Xu Zhi didn’t reply to him. Chen Luzhou didn’t send any more messages either. At the time, he was buying safflower oil at the pharmacy because his entire arm was bruised and scraped. While waiting for the clerk to fetch the medicine, he had originally taken off his jacket and loosely hung it over his shoulder. A child was taking their temperature nearby, and afraid of scaring them, he put his jacket back on.
The pharmacy clerk noticed the injuries on his face. Seeing how handsome he was, they figured he must care about his appearance, so they gave him a box of amoxicillin, routinely advising: “Take these along with it. Try not to wash your face for a few days. If the wounds get wet, they can easily become infected, and that would be troublesome if it leaves scars.”
Chen Luzhou sighed. This was why he didn’t like getting into such troublesome situations. This wasn’t Chen Luzhou’s first time fighting. When he was young in the orphanage, he’d get into scraps every few days. Back then, people were always messing with his things. He didn’t know why, but some people just seemed to find others’ possessions particularly appealing, or maybe they were just lazy, always taking his lunchbox at mealtimes. But Chen Luzhou had a strong sense of ownership and was a bit of a neat freak. He refused to let others touch his things. At that time, he wasn’t as articulate as he is now, so when he couldn’t win arguments, he could only resort to physical force. That’s why later on, he started carving his name into all his belongings.
As he walked out of the pharmacy carrying a bag of medicine, Zhu Yangqi and Jiang Cheng were standing at the entrance, smoking and chatting. Though fighting wasn’t an everyday occurrence for them, playing basketball often enough meant they’d run into troublemakers now and then. They didn’t pay much attention to their bruises, figuring a couple of cigarettes would ease the pain. Seeing Chen Luzhou finally emerge, the two stood under the dim streetlight, half-jokingly teasing him about his delicate nature: “How was it? Did the pharmacy people say if you’d come two minutes later, your wounds would have healed already?”
“Get lost,” Chen Luzhou cursed with a laugh. He was in a good mood, so he didn’t take offense. Instead, he took out a bottle of safflower oil from the bag and tossed it to them. “Put some on. You two have almost as many scars on your faces as Brother Long now.”
Mentioning this, Zhu Yangqi suddenly realized why Brother Long’s influence had suddenly waned. Jiang Cheng coughed awkwardly, discreetly putting out his cigarette and preparing to make a quick exit. “I’m going to find Hang Sui,” he said.
The pharmacy was on a small road outside Yifeng Lane. This area was somewhat like an urban village, with tall buildings and shopping malls silently enclosing a patch of old, narrow, low-rise buildings. Just a street away was the bustling commercial area, teeming with people. But this side, being an old residential area, had few pedestrians. Along the road, various small shops were open, their wares on full display. Those who could afford to live here were mostly long-time locals, so occasionally one could see top-tier sports cars arrogantly speeding past on the empty, quiet roads.
The two walked along the sporadically lit street lamps towards the alley. Chen Luzhou’s jacket was open, a bag of medicine in hand, walking leisurely, occasionally taking out his phone to check, but there were no messages. Zhu Yangqi, oblivious to his distraction, was enthusiastically gossiping about Jiang Cheng and Hang Sui.
“…”
“Jiang Cheng’s unlucky to have met Hang Sui. Hang Sui’s ruthless. Come to think of it, I don’t know why, but I feel Hang Sui is a bit like Xu Zhi. Maybe that’s just the similarity among great beauties?”
The evening breeze was gentle. It had rained earlier, and the air carried a hint of coolness. Chen Luzhou couldn’t help but soften his breathing, now only wanting a hot drink to fill the emptiness in his heart. He walked with one hand in his pocket, weary and annoyed, listening to Zhu Yangqi’s chatter without responding. Only when he heard the last comment did he naturally pick up the conversation, in a lazy tone: “Really? How are they alike? I didn’t notice.”
Zhu Yangqi said he didn’t know, it was just a feeling.
Chen Luzhou spotted a small yellow dog along the way, lying contentedly at the entrance of the 8090 convenience store, wagging its tail. He stared at it for a moment, then asked Zhu Yangqi without turning his head: “Do you know what it means when a dog wags its tail?”
Zhu Yangqi replied: “No idea. Maybe it needs to poop?”
Chen Luzhou gave him a sidelong glance: “…”
That night, Chen Luzhou’s phone still had no replies. He felt Xu Zhi probably wouldn’t actively contact him again. In the meantime, he had sent a WeChat message to Cai Yingying, but she hadn’t replied either. Xu Zhi had likely told her about that night, and the two girls always stuck together. Chen Luzhou thought this was fine; Cai Yingying should unconditionally stand by her side.
…
Zhu Yangqi woke up from a nap to find Chen Luzhou sitting silently in the living room, playing with his phone. Thinking he was chatting with someone, Zhu Yangqi sneaked over for a look, only to discover he was scrolling through Cai Yingying’s WeChat Moments. Suddenly enraged, he hit Chen Luzhou hard, “What are you doing? Changing targets?”
Chen Luzhou reacted quickly, instinctively raising his arm to block, which happened to hit Zhu Yangqi’s forearm. His hand was already covered in bruises, and this sudden strike sent a sharp pain through him. He fell back onto the sofa, looking at the ceiling with extreme exasperation. He was furious but could only hiss in pain—
“Don’t you dare seduce Cai Yingying. She has no resistance to handsome guys. She’s told me many times that someone with your looks could become a top-tier celebrity in the entertainment industry in no time. She thinks just casually dating you would be cool. Besides, you’ve always been careful to avoid such situations, especially with girls I like—”
The quiet living room was filled with Chen Luzhou’s rapid yet even breathing, which sounded strangely exciting. If it were someone else here, the scene would be hard to describe. Leaning back on the sofa, he wanted to kick Zhu Yangqi but was too weary of his pig-headedness to even bother lifting his foot. When he finally caught his breath and the intense pain slowly subsided from his nerves, his breathing returned to normal. Those clear, clean eyes could only look at Zhu Yangqi coldly and speechlessly, with an air of detachment that seemed almost like resignation—
“All these years, when have I not actively avoided girls you liked? Don’t bring up Gu Yan; I didn’t say a single word to her in three years of high school. And if I wanted to have a secret affair with someone, I wouldn’t choose Cai Yingying. Get your head straight. It’s not because you like her, it’s because she’s Xu Zhi’s friend.”
“Then you—” Zhu Yangqi realized he had been too sensitive lately. He lifted his T-shirt, patting his stomach. “How about you hit me back?”
“Get out of here,” Chen Luzhou was extremely annoyed. He reached for his phone on the coffee table and said coldly, “I’m looking for Xu Zhi’s birthday. Boss Fu said it’s in early July, but I don’t know which day.”
It was early July at the time, probably around those few days, but Xu Zhi’s WeChat Moments were set to only show the past three days, so he could only look at Cai Yingying’s Moments. Fortunately, she was carefree and her Moments were fully open. However, there was a lot of content; she posted seven or eight times almost every day. Chen Luzhou spent two hours going through a year of her Moments, afraid of missing any information.
So Zhu Yangqi curiously asked, “Why Xu Zhi? Over the years, there have been plenty of girls who liked you, right? Some are prettier than her, and you’ve probably met many with better grades. Why her?”
Chen Luzhou was silent for a while. His bangs hid his eyes in the darkness, his profile handsome. He simply recounted the scene from the first time they ate barbecue: “Remember that night we had a late-night snack? It was the first time I met her. I was helping a disabled person save a seat and arguing with a kid. The kid went to get an adult to reason with me, and she came over saying she would record audio for me, and that she wouldn’t let anyone wrongly accuse me. That feeling of someone unconditionally taking your side was quite nice. I guess that was the beginning. After that, I’m not sure myself.”
“How far has it gone? Can you forget her when you go abroad?” Zhu Yangqi fired off three questions in a row. “Will you still like her when you come back?”
“What do you think?” Chen Luzhou suddenly glanced at him, thinking to himself, “Alas, the morning comes with cold rain and the evening with the wind.”
He leaned forward to pick up a cotton swab from the coffee table, dipped it in safflower oil, and while applying it, spoke quite frankly, “To be honest, I’ve only known her for these few days. How far could it have gone? I’m not joking. Even if she dates someone in Beijing, I just hope the guy is reliable. With Xu Zhi’s personality, she doesn’t know how to protect herself. I’m just afraid that before the guy has even entered an emotional state, she’ll be in a rush to do something physical with him.”
Zhu Yangqi narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, realizing that Young Master Chen was still quite conservative at heart. He drawled, “Oh— So dating is fine, but you’re worried about her sleeping with someone. I get it, you’re a clean freak.”
Chen Luzhou remembered Xu Guangji asking if he had a virgin complex, but that wasn’t it at all. After applying the medicine, with his sleeve still rolled up to his elbow, even injured, the lines of his arm were lean and smooth, exuding an indescribable strength in the dim light.
He then carelessly tossed the cotton swab into the trash can and said with self-mockery, “You might be overthinking it. I don’t have that kind of obsession with cleanliness. I’m not afraid of her sleeping with someone; I’m afraid of her sleeping with someone unreliable. Get it? We’re both men, do I need to spell it out for you? That’s why I asked you to keep an eye on her. I’ve known you for so many years, and your judgment of people has never been wrong. Her boyfriend should at least meet my standards, right?” After saying this, he suddenly remembered there were a few baked sweet potatoes left from when Xu Zhi came to his house, so he casually asked, “Want some baked sweet potatoes?”
By your standards, there might not be many candidates in all of A University, Zhu Yangqi thought to himself. But out loud, he quickly replied, “Sure. So you two—”
Chen Luzhou got up to boil some water. “If she wants to end things with me like this, then let it end. I’ve taken on an aerial photography job, might have to go to the Northwest in a few days. When I come back and get everything ready, it’ll probably be about time for me to leave.”
Zhu Yangqi suddenly felt as if a heavy stone had been thrown into his heart, weighing him down. Although he had always known Chen Luzhou would leave, his emotional reactions had always been slow since childhood. As long as the time hadn’t come, he felt it was still far off. Now he was truly feeling the reluctance to part before the separation.
Though Chen Luzhou often said Zhu Yangqi had mistresses outside, Zhu Yangqi had always been very attached to him. At Yi Zhong, just saying “I’m Chen Luzhou’s brother” would make people look at him twice. He was a walking topic generator. He once told Feng Jin that the reason he had so many girls’ WeChat contacts was mostly because of Chen Luzhou. Now that this person was going abroad, Zhu Yangqi’s inner feeling was that his sun was leaving, his sun was going to shine on others. It was almost enough to make him weep until dawn.
But Chen Luzhou thought he was being insincere. After boiling water, he came back and sat down, turning on the TV while ungratefully exposing Zhu Yangqi’s true intentions: “Come on, you just think it won’t be as convenient to add girls on WeChat anymore, right?”
Zhu Yangqi didn’t deny it: “That’s one of the reasons.”
Chen Luzhou smiled, aimlessly flipping through channels. He spoke casually and easily as if it wasn’t a big deal. If anyone else had said this, Zhu Yangqi would not have believed them.
“Two years, I guess. I’ve looked at the courses there. The undergraduate program is only three years. I plan to complete all the credits in two years and see if I can earn some money in the meantime. Once I’m financially independent, I’ll come back. It’ll be like repaying the kindness of their upbringing for these past ten-plus years. I won’t rely on them anymore after that,” Chen Luzhou said sincerely, gesturing with his eyes. He was the epitome of a wise man who knew how to adapt to circumstances. “Mainly because even the underwear I’m wearing now was bought by Madam Lian Hui.”
Zhu Yangqi knew he only wore a certain brand; they both did. But that brand was expensive, not something you could afford with just a few part-time jobs. Zhu Yangqi knew he was just joking. He had asked him before, “Why don’t you rebel? Why don’t you leave this family?” Perhaps for others, this would be easy, but for Chen Luzhou, he inherently lacked a sense of belonging. How to put it? This sense of belonging was something no one could give him, not even Xu Zhi now. How could he possibly feel a sense of belonging? And the family he had lived with for over a decade, Lian Hui and Chen Jishen had always been very loving towards him. Call it sugar-coated bullets or false affection if you will, but these ten-plus years of companionship and the identity of “family” were already indelible. If he didn’t agree to even this small request, wouldn’t quite a few people point at his spine and call him an ungrateful wretch?
Since he had played the role of a morally upright person for so long, he couldn’t possibly tarnish his reputation at this critical juncture. So Zhu Yangqi believed that when he said two years, it meant two years.
But he also felt that two years was still too long. If they waited for him to come back, others might have already gotten married and had kids.
Xu Zhi discovered that emotions are indeed quite contagious. For instance, Cai Yingying was unhappy at the moment because Old Cai had a work transfer and might be reassigned to another province for a year or so. This, coupled with her impending departure from college in September (although the admission results weren’t out yet, whichever school accepted her would be quite far from Qingyi), made her start worrying about Old Xu.
“Anyway, from childhood to now, I’ve always been put last. When Mom was around, he only cared about Mom. When Mom wasn’t there, it was work. Finally, these past few years, he’s been able to pay attention to me, and now, he’s going away again.”
Xu Zhi couldn’t quite articulate her feelings. On one hand, she envied Director Cai’s abilities; on the other hand, she felt that Old Xu’s way was quite good too – mediocre, not needing to be too outstanding, with plenty of time to spend with family.
The two girls were idly painting their nails at home. Xu Zhi had also drawn a ring pattern on her ring finger, and sighed, “At least someone like Old Cai won’t get scammed out of his retirement money when he’s old.”
Cai Yingying, resting her chin on her hand, watched as Xu Zhi put her hand under the spotlight lamp. Helplessly, she asked, “Did Old Xu transfer all the money?”
Xu Zhi replied, “Not all of it. He forgot the password for the other card, and the bank staff stopped him in time. But the earlier 80,000 yuan can’t be recovered.”
When Old Xu learned the truth, he was completely devastated. That’s why she had been giving statements at the police station these past few days.
Cai Yingying hadn’t expected that scammers’ techniques were constantly evolving, making it nearly impossible to guard against them. She remembered something and picked up her phone, scrolling through her text messages to show Xu Zhi, “I encountered a scammer a few days ago too. They said they were going to send me two movie tickets for Bohui Cinema, some kind of private box. Ridiculous, when has Bohui Cinema ever given out free movie tickets? Look, it’s from an unknown number, asking me to redeem a QR code-“
Cai Yingying had intended to show Xu Zhi, but accidentally clicked on the link. The page that popped up showed the seat numbers for Bohui Cinema. “Damn, it worked?”
Xu Zhi asked, “Where?”
“Bohui Cinema, 3rd floor private room-“
Author’s Note:
Zhu Yangqi: Hey, Cai Yingying, want to eat at Shang Fang Hot Pot?
Cai Yingying: I’m going to watch a movie in, a private room.
Zhu Yangqi: Oh-, then let’s change to Yang Fang Hot Pot, 2000 yuan per person, air-flown fresh tripe.
Cai Yingying: Hey, Xu Zhi, you go watch the movie by yourself…
This chapter doesn’t have any interaction between the main characters, so I feel like you guys might start urging again, but this is just a transitional chapter, can’t help it. The two are at an impasse now, someone needs to break the deadlock. There will be major plot developments tomorrow, though the next chapter might have an explosion in word count. Also, this novel is a slow-burn daily life story or something like that? So don’t worry about the ambiguous period being too long and not leaving enough room for the rest of the plot. Everything will be written.