Chapter 83 (Second Update)

He Lei was genuinely trying to make amends, and even ordered a late-night snack consisting of three meat dishes and one vegetable dish. Luo Hong stopped him a couple of times, but seeing that he was sincere, he joked, "Looks like the military really does provide good benefits."

Since the other person brought it up, He Lei went along with it:

"Sigh, I'm just someone who only needs to eat my fill, so I don't have a family to worry about."

She poured him another glass of wine, saying, "My mom just loves to show off. If she offends you, I'll take the blame."

Luo Hong: "What's the big deal? Adults are all the same. When my sister got her college acceptance letter, she was all high and mighty in the alley."

There are different kinds of showing off. He Lei knew his mother's temper; her mouth was truly unbearable.

He complimented, "Yanzi has had the face of a college student since she was a child, and she's right."

Luo Hong spoke of his sister with great pride: "I won't boast about anything else, but the fact that she was born into the Luo family is like a blazing fire at the ancestral graves."

He spoke humorously, and He Lei smiled along with him.

Li Jianjun was initially worried that the two of them would have an awkward silence and he would be caught in the middle, but now he breathed a sigh of relief and raised his glass: "Then what should I say? I'll say that my daughter can count to ten now."

"That works too," Luo Hong said, "I think Hongyu is a good candidate for university."

Li Jianjun: "Okay, I'll take your kind words."

The three of them ate, drank, and chatted until the restaurant was about to close, at which point they walked away arm in arm.

After walking a few steps, Li Jianjun wanted to sing, and he shouted out a song in the middle of the night.

Luo Hong was afraid of being scolded by some elderly people later, so she pulled him away quickly.

He Lei also reached out and covered his mouth: "What kind of drinking capacity do you have? Look at you."

Luo Hong knew perfectly well that he had been away from home for many years, saying, "At most half a jin. Be careful next time you drink with him; he sometimes bites people."

Biting? He Lei clicked his tongue twice: "I'll have to be careful around him from now on."

The two men helped the drunkard walk to the courtyard gate. Luo Hong said, "We're going the same way, you can go straight back."

Since everyone lived in the opposite courtyard, He Lei didn't stand on ceremony and said, "Okay, then I'll head back."

——

Luo Hong escorted his childhood friend home himself, then turned a corner and went into the east wing.

He entered the house quietly, but while taking a shower, he knocked over a basin in the kitchen, making a loud crash.

Liu Yinfeng came out with a rolling pin and said, "I thought it was a rat."

Upon hearing this, Luo Hong asked, "Have you ever seen such a big rat?"

Liu Yinfeng was very sleepy and had no time to chat with him. She simply said, "Add some hot water before you wash."

In the past, Luo Hongtu would have simply rinsed himself with cold water to save trouble, thinking that he could get a sick leave certificate anyway and wouldn't lose a penny of his salary.

But now that I'm my own boss, even this useful body of mine has become precious. Not only did I empty the water from the thermos, but I also had to boil another pot of water.

However, he forgot to fill the kettle. The next day, when Luo Yan got up to drink, there was nothing there. She went to the kitchen to boil water and became drowsy while waiting.

Liu Yinfeng got up a little later than her daughter and was startled to see her sitting in the kitchen: "What's wrong?"

Luo Yan scratched her neck and opened her eyes a little: "Boil some water to drink."

Liu Yinfeng saw that it was still early: "Go back inside and lie down for a while. I'll call you when it's cooled down."

Luo Yan nodded with her eyes half-closed and went back to her room for a short nap.

Her nap was more like a wake-up call; after a while, she opened her eyes and got up again.

Liu Yinfeng was turning the two cups back and forth, then touched them and said, "They're almost ready to drink."

Luo Yan took a sip and leaned on her mother's shoulder affectionately.

"You're all grown up, yet you still act like a child," Liu Yinfeng said. "Alright, I'll go buy breakfast."

She bought the buns and Luo Yan was just ready to eat after washing up. With a bun in her mouth, she knocked on her brother's door: "Get up!"

Luo Hongsheng was abruptly woken up by the shout. He opened the door, rubbing his messy hair, and tried to mess up his sister's hair as well.

Luo Yan, who had just finished braiding her hair, dodged away and scolded him, "Don't go looking for a beating so early in the morning!"

Wow, they've got quite the presence.

Luo Hong: "You look a bit like Lai Fu now."

As soon as Luo Yan remembered, she ran to the yard and shared the bun wrappers with the two dogs. There were still some oil and meat scraps stuck to them, which made Wangcai and Laifu jump for joy.

Luo Yan muttered to herself, "I'm very good at keeping my promises."

When Luo Hong heard his sister speak, he thought she was talking to him, so he spat out the toothpaste in his mouth and asked, "What did you say?"

Luo Yan: "I'm talking to the dog."

Luo Hong strongly suspected that her words were meant to insult him, so he scooped up a handful of water and splashed it on her.

Luo Yan wiped her face, huffing, "I'm not waiting for you, I have rehearsal this morning."

A choir competition kept us up early and back late.

Luo Hong washed his face, packed breakfast into his lunchbox, rode his bicycle to catch up with his sister, and reached out to grab her hair.

Luo Yan thought it was a stranger reaching out to her, and her face turned pale with fright. She shouted, "Luo Hong, I'm not finished with you!"

Knowing he was in the wrong, Luo Hong was pinned down and slapped twice by her. When they reached the school gate, he said sweetly, "I'll treat you to braised pork knuckle for lunch."

Luo Yan just snorted, her braids swinging wildly in the air, and went to find an empty seat in the classroom.

The class monitor arrived first and said to her, "All the day students are here, but only a few of the boarding students have arrived."

Luo Yan spoke up for everyone: "Our home is quite close to the school; it's even faster to ride a bike here than to walk from the dormitory."

A bicycle is not cheap, and most people still walk.

The squad leader himself didn't have one, saying, "Beijing is too big; it's still more convenient to have a car."

Even though Luo Yan was "at odds" with her brother, she didn't stop promoting him, saying, "My brother sells bicycles at the school gate, both new and old."

The whole class knows about it.

Class monitor: "I'll save up some more money and I'll definitely go to him to buy it next semester."

Luo Yan: "It's more cost-effective to mention my name."

The class monitor suddenly felt that her name had turned into money, and smiled and said a few more words.

Once there are enough people, the conversation naturally ends and rehearsals begin, and the class starts right after the rehearsal is finished.

Rehearsals, classes, and breaks—time passed slowly yet orderly, and soon it was Sunday again.

Luo Yan met Zhou Xiuhe at the city library in the morning and had a feeling that it had been a long time since she had been here. She said, "It feels like it's been a long time since I've been here."

It's been two weeks in total. Zhou Xiuhe secretly took her hand and asked, "Are you free next week?"

There is now another crime called "offending public morals," which means that couples don't hold hands in the street.

Luo Yan glared at him with a harmless look: "Behave yourself."

Zhou Xiuhe withdrew his hand: "I just missed you."

Luo Yan said, "We see each other every day."

Those were all small plots of land near the school, where people could barely speak from a distance of eight feet. For Zhou Xiuhe, it was like trying to quench his thirst by looking at plums.

He said, "I still want to."

Luo Yan nudged him shyly, but still smiled at him.

No need for any nice words, Zhou Xiuhe was so happy he was practically beside himself.

Luo Yan spoke first: "Let's go in."

When the weather gets hot, there aren't as many people at the city library, but there's still a lingering stuffiness in the air.

Luo Yan was fine sitting up in the morning, but after lunch, she couldn't stand it anymore and kept fanning herself.

Seeing this, Zhou Xiuhe suggested, "Why don't we go outside for some fresh air?"

Even if it's hot outside, at least there's no faint smell of sweat.

Luo Yan eagerly packed up the book: "Let's go, let's go!"

Zhou Xiuhe followed her, and when she suddenly stopped, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Luo Yan gestured for him to look under the shade of the tree: "Isn't that the old lady who sold peaches the other day?"

Zhou Xiuhe had a bad feeling and subconsciously said, "Old people all look pretty much the same, I can't really tell them apart."

Luo Yan had already made up her mind, and she took several steps forward.

Zhou Xiuhe quickly pulled her back: "It's been several days, and we don't even have any peaches left. How can we confront her now?"

That's true, but Luo Yan was still furious. However, she knew she wouldn't argue, so she glanced at Zhou Xiu and sighed.

Zhou Xiuhe coaxed her, "Don't be angry, don't be angry, let's go buy some popsicles."

Eating ice cream might still be somewhat useful. Luo Yan didn't say anything, but considering that they were at the bustling entrance of the city library, she shook off his hand and nodded: "Let's go." Although she had a stern face, Zhou Xiuhe still breathed a sigh of relief. But after taking only a few steps, another unexpected incident occurred—a woman, presumably having discovered that the peaches were underweight, started arguing with the old lady selling peaches.

Luo Yan perked up and ran over in one go, blurting out in her impetuousness, "The quantity you sold me last time was also wrong."

The young girl looked like an easy target. The old lady almost poked her on the forehead: "When was last time? Don't accuse people without evidence."

Luo Yan was so frightened that she stepped back, but she still mustered up the courage to argue with her: "Right at the entrance of Jiaotong University, you charged two yuan and thirty cents for four peaches."

"Why are peaches so expensive?" the woman replied. "They're just taking advantage of your delicate appearance. They've stuffed cotton inside the peaches!"

"That's right," Luo Yan immediately found an ally and stood shoulder to shoulder with her: "It's just a matter of weighing it."

When the old lady saw that things weren't going well, she sat down on the ground and started wailing.

Zhou Xiuhe, who had just caught up, couldn't stand this kind of thing the most. He said to Luo Yan, "I think we should let it go. She's so old, and it's not easy for her either."

"What do you mean, 'forget it'?" the woman said, displeased. "You men are just good at showing off your generosity outside."

Her voice was louder than the old woman wailing on the ground. Passersby swarmed around her. Zhou Xiuhe had almost never been so embarrassed in his life. He said in a humble manner, "Yanyan, let's go."

Luo Yan stared at him for two seconds, then pushed his hand away from hers: "I'm not leaving."

Zhou Xiuhe couldn't just abandon her, so he asked helplessly, "Then what do you want?"

Even though it was the other party who shortchanged her, why did he sound like she was in the wrong? Luo Yan felt inexplicably wronged, biting her lip and ignoring him.

When the woman saw them like this, she thought she had found a helper. But she couldn't rely on the people in front of her, so she decided to debate with them herself—besides the old lady on the ground, there were also passersby who advised her to "let it go."

Luo Yan tried to speak up several times but couldn't get a word in edgewise. It wasn't until the police came and asked her that she said, "I didn't buy it today, it's been several days."

The police officer said, "Then we can't handle this for you."

Luo Yan knew this too, and shook her head: "It's okay, you can handle it for that lady, I just want justice."

That sounded rather childish, and the police officers at the station laughed, "A student, right?"

Is it that obvious? Luo Yan honestly replied, "I have my student ID with me. Do I need to register?"

"No need, no need. Just be more careful next time. Her scale is way off."

Luo Yan stubbornly wanted to hear that last sentence, "Thank you, Uncle."

After saying that, he walked away, but after a few steps he turned back to Zhou Xiuhe behind him and said, "I want to go home."

Seeing that she had finally acknowledged him, Zhou Xiuhe said, "Yanyan, don't be angry, it's all my fault."

Luo Yan asked truthfully, "Where did you go wrong?"

Zhou Xiuhe was stumped by the question. Seeing her disappointed expression, he said, "I admit, I really think it's unnecessary, and we really can't reason with these old women in the countryside."

Luo Yan felt that his words were wrong: "What's wrong with old women in the countryside? There are good people and bad people everywhere."

She's right now, whatever she says is right. Zhou Xiuhe: "Yes, yes, I misspoke."

It's strange. Every word he says is agreeable to her, but Luo Yan doesn't like any of it. Her mind is a bit of a mess right now, and she repeats, "Let's not talk about it today. I want to go home."

Zhou Xiuhe also felt that the more he said, the more mistakes he would make, so he said helplessly, "Okay, calm down and we'll talk about it later."

"Calm down?" Luo Yan's eyes widened as if she were seeing him for the first time.

Zhou Xiu felt flustered and called her name: "Yanyan".

Luo Yan hadn't thought of what to say, so she simply continued forward to unlock the bicycle.

For some reason, Zhou Xiuhe had a persistent feeling that he was about to lose her, and followed her closely.

Luo Yan pretended that the person didn't exist, got on her bike and said, "Don't follow me."

She spoke rather harshly, and Zhou Xiuhe had no choice but to stand there and watch her figure disappear from sight.

-----------------------

Author's note: Goodnight~