Chen Luzhou didn’t answer the phone because he was being detained by Zhu Yangqi and Cai Yingying. They had confiscated his mobile phone, fearing he might record their conversation.
It was a rare rainless night, with a cool and clear sky. The three of them sat at the barbecue restaurant near the entrance of Yifeng Lane, the same place where Xu Zhi had first treated them to a meal. The table was a mess of eaten food, but Chen Luzhou’s area was relatively clean. He had only gnawed on a single bone, like a dog. He seemed to have just showered and hadn’t had time to dry his hair before being called out.
Chen Luzhou wore an all-white, loose-fitting tracksuit with the zipper pulled up to his chin. On his feet were the incredibly popular McQueen sneakers. His hair was still damp as he lazily leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. After listening for a while, he still couldn’t understand why Zhu Yangqi and Cai Yingying had called him there.
“So, what’s next?” he asked clearly, biting the zipper pull of his tracksuit. He mainly felt that these two had terrible communication skills. “Get to the point. Do I look like I have nothing better to do? Do I have all this time to sit here and chat with you?”
“Cai Yingying has run into a problem. She wants your help, but you can’t tell Xu Zhi,” Zhu Yangqi finally blurted out.
Chen Luzhou turned his gaze to Cai Yingying, still biting the zipper pull. “You go first.”
Cai Yingying remained silent. Zhu Yangqi sighed, “Just tell him. He’ll find out sooner or later.”
“I think I might be pregnant,” Cai Yingying said.
Chen Luzhou was so shocked that the zipper pull fell from his mouth. He instinctively looked at Zhu Yangqi. “…Was it you?”
Zhu Yangqi nearly dropped his bowl, cursing, “Damn you, do I look like that kind of person?”
Chen Luzhou relaxed, realizing if it had been Zhu Yangqi’s doing, he wouldn’t know how to explain it to Xu Zhi. After all, Zhu Yangqi was his brother, and even if Xu Zhi didn’t hold him responsible, she might regret knowing him. He glanced at Zhu Yangqi before asking Cai Yingying, “…Do you have a boyfriend?”
“No,” Cai Yingying lowered her head, not daring to look either of them in the eye. She didn’t dare consult Xu Zhi about this matter, knowing Xu Zhi’s personality would lead her to confront Uncle Fu directly. Feeling scared, she could only think of asking Zhu Yangqi for help after much deliberation. “I’m not sure. It was the day after the exams. Everyone said we should stay up all night, and we all drank a bit too much. Que Xiao came to find me, we played some games and then went to a nearby hotel to sleep. But we were both very drunk, and neither of us remembers if anything happened. I asked him, but he said he doesn’t remember either. But I haven’t had my period this month, so I panicked. Please don’t tell Xu Zhi, she’ll get violent.”
Is she really that violent?
“Haven’t you tested?” Chen Luzhou coughed, still somewhat awkwardly trying to cover up his embarrassment. “I mean, with one of those early pregnancy test strips.”
“She’s too scared to buy one,” Zhu Yangqi said. “That’s why we called you. We want you to help her buy it. I’ve already scouted out the pharmacy. It’ll be least crowded around nine.”
Chen Luzhou kicked Zhu Yangqi hard under the table without a word. “You want me to do this?”
Zhu Yangqi gritted his teeth and whispered in his ear, “Would you rather I do it? If it were Xu Zhi in this situation, think about it. Could you even step foot in that pharmacy?”
“Don’t use her as an example,” Chen Luzhou glanced at him. “Are you two idiots? Can’t you just use a delivery service?”
Zhu Yangqi retorted, “We need an address for delivery. Should we send it to her house or yours?”
Chen Luzhou’s phone rang again, annoying him further. “Fine, fine, send it to my place. Give me the phone, it’s been ringing non-stop.”
“So it’s settled then? I’m placing the order now,” Zhu Yangqi reluctantly handed him the phone.
Chen Luzhou glanced at the name on the phone before answering, telling Zhu Yangqi, “I must have owed you in my past life.” Zhu Yangqi grinned through gritted teeth, saying, “Not me, you owe Xu Zhi. Cai Yingying is Xu Zhi’s good friend, so helping her is like helping Xu Zhi.”
Chen Luzhou ignored him and stood up to take the call outside.
Cai Yingying looked back at his retreating figure and asked Zhu Yangqi worriedly, “He won’t tell Xu Zhi, will he?”
Zhu Yangqi, understanding Chen Luzhou well, said nonchalantly, “You can trust Chen Luzhou completely. He’s a man of his word. If he promises not to tell, he won’t say a word even if you beat him to death. If he didn’t want to agree, he wouldn’t have said yes in the first place.”
For instance, when Gu Yan had approached him before, he had only said, “It depends on my mood.”
Cai Yingying responded with a vague “Oh.”
When the delivery arrived, Chen Luzhou went above and beyond by lending his bathroom to Cai Yingying and asking Zhu Yangqi to wait with her for the results. He sat on the sofa for a while, still in his clothes, seemingly considering whether to go or not. Finally, he lazily stood up, still wearing the all-white tracksuit, and headed out. “Remember to lock the door when you leave.”
Zhu Yangqi was caught off guard by this sudden departure. “Where are you going?”
Chen Luzhou, crouching to tie his shoelaces, replied without looking up, “Class gathering. I heard Mrs. Lian Hui is footing the bill.”
Zhu Yangqi then remembered it was Thursday. “Isn’t it the radio interview recording? I think Xu Zhi is there too.”
Chen Luzhou paused. “Xu Zhi?”
Zhu Yangqi nodded. “She didn’t tell you? It’s a TV program recording for the top 30 in the city.”
He responded with an “Oh” and finished tying his shoelaces. “Remember to close the door for me.”
When Chen Luzhou arrived, the program recording wasn’t over yet. They were in the final interview stage, with the host still enthusiastically asking the last round of questions. The atmosphere was quite lively. When he reached the studio, half of his classmates had finished their interviews and were chatting in the makeup room. Xu Zhi and Yang Yijing were still inside, being interviewed.
There was a small commotion outside, but Xu Zhi didn’t know Chen Luzhou had arrived. She thought they were playing some game until near the end of the interview when she saw that familiar and attractive figure appear at the studio door. Even the host couldn’t help but let her gaze linger on him for a moment.
The interview microphone had just reached Xu Zhi’s hand.
The host asked, “Xu Zhi, your teachers say you’ve always had a very stable mindset, and you even outperformed expectations in this college entrance exam. Do you have any advice in this regard?”
Xu Zhi knew her prepared speech by heart. In this unfamiliar environment, amidst the eyes filled with envy and curiosity, seeing Chen Luzhou at that moment, his confident gaze reassured her. The storm in her heart suddenly calmed, leaving only the softness of clear skies and gentle clouds.
She recited her prepared speech fluently for a while. Then someone came to find him, and he chatted with that person for a bit before heading out. Before leaving, he looked back at her.
“I’ll wait for you outside,” he seemed to mouth silently.
“You look beautiful today,” he seemed to add wordlessly, leaning against the wall.
As soon as the program finished recording, Xu Zhi returned to the makeup room but didn’t see Chen Luzhou. Yang Yijing excitedly rushed over, saying, “Holy crap, did I just see that genius? The one who scored 713 without the extra points? Their classmates said that was Chen Luzhou. Is he that handsome? I thought he was some celebrity.”
Xu Zhi ignored him and casually stopped one of their classmates, politely asking, “Do you know where Chen Luzhou is?”
The person looked at Xu Zhi, surprised that they knew each other, and jokingly asked, “Why, want his autograph? I can ask for you.”
So this helpful classmate stopped another classmate and casually asked, “Hey, have you seen Chen Luzhou?”
And thus, the domino effect began, with one person after another asking, “Where’s Chen Luzhou?”
Chen Luzhou was downstairs chatting with the provincial top scorer. The top scorer felt he hadn’t performed his best this time, losing points where he shouldn’t have. He knew Chen Luzhou had a good mindset, so he was the only one who could listen to these concerns. If he had said this to others, they might have accused him of humble-bragging. Since Chen Luzhou was here, he seized the opportunity and wouldn’t let him leave.
Chen Luzhou heard someone calling for him, guessing the recording had ended. Before the top scorer could finish, he quickly cut off the conversation, “Let’s talk later, I need to go pick someone up.”
The top scorer followed closely, asking who he was picking up and offering to go with him.
Chen Luzhou looked back at him and agreed, “Alright.”
As soon as Chen Luzhou pushed open the makeup room door, he saw Xu Zhi chatting with that boy from the affiliated high school. The provincial top scorer thought the boy was Chen Luzhou’s friend, but to his surprise, Chen Luzhou walked directly to the girl next to him. “Finished recording?”
“Mm-hmm,” she responded lazily, then continued chatting with the boy from the affiliated school.
For a moment, the makeup room fell silent.
Chen Luzhou wasn’t exactly known for being aloof, but he did tend to keep his distance from girls at school. With his looks, if he was seen with any remotely attractive girl, rumors would spread by the next day. He had experienced this in middle school. No matter how strict the school’s ethos, the speed of gossip was always terrifying.
He rarely initiated conversations with pretty girls, so even when someone in class jokingly mentioned something about the female class monitor and him, she immediately clarified, knowing that if Chen Luzhou heard such rumors, he would keep his distance from her.
Of course, Xu Zhi didn’t know about Chen Luzhou’s self-discipline.
In her eyes, Chen Luzhou seemed a bit of a player, though she chalked it up to a common trait among handsome guys.
**
The dinner venue had been arranged by Lian Hui. She had rented a big bus to transport all thirty-something of them there. Chen Luzhou and Xu Zhi found seats towards the back, leaving Yang Yijing to sit with the equally solitary provincial top scorer.
As soon as Chen Luzhou sat down, ready to speak, his phone rang. He fished it out and saw it was a message from Zhu Yangqi.
Zhu Yangqi: “False alarm. Cai Yingying, that idiot, got her dates mixed up. She went to ask Que Xiao again, and he was certain nothing happened between them. I can’t even…”
Cr: [As long as everything’s fine. Tell her to be more careful next time.]
“I suddenly feel like I can’t trust your words either. We’ve known each other for so long, and I had no idea there was such a big academic genius right beside me,” Xu Zhi suddenly said, looking out the window.
Chen Luzhou pocketed his phone and looked at her deeply, smiling, “Then what have I lied to you about? Come on, give me an example, and let’s see if I can defend myself.”
“Don’t copy my way of speaking,” Xu Zhi turned to meet his eyes. “So, your score of over 700 didn’t include the optional subjects?”
In the dim bus, without the lights on, their gazes met in the darkness, filled with an indescribable emotion. Chen Luzhou sighed softly, looking at her, “Yeah, there was a bit of an unexpected situation. But we don’t judge heroes by their scores, right? I just thought it would be troublesome to explain, so I didn’t tell you. If you want to be angry, let’s put that on hold for tonight.”
“You must owe quite a few girls these kinds of romantic debts, huh?”
“I’m starting to think first impressions are really important,” he smiled, extremely helpless, looking down at her. “Ever since we first met, and my mom said those things about me, have they been etched into your bones? Or do you think I’m like this with everyone? This whole bus is full of my classmates. If you can find even one who can tell you about any of my romantic entanglements, I’ll jump off this bus right now.”
“You’re that confident? What if someone likes you? Doesn’t that count?”
“Now you’re being too strict. Can I control whether people like me or not?”
“Then don’t talk about being so pure and innocent.”
“Can you guarantee that no one has ever liked you from childhood till now?” Chen Luzhou raised an eyebrow, looking at her.
“There have been. But I look honest,” Xu Zhi said, looking out the window, feeling the conversation drifting further off-topic, her heart pounding.
“Right, you’re so honest,” Chen Luzhou looked down at her with a cold smile. “You honestly persuaded people to apply to A University. Are you from their admissions office? You’ve already completed one-seventieth of A University’s recruitment target in our province for next year.”
Xu Zhi: “…”