Then, Chen Luzhou finally understood that some things shouldn’t be started casually. In a more outrageous instance, they were watching a movie on the couch. It was early spring, with rising temperatures and nature awakening, tender buds sprouting on tree branches. Xu Zhi wore only a white cable-knit sweater and a knitted skirt, her long, shapely legs bare. Chen Luzhou, as usual, was in a loose gray thin hoodie and sweatpants, his baseball jacket carelessly tossed aside.

Without removing their clothes, Xu Zhi straddled him, her skirt hiked up, and they got straight to the point.

Although it was daytime, the curtains were drawn tight, not allowing a sliver of light to enter, concealing the vibrant red spring flowers blooming outside. Inside, the TV and air conditioner hummed, mingling with their alternately soft and heavy, uninhibited yet restrained gasps.

They were watching a horror movie at the time. Chen Luzhou wasn’t picky about films, he could watch a dull documentary for three hours, but he avoided horror movies. It wasn’t that he was a coward; he just couldn’t handle the shock. Horror movies had too many deliberately mystifying scenes and were often nonsensical, with bloody, distorted faces popping up without warning, startling viewers. Xu Zhi had to cover his eyes with her hand, “Are you really scared?”

Chen Luzhou, reclining on the couch, continuing his movements below, laughed helplessly, “Can you turn off the TV? Aren’t you afraid you’ll scare me impotent?”

Xu Zhi knew he had been feeling unwell those days. He would casually say, “It’s just a stranger,” but sometimes while they were reading, he would suddenly ask without looking up, self-deprecatingly, “Xu Zhi, am I really that incompetent?”

If anyone else had heard this, they might have thought him hypocritical and affected. After all, he had won national awards in high school mathematics and physics competitions, was famous at First City High School, and was seen as a godlike opponent by the provincial top scorer. He could even befriend his rivals, and countless girls liked him. Previously, Xu Zhi couldn’t imagine what kind of situation could make him ask such a question. But at that moment, her heart was filled only with sympathy.

“Chen Luzhou, although what I’m about to say might not sound very convincing, Old Xu loves me very much, but not all fathers in the world are like Old Xu. For those irresponsible parents, just treat them as a door, a door that brought you into this world. Once you pass through that door, the world behind it has nothing to do with you. All you need to do is move forward.”

Chen Luzhou was stunned for a moment, then chuckled, a smile of admiration and defeat, nodding approvingly, “Impressive, my girlfriend can even comfort people now.”

Xu Zhi also smiled, “I can only comfort you. For anyone else, they’d truly be incompetent. How could my boyfriend be incompetent? You’re full of tricks.”

Chen Luzhou discreetly moved the book aside, sighing nostalgically, “I suddenly miss when we first met, we couldn’t stay serious for more than three sentences.”

“Then let’s start over and get to know each other again tomorrow.”

…

Finally, after cleaning up, they sat on the couch. Chen Luzhou skillfully tied the knot while seriously and solemnly asking her, “Haven’t you noticed I’ve lost weight recently?”

Xu Zhi couldn’t stop laughing, nestling in his arms and kissing his chin, “Chen Luzhou, how can you be so cute?”

Chen Luzhou, having learned his lesson, finished tying the knot and casually tossed it into the nearby trash can. He pulled her close, loosely placing his hands on her waist, and rubbed his forehead against hers. He sighed meaningfully, his expression showing a mix of guilt and self-satisfaction as if he had gotten away with something. After a moment of feigned deep reflection, he looked down at her seriously and said, “This won’t do. If we keep this up, your boyfriend will be ruined.”

Xu Zhi, curled up in his arms with her chin resting on his chest, absently played with the label on his shirt, murmuring, “Even if you’re ruined, you’re still mine. There won’t be anyone else.”

Chen Luzhou was taken aback. He looked down at her playing with his shirt label and said, “You love me that much? Well, it seems we can’t back out now. We’ll have to get married.”

“Mm. No turning back now,” she affirmed lazily.

The young man’s smile grew more arrogant, his eyes seeming to be tinged with spring light, both innocent and bold. He displayed his smug demeanor to the fullest, whispering in her ear, pushing his luck, “Then why don’t you propose to me? I might just accept on impulse right now.”

Inside, the horror movie was still playing frame by frame, but the two of them were cuddling on the couch, whispering sweet nothings. The terrifying images on screen contrasted with the intimate atmosphere in the room, made the blood-dripping, pale ghost face seem utterly unintimidating, and the climactic plot went unnoticed.

Xu Zhi burst out laughing against his chest, her finger poking him repeatedly, “Chen Luzhou, have you no shame?”

He laughed so hard his shoulders shook, then looked at her, paused for a moment, and answered irrelevantly, “Keep that wool felt I gave you. Don’t lose it.”

“It’s hanging on my phone.”

Then, in a moment of tacit understanding, they both sighed contentedly at the same time, looked up at each other, and burst into laughter again. Their synchronicity seemed to be etched into their very breath.

The next second, Chen Luzhou helplessly leaned back on the couch, his Adam’s apple bobbing sharply like a blade on ice, staring at the ceiling with a look of despair, “I’m done for.”

“What?”

He pointed downward meaningfully.

Xu Zhi immediately sprang up from him, quickly adjusting her skirt while putting on her slippers. She picked up the trash bag from the bin, saying, “I’m going back. You can read your book.” After tidying up, she extended her hand to him, “Come on, walk me downstairs.”

Chen Luzhou smiled, took a deep breath, and stood up holding her hand. As they walked out, he took the trash bag from beside her, saying flippantly, “Hey, girlfriend, wear pants tomorrow, will you?”

Xu Zhi rolled her eyes at him and pulled her hand away, “…Is it my fault? Chen Luzhou, your thinking is problematic. Are you saying girls can’t wear skirts on the street?”

“No,” he laughed and pulled her back, “What are you thinking? I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just worried you’ll be cold. It’s only a few months into the year, at least wear some socks. I’m afraid you’ll end up in a wheelchair at 80. Hasn’t your knee always been weak?”

“Spring has already begun.”

“It’s still cold. Do you see any mosquitoes in the room? They’re all still hibernating.” Chen Luzhou opened the door.

As soon as he finished speaking, a small black shadow suddenly flitted past. A starved, shriveled mosquito buzzed in from outside, seemingly very displeased with his previous statement, arrogantly circling Chen Luzhou’s temple.

Chen Luzhou: “…”

Xu Zhi realized that Chen Luzhou might truly have bad luck; whatever he said seemed to backfire.

She couldn’t help but laugh, swatting the mosquito away with her hand, and comforted him with a smile, “It’s a bee, it’s a bee.”

“You’d swat a bee with your hand?”

“…What can’t be swatted? I’ve even swatted cockroaches with my bare hands before.”

“When?”

“Yesterday, at home. Old Xu bought several cockroach traps, but they didn’t work.”

“Did you disinfect?”

“I washed my hands.”

Chen Luzhou felt like beating his girlfriend.

“Can we talk about hygiene? You touched me yesterday! Damn, what if it gets infected?”

Xu Zhi smiled nonchalantly, “It won’t, I washed my hands. If it does, let my dad take another look at you.”

Chen Luzhou couldn’t even smile, “Isn’t that embarrassing? I’m asking you.”

Xu Zhi laughed so hard she got a stitch in her side. She stopped teasing him, “I’m kidding. That was when I was little. After my dad saw it and told me about the hundreds of viruses on cockroaches, I never used my hands to swat them again.”

Chen Luzhou’s forced cleanliness couldn’t be reined in now, “…In the future, disinfect before you come in, okay?”

“Then maybe I should find a boyfriend who doesn’t need disinfecting,” Xu Zhi said, about to leave.

“…”

Chen Luzhou leaned against the doorframe, handing her the trash bag, brazenly acting smug, “Fine, then take out this boyfriend’s trash first.”

Xu Zhi: “…”

Dog.

On the day Fu Yuqing and Lian Hui met, Qingyi experienced its first heavy rain since the beginning of spring. It came almost without warning, sending pedestrians scurrying for cover.

Lian Hui had just come out of her company when she saw the rain falling like an iron net. As she was about to turn back to get an umbrella, she heard a lighter click beside her. She instinctively turned to look and saw Fu Yuqing standing at her company’s entrance, smoking. He was dressed in a black suit and holding a black umbrella.

When Fu Yuqing was young, he was a gentleman. Despite his flirtatious nature, he was undeniably considerate towards women. Whenever he went out, he always kept a spare umbrella in his car. The first time he and Lian Hui met was also during a sudden downpour. Lian Hui was on her way to return books to the library when she was instantly drenched like a drowned rat. Fu Yuqing’s car happened to be parked by the roadside; he seemed to have plans to dine with friends. He casually took an umbrella from his car and handed it to her.

They didn’t exchange contact information at that time. Lian Hui thought she would never see him again. Later, when her teacher introduced her to voice dubbing at a film dubbing studio, she encountered Fu Yuqing again. Fu Yuqing was a nominal director at that dubbing studio. Naturally, Fu Yuqing began asking her out for meals. She had vaguely heard from some girls at the studio that Fu Yuqing was quite flirtatious and had pursued several girls there. Although Lian Hui knew he wasn’t a good man, she still fell for him.

Not long after they got together, a new girl joined the dubbing studio whose voice was very similar to hers. Combined with the previous rumors, Lian Hui once suspected that there was an ambiguous relationship between Fu Yuqing and Lin Qiudie. It wasn’t until she discovered that Lin Qiudie was solely focused on making money and showed no interest in Fu Yuqing – in fact, she often gave him the cold shoulder – that Lian Hui’s suspicions were allayed. Later, Lin Qiudie found a boyfriend who was opposite Fu Yuqing, an honest medical student. Only then did Lian Hui confirm there was nothing between them. However, despite this, there were still many girls who favored Fu Yuqing. It wasn’t until one of these girls came knocking on their door that Lian Hui realized he was incorrigible.

Fu Yuqing explained that he had only had a few drinks and chatted a bit, nothing more. At that time, his career was at its peak, and he was in his prime. Lian Hui even felt that his tone implied, “The fact that I’m explaining this much to you shows I’m being patient enough. What more do you want?”

Although Fu Yuqing didn’t say it outright, Lian Hui felt that was what he was thinking at the time.

After several such incidents, Fu Yuqing finally lost his patience. He coldly told her, “Fine, if you want to break up, let’s break up. But if we do, don’t come back looking for me.”

Because they had gone through several breakups before, each time ending with Fu Yuqing sweet-talking her back, he had even mocked her a few times, saying, “What’s the point of threatening me with breakups every time? What are you trying to prove? That you’re different from others?” So this time, Lian Hui made a firm resolution that she would never go back to him, even if it killed her.

However, a few days later, Lian Hui discovered she was pregnant. When she received the pregnancy test report, she considered aborting the child. But the night before going to the hospital, she had a dream. In the dream, the child looked like Chen Luzhou when he was little, calling her “mama.” Lian Hui couldn’t bear it and, setting aside all previous issues went to find Fu Yuqing with a glimmer of hope in her heart.

When Fu Yuqing learned about her pregnancy, he remained silent on the phone for a long time before asking what she meant by telling him this.

At that moment, Lian Hui’s heart instantly sank halfway. Still, she mustered the courage to express her true thoughts: she wanted to marry him, and regardless of how he felt, she wanted to keep this child.

Fu Yuqing was silent for even longer before finally saying, “Lian Hui, I never planned on getting married.”

It was at that moment that Lian Hui finally understood what role she played in Fu Yuqing’s life, and she finally realized that a player will always be a player; a player can never truly change.

Now, twenty years later, when Xu Guangji mentioned that Fu Yuqing had never married, Lian Hui didn’t care. She only wanted to laugh upon hearing it. She had no other thoughts; she now only wanted Chen Luzhou to have a better life. She didn’t bother with pleasantries and got straight to the point: “I know you have a string of questions you want to ask me, but I don’t think it’s necessary to tell you. I just want to know how you plan to treat Chen Luzhou.”

Fu Yuqing, smoking a cigarette, slightly squinted his eyes as he looked at the heavy rain outside as if appreciating a mural that had nothing to do with him. “He’s my son. How else would I treat him?”

Lian Hui nodded, satisfied with this answer, and added, “If you’re not sure, you can do a paternity test. Of course, whether he accepts you or not is his business. If you want to acknowledge him, you need to show sincerity.”

Fu Yuqing didn’t respond immediately. His expression turned serious as he fell silent for a while, lost in thought.

After a moment, he said, “So, when you went to the orphanage to find him back then, he was still there, right?”

“Who told you to not even recognize your son?”

“I was in the ICU for three or four years at that time. I could barely recognize my mother. How was I supposed to recognize a one-and-a-half-year-old child?”

Lian Hui laughed, “If you had paid even a little attention, how could you not have recognized him? Do you know how much more handsome Chen Luzhou was compared to other children his age? After you took him from me, you never really looked at him carefully.”

Indeed, Fu Yuqing was young and arrogant at the time. A son suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and he was busy competing everywhere. The company’s affairs were left to others to manage. By the time he returned from competitions, the dubbing studio was on the verge of bankruptcy. He was overwhelmed with work, and the child was left to his mother and the nanny to take care of.

Lian Hui sneered, “If you cared, why didn’t you look for him later? With your family’s vast network of connections, how could you not find any information? You must have known that I later adopted a child from the orphanage. Even if you used your toes to think, who do you think that child was? I even suspect that when you told me your mother sent the child to the orphanage, it was you who sent him there. You were probably glad he was gone. Without a child, you could be a golden bachelor again. Fu Yuqing, don’t say you couldn’t do it. A person like you is capable of anything.”

Fu Yuqing leisurely tapped off his cigarette ash, his expression mocking, “You think too highly of me, Lian Hui. No matter how low I might stoop, I would never abandon a child. When you told me you were going to marry that man, didn’t I ask you to wait a while, to let me sort things out before we talked? What did you say to me then? You said you had already fallen in love with him. Forget it, there’s no point in bringing this up now. But there’s one thing you might have misunderstood.”

He exhaled a cloud of smoke and said calmly, “After my accident, during those years of the anti-crime campaign, my father was at the forefront. Some things I’m about to say might be hard for you to believe. Do you remember Old Liang?”

“Our dubbing teacher, yours and Lin Qiudie’s?”

Fu Yuqing said, “Yes. They found a few boxes of pornographic videotapes at his house. He was executed on the spot.”

Lian Hui was stunned. Those years were indeed tumultuous, with various denouncements and reports. Those involved in shady businesses, whether legal or illegal, were all living in fear. Old Liang used to run with his father and had some connections to the underworld, so he was a key investigation target.

Fu Yuqing extinguished his cigarette on the rock of the trash can, “The pile of letters reporting our family was taller than me. Even my mother was taken in for questioning. I was in the hospital at the time, which spared me. That night, everyone in our family fled abroad. When I woke up, the dubbing studio had already gone bankrupt, and all our profitable businesses had been shut down. The crackdown hadn’t stopped yet, and many people around me had been arrested. My mother urged me to go abroad to lie low. At that time, I didn’t even know if I could survive. When you told me he had been adopted, I felt relieved. A family that could adopt would surely have good conditions, at least better than being with me.”

Lian Hui: “So you’re saying you have no money now?”

Fu Yuqing: “…”

The rain had lessened a bit, hitting the puddles and creating ripples. Fu Yuqing sighed, “Not much, but some. When things got better, I made some money racing cars. I had Lin Qiudie convert one of my old casinos into a holiday resort, dealing in tea and such. I’ve managed to save up a bit. By the time I got back on my feet, several years had passed. I had people make inquiries a few times, but it was like searching for a needle in a haystack. As time went on, I became afraid to keep looking.”

Lian Hui: “There’s no point in saying all this now. Just try to make more money. Don’t wait for Old Xu to ask for a bride price when you can’t afford to pay a single cent.”

With a week left before the start of the semester, Chen Luzhou and Xu Zhi were in the hospital room booking flight tickets back to Beijing. Old Xu, leaning against the headboard, leisurely cracked sunflower seeds and asked, “When are you two leaving?”

“After you’re discharged,” Xu Zhi said, looking down at her phone to check tickets.

Chen Luzhou poured a glass of water for Old Xu and placed it on the bedside table. Old Xu said thanks and put it aside, “I’ll be discharged tomorrow. How about I cook a meal for you before you leave? I heard your university has a mini-semester, with classes for a month during summer break?”

“It’s just about three weeks,” Xu Zhi glanced at Chen Luzhou and said, “But dad, we might not come back for the summer break.”

Old Xu glanced at them both, “What, planning to elope?”

Chen Luzhou had taken on an aerial photography job for the summer, and the couple had argued about it last night.

“No, I might have to do some filming for someone during the summer break, so I probably won’t be able to come back. Xu Zhi should be able to return,” Chen Luzhou said, hands in his pockets.

Xu Zhi reluctantly looked at Chen Luzhou, their eyes communicating silently:

Didn’t we agree last night? I was going to stay and keep you company during the summer-

I never agreed-

Have you got a dog out there or something?-

Can I afford to keep two?

Old Xu figured it out; someone didn’t want to come back. He sighed, brushed off the sunflower seed shells, and casually reminded them, “Alright, Dad understands. You two be careful in Beijing. If you need money, just call Dad. Focus on your studies at school.”

After saying this, Old Xu took out three red envelopes from the drawer and handed them to Chen Luzhou, “This is the first year Xu Zhi has brought a boyfriend home. This is a meeting gift from me and Old Cai. You take it first.”

Chen Luzhou was taken aback, his hands still in his pockets, “…No need.”

Xu Guangji pushed the envelopes forward, “Take it. When Xu Zhi meets your family in the future, won’t she have to take something too? If you don’t take it, Xu Zhi won’t have anything to take either.”

“Take it, take it,” Xu Zhi pleaded, leaning against him pitifully.

Chen Luzhou took his hands out of his pockets, ruffled her hair, and sighed, “Then what’s the third one for?”

Old Xu said excitedly, “It’s for that, you know…”

They all knew what he meant without saying it.

Chen Luzhou lowered his head, looking at the envelopes. His eyelids drooped coldly, his gaze seeming to be embroidered on the red envelopes. The corners of his mouth seemed to be stitched as well, tightly pulled into an unbendable straight line.

Just by looking at him, Xu Guangji knew how stubborn and proud this child was.

After a long while, Chen Luzhou finally spoke, “I’ll take yours and Uncle Cai’s. Please return his.”

Old Xu coughed, “He isn’t money.”

“Then what is it?”

“You’ll know if you open it yourself.”