Thirteen Wonders (ShíSānYāo) : Chapter 38 - One Tiao Nine Tiao
Chapter 38: One Tiao Nine Tiao
Zhou Yao and Chen Xuze often spent time alone together. After so many years, one would think they’d be used to it. But now, things were slightly different from before. It was hard not to notice the subtle changes in the details.
Chen Xuze remained the same, but Zhou Yao felt somewhat uneasy.
Living together.
Just two simple words, yet the more she thought about them, the more they carried a sense of intimacy. On the third day of staying at Chen Xuze’s house, after lunch, the two of them took a nap. Zhou Yao slept on the bed, and as usual, Chen Xuze slept on the floor. Despite the comfortable air-conditioned room, making it the perfect environment for sleeping, Zhou Yao kept tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
After rolling around a few more times, she finally stopped facing Chen Xuze’s side and hesitated before saying, “Shisan, why don’t you… come up and sleep?”
It was summer, but the floor was cold, and the bedding was thin. It wasn’t good for his health to sleep like that.
Chen Xuze didn’t move for a long time. Just as Zhou Yao was about to speak again, he suddenly sat up, lifted a corner of her light blanket, and slipped into her bed.
Zhou Yao faced the floor-to-ceiling window. The curtains were drawn, blocking most of the sunlight, casting a soft, golden hue over the room—dim, yet bright enough.
From behind, Chen Xuze wrapped his arms around her. Zhou Yao’s body stiffened. But he didn’t do anything else—just held her. She could hear the steady rhythm of his breathing. Slowly, she relaxed, trying to get used to the feeling of being in his embrace.
“…Aren’t you hot?”
She was still wide awake.
“No,” he answered with his eyes closed.
“My body tends to get warm in the summer…”
He opened his eyes. “Do you want me to turn the AC lower?”
“No, no need,” she said quickly. “I meant, I don’t want you to feel too hot holding me.”
“I’m not hot.”
“…”
His straightforward response left Zhou Yao at a loss for words.
Perhaps realizing she couldn’t sleep, he gently rested a hand on her shoulder and began patting her rhythmically, lulling her to sleep.
As she finally started to drift off, a strange discomfort crept up on her.
Zhou Yao shifted slightly in his arms, trying to adjust her position. When that didn’t help, she twisted again.
“…Xuze.”
Her voice was drowsy and muffled. “Something’s poking me…”
Silence. She didn’t hear him respond, but the pressure at her waist remained. It was uncomfortable. Half-asleep, she groggily opened her eyes and turned her head to look at Chen Xuze—only to see him pursing his lips, looking slightly awkward.
“I should probably just sleep on the floor,” he muttered, about to get up.
Zhou Yao instinctively grabbed his wrist, confused. “What’s wrong with you?”
That single pull brought them face-to-face. She was in his arms, and at the same time, she suddenly realized what exactly was poking her. Zhou Yao froze, her face instantly flushing red.
Her eyelashes trembled as she glanced at him, unsure of what to say. Thinking about how bluntly she had just spoken, her face grew even hotter. She didn’t dare meet his gaze—her eyes barely lifted before quickly darting away again.
“You…”
Before she could finish, Chen Xuze flipped over, pressing her down, and kissed her.
The thin blanket still covered them, making it a kiss within the covers—a long, lingering kiss that lasted several minutes. The air conditioning was on, but Zhou Yao was burning up. She wanted to escape.
“Yaoyao…”
She could feel his body heat, the shift in his breathing, and his growing intensity—like he was about to take things further.
It was only now that she truly realized. Chen Xuze had grown up.
He was a man.
Zhou Yao’s face burned hotter. With difficulty, she managed to squeeze out, “I… I’m not ready for this…”
Chen Xuze buried his head in her neck, exhaling a long breath. He didn’t move for a while.
After a moment, she nudged him. “Xuze?”
His breathing steadied, and he placed a soft kiss on her cheek. “It’s fine. Go to sleep.”
Zhou Yao didn’t want him to sleep on the floor but was also afraid he’d get ‘too excited’ again. So she made him turn his back to her while she hugged him from behind.
This way, it was just right.
Chen Xuze found her logic both amusing and exasperating. If she didn’t see it, if she didn’t feel it… then it didn’t exist. She was really good at deceiving herself.
……
After their nap, the two of them got up to have some fruit and cold drinks. Suddenly, a commotion erupted outside in the yard—chaotic voices overlapping in familiar tones.
They listened closely. Within moments, they figured out what was happening.
—Ying Nian’s group had arrived. And they were climbing over the wall of Chen Xuze’s house.
It was a complete mess. Some were struggling to climb, some were crouched at the bottom acting as human ladders, and those who managed to reach the top had to pull the others up. Their teamwork was surprisingly well-organized. But of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Every now and then, someone would shout, “You’re stepping on my fingers!” or “Your dirty foot just smeared mud all over my clothes!”
Jiang Jiashu’s voice was the clearest: “Do you guys even know how to climb a wall…?!”
After much struggling, they finally managed to clamber over. The first person straddled the top, followed by the others, forming a row of people sitting awkwardly along the wall. Looking disheveled, they turned their heads—only to see Zhou Yao and Chen Xuze standing in the yard, each holding a plate of watermelon. Chen Xuze scooped up a spoonful and fed it to Zhou Yao. One remained silent, while the other chewed on the fruit with a puzzled expression, staring at them.
“……”
“Hi—” Ying Nian was the first to raise a hand. As a seasoned wall-climber, she jumped down easily and rushed forward to give Zhou Yao a big hug—earning a sideways glance from Chen Xuze.
They had come to hang out with the two of them, but when their calls went unanswered and knocking on Chen Xuze’s door did not get a response, they decided to take matters into their own hands. Actually, they had all heard about Zhou Yao’s situation at home, so they had come specifically to check on her.
The moment they entered the living room, Ying Nian declared, “Let’s have hotpot here tonight! Eating together will make it taste even better!”
“Are you out of your mind? Who eats hotpot in the middle of summer?” Jiang Jiashu shot back.
“It’s the best with air conditioning on! Do you even get it?”
“Oh, so you get it, and I don’t?”
“Yeah, I do! You idiot!”
“You’re the idiot! Your brain’s been taken over by Yu Linran, you lovesick fool!”
At the mention of those three words, Ying Nian immediately lunged at Jiang Jiashu, and the two of them started brawling.
Chen Xuze, still holding his plate of watermelon, leaned down slightly and muttered, “I don’t recall ever saying I was going to treat them to dinner…”
Zhou Yao laughed and tugged at his sleeve.
Chen Xuze wasn’t actually stingy, so he let it go and scooped another spoonful of watermelon, feeding it to her.
Once everyone sat down, they started playing a game.
The game was played in pairs. One person thought of something—an object, a person, an event, anything—while the other asked questions to guess what it was. The pair that figured it out using the fewest questions won.
Ying Nian and Jiang Jiashu, the eternal bickering cousins, went first. Jiang Jiashu was the thinker, and Ying Nian was the guesser.
Jiang Jiashu put on an exaggerated ‘deep in thought’ expression before straightening up.
Ying Nian started her questioning. “How many words?”
“Five.”
“What’s it related to?”
“A person’s name, plus an adjective.”
Ying Nian narrowed her eyes. “Does it have anything to do with something I like?”
“Yes.”
“Is it my favorite person?”
“Probably.”
“Is the adjective something bad?”
Jiang Jiashu hesitated for a moment. “…Yes.”
Ying Nian took a deep breath, grabbed a cushion, and smacked it across Jiang Jiashu’s face. Without another word, she started pummeling him.
“How dare you insult him again, you freak! Idiot! Moron!”
Jiang Jiashu, getting beaten up, still had the nerve to retort: “Who told you to fly off to watch matches the second your exams were over?! Your family might let you get away with it, but if it were up to me, I’d have beaten you up long ago! You’re always chasing after some guy—Ying Nian, you dumbass—”
Zhou Yao, clueless about the situation, turned to the others. “What’s going on with them?”
Someone explained with a chuckle, “He probably chose a phrase related to Yu Linran.”
Yu Linran?
Zhou Yao was familiar with the name. He was Ying Nian’s favorite esports player. She talked about him constantly. What most people didn’t know was that before high school, Ying Nian did well in school just to satisfy her family. After high school, she still kept the top spot, but it was largely because of Yu Linran.
That way, when she took days off to watch his matches, the teachers wouldn’t stop her.
After all, she could miss class but still stay number one—what reason was there to hold her back?
When Zhou Yao found out about this, she realized just how much Ying Nian must have liked him. Even in the grueling final year of high school, she had maintained her top ranking and even impressed the university enough to get accepted without an entrance exam—all because of Yu Linran.
Liking someone… really was a powerful thing.
Zhou Yao smiled at the thought. Chen Xuze asked, “What are you smiling about?” She shook her head. Their eyes met, and suddenly, they both recalled that moment from their nap earlier. Zhou Yao’s face flushed instantly, and she turned away.
Trying to change the subject, she asked, “They…”
Chen Xuze replied coolly, “Ignore them. They’ll settle down after they’ve fought enough.”
Meanwhile, the others had started taking bets.
“Who do you think will die first?”
“I’m betting on Jiang Jiashu!”
“Yeah, he’s never won!”
“Then I’ll bet on him losing too!”
“......”
Jiang Jiashu was pinned down on the sofa and beaten up by Ying Nian. Hearing the conversation, he turned his head angrily and shouted, “You ungrateful traitors! Aren’t you going to help me?! Damn your sister—”
“‘Damn your sister’?! You cursing me in disguise?!” The moment Ying Nian heard that, she doubled down on her punches.
Zhou Yao and Chen Xuze silently continued eating their watermelon. When Ying Nian finally had enough, Jiang Jiashu wobbled as he sat back up, looking utterly tragic.
Ying Nian asked, “Who’s up next?”
“No idea, we haven’t drawn yet.”
So, they drew lots—and Zhou Yao and Chen Xuze were paired together. Chen Xuze would think of something, and Zhou Yao would guess.
The others found this matchup boring and started heckling.
“Oh please, with their chemistry, they’ll get it instantly.”
“Exactly! As if Zhou Yao doesn’t know what Xuze is thinking.”
“No suspense at all…”
They all joked around.
Ying Nian made a hush gesture, signaling for the game to begin.
Zhou Yao asked, “Are you thinking of a person, an animal, or an event?”
Chen Xuze answered, “An event.”
Zhou Yao paused. “Something good or bad?”
“A pretty good thing.”
“Who does it involve?”
You.
“Has it already happened?”
“It almost did, but it will definitely happen in the future.”
Zhou Yao’s expression started to shift. The others were getting more and more confused, but Chen Xuze remained serious, his expression calm.
Zhou Yao bit her lip. “Does it have to do with today?”
“Yes.”
Her cheeks turned slightly red, though in this weather, it wasn’t too noticeable. She touched her neck. “Is it… something about me? Something I haven’t thought about yet?”
“Yes.”
Chen Xuze hesitated for a moment. “But I’ve thought about it a lot.”
Zhou Yao’s face instantly flushed red. “……”
Ying Nian, sensing something was off, leaned closer. “Yaoyao, you—”
Zhou Yao abruptly shot to her feet. “I’m going to wash my face. Pause the game.” She quickly ran off as if escaping.
Everyone’s eyes landed on Chen Xuze, who was still sitting cross-legged. “What were you two talking about? We didn’t understand a single thing! Why did Zhou Yao react like that?”
Jiang Jiashu leaned forward with both hands on the floor, staring at Chen Xuze like a detective grilling a suspect. “Spit it out—what’s the event?”
Chen Xuze lifted his eyelids and glanced at them. “—None of your business.”
“……”
“……”
“……”
“Tsk! Lame!” Jiang Jiashu muttered, feeling that Chen Xuze was being completely unfair. They already knew so little about anything involving Zhou Yao, and trying to pry information out of Chen Xuze was next to impossible.
When Zhou Yao returned, it was time to reveal the answer. She casually said, “Eating watermelon.”
Everyone immediately knew she was making it up. ‘That event’ being eating watermelon? No way. Even Ying Nian protested, “You’re seriously selling us out here, Yaoyao!”
Zhou Yao pressed her lips together, averting her gaze.
Meanwhile, Chen Xuze slowly flipped over his paper. Everyone leaned in, eager to see what he had written—only to find: Eating a Musk melon.
Watermelon? Musk melon?
—They were clearly treating them like fools!
The boys jumped up. “No way, no way! That’s cheating! That doesn’t count!”
Jiang Jiashu was particularly outraged. “What was it really?!”
Zhou Yao kept her lips sealed. Chen Xuze, on the other hand, simply said, “Either way, it’s something good.”
Beside him, Zhou Yao’s face grew even redder.
The two remained stubbornly tight-lipped, refusing to say a word. Everyone else had no way of prying it out of them, and their enthusiasm for the game plummeted. The rounds that followed were half-hearted at best.
Later, when Zhou Yao went to the kitchen to grab some ice from the fridge, Ying Nian followed her. Before she could speak, Zhou Yao cut her off. “Don’t ask, I’m not telling.”
“I wasn’t going to ask,” Ying Nian huffed and pinched her cheek. “If you don’t want to say, then fine.” She flopped onto the table and, after a pause, asked seriously, “About your family… What are you going to do about tuition when school starts? Do you need me to lend you money?”
“No need,” Zhou Yao replied. “There’s a student loan, and the school will help sort everything out with the university. As for living expenses, there’s a scholarship fund, and I can always pick up part-time jobs. I won’t starve, don’t worry.”
Ying Nian slapped the table. “That won’t do! We won’t be in the same place, and taking the high-speed train still takes at least dozens of minutes. I need to set aside time to check on you regularly, to make sure you’re eating well and taking care of yourself. If things ever get too hard, you have to tell me, got it? Don’t just tough it out on your own. Sure, you have Chen Xuze, and he probably won’t let you suffer, but don’t forget about me either. If there’s anything I can help with, you have to come to me! Besides, if nothing else, your big bro Nian has plenty of money to spare!”
She dramatically flipped her hair, and Zhou Yao couldn’t help but laugh at her. “Don’t do that, you look like a delinquent.”
The ‘delinquent’ Ying Nian flicked Zhou Yao’s chin a couple of times before helping her carry the ice back outside.
The group laughed and joked around. The TV played a movie they wanted to watch, there was chilled watermelon, cold drinks, and all kinds of snacks. Outside the window, cicadas chirped—a sound both near and distant, long and drawn out. The scorching sun baked everything outside as if it would all start smoking at any moment.
But inside, with the air conditioning on, a close-knit group of friends—who had known each other for years—were spending the most carefree vacation of their lives, savoring every moment of happiness.
Even the air itself seemed to carry a sense of ease and comfort.
—Yet Zhou Yao didn’t feel at ease at all.
Her shoulders were tense. In the small space of the bathroom, Chen Xuze pressed her against the wall.
“What are you doing? I came in to wash my face…”
As soon as she had closed the bathroom door, he had pushed it open again. Then, he shut it, locked it, and didn’t even turn on the light.
A strong pair of arms wrapped around her waist. His heavy breathing pressed against her, their breaths mingling as his kisses tangled with hers, relentless and refusing to let go.
It was as if this was something he was naturally born to do.
Zhou Yao finally managed to push against his shoulders, creating a small gap of space. Her breathing was uneven, and she didn’t dare look at him. “You—you’re surprisingly good at this…”
“This is called talent,” he replied shamelessly.
Zhou Yao was at a loss for words. She stayed quiet for a long moment before muttering, “We should go out. Otherwise, they’ll think…”
He lowered his head and kissed her again. Then, his lips brushed against her ear, trailing down her neck—not doing anything more, just lingering there, as if to steady himself.
Zhou Yao gradually evened out her breathing. Suddenly, she asked, “Just now… were you really thinking about eating Musk melon?”
She was referring to the game they had played earlier.
Chen Xuze straightened slightly and glanced at her, a hint of disbelief in his eyes, as if he were looking at an idiot.
“Of course not. Did you actually think about eating watermelon?”
At that, Zhou Yao understood. Her answer had been made up—so naturally, his was too.
She didn’t dare continue the topic. The atmosphere in the bathroom was making her uncomfortable. She pressed her hands against his chest and pushed. “Let’s go out.”
But Chen Xuze didn’t let go. Instead, he pulled her into his arms with one arm.
Lowering his gaze, he asked, “Do you know what the real answer to that game was?”
Zhou Yao was pressed against the wall again. “I… I…”
His voice, deep and magnetic, lingered by her ear. She could almost feel the movement of his throat, laced with restrained tension.
“—I want to sleep with you.”
Word by word, each syllable was burning hot. Zhou Yao suddenly felt as if she had been thrown into a blazing inferno, unable to move.
“I…” Her body was rigid, and she whispered hesitantly, “I haven’t even started thinking about that kind of thing yet…”
“I have.”
—He said.
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