The coldest months of the year have passed, and since the weather warmed up, it hasn’t dipped back down. Pedestrians on the streets have slowed their pace, and the greenery along the roadside is gradually reviving, with some plants sprouting tiny green tips.
Xie Lin arrived early in the morning with breakfast, habitually entering the password to Chi Qing’s door lock. With a “beep,” the lock clicked open.
In the entryway, the number of slippers had grown from one pair to two—and both were the same style. Chi Qing had bought his pair at some nameless shop in a mall when he first moved in. It had been such a long time that he never expected Xie Lin to go through so much trouble to find an identical pair online.
Even while dating, Chi Qing lacked any self-awareness of being in a relationship: “Are you that bored? Isn’t it fine as long as slippers are wearable?”
That day, Xie Lin had just returned from the company, sitting beside Chi Qing and scrolling through his phone: “It’s not fine. Is the most important thing about slippers just wearing them? It’s about letting people know the moment they walk in that the two people living here are a couple. Imagine if a stranger came to your house; they would definitely ask whose the other pair belongs to, and then you could answer…” Xie Lin paused slightly, “…my boyfriend’s.”
Chi Qing sort of understood.
But there was a problem with that—
Chi Qing: “…I wouldn’t let a stranger into my house.”
Xie Lin: “…”
Xie Lin couldn’t argue with that.
The probability of Chi Qing inviting a stranger into his home was nearly zero. Ren Qin, who lived downstairs, had moved in long ago, yet had only stood at the doorway to chat with Chi Qing a few times; she hadn’t even seen what the inside of the apartment looked like.
However, nothing should be said with such absolute certainty. There was still one possibility for a stranger to enter Chi Qing’s home.
Xie Lin: “Next time a psychopathic killer enters our building…”
Chi Qing signaled for him to continue: “Yeah?”
Xie Lin: “In that kind of situation, you two might run into each other inside the house.”
Chi Qing: “…”
Chi Qing completely gave up on understanding the thought process of people in love. He looked at Xie Lin with the expression one might reserve for someone slow-witted: “So, if a killer comes to my house, I have to give him a detailed introduction to the slippers by the door?”
“I’ve read online that people turn stupid once they start dating,” Chi Qing sighed. “I didn’t expect it to be true.”
Xie Lin: “…………”
Despite Chi Qing saying that, Xie Lin had persevered, searching online for a long time until, finally, his efforts paid off and he found a pair that matched.
Xie Lin stepped into the house wearing those hard-won slippers, first pouring food for the cat still being fostered at Chi Qing’s, then went to knock on Chi Qing’s bedroom door: “Get up and eat breakfast.”
Chi Qing was still in a dream. Hearing the knock, he automatically ignored the second half of the sentence and, responding to the two knocks, said in a daze: “…Come in.”
Xie Lin’s hand hovered on the doorknob. He paused, intending to head toward the kitchen.
To accommodate Chi Qing’s mysophobia, he rarely entered his bedroom. Chi Qing didn’t understand the normal flow of dating, and things like sleeping over hadn’t happened yet. The only time he had been proactive was that sudden kiss.
On the night they officially confirmed their relationship, Xie Lin had been stunned for a long time. The realization that he had been “officially upgraded” took a while to slowly surface in his brain.
When Chi Qing leaned in close, he could clearly smell the shampoo on him—it smelled like a cooling mint. Rather than a “kiss,” it was more like they just touched. A warm, slightly damp kiss fell upon him.
By the time Xie Lin came back to his senses, a “bang” went off in his head. Before Chi Qing could pull away, Xie Lin reached up to press the back of his neck, the dry, soft hair tickling his hand like a feather.
“I didn’t react in time just now,” Xie Lin said. “Kiss me again?”
For once, Chi Qing didn’t say, “Get lost.”
Xie Lin thought of something else: “Are you sure that when you wake up tomorrow morning, you won’t go back on your word about taking me to see a psychologist?”
“…”
In his half-asleep state, Chi Qing vaguely heard the sound of the door lock turning.
He was woken up by a kiss.
Opening his eyes, he saw the man’s lean chin and slightly protruding Adam’s apple.
Xie Lin kissed Chi Qing on the forehead.
“Awake?”
Chi Qing was about to ask, “Who told you to come in?” but Xie Lin, knowing exactly what he was going to say, beat him to it: “You told me to come in yourself just now. Don’t go back on your word.”
Chi Qing: “If I tell you to get out now, will you go?”
Xie Lin had originally just been sitting on the edge of the bed, but hearing that, he changed his position. The man planted his hands on either side of Chi Qing and leaned down, forcing himself toward him: “You’re really going to go back on your word like that?”
Just as Xie Lin began to lower his head, Chi Qing’s phone rang.
Xie Lin, his collar hanging open, thought, Who is being so inconsiderate? He pulled back one hand, making it easier to reach for the phone.
“Hello?” The person on the other end was Su Xiaolan.
Su Xiaolan seemed to be on the street; the sounds of two local elderly women arguing were clearly audible: “The thing you sold me yesterday is defective!”
“You’re scamming me—I’ve been doing business here for so many years, I’ve never done anything like that! We never sell expired goods!”
Su Xiaolan was out on duty, settling a neighborhood dispute. She was tearing her hair out, frequently checking her watch as she explained her intention to Chi Qing: “Consultant Xie’s phone won’t go through, so I have to ask you, Assistant Chi. It’s like this—there’s nobody at my nephew’s house recently. His parents are away on a trip and won’t be back for a week, so they asked me to pick him up from school. But I really can’t spare the time today; I’m scheduled for the night shift… Could you help me pick him up?”
Chi Qing thought to himself, When did I become a daycare center?
First there was that cat Ren Qin dumped on him, and now Su Xiaolan’s nephew.
Whether it was a cat or a child, he didn’t like either.
Chi Qing: “How old is your nephew?”
Su Xiaolan replied: “He’s in his second year of high school.”
Chi Qing: “If a high school sophomore still lacks the ability to get home independently, instead of sending him to school, you should first teach him how to walk, take a bus, and call a taxi.”
Su Xiaolan: “…”
It was hardly surprising that asking Chi Qing for help yielded this result.
Just as Su Xiaolan was frantically searching for who else could help her, Chi Qing added: “But you don’t have to worry.”
“Huh?”
This caught Su Xiaolan off guard.
Was Assistant Chi going to help her?
Chi Qing: “I can help you transfer the call to the person you were originally looking for. You can talk to him.”
“…?”
The next second, the phone was shoved into Xie Lin’s hand, and Chi Qing went to the bathroom to wash up: “…”
“Officer Su, morning,” Xie Lin said, taking the call.
Su Xiaolan: “Morning. How come your phone wasn’t going through? So you’re with Assistant Chi.”
Xie Lin didn’t think picking someone up was much trouble. Since he had nothing to do at home these days and the bureau didn’t have any major cases recently, he had no use for his skills as a consultant. He agreed: “I understand the situation. Send me the school address and dismissal time. Don’t worry about it; I had to go out and buy some things today anyway.”
Buying things was, of course, just a polite excuse.
Su Xiaolan thanked him repeatedly and sent over her nephew’s school name, class, and name.
“He gets out at 5:30 PM. Just drop him off at the police station entrance after you pick him up. I’ll take him home when I’m done with my shift tonight. There’s no one to look after him at home. Thank you so much.”
5:00 PM.
Chi Qing sat in Xie Lin’s car: “Why do I have to go too?”
He didn’t want to go out to pick up some nephew, but he hadn’t expected Xie Lin to just take him along when he left the house.
He should have hung up on that phone call from Su Xiaolan earlier.
Xie Lin: “What do you think?”
Chi Qing displayed his remarkable conversational skills, coolly analyzing: “I think there’s no need to waste two people’s time on something one person can finish.”
“…”
“Because we’re dating,” Xie Lin leaned over to fasten his seatbelt for him, explaining word by word, “…I want to see you every single moment. I want to experience everything with you. Understand?”
After he finished, he noticed Chi Qing was silent for a moment.
Then, Chi Qing turned his head toward the window. His ear tips were bright red, and facing the uninteresting scenery in the garage, he conceded: “Just this once.”
“Even though I don’t want to waste time on Su Xiaolan’s nephew,” Chi Qing stared at a pillar in the garage, “wasting it on you is barely acceptable.”
