Chapter 171 IF Line: Childhood Sweethearts (04)
Lin Yao knew, of course, that was a joke he made when he was a child.
The video Xie Xingchen recorded back then was used by his parents for their perverse pleasure, and they would bring it up every year on his birthday to rub salt in the wound.
"When I grow up, I want Yaoyao to be my wife!"
This phrase became a favorite joke between the Xie and Pei families.
Last year, Xie Hengzhi was still using this video to mock Xie Xingchen: "See? Aren't you ashamed?"
Lin Yao was speechless at the time and warned them very seriously: "Don't show this video again next time, it's annoying."
He was alright, since he wasn't the main character. He just felt that Xie Xingchen was just being innocent and naive, but he had been caught red-handed and laughed at for so many years. He must feel very ashamed.
Boys at this age are generally very concerned about their image.
Yun Qing quickly smoothed things over, patting Lin Yao on the head: "I won't let it go anymore, I won't let it go anymore, don't be angry."
I didn't expect Cheng Boyan to bring this up again today. These people, really... will they ever stop?
"Yao Yao's wife?" He Li, with audacity beyond measure, tilted his head and called out incoherently.
"Do you want to die, He Li?" Lin Yao reached out and grabbed his neck. His cold didn't affect his performance at all. He dragged the man away, playfully fighting with him.
Xie Xingchen turned to look at Cheng Boyan, and they smiled at each other: "What a fierce Alpha, you won't commit domestic violence, will you?"
After the differentiation, the boys began to grow rapidly, transforming from naive little kids into popular senior students.
But the cold war that happened when they were children never happened again, and Lin Yao did not become distant from him as they grew up. Instead, under Xie Xingchen's unbridled indulgence, he became more and more spoiled.
"Brother Chen, I can't walk anymore, carry me."
"Brother Chen, I'm sleepy, can I lean on your shoulder for a while?"
"Brother Chen, you have to apply to the same school as me."
...
Cheng Boyan, observing everything, succinctly summarized: "It's all thanks to Xingchen, he's spoiled."
Lin Yao looked at him coldly: "Are you jealous?"
"Hahahaha, I'm dying of laughter." He Li mimicked Lin Yao's tone, deliberately keeping a blank expression as he said, "Brother Boyan, help me tie my shoelaces, I don't have hands."
Cheng Boyan glanced at him dismissively: "You don't learn the good things."
But resigned to her fate, she squatted down and carefully tied a pretty bow.
He Li cupped her face in her hands and said in a very affected manner, "Wow, Yao-ge, look! She's getting princess treatment!"
He called out to all his brothers, but in reality, Lin Yao was the youngest.
On his coming-of-age birthday, which coincided with the end of his final exams, Lin Yao finally managed to escape from the grand banquet arranged by Pei Yizhong and sneaked out with his friends. He Li mysteriously told him that she had prepared a big surprise for him.
"Surprise?" Lin Yao was completely bewildered as he was led over, blindfolded, and plunged into complete darkness before being suddenly released.
He had just taken off his covering when he felt someone touch his shoulder. Before he could even see who it was, someone grabbed his wrist and slammed him to the ground.
He Li, wearing the number one ghost face mask: ".............."
Cheng Boyan, wearing the number two ghost face mask:
Xie Xingchen, who had no intention of disguising himself, said knowingly, "I told you, he's not afraid of ghosts at all; he's the one chasing after them."
The NPC on the ground, dressed in blood, grimaced and protested in a low voice, "Dude, does this count as a work injury?"
Lin Yao heard the sound and looked around. Iron cages were set up everywhere, the lights were dim, and there were bloodstains on the walls. At first glance, it was quite frightening.
He Li said angrily, "No, go further in. I've tried it, it's really scary!"
Not wanting to spoil the fun, Lin Yao nodded: "Alright, we're already here."
So the NPCs started working diligently again. Lin Yao didn't have much of a reaction to this type of thing, but as they climbed up and down the narrow paths in the haunted house, they got separated as they went further in.
From afar, they could still hear He Li wailing and screaming: "Cheng Boyan! Cheng Boyan! Help me!!! Ahhhhhh!!!"
Lin Yao: "......"
There were mirrors on all sides. He had just walked into a dead end and turned around when he felt his hand being lightly brushed.
He didn't actually see the person clearly, but somehow he could tell that it was Xie Xingchen's hand.
"Brother Chen?"
How did you guess that?
Xie Xingchen smiled, stood in the narrow passage, and turned to the side to let him turn out from the inside.
Lin Yao's fingertips lightly touched his knuckles, slowly tracing down until they reached the calluses on his ring finger, left by Pei Yizhong during their training.
"The features are quite obvious." Because of the eerie background music playing all around, Lin Yao spoke softly.
Xie Xingchen brushed his knuckles against Xie Xingchen's hand to confirm, "You have a little bit too."
"After all, we trained together," Lin Yao said.
In the cramped space, his palms easily became sweaty. Lin Yao felt that he should let go after touching him, but he didn't really want to.
Just then, a ghost-faced bride floated by, and Lin Yao grabbed her again.
"Brother Chen, I'm a little scared."
It was rare to hear him show such weakness, so Xie Xingchen's lips curved slightly. He took his hand in return and led him out, saying, "Then let's hold hands."
Lin Yao gave a soft "hmm," his fingers intertwining with his, feeling his heart pounding so fast he could hardly breathe.
He mentally reviewed the route they had just taken, figuring that going straight and then turning left would lead them out. So he led his men in the opposite direction, saying, "Go this way, there are ghosts over there."
Xie Xingchen lowered his eyes, the dim light obscuring his expression, making it difficult to discern Lin Yao's motives, given how clingy he usually was.
"So scared? You're sweating a lot."
Lin Yao slightly bent his fingers, only to find them gripped tightly. He stammered, "Don't you think Chinese ghosts are scarier than the kind at the door?"
“That makes a lot of sense.” Xie Xingchen suppressed a laugh. “So when we go out later, we should rehearse our statements and tell them what to say.”
Lin Yao turned the tables: "Just say it was me protecting you."
Xie Xingchen was very indulgent: "Okay, after all, our Yaoyao can take on ten at once."
Lin Yao led him around and around until they finally reached the exit. The moment they saw the light, the two of them released their hands at the same time, as if nothing had happened.
He Li, pale-faced, clung to Cheng Boyan, wailing, "I'm never coming again!!!"
Lin Yao, who claimed to be very scared, seemed much calmer than him: "Didn't you say you came here to scout the place before?"
"I was just kidding..." He Li said in a softer voice, "I just felt that the usual quiet birthday celebrations were boring, so I wanted to do something different for you."
"Your current state, half-dead, is like a birthday performance for Lin Yao," Cheng Boyan said.
"You're really good at comforting people." He Li was still suffering from the aftereffects of the haunted house, her face pale, but she remained stubborn. "Wait a minute, I have a Plan B to celebrate with you."
Lin Yao was both amused and exasperated: "Why don't you go back first? I'm afraid you'll faint."
"No, I want it. I want you to remember it vividly," He Li said confidently.
So the four of them returned to Xie Xingchen's house from the haunted house. Xie Hengzhi and Yun Qing were still at the banquet, where they could indulge themselves to their heart's content. However, when they saw the second way of celebrating, they all fell silent.
Even Xie Xingchen, who is usually full of witty remarks, repeatedly asked after seeing the very inappropriate and explicit opening sequence, "You want to watch this with us?"
He Li nodded with a mischievous grin: "Yeah, this is the number one movie on the charts right now. I haven't seen it yet. I was too embarrassed to share it with Yao Ge when he was younger, but now that he's grown up, I should give him a crucial lesson."
Cheng Boyan looked at him in disbelief: "You really dare to think that way, and we really dare to listen to you, we actually followed you back."
"Is that not allowed?" He Li frowned and muttered, "I heard from my boarding school classmates that they watch it together in large groups."
I don't know whether to call him naive or bold.
Cheng Boyan didn't seem to care. He turned to Lin Yao, suppressing a smile, and said, "What do you think?"
Lin Yao glanced at Xie Xingchen subconsciously. The latter looked completely at ease. If he refused, it would make him seem very stingy. He stubbornly said, "Go ahead and look. It's just... that kind of thing. It's like everyone's seen it before."
Apart from He Li, who looked excited, the other three people had different expressions.
The opening sequence alone was already quite bold and exciting. As the main film progressed, the style became even wilder and more impactful, plunging the entire theater into an eerie silence.
After watching for ten minutes, He Li covered his eyes and began to mutter to himself, questioning his existence: "Huh? Didn't the internet say it was going to be a horror movie later on? Why is it still going on...?"
"Are you an idiot?" Cheng Boyan laughed uncontrollably. "Why do you always try to scare people?"
He Li genuinely felt the art style was too daring. The pillow she originally intended to use to ward off ghosts now had another purpose: she buried her entire face in it. "Aaaaaah, I'm speechless! I even spent five yuan on it! Liar!!! Turn it off!!!"
"I won't shut you up, I'll punish you, you bad guy." Lin Yao gritted his teeth.
He Li was on the verge of tears, hugging a pillow, extremely embarrassed: "This is so embarrassing, I want to die."
But the boomerang eventually came back to haunt him. Lin Yao could hardly bear to look at it, and after less than two minutes he got up and made an excuse: "I'm going to get some water."
"Here's water." Xie Xingchen reached out and pressed him back, handing him the water glass.
Lin Yao's cheeks flushed red. He turned his head and whispered to him, "Can't you tell I want to run away?"
Xie Xingchen raised an eyebrow slightly: "Why are you running? Haven't you seen it before? Are you still shy?"
"Aren't you ashamed?" Lin Yao's earlobes were so red they looked like they were about to bleed. "How can you be so shameless?"
"Because I've seen it, I'm calm." Xie Xingchen was relaxed and decisively dragged another person into the fray, "Cheng Boyan."
Cheng Boyan: ".............."
You just exposed me without any hesitation, my own brother.
Lin Yao recalled their expressions earlier, which he had initially thought were awkward, but now they meant something else: "...So you just wanted to see me make a fool of myself, is that how you celebrate my birthday?"
"I was wrong, I was wrong, Yao-ge, I'm not watching anymore. Happy birthday, I'm going home." He Li couldn't stand it anymore, got up at lightning speed, and fled the scene.
“Then it doesn’t seem quite right for me to stay here.” Cheng Boyan smiled as he looked at the extremely embarrassed Lin Yao. “You two enjoy the show and learn something.”
Lin Yao angrily threw a large cushion at him.
After the two people left, the home theater felt even more empty.
Lin Yao was stuck, unable to stand or sit, and trapped inside. To make matters worse, the remote control was still in the other party's hands, which was practically holding his life in their hands.
"Study hard." Xie Xingchen smiled.
"I'll understand after watching it once."
Lin Yao closed his eyes tightly, but couldn't shut his ears, so he could only beg for mercy: "Brother Chen, you can turn them off now."
However, the sound continued for quite some time, showing no sign of stopping.
A soft breath fell on her face, carrying a faint scent of agave.
Lin Yao opened his eyes indignantly and saw Xie Xingchen very close to him, a slight smile on his lips, staring at him for an unknown amount of time.
"What are you looking at?" He reached out to push the person in a fit of rage, but couldn't move him; his heart was racing.
Xie Xingchen smiled and buried his face in his shoulder, his warm breath brushing against his neck.
"Yaoyao, how can you be so innocent?"
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