Chapter 10.3| Queer Eye

"Pick a few," Yin said, holding out the oil-paper bag of NanZhaoJi towards Xipei.

Xipei selected a piece of mung bean cake. "Yin, why did you bring so many pastries?"

Yin weighed the bulging bag in her hand. It was that many, the bag was almost bursting at the seams, but there was another bag under the table. 

Did Xu Zhiyi think she was a pig?!

"It's not me who bought them," Yin said, "it's Xu Zhiyi."

As Xipei had just taken a bite of the mung bean cake, blinked and stretched her round head, asked, " Yin, do you really like to eat these traditional pastries?"

Yin nodded.

At that moment, Xipei felt like she wasn't eating mung bean cake but the wedding pastry that symbolized their 'Zhiyin couple' status.

With this thought in mind, she inched her head closer to Yin, "Yin, do you think the way you and Zhiyi interact is quite special?"

Yin pondered for a moment before slowly uttering two words, "Is it?"

Of course! Watching Yin's slightly bewildered expression, Xipei couldn't help but think to herself.

The way Zhiyi and Yin interacted was different from the usual distance between ordinary classmates and the meaningful and meaningless banter between Xiuze and Hai. When facing Yin, Xu Zhiyi was pure, open, and patient.

"I think so," Xipei didn't give a clear answer but asked, "Have you always interacted like this since you met?"

Yin pursed her lips, "Seems like it, but not really."

Capturing the subtle change in her expression, Xipei found a seemingly innocuous point to delve deeper into, "What was the catalyst that turned you into good friends?"

"Good friends" and "classmates" were two different concepts; the latter were mostly passing through a phase in life, while the former might leave a lasting impression. Over the past month and a half, Xipei had heard bits and pieces of Meng Yin and Xu Zhiyi's middle school life, yet she still didn't know what had sparked their friendship that continued to this day.

It was impossible not to be curious. 

The memories that were dug out from the depths of her mind were still fresh, and the catalyst, it seemed, was related to the NanZhaoJi.

Approximately two or three weeks after she switched to the desk in front of Xu Zhiyi. A day after school, she was called by the English teacher to help grade papers. 

Upon returning to the classroom, only Xuzhi had just come back from the math class, was left. He didn't say much when she entered, simply packed up and prepared to leave. "This is for you," Yin took out an oil-paper bag from under the desk, with the logo of NanZhaoJi printed on it. 

Zhiyi did not take it. Yin's gesture was not unfamiliar to him. There had been no shortage of girls who had handed him exquisite little gifts since he could remember, their expressions shy or generous, their eyes filled with genuine excitement. The girl in front of him had been bringing various science questions to him for help ever since she moved to the front, and he had even seen her acting cute with the auntie at the cafeteria window. Her expression standing in front of him was candid yet somewhat cunning, making him suddenly uncertain. "Xuzhi, this is a token of gratitude, not a love letter," Yin said, "I have quite a few science questions, I'll trouble you with them recently, and I will continue to rely on you in the future." Xu Zhiyi, who usually kept a cold and distant demeanour, couldn't hide the expression of almost cracking a smile. 

Eventually, he accepted the oil-paper bag from Yin's hand and looked at the logo on it, asking, "Do you really like traditional pastries?" 

Yin answered affirmatively. 

In his memory and his line of sight, girls of this age mostly liked various novel Western pastries, making it rare to find someone of the same age who enjoyed such traditional pastries. 

"Traditional pastries have a unique dense and heavy feeling that other pastries cannot replace," Yin explained, "I have always liked this feeling, finding it sweet, warm, and empowering." 

Zhiyi didn't eat much sweets, couldn't understand her description of "dense and heavy feeling," but found her words intriguing. Perhaps it was the girl's overly candid and bright smile, or maybe it was the perfect timing and opportunity, Zhiyi put her bag on her back, holding the oil-paper bag, his tongue against the palate, and let out "I see." 

Out of Yin's sight, Zhiyi uncomfortably ruffled her hair, glanced at the oil-paper bag in her hand, feeling that it was unlike his usual style. 

In the following two years, "Xu Zhiyi, what's the ideas for this question?" became one of Yin's most frequently used words, and NanZhaoJi slowly became a kind of tacit understanding between the two. 

Xu Zhiyi later found there is indeed an irreplaceable dense and heavy feeling to them. 

"So, did anything happen between you and Xu Zhiyi at middle school?" Xipei bit into her second piece of mung bean cake, suppressing the scream in her heart. She now understood why she had just asked Yin whether her way of interacting with Xu Zhiyi was different from others, her face showing a puzzled expression. 

Some people are just different from the start. 

Yin bit his inner lip, "There seemed to be something for a while." She had heard some rumours in ninth grade, but at that time, she was focused on the high school entrance exam and had no time to care about these messy things.