At noon that day, Xu Guangji was eating in the cafeteria. There weren’t many fresh dishes, and some were just leftovers. He happened to run into Cai Yingying’s father. Old Cai used to be the head of neurosurgery. Although he was also a loner, he had recently been promoted to deputy director of the hospital, riding high on his success. He sat down next to Xu Guangji with a beaming face, carrying his Hello Kitty lunchbox. “Old Xu, you didn’t go home either?”
Xu Guangji kept his head down, focused on his meal. Sensing a shadow falling over him, he instinctively glanced at the chicken leg he had marinated yesterday and quietly pulled his tray closer.
“Now you’re looking down on me as if you’re the only one who has this,” Director Cai said imposingly as he opened his lunchbox.
Xu Guangji silently glanced over. Indeed, he didn’t have any.
Director Cai quietly picked up his chopsticks and changed the subject, “I heard from Yingying that Xu Zhi did well on her exams this time, scoring over 700 points.”
Cai Yingying’s mouth was even more prone to exaggeration than the cafeteria cooks. Xu Guangji continued eating and replied, “Not that high.”
He knew that Xu Guangji had been keeping a low profile these past few years, almost wanting people to forget his existence. The painful lessons from years ago had made him believe in his mother-in-law’s feng shui saying: when things are going too smoothly and you’re too high-profile, even the heavens become jealous, which is why Qiu Die attracted those unclean things.
“I know your mother-in-law is superstitious, but you’ve had a proper education,” Old Cai scraped the edge of his lunchbox with his chopsticks. “You should still celebrate when it’s due.”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t celebrate with her,” Xu Guangji looked up, pushing his glasses. “Let’s wait for the official results. How about your Cai Cai?”
“Don’t even mention it,” Director Cai sighed, lowering his head to start eating. “Her performance was as stable as my blood pressure, not giving you a single extra point. If she doesn’t want to repeat a year, she’ll probably just end up at a vocational college.”
Xu Guangji sympathetically moved his chicken leg to Cai’s plate, “Here, you eat it.”
Old Cai moved it back, and Xu Guangji thought he didn’t want it. He was about to say, “Don’t be polite with me, your Cai Cai is really hard to handle.”
But Director Cai dipped the chicken in the sauce from Xu Guangji’s plate and took a big bite without hesitation. He said with satisfaction, “Thanks, your sauce is delicious. Next time I’ll ask Cai Cai to get another spoonful from your house.”
Xu Guangji: “…”
“By the way,” Old Cai said as he was savoring the chicken leg, suddenly remembering something, “I should warn you, is your Xu Zhi dating someone?”
Xu Guangji abruptly put down his chopsticks, “Who told you that?”
“Don’t get excited,” Old Cai quickly explained, wiping his mouth hastily, “After the third mock exam, there was a parent-teacher meeting. You didn’t go, right? I saw a boy in their teacher’s office wearing a necklace, the one Qiu Die left for Xu Zhi. But at that time, I saw Xu Zhi’s grades were always stable, so I didn’t want to tell you, fearing it might affect the child’s exams if you got too excited.”
Xu Guangji stared at him intently, not saying a word.
“Don’t look at me like that. Now that the exams are over, there’s even less reason for you to get excited. Find some time to have a good talk with her. Dating at this age is indeed a bit early. On this point, our Yingying is quite reassuring. She’s not as pretty as your Xu Zhi, and her grades are so poor. If anyone wanted to date her,” Old Cai closed his lunchbox, saying confidently, “I’d be the first to take him to our hospital to get his eyes checked.”
**
The heavy rain washed the entire city clean. After the rain, the sky became even brighter. The lush leaves glistened with an oily green sheen after being washed by the rain. Cicadas leisurely chirped through one summer after another.
Xu Zhi went to see the apartment Tan Xu was renting. He wasn’t there, and the door was shut tighter than the Taishang Laojun’s alchemy furnace. The neighbor, who was also a student reviewing for exams, said he had gone back to his hometown in the afternoon and would return in the evening.
Xu Zhi slowly walked downstairs, taking in the sight of this apartment tower. The building was mostly occupied by third-year high school students, as it was close to No. 1 High School.
No. 1 High School was known for its intense competition. Top students from various counties, cities, and even other provinces were all vying to get in. So there were many out-of-town students. Third-year students from other places generally preferred to rent their apartments because the dormitories enforced a strict 10 PM lights-out policy.
It was said that in this building, lights were still on at four or five in the morning during those few months before the exams. No wonder Tan Xu’s mood was so unpredictable under such hellish pressure.
Qingyi City was known for its year-round rainy and humid weather. The walls in the corridor were damp, with peeling paint and a musty odor of moisture.
As Xu Zhi reached the first floor, she faintly heard a few low voices coming from one of the rooms—
“The results aren’t out yet, but your father and I have discussed it. We still hope to send you abroad. There’s no need to repeat a year.”
“Oh, whatever.”
The voice was cool and tense, with a magnetic quality.
Xu Zhi instinctively looked up. The security door wasn’t closed, and a long, slender shadow fell across the corridor through the gap. The facilities in this apartment tower were old and dilapidated, with dirty walls streaked with water stains, which oddly accentuated the clean, elongated shadow, making it somewhat attractive.
In the corner were several fly papers covered in dense insect carcasses, along with various brands of mosquito coils, some even unused. It was clear that the occupant was a picky person, not easy to please.
The woman spoke again: “As for that girl, you should clear things up with her anyway. You’d better—”
“Mm, I said whatever. Don’t say she’s not my girlfriend. Even if she were my girlfriend, it doesn’t matter. If you say break up, then break up.” He showed no will to live.
The door was ajar, and through the narrow gap, Xu Zhi saw a middle-aged woman with an elegant demeanor sitting on the living room sofa. She couldn’t see her face. The woman’s voice reminded Xu Zhi of her mother, Madam Lin Qiu Die. The tone was almost identical, gentle yet sharp, even when angry, it remained calm and measured. The pale yellow floral dress she wore, Xu Zhi recalled, Madam Lin Qiu Die seemed to have one just like it.
“You’re still quibbling!” The lady was somewhat furious, slamming her teacup on the table. “If she’s not your girlfriend, why did you bring her home? If I hadn’t come, what were you planning to do? And look at what you’re wearing! I’m not forbidding you from dating, but don’t put me in a situation I can’t handle! That girl’s father is not someone you can easily dismiss.”
He seemed to let out a cold laugh.
“Isn’t that perfect? You won’t have to go through the trouble of finding excuses to send me abroad.”
“What kind of attitude is this? Do you think we’re meddling too much? If you have any complaints about us, just say it. Don’t be so sarcastic with me.”
The owner of the shadow had his back turned, standing in the entryway. He was tall and lean, taking advantage of his superior physique, dressed very casually, just very… “caught in the act,” as if he had hurriedly thrown on whatever clothes and pants he could grab in a rush.
He wore a loose, baggy jersey on top. Individually, he was perfectly proportioned, though lean, not skinny, with smooth, sharp lines – a typical standard clothes hanger – this level of guy.
Xu Zhi recalled that Cai Yingying had indeed mentioned that not only were the grades at No. 1 High School fiercely competitive, but even the handsome boys were in intense competition.
Xu Zhi’s eyes fell on his logo-printed school pants. Compared to Rui Jun’s varied school uniforms, No. 1 High School’s uniforms had always been properly disciplined.
But this guy didn’t look like a proper person. He leaned against the shoe cabinet by the door, one hand in his pocket, his school uniform jacket hanging loosely on his shoulders, one foot lazily resting on a basketball covered in signatures. Under his mother’s frantic bombardment, he could still calmly order takeout for himself.
“What are you ordering again!” The lady was very familiar with him. “Is eating all you know how to do?”
“Is eating not allowed either?” He added fuel to the fire, saying, “Then I’ll ask the hospital later if they forgot to tell me when I was born that I was made of iron.”
“Do you have to be so prickly when you speak?”
He sighed, “Ah, didn’t you know I was a prickly person from the first day you saw me?”
What, was he born with a knife?
The lady, probably feeling it was self-inflicted misery, fell silent for a moment before changing the subject, “You spent the whole night with your grandfather at the police station?”
“What else? The other party refused to settle privately.”
“Nonsense, that was professional scamming. Only your grandfather would be careless enough to fall for it,” the lady paused, seeing that he didn’t want to comment on the elders, and circled back to the previous topic, “That girl just now, was it the first time you brought her back or have you already—”
“I’ve had enough. I told you she’s not, but if you want her to be, then fine. I’m tired of explaining.” He was irritated to the extreme.
The stairwell was quiet, with cicadas calling loudly and clearly outside the window, trying to cover up all discordant sounds. The lady’s voice finally softened somewhat—
“I don’t care about you. Anyway, you’re about to go abroad soon, so sort out all these messy affairs for me. Also, when you called me from the police station last night, I was in a meeting at the station. It didn’t end until three in the morning. I only found out when I got a call from the police this morning. I didn’t ignore your call on purpose.”
“Mm, I understand,” he was surprisingly agreeable at this point and didn’t seem inclined to delve deeper into anything with her. He also didn’t bother to ask about what happened after three o’clock. He ran his hand through his hair, slowly getting up from the shoe cabinet like a sloth, “I’m going to lie down for a bit.”
The lady stopped him: “Wait, change your clothes first and accompany me to Professor Jiang’s house.”
He seemed to laugh out of frustration, his back hunching slightly before leaning back, “Why don’t you just send me to the national team to sign up for an Iron Man Triathlon?”
As he said this, Chen Luzhou unexpectedly turned his head to sweep a glance down the corridor, his gaze naturally meeting Xu Zhi’s outside the door. But at this moment, he didn’t pay attention and quickly turned back, leaning with his eyes closed, looking completely detached. He continued to resist his mother shamelessly:
“Mom, I haven’t slept for a day. Even if I were your escort, I’d need to work in shifts—”
“Chen Luzhou! Can’t you be serious for once!”
So similar, Xu Zhi had always been mischievous since she was young, speaking without filters. Madam Lin Qiu Die’s catchphrase was also: Can’t you be serious for once?
He sighed, “Ah, Mom, don’t get angry first. I haven’t even said the most inappropriate things yet. But, haven’t I never gone against any of your wishes? To use Zhu Yangqi and the others’ words, I’m at least half a mama’s boy. Whether it’s going abroad or repeating a year, it’s up to you to be happy. I also promise that in the future, I’ll get your approval before having a girlfriend. Is that okay? Can I go to sleep now?”
“You don’t know what’s good for you—”
The middle-aged woman’s voice cut off abruptly because a strange face suddenly entered her line of sight.
Xu Zhi probably missed the days of verbal sparring with her mother too much. She found this clash quite fascinating and evocative. Like a rabbit with perked-up ears, Xu Zhi slowly walked down the stairs. Anyone could see she was “observing.”
Chen Luzhou tilted his head back and let out a long, exhausted sigh, both speechless and extremely helpless: “Mom, I’m really tired—”
Before he could finish, he probably also noticed his mother’s gaze shifting from their original line of fire. So he frowned and turned back impatiently.
The sky was rolling with fiery clouds, the setting sun like a master painter, with just a few strokes making the entire narrow corridor as vivid as a painting.
Their gazes collided again suddenly, both pairs of eyes devoid of much emotion, extremely cold. It was like two glasses of ice-cold beer, bubbling with white foam on a summer day, crashing into each other. No one could say which was more intense.
This guy’s eyebrows and facial features were exceptionally smooth, with a heavy sense of aloofness. His eyelids and the corners of his mouth were very thin, giving off a “not easy to fool” coldness when he wasn’t smiling.
Xu Zhi had a round face with delicate features, actually looking quite obedient. Her disadvantage lay in her eyes, which were calm and sharp, always having a kind of detached coolness, so when she looked at people directly, it seemed somewhat “ill-intentioned.”
When “not easy to fool” and “ill-intentioned” collide, it becomes very awkward. Whoever speaks first loses.
“…”
“…”
But actually, Xu Zhi was hesitating in her heart whether she should say, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I just heard your mom’s voice and thought of my deceased mother—
That doesn’t seem quite appropriate.
Then, looking at his eyes, she suddenly remembered what Old Xu had said, people with honest eyes and hearts aren’t too stupid. This guy, whether his heart was honest or not was unknown, but his gaze was truly sharp. In any case, he didn’t seem easy to fool, with all his cleverness written in his eyes.
Xu Zhi thought maybe she should sincerely admit her fault and apologize to him. But before she could open her mouth, she was stopped by his words.
“How about we add each other on WeChat? Next time you want to listen to someone being scolded, buy a ticket from me in advance, and I’ll set up a seat for you at the door?” Chen Luzhou pulled off the school uniform jacket from his shoulders, tied it around his waist – who knows what he was trying to cover – then leaned half his body out, with a sincere look of considering her interests, “It must be tiring to stand and listen to someone being scolded.”
“Sor—”
Ry.
Before Xu Zhi could finish, there was a loud “bang” as he slammed the door shut with earth-shattering force, inexplicably venting his anger. The wind stirred up mixed with an unfamiliar scent, cold and sharp, hitting her in the face.
The summer foliage was shrouded in a crimson haze, tree shadows swaying back and forth on the ground. Xu Zhi could still hear the faint echoes from inside the room, mingled with the persistent cicada sounds, reverberating in that scorching, bright June.
“What nonsense are you spouting?” The lady, like Madam Lin Qiu Die, also had a sharp tongue and wouldn’t let him off easily. “Is that how you chat up girls? Are you proud of all your romantic entanglements? Would it kill you to speak properly?”
“Can’t talk anymore, that’s it,” he could be heard shuffling inside in his slippers, replying indifferently, “In your eyes, even if I say a word to a dog, it counts as flirting.”
“You can keep pretending. You’re an expert at sweet-talking people into doing what you want. I’m too tired to deal with you. And another thing—either wear your jacket properly or don’t wear it at all. Why tie it around your waist and walk around looking like a slob?”
“With the way you were banging on the door just now, do you think I had time to even grab underwear? Didn’t you see how she was staring at me—”
Xu Zhi: “???”
Staring at you? Over my dead body.
Warning!