Chapter 4

In the evening, Zhou Zifang returned home, and Lu Jiyu went to the supermarket to buy some daily necessities, so the two of them went out together.

Zhou Zi was busy tying his shoelaces at the entrance, but when he saw the person in front of him who had one foot out of the door, he couldn't help his curiosity.

"You went to Boya again today?" He had just spotted a DM cake box while reaching for a Coke in the refrigerator. DM was a high-end dessert shop that had recently opened in the Nanyuan Business District. They only had one branch in the entire city, located at the Boya Art Museum.

Lu Jiyu was currently replying to a WeChat message, his thin back slumped against the fence behind him. Hearing Zhou Zifang's sudden question, he glanced sideways. The sudden, boisterous early summer breeze surged up from behind, enveloping him snugly. His freshly washed hair lay softly against his forehead, swaying gently in the breeze like the surface of a lake rippling in a spring breeze. In his eyes, illuminated by the phone screen, there was an indescribable emotion, a gentleness that had been dormant for a while. "What? I've been kicked out of the house by Lu Lin, and you're not even allowed to complain to my mom?"

There are no tall buildings or shining neon lights in this area, and only a few brilliant stars occasionally twinkle in the night sky.

Zhou Zifang looked into Lu Jiyu's dark eyes and sometimes thought that if Lu Jiyu's mother were still alive, he would definitely be a mama's boy. Of course, he never told Lu Jiyu about this, otherwise he would be too unkind.

Lu Jiyu's mother was a geologist and a somewhat celebrated amateur painter. Zhou Zifang had met his mother once or twice as a child, but because he was so young, all he remembers was her beauty. His mother truly was a fairy-like beauty, and she was also a very capable person. Ever since Lu Jiyu was born, the couple had been working in the frontier. Lu Jiyu grew up with his grandfather, because his maternal grandparents, from a prominent family, disapproved of his mother's marriage to his father and severed contact with them early on.

Later, while out on a geological survey, Lu Jiyu's mother was killed in a flash flood. Not long after, his father also died unexpectedly during a mission.

It is hard to imagine that this high-spirited and seemingly heartless college tycoon lost both his parents at the age of nine.

Zhou Zifang knew that Lu Jiyu had an unbreakable habit: every year on his parents' death anniversary, he wouldn't visit the cemetery to pay his respects. Instead, he would sit in front of permanent collection item No. 18 in Hall 1 of the Boya Art Museum for the entire day, speaking nothing, quietly finishing a dozen Yakults before going home to sleep.

Yakult was the drink that Lu Jiyu’s mother often bought for him when she was alive.

The collection in Hall No. 18 consists of works by Lu Jiyu's mother when she was young.

As a child, Zhou Zifang wondered if Lu Jiyu would cry all day long. The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became.

Later, in his second year of junior high, he couldn't help himself and secretly followed Lu Jiyu to Boya. Hiding at the back of the exhibition hall, Zhou Zifang discovered that Lu Jiyu hadn't shed a single liter of tears, let alone a sad expression.

Under his mother's painting, Lu Jiyuren was half-crouching on the ground, silently playing cards with a four or five-year-old child, oblivious to the surroundings. They were having a great time.

Zhou Zifang finally became convinced that Lu Jiyu always seemed to have an inappropriate sense of relaxation.

For example, he often said to comfort people: We are only here once, so why should we be afraid? The sky won't really fall. Even if it does fall, it doesn't matter, because the people who love you will always recognize you beyond recognition and take you home.

He remembered someone told Lu Jiyu that since he missed his mother so much, why not apply to take the painting home so that he could see it every day.

Lu Jiyu just smiled and shook his head: "She should be seen by more people."

Love is not about being private and exclusive, but about wishing her to shine brightly and have a bright future.

Zhou Zifang sometimes felt that Lu Jiyu was quite similar to his mother; both of them had a certain air of heroism that was hard to describe. For example, after Lu Jiyu was admitted to the university through the college entrance examination, he didn't think about traveling or having a romantic relationship. Instead, when he returned to Dewen, he was kidnapped by his cheap homeroom teacher and made a tutor for his cheap classmates.

Lu Jiyu strangely underperformed on the high school entrance exam and was accepted into Dewen Middle School, a lowly regular high school in the city. Lu Lin was so angry about this that he ignored him for a whole month. Not only Lu Lin, but everyone else was deeply disappointed by the result. Lu Jiyu attended a key middle school in the city, and he had always been in the top three in his grade. This score was enough to get him into any prestigious school.

Strangely enough, Lu Jiyu first turned down the school's recommended admission offer, then fumbled the high school entrance exam. Those who loved him said he was pushing himself too hard, aiming for the top spot. Those who hated him mocked him behind his back, saying he had high aspirations but a fragile life. Zhou Zifang knew Lu Jiyu was a competitive athlete, and there was no way he'd fumbled the high school entrance exam.

But Lu Jiyu is very tight-lipped. If he doesn't want to talk about something, you can't get it out of him even if you pull out his teeth with pliers.

Lu Lin had always had high hopes for Lu Jiyu, so she naturally wouldn't just abandon him to Dewen and let him fend for himself. Lu Lin used her connections in the education system and, after arranging everything, she secured a place for Lu Jiyu as a transfer student at Experimental No. 3 Middle School. No. 3 Middle School was one of the city's most prestigious and established key high schools, and the only other high school in the city that could rival it was Jiayuan Middle School, a relatively recent addition.

"How's your babysitting job at Devon?"

Zhou Zifang's words were meant to be quite sarcastic, and Lu Jiyu felt that no one else deserved such a punishment. He frowned and thrust his elbow back, colliding with the other person's stomach. "You're so boring!"

Lu Jiyu felt like he hadn't used much strength, but the next second Zhou Zifang suddenly clutched his stomach and screamed, "Damn, you beat the shit out of me—"

Lu Jiyu: ...Can we be civilized people?

Unfortunately, Zhou Zifang was in a hurry, and he really didn't have time to be polite. They were only halfway down the stairs when he threw his schoolbag to Lu Jiyu, turned around, clutched his stomach, and hurried upstairs.

Liu Lu Jiyu called him speechlessly from downstairs: "Why are you running? The key is still with me——"

"Why don't you hurry up and come up, or I'll pull you out the door, believe it or not?" Zhou Zifang bent his body and stood at the door, shouting in despair.

Lu Jiyu looked at his hand in disbelief. You still have this effect.

After sending Zhou Zifang inside, Lu Jiyu didn't go in. He leaned wearily against the concrete wall beside the stairs, completely hidden in the shadows. He took out his phone and lowered his head to ask for leave from Lao Zhang again. Lao Zhang was his homeroom teacher at Dewen. When he was successfully admitted to Dewen, he went back to Dewen to get the documents and go through some formalities, but Lao Zhang tricked him into doing a free tutoring job.

He was a bit tired, but his close friends hadn't finished their exams yet, so he had nothing to do anyway. In Lao Zhang's words, this was his way of repaying his alma mater. Lu Jiyu clutched his phone, looking down at the alley from a high vantage point: old, messy, and filled with a strong sense of human connection. Every household here seemed to be related. The people who came and went had endless things to say, and once they met, they were like the north and south poles of two magnets, inseparable for an entire afternoon.

Lu Jiyu looked up again. The landmark skyscrapers shone brightly in the night, draped in vibrant colors. In the distance, the whistle of a cruise ship on the river blared its long, uninvited melody. From here to there, human relationships and worldly wisdom, innovation and deliberation—every detail blended perfectly and fused into the grandeur of a city.

So where are your bones, Lu Jiyu?

He couldn't answer.

Everything in this world is growing, but he alone is perishing.

The night was thick, and several stray cats that had been lying in the green belt all day were crowding around the trash can, fighting for food. Lu Jiyu raised his hand and knocked on the door twice, not caring whether Zhou Zifang heard or not. "Okay, come down here by yourself. There are mosquitoes everywhere. I'm going down first."

Halfway down the stairs, Lu Jiyu suddenly smelled a faint smell of cigarette smoke. He stopped and turned his head to look downstairs.

When he came, the landlord mentioned to him that there was a half-dying art studio downstairs that was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Lu Jiyu remembered that when he came back in the evening, he saw that the door was still locked.

A dim light now burned in front of the studio door. Insects fluttered around it, casting shadows on the ground that flickered. The early summer evening breeze was refreshing and lingering, like an endless poem. The vibrant scent of vegetation flourished at the end of the transition between spring and summer, and a simmering heat slowly revived beneath the skin.

Everything that is happening is screaming at people like crazy.

Midsummer is approaching.

Jiang Guan squatted on the steps at the door and talked on the phone with Chen Meiyu for a long time. There were already several mosquito bites on his legs.

"Well, a neighbor moved in upstairs."

"Chen Meiyun, besides asking about someone's appearance, can you ask something else meaningful?"

"I asked you to ask about nutrition, and you asked him again? Where do you want me to find him?"

"If you really want to know, go and find out for yourself."

"Okay, tomorrow I'll go to the store and apply for the job of stone lion, and wait for him there every day."

…

"Oh, I'm eavesdropping on a girl's phone call."

Lu Jiyu came back to his senses and patted Zhou Zifang's head in disdain: "Stay away from me, it smells bad."

"There's a smell? What's that smell?" Zhou Zifang lifted the hem of his coat and sniffed: "Bullshit, I smell really good, don't I? The smell of a pure Jiangnan man."

"Is that your neighbor on the phone? A girl? Is she pretty?" Zhou Zifang kept chasing after her. He was just like that. Whenever he saw a strange girl, he would inevitably say a few words of concern. He called it a gentleman, but it was just the Japanese word for "gentleman".

Lu Jiyu was really annoyed by the questions and sneered: "So concerned? Why don't you go and ask in person? Be careful that someone calls the police to arrest you."

"Call the police and arrest who? Me? I'm a law-abiding citizen, why arrest me? I'm saying you can be quite boring sometimes. Do you want me to teach you some tricks to pick up girls—"

"Fuck, Lu Beibei." Zhou Zifang tugged hard at Lu Jiyu's coat and refused to let go. "Aren't you going to say hello to your neighbors?"

When Lu Jiyu was in middle school, he particularly liked eating Want Want senbei (rice crackers), so Zhou Zifang gave him this nickname. He didn't like it at first, but eventually got used to it.

"?" Lu Jiyu didn't even look up. "Are you okay?" "Brother." Are you in your seventies or eighties, or are you just too old to join the square dance? There's really no need to rush into this kind of socializing that's not suitable for our age group. Lu Jiyu pulled his hand away, not even glancing at Zhou Zifang.

"But the Moonlight Goddess is watching us."

Here it comes again, what did I see again?

And in our country, we call her the Moonlight Goddess, or Chang'e. Do you understand? Zhou Bajie.

He threw his phone into his pocket and raised his head helplessly and speechlessly.

"You guys are new here, right?" The Moonlight Goddess' tone didn't sound very friendly.

"The sound insulation here isn't very good, please don't run around upstairs, or I—"

His voice is crisp, clear and crystal clear, like the sharp-edged ice cube in a summer ice cola.

"It's you?" Jiang Wan took two steps forward in surprise and astonishment, until she could clearly see the boy's face under the hood, and finally confirmed it.

Lu Jiyu really didn't expect this.

The person who inexplicably stole from him in the noodle shop that afternoon turned out to be his new neighbor.

She looked like she had just showered; she had changed into a white dress, her long, half-damp hair cascading softly over her shoulders. The cool, bright moonlight reflected in her misty eyes, creating a hazy, almost ethereal veil, as if draped over her body in a pure, holy white veil. Under the moonlight, the lamplight, and the evening breeze, every corner was instantly filled with a lazy, slightly smoky atmosphere.

Lu Jiyu began to understand what Zhou Zifang meant by the phrase "Moonlight Goddess" that he blurted out.

The atmosphere is quite great.

"You guys are going out?"

The atmosphere was fantastic without words, but as soon as Lu Jiyu opened his mouth, he immediately thought of what happened in the afternoon. Lu Jiyu's mentality had been a bit broken in the past few days, causing him to lose control of his reckless aura and just casually scold people, but he didn't expect that the person he scolded was his neighbor who lived downstairs.

The evil force returns to Lu Jiyu.

"Yes, we are going to the supermarket. Do you want to join us?" Zhou Zifang said happily.

Jiang Wan didn't answer and remained silent, as if hesitating about something.

Zhou Zifang was busy winking at him, but Lu Jiyu ignored all his reactions.

He typed rapidly on his phone, a touch impatient. Lao Zhang replied to his request for leave with a short essay. He figured Lu Jiyu must be tired and bored after not coming in for a few days, so he sent him a bunch of heartfelt, heartfelt stories, along with his own psychological journey.

Lu Jiyu was actually quite good at coaxing people, and he could easily come up with sweet words. As long as he was willing, he could coax them into submission. However, on the rare occasions when he wasn't willing, his sweet words contained no emotion, only technique.

I sent a WeChat message to Lao Zhang, deleted it, and sent it again.

Lao Zhang is a good man.

It’s better to be sincere when dealing with good people.

After Lu Jiyu clicked send, he looked up and was caught off guard by a burst of bright flashes of light.

He subconsciously closed his eyes and turned his head away, his jawline tense and straight, somewhat impatient.

"It's the second time." He spoke with a cold face. He really didn't understand why this person was so obsessed with taking secret photos, and his secret photography skills were so poor.

Zhou Zifang, standing by, was so stunned that his mouth opened into an O shape. This girl was really fierce.

With the experience of failure last time, Jiang Wan on the opposite side quickly calmed down after being embarrassed: "Here, there are no street lights here, let me take a look for you."

Miss, do you believe what you said?

Lu Jiyu turned around and sighed that her excuse was so casual and novel. He put his phone back in his pocket and curled his lips coldly: "You use a flashlight to take pictures when you walk at night, right?"

Jiang Wan had already experienced his aggressiveness during the day, so now he was no longer surprised and continued to make up his story: "Well... I'll use a flashlight to escort you out of the alley. In short: flash delivery."

Zhou Zifang...

Lu Jiyu...