Chapter 43

Lu Jiyu walked out of the convenience store with two bottles of cold beer in each hand, and Jiang Wan walked in front of him.

Near the basketball court was an old, open residential area. Jiang Wan seemed quite familiar with the place. Lu Jiyu followed behind him, watching him move between the different buildings with familiarity.

Finally, the two of them stopped at an amusement park in the complex. The lights were dim, but from the faded slides to the pale exterior, it was clear that this place had a history.

But fortunately the swing opposite the slide looked pretty good.

Jiang Wan walked over and picked a swing near the shade of a tree to sit on. She hadn't swung on a swing for a long time since kindergarten ended.

Lu Jiyu stood silently beside her, his shadow slanting down on the soft dirt and also on Jiang Wan's smooth instep. She was wearing a pair of strappy Roman shoes today, which were pretty but uncomfortable.

A few dim lights flickered in the surrounding residential buildings. The remaining residents were mostly elderly, but occasionally, from a window, the raspy roar of a middle-aged man could be heard.

"I've told you several times, have you listened?"

"Damn, do you have a pig brain? Pigs are smarter than you!"

"I'm so unlucky to have given birth to this thing!"

Jiang Wan looked up at the window silently for a few seconds before turning back to look at Lu Jiyu: "I want to ask you a question."

Lu Jiyu raised his eyebrows slightly and waited for her question in silence.

“‘Please run to the finish line before crying.’”

A thin layer of mist hung on the ice beer bottle, and the palm of his hand began to feel slippery and unbearably cold. Lu Jiyu closed his palm, his voice as gentle and soft as the ground beneath his feet: "Did Gao Zhuo tell you?"

Jiang Wan tapped her toes on the ground and gently kicked off, using the force to swing. The wind blew through her white shirt, outlining the girl's slender figure: "Yes."

"He told me that he didn't know why you were willing to help him, and he also said--." The dark clouds in the sky rose and fell, and the moon lowered its head and remained silent. Gao Zhuo's bright, innocent and simple smile once again appeared in front of Jiang Wan's eyes.

"Actually, I've known this for a long time. No matter how hard I try, it's going to be hard for me to get into university. I've always known that people are different. You and Lu Jiyu were born with different talents. You may encounter different setbacks in your lives, but a bright future awaits you on the other side."

"If I had performed normally on the high school entrance exam, I should have been able to go to a fairly good key school in the district, but I ended up going to Dewen. I knew Dewen's undergraduate admission rate was almost zero, so I didn't want to go there anymore. I would have been better off just learning a technical skill and earning money after graduation. But my mother insisted I go."

“I’ve had a really hard time these past three years.”

“The impact of the environment on people is truly horrific.”

"If it weren't for the encouragement from our head teacher, I would have given up long ago."

"The truth is, I was really planning to give up until two months before the college entrance exam, when I met Lu Jiyu."

"He was so charming, I mean, smart people are so charming, so it hit me even harder. I asked him out for a drink and told him I wanted to give up and that the future was okay, and then I cried."

Jiang Wan remembered that Gao Zhuo's eyes were red when he said this.

"He drank a pint of beer with me, and he didn't comfort me or laugh at me. He just said something to me before he left."

Please run to the finish line before crying.

Lu Jiyu was a little surprised that Jiang Wan would ask this question, but when she asked this question, she looked at him seriously, as if she was eager to see some of her true self through him.

I don't know whose baby it was, but suddenly he burst into a heart-wrenching cry, and there was a faint scent of some unknown plant floating in the air.

Lu Jiyu took a moment to organize his words and patiently began to explain to her, "Do you know Formula One?" Seeing Jiang Wan nod, he continued, "Formula One generally has ten teams and twenty drivers, all of whom are considered geniuses. But often, due to the vast disparity in team strength and car quality, or sometimes a slow car, even a genius can only accept the fate of being wasted. They watch their peers soar, while they are left trapped in the melee and suffer exhaust gas, day after day, year after year, until they are buried and defeated."

Dreams are very cruel. Dreaming dreams is nothing but dreaming and delusion.

"But miracles do happen occasionally." The ending tone of Lu Jiyu's words rose slightly, carrying a certain inspiring meaning that he himself might not be aware of.

Jiang Wan stared at his eyes shining in the night, and suddenly felt at ease.

"Rain, chaotic races, safety cars, engine failures, and other factors can all affect the outcome of a race. Racing is a sport where there are huge uncertainties until the finish line and the chequered flag is waved."

The first time Lu Jiyu watched Formula One in his life was in Australia in March, when the sun was shining brightly and the spring breeze was gentle.

"It's both uncertainty and opportunity. An excellent driver dragging a car nicknamed a tractor around the track in boring circles, isn't that just like our lives? But fate could be rewritten at the next corner. Within seemingly calm life, danger and opportunity lurk together."

"In the game of life, the most important thing is to be present." These are the words his mother left for Lu Jiyu.

“So even if you want to cry, please run to the finish line before crying.” Otherwise, you will never know what kind of scenery you have missed.

But in fact, just hearing these words from Lu Jiyu's mouth is enough to make people's hearts move to tears. Maybe he himself doesn't know that when he is serious, there is a kind of gentle power in his heart.

About ten meters diagonally in front of the swing was a metal trash can. Its surface was covered in a thick layer of rust, and the original writing had long since blurred. Jiang Wan pulled a small plastic ball from her pocket, raised her wrist, aimed it at the mouth of the can, and after three seconds of careful aiming, threw the ball. Almost at the same moment she withdrew her hand, there was a dull sound as the ball hit the iron frame.

"Lu Jiyu." After Jiang Wan confidently demonstrated his exceptional throwing ability, he reached out and took the bottle from the other person's hand. "You weren't here when we were playing 'Drinking Game' just now. How about we play a solo game now?"

This is their 1v1.

Lu Jiyu withdrew his gaze from the trash can, rolled his Adam's apple, and his eyes darkened: "How do we play?"

"Just like before, poetry competition, the loser drinks."

"Who won?"

"Ask the other person a question or have a drink."

"Then you go first." Lu Jiyu gave the initiative to Jiang Wan.

Jiang Wan seemed to have known that the other party would say this, and blurted out the question he had prepared long ago: "The moon shines brightly in front of my bed."

Lu Jiyu was stunned for a moment because he hadn't expected Jiang Wan to ask such a simple question, but he quickly reacted. Jiang Wan saw a hint of silence in his eyes, and then heard the friction sound of blunt objects knocking against each other.

Lu Jiyu skillfully tapped the bottle cap against the swing frame, and the bottle cap fell to the ground. He bent down to pick it up, and the moment his head moved closer, his soft hair almost brushed against Jiang Wan's knees, and the boy's gentle breath was only a millimeter away from the skin on Jiang Wan's legs.

A strange numbness briefly covered Jiang Wan's senses. But she didn't move.

Lu Jiyu took half a step back before standing up.

As the night deepened, the two of them fell into silence for a few seconds.

Seeing him so skilled in opening the wine, Jiang Wan asked him, "Do you drink often?"

Lu Jiyu, standing beside her, lowered his head and casually played with the bottle cap in his hand. Half of his face was hidden in the night, making it difficult to see his expression. In his other hand, he was still holding a bubbling, steaming wine. Lu Jiyu was in no hurry to drink. He just raised his eyelids and looked at Jiang Wan, his voice carrying a seductive husky tone: "Is this your problem?"

"No, you don't have to answer."

"I don't drink often, but there was a period of time when I drank every day." Lu Jiyu had no intention of hiding an experience from his past.

"Ask questions or drink?" Jiang Wan let him choose.

Lu Jiyu put the bottle cap back into his pocket and said, "The summer after my junior high school graduation." He raised the bottle in his hand and said, "Can I drink it now?"

"Why are you asking me questions? Aren't you curious about me at all?"

"What about you? Why do you ask such a simple question?" Lu Jiyu smiled and replied, "I am indeed curious about many things about you, but I think that's based on your willingness to tell me, not on me having to ask for clarification."

Lu Jiyu could actually feel that Jiang Wan had a natural distrust of the outside world. She had always been calm and sober, but at the same time she was unwilling to reveal this to the world.

But he wanted her to say it herself, if she couldn't see him as someone she could trust and confide in, then none of this would mean anything.

"Okay." Jiang Wan looked at him and drank half a bottle of beer directly from the bottle mouth with his head tilted back, his tone light.

"The winner continues to ask questions." Lu Jiyu made a gesture of invitation to her, just like what Jiang Wan had done just now.

"White hair floats on green water, next sentence." Jiang Wan looked at Lu Jiyu with an indescribable sharpness in his eyes, like a provocation, but more like the unwillingness in the eyes of a temper tantrum child.

Yes, it’s a competition.

Lu Jiyu didn't waste any time, picked up the bottle and drank it directly.

He drank a bottle of wine twice and it was empty in a blink of an eye.

In most cases, Lu Jiyu presents an image of being well-educated and well-measured, which makes people take advantage of him and think that this is all he has, and that it is a territory that others can try to explore and discover.

But once you try it, you will know that behind all this is Lu Jiyu's bottom line that he will never allow to be crossed.

Jiang Wan suddenly felt a sense of defeat, but she wasn't about to stop there. Since she had started the game, it was her decision when to end it.

Jiang Wan handed the bottle of beer in his hand to Lu Jiyu. The other party knocked off the bottle cap and continued drinking. Jiang Wan took the bottle from his hand and drank most of it.

The wheat-flavored liquid, cold and bitter with the aroma of alcohol, slid down her throat, inch by inch, into her body. Many past events vaguely emerged in her mind.

Lu Jiyu stood aside and watched Jiang Wan drinking in silence. The two of them were competing with each other, and neither of them had any intention of giving in first.

"Why did you lie to me that I couldn't shoot?"

But in the end, Lu Jiyu helplessly tapped the bottle of wine in Jiang Wan's hand with his fingers to start the oral administration.

Jiang Wan's alcohol tolerance was average. After drinking half a bottle of wine, she felt her mind was still clear, but her body felt a little light and unreal.

"It's a long story." But it's easy to explain.

Jiang Wan cut to the chase, skipping some unnecessary steps: "Because I want to get to know you."

Still so straightforward.

It was Lu Jiyu's turn to ask questions.

"When the sun is high in the sky, the field is ploughed."

"Sweat dripping from the kitchen."

"Lu Jiyu, shouldn't you apologize to me?" Jiang Wan hinted at the last time they had a cold war.

Lu Jiyu raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you even read the link I sent to your smurf account later?”

"Link?"

Since she didn’t see it, Lu Jiyu knew from her expression that she definitely didn’t see it: “Then what about you today——” Why are you protecting me like this?

Jiang Wan took out her mobile phone and clicked on the link that Lu Jiyu sent her. She remembered that there was a game called "you draw and I guess" behind the link. She thought Lu Jiyu had sent it by mistake, so she clicked on it without looking at it any further.

"So what is this? And how do you know it's my secondary account? Did Gao Zhuo tell you?" She tapped the screen lightly with her fingers.

"Do I need others to tell me? I can tell it's you at first glance." Lu Jiyu drank some wine, his eyes were bright, and flashed with some youthful vigor.

"As for that link." Lu Jiyu paused, then looked at her straight, his eyes full of seriousness: "It's my apology."

Jiang Wan thought of Lu Jiyu's behavior that day: "Why such a big reaction? Because I have unclear relationships with some boys, and they think I'm not a good student according to worldly standards?"

"No." Lu Jiyu didn't have any strange possessive feelings about this. Indeed, when he heard those rumors, he was a little surprised, because Jiang Wan gave him the impression of being warm on the outside but cold on the inside. He was just a little surprised. So, a familiar panic suddenly surged in his heart.

Yes, I worry about being scammed.

This feeling is stronger and more suffocating than the previous times I had experienced.

Lu Jiyu shook the bottle in his hand, tilted his head back and took a sip. Confessing one's true feelings was never easy for him, but the girl in front of him was different. He smiled self-deprecatingly, "Maybe it's because—I'm afraid of being deceived since I was a child."

Jiang Wan was a little surprised. He raised the bottle and shook it, his eyes a little blurry: "Don't worry, I won't lie."

Lu Jiyu realized later that this person was a little drunk. She had such a low alcohol tolerance, yet she loved to drink. He took the wine from her without any courtesy: "Okay, stop taking this opportunity to drink secretly. I bought this wine. Do you know what you are drinking? Just drink it here."

"So what should I do?" Jiang Wan felt that Lu Jiyu was being particularly serious today. She wanted to get off the swing and talk to him about the important life lesson of sharing happiness. Just as one foot touched the ground, before the other could even land, her foot slipped and she suddenly lost her balance and fell. Fortunately, Lu Jiyu was quick-witted and quickly extended his free hand to hold Jiang Wan in front of him, bending down and scooping him up from his nearly kneeling position.

Most of Jiang Wan's body was hanging on Lu Jiyu's arm, and her ears were filled with the intense and irregular heartbeat. She didn't know whether it was her own or the other person's.

The current situation seems a little beyond expectations.

Jiang Wan thought about it and wanted to say something to ease the atmosphere: "Lu Jiyu, don't you think we are like a female sea king who has been cheating on her boyfriend for half her life, begging her boyfriend to forgive her just once?"

A very unpleasant metaphor.

But Lu Jiyu actually laughed, generally because he was annoyed by her train of thought. He half tilted his head back and ignored the other person's nonsense. He exerted a little force with his hands to pull the person up, but Jiang Wan was probably drunk at the moment. He put his hand on the other person's slightly cold forearm, and his footing was not stable. He stumbled forward, pulling Lu Jiyu back with him, and he just happened to hit a tree behind him.

The tree trunks swayed slightly, the leaves rustled, and many yellow leaves fell down. Against the backdrop of the dim lights in the distance, it looked like a snow in May.

Jiang Wan's forehead slammed into Lu Jiyu's shoulder blade, causing her to yelp softly in pain. It was like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on. Lu Jiyu was also in pain. This person might have been a kitten, but in reality, he was a fierce little leopard. He panted slightly, trying to distract himself from the sudden surge of pain. His voice became intermittent due to the suppression, and the silence around him amplified the sound of his breathing, making it incredibly sexy.

The moon was like a dim lamp, hanging gently above their heads.

The atmosphere was so good that the moment their eyes met, Lu Jiyu's heart was like a wet sponge that instantly absorbed water, becoming full and rippling.

He suppressed his Adam's apple and turned his head away.

Jiang Wan's attention was not on this. She looked intently behind Lu Jiyu and kindly reminded him: "Lu Jiyu, can you be a little quieter? The auntie walking her dog behind you looks ready to call the police."

The moon is dark and the wind is strong, and there is a speechless person in front of me.

Lu Jiyu took a deep breath, managed to steady his voice, and then spoke through gritted teeth, "So, is this my fault?"

Tell me clearly, who hit whom?

But Jiang Wan's head was also hurt by the collision. She rubbed it and complained: "But Lu Jiyu, do you know that you are really hard?"

The woman walking her dog over there said: Call the police! Call the police now! !!! Protecting a green and harmonious community is everyone's responsibility!!!