Lin Qingle preferred simple styles, and this cream-colored scarf perfectly matched her tastes. What made it even better was that it came from Xu Tingbai.
The room was warm with the heater on, so wearing a scarf made her a bit hot, but she was so delighted that she couldn’t bring herself to take it off.
Afterward, the two of them sat on the couch. Lin Qingle, with her scarf still on, watched the movie, while Xu Tingbai sat next to her, listening to the audio.
“Want some water?”
“Sure,” Lin Qingle replied.
Xu Tingbai murmured an acknowledgment and got up.
Lin Qingle glanced at him, instinctively wanting to stop him, but seeing his retreating figure, she decided against it, letting him go fetch water for her.
“Here,” Xu Tingbai soon returned and handed her a cup.
Lin Qingle took it and sipped.
“Do you prefer juice?” Xu Tingbai wondered, thinking that most girls probably liked juice. Maybe he should stock some at home next time.
“I’m fine. I’m not Jiang Shuyi,” Lin Qingle replied. “Oh, Jiang Shuyi is the friend I mentioned before.”
“Mm,” Xu Tingbai acknowledged. “Is she your only friend at school now?”
Lin Qingle understood that he was likely referring to the aftermath of the incident with her father.
“No, there are others too, like Yu Tingting and Yu Jiayou… They’re all nice to me.”
“Yu Jiayou?”
“Hm? You know him?”
Xu Tingbai quickly matched the name to someone in his memory. “I met him a few times when we were younger. My… parents used to mention him a lot.”
“What about?”
“Grades, competitions, that sort of thing.”
“Oh, that makes sense. Yu Jiayou is really impressive. He’s always in the top three. Shuyi talks about him all the time, saying he’s her dream guy.”
Lin Qingle spoke in a lighthearted, teasing tone, but Xu Tingbai paused for a moment. “You two, are you close?”
“Not really. Shuyi’s closer to him. She’s always talking about how good-looking he is.”
“…Oh.”
Lin Qingle glanced at Xu Tingbai and, almost instinctively, added, “But I think you’re better-looking.”
Xu Tingbai froze for a second.
Lin Qingle was equally stunned at her own words. She had blurted them out without thinking, but now that she’d said it, it felt oddly straightforward and… strange.
Her cheeks flushed, and she stammered out an explanation. “Um… Everyone has their own standards of beauty, right? People like different types…”
Different types they like…
Wait… what was she even saying?
Lin Qingle instantly realized she was digging herself into a hole and awkwardly scratched her head. “I mean, everyone has their own preferences when it comes to looks!”
Xu Tingbai paused for two seconds before responding with a quiet “Mm.”
This only made things more awkward for Lin Qingle. She opened her mouth to say something to ease the tension, but seeing Xu Tingbai’s calm and collected expression, she decided there was nothing to explain.
He probably didn’t take what she said seriously, right?
Letting out a small breath, she clamped her mouth shut and turned her attention back to the TV.
Once Lin Qingle finally went quiet, Xu Tingbai relaxed slightly, his previously stiff posture easing.
Even though he knew she didn’t mean it the way he might have hoped, hearing her say he looked better than someone else still made him inexplicably happy.
That joy was uncontrollable, and if not for his efforts to maintain a stoic demeanor, he feared it would have been written all over his face.
But he also knew that such feelings weren’t appropriate.
The movie continued playing. Lin Qingle, who had been watching intently before, now found herself barely interested in the plot.
She stared blankly at the screen as the female protagonist suddenly realized she had misunderstood the male lead and dashed out of her school, rushing to his house… You are reading on novelping dot com, the official source.
Say something! Why are we both so quiet all of a sudden?!
Surely he didn’t think there was anything strange about what she said earlier. She had only said, “You look better” and “People like different types.”
What was wrong with that? It wasn’t a confession or anything…
It couldn’t possibly count as a confession!
“Xu Tingbai.”
“Mm.”
“I was just—”
Lin Qingle had barely started speaking when a loud bang came from the TV, startling her. She quickly looked back at the screen.
What she saw next made her freeze.
The female protagonist, having arrived at the male lead’s house, had just been let in. She slammed the door behind her, and without a word, threw herself straight into his arms!
Then they… started getting tangled up passionately in the living room?!
“?”
This scene was definitely not appropriate for the moment, okay?
Especially when, amid their entanglement, they were hurriedly removing each other’s clothes. The kissing sounds, muffled groans… all kinds of ambiguous noises were vividly clear.
Aren’t they supposed to be high school sweethearts? Even if this is a foreign movie, isn’t this a bit too explicit?
Lin Qingle was utterly dumbfounded.
Xu Tingbai had obviously noticed something was off too. The sounds between the characters in the movie were assaulting his ears. Even though he couldn’t see, he knew exactly what was happening.
“Where’s the remote?!” Lin Qingle snapped back to her senses, her face flushed as she frantically searched for the remote. She fumbled behind the couch but couldn’t find it, so she randomly smacked Xu Tingbai to signal him to get up and help.
“Don’t bother.” Xu Tingbai grabbed her wildly moving wrist.
“What?”
Xu Tingbai remained as steady as a mountain. “…There’s no remote at my house. What are you looking for?”
Lin Qingle froze. “Oh… I forgot.”
Saying that, she hurriedly got up, ran to the TV, and pressed a button. In her rush, she didn’t change the channel but directly turned it off.
The TV went dark, the sound disappeared, and the living room fell into utter silence.
“…”
Lin Qingle was so embarrassed she didn’t dare say a word. Although the scene had abruptly ended, being in front of Xu Tingbai made the whole situation unbearably awkward.
He definitely heard everything.
“Lin Qingle, what were you doing?”
“Huh? Nothing!” Lin Qingle stood up, fanned her face, and pretended to be calm. “I just thought it was getting late, so I turned off the TV.”
“…”
“Well… I should get going.” With that, she didn’t linger for even a second, heading straight for the door.
Bang—
The door closed.
Xu Tingbai sat on the couch, still in the same position as before.
After a long moment, he raised his hand to his forehead and chuckled softly.
She really ran off quickly…
Thinking about how flustered she must have been, he found it amusing. The more he thought about it, the funnier it seemed, and he leaned back on the couch. What started as a casual attempt to relax led him to accidentally fall onto something soft and fluffy.
At that moment, he caught a familiar scent, light and sweet, like jasmine—her scent.
It was her coat.
Enveloped by the fragrance, he suddenly felt as though he was entirely surrounded by her presence.
Thump, thump, thump…
The calm and collected demeanor he’d maintained seemed to crumble instantly. His heart raced violently, so loud it felt audible in the empty, quiet room.
Clenching his fists, he tried to suppress the feeling, but it was futile. A peculiar heat began to spread in his chest, burning stronger and stronger, and the suggestive sounds lingering in his mind from earlier only amplified.
It was nothing at first… but her scent made it unbearable.
Xu Tingbai’s face turned red, his ears hot. For a moment, his mind went blank. Almost unconsciously, he turned his head slightly, brushing his nose against the fabric. The scent became even closer, and for a fleeting second, it felt as though she were right beside him.
Ding-ding—
Suddenly, his phone rang, jolting Xu Tingbai. He sat up abruptly, his breath catching.
Shame swept over him as his body burned with embarrassment from what he’d just done.
Ding-ding—ding-ding—
The phone continued to ring.
Taking a deep breath, he finally answered it after a moment of silence.
“Hello?”
“Xu Tingbai?”
Hearing the girl’s voice on the other end, he replied uncomfortably.
“I… I left my coat at your house.”
Xu Tingbai paused. “…I’ll bring it to you.”
“No, no, it’s fine. I’m almost home already. I’ll just pick it up next time.” Her breathless tone made it clear she’d been running.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“Not really. I’m still wearing the scarf you gave me. Well, I’m almost home now, so I’ll hang up. Bye!”
“…Okay.”
The call ended.
Xu Tingbai stood up, carefully avoiding the coat as though it were something untouchable, and left it on the couch. He retreated to his room without another glance.
After that inexplicably awkward encounter, Lin Qingle went to Xu Tingbai’s house again, but that time, she only picked up her coat and left without staying to watch a movie like before.
She couldn’t explain the awkwardness, but every time she thought about that scene on TV, she felt uneasy around Xu Tingbai.
Later, as the factory where Lin Yufen worked went on holiday and the library closed, Lin Qingle lost her usual excuses to go out. She ended up not visiting Xu Tingbai for a while.
Before long, the New Year came and went, and the new semester began.
During the second week of school, Lin Qingle learned from her physics teacher that the provincial physics competition would be held in their city this year.
The teacher only mentioned it casually, as he didn’t encourage students to participate. The competition wasn’t worth extra points for the college entrance exams, required extensive preparation, and was quite challenging, typically suited for second-year students.
But upon hearing about it, Lin Qingle immediately decided to take part.
“You’re crazy! Sure, you’re good at physics, but the competition is really hard and time-consuming,” Jiang Shuyi exclaimed over lunch when she heard the news.
Lin Qingle shrugged. “But there’s prize money.”
“It doesn’t give you extra points for college!”
“But it has prize money!”
Jiang Shuyi clicked her tongue. “You’re really just in it for the money? Well, the prizes are pretty generous, but if you don’t win, it’ll all be for nothing.”
“It’s worth it. First prize is 10,000 yuan, and even second prize is 5,000,” Lin Qingle said, her eyes sparkling with excitement. This was her closest chance to earning a large sum of money.
“Is your family… short on money recently?” Jiang Shuyi, knowing her family’s situation wasn’t great, immediately thought of this.
Lin Qingle took a bite of her food and mumbled, “Kind of.”
“What do you mean by ‘kind of’?”
Lin Qingle clarified, “It’s not my family, it’s me. I’m short on money.”
“What do you need so much money for…?”
Lin Qingle put down her chopsticks and hesitated before mumbling, “I want to take Xu Tingbai to get his eyes checked.”