The moon hung lazily at the edge of the sky, its golden hue illuminating the air thick with recent rain. Laughter and chatter filled the atmosphere. People, satiated from food and drink, dispersed hurriedly as if always racing to their next engagement.
Chen Luzhou sat alone, with no next event to rush to. He squatted at the convenience store entrance, observing passersby gather and part, bid farewells, and charge enthusiastically towards tomorrow.
“Crunch, crunch, crunch—” The sharp, forceful sound of beer cans being crushed one by one pierced the air. A nearby dog barked furiously at him, while onlookers stared. “Woof! Woof! Woof!”
Chen Luzhou, aware of the disturbance he was causing, smiled sheepishly at the dog’s rebuke. He lazily raised his hand in surrender. “Alright, alright—my bad.”
He stood up obediently and disposed of all the empty beer cans in the trash bin. The dog’s barking finally subsided.
The street momentarily regained its tranquility. Moonlight silently bathed everything in its glow. As midsummer approached, the cicadas’ chorus grew increasingly clear and resonant.
Chen Luzhou wasn’t particularly hungry. He took a few bites of a hamburger before tossing the remainder to the small yellow dog nearby. In truth, he hadn’t eaten dinner. After finishing basketball, he got Zhu Yangqi’s address and went straight to the night market street to find Xu Zhi. He had planned to treat her to a late-night snack and perhaps catch a movie afterward. He had reserved a private room at Bohui—one of Old Chen’s numerous business ventures. Of course, none of this concerned him; Old Chen had made it clear that everything was meant for Chen Xingqi. Chen Luzhou had never considered competing for it.
He knew Cai Yingying would be there, so he thought he might need to ask Zhu Yangqi for another favor. However, to secure Zhu Yangqi’s help, not only did he play basketball for free, but he now owed Zhu Yangqi a meal at Shangfang Hotpot.
Oh right, Zhu Yangqi—he forgot to tell him that he no longer needed his help.
Chen Luzhou instinctively reached for his phone, only to belatedly remember that it was still with Cai Yingying getting a new screen protector. He had been so caught up listening to his mother earlier that he forgot to retrieve it. He had used his convenience store membership card to buy the beer. Now he found himself in a predicament.
He debated whether to use a public phone to call. But upon checking his pockets, he realized he had no cash.
Usually, he would have gone inside to borrow the store clerk’s phone, but today, he didn’t want to talk to strangers.
Sometimes, he experienced social anxiety, especially with unfamiliar people. He wasn’t as outgoing and sunny as he appeared on the surface. Lately, he had been feeling particularly inadequate, wondering if it was his shortcomings that prompted Old Chen and Lian Hui to want to send him abroad.
**
Cai Yingying had just inserted her key into the lock when her phone rang. “What? Do you want to meet up? Zhu Yangqi, are you out of your mind? Do you know what time it is? Why do you want to meet? I’m not going.”
On the other end, Zhu Yangqi persisted shamelessly, “Shangfang Hotpot. Are you coming or not?”
Shangfang Hotpot, where the average bill was a thousand yuan per person. Cai Yingying carefully removed her key and tiptoed back into the elevator. “Zhu Yangqi, did you strike it rich? Just the two of us? Who else is coming? Is Chen Luzhou there? If he’s not, then Xu Zhi probably isn’t either. Can we get takeout? I’d like to bring some back for her. I heard their duck blood is delicious.”
Only then did Zhu Yangqi sense something amiss. “Isn’t Chen Luzhou with you?”
“He was here earlier, but then his mom came, and he left with her.”
Zhu Yangqi cleared his throat and said, “Well… Cai Yingying, how about I treat you to KFC instead? They have a new meal set that comes with two Iron Man toys. I bet you haven’t tried it yet.”
“Zhu Yangqi, are you sick? Playing games with me in the middle of the night?”
“Alright, alright. Come out, and I’ll treat you to Shangfang Hotpot.”
…
Cai Binghong sat on the sofa, talking on the phone with Xu Guangji. He glanced suspiciously towards the door, certain he had heard it open and Cai Yingying’s voice. After waiting for a while without seeing anyone enter, he went to check. No one was there.
“Strange,” he said to Xu Guangji on the phone. “I could have sworn I heard Yingying’s voice.”
“Yingying?” Xu Guangji had recently acquired a bird that seemed to be nearing the end of its life. No amount of coaxing could cheer it up. He had just taken it for a walk downstairs, but it remained listless. Now he was feeding it a banana. “I just saw her downstairs. She’s back.”
“She must have gone out again,” Cai Binghong dismissed it, used to Cai Yingying’s wild ways. He continued discussing work with Xu Guangji. “I haven’t decided on this matter yet. It’s just a lateral transfer. It wasn’t supposed to happen so soon, but with the recent academic fraud scandal at Tongshan Hospital, they want me to go over and cover for a while.”
“Tongshan? In N Province? Isn’t that essentially a transfer out of the area?” Xu Guangji replied. “I can’t advise you on this. You’ll have to decide for yourself. Tongshan Hospital is one of the top specialist hospitals in the country. Going there would certainly benefit your career.”
Cai Binghong was waiting for the college entrance exam results. If Yingying decided to retake the exam, he definitely couldn’t leave.
“Our hearts are tied to our daughters for life. Once they’ve left, maybe we should consider finding companions. I think they’re at an age now where they could accept it.”
Xu Guangji’s eyes kept darting to the silent doorway as he absent-mindedly replied, “Yes, we have to consider whether they’d accept our new partners. Why don’t they ever think about whether we can accept their boyfriends when they start dating!”
“Don’t lump Cai Yingying in with that. She’s not dating anyone.”
“Hmph, if she’s not dating, why isn’t she home in the middle of the night? They’re two peas in a pod. Don’t be too complacent.”
At the time, Cai Binghong didn’t think much of it. He knew his daughter Cai Yingying was like a leaky coat—whoever wore her would know. But he never imagined that—
This leaky little coat of his wouldn’t leak when worn by someone else.
**
Chen Luzhou had been sitting at the outdoor tables of the convenience store for nearly an hour and a half. A sudden downpour had caught him without an umbrella, so he didn’t rush to leave. He watched the rain beat against the windows, the pavement, and car roofs. The conversation with his mother in the car still echoed in his ears—
“The results come out tomorrow. We know you’ll be disappointed, but Lida University is very good too. Your father and I have discussed it. You like photography, right? Their imaging science program is excellent.”
Chen Luzhou, leaning back in his car seat, found it genuinely amusing and smirked. “Mom, you’re a well-known TV producer. Even if you don’t usually pay attention, couldn’t you at least do some research when helping me choose a major? Are photography and X-rays the same fucking thing?”
“Isn’t imaging science about medical imaging?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I don’t think Lida has a separate photography major. If you want to study photography, maybe we can ask your father to look into other countries?”
At that moment, there was a car accident on the road. The crash scene was horrific, especially in the rain. Muddy water mixed with blood, covering the ground in a shocking red. The victim’s family members were wailing hysterically in the middle of the road. Police were managing the scene, and their car was stuck in traffic, not moving for quite some time.
The driver kept honking impatiently. Traffic police were calmly directing vehicles. No one seemed fazed by the life-and-death drama unfolding before them. Chen Luzhou stared blankly out the window, knowing the answer but still foolishly asking, “Do I have to leave?”
Lian Hui was replying to a message, her tone gentle but unyielding. “There’s no need to ask that question again, especially not in front of your father.”
“What if I don’t go to A University? What if I choose any third-rate university here in China?” Chen Luzhou said. “I could study the most obscure major. How about male nursing? If that’s not niche enough, veterinary medicine, funeral services, or Buddhist studies would do.”
“Luzhou, your father, and I want to send you abroad not just because of inheritance issues,” Lian Hui gave him a meaningful look. “I don’t see how studying abroad could be bad for you. Every leader at our station sends their kids overseas. Some even turn down guaranteed admissions to A University to apply for foreign universities in their senior year. This discussion ends here. Even if your father agreed to let you stay, I wouldn’t.”
“Is it because of what happened that afternoon?” he asked bluntly, perhaps wanting to die with a clear understanding.
“So, you’ve always thought I wanted to send you abroad for that reason? If you suspect there’s something between me and Director Yang, you can tell your father. I have evidence and can explain it clearly. It won’t affect whether you go or not. Also, I’m sending you abroad to gain experience, not to exile you. Get that straight. When you come back, you’ll still work for this family, just as you said before. Do you think we see you as a watchdog? Fine, come back and continue being an unpaid watchdog.”
When gentle women speak harshly, it’s the most devastating. Chen Luzhou, reflecting on these words later, felt he couldn’t compare. His temperament was mostly like Lian Hui’s – sharp and ruthless.
His footsteps were heavy. He hadn’t drunk much and was sure he wasn’t drunk, but when he pushed open the corridor door, the alcohol might have gone to his head. His inner rebellious nature took over, and he didn’t consider that someone might be in the hallway. He walked slowly, step by step, along the center line, mainly because he had nothing better to do and didn’t want to open the cold, empty rental apartment.
Then, a familiar voice sounded from beside him.
“Did you set up a trap?”
To be honest, Chen Luzhou was startled. Suddenly seeing Xu Zhi’s clean and indifferent face, he instinctively looked back at the corridor, somewhat confused. “You…”
Xu Zhi emerged from the darkness, standing two or three steps above him. She had been waiting for an unknown time but seemed a bit impatient. She wanted to ask where he had been, but smelling the alcohol on him, it became obvious.
“Went drinking?”
“Ah.” Chen Luzhou lowered his head, sidestepping her and opening the door discreetly.
He left the door open, changed into slippers, and tossed a clean pair at the entrance. Without waiting for her to enter, he went to the bedroom to change clothes without a word.
Xu Zhi put on the slippers but didn’t move further in. She stood at the entrance, waiting to see how he would deal with her when he came out of the bedroom. The phone in her pocket kept vibrating – it was Chen Luzhou’s. Her leg was almost numb from the vibrations. He was indeed busy; judging by the frequency of vibrations, it was enough to trigger her social anxiety.
The battery was probably down to one percent now. When she last checked, it was only at ten percent.
Chen Luzhou came out after changing. He had some strange habit; he had changed into a hoodie and long pants, as if afraid she might take advantage of him, not showing any skin except for his Adam’s apple, which looked even more prominent and clear this way.
Chen Luzhou had already sat down on the sofa. Looking back through the living room partition, he saw her still standing at the entrance. He quipped, “Standing there to be my door god? Did I pay you for that?”
Only then did Xu Zhi walk in and hand him the phone. “Yingying didn’t have a chance to call you back when you left.”
He took the phone while sitting on the sofa, responding with a noncommittal “Mm,” probably guessing why she was there. He looked at the phone – it was dead.
“Have a seat.”
He went to the bedroom to find a charger.
Xu Zhi heard the sound of drawers opening and closing. After a while, he came out of the bedroom with a black blanket draped over him, looking utterly exhausted. He was looking down, plugging the phone into a power bank, shuffling in his slippers. Seeing the power bank reminded Xu Zhi that she still owed him one.
She asked, “Are you catching a cold? Do you have a thermometer?”
Chen Luzhou sat back down, leaning on the sofa. He plugged in the charger and replied to a few important messages. The top one was from Gu Yan, five minutes ago, inviting him to dinner. He scrolled down to find Zhu Yangqi’s WeChat, typed a few words with one hand while running his fingers through his hair with the other, sent a message, and then tossed the phone on the table without looking at it again. He lazily tilted his head back against the sofa, staring at the ceiling idly, not answering her question. He spoke coldly, “Do you have anything else? If you want to see my mom, I haven’t figured out how to tell her yet. You probably saw her today; she’s not easy to fool.”
The living room TV was on, showing the weather forecast. It will rain in some areas tomorrow. She stared at the TV, listening to the familiar lines and background music of the host, and sighed, “Oh, it’s nothing. I’m not here to see your mom. I came to tell you a joke.”
Chen Luzhou had a psychological shadow area about her jokes, probably as big as a five-room apartment. “Can I choose not to listen?”
“It just happened. Do you not want to hear it?”
“Go ahead,” he sighed, giving in.
“Someone kept calling your phone just now. I was sharing a taxi with a lady, and we were sitting in the back seat. It was very awkward because your phone kept vibrating, and the lady kept thinking it was her phone. Every time it vibrated, she would take out her phone to check, and when she found out no one was looking for her, she would scold me.”
Xu Zhi sat with her back straight. Chen Luzhou was leaning back, and from this angle, he could see behind her ear. Her ears were very red and soft. Chen Luzhou stared at them for a while with a relaxed and gentle gaze, then teased, “What did she scold you for? Even made my CEO Zhi’s ears turn red.”
Xu Zhi didn’t know how red her ears were and thought Chen Luzhou was joking. She recounted the words verbatim, “She told me not to bring a massager when I go out. Wow, I was so embarrassed. I had to take it out and say it wasn’t a messenger, it was my friend’s phone. And then it just stopped!”
Chen Luzhou choked, “…Xu Zhi, are you making a dirty joke with me?”
“No, I’m asking you for emotional damages,” Xu Zhi said honestly.
Chen Luzhou knew it. He leaned back and reached for his phone, which was quite large. “Alright, how much do you want?”
“How much do you have?”
“I have five million. Do you want it?” he said good-naturedly and generously.
Xu Zhi was very rational, “If it’s legal, I’ll take it.”
Chen Luzhou laughed, locked his phone, and twirled it in his hand absent-mindedly. He joked, looking at her, “Such a large sum of money, it’s hard to make it legal unless we get married.”
“That won’t work,” Xu Zhi responded quickly.
“Now you’re being picky. I’m the one with five million, not you! Besides, who said I want to marry you? You’re dreaming.”
“Ah, I mean I’m not of legal age yet. You’re not either, right?”
“Even if I were, I wouldn’t marry. The country encourages late marriage childbirth, and eugenics. Better to focus on making money. How can you raise kids without money?”
So that’s Chen Luzhou’s approach. Xu Zhi thought, late marriage and childbirth, eugenics.
The conversation came to an abrupt halt. The heavy rain outside had also stopped, and the rainwater glistened under the streetlights.
About five minutes passed. The TV had switched to the midnight news broadcast. The anchor was reporting on tomorrow’s college entrance exam results. Xu Zhi glanced at him secretly again. “Chen Luzhou, I want to ask you a question.”
“Go ahead.” He was a bit drowsy, his eyelids closed indifferently, not even looking at the TV.
“It’s about Yingying,” Xu Zhi thought, Yingying, I’ll just test the waters, “She might have fallen for a guy recently…”
Chen Luzhou finally opened his eyes, sighed, and looked at her with an emotionless gaze. “I see, so that’s why you’ve been hanging around me today. Want to get some advice? Who does Cai Yingying like? Zhu Yangqi?”
“I can’t say.”
Chen Luzhou glanced at her sideways, his head resting on the sofa back, neck supported. He turned back, closing his eyes lazily, “Fine. Does she want to pursue him or what?”
Xu Zhi explained in detail, “It’s not about pursuing him. She just wants to continue being friends with him. She’s afraid that if she says anything, they won’t be able to be friends anymore. I think this guy is quite a player. Sometimes he’s extremely nice, and then he doesn’t contact her for days. Hot and cold. He seems to have female friends around too.”
Chen Luzhou: “If that’s not a player, what is?”
Xu Zhi: “Right? I think he’s quite a jerk.”
Chen Luzhou made a sound of agreement and reached for the remote control, casually suggesting, “Tell Cai Yingying to just have fun with it, don’t take it too seriously.”
Xu Zhi responded with an “Oh,” then asked, “Are you feeling better now?”
Chen Luzhou: “Why? If I’m not, what can you do about it?”
Xu Zhi thought for a moment, looked at the time, and made a sincere invitation: “I can take you for a motorcycle ride. It’s really exciting.”
“No thanks. Why are you always driving without a license?” Chen Luzhou politely declined, wrapping the black blanket tighter around himself. He really couldn’t hold on anymore. “If you don’t want to leave yet, just watch a movie by yourself. This movie is quite good, with lots of plot twists. I have a bit of a fever, so I can’t keep you company. I’m going to lie down for a while. If you want to leave, come and call me, I’ll send you back.”
“There’s alcohol in the fridge if you want some,” he added.
As he finished speaking, he broke off a cold medicine pill from the coffee table and was about to put it in his mouth when he suddenly remembered he had been drinking earlier. He immediately spat it out and reached for the water glass nearby to rinse his mouth. After drinking, he realized the water on the table was Xu Zhi’s. He hadn’t poured one for himself, just one for her earlier, and there was still a lipstick mark on the rim of the glass.
Xu Zhi didn’t forget to remind him, “…That’s mine.”
Chen Luzhou, still with water in his mouth, maintained a calm expression and mumbled, “…Gulp, gulp gulp.”
“Mm, I know,” he repeated clearly after spitting out the water.
Xu Zhi:?
The blanket fell to the ground, but Chen Luzhou was too lazy to pick it up. His brain was barely functioning as he explained, his Adam’s apple bobbing reluctantly, “I mean, I only realized after I drank it. Now I’m at a disadvantage. You don’t need to give me that look.”
“Should I be happy about it?”
“You don’t need to be,” Chen Luzhou finally picked up the blanket from the ground and quickly regained his composure, quite provocatively, “Is our five thousand still valid? I’ve kind of kissed you indirectly, although indirectly. Let’s give it a discount, how about twenty-five hundred? You can just send it to my WeChat.”
Xu Zhi quickly picked up the glass and took a sip too, knowing how to get even.
“Is that okay now? Or should I have another glass, and you can give me twenty-five hundred back?”
“…”