If it weren’t for his ears turning blood-red, Xu Zhi would have thought nothing was amiss as she looked down at Chen Luzhou’s cool, pale face and his clear black-and-white eyes. He still had that arrogant, fearless dog-like expression he always wore.
“There’s a jasmine petal on your lips,” Xu Zhi said as she leaned down, cupping his face.
Chen Luzhou didn’t respond. His gaze fell lightly on her lips, which were small and delicate with clear contours, like lush and beautiful rose petals. Even without kissing them, he imagined they must be very soft. How to put it? He recalled when Zhu Yangqi, in their second year of high school, dated a girl from the art class and kissed her on the first day. On the way home after school, Zhu Yangqi excitedly chattered non-stop, saying that the harder a girl’s heart, the softer her lips – like cotton candy, soft and sweet to kiss. He had asked Zhu Yangqi if he really liked that girl, and Zhu Yangqi said not particularly, he was just curious about what kissing felt like.
He thought Xu Zhi was curious too. She had probably discussed with Cai Yingying in private about what it felt like to kiss a boy. She always had an excess of curiosity.
Chen Luzhou had never kissed anyone. So only he knew how wildly his heart was beating at that moment, pounding fiercely and excitingly against his empty chest that felt like a vast wilderness, the echo unprecedentedly passionate.
He had considered going along with it half-heartedly, even if just a fleeting touch like a dragonfly skimming the water. He had always thought of himself as a romantic, caring about the atmosphere, but now it seemed the idealist flag had won out. So he turned his head slightly, avoiding her.
Chen Luzhou didn’t look at her, nor did he push her away. His hand hovered lightly at her waist, allowing her to lean over him with her warm breath. His gaze shifted uncomfortably to the side. “It’s raining,” he said.
Xu Zhi looked up, and indeed it had started raining. Large raindrops came down, and one unexpectedly landed on her lips. The sudden cold sensation made her lower her head instinctively. The full, round raindrop burst on her lips, carrying her skin’s warmth as it splashed onto his cool, pale cheek.
Well, that counted as a kiss too, she supposed.
Xu Zhi let out an “Oh” and quickly got off him. More people were gathering near the restrooms, probably getting ready to leave. Xu Zhi walked back silently, while Chen Luzhou watched her tall, slender figure, following behind with his hands in his pockets. They ran into Yang Yijing, who came straight for Chen Luzhou.
“Lu Cao, can I add you on WeChat?” Yang Yijing asked.
Chen Luzhou grunted in agreement and had to stop to take out his phone for Yang Yijing to scan. When he looked back, Xu Zhi had already boarded the bus with the others.
That evening, Yang Yijing posted a nine-grid photo collage on his Moments, thanking the TV station for their hospitality:
Yang Yijing: “Happy to have met many friends today. Thanks to the staff for taking care of us. The whole recording process was very enjoyable. It was interesting to see the top students chat. Also, I met a super handsome and nice guy – Chen Luzhou. I’ve admired him for a long time. Getting into 713 with raw scores, the legendary student from No. 1 High School truly lives up to his reputation.”
Xu Zhi probably liked the post without even looking at it, but when she saw Chen Luzhou mentioned at the end, she unliked it. Chen Luzhou happened to be scrolling through Moments at that time and saw the like appear and then disappear.
Chen Luzhou sighed. He had offended her after all.
After that night, they didn’t see each other for a while. Later, Chen Luzhou thought about it and realized that he and Xu Zhi didn’t have many interactions. If he didn’t actively seek her out, they probably wouldn’t run into each other by chance.
So one day, while playing basketball with Zhu Yangqi, the entire court was full of sweaty, shirtless guys not care much about their appearance. Only Chen Luzhou wore a white t-shirt under his red jersey, with a black headband holding back his messy hair, revealing his lean, muscular arms. Sitting on a mat under the hoop, he absent-mindedly changed his shoes and casually asked Zhu Yangqi, “Haven’t you been in touch with Cai Yingying lately?”
Zhu Yangqi was warming up, dribbling the ball with a “bong bong bong” sound as he did a layup on the empty court before leisurely replying, “Didn’t Xu Zhi tell you? Cai Yingying went on a trip with her.”
Chen Luzhou finished putting on his shoes and stood up, carelessly stomping twice to adjust them. “Where did they go?” he asked nonchalantly.
Zhu Yangqi gave him a strange look. “Changbai Mountain. They said they were going to see Heaven Lake. But how come you don’t know? Even if Xu Zhi didn’t tell you she was going on a trip, you should have seen it on her Moments, right? Didn’t she just post photos of Heaven Lake yesterday? Not everyone who goes there gets to see it.”
Chen Luzhou bent down to pick up his phone from the mat and opened WeChat to check. There was nothing, just a space – “Friend’s Moments only visible for the past three days.”
Well, he had been removed again.
Zhu Yangqi leaned over and saw the empty Moments feed. He said it was strange, wondering if she had deleted it. He immediately took out his phone to check and saw that the post was still there. Surprised, he said to Chen Luzhou, “Whoa, she blocked you? Did you two fight?”
Chen Luzhou didn’t bother explaining. There was no way to explain this situation anyway. Should he say she got angry because he wouldn’t let her kiss him? So he just vaguely grunted in response. Then he took Zhu Yangqi’s phone and scrolled through the nine-grid photos Xu Zhi had posted. He discovered that Tan Xu had gone too, which explained why he hadn’t heard any movement from upstairs these past few days. Seeing Chen Luzhou’s cold expression with his lips tightly pressed, Zhu Yangqi explained, “I asked. It’s their class graduation trip.”
Chen Luzhou let out an “Oh” and then asked, “Feng Jin snuck into their class too?”
“That dog just happened to want to go too. When he heard their class was going to Changbai Mountain, he immediately offered to be their free photographer. Cai Yingying added him to the group chat without hesitation. Photographers are in high demand everywhere these days. If you hadn’t fought with her, you probably would have been the one taking photos this time.”
“Come on, you think this is some great opportunity? Like I need to clean myself up and compete for the job,” Chen Luzhou said sarcastically as he heavily slapped the phone back onto Zhu Yangqi’s chest.
Did I say you needed to clean up? Zhu Yangqi wondered suspiciously for a moment, then quickly caught the phone against his chest. “Why do I smell sour grapes?” he teased.
“Get lost,” Chen Luzhou lazily tossed out the word as he walked onto the court to warm up. He picked up a ball from the ground, casually dribbled it twice, then threw a three-pointer. With a “bang,” it went in effortlessly. He didn’t move, coldly observing from beyond the three-point line, as if certain it would go in. He just waited for Zhu Yangqi, who was closer to the hoop, to retrieve the ball. With a somewhat detached air, he said:
“Just a photographer. Like I said, she can date whoever she wants.”
Though he said that, Young Master Chen still brought some attitude to the court. Jiang Cheng, who arrived hurriedly for the second half, saw Chen Luzhou playing with unprecedented ferocity today. He had always been arrogant because of his looks and aura but was quite easy to talk to. Even when bumped into, he wouldn’t say anything. Today he didn’t say much either, just sarcastically mocked the opponent twice: “Brother, if your eyesight is bad, why don’t you go to the hospital and get some glasses? That’s the third foul. Are you addicted to stepping on people?”
They didn’t know this guy, but he often played basketball here. That’s how it is with guys playing ball – when they can’t get a full team, they just join random games on the court. If they hit it off, they might become friends. If not, they probably won’t invite each other again after playing once. Plus, it’s a bunch of hot-blooded young men, so conflicts on the court are common. But Chen Luzhou was never the one to actively start trouble.
So when Jiang Cheng heard him say that, he looked at Zhu Yangqi in surprise and silently asked, “Did he take some drugs?”
Zhu Yangqi shook his head helplessly, trying to come up with a tactful explanation. He said it was probably like eating instant noodles and finding out someone took your noodles, leaving just the seasoning packet.
That’s unlucky, Jiang Cheng said sympathetically.
But Chen Luzhou’s bad luck continued. He ran into a troublemaker whose friend wasn’t easy to deal with either. On the court, seeing that Chen Luzhou’s side had more people, the guy didn’t say anything. But after the game, he suddenly called over a few people and surrounded Chen Luzhou without a word.
Chen Luzhou was used to people approaching him to ask about exam questions or check answers. So at first, he didn’t react. But seeing the eager looks on those thuggish guys’ faces, he belatedly realized – oh, they want to fight.
Zhu Yangqi and Jiang Cheng were familiar with fighting. This court was relatively chaotic, frequented not just by students but also by fitness-loving older guys from all walks of life. It was a mixed crowd, and fights broke out almost daily. The police station had to come by every few days. Any disagreement could lead to fists flying. If the No. 1 High School court hadn’t been closed these past few days, Chen Luzhou and his friends wouldn’t have come here.
Seeing their well-trained, imposing formation with cold glares in their eyes, the instigator now approached Chen Luzhou, saying word by word, “Brother, you’re the one who wanted to send me to the hospital for an eye exam, right?”
Usually for minor conflicts like this on the court between strangers, once people changed out of their jerseys and blended into the crowd, it was impossible to find anyone again.
But Chen Luzhou sighed quietly. The downside of being handsome was that even after putting on a jacket, he was still instantly recognizable.
He thought to himself that this probably couldn’t be resolved with words. He’d have to get a tattoo in the future. Next time he encountered people like this, he could just show his tattoo and say he was one of Dragon Brother’s men. But it seemed he couldn’t escape this beating.
Would they go easier on him if he told them not to hit his face?
Zhu Yangqi knew what he was thinking. Chen Luzhou hated trouble the most. If he could use words, he’d never use fists. Plus, he was afraid of pain. When they got vaccines as kids, he would howl for ages.
“Right,” Chen Luzhou said calmly. “The hospital’s closed now, isn’t it? You’ll have to go to the emergency room.”
“Cut the crap. We bumped into you a couple of times while playing ball and you can’t take it? You’re so delicate. Looking all fancy, your family must be rich, huh? You think we won’t hit you?”
Zhu Yangqi and Jiang Cheng were about to say forget the talk, let’s all jump in if we’re going to fight. But Chen Luzhou, not wanting the hassle of dealing with the aftermath, half-heartedly tried to reason one last time:
“How about this – I’ll walk you through the process verbally. If you hit me, my mom will call the police. She’ll also do a news special about it. It’s not really about anything else, mainly because she’s a radio producer. She definitely won’t pass up an opportunity to make news, especially since I’m this year’s top scorer in the college entrance exam.”
Pretty shameless to call himself the top scorer.
Zhu Yangqi: “…”
Jiang Cheng: “…”
The top raw score counts as a title too, right? That’s what Chen Luzhou thought. Anyway, he’d wear whatever hat Teacher Jiang gave him.
The other side hesitated. The atmosphere instantly loosened as they exchanged glances, frequently testing each other. If only Zhu Yangqi hadn’t gotten carried away and said to them, thinking he was being clever, “If you don’t mind the trouble, want me to give Dragon Brother a call?”
Zhu Yangqi had used this “Dragon Brother” character once before to successfully scare off some thugs, and it had worked like a charm ever since. But this time it backfired, because Jiang Cheng forgot to tell Zhu Yangqi that after the Dragon Brother bluff was exposed last time, he no longer had any status in the underworld.
So when the words “Dragon Brother” came out, the other side suddenly realized – that these were the idiots who had been using their Dragon Brother’s name to cause trouble recently. This was great – they could settle old and new scores together. For all they knew, this top exam scorer could be another lie to fool them. So with a silent exchange of glances, they charged forward without another word, fists flying.
The scene descended into chaos. Chen Luzhou didn’t have time to dodge and took a solid punch to the jaw. He hissed in pain, about to say something like, don’t you need to say “ready, set, go” before a fight?
But suddenly his back tightened as someone unexpectedly grabbed him from behind, trying to pin his arms back so their companion could attack his stomach. Good thing he had abs. But he reacted quickly. Being tall with lean muscles, he was quite resilient. The thug behind him couldn’t restrain him at all. The guy hadn’t expected him to be so tough. Though he looked thin, he was surprisingly strong. This was the advantage of youth – no smoking or drinking. Even with his tall frame, he was light as a swallow, with clean and swift punches and kicks. His blood was fresh and pure as it boiled, not weighed down by excess fat or unknown tumors in his organs. Each punch carried the bitterness of youth.
This was the difference between middle-aged men and young men.
Chen Luzhou didn’t dare hit too hard, afraid he might punch out someone’s fatty liver. These small-time thugs had no professional ethics – how could they have beer bellies?
**
That night, on the high-speed train back home, Xu Zhi was scrolling through Moments when she saw a gleeful status update from Zhu Yangqi:
Zhu Yangqi: “Congratulations to Young Master Chen on his first step to adulthood – achievement unlocked: first fight.”
There was a photo attached of someone’s hand. The arm was lean, with veins standing out prominently, probably from the fight. The long fingers had distinct knuckles.
Xu Zhi recognized it immediately as Chen Luzhou’s hand, because on the ring finger of his left hand was the ring she had drawn.
She had seen these hands just a few days ago – clean and pale, like lofty mountain ridges, not allowing even a touch.
In the comments, Chen Luzhou had replied:
Naked Man 713: “Can’t you post your hand? Don’t ride on my popularity.”
Zhu Yangqi replied to Naked Man 713: “What are you in a hurry for? I haven’t even posted your abs photo yet.”
Xu Zhi replied to Zhu Yangqi: “Anything less than eight-pack doesn’t count as abs.”
A moment later, amidst the noisy train carriage, Xu Zhi saw her phone light up with a WeChat notification. Before she could open it, Cai Yingying beside her thought it was her phone and tapped it. The WeChat message instantly appeared:
Naked Man 713: Eight-pack abs. Photos are fine too, 250 yuan each.
Cai Yingying realized it wasn’t her phone and looked at Xu Zhi in shock. Then she whispered, “Is this the going rate now? Are ab photos that profitable? But isn’t it not good to hire male escorts? Can you introduce me too?”
Xu Zhi: “This one’s not available. He’s too delicate, won’t even let you touch.”
Author’s Note: The next day, Cai Yingying said to Zhu Yangqi, “Do you know how much it costs for a duck nowadays? Two hundred fifty just to see abs!”
Zhu Yangqi immediately parroted this to Chen Luzhou, saying, “Some guys are desperate to make money. They’re becoming ducks, charging two hundred fifty just to show their abs…”
Chen Luzhou asked, “What exactly did you save me under?”
Xu Zhi: “……”