Sweet Bear

The amusement park was bustling with activity on the weekend, with a steady stream of customers entering from the moment it opened. Zhou Qingchi watched as a couple led their child into the park, then turned to look at the sleepy Bai Yixia.

She didn't put much effort into her appearance today. After her mother dragged her out of bed, she grabbed a couple of clothes from the closet, threw them on, and went out. Her hair was tied in a cute little bun at the back of her head, and she wore a white T-shirt with light blue wide-leg casual pants—as casual as could be.

Bai Yixia rubbed her eyes. The noise of the crowd finally woke her up. Halfway awake, she vaguely remembered that she had only invited Zhou Qingchi to a "date" last night, but had not told him the specifics of the date.

She coughed softly, feeling guilty, and turned her head to try to make up for her mistake, but her eyes lit up when she saw Zhou Qingchi.

Today he wore a mint green short-sleeved sweatshirt, with the two drawstrings that were originally hanging down tied into two small bows, which was out of place with his usual style, but also brought a touch of playfulness.

However, this wasn't what surprised Bai Yixia. What made her half-asleep was—this was yet another "Bai Yixia's carefully selected" item.

Zhou Qingchi felt a little uncomfortable under Bai Yixia's gaze, and raised her hand to ruffle her hair a couple of times.

If Bai Yixia hadn't been so engrossed in the little surprise of "her crush wearing the clothes she chose for him again," she probably would have noticed that Zhou Qingchi had gotten his hair done today, something that was unusual for him.

"Xia Xia?" Zhou Qingchi called her softly.

Bai Yixia sighed deeply, wishing she could skip work and spend a whole day having fun in the park with Zhou Qingchi. But she knew that would cause trouble for the person in charge, so she could only put her hands together in front of her and bow to Zhou Qingchi.

"Brother Xiaochi, I'm so sorry!" She pressed her forehead against her fingertips. "I was so sleepy yesterday that I forgot to tell you. I'm here today for a part-time job, and the date was just something I made up."

After Bai Yixia finished speaking, her heart pounded. Although Zhou Qingchi had never blamed her for anything since she was a child, she knew she had made a mistake today.

If Brother Zhou scolds you today, you deserve it, Bai Yixia. She closed her eyes, waiting for the verdict, but instead received a hard rub on her head.

Zhou Qingchi smiled, her eyes crinkling, "You'd already planned your weekend, hadn't you? I'm the one who suddenly came back and bothered you."

This is hardly a disturbance! This is clearly a perk! Bai Yixia thought to herself.

The two were not in the same university. Although the two provinces were not far apart, only a three or four-hour high-speed train ride away, they were usually busy with their own courses and had very little time to meet.

But since Zhou Qingchi had already said that, Bai Yixia didn't apologize anymore. She just lowered her head regretfully and muttered softly, "It's not easy to come here alone with you..."

The weather in September was already a bit dry by eight o'clock in the morning. Bai Yixia felt colder than the weather, thinking that there were still nearly five months until the winter vacation.

But to her surprise, Zhou Qingchi, who was standing next to her, heard her words and pulled her hand to walk into the park, saying, "What's the big deal? Next time we'll leave Nie Jiayuan aside and come play by ourselves."

Bai Yixia's heart skipped a beat. She pursed her lips and nodded repeatedly, silently apologizing to Nie Jiayuan. If Zhou Qingchi hadn't been holding her back, she would have called Nie Jiayuan directly.

Of course, she would harshly scold him for being "love-obsessed".

"I haven't even fallen in love yet, what kind of love-struck person am I?" Bai Yixia thought to herself, ignoring Nie Jiayuan's life or death.

Zhou Qingchi, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped and turned around, saying, "Teacher Xia, it's a pleasure to serve you, but which way should we go next?"

Bai Yixia quickly pulled herself out of her wild thoughts and took out her phone, struggling to scroll through messages with one hand.

Seeing her awkward movements, Zhou Qingchi was about to let go when Bai Yixia raised her phone to him and pulled his hand tightly, saying, "Found it, take the left road."

"Okay." Zhou Qingchi responded, his gaze falling on the two people's hands, his steps slowing considerably.

Bai Yixia, unaware of his thoughts, waved her hand and joked, "Teacher Zhou, does the coachman experience ticket only go as far as we just got here?"

Zhou Qingchi snorted lightly, "That was true, but since we're making a loss today, I'll give you an extra ride."

When they arrived at the store, it wasn't even 8:30 yet. The manager was waiting for Bai Yixia at the door, carrying a heavy mascot costume. Seeing that there were two of them, the manager asked in confusion, "I remember you said it was just one person?"

When it comes to serious matters, Bai Yixia is never careless. She let go of Zhou Qingchi's hand and leaned closer, saying, "It's me, it's me!"

The person in charge nodded and was about to hand her the mascot costume when he noticed her slender, fair arms and hesitated, saying, "This mascot costume is a bit heavy. Can you handle it?"

How could Bai Yixia not be able to do it? When she was a child, the adults in her family were afraid that the children would get into danger, so they all sent her to the taekwondo gym. Not to mention that Bai Yixia now likes photography and often spends hours holding a heavy camera.

She patted her chest and said, "Don't worry, sister. I know this is heavy, but I know my own weight before I came. I guarantee there won't be any problems."

Seeing that she looked serious and didn't seem to be lying, the person in charge readily handed her the items, gave her a few more instructions, and then went into the store.

The mascot costume can be put on directly, and Bai Yixia specifically wore a pair of long pants that were easy to move in because she knew this.

Zhou Qingchi stood to the side, holding the teddy bear's head, watching her quickly put it on. He asked in surprise, "Why did you suddenly decide to do this part-time job?" The pay isn't great, but it's guaranteed to be tiring.

"I was just curious, and I had nothing to do on the weekend, so I thought I'd give it a try." Bai Yixia took the bear head and smiled at him. "Don't worry, this part-time job has shifts, I only work half a day."

After saying that, he patted the bear's head, held it up to his cheek with its front facing outwards, and gestured for Zhou Qingchi to take a picture of him. "I want to see how pathetic it will be when it's all over."

Zhou Qingchi obediently raised his phone. The mascot costume was a pink bear wearing a yellow apron, with a very cute face. Bai Yixia stood a little distance away and pressed her face against it; its eyes were even brighter than the fake eyes made of plastic balls. Zhou Qingchi was momentarily stunned, and when he came to his senses, he had already taken more than a dozen photos on his phone.

In over a dozen photos, Bai Yixia is in the same pose, except for one snapshot that captures her with her eyes closed. Teacher Bai Yixia is very good at managing her expressions; not only did she avoid taking any unflattering photos, but she also made Zhou Qingchi momentarily lose his composure.

In the photo, Bai Yixia tilts her head slightly, her lips are pursed and slightly upturned, her eyes are gently closed, and the sunlight falls on her face, making her eyelashes look golden, like a porcelain doll.

Zhou Qingchi's finger traced across the photo, lingering for a moment on Bai Yixia's face.

"Brother Zhou," Bai Yixia suddenly called out.

Zhou Qingchi almost deleted the photo with a tremor in his hand. He looked up and asked, "What's wrong?"

Bai Yixia had already put on the bear headgear, and her muffled voice came from under the headgear: "My work hours end at 2 PM. It's so boring sitting here like this. Do you want to go play by yourself?"

The mascot costume suited Bai Yixia well. The bear head that popped out was a few centimeters shorter than Zhou Qingchi's. He patted the bear head and rejected the suggestion: "No, it's too boring to play alone. I'll just sit over there and watch you."

He kept his word; aside from going to buy water and a fan, he really did sit and watch Bai Yixia work the whole time.

This part-time job sounds simple: just stand at the store entrance, wave to passing tourists, act cute, and occasionally interact with children pushed out by their parents asking for balloons. However, wearing the heavy, non-breathable clothing not only hindered movement but also made Bai Yixia sigh frequently from inside the headgear due to the heat.

Around noon, there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, so Bai Yixia couldn't just hide in the shade and slack off. She could only wiggle her butt and shake her head under the blazing sun to attract customers.

When the crowd thinned out a bit, she finally had time to rest. Zhou Qingchi quickly went over and pulled Xiong Zhao to sit on a wooden chair, but Xiong Zhao's bottom was too big to sit on.

Bai Yixia was exhausted and groaned as she leaned against Zhou Qingchi.

Zhou Qingchi sighed as he removed the wig from her head. Bai Yixia, who had been full of energy that morning, was now listless. It was terribly hot and stuffy inside the wig; her face was flushed, her bangs were stuck to her forehead with sweat, and her neck was covered in fine beads of sweat.

Seeing her like this, Zhou Qingchi felt a pang of heartache and gently fanned her with a fan, but the high temperature made the breeze quite hot. Bai Yixia reluctantly raised her hand to stop him.

Zhou Qingchi asked in a low voice, "Would you like some water?"

Bai Yixia quickly tapped the light, but a new problem soon arose: the bear claw was really difficult to use to lift the water bottle. Bai Yixia tried several times and almost knocked the bottle over.

She hadn't spoken much all morning, but her voice was still a little hoarse from exhaustion. "Brother Zhou, I can't lift it. I'm so thirsty."

Zhou Qingchi held her shoulders and comforted her, "Don't move, I'll hold it for you to drink."

Bai Yixia fell into an eerie silence for a moment.

"Xia Xia?" Zhou Qingchi asked in confusion.

In those few seconds, Bai Yixia's heart was bursting with excitement for the second time. She barely managed to hide her excitement and nodded reservedly, "Okay."

Considering the hot weather, Zhou Qingchi bought iced soda. He held the bottle slightly at an angle, watched Bai Yixia take several sips before slowly slowing down.

The cool sensation made Bai Yixia feel much better and regained her energy. She sighed, "I knew I would be tired, but I didn't expect it to be this tiring. I feel like all the water in my body has been drained."

"Brother Zhou, are you hungry—" Bai Yixia quickly shut her mouth. Zhou Qingchi's hand, still damp, touched her forehead tentatively.

"Brother Zhou?"

Zhou Qingchi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you feeling unwell? I was so afraid you'd get heatstroke; it's so hot today."

Fortunately, Bai Yixia's face was already as red as it could possibly be. She licked her lips awkwardly and turned her head away. "It's okay, I feel fine."

"Turn your face around, let me wipe it for you," Zhou Qingchi said, pulling out two wet wipes.

Bai Yixia struggled for two seconds between being reserved and enjoying herself, then turned her head without hesitation, smiled sweetly at Zhou Qingchi, and said, "Brother Zhou, you're so good to me."

Zhou Qingchi gently wiped her face with a wet wipe, then looked down at her upon hearing this. He moved the wet wipe to her nose and lightly tapped it. "When have I ever been unkind to you?"

Bai Yixia was stunned by those words. After the cool, damp wipe left her cheek, she secretly smiled and thought to herself as she looked at Zhou Qingchi's back, "It's because you've always been so good to me that I like you so much."