HomeFalling In LoveZhui Luo - Chapter 14

Zhui Luo – Chapter 14

After Grandmother was discharged from the hospital, Zhou Wan no longer needed to make daily hospital visits and went straight to the arcade after school.

Just as Zhou Wan finished her shift handover and sat down, she heard a sweet female voice from nearby praising someone’s skill while applauding enthusiastically.

Besides students, couples were common at the arcade, and such voices could often be heard. Zhou Wan paid no attention and didn’t look in that direction.

Until she heard another voice: “Go play by yourself.”

Magnetic and cold.

Perfectly blending a delinquent’s casualness with detached indifference.

Lu Xixiao.

Since that time he’d angrily told her to “get lost,” he hadn’t come back.

The owner of that sweet voice stood beside him, wearing a high-waisted short skirt with tall boots, her face young yet heavily made-up—exactly the type his previous girlfriends had been.

So, was this his new girlfriend?

Well, he hadn’t had a girlfriend for two months now.

He’d never had such a long single period before.

The girl whined, “But you said you’d keep me company.”

Lu Xixiao clicked his tongue impatiently.

“Lu Xixiao,” the girl tugged at his arm, bouncing up and down. “Won’t you watch me dance?”

Lu Xixiao raised his hand, pulled free from her grip, and walked with her to the dance machine.

The girl had dance training—as soon as the intro melody started, she moved gracefully on the dance machine, radiant and confident. Her slim waist and long legs drew quite a crowd of onlookers.

Except for Lu Xixiao.

He received a phone call midway and walked away.

Leaning lazily against the wall, he answered the call while lighting a cigarette.

Jiang Fan: “Xiao, my sister’s with you, right?”

He exhaled smoke: “You have ten minutes to come get her. She’s annoying as hell.”

“Fuck, I really can’t leave right now. Old Liu caught me.” Jiang Fan was nearly at his wit’s end. “Just help me watch her for a bit, don’t let that nutcase run off somewhere.”

Lu Xixiao clicked his tongue and hung up.

After finishing one song, applause spontaneously erupted from the crowd. Jiang Yun turned around but couldn’t find Lu Xixiao, frowning until she finally spotted him in a corner chair.

Cigarette between his lips, playing with his phone.

Jiang Yun stomped over furiously: “Didn’t you promise to watch me dance!”

Lu Xixiao raised his foot, hooked the coffee table leg, and pulled it aside to block Jiang Yun’s path: “Stand there.”

Unable to get closer, Jiang Yun could only stand two meters away.

“Make another noise and I’ll throw you out,” Lu Xixiao said impatiently.

Jiang Yun’s eyes widened instantly, unable to believe he would say something so ungentlemanly and even rude.

Jiang Yun was only a year younger than Jiang Fan, currently a first-year at Third High School. She’d seen Lu Xixiao’s photo from her brother and thought he was handsome, finally finding this opportunity today.

His face was a hundred times more handsome than in photos, but his awful temperament was truly infuriating!

Jiang Yun had been spoiled since childhood. She immediately stamped her foot and picked up a nearby magazine to throw at him: “Jerk! Jerk! Jerk!”

After venting, she turned around angrily and ran off to play by herself.

Lu Xixiao sat alone in the armchair, sinking into the backrest, long legs sprawled carelessly, eyes downcast, looking weary and cold.

Zhou Wan sat on the other side, head down doing homework, quiet and gentle, completely out of place in this noisy background.

Lu Xixiao didn’t know when he’d raised his eyes to look at Zhou Wan.

Only when the cigarette burned his fingertips did he snap back to attention? He straightened up and stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray.

Jiang Yun played around for a while, then ran to Zhou Wan with her collected prize tickets: “Little sister, can I exchange these?”

Zhou Wan did look young and innocent, so it wasn’t strange that Jiang Yun called her little sister.

“Yes,” Zhou Wan smiled faintly, pointing to the glass cabinet behind her. “These points can be exchanged for items in this row. You can see which one you like?”

Jiang Yun leaned against the counter to look carefully, then after a while pointed: “That keychain is quite cute!”

Zhou Wan’s fingers paused slightly.

Restraining her urge to look at Lu Xixiao.

Keychain—Lu Xixiao had one too, a blue one.

“Would you like the pink one?” Zhou Wan asked softly.

“Mm-hmm.”

Zhou Wan took one out for her. Jiang Yun hooked the keychain with her index finger to examine it, smiled, and took out her keys from her bag.

Just as she was about to attach it, a hand suddenly reached from behind.

Lu Xixiao snatched the keychain from her hand and threw it back in front of Zhou Wan.

With a “bang.”

This cemented Jiang Yun’s grudge against him: “What are you doing!”

Lu Xixiao raised his eyebrows: “Who said you could take it?”

“I won it myself!”

He reached out, pinching her game card between two fingers, waving it: “My card.”

“How can you be so petty!” Jiang Yun was incredulous. “Handsome guys being so petty won’t be popular!”

Lu Xixiao sneered: “Do I need you to like me?”

Jiang Yun was furious.

She really couldn’t understand how someone so handsome could be such a jerk!

Then, her eyes reddened.

It wasn’t that she was hurt and wanted to cry—she was purely angry.

Jiang Yun had always been like this since childhood; her eyes would redden when angry.

But in Zhou Wan’s eyes, it looked different.

Come to think of it, she had seen several girls cry because of Lu Xixiao before.

Pursing her lips, she tried to mediate, looking at Lu Xixiao and saying softly: “Your card has tens of thousands of points, the keychain only needs about 2,000 points, it won’t affect anything.”

Lu Xixiao turned his head to look at her.

His gaze was cold and sharp, containing mockery, playfulness, coldness, and scrutiny.

Zhou Wan couldn’t withstand his gaze and lowered her head.

Lu Xixiao gave a light laugh, its meaning unclear: “How generous you are with my points.”

Zhou Wan remembered what he’d said before: Zhou Wan, who do you think you are?

Right, who did she think she was?

Jiang Yun stamped her foot, unable to bear it anymore, and turned to leave.

Lu Xixiao didn’t chase after her, instead taking out a pack of cigarettes from the nearby rack, throwing it on the counter, and pulling out a bill.

Zhou Wan made a change for his 20.

His phone vibrated again, with a voice message from Jiang Fan. He played it—

“Xiao, did you fight with my sister? She called me furiously cursing you out.”

Zhou Wan froze.

…Jiang Fan’s sister?

Lu Xixiao lowered his head to reply: “What would I fight with her about?”

Zhou Wan: “…”

Indeed it wasn’t fighting—more like one-sided suppression.

Jiang Fan sent another voice message, laughing, sounding particularly happy: “This is the first time I’ve seen a girl say she never wants to see you again.”

Lu Xixiao gave a derisive laugh: “Good, never met anyone as annoying as your sister.”

Zhou Wan didn’t know what about this statement hit her funny bone, but she lowered her head and quirked her lips up, quickly suppressing it. When she looked up, Lu Xixiao was watching her.

Unsure if he’d seen it, Zhou Wan maintained a neutral expression as she looked back at him.

Lu Xixiao put his phone back in his pocket, his gaze not moving.

Zhou Wan paused, then asked: “Aren’t you going to chase after her?”

He raised an eyebrow: “Didn’t you hear what Jiang Fan said?”

“Huh?”

“She’s not my girlfriend, why would I chase after her?”

“…Oh.”

After a few seconds, Zhou Wan felt his statement wasn’t quite accurate and corrected him: “Even if she were your girlfriend, you probably wouldn’t chase after her.”

Lu Xixiao suddenly smiled, different from his previous smiles—this time it was a genuine smile.

He narrowed his eyes: “Zhou Wan, haven’t seen you for a few days and you’ve gotten bold, huh?”

Realizing her previous words seemed like she was taunting him, Zhou Wan shrunk her neck back and pulled that leg that had crossed the boundary back, shaking her head: “No.”

Lu Xixiao wanted to say something, but his phone rang again at that moment.

He lowered his gaze, frowning slightly, his eyes deep in thought. He turned and walked outside to answer the phone, remaining silent.

Lu Zhongyue coughed once: “Where are you?”

Lu Xixiao smirked: “Why do you care where I am?”

How laughable that the father-son relationship had come to this.

Lu Zhongyue couldn’t bring himself to use the intimate “Xiao,” while Lu Xixiao’s every word was barbed.

Those who should have been closest instead seemed determined to make each other bleed.

Hearing his words, Lu Zhongyue frowned but suppressed his anger: “Today is your grandfather’s 70th birthday. He wants you to come to the old house for dinner.”

Lu Xixiao frowned, looking impatient, but finally said: “Fine.”

*

Although the Lu family patriarch was 70, he had few white hairs and remained robust, and full of vigor.

Lu Zhongyue wasn’t an only child; he had an older sister, Lu Qilan.

Usually, in such large family businesses, everything would be left to the son, but the Lu patriarch was no ordinary person. He didn’t follow such old conventions and valued his daughter equally.

In today’s Lu Group, Lu Zhongyue served as general manager while his sister was vice president, but they held equal shares and authority. The final succession of the Lu Group would still depend on the patriarch’s decision.

This was also why Lu Zhongyue couldn’t properly bring Jiang Yan into the Lu family.

He still needed the patriarch’s favor.

Lu Xixiao was the last to arrive at the old house, the only one missing from the table.

This birthday celebration wasn’t grand, just family having dinner together.

“Xiao, come here quickly.” The patriarch waved to him. “Sit beside me.”

Since retiring, the patriarch only enjoyed calligraphy and painting. Playing to his interests, Lu Xixiao had prepared a high-quality wolf hair brush as a birthday gift.

The old man couldn’t stop smiling: “I knew Xiao understood me best.”

Lu Xixiao responded carelessly: “Well, we’re the only two idle people at this table.”

Lu Zhongyue said sternly: “Xiao.”

A warning tone.

Using a name he never used in public.

Lu Xixiao’s lips curved in mockery.

The patriarch waved it off: “It’s fine, what’s wrong with that? I enjoy chatting with Xiao.”

Lu Qilan smiled and asked: “Xiao is in the second year of high school now, right?”

“Mm.”

“Then your studies will only get harder, but fortunately, you have someone to take care of you now, so your aunt can worry less,” Lu Qilan said.

At this table, everyone spoke with different faces to different people.

How could Lu Qilan not know Lu Xixiao’s grades, or that he had long moved out on his own? What care was she talking about?

Lu Qilan looked at Lu Zhongyue: “By the way, Zhongyue, it’s Dad’s birthday today, why didn’t you bring Little Guo? We haven’t met her yet.”

Lu Zhongyue smiled and waved it off: “She’s not good with words, better not today.”

“How old is she?”

“Four years younger than me.”

This surprised Lu Qilan.

Given Lu Zhongyue’s wealth and status, his new girlfriend shouldn’t be a woman in her forties.

But thinking further, she understood. He could have many young and beautiful women, but the one he could publicly acknowledge had to consider reputation and appearances.

And for Guo Xiangling to have reached this point, she must have her exceptional qualities.

“That’s good then, being older means more mature, can take better care of Xiao too. Oh right, does she have children?”

Lu Zhongyue: “Seems she has a daughter, but they don’t live together, barely any contact.”

Lu Qilan smiled and turned to ask: “Xiao, how do you get along with your stepmother?”

Lu Xixiao gave her a cold look.

The patriarch had weathered life’s storms; how could he not hear the meaning behind those words? “Enough, why discuss such things on my birthday? Let’s eat.”

The patriarch understood his grandson’s temper and spoke up to save face for Lu Qilan.

But Lu Xixiao had no intention of letting it slide.

He put down his chopsticks with a clear clatter and smiled coldly: “Aunt, don’t waste your concern on me. You should worry more about yourself.”

Lu Qilan’s face turned white.

Lu Xixiao looked at her, his gaze frivolous: “After all that scheming to marry into the Mo family—if they knew about your affairs outside, wouldn’t they want your life?”

Lu Xixiao had grown up seeing all of this.

Hostility, sabotage, insincerity, and betrayal.

*

Zhou Wan finished her homework, and put away her papers and pens, watching leaves blown by the wind outside the window.

Her thoughts drifted, wandering.

Just then, her phone’s vibration interrupted her thoughts.

She looked down, stunned for a moment.

It was Lu Xixiao calling.

Why would he call?

Zhou Wan cleared her throat softly and answered: “Hello.”

He didn’t speak; she could only hear the howling wind and the roar of a motorcycle engine on his end.

“Lu Xixiao.” Zhou Wan closed the window to make the room quieter and asked softly, “Have you been drinking?”

Lu Xixiao still didn’t answer.

But his breathing was right next to her ear—Zhou Wan knew he was listening, that it wasn’t a wrong number.

Zhou Wan didn’t know what to say but felt it would be impolite to just hang up, so she let the call continue as she packed her schoolbag, washed her hands, and climbed into bed.

She settled into the soft bed and said: “I’m going to sleep now, Lu Xixiao.”

“…”

After a few more seconds, she said: “Good night.”

“Zhou Wan.”

Her fingers paused: “Mm.”

Lu Xixiao exhaled smoke: “Would you betray me?”

This time it was Zhou Wan who couldn’t speak.

She thought Lu Xixiao must be drunk.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t call her late at night, wouldn’t ask her this question.

He was Lu Xixiao after all—free-spirited and unrestrained, flamboyant, people coming and going around him, always surrounded, always in control.

Someone like that wouldn’t care about this question at all.

Not hearing Zhou Wan’s answer, Lu Xixiao laughed.

Many years later, Zhou Wan would often recall Lu Xixiao’s laugh at this moment—lazy and casual, meaning unclear, but more than anything, gentle.

This was the first time Lu Xixiao showed her true gentleness.

A gentleness unique to him.

Although his words were hardly gentle—

“Never mind, doesn’t matter.”

Lu Xixiao said softly, “Just remember, if you dare betray me, I’ll kill you.”

*

There’s a saying that youth appears especially beautiful because of its innocence.

But as an adult, Zhou Wan countless times wished she could change things.

If she could do it again, she would realize that their relationship had begun to truly change at this moment.

Although Lu Xixiao still spoke harshly, in truth, that boy who was like a deity in countless girls’ hearts had stepped down from his high pedestal and slowly walked up to her.

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