As soon as Xu Zhi got home, she rushed to her room to unwrap the New Year’s gift Chen Luzhou had given her. At first, she thought it was just an ordinary phone charm, but when she hung it on her phone and felt it carefully, she realized it was made of wool felt. He had probably made it himself. The design was exquisite – a small dog, a Bichon Frise. The characteristic of wool felt is that it looks very lifelike, and this did look like a miniature dog, vivid and animated.

That night, Xu Zhi was unusually excited. She kept chatting with Chen Luzhou on the phone late into the night about this and that, until he was driven to exasperation.

Salt: [Sleep? O.K.?]

Xu Zhi ignored him. After her shower, she dove into her small bed and continued to tease him.

Xu Zhi: [Did you miss me a lot during the summer break?]

He remained stubborn on the other end.

Salt: [Don’t think too much. I mainly wanted to hear the speech I wrote.]

Xu Zhi: [Stop pretending.]

He finally couldn’t hold on anymore.

Salt: [Fine, this romantic is tired.]

Xu Zhi: [Just once, and you’re this tired?]

Salt: […The alcohol, your dad’s alcohol has quite a kick.]

He had drunk quite a bit tonight. Xu Guangji kept saying “drink up” over and over, so he hadn’t drunk little. But he wasn’t drunk, just dizzy and light-headed, so now the aftereffects were hitting him hard. This feeling was worse than being completely drunk.

Xu Zhi finally let him go to sleep. Chen Luzhou called her again. He was already in bed, and from his even and steady breathing, it seemed he was already in a trance. But in his half-awake state, he still remembered one thing. His voice was muffled in the blanket, groggy: “Are you still in pain?”

Xu Zhi’s heart suddenly softened. Being loved by such a person, it felt like her heart was fluttering at every moment. Even though she was still a bit sore, she said, “It doesn’t hurt, you go to sleep!”

There was a pause on the other end. His breathing was steady and even, somehow sounding a bit sexy. Xu Zhi thought he had fallen asleep. After a while, he suddenly called her name: “Xu Zhi.”

“Mm?”

“This alcohol has a strong aftereffect,” he laughed lazily, seeming to have lost all reason. “So strong that I want to kowtow to my mom, thanking her for letting you find me.”

“Then you should kowtow to Tan Xu too.”

If it weren’t for him, they wouldn’t have met.

“Can you not annoy me?”

“I’m joking,” Xu Zhi coaxed him again, “Chen Jiaojiao, I love you.”

“Mm, me too,” he said.

Xu Zhi smiled. He had drunk too much.

*

When Xu Guangji woke up the next day, he was in a very good mood, humming a tune in the kitchen while enthusiastically making breakfast.

Xu Zhi came out of her room yawning, looking at her father’s honest and sturdy back with a teasing expression. She leaned against the doorframe and asked with a smile, “Dad, last night you—”

Xu Guangji didn’t turn around, lighting the stove while saying, “Doesn’t Chen Luzhou live nearby? Why don’t you call him over for breakfast?”

“He probably hasn’t woken up yet.”

Xu Zhi had sent him a WeChat message when she woke up, but he hadn’t replied. He was probably still asleep.

“Does an A University top student sleep this late?” Xu Guangji joked, “How will he make money in the future?”

“It’s not like this every day. He works very hard at school. Dad, do you not remember what you did yesterday?”

Xu Guangji finally became impatient, “Auntie Wei told me everything. I braided Chen Luzhou’s hair.” He waved his hand, “I was drunk, drunk.” He suddenly turned around, “That kid wasn’t angry, was he?”

“He won’t be. Chen Luzhou has a very good temper.”

Xu Guangji heated the milk and brought it out from the kitchen. He smiled with relief, “Indeed. Principal Wei also told me today that the kid has a good temperament and personality, and he’s polite too. When Principal Wei talks to him, he always puts down his chopsticks and listens attentively. Principal Wei is quite observant. I didn’t notice these things.”

Xu Zhi took a youtiao from the table, bit into it, and smiled meaningfully: “Are you praising Chen Luzhou or Principal Wei?”

Xu Guangji felt inexplicably embarrassed in front of his daughter, “What do you think of Principal Wei?”

Xu Zhi took a sip of milk: “She’s very nice, very gentle. Feels like she’s good at taking care of people.”

Xu Guangji nodded, reciprocating: “Chen Luzhou is not bad either. Feels like that kid will be quite successful in the future.”

They both laughed. After exchanging opinions, Xu Guangji prepared to go to work, and Xu Zhi, tying her hair, also prepared to go out. They both knew what was going on without saying it. Old Xu didn’t say anything, just reminded her, “Come home early, don’t play too late.”

Chen Luzhou was still not awake when Xu Zhi went in. The room was quiet, just as it was when she left last night. There was still a tied-up condom in the bathroom trash can.

Quite skillful, Chen Jiaojiao.

It was already nearly ten o’clock. Chen Luzhou rarely slept this late. Xu Zhi walked into the bedroom, saw a figure covered by the blanket on the bed, and closed the door again. She idly played with the felt dog on her phone in the living room while absentmindedly watching TV for a while, and couldn’t help but complain that her boyfriend could sleep.

When there was movement from the bedroom, Xu Zhi had already run out of patience. She sprang up from the sofa and rushed in, “Awake?”

Chen Luzhou had just lifted the blanket to get out of bed and was standing by the bed putting on slippers. He was wearing nothing but underwear, revealing a body of taut, clean muscles and a certain part standing tall like a mountain. Startled, she bounced back into bed, tucked the blanket around herself, leaned against the headboard to wake up for a while, and laughed extremely helplessly and speechlessly, letting out a long sigh, “Is my girlfriend a monkey? How can you be so energetic?”

Xu Zhi walked to his bedside with a smile, looking down at him under the blanket with mischief, “Shall we go out for a walk today?”

Chen Luzhou directly lifted her chin, making her look straight into his eyes: “Okay, let me change my clothes.”

“My dad won’t be back for lunch, we can grab something quick and then go out.”

“Mm, you go out first, let me put on some pants.”

“Chen Luzhou! What’s wrong with looking?”

Chen Luzhou laughed, simply lifting the blanket for her to see, “This is fucking embarrassing, okay?”

Xu Zhi commented, “Your fish is stone dead.”

“You asking for a beating?”

“Otherwise why is it so stiff and motionless?” Chen Luzhou laughed and turned his head away, at a loss: “…I give up.”

Xu Zhi stopped teasing him, “Go brush your teeth quickly, I brought you breakfast.”

After breakfast, the two lingered on the sofa for a while. Some things were simply uncontrollable. For couples in the honeymoon phase who had an extreme desire to explore each other’s bodies, it was difficult to control not pressing their bodies together. So the original plan to go out for a walk in the afternoon turned into holding hands to go buy condoms.

They went to the convenience store. Xu Zhi took a big bag of snacks to cover up their true purpose. Originally, if they mixed in, people wouldn’t notice, but Chen Luzhou was more direct, openly placing just two boxes on the checkout counter. Xu Zhi couldn’t stop him in time.

Xu Zhi: “…”

The cashier looked at the well-matched and extremely good-looking couple thoughtfully, “Together?”

“No, no, no, I don’t know him.”

Chen Luzhou looked at her smile, thinking she wanted to do naughty things but couldn’t muster the courage, “…Mm, we don’t know each other, please.”

The two walked out of the convenience store one after the other. When they reached a deserted alley, Xu Zhi silently sidled up to him, wanting to hold his hand. Chen Luzhou lifted his arm, pulling her away, lowering his head with a smile about to tease her, who are you—

He turned his head and saw a familiar figure at the entrance of the residential complex, and was stunned for a moment.

Xu Zhi took the opportunity to hold his hand. He didn’t struggle, his gaze fixed straight ahead. Xu Zhi followed his line of sight curiously, “Oh, isn’t that your mom? Is she here to see you? Should I step aside for a moment?”

Chen Luzhou held her hand with one hand and put the other in his pocket, looking straight at Lian Hui’s back, “She’s probably not here to see me. She doesn’t know I live here.”

Xu Zhi made an “oh” sound.

The next second, they saw an even more familiar figure hurriedly walking out of the building.

Damn.

— Old Xu!

“Your dad’s off work?” Chen Luzhou asked, lowering his head.

Xu Zhi: “Mm, about this time.”

After speaking, she hurriedly handed the things in her hand to Chen Luzhou, wanting to rush over. Chen Luzhou held her back, “I’ll go.”

Xu Zhi said: “No if you go over, there’ll be a fight. Your mom is looking for my dad, it must be about us.”

Chen Luzhou naturally wouldn’t let her go alone. Xu Zhi, held firmly by his hand, couldn’t move at all. She gave up resisting and said, “Fine, let’s go together. But don’t argue with your mother. Let’s talk things out calmly, otherwise, we’ll scare my dad. If he doesn’t agree either, we’ll be in an even worse situation.”

Chen Luzhou grunted in agreement, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

But as they approached, they faintly heard voices and realized the situation wasn’t quite what they had imagined.

Lian Hui wasn’t there to talk to Old Xu about their relationship. Instead, the two adults were conversing in a tone both familiar and strange, with an undercurrent of inexplicable awkwardness. Both Xu Zhi and Chen Luzhou stopped in their tracks, exchanging a puzzled glance before quickly hiding behind a nearby tree – the same one Cai Yingying had shaken earlier, covering it with bird droppings.

The conversation continued, and the young couple listened with their backs against the tree:

“I’m quite surprised you contacted me,” Xu Guangji said.

“I’m facing some issues right now, and contacting you was the only solution I could think of,” Lian Hui replied.

“It’s been almost twenty years, hasn’t it?” Xu Guangji continued. “I didn’t expect you to reach out today. I just got off work. Where are you working now?”

Lian Hui’s voice was gentle: “I used to work at the TV station, but I quit last year. Now I run my own advertising company, helping people with promotions.”

Xu Guangji offered, “Would you like to come up for a bit? Your call was so sudden, I haven’t prepared anything, but we could have some tea.”

“No need,” Lian Hui declined. “I have another appointment soon. I just wanted to discuss the child’s situation with you. He’s grown up now, and will eventually learn about certain things. Let’s talk in detail at my office tomorrow. My only request is that we minimize the impact on the child as much as possible.”

With that, Lian Hui left. The sound of her high heels echoed resolutely through the empty compound entrance, her steps firm yet seemingly desperate.

Xu Zhi: “…”

Chen Luzhou: “…”

The scene seemed frozen. Winter wind rustled the leaves, which fell silently behind them. The situation was both brutal and direct.

Chen Luzhou quietly watched Lian Hui’s retreating figure: “Have you considered that my mother might not be your mother, but your father could be my father?”

Xu Zhi: “…”

Inside the apartment, the curtains were drawn, and the TV was on, broadcasting economic news. The anchor’s crisp pronunciation added a sense of formality to the room. The lights were on, and the air conditioner’s outdoor unit hummed tirelessly. Everything seemed to be making noise.

Except for the two people sitting on the sofa, who were completely silent. They seemed separated by an invisible boundary, each holding their ground, eyes fixed expressionlessly on the TV. They appeared unable to process the recent shock, like two living fossils.

After the economic news ended, Xu Zhi sighed and joked, “Should we break up first?”

Chen Luzhou’s face remained impassive. From a great lover, he had transformed into a scoundrel, lounging there nonchalantly, still playing with his phone. Without looking up, he casually replied, “Mm, let’s break up.”

Xu Zhi was shocked. She turned to look at him dramatically, “Hey, so much for being a romantic. How disappointing.”

Chen Luzhou continued looking at his phone, apparently seeing something interesting. He tilted his head back against the sofa, holding the phone close to his face to get a better look. His voice was calm and self-deprecating as his Adam’s apple bobbed: “Don’t worry, we’ll break up. And after we do, I won’t look for anyone else. I’ll announce to the world that I’m a beast who loves his sister.”

Xu Zhi burst out laughing, still saying, “Alright, let’s break up then. I’m leaving.”

Just as she stood up, she heard a “thud” behind her as the phone was tossed onto the coffee table. The next second, she was pulled back by a strong force. Xu Zhi fell into his arms. Chen Luzhou leaned back on the sofa, his legs spread wide, both hands on her waist, pulling her close. He laughed hard, pinching her waist fiercely, “I ought to beat you up. What’s there to break up about? We only have one reason to break up.”

“What’s that?” Xu Zhi squirmed in his arms, trying to escape his wandering hands. She was ticklish and wriggled like a snake in his embrace. “Chen Luzhou, stop touching me— it tickles!”

He stopped, his well-defined hands resting on her waist. He looked at her intently, leaning back on the sofa. “You don’t love me anymore. That’s the only reason.”

Xu Zhi stopped moving too. “But what if it is this absurd?”

“Then we’ll just endure it,” he said, resting his hand on the back of the sofa with an unstoppable air, his expression carefree and seemingly unaffected. “If you want to get married, I’ll take you abroad. If we can’t marry, I’ll be your lover.”

Xu Zhi laughed hard. “But I don’t think that’s the case,” she said, sitting on his lap and cupping his face, carefully observing his striking features. “I mean, you don’t look anything like my dad, do you?”

Chen Luzhou chuckled, “Maybe we’re similar in personality?”

“Not in personality either. My dad’s personality is completely different from yours. You two are nothing alike,” Xu Zhi stood up, hugging his neck. “How about I go back and subtly ask my dad?”

“Alright.”

When it was time to leave, they lingered at the door for a while. Xu Zhi had put on her shoes and was about to go out with her phone when Chen Luzhou, tall and imposing, leaned against the doorframe, almost blocking the entire doorway, not moving an inch.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

He leaned sideways, looking down at her with an expression that said ‘how can you be so inconsiderate’: “No goodbye kiss? You’re just leaving like this? Who was it that insisted on kissing for half an hour before leaving last night?”

Xu Zhi moved closer, then stopped, looking at him with difficulty: “Chen Luzhou—”

“Hm?”

“I can’t bring myself to kiss you right now…” As soon as she finished speaking, she ducked under his arm and ran off.

Chen Luzhou: “……”

Xu Zhi sprinted back home. Old Xu was cooking and didn’t hear the door open. He continued bustling about in the kitchen without turning around.

Xu Zhi put her bag down in her room, then tiptoed to the kitchen doorway. Xu Guangji was about to turn around to wash the pot when he caught a glimpse of her shadow in his peripheral vision. He looked back at her, his expression normal, “You’re back? Perfect timing, dinner’s almost ready.”

Xu Zhi leaned against the doorframe, peeling an orange in her hands as a distraction. She asked casually, “By the way, Dad.”

“Hm?” Xu Guangji was washing the pot, making loud clanging noises. “Wait a moment, I’m washing the pot.”

Xu Zhi stood there thinking for a while, still unsure how to broach the topic. She remembered a question she used to ask often as a child. She quietly walked in, gathered her courage, and whispered in his ear, enunciating each word: “Dad, tell me, is there any chance that I’m adopted?”

Unexpectedly, Xu Guangji leaned close to her ear and replied in the same manner, very softly and directly, also enunciating each word: “Yes, how did you know?”

Xu Zhi: “…”

Xu Zhi was stunned for a moment, “Don’t joke around.”

Xu Guangji grew impatient, “What are you trying to say?”

Xu Zhi coughed and made up a story: “I saw a news story today about someone who had an illegitimate child outside of marriage. Their family didn’t know, but when the person died, the illegitimate child showed up to fight for the inheritance—”

Xu Guangji didn’t turn around, putting the pot back on the stove: “Don’t worry—”

Xu Zhi breathed a sigh of relief. The old man was still sharp.

Xu Guangji continued: “Dad has no inheritance, Dad only has a mortgage.”

Xu Zhi: “…”

Half an hour later, Xu Zhi sent Chen Luzhou a WeChat message.

Xu Zhi: [Today I learned that my dad is quite the trickster. Couldn’t get anything out of him.]

By then, Chen Luzhou had also calmed down. Leaning on the sofa, he desperately tried to recall some information Lian Hui had once told him about his father. In reality, it had nothing to do with Xu Guangji. The man Lian Hui spoke of was just a scoundrel – how could it be the socially anxious Xu Guangji? He immediately replied.

Cr: [It’s not your dad. That guy was quite the player, into cars and women. I heard he was in a car accident and was in a coma for a few years. Your dad hasn’t been in a coma, has he?]

Xu Zhi replied immediately.

Raddogs: [He’s been clear-headed every day, alive and kicking.]

Raddogs: [Now that you mention it, I remember someone. Do you remember Boss Fu? You asked me before what he did for a living. He used to be a race car driver and was in a car accident once, in a coma for three or four years. That’s what my dad told me. I was very young then, so I don’t have much of an impression.]