Chapter 257: Wash Your Pants and Pretend Nothing Happened
She tried to push him away.
She really tried, but he just wouldn’t budge.
So in the end, she had no choice but to let him hug her. After all, she had chosen Xia Changyu to be her boyfriend.
Some people might ask, ‘If he wants something, you just give it to him?’
Yes. She gives it. She gives it willingly!
Everyone needs someone to lean on, right? No matter how strong or tough a guy is, deep down, he still has a soft side.
What Lin Yibai was doing now was just what a girlfriend is supposed to do, right?
She tried pushing Xia Changyu again, but he didn’t move at all. She sighed helplessly and said, “Alright, alright! You don’t have to act like this. It’s totally normal for a boyfriend to lean on his girlfriend emotionally sometimes. I mean, who gets a girlfriend just to bring more stress into their life? Haha.”
The more she laughed, the tighter Xia Changyu hugged her, like he was afraid she’d slip away like sand between his fingers.
Because, as everyone knows, it’s actually more common for girlfriends to be the stressful ones, or for guys to feel stressed because of their girlfriends.
Sweet, gentle girls like Lin Yibai?
Well, they do exist, but they’re very rare, like one in a thousand.
And luckily, Xia Changyu thought he was one of the lucky ones. He managed to win Lin Yibai over, and now she was his girlfriend.
Just thinking about it every day made him so happy, he could laugh in his sleep.
He finally let go of her, but the way he looked at her, so full of love, it almost made Lin Yibai melt.
She blushed and muttered, “Okay, okay! I don’t even want to talk to you anymore. I’m going to wash the dishes.”
But Xia Changyu quickly stopped her and said firmly, “Wash what? No need to wash anything!”
Lin Yibai put her hands on her hips and said, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Xia Changyu replied, “I’ll do it.”
So he washed the dishes and cleaned the place.
Then the two of them snuggled together on a single sofa. Lin Yibai read her study guide for the civil service exam and sometimes did practice questions.
While she worked hard on her studies, Xia Changyu’s mind… drifted elsewhere.
He loved her waist, her tummy, everything about her. Lately, he even liked the way her long hair now reached her shoulders.
But what he wanted most was for the two of them to wrap up in a thin blanket together now that the weather was getting cooler. That way, he could get a little more bold.
Lin Yibai was seriously studying, but he kept bothering her a bit too much.
She was struggling with a difficult philosophy question when suddenly… she felt a chill on her scalp and her body froze a little.
Very quickly though, she angrily grabbed his hand, which was messing around on her lower belly, and said through gritted teeth.
“Stop it! Seriously, stop! I just took a shower! It’s cold, and I don’t want to take another one!”
She gave him a sharp look and sighed, “The main thing is I don’t want to change my underwear, got it?”
Xia Changyu said, “But there’s hot water anyway.”
He didn’t know it, but ever since her nervous system changed, as long as it was someone she liked and accepted, she’d easily react to them.
Technically, they could already do that kind of thing. But in her heart, she still wasn’t sure, so she tried to avoid “playing with fire.”
Anyway, there wasn’t much more to say.
Xia Changyu said, “Fine, fine, I get it. Then I’ll stop moving, okay?”
Lin Yibai: “!?”
Sure, maybe he stopped moving, but why did his hand still have to stay there? Could he please act normal for one day?
Lin Yibai could only sigh. Life is not easy.
She didn’t want to argue anymore. She just wanted to go back to her test prep in peace.
But, as it turned out, she was wrong.
Way too wrong!!
Seriously, of all the places you could’ve put your hand, why did you have to put it there?!
It was supposed to be a sacred, serious moment, doing real civil service exam questions. But with how things felt physically, it definitely didn’t feel sacred at all.
Ugh! How did things end up like this?
After a long moment, Lin Yibai finally spoke in a soft voice. “Um, what I mean is… maybe you should move a little. Sometimes staying still actually feels worse than moving.”
Xia Changyu looked confused. “Move? Move what?”
Lin Yibai clenched her teeth and said, “Can you please just move your hand, okay?”
Xia Changyu: “I didn’t hear you clearly.”
Lin Yibai was furious, “Are you messing with me?! Move it or I’ll move it myself, okay? Now say it again, did you hear me this time or not?!”
Xia Changyu: “I heard you.”
Lin Yibai: “Hmph.”
So why do people say it’s good to have your own hands and feet?
This is the obvious answer, because then you don’t have to rely on anyone. You can take care of things yourself and live well, right?
Late that night, when everything was quiet, she hung up her washed pants to dry.
She was going to wash those pants clean and pretend like nothing ever happened.
Let's not talk about this. I mean, it's okay to have a little fun before sleeping, right?
…………………………………
Over the next few days, Lin Yibai often got invited by Zhou Ling and the others to go job hunting with them, attending interviews, looking at all kinds of work.
At first, she was happy to help, even gave advice about job prospects and helped them avoid a few scams.
But after a while, she started to feel tired of it all.
Helping once or twice was fine. Helping all the time? That was too much.
So Lin Yibai decided to stop going with them to interviews or giving endless advice. When she was asked again to go job hunting in the South District, she politely refused.
“Girls, we can’t keep doing this forever. I really think the most important thing is for everyone to first figure out what you actually want to do, what you’re interested in. Also, I’m taking the national civil service exam next month, so I need to start reviewing.”
Zhou Ling looked a little disappointed. “You’re right, Baiyi... but okay. I’ll take your advice seriously.”
Lin Yibai: “Good luck!”
Then she quickly left before she could get dragged in again.
To be honest, if helping them had shown results, she’d still be happy to help. But the problem was, it was always the same six girls looking for jobs.
So many days had passed and it was still just the same six girls going job to job.
Often, one of them would complain: “I don’t like it… it’s too far... it’s boring...”
Then the others would all decide not to go either.
If one person backed out, they all backed out.
Come on, this is about work, not some sisterhood loyalty challenge. No company is going to hire all six of them at once!
So when Lin Yibai saw things weren’t going anywhere, she quickly stepped away.
“Sigh~~”
She looked at Zhou Ling and the others, feeling a bit bad seeing how down they were. If it were some guy in her place, maybe he’d have softened and agreed to help again.
But Lin Yibai held firm. She turned around and walked away quickly. No way was she falling into that trap again.
Her new goal: Focus 100% on her studies.
She went to a store near her school and bought two notebooks. She was about to head back to her apartment and dive into studying when her class counselor called.
“Baiyi,” the counselor said, “are you still in Fucheng? If you're free, please come to the department office.”
Lin Yibai was startled. “Ah? Teacher, is something wrong?”
The counselor chuckled, “It’s a good thing.”
But Lin Yibai frowned. She had a bad feeling.
Was the counselor going to scold her for not having found a job yet, and then try to introduce her to one?
Like, recommending her to some company where a former student now works as a manager or something?
No thanks!!
In her head, she started coming up with excuses, ‘My family already arranged something... I’ve already interviewed... I’m going to another city soon…’
Yes! Those excuses should work to shut the counselor up!
But in the end…
It was a banner of honor that shut her up completely.