Chapter 5: The Name Carries Water

Lin’s mother, Lin Guizhi, was the third child in her family and had always been the youngest. She was often bullied by her older siblings, the eldest and second born, which made her somewhat quiet normally. But when angered, she would display the Lin family’s characteristic stubbornness in insisting they were right even when they weren’t, she’d argue her point fiercely.

Now, however, with actual justification on her side, she glanced at the torn window paper in her home, then at the young girl standing before her, and found herself at a loss for words.

Ah, she’d patch it up when she had time it wasn’t a big deal anyway.

This girl had saved her son’s life, not once but twice. Lin Guizhi let out a deep sigh, turned around, and walked back inside. “Come in,” she said. “We’re so grateful for what you did yesterday. If it weren’t for you, our Xingxing would’ve… Well, never mind. We’ll have your family over for a meal sometime.”

She could express their gratitude more properly over dinner.

This should have been discussed yesterday, but after returning home, they’d been busy taking care of Lin Chao. The next day, the couple had been caught up in arguing and completely forgot about it.

It was only right to thank her properly.

Luo Shisi waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, there’s no need for thanks! You’re very kind. I just did what anyone would lend a hand when seeing someone in trouble.”

She followed Lin Guizhi inside. Lin Guizhi told her to make herself at home, while Lin Ba poured a glass of water on her and placed it on the red lacquered cabinet beside her. His eyes reddened as he looked at her. “Oh, we’ve been so busy we haven’t had a chance… Look, we’re just so thankful you saved our Xingxing…”

Seeing him about to bow, Luo Shisi quickly steadied him, suddenly feeling she’d picked the wrong time to visit.

Her muddled mind cleared she didn’t want them thinking she was here to collect on a debt of gratitude.

Scratching her head, she hurriedly explained, “I just came to check how he’s doing. He looks much better than yesterday, so I’m relieved. Please don’t overthink it.”

In the future, she needed to think more before acting so she couldn’t just charge ahead recklessly like this.

She hadn’t always been this way. Her good social skills and outgoing nature came from growing up around unfamiliar visitors at home well-known, measured people from whom she’d absorbed many lessons through observation.

Villagers valued sincerity but also had their own hidden agendas. Luo Shisi usually saw through them without saying anything.

Truthfully, Luo Shisi knew herself: she wasn’t genuinely warm-hearted by nature. In fact, she preferred staying out of things whenever possible, enjoying a carefree life.

But she didn’t know why the moment she saw that silly rabbit on the road that day, she wanted to interact with him more, to be his friend.

When she saw the pig charging toward him, she’d acted on reflex to save him, without a second thought.

The second time was even more impulsive! If her father hadn’t driven by and mentioned seeing Li Chunshui with a group of kids outside the silly rabbit’s house, her intuition wouldn’t have screamed that he might be in danger, sending her rushing over immediately.

In the end, her father had insisted she put on a jacket before letting her go.

After chatting for a while, Lin’s mother and father learned a bit more about her.

Lin Chao’s parents worked away from home year-round and rarely socialized locally when they returned, so they were unaware of Luo Shisi’s family background.

Luo Shisi’s mother had passed away early, leaving behind debts and Luo Shisi. He Qing had raised Luo Shisi alone, even going abroad to obtain some certification, never relying on family support.

As the conversation went on, Lin Guizhi couldn’t help but admire Luo Shisi’s father raising Luo Shisi alone, playing both father and mother roles, he was truly resilient.

Eventually, the topic somehow shifted to Lin Chao.

Lin Guizhi walked over to the chest bed and demonstrated how to open it, chuckling as she explained, “Xingxing loved hiding everywhere when he was little. Once, he hid inside this chest bed. You wouldn’t believe it, but this wooden lid is quite dangerous once it’s lowered, the latch automatically hooks onto the ring below…”

“Plus, it’s quite airtight, with very little oxygen inside. Back then, his grandfather was still around, though his hearing wasn’t great. It wasn’t until he came to open the chest later that he found Xingxing. When we got back, he told us Xingxing’s face had turned red from holding his breath. That was the first time we ever spanked him…”

Cave dwellings were warm in winter and cool in summer, but they couldn’t keep rats out. To prevent rats, the elderly usually used chest beds with four legs, raised about a dozen centimeters off the ground. These chests were beautifully decorated with colorful paintings and carvings.

Luo Shisi didn’t have anything like this at home. The furniture in her villa was all custom-made, and she had never really investigated such things before.

Just hearing about it and imagining the consequences sent a chill down her spine.

She couldn’t help but glance at the subject of the story.

A single bed had been placed near the doorway where the light was better. Not wanting to move a table today, Lin Chao was using the bed as a desk, sitting on a small stool as he did his homework.

Luo Shisi leaned against the footboard of the bed, watching him intently.

The boy clearly wasn’t fully focused on his work. He had been holding his pen for a while without writing anything, and his ears were turning red obviously annoyed at his mother for exposing his embarrassing childhood story.

Luo Shisi chuckled softly and looked away.

He was still quite adorable.

She stood up, took the enamel cup from the chest, and leaned over to place it on the windowsill beside him, one hand resting on her knee. “Here, don’t forget to drink water while you study…”

As she leaned in, Lin Chao instinctively leaned back. The scent of her pheromones on her clothes brought back memories of yesterday when she had carried him on her back.

Her shoulders and back were firm and warm, her hands holding him securely behind his knees, just like how his mother used to carry him shielding him from the cold wind, safe and dependable.

After he turned six, his mother had almost never carried him on her back again.

In both times they had met, her clothing had been simple and plain but today was different.

She was tall and slender, with striking features that were beautiful yet not masculine, carrying a sharp and commanding presence. When she turned her head, her smooth jawline was clearly visible.

Her hair was neatly styled, and she wore a set of black sportswear from a trendy brand. The fabric looked expensive and well designed, shimmering slightly in the light, quite eye catching.

When she smiled softly, it was hard to look away.

This was the first time Lin Chao truly understood what his friends always meant when they talked about someone being “clean and handsome.”

Lin Chao stared at her, his lips parting slightly as he was about to say thank you, but she beat him to it, teasing him with a smile, “With an ostrich brain like yours, there’s not much to work with anyway.”

Lin Chao: “…”

Seeing him frown again, looking frustrated but unable to retort, Luo Shisi burst into laughter.

Hearing her laugh, Lin Chao lowered his head and jabbed his pen forcefully into his notebook several times, pursuing his lips tightly.

Seeing the two young people getting along well, Lin’s Mom and Lin’s Dad went out together. Before leaving, Lin’s Mom said to Lin Chao, “You have fun with Sister Luo. We’re going to fetch water.”

Delayed until today, the water they had drawn yesterday still hadn’t been brought to the well. Boss had a wrist injury, and Second Brother was nowhere to be seen, so she had to do it herself.

“Okay…” Lin Chao replied to her loudly.

Luo Shisi found him adorable once again.

The child was so obedient, answering loudly what a delightful little friend. If she had a younger brother like him, she’d surely keep him by her side every day and show him off everywhere.

“Hey~ What’s your name?” Luo Shisi, though only fourteen, was already nearly 1.75 meters tall. As she asked, she crouched down.

Lin Chao hadn’t expected her to crouch and speak to him. He instinctively tucked his chin and leaned slightly to the side.

Luo Shisi was the first person to talk to him like this.

Omegas grew rapidly before the age of fifteen, yet he was still a head shorter than Luo Shisi.

When she was chatting with his parents earlier, she had already learned his age from Lin Guizhi.

A clumsy thirteen-year-old rabbit, exactly one year younger than her.

But she still wanted to ask his name personally. Luo Shisi thought this way and acted on it.

Lin Chao tilted his head up slightly, gazing timidly into her eyes, his lips parting a little.

When she wasn’t being frivolous, her features stood out distinctly. She had slightly upturned eyes, but they weren’t off putting them at all. Instead, they gave the impression of intense focus when she looked at someone, making it hard to refuse her.

He opened his mouth, his eyes flickering, and the words subtly twisted on his tongue: “Then, then… what’s your name?”

Before asking others, one should introduce themselves first, that’s what his father taught him…

Luo Shisi hadn’t expected him to say that. After a moment, she realized she might have been treating him too much like a child. He was only a year younger than her, not completely clueless.

She glanced at the ceiling before smiling and lowering her head, extending her right hand: “Let’s formally introduce ourselves. Hello, I’m Luo Shisi Luo as in Luoyang, Shi as in ‘benevolent giving,’ Si as in ‘pondering back and forth’…”

The sun slowly shifted, its scorching rays slanting through the glass above the window and into the cave dwelling. Luo Shisi knelt on one knee before him, her slender, elegant fingers extended toward him, her eyelashes tinged with a halo of light.

Half of her body was immersed in the light, and she looked directly at him as if he were the only person in her world.

Lin Chao was still young and didn’t understand what it meant to be struck by beauty, but he knew this was the person who had fearlessly saved him twice, disregarding danger.

In a daze, the girl’s silhouette reappeared before his eyes

Amid the swirling dust, she had sprinted toward him with all her might, her eyes filled with determination.

In the damp, cold cave, it was also she who had led him away from the execution ground. He would always remember the crimson in her eyes when a strand of hair brushed past her pupils.

He knew what had happened back then. It’s just that if she didn’t mention it, he had to be sensible and act as if nothing had occurred.

She was a very good person, kindhearted and unable to stand filthy things happening before her eyes.

Besides… it was an emergency at the time. Even if there were differences between Alphas and Omegas, there were extenuating circumstances.

While she was chatting with his mother earlier, he had come to understand more clearly the disparity between their family backgrounds.

If not for coincidence, someone like him might never have appeared before her in this lifetime, watching her walk toward him.

If that were the case, then let this be a beautiful dream he wouldn’t wake from just yet.

Lin Chao gazed at her, his eyes involuntarily reddening, and reached out to grasp her hand: “Hello, I’m Lin Chao, as in the tide of the ocean.”

His name seemed to encapsulate his life endlessly tossed and turned by the waves without respite.

There is too much inexplicable malice in this world, and he doesn’t understand why he must endure all this.

But Luo Shisi is an exception. She doesn’t care about reputation or worship decaying traditions.

Just like her name suggests, she’s like a sun that shines wherever she goes blazing and reckless, forcibly pulling him out from dark corners.

If time could truly be saved like a game file, he wished he could preserve her image in the deepest compartment of his heart.

Seeing his red rim eyes, the girl across from him quickly released her grip, pulled a small packet of tissues from her pocket, and clumsily pressed one against his face while exclaiming in panic:

“Hey, don’t try to frame me! I just asked for your name this reaction is way over the top!”

“Just because your name contains ‘water’… does that mean you can cry anytime, anywhere?”

Her flustered movements and nonsensical words made Lin Chao laugh through his tears.

Wiping his eyes, he mumbled quietly with lowered head: “You’re the one who cries anytime, anywhere.”

Luo Shisi immediately raised her hand with sincere apology, blinking at him: “My mistake.”

After a while, when Lin Chao picked up his pen again, Luo Shisi tapped his homework notebook and whispered: “To make it up to you, I’ll take you out to play tomorrow~”

“Behind Uncle Chen’s house there’s an apple tree and the fruits are ripe now, super sweet!”

“I’ll take you to try some…”

“There are lots of other fun places too. Your winter vacation is officially sponsored by me~”

The girl stood up and sat on the bed, leaning back on her hands as she chatted enthusiastically. Occasionally she’d glance at Lin Chao beside her, her eyes sparkling with fragmented light that reflected a boy’s silhouette.