I am just an ordinary person! Why do you like me?

Shi Chenchen's red fingertips still felt the coolness of the metal door handle.

When she locked the bedroom door with her backhand, the click of the lock cylinder hitting her eardrum hard.

Her back was against the cold door, the fabric rubbing against the wood making a rustling sound. She lowered her eyes and watched her trembling fingertips resting on the door lock, curling up into a pale butterfly.

Shi Chenchen heaved a sigh of relief only after hearing Wen Zhi leave.

In the bathroom——

The hot stream from the shower meandered down her thin white back, but it couldn't warm her heart.

The mirror was covered with mist. Shi Chenchen looked at the blurry figure in the mirror and vaguely saw the slightly white knuckles when Wen Zhi held her wrist.

She closed her eyes and imagined that nothing had just happened.

However, Shi Chenchen still resigned himself to his fate and opened his eyes.

I can't forget it. I can't forget it at all.

Whether it was the obvious red marks on the hands, or the scent of agarwood that was exactly the same as Wenzhi's shower gel...

At this moment, they all turned into fine silk threads, trapping her in the center of the carefully woven spider web, as if silently warning every cell in her body,

——You can’t escape.

She took a deep breath, but her whole body was wrapped in thick moisture and she couldn't break free.

After washing, Shi Chenchen sat on the desk chair. Amid the high-frequency roar of the hair dryer, hot air with a humid breath blew towards him.

The ends of her hair fluttered wildly in the air currents. Her thoughts were in a mess. Her amber pupils slightly dilated, and her memories were steaming in the heat. She lowered her eyes and thought about what had just happened:

The dim and ambiguous light on the island counter, the shadow cast by Wen Zhi's long eyelashes when he lowered his eyes, and the shudder aroused when his fingertips brushed against her wrist bone.

And...the scorching heat on my lips.

Shi Chenchen pursed her lower lip, the more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. Just when she had blown her hair to 90% dry, she yanked the cord of the hair dryer out in annoyance.

He casually threw it onto the table, hitting "Gu Wang".

Next to it was the light gold birthday invitation that she had finally obtained.

Shi Chenchen looked over and was stunned for a moment. The 'Gu Wang' doll was hit by the hair dryer and finally had one side of its face pressed down by it.

The expression on his face, which was as arrogant as he was, suddenly seemed even more annoying.

She leaned back in the chair beside the table when her cell phone vibrated again, followed by several more.

Only then did Shi Chenchen realize what he had overlooked.

Shi Chenchen turned on his cell phone.

At this point in time, it turned out that the message was sent by Bai Chulan.

[Bai Chulan]: Chenchen, are you home?

[Bai Chulan]: I sent you a message before, but you never replied to me

[Bai Chulan]: I was afraid that something might happen to you, so I contacted Wen Zhi to see if he had received your call.

Only then did Shi Chenchen realize how Wen Zhi knew that he was lying to him.

She swiped the screen and saw several messages and even a few missed calls, all asking her if she had arrived home.

Shi Chenchen sighed softly, it turned out that people should not lie.

Tonight, Shi Chenchen was afraid of any accidents, so he turned his phone to Do Not Disturb mode.

I didn't turn on the message notification until I got downstairs at home.

But before I could read the message, I was...

After telling a lie, I had to make up for it with another lie, which led to the outcome like tonight.

Shi Chenchen sighed deeply and replied to Bai Chulan's message.

She then opened the messages from other people.

【Yixingchen】: Have you arrived home? I saw in the navigation that you have arrived home, so I came to ask

The time showed that not long after, Yi Xingchen sent another message.

[Yi Xingchen]: Why didn’t you reply to the message? Did you go to rest?

Shi Chenchen held his phone in both hands and typed, replying to her message that he had arrived home.

Next, it’s time to reply to Gu Wang’s message.

Shi Chenchen clicked return, then clicked to enter Gu Wang’s chat box.

The moment she saw the message, her heart couldn't help but stop for a moment.

[Gu Wang]: You have completed your mission, now it is my turn to fulfill my promise

Shi Chenchen held his breath——

Yes.

At that time, Gu Wang promised her that as long as she participated in the friendly competition, he would tell her a secret.

But then, Gu followed with a few short, incoherent and confusing sentences.

[Gu Wang]: Is it still by your side?

【Gu Wang】: Open it

it?

Shi Chenchen frowned, thinking secretly in his heart, and his eyes inadvertently swept to "Gu Wang" on the table.

At this moment, it was being pressed under the hair dryer. Although it looked a little pitiful, the expression on its face still looked like it deserved a beating.

Although Gu Wang's hint was vague, Shi Chenchen had a strong feeling deep in her heart telling her:

It is it.

This doll was left by Gu Wang on the window sill beside the flower tree before he left on the day he taught her to play the piano.

Shi Chenchen reached out and took the doll in his hand.

She lowered her eyes and stared at the doll, thinking back to what Gu Wang had just said:

——“Open it.”

Suddenly, Shi Chenchen turned the doll over, and sure enough—

On the back of the doll, she found a hidden zipper, which glowed with a cold metallic luster under the desk lamp.

She placed her slender fingertips on the tip of the chain and slowly pulled down the zipper.

The scene before her was like a movie scene, unfolding slowly before her eyes in an extremely dramatic way, and it was played at a slow speed, allowing her to capture every detail clearly.

Only part of the zipper can be seen, but——

Only that area, under the illumination of the desk lamp, showed the familiar light golden pattern...

Shi Chenchen had already recognized him completely.

It was a birthday invitation.

——An invitation letter exactly the same as the one that was originally placed next to the doll.

……

When he opened his eyes again, Shi Chenchen looked at the ceiling above his head.

He seemed a little dazed.

She seemed to have a dream, a very long dream.

In her dream, she was trapped in the water, and she couldn't see the scenery above through the rippling water surface.

The only things that could be seen were spots of light blurred by the waves and the sound of the ferry's whistle.

It seemed to be a huge ship, and she could only watch it slowly go away, while she was stuck in a quagmire from which she could not escape.

She could hardly breathe and closed her eyes. In the endless darkness, it seemed that someone was holding her hand tightly.

Finally told her -

"Don't be afraid, I'm coming."

"I'll be here whenever you need me."

It was still drizzling outside the window, and the cold breath coming in through the window made Shi Chenchen shiver uncontrollably.

Feeling a slightly cool touch on his face, Shi Chenchen touched his cheek with his slender hand, but only felt a wet and cool feeling.

She was stunned. She actually... cried?

Everything in the dream seemed very real. Although most of it had long been forgotten, the feeling of suffocating in the water was similar to the feeling of being in the sea in the movie world.

That helpless feeling of never being able to grasp the light.

Shi Chenchen stood up, still wearing his cotton pajamas, and raised his hand to close the open window.

Looking at the scenery outside the window, the originally bright and colorful leaves of the sycamore trees outside the window have been ruthlessly beaten to pieces after just an autumn rain, leaving only bare branches and a few scattered leaves.

Shi Chenchen moved closer to the window, his breath touched the cold window, creating a small hazy patch on the transparent surface.

Shi Chenchen's fingers rested on it, painting aimlessly.

Her thoughts seemed to drift higher and farther, and her thoughts were pulled back to the day before.

She sighed softly, thinking that she had spent too much time with Wen Zhi.

When Wen Zhi was not at home all night and it was still a cold rainy night outside, she was actually thinking about -

Is Wen Zhi going to be okay?

Shi Chenchen bit her lower lip lightly, not knowing whether she should lament her own incompetence or blame Wen Zhi for being so good to her in recent years.

So good...that she didn't feel any disgust towards him at all.

She sighed softly, turned around resignedly and opened her phone.

Looking at Wen Zhi’s last message, it was still about “going home together”.

Shi Chenchen's fingertips lingered on the word "home". She lowered her eyes, feeling a rare pang of heartache. She knew that she had made Wen Zhi wait too long last night.

She knew that she had been keeping Wen Zhi waiting.

Wait, why does she think it is “always”.

Shi Chenchen thought about it and realized that it was indeed the case.

When she was at home and not going to school, she liked to stay in her room alone without saying a word.

Whenever she couldn't eat, Wen Zhi would stand at her door and coax her patiently before she was willing to open the door.

Wen Zhi also pays attention to her sleep every day and uses software to check her sleeping conditions.

It was also because of Wen Zhi's patient guidance that she began to be willing to accept the new life and slowly get in touch with the outside world.

This was not the responsibility that Wen Zhi should take as a brother, but he still used great patience to accompany her little by little.

Shi Chenchen was worried about Wen Zhi, and her slender fingertips lingered on the chat box with Wen Zhi.

After hesitating for a moment, Shi Chenchen still sent a sentence——

[Shi Chenchen]: Brother, are you there?

As she expected, there was no response from the other side, and Shi Chenchen sighed.

In this situation, she didn't even have the courage to mention it to Uncle Wen and Aunt Wen. After all, this kind of thing...she really couldn't say it out loud.

Shi Chenchen looked at the chat box that still had no reply, so he had to give up and put down his phone.

Today is already Monday.

No matter what, I still have to go to school in Mussoorie.

It’s about time to set off now...

Shi Chenchen went out alone, and the cold wind on the street almost blew into her neck.

Shi Chenchen was walking on the road holding an umbrella and heard many people saying that it was really cold today.

She was wearing the dark blue scarf that Wen Zhi had given her last time. She reached out to gather the scarf, buried her face in it, and hid her lonely eyes in it.

It's really cold outside.

After the autumn rain last night, the temperature is now basically in single digits.

When I walked to the school gate, I happened to see Bai Chulan standing at the door. When she saw Shi Chenchen for the first time, her eyes flashed.

She took a few steps forward, and when Shi Chenchen saw Bai Chulan, he also perked up and greeted her with a smile:

"Chu Lan, good morning."

Bai Chulan smiled and said "Good morning".

They never talked much to each other, and they only chatted briefly and casually on the way to the classroom.

Bai Chulan: "Chenchen, do you know? On Saturday, I seemed to hear your voice in Gu Wang's live broadcast room."

Shi Chenchen was surprised. She had deliberately lowered her voice at that time, but she didn't expect that Bai Chulan would still hear it?

Shi Chenchen wanted to gloss over it: "I had already gone home at that time and didn't know about this."

——Bai Chulan recalled the conversation with Wen Zhi at that time.

[Bai Chulan]: Chenchen said you would come and take her home

[Bai Chulan]: She seemed a little nervous just now. She hasn't replied to my message.

[Bai Chulan]: I'm worried that she might be in danger, so I came to ask you

After a while, the other side replied——

【Wen Zhi】: Don’t worry, I got her.

【Wen Zhi】: Thank you

With Wen Zhi's affirmative reply, Bai Chulan felt relieved, recalling the voice in the live broadcast that was very similar to Chenchen's.

She shook her head and laughed, it must have been just a coincidence.

Bai Chulan walked on the road, although he only said a few words, and Chenchen was still the same as usual.

However, Bai Chulan could sense that Chenchen was not in a very good mood.

But Bai Chulan didn't know the reason either. But since Chenchen didn't ask, she wouldn't ask without permission. The two of them just walked all the way to the class.

At this time, the atmosphere in the class was already very high.

Only when Shi Chenchen and Bai Chulan arrived at class did Zhou Yurou come up to them with an excited look on her face.

She said, "Chenchen Chulan, Gu Wang's birthday party is about to begin this weekend!"

Zhou Yurou's face was filled with joy and a hint of distress: "When I go on the ship, I should wear a better dress to outshine the other girls!"

"Ahhhh what should I wear then? Which bag should I match it with? Or which earrings should I wear?"

Zhou Yurou bought her birthday invitation from someone else, so she could go to the birthday party as well.

The lively atmosphere in the class also came from Gu Wang’s birthday party.

Although most people did not receive birthday invitations, it still did not stop them from gossiping.

“Ahhhh, if I had known earlier I would have tried harder! I also want to go to Gu Wang’s birthday party!!”

"Forget it. You're ranked 300th, how can you expect to work hard to get to 400th?"

"Go away! Try licking your lips and see if you can poison yourself to death."

"I'm telling the truth, don't worry, I'll take a few more photos for you when the time comes."

"Tsk, who cares? You might as well lend me some money so I can buy an invitation."

"Okay, then don't ask me for photos then. Besides, do you think invitations are so easy to buy now? Those idiots who are willing to sell have already done so."

At this point, the two glanced at Bai Chulan and said, "Don't you and I know what the poor students who are unwilling to go out are thinking..."