Chen Luzhou assumed Xu Zhi was concerned about him. He discovered his desire to conquer Xu Zhi was growing stronger. He wondered what kind of girlfriend she would be. Would she get jealous? Angry? Or remain indifferent like a block of wood? On second thought, Xu Zhi was fine as she was now. Either she was oblivious or deliberately playing coy. This way, they could shamelessly continue being friends until he left for abroad. If he couldn’t resist, that would be troublesome. How would they conclude things?
He convinced himself once again, reverting to his previous stance and shifting blame to Lü Yang, “You should consider others’ feelings when doing things. I brought you there today. If something had happened while you were racing with Lü Yang, how could I face your father and Manager Fu?”
“Is that all?” Xu Zhi looked into his eyes, seemingly searching for other clues. “You’re overthinking it. If something happened to me while racing, my dad would only think I deserved it. As for Uncle Fu, you needn’t worry. When I was little on Mingling Mountain, he took me riding. I didn’t control the lean well and fell down the mountain. Luckily, I got caught on a crooked tree.”
That time, Fu Yuqing was terrified out of his wits and never dared to let her ride again. That’s why when Xu Zhi offered to drive down the mountain to buy water for them at the resort, Fu Yuqing was so angry he blew up on the spot.
Xu Zhi propped one hand on the sink and lifted her foot towards him, casually bending her knee. In the quiet room, the clear popping sound of her bones was audible. “Listen, my kneecap was damaged then. It often makes this sound. Sometimes on rainy days, it pops loudly when I walk, so I hate going out in the rain.”
Chen Luzhou felt utterly conflicted. How could a girl be so bold? He couldn’t tell if she was pretending not to be delicate or if she truly wasn’t. Judging by her expression, he was even more irritated. “…Are you proud of it?”
Xu Zhi smiled and said, “No, actually there was another time I had an allergic reaction and was sent to the hospital. The doctor said if I had arrived half an hour later, I might have died. These are probably the two times in my life I’ve brushed with death. The elders around me say that surviving a great calamity brings good fortune. I’ve had two, so it means I’m destined for success in the future.”
Chen Luzhou didn’t respond, still harboring that frustration in his heart. It was as if the little butterfly that had been restlessly fluttering was now tied up, leaving him feeling uneasy. He leaned against the sink, arms crossed, head slightly lowered, fixing her with a cold stare. “…What if you had lost today?”
Xu Zhi was stunned and looked up at him.
Chen Luzhou’s voice wasn’t particularly cold. It seemed he was afraid she’d find him too harsh or his words too unpleasant, so he deliberately softened his tone. As a result, it sounded gentle, but emotionless. “If you had lost today, what were you planning to do? Sleep with him?”
It felt like a bucket of warm water had been poured over her. The water was warm and smooth, but once it was gone and her skin was exposed to the air, that chilling sensation was more biting than if she’d been doused with cold water. The aftereffect was intense.
Xu Zhi didn’t get angry. Despite his blunt words, she patiently explained, “No, I thought I had a 70% chance of winning. If I lost, I had a plan. I’d have Feng Jin call the police, saying we were gambling on the race. That way, we’d both spend a night at the police station… Wouldn’t that count as spending the night with him?”
“…Clever trick. But what if he kept pestering you after getting out? Do you think having a police record is fun? Don’t you want to go to college anymore?”
Xu Zhi laughed and bantered, “Ah, but Feng Jin said you could smooth things over with the police. That’s why I agreed. He said Zhu Yangqi mentioned your mother is very influential.”
“Oh, I see,” Chen Luzhou caught on, giving her a meaningful glance, his tone sarcastic, “So you still want to meet my mother.”
“Is that not allowed?” The girl’s eyes sparkled.
Chen Luzhou looked at her for a moment, then laughed. He put one hand in his pocket and lowered his head to brush off his collar, though it wasn’t clear what he was brushing off. In a casual tone that was joking, he said, “Sure, if you were my girlfriend, forget about meeting my mom. If you wanted to meet the Jade Emperor, I’d have to build you a ladder to heaven.”
Outside, the rain had long stopped. It was late at night, the air heavy with dusk. The leaves swayed freely in the breeze, just as the waves on the lake’s surface rocked the small boats to and fro.
The two leaned side by side against the sink. She turned her head to look at him meaningfully, mimicking his earlier sarcastic tone, and thoughtfully squeezed out the same two words, “I see.”
Chen Luzhou hadn’t realized she was imitating him and found it amusing. He flicked her forehead with his knuckle, “What do you see? You don’t understand anything.” As he spoke, he crouched down to find a band-aid in the suitcase lying on the floor. While tearing it open, he said, “Come here with your head.”
Xu Zhi now saw in the mirror that her forehead was scraped. “Hey, it wasn’t there before. Did you do that when you hit me?”
Chen Luzhou, focused on unwrapping the band-aid, heard this and laughed, exasperated. He decided to take the blame, “Fine, fine, fine. I hit you, I made you go racing, I made you fall. It’s all my fault. Happy now?”
“Are you still angry?” Xu Zhi brushed the stray hair off her forehead and looked at him.
Chen Luzhou leaned against the sink, carefully applying the band-aid with precise movements, trying his best not to touch her again. “If I’m angry, it’s at myself, not at you. You don’t need to worry about it.” After speaking, he crumpled up the outer packaging and threw it in the nearby trash can.
“That won’t do,” Xu Zhi said with a strong sense of loyalty. “You took me out to play, and I ended up making you angry. I need to remember this.”
Remember what? What can you give me?
Unexpectedly, Xu Zhi declared with great enthusiasm: “I owe you two jokes now.”
He was taken aback, then laughed and replied, “…As if I care.”
“Hey, let me tell you the first joke?” Xu Zhi, for some reason, looking at Chen Luzhou, suddenly felt inspired and remembered something Old Xu had complained about to her a few days ago.
There was a supply of fresh fruit in the room, probably provided by the film crew. Xu Zhi’s floor didn’t have any. Chen Luzhou picked up an apple and offered it to Xu Zhi, but she shook her head, not wanting to eat an apple so late at night. Chen Luzhou, however, had no such reservations and took a bite himself, one hand in his pocket, chewing lazily with a crisp sound. He made a show of seeming uninterested in her joke, “Go on.”
Given permission, Xu Zhi launched into her story, “It’s not a joke, but it should be quite fresh, and it might serve as a warning for you. A few days ago, my dad said a handsome guy came to their department. He was really good-looking, but not very capable in that area. He insisted he was fine, but couldn’t even do the test. My dad said many young people nowadays have this problem – staying up late, smoking, drinking. Many college students’ sperm survival rate is only 30%. But you seem quite disciplined, so you probably don’t have this issue.”
Chen Luzhou: “…”
What Xu Guang had said was more subtle, either to warn her or to make her wary of bad men. He had spoken vaguely, “Zhi, let me tell you, some men out there might look decent, but their behavior is quite improper. For example, someone who just graduated from high school came to my department. Who knows what bad things he’s been up to outside? And he’s well-versed in the art of gift-giving, even slipping me a red envelope before leaving. Anyway, when you get a boyfriend in the future, the first thing to do is bring him to Dad for a physical examination. Don’t be shy, it’s very normal.”
The phrase “out there” made it sound like human trafficking.
Chen Luzhou’s apple-biting motion suddenly froze. He instinctively looked down at his lower body, then hurriedly swallowed the half-chewed apple in his mouth, showing how flustered he was. His Adam’s apple bobbed heavily as he blurted out without thinking, “Your dad’s surname is Xu?”
Xu Zhi: “Isn’t that obvious?”
“No, I mean,” Chen Luzhou came to his senses, still holding the apple. He coughed and asked, “So your dad is an andrologist?”
Xu Zhi, of course, didn’t know the inside story and just nodded, “Yeah, last time you asked, I was too embarrassed to say.”
Chen Luzhou: “…”
If you had told me earlier, I would never have listened to Zhu Yangqi!
Chen Luzhou felt embarrassed for the first time. No wonder he felt that Dr. Xu’s gaze was strange that day in the department. It turned out to be Xu Zhi’s father. Xu Zhi had posted his name in her Moments that day, so her dad must have recognized his name.
No wonder he asked, “Are you Chen Luzhou?”
He had thought it was the parent of one of his classmates. After all, since childhood, he had always been the child other families compared their kids to. Many uncles and aunts he didn’t even know would react the same way upon hearing his name: Oh, so you’re Chen Luzhou? My daughter/son is your classmate.
Xu Zhi noticed his distracted gaze and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Chen Luzhou ignored her, mechanically taking another bite of the apple while leaning against the sink. In his mind, full of competitiveness, he thought about finding time to do a sperm test when he got back. Not just do it, but have Xu Guang do it, and do it perfectly!
Xu Zhi asked again.
Chen Luzhou sighed, threw the remaining apple core into the trash can, and said sincerely with a sheepish look: “I’m tired.”
Xu Zhi nodded, understanding, “Then I’ll go. Are you coming back with us tomorrow?”
Chen Luzhou thought to himself that he had planned to return originally. Now he didn’t want to. He didn’t even dare to think about his conversation with Xu Guang in detail.
“We’ll see. Let me sleep on it. If you can’t wait, just go ahead,” Chen Luzhou sighed again and added rather listlessly, “I haven’t been sleeping well in the studio these past couple of days.”
“Okay.”
Chen Luzhou went to open the door for her, glancing at her knee, “Take the medicine with you. Remember to spray the Yunnan Baiyao, otherwise it’ll be even noisier in the future. I say, shouldn’t you get this problem checked out at the hospital? You won’t end up limping in the future, will you?”
“I’ve seen many doctors. There’s no solution. It’s a lingering problem from childhood. If I end up limping, there’s nothing to be done. That’s what wheelchairs are for, right?”
“Come on, after 80, when everyone else is holding hands with their partners for walks, are you and your partner going to race wheelchairs?” Chen Luzhou leaned against the doorframe, half-jokingly teasing her.
Xu Zhi saw that he seemed quite energetic now, not at all sleepy. “You don’t look tired at all. Why don’t we chat a bit more?”
Chen Luzhou laughed helplessly, “You think I’m here for an idle chat? Pay up first.”
“I have money now,” Xu Zhi wanted to slap the five thousand yuan on his face, “Don’t provoke me.”
Chen Luzhou completely surrendered, “Alright, I was wrong. I am tired.”
Xu Zhi finally let him off the hook and said, “Then contact me when you wake up tomorrow. Yingying and I plan to go to the nearby morning market for half a day. Maybe by the time you wake up, we won’t have left yet.”
Chen Luzhou was probably really tired. His thin face was pressed against the side of the door. He probably hadn’t cut his hair for a while, and his bangs half-covered his eyebrows and eyes. His gaze at her was particularly docile and helpless, very much like a little puppy. He nodded heavily and seriously.
“Mm, got it.”
But it was just for a moment. The next second, he was back to being insufferable. He leaned against the door, looking quite sincere as he gave her advice, but setting a trap, “But I suggest you don’t go to the nearby morning market. That place is no better than the food street. If you want to go out for a walk, there’s a Nanyin Temple next door. I heard it’s very efficacious. The college entrance exam results are about to come out soon. You might as well go pray.”
Xu Zhi thought about it and realized the results would indeed be out soon. She should go pray.
So the next day, she and Cai Yingying got up early and went to Nanyin Temple. They burned incense, offered tributes, and even donated two hundred yuan for incense money. She knelt next to an equally devout-looking auntie, full of sincerity. The temple was bustling with worshippers, so it must be efficacious. She looked up at the Buddha statue with eyes radiating compassion, and full of hope, she made a wish, silently praying — hoping to get into her ideal university.
The young monk beside her couldn’t bear to watch anymore and kindly reminded her —
“Little sister, although Buddhism saves all sentient beings, I must remind you that this is the Fertility Goddess. She’s very efficacious.”
Xu Zhi: “…”
So when Xu Zhi returned home, regarding the question of how efficacious the Fertility Goddess was, she had been thinking about it the whole way. She had basic common sense but was indeed a bit inexperienced and scared. After all, she had watched “The Legend of the White Snake” countless times with Old Xu as a child, and the Fertility Goddess in that story granted children with unerring accuracy. The old lady was also superstitious, saying that the metaphysical was greater than science. With a belly full of worries, she decided to ask Old Xu: “Dad, if I accidentally worshipped the Fertility Goddess, will anything happen?”
Xu Guang had just picked up his bowl to eat. Before he could even extend his chopsticks, he dropped them in shock. His blood rushed uncontrollably to his head, and he was so angry that he turned back to the kitchen and came out with a cleaver.
“Where is that dog Chen Luzhou?”
Xu Zhi was even more surprised. How did her dad know it was Chen Luzhou who tricked her into going to the Fertility Goddess Hall? In disbelief, she said: “Dad, how do you know it was him?!”