Chen Luzhou sprawled on the sofa, his legs spread wide, and replied to Xu Zhi.
Salt: [………………]
Those dots contained thousands of words and endless sighs. The other side seemed to sense something unusual.
Xu Zhi: [What did you do?]
Salt: [Cracked walnuts.]
Xu Zhi: [Chen Jiaojiao, are you crazy? Why are you cracking walnuts on New Year’s Day?]
Salt: [I’m hungry. There’s nothing to eat at home.]
Xu Zhi: [There are two cans of cat food in the fridge. Make do with that for a couple of days. Be good.]
Salt: […if you don’t love me anymore…don’t force yourself…]
This phrase had almost become his catchphrase.
Xu Zhi hugged her phone and laughed. Old Xu was standing in the yard, holding a hose to wash the car. He picked up a towel from the side and tossed it to her expressionlessly, “Help Dad wipe the car.”
Xu Zhi reluctantly put her phone back in her pocket and walked over, lazily wiping the car windows. After a while, she asked, “Dad, are you doing this on purpose?”
Xu Guangji was sweating from washing the car. He turned off the water and sprayed some cleaner, saying coolly, “That boy isn’t honest.”
Xu Zhi paused in her car wiping and quickly said, “He’s afraid you won’t accept it.”
Xu Guangji opened the car door and shook out the floor mats. “Nanan, Dad doesn’t oppose you dating, but whether it’s a boyfriend or a husband, your relationship must be based on mutual attraction, not unconditional. Do you understand what Dad means?”
Xu Zhi thought for a moment and said, “I think I understand.”
“You’re both still young. Once you’ve been dating for a while, if the attraction changes, it’s fine if the boy is responsible. But I’m worried about those without responsibility, who either cheat or drag on without getting married, wasting someone’s youth—” Xu Guangji sighed and continued, “Of course, I’m not doubting his character. Chen Luzhou’s personality is fine in all aspects. After you went to Beijing, he drank with me a couple of times. That boy is very well-spoken, more mature than kids your age, and very pure in terms of emotions. As an elder, I like him very much. But as my daughter’s boyfriend, I can’t help but be critical of him, and I must be.”
Qingyi had a light snowfall before the New Year, but the weather was good during the holiday, with temperatures rising by more than ten degrees.
After finishing his speech, Xu Guangji was already panting, with large beads of sweat sliding down his cheeks. He picked up a rag from the side and continued to bend down to wipe the car door. The setting sun fell on his face, seemingly etching the wrinkles onto his skin. The lines were uneven but clear, with hints of white hair visible at his temples.
It was then that Xu Zhi suddenly realized that when she was little, her father could carry her on his neck and play all afternoon without getting out of breath. But now, her father would be exhausted just from carrying a gas tank for her grandmother, even sweating while working and talking. Time waits for no one; only memories remain.
Xu Guangji wrung out the rag, oblivious to his daughter staring at him, and continued, “I don’t know much about his family background yet, just heard that his parents are in business. Let me tell you, businesspeople are the shrewdest. Our family background is relatively modest in comparison. If I don’t establish some authority in front of him, what if he bullies you in the future—”
“Beat him up!” The old lady sunbathing nearby suddenly shouted in a high-pitched voice.
Xu Zhi couldn’t help but laugh, suddenly thinking of Principal Wei. “Does Grandma know about you and Aunt Wei?”
“She knows. I told her before the New Year.”
Everyone in the village knew that after the old lady’s daughter passed away, Xu Guangji, as her son-in-law, had been taking care of her tirelessly. Although the old lady often grumbled about Xu Guangji, she hoped many times that he wouldn’t take care of her anymore. Xu Guangji also knew that the old lady was tough on the outside but soft on the inside, and he always told her, “I’ll take care of you in your old age, just to set an example for the children.”
Xu Zhi snorted, “So you kept it from me.”
“Didn’t you keep things from me too?”
They both laughed. Xu Guangji turned on the faucet again, picked up the hose, and rinsed the car once more. He said, “Principal Wei suggested we have a meal together on the third day of the New Year. Why don’t you invite Chen Luzhou?”
Xu Zhi exclaimed, “Invite Chen Luzhou?”
Xu Guangji said, “In your sophomore and junior years, you might not be able to come home even once a year due to your busy studies. Let’s take this chance while everyone’s here to meet, and I’ll have Aunt Wei help assess him too.”
“Okay, I’ll ask him.”
*
Chen Luzhou was in the middle of repairing the coffee table. He hadn’t fully nailed it yet, just roughly set up a frame. As he was about to secure the nails, his phone and the doorbell rang almost simultaneously. He carefully steadied the wobbly table, then picked up his phone to reply “okay” to Xu Zhi while going to open the door, walking extra carefully as if afraid of stepping on a landmine.
However, when he opened the door and saw a strange yet familiar face, Chen Luzhou was stunned for a long time before recognizing him. “Mr. Fu?”
Fu Yuqing stood elegantly at the door, dressed in a suit and wearing a matching woolen coat. He had a gentleman’s hat on his head and was twirling a set of car keys in his hand. His expression was a mix of disdain and sympathy as he handed Chen Luzhou a bag, opening with a statement that froze Chen Luzhou in place—
“I heard you have no underwear to wear?”
Chen Luzhou: “…”
After a few seconds of silence, Chen Luzhou tried to remain calm, after all, it was like “sending pants in snowy weather” (a play on the idiom “sending charcoal in snowy weather,” meaning to provide timely help). But his aura had never quite matched with Fu Yuqing’s. Although he had helped him shoot for the tea house and introduced him to photography work for the racing team, Fu Yuqing always seemed to look down on people, his words were often hurtful, and he always acted as if everyone owed him something. Even when introducing work to others, he had a tone of pity and charity.
“Did Xu Zhi ask you to come?” Chen Luzhou took the bag and asked, not inviting him in.
Fu Yuqing nodded with a smile and said, “I happened to be going down the mountain to their house for New Year’s greetings. Xiao Zhi said they went back to their hometown and asked me to do an errand. I didn’t expect that after not seeing you for so long, you’d still be in such a sorry state—” He paused, seemingly pondering something, then after a while, “Chen Zhou?”
“My name is Chen Luzhou.”
“It’s been too long since we’ve been in touch, I forgot. Has your family gone bankrupt? Where’s that rich, difficult-to-please brother of yours?” Fu Yuqing’s eyes scanned the room disdainfully, clicking his tongue. “Aren’t you going to invite me in for a cup of tea?”
Being Xu Zhi’s elder, Chen Luzhou didn’t argue with him. He opened the door wider and stepped aside slightly, “There’s no tea at home, but there’s mineral water in the fridge.”
Fu Yuqing waved his hand dismissively, “Mineral water will do.”
By the time Chen Luzhou had fetched the mineral water from the fridge, Fu Yuqing had already seated himself on the sofa, clearly having something to say to him. However, seeing the half-opened walnuts on the sofa, his obsessive-compulsive tendencies kicked in. There happened to be a hammer nearby, so he picked it up and started cracking the walnuts on the coffee table.
Chen Luzhou didn’t have time to stop him.
“Bang—” With one hammer strike, it collapsed again.
Fu Yuqing: “…”
Chen Luzhou: “……”
I just set that up.
To cover up his embarrassment, Fu Yuqing picked up a nearby cushion and leaned back heavily against the sofa. Just as he was about to say something to ease the awkward situation, there was a sudden dull pain on the top of his head. The last remaining painting on the wall could no longer hold on and fell—
Fu Yuqing’s hat was knocked askew, and he was left leaning on the sofa, looking dazed and defeated, his imposing aura completely shattered.
Fu Yuqing: “…”
Chen Luzhou couldn’t help but laugh a little as he walked over and removed the painting from Fu Yuqing. This is what you call karma for showing off.
“Do you need me to call an ambulance?” Chen Luzhou asked out of humanitarian concern.
Fu Yuqing said nothing, just waved his hand. This was not a place to linger.
He straightened his hat, regaining his composure, and coughed authoritatively, “Xu Zhi has told me everything. You two are dating.”
Chen Luzhou got a sense of what was going on. He took back the cushion from Fu Yuqing’s arms, sat down on the armrest of the nearby sofa with the cushion in his lap, one leg hanging lazily, and looked down at Fu Yuqing coldly, “Is there a problem?”
Fu Yuqing said, “No big problems, just a few small ones.”
“Go ahead.”
“How many girlfriends have you had?”
Chen Luzhou was prepared to account for his background, but he didn’t expect Fu Yuqing to ask this question. “Just Xu Zhi.”
“Are you a virgin?”
Are you crazy?
Chen Luzhou realized that Fu Yuqing might not be quite right in the head.
He leaned his head back against the wall, exasperated, his Adam’s apple sliding coldly, “I said just Xu Zhi. Aren’t you going to ask about my family situation?”
Fu Yuqing chuckled, “What’s there to ask? Hey, I heard you’re studying humanities at university, you must have studied philosophy, right? You surely know Freud, but have you heard of Adler?”
“I have.”
“Then you should know that Adler’s philosophy talks about teleology. Freud advocated for capitalism, believing that many people’s personalities are inseparable from their original families. But I prefer Adler’s teleology. Your original family is just a part of your past; I’m more interested in understanding what kind of person you are now. You mention family background, but that’s just about knowing whether you have money or not. You don’t have money now, but I believe you definitely will in the future, after all, you and Xu Zhi are both top students from A University. Your lives will certainly not be bad in the future. But I’m more concerned about a man’s inherent nature, for example, a prodigal son returning home. Perhaps a prodigal son will return, but I don’t want the little girl I’ve watched grow up to gamble on whether this prodigal son will return or not. Do you understand?”
Coincidentally, compared to Freud, Chen Luzhou also preferred Adler’s philosophy. He glanced at Fu Yuqing: “Do I look like a prodigal son to you?”
“A bit. After all, looking like you do, without some self-control…” Fu Yuqing trailed off.
Chen Luzhou couldn’t help but smile.
Fu Yuqing stood up: “That’s about it, that’s the point.”
Chen Luzhou handed him the water, “Not drinking the water?”
Fu Yuqing waved his hand without looking back: “Forget it, I’m afraid you might poison me.”
*
On the afternoon of the third day of the New Year, Xu Guangji prepared a table full of dishes, unprecedentedly sumptuous. Xu Zhi felt that she had been slacking off for most of this winter break.
Coincidentally, Principal Wei and Chen Luzhou entered at the same time. Xu Zhi obediently called out “Aunt Wei,” then bent down to take out two pairs of slippers from the shoe cabinet and placed them on the floor.
Chen Luzhou stepped back to let Principal Wei enter first. Principal Wei smiled and handed the New Year’s gift to her, “Happy New Year, Xu Zhi.”
“Thank you, Happy New Year.”
Principal Wei smiled and went to the kitchen to help.
Chen Luzhou entered last, standing and changing into slippers while looking down at her. He pinched her face with his hand, teasingly saying, “Why aren’t you greeting me?”
“What’s there to greet? Hurry up and change your shoes. Where’s my New Year’s gift?” Xu Zhi held out both hands.
Chen Luzhou handed her the things, a few bottles of wine and a small bag, while still slowly teasing her: “You’re demanding tribute, aren’t you?”
“Why are there two?”
Chen Luzhou put on his slippers and walked in, ruffling her hair as he said, “The alcohol is for your father. The other one is your New Year’s gift. You can open it later.”
After Xu Zhi put away the items and came out, Chen Luzhou was still standing there. He saw people busy in the kitchen but didn’t want to interfere, nor did he dare sit on the sofa like an idle boss. After greeting Xu Guangji, he could only stand awkwardly at the kitchen door, even though Xu Guangji had told him several times to find a seat.
Xu Zhi pulled him to sit down on the other side of the dining table. The dishes were ready, and Old Xu and Principal Wei were still inside making juice. Old Xu’s plump figure looked inexplicably simple and uneasy from behind.
Xu Zhi turned to look at Chen Luzhou and asked mischievously, “Nervous?”
Chen Luzhou was taking off his jacket and hanging it on the chair. He looked back at her and said brazenly, “Nervous about what? I’ve seen all kinds of situations.”
Despite claiming he wasn’t nervous, as soon as Xu Zhi leaned towards him, he uncomfortably moved away, saying in a low voice, “Don’t fool around. If your father sees, he’ll think I’m frivolous.”
Chen Luzhou maintained an air of abstinence throughout, refusing to get close to her. Every time Xu Zhi moved an inch closer, he quietly moved a foot away. Finally, he almost gave up eating, only picking up his chopsticks twice, sitting upright in his chair, and occasionally sipping some wine.
Old Xu probably didn’t know how to entertain either, repeating only two phrases enthusiastically throughout—
“Chen Luzhou, eat.”
“Ah, okay.” Chen Luzhou obediently picked up his chopsticks.
“Chen Luzhou, drink.”
“Ah, okay.” Chen Luzhou obediently took a sip of wine.
The scene was both awkward and amusing. Xu Zhi ate with her head down while observing their awkward but inevitable interactions, barely able to contain her laughter.
An outsider might have thought they were both socially anxious.
In the end, Principal Wei saved the situation by methodically opening up the conversation, “Where did you go to high school?”
Chen Luzhou naturally put down his chopsticks and looked over, “I went to No. 1 High School.”
Principal Wei was surprised for a moment, then smiled and said, “No. 1 High School is full of genuine top students. No wonder you got into A University.”
Xu Guangji, perhaps having drunk too much, began to reveal his thoughts. Sipping his old wine, he interjected, “He was always the top student at No. 1 High School.”
Chen Luzhou instinctively glanced at Xu Zhi, raising an eyebrow — Bragging about me again?
Xu Zhi smiled knowingly — No bragging, just stating facts.
By the end of the meal, Xu Guangji was truly tipsy. His cheekbones were flushed red, and even his eyes were glowing. He became talkative, and as he spoke, he would suddenly chuckle inexplicably, with an expression that seemed to suggest he had outsmarted everyone. In reality, everyone was watching him make a fool of himself.
“I knew all along.”
Xu Zhi and Chen Luzhou exchanged glances.
“During that period, your phone never rang at home, and you didn’t dare use it in front of me. Sometimes you’d hide in your room to make a call for hours. I even told Principal Wei that you must be dating someone.”
“You don’t need to worry about your father. I knew this day would come sooner or later. I’ve been mentally prepared for a long time. I was waiting for you to tell me so I could tell you about Principal Wei. I didn’t expect you to find out first. Hehe!”
Principal Wei: “…”
Chen Luzhou: “…”
Xu Zhi: “…”
Principal Wei couldn’t help but remind him, “Old Xu, I think you’ve had too much to drink.”
It was Xu Guangji’s first time getting drunk, and he couldn’t control his alcohol intake. His nerves were already numbed by alcohol, and he kept drinking stubbornly, rambling on about Xu Zhi’s childhood. When they finally managed to persuade him away from the table and were about to carry him inside, just as they put him down, Old Xu, in his drunken state, suddenly sprang up from the bed like a carp leaping out of the water, holding himself steady—
Everyone froze, looking at him in unison, not daring to move, all holding their breath waiting for his next action.
“Chen Luzhou!”
“Yes.”
The other two looked at him.
Xu Guangji: “Do you know how to tie a ponytail?”
“No.”
“Then come here, I’ll teach you the secret to tying Xu Zhi’s ponytail. Come here, Xu Zhi.”
Xu Guangji grabbed a “Xu Zhi” at random.
Chen Luzhou, looking bewildered, was firmly pressed down on the edge of the bed. Xu Guangji reached out to touch his hair, “It’s a bit short, but that’s okay. Your old man has superb skills.”
Xu Zhi and Principal Wei tried to stop him, “Dad!” “Old Xu!”
Chen Luzhou didn’t resist either, “It’s fine. Your dad won’t sleep until he’s done fussing.”
Xu Zhi then noticed a stack of rubber bands at Xu Guangji’s bedside. He skillfully pulled out one after another, muttering, “Ah, it must be at this height. Any higher and she’ll feel it’s too tight; any lower, and she’ll think it doesn’t look good.”
After finishing, with a “thud,” he lay down and fell asleep.
Xu Zhi and Principal Wei were almost laughing themselves to tears. Chen Luzhou’s head was now adorned with over a dozen small tufts, making him look like a cactus.
Chen Luzhou gave Xu Zhi a look of despair, “Is your dad always like this when he’s drunk?”
The next second, he bounced up from the bed again.
“I’ve thought of a new technique!”
Chen Luzhou: “…………”
*
After Chen Luzhou and Xu Zhi finished washing the dishes, Principal Wei came out of Xu Guangji’s room. Seeing his messy hair, she couldn’t help but chuckle, “Do you want to go home and wash your hair? Old Xu was just cooking, and his hands were oily. I can see your hair is shining.”
Mainly because Old Xu found his hair too dry to grab, he would occasionally spit skillfully into his palm, “Ptui! Ptui!” Then rub it evenly before grabbing his hair.
“I’m leaving soon,” Chen Luzhou told Principal Wei, then looked at Xu Zhi and said, “You should sleep early today?”
Xu Zhi yawned, “I’ll sleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.”
However, as soon as Principal Wei left, Xu Zhi went to the apartment across the hall.
The door wasn’t even closed, just left open. Xu Zhi took out her slippers from the cabinet and put them on. She saw his jacket thrown on the sofa, and the sound of running water came from the bathroom – he was probably washing his hair.
The coffee table was fixed. Xu Zhi shook it, and it didn’t budge. It was very sturdy, and the paintings on the wall hung perfectly level.
The water sound in the bathroom stopped, and Xu Zhi quickly sat down on the sofa, waiting for him to come out and praise her a bit. But then the sound of a hair dryer started. There was a book on the coffee table — “How to Build a Solid Fortress.” It was half-read. Xu Zhi glanced at the part he was reading. She initially thought it was some psychology book, but it turned out to be about interior decoration.
“For young couples, the sofa is a place for intimacy, so to test the softness of the sofa, it’s best to stand on it and jump a couple of times. Of course, most stores won’t allow you to do this—”
Xu Zhi decisively stood up and jumped a few times. It was quite soft, mainly because this sofa wasn’t expensive.
She thought to herself, Xu Zhi, you’re something. You’re great at buying things. You should change careers; you’re a genius interior decorator—
“What are you doing? Tearing the house apart?”
Seeing him leaning against the wall by the bathroom door with a casual expression like he was appreciating a world-famous painting, Xu Zhi immediately sat down obediently, “I’m testing the sofa.”
Then there was no sound. Xu Zhi turned her head, and he was gone again.
Xu Zhi couldn’t contain herself and went after him: “Chen Luzhou! You’re so busy—”
Just as she reached the bedroom door, she was unexpectedly pulled in with force and pressed against the door.
Chen Luzhou was changing clothes. He wasn’t fully dressed yet, wearing a white undershirt inside. He was pulling on a hoodie, his head emerging from the collar, his waist and lower abdomen exposed, faintly revealing beautiful oblique muscles. He looked down at her with a half-smile, “Getting impatient? I was just drinking with your dad, and I smelled of alcohol. I’m changing my clothes.”
He had also drunk quite a bit of baijiu tonight; his ears were red, and his voice, soaked in alcohol, seemed even more attractive.
Xu Zhi felt drunk herself. Now that they were alone together, even though he was right in front of her, she inexplicably missed him. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, and she couldn’t control her emotions. “When will the results of your competition be out?”
“Mid-April, I guess.”
“Then when are we going back?”
“When do you want to go back?”
“I haven’t decided. I was worried about my dad, so I thought of leaving later, but now I think leaving earlier might be fine too.”
They chatted casually, leaning against the door. Xu Zhi leaned on the door, one hand playing with his earlobe, the other hand not idle either, taking full advantage as she stroked his lower abdomen. Her fingers were trembling slightly, partly due to inexperience, and partly because she missed him so much. It had been so long since they’d seen each other that even the slightest touch seemed to ignite a fire. Her feelings were extremely conflicted; she wanted to extinguish it, yet she couldn’t help wanting the fire to burn even more fiercely, to the point of reducing her to ashes, only then could this thirst be quenched.
Chen Luzhou looked down at where her hand was sliding, saying nothing, allowing her to explore on her own. With his other hand, he took out his phone from his pants pocket and casually tossed it onto the bed, giving her more room to maneuver.
“Aren’t you applying to change your major next semester? I saw linear algebra books in your suitcase. Does Business Administration study linear algebra?”
“Mm, you went through my suitcase?”
“I wanted to hang your jacket in my wardrobe first. It was getting crushed at the bottom.”
“How did you know the password?”
“I just tried randomly, and it opened.”
“Impressive, little lock-picker?”
“I specialize in opening Chen Luzhou’s locks.”
Xu Zhi went to pull the drawstring of his sweatpants. Chen Luzhou’s sweatpants drawstring was never tied in a bow; it was an adjustable knot with the two ends pulled through the middle. So at first, Xu Zhi couldn’t untie it no matter how she pulled. She tugged at one of the strings, but the more she pulled, the tighter the waistband became—
“Your pants are so hard to untie. Why did you tie them so tight—”
Xu Zhi was distracted by this drawstring, about to look down to see how he had tied it, when her lips were unexpectedly caught in a kiss.
He kissed her for a long time, almost without any other movement, not deepening it. For nearly half a minute, he made no further advances, just steadily kissing her.
Xu Zhi’s heart was pounding, almost out of control. Her eyes involuntarily closed from the kiss, her back pressed against the door, a hot and hard wall against her chest. Her heart was beating more frantically than ever before, always feeling that his pause this time was like the calm before a violent storm.
Chen Luzhou had one hand propped against the door as he tilted his head to kiss her, his jaw line tightly tensed, like a bow and arrow ready to be released, poised for action. He paused for a good while, then slowly moved his jaw slightly, his lips beginning to open and close, his Adam’s apple sliding up and down methodically as he swallowed her breath bit by bit with his eyes closed. Only then did his hand move to untie his sweatpants drawstring.
Xu Zhi’s heart was racing wildly. She couldn’t even think about why he was so adept at flirting. She only felt a tingling sensation running down her spine, and her legs were weak. She could barely stand.
There were no other sounds in the room, only the sound of their lips caressing, exchanging the most intimate and direct temperature and moisture. The entire room’s temperature suddenly rose, as if someone had added fuel to a fire. The originally dim, phosphorescent light suddenly blazed to its fullest.
Finally, Chen Luzhou lifted her and pressed her onto the bed. After kissing her intensely for a while, he spoke in a hoarse voice near her ear, pinning her hands above her head. His gaze swept over her carefully and with restraint, difficult to suppress, yet he still asked for her opinion.
“Is this okay?”
Only after obtaining the girl’s permission did he smile, sit up, take off his shirt, and reach for something on the bedside table.
……
After Chen Luzhou found what he was looking for, he turned off the lights, leaving only a bedside lamp on. The yellow light seemed particularly ambiguous and suggestive in the deserted night.
The room fell into complete silence, and even the light vanished entirely. Only the shadows on the walls flickered occasionally, reminiscent of mature silkworms on the verge of breaking free from their cocoons. The husks cracked open like bamboo, revealing a glimpse of the materialistic adult world outside.
In the middle of the night, the bedding felt damp, like a towel that could never quite dry.
Xu Zhi was completely enveloped, the heat radiating from him made her feel almost suffocated, and her cheeks flushed with warmth.
“Is it too hot?” he asked softly. “Or are you feeling unwell?”
“Mm.”
He silently leaned against her shoulder and chuckled, his heated breath brushing against her ear. It was almost as if he had muttered a curse, a mischievous laugh that was both vibrant and resigned, forming words with his lips. At that moment, Xu Zhi was dazed and dizzy, barely able to make out his silhouette, let alone read his lips.
“What did you say?” she murmured.
“I said,” he repeated slowly, word by word, even echoing the curse, his youthful innocence mingled with a hint of mischief, “I—didn’t—put—in—any—effort.”