The transparent floor-to-ceiling windows reflected the dazzling lights outside. The restaurant’s interior was elegantly decorated, and the glass chandelier hanging from the domed ceiling shimmered brilliantly. The dining stations were filled with an enticing array of colorful, delicious-looking food.
The boy lowered his eyes, his calm, emotionless gaze remaining fixed on the slender, pale fingers wrapped around his wrist.
They were warm and soft to the touch.
It wasn’t until they reached the food counter and the gentle pressure suddenly loosened that the boy slowly withdrew his gaze.
Lin Zhinuo picked up the plate in front of her and handed it to him. She quietly rose onto her tiptoes, leaning half her body toward him, her soft, sweet voice light and gentle.
“Brother, seafood doesn’t fill you up easily. Let’s eat all the expensive seafood first, then we can have the other stuff.”
The light from the crystal chandelier reflected in the girl’s eyes, creating rippling, tender waves. They seemed to hold a pool of gentle moonlight so beautiful that even looking at it for one moment longer felt like an intrusion.
Xu Qingyan looked away, his throat giving a muffled, single-syllable response.
Lin Zhinuo took another plate for herself and lowered her head to glance at the shoes on her feet.
They were a very ordinary pair of casual shoes.
She blinked and tilted her head, murmuring softly, “Brother, have you grown taller again?”
Just now, even when she stood on tiptoe, she couldn’t reach his ears.
An entire summer had passed. How had she not grown at all?
She had been getting plenty of eggs, milk, fruits, and vegetables every day, and she practiced dancing six times a week for an hour each time. In theory, she was getting enough exercise and nutrition. She should have shot up a little by now.
Sigh… It was so frustrating.
Xu Qingyan took in her troubled little expression. His voice was low and gentle.
“Zhizhi isn’t short.”
“Hehe, thanks for the completely useless consolation, Brother.”
Lin Zhinuo lowered her head listlessly, determined to turn her frustration into an appetite for food.
Xu Qingyan pursed his lips and silently placed seafood onto her plate.
No matter how much food a buffet offered, the stomach still had limited capacity. Before long, Lin Zhinuo felt completely stuffed.
Looking at the half plate of untouched food in front of her, she blinked and glanced at the people beside and across from her.
“My two dear gentlemen, which one of you can help me finish this? I really can’t eat another bite.”
She felt like if she ate even one more mouthful, her stomach was going to burst.
Lin Jingshan hurriedly waved his hands.
“Dad has been attending too many business dinners lately. I’m practically growing a beer belly. Let your brother eat more. He’s too skinny and still needs to grow.”
“Brother?”
Xu Qingyan had been eating quietly. When he turned his head and met her eyes, which were filled with expectation, he almost instinctively nodded.
Lin Zhinuo immediately pushed the food in front of her toward him.
Xu Qingyan silently accepted her actions and raised his eyes toward the man sitting across from them.
“Uncle, after this monthly exam, my teacher suggested that I join the competition class. He’ll probably call you in the next couple of days.”
“The competition class?”
Lin Zhinuo sucked in a breath.
Yucheng No. 1 High School had three Lingyun Classes, two of which were science classes.
But the competition class was on an even higher level than the Lingyun Classes. It was made up of the very best students among the top students of the Lingyun Classes.
There were only thirty students in total.
It was truly an elite circle filled with academic monsters.
Lin Zhinuo looked at Xu Qingyan, little stars once again appearing in her eyes.
Although she was terrible at studying, she had always admired people who were strong academically.
The next morning.
Following the study plan he had made for himself, Xu Qingyan finished part of his self-study work before quietly closing his book.
As soon as he walked out of the study, he encountered a slender figure.
She was wearing pink-and-white pajamas covered in strawberry patterns, her hair sticking up in a messy bird’s-nest style. Her forehead was lightly pressed against the wall, and she stood completely motionless, as though she were… facing the wall in punishment.
“What are you doing?”
Xu Qingyan stopped in his tracks.
Lin Zhinuo slowly turned her head. The boy was standing in the doorway, so tall that his height was almost reaching the top of the doorframe.
Her heart sank.
She had had a nightmare. In the dream, she had gone to take the entrance examination for a dance academy, only to be rejected during the preliminary round because she didn’t meet the height requirement.
She had been frightened awake and couldn’t fall back asleep.
Her eyes landed on the physics book in his hand, and she looked surprised.
“Brother, what time did you get up to study?”
“I got up when I woke up. I didn’t check the time.”
Xu Qingyan restrained the slight curl of his fingers and shifted his gaze away from her messy hair.
“Oh, perfect. Brother, come over here. Let me measure your height.”
A cute height chart was posted on the white wall outside the study. Several height markers showed Xu Zhinuo’s height at different ages.
Xu Qingyan let her pull him against the wall and position him properly.
Just as she was about to raise her hand, Lin Zhinuo realized that she couldn’t reach the top of his head at all.
“Hmm… wait a moment.”
She quickly ran into the study, brought out a chair, and placed it beside him. Then she lifted one leg and stepped onto it.
Phew, she could finally see the top of Xu Qingyan’s head.
His hair was thick and black.
She remembered that when Xu Qingyan was twenty-seven, he always styled his hair swept back, giving him an imposing presence and an intense sense of pressure.
But the sixteen-year-old Xu Qingyan standing before her now had sharp, well-defined features that were not yet quite as angular. His brows and eyes were subdued and reserved, and his gaze was always lowered, as though he were hiding thoughts that no one could ever see through.
Putting his face aside, from this angle…
Lin Zhinuo couldn’t help curving her lips into a smile.
With his thick hair and obedient, well-behaved demeanor, Xu Qingyan looked like a docile big wolfdog.
Lin Zhinuo’s heart softened, and she couldn’t resist reaching out.
Her hand pressed lightly against the top of his head. Xu Qingyan’s entire body instantly tensed, and even his breathing became slightly lighter.
Lin Zhinuo didn’t notice at all. Her fingertips gently brushed through his hair as she murmured, “Brother, your hair is a little stiff. It feels kind of prickly.”
She picked up the pen and lightly drew a black line on the height chart corresponding to the top of his head. After checking the measurement, she couldn’t help exclaiming, “Wow, 187 centimeters! You’re so tall!”
She jumped down from the chair and stood straight against the wall herself.
“Brother, measure me too.”
“Okay.”
Xu Qingyan took the pen. With just a slight lift of his hand, he could easily reach over the top of her head. The moment the pen touched the height chart, his movement paused.
He still couldn’t resist smoothing down her messy hair.
Her hair was very soft. The strands slipped across his palm, leaving a faintly ticklish sensation.
Lin Zhinuo raised her eyes.
“Brother, how tall am I now?”
Xu Qingyan stared at the measurement mark, his voice low.
“164.”
“Ah…”
Lin Zhinuo’s expression visibly fell. It seemed that after entering high school, she had stopped growing altogether.
As she spoke, she raised her hand and compared the height of her head to his chest.
In her previous life, when she saw Xu Qingyan again later on, both of her legs could no longer support her standing upright. She had no idea how high she would have reached on him if she had been able to stand normally.
Even when she was sitting, she had instinctively felt that he was incredibly tall.
“Brother, tell me the truth. Do you have some secret for getting taller?”
Lin Zhinuo tilted her head up, her eyes sparkling brightly.
Xu Qingyan turned his head to the side. After holding back for a long while, he finally managed to say one sentence.
“Eat well and sleep well.”
Lin Zhinuo: “…”
But that really was the truth. If she deliberately tried to grow taller from now on, was there still hope that she could gain a few more centimeters?
Early Monday morning.
Lin Zhinuo and Xu Qingyan rode their bicycles to school together.
As they approached the school gate, Lin Zhinuo kept feeling that the back of the chubby girl riding a white bicycle in front of them looked incredibly familiar almost exactly like Meng Siyu.
She pedaled a few times faster and caught up. When she turned her head to look, it really was Meng Siyu.
“Siyu, you bought a bicycle?”
“Zhinuo?”
Meng Siyu’s eyes lit up when she saw her.
“It’s not new. My sister got into the competition class. She said that riding a crappy bicycle while carrying a fat girl was tiring and would waste her study time, so my mom bought her a new mountain bike.”
“So this bicycle belongs to me now!”
As she spoke, Meng Siyu proudly pressed the bicycle bell. Its sound rang out crisply.
“That’s great. Now you won’t have to squeeze onto the bus after school.”
After saying that, Lin Zhinuo waved toward Xu Qingyan behind her.
“Brother, this is my deskmate.”
Meng Siyu immediately turned around, her eyes widening.
“T-this is your brother?”
Xu Qingyan politely nodded.
“Hello, Brother.”
Meng Siyu greeted him generously, then couldn’t help expressing her envy.
“Your parents sure know how to make good-looking kids.”
There was a designated parking area for bicycles and other non-motorized vehicles, but the spaces were divided by grade.
Lin Zhinuo said goodbye to Xu Qingyan, then walked toward the classroom with Meng Siyu, chatting and laughing along the way.
When they were almost at the classroom, Meng Siyu suddenly stopped and looked at her seriously.
“Um, Zhinuo, about what I said before asking your brother to beat my sister in the rankings please, please don’t let your brother mention it to my sister. If my parents find out that I cursed my sister to do badly in her studies and hold back the Meng family from bringing honor to the family, they’ll beat me to death.”
“Don’t worry. I haven’t even mentioned it to my brother.”
With Xu Qingyan’s cold and taciturn personality, he probably wouldn’t say anything even if she asked him to.
The two girls walked into the classroom hand in hand. Just as they were about to sit down, a female classmate behind Lin Zhinuo poked her.
She slightly raised her chin, signaling Lin Zhinuo to look inside her desk.
Confused, Lin Zhinuo bent down and took a look.
Two love letters were quietly lying on top of her textbooks, standing out conspicuously.