date.
Oh my.
Lin Ruo couldn’t help but praise herself silently. Her candid shot was absolutely perfect, perfectly capturing what she wanted!
“Hehehe.”
She glanced at her phone, then at Lin Hua, grinning mischievously. Lin Hua shivered involuntarily.
—————
Still back to that morning.
After entering October, Haizhou’s temperature dropped sharply. At six-thirty in the morning, the temperature was almost the same as at night.
Zi Yan wore cashmere pants and a cashmere sweater underneath, with the autumn pants and Winter Jacket of Haizhou No. 3 Middle School’s Uniform on top. Although bundled up thickly, he couldn’t help but shiver as a gust of wind blew.
After walking a while, the chilly breeze carried away the little warmth he had. Cold and painful, Zi Yan shoved his freezing hands deep into his pockets to warm them.
To be honest, the lining inside the Winter Jacket was a fine fleece, so the back of his hands felt quite comfortable.
“Phew…”
Stopping at the intersection, the light just turned red, and Zi Yan paused to catch his breath. White mist formed at his mouth but quickly dispersed in the swirling wind.
“So cold…” Zi Yan muttered.
For the first time, he appreciated the Uniform.
Although, as a half-baked fashion designer, Zi Yan thought the school’s custom uniforms were all cut from the same mold—no matter spring, summer, autumn, or winter, none had any design aesthetics.
Only this Winter Jacket, used for the transition between autumn and winter, with its light blue and black color scheme, was somewhat artistic.
Plus, the Winter Jacket had a moderate layer of padding, making it warm and cozy. Zi Yan couldn’t help but praise the Uniform.
After all, the cashmere coat he planned to make for himself was still just a plan.
When the light turned green, Zi Yan briskly crossed the street.
After this intersection, a few hundred meters down another street was the school.
Haizhou No. 3 Middle School equipped each classroom with two air conditioners, one front and one back, so as soon as he got to the classroom, he would be saved from the cold.
“Phew…” the wind howled past his ears.
Suddenly, Zi Yan, who had no interest in classical Chinese literature, understood the imagery described in “The Tower Record” of “the gloomy wind roaring, turbid waves crashing into the sky.”
Though it was a rainy day without sunshine, and he didn’t have to use an umbrella, which should have made him happy, a sudden gust of wind whipped past, scattering strands of his hair on his forehead, making his eyes sting uncomfortably as he squinted.
That feeling definitely didn’t cheer Zi Yan up.
Rubbing his eyes, he pulled the Winter Jacket’s hood over his head. The hood was a bit large, obscuring too much of his vision, so he shivered and reached out from his sleeve to push the hood’s brim up.
“Zi Yan!”
Suddenly, someone called out to him not far ahead.
Zi Yan cleared his vision and looked forward, spotting Lin Hua standing a short distance away, dressed just like him.
They really were dressed identically.
The same autumn uniform pants, the same Winter Jacket, both hooded, both hands in pockets.
Lin Hua, who had been waiting here for a long time, froze when he saw Zi Yan looking just like him.
A thought suddenly popped into Lin Hua’s mind, a phrase many students had joked about—
We’re wearing couple outfits! (Obviously, it’s the Uniform.)
Zi Yan walked closer and stopped two steps in front of Lin Hua.
Lin Hua: “…”
They fell silent for a few seconds. Zi Yan asked curiously, “Is there something you need?”
“Um…” Lin Hua’s heart pounded.
Ahhh, come on Lin Hua, be brave, move forward! Don’t get this nervous every time you talk to your goddess!
“Ah…”
Under Zi Yan’s puzzled gaze, Lin Hua put a hand on his chest, took a deep breath, and said, “Zi Yan, I’m sorry for scratching you yesterday.”
At the same time, Lin Hua pulled out a short white tube of Medicine Ointment from his pocket and handed it to Zi Yan. “This is the ointment I got from my sister. Really, I’m sorry…”
“Oh, this.” Zi Yan suddenly understood.
How to put it.
After all, it was just a light scratch from a fingernail, and the mark wasn’t very obvious. Plus, since he came home last night, the pain on his cheek was already almost gone.
If Lin Hua hadn’t brought it up now, Zi Yan might have almost forgotten about it.
“Thanks.” Zi Yan smiled faintly and took the ointment.
Yesterday, when Zi Yan was invited by the siblings for milk tea, Lin Ruo had mentioned they had a scar-removing ointment at home and would ask Lin Hua to bring it to Zi Yan on Monday.
It was a kind gesture, after all, so best to accept it.
“Also, please thank Lin Ruo for me.” Zi Yan said.
The ointment tube in his hand was crumpled and bent in many places, clearly used often by Lin Hua and Lin Ruo. Pinching it, it seemed there was still about half the ointment left.
“Mm, mm…” Lin Hua nodded and hummed, his brain a little blank.
Wait, what was the next step in the script again?
Lin Hua recalled yesterday afternoon—
After a quick meal at a noodle shop near Haizhou First Department Store, Lin Ruo had dragged Lin Hua straight into a pharmacy.
With a sweet smile, Lin Ruo asked the sales clerk, “Is there any ointment that can remove small scars?”
Actually, Lin Hua’s family of four, including their cautious mother, took good care of their skin and rarely got scrapes or wounds.
As for Lin Hua and their Chief Editor father at Haizhou Daily, these two were careless and often had small injuries, so the family didn’t really have any such ointment.
The sales clerk recommended an ointment whose name Lin Hua hadn’t heard before, just saying it was safe to use on the face.
At home, Lin Ruo squeezed out more than half the tube and handed the wrinkled packaging to Lin Hua.
Lin Ruo said, “Alright, it’s ready. Big brother, wake up a little early tomorrow morning, wait on Zi Yan’s way to school, and then just give this to him.”
“Just say you got the ointment from me. Also, after giving it to Zi Yan, she’ll probably not walk to school with you, since she’s shy and you’re not close…” Sherlock Lin Ruo Holmes explained.
“Even if Zi Yan invites you, you have to find an excuse to leave first.”
“Eh, why?” Lin Hua asked.
Lin Ruo rolled her dead fish eyes again. “Big brother, please use that Great Literary Scholar brain of yours. Don’t let your IQ drop to zero whenever you’re around girls other than me.”
Bring out the brain you use to write romance novels and plot love dramas for me, will you!