Chapter 3 Evidence: The Tool for Crossing Taboo Lines

Emerging from the bathroom, Lin Yu's heart pounded, but thankfully her brother was no longer in the living room. The next second, Lin Yu turned around and found Zhou Ke standing in the kitchen.

Lin Yu walked over and saw Zhou Ke putting the washed tomatoes into boiling water to blanch them and peel them.

His slender fingers pinched the rolled-up tomato skin and slowly and gently pulled it down. The overflowing bright red juice flowed down his fingertips and into the gaps between his fingers, creating a striking contrast of red and white.

Zhou Ke's hands were very beautiful, with distinct finger bones, long and even, pale white, and blue veins coiled on the back of his broad hands.

Lin Yu stood there, pursing her lips. When she felt a surge of heat rising in her body, she hurriedly turned her head away, her face flushed red. She couldn't bear to look any longer.

It was a tool for breaking taboo lines, warm but not soft.

Noticing someone staring at him from behind, Zhou Ke turned around and met Lin Yu's absent-minded gaze. He then asked, "What are you doing standing here?"

Lin Yu snapped out of her daze and pretended nothing had happened: "I came to ask if there's anything I can do to help out."

Zhou Ke turned around and looked at his sister standing by the door frame, a gentle smile appearing in his eyes: "No need, I can do it. Go sit in the living room."

That's fine, right now she really can't stay calmly in the same small, enclosed space as her brother.

The sound of the washing machine churning was like evidence of her crime, echoing incessantly in her ears with a grating noise. Lin Yu sat on the sofa, feeling uneasy.

Before long, the kitchen began to fill with the clanging and clattering of spatulas and the rich aroma of food.

To be honest, Lin Yu hadn't eaten Zhou Ke's cooking in a long time. She barely managed to eat a bowl of instant noodles for lunch, but now, smelling the tempting aroma of meat, Lin Yu couldn't help but turn her gaze to the kitchen again.

The old house not only had small rooms, but the kitchen was also tiny. Zhou Ke was tall and took up most of the space just by standing there. The range hood was humming, and Zhou Ke was skillfully tossing the pan with a spatula in one hand. The aroma filled the air and bothered Lin Yu's breathing.

He had been learning to cook since he was a teenager. At first, it was hard to eat, but Lin Yu didn't say anything and swallowed it with a bitter and burnt taste. Later, Zhou Ke took a bite and forced her to spit out everything he had chewed. Lin Yu comforted him instead, saying, "It's okay, it's edible."

Zhou Ke looked at her with complicated emotions, as if blaming himself for not taking good care of his younger sister, and also as if feeling sorry for his sister's sensible nature.

Now Zhou Ke is able to cook a table full of delicious food. He looked at his sister sitting opposite him, handed her the soup he had ladled out, and said, "It's all your favorites, eat up."

Lin Yu looked at the five dishes on the table. In addition to the four dishes she mentioned, there was also a mushroom and old duck soup. A bowl of white rice was already on the table. She picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of pork ribs, and put it in her mouth.

During the meal, Zhou Ke didn't bring up her behavior of going home without saying a word again, and the matter was finally put behind them.

After dinner, Lin Yu offered to wash the dishes in the kitchen, but Zhou Ke stopped her, saying, "Let me do it. When have I ever made you do housework?"

Lin Yu was taken aback: "Aren't you going to the bar later?"

After graduating, Zhou Ke worked as an engineer at a new energy company. Later, for reasons unknown, he suddenly resigned and was then persuaded by a friend to open a bar together.

"I'm not going." Zhou Ke said casually, but it made Lin Yu's heart jump again.

She thought she could at least get a night of peace, but reality always falls short of expectations.

Back in the room, it was already very clean. Actually, it wasn't dirty to begin with, but Zhou Ke was a bit of a clean freak. There were brand new, soft and fluffy bedding on the bed.

Lin Yu lay down and stared blankly at the ceiling above her head.

Jiangcheng University doesn't start until early September, which means she'll have to stay home for two whole months. However, this is only the first day. In the third hour after returning home, she had this bizarre dream in her brother's room. Lin Yu closed her eyes, her mind racing, feeling inexplicably annoyed.

What's the point of only seeing what you can't have in your dreams?

The moonlight shines brightly outside the window, the shadows of the trees sway gently, and a sleepless heart is also present.

Night is God's gift to mankind, a dream house from which all kinds of fantasies arise—forbidden, bizarre, and frightening.

Lin Yu couldn't help but start to overthink. What if her brother discovered that something was wrong with the room? Would he pull her up and confront her, or would he pretend that nothing had happened?

My thoughts drifted like waves on the sea; this sleep was destined to be restless.

The frown between his brows deepened.

As my thoughts drifted away, my phone suddenly rang twice.

Lin Yu picked up her phone, which was lying beside her, unlocked it, and found that it was a message from her friend Jiayi.

Jiayi was one of the few good friends she made in junior high school. The two had completely different personalities, one active and one quiet, but they unexpectedly became best friends who could talk about anything. Back then, the two agreed to go to school in the same city. Unfortunately, Jiayi's score was not high enough, so she could only apply to a university in her own province. However, staying in the local area also had its advantages. The school was only a two-hour drive from home, so Jiayi would rush home every weekend.

Jiayi was overjoyed to have her friend back.

The girl I couldn't win over: [Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!! Am I dreaming? You're really back? Back to Tongcheng??]

Fish in the desert [Genuine, no doubt about it, or I can send you its location?]

The girl I can't win over [Oh my god, I'm so excited!]

Lin Yu smiled, and you could feel Jia Yi's happiness even through the screen.

The girl he couldn't win over [couldn't help but transform into a monkey and stand up to perform a set of military boxing moves].

Hahahaha!

Fish in the desert [Calm down.]

The girl I can't win over: [You haven't been back for so long, I'll treat you to hot pot tomorrow, the usual place.]

Fish in the desert [Okay.]

*

At night, Zhou Ke returned to his room. The bed sheet, which had been washed during the day, was now hanging high to dry. He could only find a clean four-piece set from the wardrobe and lay it flat on the bed. While tidying it up, he could faintly smell the fresh scent of laundry detergent. But when Zhou Ke finished tidying up and lay quietly on the bed, he felt that there was still some other smell that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

A faint, sweet fragrance lingers in the air, like spilled peach juice or clear coconut water.

He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but Zhou Ke guessed that it might be the scent of his sister's body, which she carried after resting in her room that afternoon. With that thought, he didn't dwell on it any further.

Zhou Ke felt a mix of emotions when Lin Yu suddenly returned to Tongcheng without a word. There was surprise, joy, astonishment, and finally, a touch of disappointment.

He was disappointed by Lin Yu's silence. She hadn't mentioned going home at all. In fact, a week earlier, Zhou Ke had called her to ask if she was coming back for the summer vacation.

At that time, how did Lin Yu respond? She readily agreed and then quietly appeared at home.

Before this, the brother and sister had not seen each other for more than 100 days.

Since Lin Yu went to university, her younger sister seemed to consciously start to distance herself from the two of them. At first, he thought that he had done something wrong. Zhou Ke even talked to Lin Yu about it, but Lin Yu just smiled and said that he was overthinking it. Until later, he unexpectedly saw Lin Yu walking together with a boy, chatting and laughing.

He then realized that his sister was in a relationship.

The orange-red hot pot was bubbling away, the rich aroma of butter suppressing the tomatoes, and Lin Yu was drinking plum juice from a cup through a straw.

The scorching summer heat, paired with a hot pot in an air-conditioned room and a sip of refreshing plum juice, is simply too comfortable.

After ordering, the waiter brought the side dishes one by one on a food cart. Jiayi couldn't wait to pick up a plate of beef, putting half into the spicy broth and the other half into the tomato broth.

Jiayi loves spicy food, while Linyu prefers milder flavors, so whenever the two of them go out for hot pot, a half-and-half pot is always the standard choice.

“It’s so hot today.” Jiayi put down her chopsticks, took out a tissue to wipe her hands, and said, “By the way, I have an uncle who invested in and opened a resort in the mountains last year. When my cousin comes from Lincheng in a while, let’s go there to escape the heat together.”

"Cousin?" Lin Yu picked up a piece of shrimp paste and put it in her mouth.

“Yeah.” The spicy hot pot was too strong in flavor, so Jiayi ate it while drinking her iced lemon juice. “You probably haven’t met him. He just finished his college entrance exams this year and recently finished his graduation trip. He’ll be coming to Tongcheng in a few days, and I’ll introduce you two to each other.”

Lin Yu didn't refuse, but focused on eating the meatballs and slices of meat that had been taken out of the pot earlier and had already cooled down.

After finishing the hot pot, Jiayi dragged Lin Yu to the boutique downstairs. A few days ago, when she went out, her key accidentally fell out of her pocket and was unsurprisingly stepped on by a pedestrian behind her. The square cookie on the pendant immediately cracked in two. Today, since she finally had the chance to go shopping, she planned to buy a new keychain and get her nails done.

Lin Yu admired two types of people the most in her life: those who could get high scores without studying and those who had unlimited energy and seemed never to get tired.

The former is Zhou Ke, and the latter is Jia Yi.

Five hours have passed since we finished eating hot pot, and the sky outside has turned a dark indigo. Jiayi suggested that we go see a movie that night.

Just as Lin Yu was about to speak, she received a text message from Zhou Ke, asking her how she wanted to cook the fish, whether she planned to steam it or braise it.

Lin Yu held her phone and read the message, gleaning two important points from the brief message.

First: It's getting late, it's time for her to go home.

Second: Her brother will most likely not be at the bar tonight.

I can't tell whether I should feel fortunate or uneasy.

Lin Yu returned to steaming.