Chapter 19
On the fifth day of the National Day holiday, Lin Ting planned to go to the mall to buy some daily necessities.
The shopping mall was filled with a strong National Day atmosphere. Small red national flags were everywhere, and the air was filled with the hymn "Singing for the Motherland." During this rare long holiday, people were coming and going in pairs, shopping, dining, watching movies, and enjoying the holiday. Lin Ting stood on the third floor, leaning over the railing and looking into the lobby, feeling that the atmosphere was filled with joy and excitement.
In the center of the hall is a children's foam ball playground, where many parents are playing with their children.
These foam balls are as light as snow, pure white, and seem like clouds that have fallen from heaven.
The children waved their little hands, scooped up handfuls of foam balls, and threw them into the air. Instantly, the colorful foam balls burst into bloom like fireworks. The parents stood by, watching their children play with smiles on their faces. They would occasionally bend down to pick up the foam balls with their children, or reach out their large hands to gently brush the foam off the children.
Laughter and cheers, like heavenly music, echoed throughout the amusement park.
This must be what family happiness is all about!
Lin Ting had only briefly enjoyed this before she was ten years old. Looking at the joyful scene before her, she couldn't help but smile.
In this vast world, on the same holiday, Lin Ting wasn't the only one feeling lonely. Two boys in the first-floor coffee shop were sitting at their respective tables, listlessly staring at their phones.
Chen Zhiyi's foot was kicked by the boy opposite him. "Hey bro, are you here to mooch off the WiFi? You've been staring at your phone the whole time. Go upstairs to the arcade and play a few rounds."
"No, it's boring," Chen Zhiyi replied immediately.
"Aren't you bored staring at the chat box? I've seen you staring at it for ages. You've exited and reopened it? Who is it?" Du Yuan asked, puzzled.
Du Yuan is Chen Zhiyi's childhood friend. Their families have business dealings and have known each other since they were very young. They are now studying at the same high school.
Chen Zhiyi placed his phone face down on the table, glared at Du Yuan, and said nothing.
Du Yuan seemed to sense something stirring within him. He narrowed his eyes, a strange smile playing on his lips. "No way, the iron tree has blossomed?"
Chen Zhiyi glanced at him, her face slightly flushed.
Du Yuan, as if discovering a new continent, immediately sat down next to Chen Zhiyi, nudging his shoulder with curiosity in his eyes. "Are we still brothers? You didn't even tell me about what's going on. Do you have any photos to show me? What kind of stunning beauty is she?"
In Du Yuan's opinion, with Chen Zhiyi's horribly disfigured face and outstanding family background, his ex-girlfriends would surely be able to put together several mahjong games.
Yet, despite being surrounded by countless women, he remained untouched by any of them. During the budding stage of youthful love, he showed absolutely no interest in matters of the heart, becoming a completely ascetic and detached individual, almost as if he were about to become a monk.
Now that something has happened, Du Yuan is very curious: what kind of beauty could make this unattainable goddess willingly step down from her pedestal?
Chen Zhiyi pushed him away impatiently, "Don't talk nonsense, it's not true."
"Come on, your worries are written all over your face. Tell me already."
"No, no!" Chen Zhiyi resisted, but then he glanced up and suddenly saw a familiar figure on the third floor. As he turned around, he saw her profile.
Didn't she go back to her hometown? How did she end up here? Chen Zhiyi didn't have time to think. With a soft cry, he used one hand to support himself on the table, flipped over the back of the chair, and leaped out, then ran away like a gust of wind.
This entire series of actions took no more than three seconds.
After he had run about ten meters away, Du Yuan realized what was happening and called out from behind, "Hey! Where are you going?"
Chen Zhiyi said without turning his head, "I have something to do. You're paying today. I'll treat you to a big meal later."
He ran up to the third floor in one breath. Many shops were having promotions, and the entire third floor was packed with people. He looked around quickly, but he didn't see the person he was looking for.
He stopped back at the elevator entrance, scratching his head somewhat dejectedly, thinking: Could I have seen wrong?
Just as I was about to leave dejectedly, my gaze suddenly fell upon a solitary figure standing behind the crowded and noisy crowd at the entrance of a health and wellness equipment store.
There seemed to be some kind of event going on inside the store; the entrance was packed with people, all craning their necks to peer inside. Only one figure stood quietly at the very edge, seemingly also watching the spectacle with curiosity, but remarkably calm compared to those around him.
Chen Zhiyi was stunned for a moment before he reacted, then quickly ran over and patted Lin Ting on the shoulder: "Sister!"
Lin Ting was startled, turned around and saw the person who came in, breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled, "What are you doing here?"
Chen Zhiyi said, "I was just wandering around here and didn't expect to run into you. Didn't you go back to your hometown?"
Lin Ting smiled and said, "I came back early after I finished taking care of things at home."
"Then why didn't you tell me? I sent you a WeChat message, but you didn't reply." Chen Zhiyi said, sounding a little aggrieved.
"Sorry, I had a lot of things to do at home and didn't check my phone in time." These were all excuses. Not only when she went back to her hometown for the holidays, Lin Ting rarely replied to Chen Zhiyi's messages in private, except when he asked her about her studies.
Lin Ting's gaze remained fixed on the event venue ahead.
Chen Zhiyi curiously stood on tiptoe: "What are you looking at?"
Because of his height, he could immediately see what was going on inside. It turned out the store was having a National Day promotion, with the winner receiving a newly launched lumbar massager. The requirement for participation was that couples team up, with the man carrying the woman on his back while doing squats; whoever did the most squats won.
Chen Zhiyi quickly grabbed Lin Ting's wrist: "Come on, let's go participate too."
"Forget it!" Lin Ting tried to break free, but Chen Zhiyi's grip was too strong. He was unmoved by her objections and pulled her through the crowd, into the store.
There were four couples in their group participating. Lin Ting glanced at the affectionate couples next to her and felt quite embarrassed to be just another high school student. Before the shop manager could call "start," she quietly tugged at Chen Zhiyi's clothes and said, "Maybe we should just leave!"
"It's okay, we'll definitely win!" Chen Zhiyi said excitedly, his eyes shining as he waited for the store manager to give the order.
As soon as the word "start" was uttered, he immediately bent down, placed his hands firmly behind Lin Ting's knees, and stood up abruptly.
Although Lin Ting was prepared, she still gasped and swayed slightly, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck.
The unique fragrance of gardenia emanating from her body reached Chen Zhiyi's nose, and he felt his blood boil, more exciting than any major competition he had ever participated in.
Although the participants were all young people, many of them were office workers who spent long hours at their desks. They couldn't compare to Chen Zhiyi, a boy in his adolescence with boundless energy.
Two men, after doing less than a dozen, sat down on the ground, panting, with their girlfriends in their arms, repeatedly saying, "I'm exhausted, my back is about to break, I can't go on."
The store manager joked and encouraged them, "This game tests the core strength of the guys. How can we guys say our backs aren't strong in front of the girls, right? Hang in there, the rest of you!"
The onlookers were all laughing, but Lin Ting felt embarrassed. Such dirty jokes might be fun for real couples, but for her and Chen Zhiyi, they were a threat that challenged boundaries, which she disliked very much.
Chen Zhiyi, however, didn't seem to care, focusing solely on the game. He was a star athlete at school, excelling in basketball and soccer. Coupled with his youthful energy and seemingly inexhaustible strength, he became increasingly energetic and faster with each squat. Lin Ting's feeling of being suspended in mid-air intensified, and she unconsciously tightened her grip on Chen Zhiyi's neck. With each rise and fall, Chen Zhiyi clearly felt two soft lumps rubbing against his back, so soft and yielding. He swallowed hard, feeling a surge of heat rising from below, making his mind go blank and his vision blur; he could only hear his own heavy breathing.
He tried his best to suppress the alluring feelings in his heart and focused on the competition. He had to win and give the prize to Lin Ting.
Later, only Lin Ting, Chen Zhiyi, and another college student couple remained.
Chen Zhiyi was inherently competitive, and he participated with an unwavering determination to win; he absolutely could not afford to lose. So, meeting the boy's provocative gaze, he pursed his lips, gritted his teeth, and became even more determined.
The boy couldn't compete, but gritted his teeth and persisted for a few more. Seeing that the little boy was like a wound-up toy, he had no choice but to give up.
Finally, only Chen Zhiyi was left. Seeing that he didn't seem to have reached his limit, the store manager smiled and said, "The contestant who completes the most tonight will receive an extra grand prize. Handsome young man, why don't you try a little longer?"
Chen Zhiyi shouted, "Yes!"
The onlookers laughed, saying that he was indeed a young man, strong and vigorous, full of inexhaustible energy.
Lin heard his breathing getting heavier and heavier, gritted her teeth, and jumped off his back: "That's enough!"
"I can hold on a little longer!"
Lin Ting ignored him.
Being carried on the back of a high school boy for so long in front of everyone was so embarrassing and awkward that she didn't want to experience it for another second. Besides, she remembered that Chen Zhiyi had injured his foot recently, and doing this kind of strength training with heavy loads in a short period of time wouldn't be enough. If his foot injury relapsed, she would be the culprit. So she quickly pulled Chen Zhiyi back, "That's enough, you're already in first place."
The store manager glanced at the records: "So far, the young man has done the most. We still have two more chances; let's see if anyone can break your record!"
Chen Zhiyi stood to the side with Lin Ting, his cheeks flushed from exercise.
Chen Zhiyi whispered to Lin Ting, "If you hadn't jumped down just now, I could have done at least a dozen more. In that case, no one would have been able to surpass me."
Lin Tingdao said, "It's alright, being first in the group is already very good."
"Too."
Fortunately, none of the subsequent contestants surpassed them in pairs.
Besides the lumbar massager, the extra grand prize turned out to be a neck and shoulder massager.
Lin Ting was very excited. She was drawn to the event because she wanted to win a lumbar massager. She knew this brand specialized in body massagers, and a good lumbar massager alone would cost nearly three figures, and if she added a neck and shoulder massager, it would definitely cost several thousand. She really wanted to buy one for her mother, who had suffered greatly from herniated discs and cervical spondylosis for years. She often couldn't straighten up due to the pain and couldn't sleep well at night. However, there was no specific medicine for these conditions, and even surgery couldn't cure the symptoms; she could only rely on rest. With these two massagers, her mother could use them to relieve her fatigue or pain.
Unexpectedly, while strolling around the mall today, I stumbled upon a store promotion and bumped into Chen Zhiyi, who was also out having fun. Even more unexpectedly, the two of us won the competition. Perhaps all the bad luck I've had lately has been used up to exchange for this series of unexpected events today.
Chen Zhiyi took the prizes from the store manager and handed the two big prizes to Lin Ting: "Sister, I believe Auntie will definitely like them very much."
Lin Ting was taken aback: "How did you know I was going to give it to my mother?"
Chen Zhiyi raised an eyebrow, squinted his eyes, and pretended to tell fortunes by counting on his fingers. "I've done some calculations. Someone once told me that their mother was an embroidery master. Embroidery is the kind of craft that requires sitting for half a day at a time, which is very hard on the back and neck."
Lin Ting looked at his silly act, with fine beads of sweat on his forehead from exercising. She took out a tissue from her bag and held it to his forehead to wipe it for him, but then withdrew her hand and placed the tissue in his hand instead. "Thank you for today, wipe it for me."
Chen Zhiyi pulled out a tissue and wiped the sweat from his face.
Just as the two were about to leave, the store manager walked up to them with a Polaroid camera. "Take a picture to remember this day. We've taken photos of all the winners of the event these past two days, and some of them even left their photos with our store to help promote it."
Chen Zhiyi's eyes lit up. "Okay!"
Lin Ting felt embarrassed, but she couldn't refuse.
With a "click," the photo was taken.
The store manager showed the photos to the two of them, saying, "Are you really a couple? There's even an aisle between you. Is this to allow a third party to get in? Look at how intimate the other couple photos on the wall are."
Lin Ting felt embarrassed. They were indeed not a real couple, but if the store found out, would it be considered a deception and the match be ruled invalid?
Just then, a strong arm wrapped around his shoulder, and Chen Zhiyi said in a light tone, "Excuse me, could you please reshoot the video for us?"
"That's more like it. I'll count to three, two, one, and you guys say 'cheese' and smile." The shop manager raised the Polaroid camera again, counting "one, two, three."
Chen Zhiyi shouted, "Cheese!" Lin Ting smiled in response.
In the new photos, Chen Zhiyi is seen embracing Lin Ting in an intimate pose, both beaming with smiles. Anyone who sees them would exclaim, "What a perfect couple!"
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