Once He Lindi’s birthday passed, both of them entered their zodiac year. Chi Shuo didn’t think much of it, but her mother strongly insisted they both switch to bright red underwear. Chi Shuo: …
Still, she couldn’t win against her mother. Chi Shuo obediently bought bright red underwear. When it arrived, she didn’t even dare tell He Lindi, because the red was just too vibrant. Plus, for such intimate items, Chi Shuo felt a bit embarrassed to bring it up.
She tucked the underwear into the bottom of her bedroom closet. Only when He Lindi went on a business trip did she take them out, wash and disinfect them first, and hang them to dry. Staring at them, she sighed softly. Not eager to wear them, she put them back in their original spot. The next day, she went to work as usual, and ended up being late.
The bus she needed was delayed. Seeing the time ticking past her estimate, Chi Shuo thought about hailing a taxi. However, every taxi was occupied; not a single one stopped for her. Chi Shuo then opened her phone to call a Didi ride. By this point, time was already tight, and she was extremely anxious. Yet, the road was congested.
The traffic jam lasted over ten minutes. By the time Chi Shuo got out, the department’s morning meeting had already started. She rushed downstairs, only to encounter a broken elevator. The repairman asked if her floor was high. If not, she could take the stairs; if it was high, she’d have to wait five or six minutes.
Chi Shuo thought about her company being on the 25th floor and smiled slightly. “I think I’ll wait for you.”
The repairman’s estimate was accurate. Five minutes later, the elevator was running normally. She felt like Sun Wukong on his journey to the west today, having to overcome eighty-one trials just to get to work.
It was Chi Shuo’s first time being half an hour late. The feeling was quite novel and strange. If it didn’t mean a salary deduction, it would have been even better. Unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking.
Fang Xiuxiu returned after the meeting. Looking at Chi Shuo, she smiled. “Shuo Shuo, I thought you took the day off!”
Chi Shuo sighed, rubbing her temples. “Half an hour late.”
Fang Xiuxiu paused, then laughed even harder. “How rare.” She said, “If I were you, I wouldn’t have come in today. Better to be absent than late.”
Chi Shuo glanced at her. “Have to earn money, sis. You might be relaxed now, but I have to support a family. My previous savings all went towards the down payment.”
Chi Shuo’s father had never returned to look for them. Chi Shuo felt this was good. Then she and her mother sold their old house. During that time, they had already picked out a new place in the main urban area. The location, complex, and renovation were all good, but they were still a bit short for the full payment. Chi Shuo and her mother pooled their savings to make up the difference.
He Lindi had originally planned to contribute money too, but Chi Shuo’s mother absolutely refused to accept it. Finally, He Lindi reluctantly had someone from her company handle their home purchase, secretly lowering the agency fee. Chi Shuo knew about this, but her mother remained unaware, even thinking the agent was very kind.
Chi Shuo’s salary was quite substantial. After working for a month, she had some savings again.
Fang Xiuxiu wasn’t happy hearing that. “I have to buy a house too!” She finished, then frowned. “Wonder if I’ll be able to afford a place in Yunshang Garden in ten years.”
Chi Shuo scratched her head and didn’t respond. As someone who often stayed over at He Lindi’s place, she had no right to speak. She gripped her mouse and started working. Not long after, something strange happened—her computer automatically shut down.
Chi Shuo looked at the dark screen reflecting her bewildered face.
Fang Xiuxiu was also stunned. “Shuo Shuo, did you have any important files you didn’t save?”
“No.” Chi Shuo shook her head, feeling today was incredibly unlucky. “I barely even touched it…”
Fang Xiuxiu glanced at her own computer. “How come this didn’t happen to me?”
Chi Shuo turned to look at her and asked, “Xiuxiu, do you believe in the saying about offending Tai Sui in your zodiac year?”
“I do.” Fang Xiuxiu was two years older than Chi Shuo and firmly believed it. She lowered her head and voice. “When I was twenty, I was so unlucky. Even going to KTV, the machine would break down, the air conditioning would fail. Taking a car, I’d leave my wallet behind; taking a bus, my phone would get stolen, and so on.”
Chi Shuo immediately perked up. “Is wearing red underwear really useful?”
“Yes!”
“After that, I was never that unlucky again.”
Chi Shuo pursed her lips. “I was late today because I kept running into problems on the way. The bus was late, no empty taxis, got stuck in traffic with Didi, the elevator downstairs was being repaired, and now my computer shut down on its own.”
Fang Xiuxiu immediately urged, “You should hurry back and change into red underwear. Offending Tai Sui in your zodiac year is no joke, can’t mess with that.”
Chi Shuo restarted her computer. “I’ll change tonight.”
Another twenty minutes passed. Chi Shuo’s department meeting ended. Because she missed the meeting, she was called into the supervisor’s office, where she received a twenty-minute lecture on professional conduct.
“Chi Shuo, you need to be steady. You can’t get complacent.”
“Your abilities have always been excellent, yet you were late this morning? You’ve never been like this before.”
“Perform well this year, and you might continue to be our company’s excellent employee. Young people can’t be impulsive.”
Chi Shuo returned to her workstation, her mind filled with the supervisor’s words “can’t get complacent” and “can’t be impulsive.” Actually, she wasn’t complacent; she was just… late today.
It was the first time she had received such a lecture from the supervisor. Chi Shuo felt somewhat doubtful about life. All morning, she focused intently on work, not even noticing when it reached twelve o’clock.
Zeng Guai walked over and patted her shoulder. “Why so serious?” she said. “It’s twelve, time for lunch, Shuo Shuo.”
Xia Zhou was eating out with Yue Ke. He Lindi wouldn’t be back from her business trip until the day after tomorrow. It was just the two of them eating together again.
Chi Shuo rubbed her forehead and stood up. “Let’s go.”
While waiting for the elevator, Zeng Guai said, “Why do you look so unwell today?”
Chi Shuo yawned. “Everything went wrong today, too unlucky.”
She recounted her experiences again. Then she unlocked her phone. He Lindi had sent her a message, which she only saw now. And the thing Chi Shuo feared most happened…
Her phone felt like an eel, extremely slippery. She had just typed something and hadn’t hit send yet when the phone slipped from her hand, the screen making solid, intimate contact with the ground.
Zeng Guai: “…”
Zeng Guai said, “Shuo Shuo, listen to me. Go home after lunch and change your underwear.”
Chi Shuo looked at her shattered phone screen. “Zodiac year, I really believe it now.”
This phone was only two months old. She couldn’t possibly buy a new one so soon. At noon, she went to a phone repair shop to get the screen replaced. The task of replying to He Lindi was delegated entirely to Zeng Guai.
During the afternoon work hours, Chi Shuo prayed that no more bad luck would befall her. She was cautious and fearful, finally making it home safely.
He Lindi wasn’t back yet. She was having dinner with her mother tonight at the new house they bought, which wasn’t far.
Upon arriving home, her mother had already prepared the meal and set it on the table. Seeing Chi Shuo, the first thing she asked was, “Did you put on the red underwear?”
Chi Shuo shook her head. “No…” She said, “I’ll go back and change after dinner.”
On the way, she had told her mother about today’s events, which now drew a round of “laughter” from her. “Told you to wear it sooner, but you wouldn’t listen. This offending Tai Sui in your zodiac year is really mysterious. I didn’t believe it before either…”
Chi Shuo endured her mother’s nagging while finishing dinner. After resting for a while, she got up to leave.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to stay, but… her mother’s boyfriend was coming over. She felt it was better to give them space.
Chi Shuo’s mother had found a man around her age as a boyfriend. They weren’t planning to remarry for now, and they got along harmoniously. Chi Shuo was genuinely happy for her mother.
Back at her rented place, Chi Shuo sat for a while, then called He Lindi to express her longing. But He Lindi was busy and hung up after just a few words.
Chi Shuo wasn’t angry; she was mostly heartbroken because He Lindi’s task this time was indeed very important. Besides, it wasn’t like she hadn’t been on business trips while He Lindi waited at home. He Lindi never seemed to feel unbalanced; she had nothing to be unhappy about.
It was just that having He Lindi around felt much better.
After showering and blow-drying her hair, Chi Shuo sat down at her desk and started drawing seriously.
Xiang Qingya’s manga company was still in its startup phase but was considered established. Chi Shuo had already signed a contract with Xiang Qingya. Since it was the startup phase, there weren’t many artists yet. Xiang Qingya was very generous, spending a lot to hire these artists, but there was a requirement: weekly updates.
Submissions were due on Wednesdays, followed by editorial review, revisions, further review, and finally publication.
Chi Shuo’s story had nothing to do with romance; it focused mainly on face-slapping and satisfying plotlines. Because she had little preparation time, her updates weren’t very long. Plus, the manga’s setting wasn’t large; she could finish her first work soon.
He Lindi was too lazy to draw and didn’t sign anything with Xiang Qingya. She just helped Chi Shuo out when needed.
Drawing had become part of Chi Shuo’s current life. She drew with increasing skill and speed. Her Weibo followers grew too. Most fans who followed her for her art would see her homepage and comment, “Why did I torment myself by coming here to eat dog food?”
Chi Shuo always found these comments amusing and cute. But her Weibo’s relationship record never stopped, just updated less frequently, maybe once every half month, but it was enough to make most fans scream.
The next day, Chi Shuo wore the vibrant red underwear and left the house. She was afraid the color would be too obvious, so she specifically wore dark pants, but it actually made no difference.
Today wasn’t as unlucky. Chi Shuo’s mood was somewhat complicated. She started wondering if yesterday was just a fluke, and other times wouldn’t be so bad. But now it couldn’t be proven; she had already put on the red underwear her mother insisted she wear.
Chi Shuo usually waited three minutes for the bus, but today, the bus stopped right in front of her as soon as she arrived at the station. Plus, the journey was smooth; she didn’t even encounter a single red light.
Chi Shuo: “…”
The elevator wasn’t broken either. Everything was fine. As a result, she arrived at the company ten minutes earlier than usual. Clocking in, she happened to run into her supervisor, who praised her, “Young people, settling down is good.”
Chi Shuo smiled slightly and sat down at her workstation.
It was truly too mysterious. Chi Shuo didn’t dare slack off at all. Another day passed, and He Lindi returned to Yun Cheng.
Chi Shuo drove to pick her up. While still in the underground parking lot, He Lindi, sitting in the passenger seat, chuckled. “I really want to see your red…”
“…Stop talking.”
Chi Shuo didn’t dislike red; she just disliked red underwear because it was too festive. If she wore that color during sex, she felt she might lose her sex drive on the spot.
He Lindi leaned to the side, looked at Chi Shuo driving seriously, and said, “I was unlucky these past few days too. So while I was out on business, I went to a mall and bought new red underwear.” She found it somewhat unbelievable. “Really, after wearing it, the bad luck disappeared. Before, whenever I went to eat or buy coffee, the shops would always say ‘Sold out’.”
Chi Shuo pursed her lips and asked, “Are you wearing it now?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Chi Shuo sniffled and changed the subject. “What do you want to eat?”
“Let’s check takeout when we get back.”
After eating and showering, Chi Shuo was blow-drying her hair in the living room. As her hair was almost dry, He Lindi came up from behind and hugged her.
Chi Shuo turned off the hairdryer, tilted her head slightly, preparing to kiss He Lindi, when her non-red underwear became wet.
Chi Shuo: “…”
Chi Shuo cried without tears. “Damn, my period is here.”
Chi Shuo looked at He Lindi. “It’s over a week early.”
He Lindi walked over and sat beside her. She tentatively asked, “You didn’t change into another pair, did you?”
“Yeah.” Chi Shuo widened her eyes. “Oh my god, is it really that scary?” Chi Shuo stood up. “I’m going to the bathroom first.”
“There are pads in the drawer,” He Lindi reminded her.
Chi Shuo closed the bathroom door, her voice muffled coming through. “I know.”
He Lindi smiled, then called out towards the inside, “Don’t use cold water when you wash your hands.”
Well, that settled it. Chi Shuo’s period arrived, putting a stop to any thoughts of sex. But what amazed Chi Shuo was that her period cramps weren’t as severe as before. Drinking hot water resolved it; she didn’t need medicine.
But He Lindi still held her, rubbing her stomach while laughing at her. “Shuo Shuo Jie Jie, maybe you should go wholesale a hundred pairs? This zodiac year lasts a whole year. With this trend, you’ll be unlucky any day you don’t wear them.”
“…”
“Just shut up.”
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