Running away from the Love-Brain

Twelve Hugs

In 2014, the sponge who feared water said that a person needs four hugs a day to survive.

In 2024, Chi Shui Shui added to Cui Xijin that there were actually two more sentences: one needs eight hugs to sustain life and twelve hugs to promote growth.

Doesn't hugging so many times a day get tiresome?

In the past, Cui Xijin would have directly questioned the logic of this theory. But now, she had to adhere to Chi Buyu's universal laws.

To her, falling in love was essentially about two people breaking their own principles while also following some strange rules.

After meeting Miss Liang that day, Chi Buyu's chosen option was a barbecue buffet. However, after eating only a few bites of barbecue, she was already full from just a little pasta and fried rice.

Chi Buyu was a bit dissatisfied, saying she was left with only one stomach today and hadn't eaten much dessert or drinks.

Cui Xijin followed behind her, dressed in cold black, with a brown tote bag adorned with a mango-yellow duckbill cap that seemed like it had been worn since kindergarten. As she peeled an orange for Chi Buyu, she remarked, "You might have transformed from a cow into a human today."

They walked out of the barbecue restaurant and passed a fruit shop. Chi Buyu didn't find any good mangoes, but after stepping outside, she suddenly bounced back, pointed at the oranges in the shop, and exclaimed that they looked beautiful, shining brightly.

Cui Xijin couldn't understand why there were so many oranges available in this shop during the summer. Peeling oranges was the most tedious task in her opinion; she first had to remove the skin, deal with the peels, and then meticulously peel off the white pith to reveal the clean fruit. Each step had to be done perfectly, making her feel like a busy machine on a tight schedule.

A machine peeling oranges for Chi Buyu.

Chi Buyu took a big bite and chewed the orange, saying, "There's a play called 'The Rhinoceros Who Falls in Love.'" She then pulled an orange from her bag and, with an exaggerated effort, tried to peel it for Cui Xijin.

Feeding it to her with her orange-scented hands.

Cui Xijin hesitantly took a bite. She bit into the orange flesh and looked into Chi Buyu's eyes, thinking that this was what falling in love was about: not being able to peel an orange for herself. It seemed that an orange peeled by another person tasted a hundred times sweeter.

Chi Buyu seemed to understand her expression, and with a smile, said, "We are the rhinoceroses in love."

Cui Xijin questioned the logic between those two statements.

With her hands behind her back, Chi Buyu swayed along the brightly lit street, her hair dancing in the hazy light. She turned back to smile at Cui Xijin, her unique charm captivating.

"Because when rhinoceroses fall in love, their four stomachs become one, and an orange must be peeled by a girlfriend."

Three sentences without any logic. Cui Xijin found it hard to respond.

Then, this rhinoceros in love insisted on walking the other rhinoceros home.

Claiming it was to fulfill the obligations of love.

Cui Xijin felt that sometimes they acted as if they were already very much in love, while other times, they were just following a certain routine to adapt from the status of "not just friends" to "lovers."

Every hug, every hand-holding, seemed to come with an awkward hesitation as if it were unnatural, but Miss Liang had said they looked perfect for marriage.