Chapter 43

Xu Qingzhou is wearing her school uniform today.

To match the horse-face skirt, the female boss specially picked out a white chiffon fitted blouse for her during the change of clothes, which was easier to match. After putting it on, she came out and looked in the mirror, and the effect was indeed good.

She was already tall and slender, with a delicate and scholarly air. The dashing horse-face skirt perfectly balanced her gentleness, highlighting her classical charm to the fullest.

At first glance, she looks like a model in a horse-face skirt who stepped out of a magazine.

The female boss was amazed and kept praising her.

Chi Jun didn't say anything, but he paid for the chiffon blouse as well, demonstrating how well the clothes suited Xu Qingzhou.

Xu Qingzhou felt much better after leaving the store.

Instead of going back, Chi Jun took her to the shopping mall across the street.

The third floor of the mall is a large game venue. Ping Shi, Chi Jun, Wang Shuai, and Li Rui have been here many times, but it is unprecedented for them to come with Xu Qingzhou.

Having never been to such a place before, Xu Qingzhou was clearly curious about everything.

He was interested in claw machines, basketball machines, racing games, zombie shooting games... and even fishing games that only children like.

But after playing around with the claw machines, she was clearly more interested in them.

Unfortunately, his skills were not good enough, and he failed to catch the doll after three attempts. Xu Qingzhou refused to try again and just kept pushing Chi Jun forward.

Chi Jun had never played a claw machine before, but seeing Xu Qingzhou almost win the prize several times but still fail, he couldn't help but feel a little eager to try it himself, thinking that it was just a claw machine, how difficult could it be?

Before entering the claw machine, he made a bold statement: "Watch me catch that yellow dog for you."

However, reality taught him to be a fox.

Half of the coins in the small basket have been put in, and the yellow puppy has even toured the claw machine twice, but hasn't managed to grab a single hair.

Then, Chi Jun was mercilessly mocked by a chubby little boy next to him.

"Haha, someone so bad at this dares to play the hero."

Actually, the chubby boy was complaining to his friends, but he was wearing headphones and couldn't control his volume, so Chi Jun and Xu Qingzhou could hear him clearly.

Chi Jun didn't care, but when he turned his head, he saw Xu Qingzhou, who was usually calm and reserved, looking at the little fat boy with a tense little face, and seemed a little unhappy.

They're even protecting their own.

Chi Jun found it a bit funny, but didn't say anything. He casually stuffed another coin in, planning to finish this last round and then play in a different location.

Unexpectedly, this time, with a casual maneuver, the grabber lifted the dog and steadily moved it to the mouth.

With a loud "bang".

The plush dog came out.

Chi Jun was taken aback.

Xu Qingzhou, who was standing nearby, reacted quickly. He jumped up excitedly, clapping his hands and bending down to quickly take the dog out of the claw machine.

Not only did she take it out, she also proudly stretched out her hand and waved the plush dog in front of the chubby little boy next door.

It's as if to say: Look, we caught him! He's not weak at all!

This is a very rare glimpse of Xu Qingzhou; he is lively and expressive.

Chi Jun couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile. He turned back, about to ask, "Want to play again?", when suddenly a gust of cold wind rushed past his ear, and the male ghost's voice entered his ears:

"Brother Jun—"

Chi Jun glanced back and subtly slipped the coin into Xu Qingzhou's hand.

"You keep playing, I'll go exchange some more coins."

Xu Qingzhou wanted to say something more, but Chi Jun had already walked away.

So she turned around and continued playing the claw machine.

He gripped the control lever tightly, his eyes fixed on the doll behind the glass.

She pursed her lips.

He looked rather serious and nervous.

Walking behind the coin exchange machine, Chi Jun glanced at the semi-transparent male ghost beside him:

"What's up?"

The male ghost looked a little nervous, yet also a little excited, rubbing his hands together as he said, "Brother Jun, I went to the hospital to see Zhang Pengfei again today; he's dying."

Clang—

A flood of metal coins poured out.

Chi Jun suddenly stopped bending down to take the coins.

He turned to look at the male ghost: "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely certain! The doctors are talking privately, and they all say that with his current symptoms, he won't live more than half a month!"

The male ghost's excitement was evident when he said this.

Chi Jun naturally knew what he was thinking.

He looked down at the pile of metal coins in the box, feeling that the metallic texture was so dazzling under the overhead light that it even seemed to make his head ache.

"Brother Jun."

The male ghost glanced at Xu Qingzhou, who was not far away.

The little girl seemed to be lucky, as she grabbed another doll and was excitedly waving it at Chi Jun over there.

He licked his lips, couldn't help but lean closer to Chi Jun, and asked cautiously:

"If Zhang Pengfei dies in a month, can we... leave?"

Chi Jun stared at Xu Qingzhou, who was waving at him with a bright smile not far away. After a couple of seconds of silence, he smiled and gave her a thumbs up in response.

When he lowered his head, the smile on his lips had completely vanished.

"Otherwise what?"

He looked at the gleaming metal coin in his hand, his voice calm.

The male ghost held his breath and waited for a while. When he heard Chi Jun's answer, he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

*

It was already 8 p.m. when I left the store.

Xu Qingzhou was holding three dolls in his arms: a yellow dog, a pink fox, and a brown bear.

That bear was ugly, gloomy, and old.

Chi Jun couldn't help but pinch its mouth:

"So ugly."

Xu Qingzhou was still not satisfied, hugged the bear tightly, and shook his head.

Chi Jun continued, "Let's call it Ugly."

Xu Qingzhou looked down at the bear in his arms, as if the bear would really be saddened by what he heard. He even soothingly stroked its face before taking out paper and pen and writing:

Its name is Mengmeng.

Chi Jun chuckled:

"Ugly-cute, ugly-cute. Even with such a subtle name change, doesn't it still make it seem ugly?"

Xu Qingzhou: "..."

She stroked Xiong's face and ignored Chi Jun.

Heading south, the road is lined with all sorts of food stalls on both sides. Crowds of people crowded around the stalls, and passersby chatted and laughed, some carrying snacks and others eating them. The scene was lively and bustling, full of life.

Chi Jun noticed that Xu Qingzhou's eyes lingered on a certain stall selling giant fried squid for two extra seconds.

"Want some?"

Xu Qingzhou shook his head and continued walking forward without stopping, but was pulled back by Chi Jun.

"Boss, two giant fried squid, sprinkled with plum, cumin and chili powder."

"Okay, handsome, that'll be 20 yuan."

Chi Jun paid the money before turning to look at Xu Qingzhou.

"I recently heard about an idea."

Xu Qingzhou: "?"

“Girls should be raised in comfort,” Chi Jun raised an eyebrow and explained seriously, “If they are satisfied materially, they won’t be easily fooled by other boys with small favors.”

Xu Qingzhou felt that Chi Jun's words tonight seemed to always involve questions about feelings and love.

Was he implying something to her?

After thinking for a moment, Xu Qingzhou said seriously: "Chi Jun, I really didn't have a puppy love relationship."

Given that Chi Jun had previously worried that she had ulterior motives towards him, Xu Qingzhou, after some thought, further clarified: "I really don't have any ulterior motives towards you either."

Chi Jun stared at the words on the paper for a long time, seemingly lost in thought, his face expressionless.

After a long while, he finally looked up and glanced at her:

"That's for the best."

*

On the way back to the rented apartment compound, Xu Qingzhou silently calculated the expenses for the night.

After calculating, only one thought remained in my mind: It's too extravagant.

She specifically told Chi Jun not to spend money on her anymore. Skirts, squid, claw machines—these are not necessities, and there's no need to waste money on them.

However, Chi Jun seems to be convinced that "girls should be raised in a wealthy environment".

He gave a perfunctory reply at the time, but starting the next day, he brought Xu Qingzhou all sorts of gifts every few days—

There were mock college entrance exam question books, paper, pens, notebooks, and various daily necessities, such as thick coats, cotton-padded clothes, gloves, and even some skirts, T-shirts, and shorts...

Xu Qingzhou was puzzled. These skirts and shorts were only meant for summer, so why were they bought now?

Chi Jun casually replied, "Summer clothes are on clearance sale right now. If you see anything that suits you, just buy it."

To be honest, when Xu Qingzhou first received these gifts, although he felt a little sorry for Chi Jun, he was still secretly quite happy.

After all, this was a concrete manifestation of Chi Jun's concern for her.

She could clearly sense that Chi Jun was different from before.

In the past, Chi Jun had never shown her any concern. There always seemed to be a barrier between them. After finishing his meals, he would leave the dishes on the table and wait for her to come back and wash them.

During this period, Chi Jun would clean up after himself after meals and promptly replenish any missing items in the small rented room.

In addition, he would give her all sorts of small gifts. Especially on weekends, he went out less often, and occasionally when she was picking vegetables, he would squat down next to her and help her choose the vegetables, although sometimes, because he was not familiar with the vegetables, he would make some funny mistakes.

He seemed to truly consider himself a member of this small rented apartment.

This open and intimate relationship made Xu Qingzhou happy, but along with the happiness, a vague unease was also stirring deep inside her.

As for where this unease came from, Xu Qingzhou couldn't say for sure.

Until one day in Chinese class, the Chinese teacher was very happy because Class 2 had achieved the highest score in the whole grade in the midterm exam, so as a reward, she showed the students a foreign film.

The film is incredibly moving. The final scene shows the female lead discovering, after the male lead's death, how much he did for her during the final stages of his cancer treatment—fixing the broken doorknob, placing things within her reach, and preparing countless small hair clips for her…

In the dimly lit and quiet classroom, the sounds of students sobbing and wiping their noses could be heard everywhere.

Until the film ended, the teacher turned off the projector and took the computer away. The classroom gradually returned to its usual noise during the break, but Xu Qingzhou was still staring at the workbook in front of him, sitting there, lost in thought.

Because she suddenly realized where that strange and uneasy feeling came from.

As the last self-study period was about to end, Xu Qingzhou hurriedly packed his schoolbag.

As soon as the school bell rang, she rushed out of the classroom through the back door with her schoolbag on her back and ran all the way back to the rented courtyard.

She had never felt before that the road home from school and the red lights were so long. Xu Qingzhou ran frantically, her eyes blurry and her throat dry and sore, but she still kept running forward.

The pedestrians and shops in front of her and around her kept receding, receding, and as she looked ahead, all the swaying scenery seemed to transform into only one figure—Chi Jun.

After an unknown amount of time, Xu Qingzhou, panting heavily, finally reached the second floor of the rented courtyard.

She braced herself on her knees with both hands, clearly feeling the metallic taste of blood rising in her throat, her mouth so dry she almost gagged.

However, having finally arrived here, and looking at the door so close at hand, Xu Qingzhou suddenly hesitated to go any further.

After a long while, she covered her face with her hands, took a few deep breaths to adjust her breathing, and then, with her legs that were not quite under her control, mustered her courage and walked forward step by step.

Fortunately, the door to the small rented room was open.

A clanging and tinkling sound kept coming from inside the door.

Through the open door, Xu Qingzhou saw Chi Jun half-squatting in the center of the room, with a small dining table upside down in front of him.

He is nailing a table leg.

Noticing the shadow at the door, Chi Jun turned around and glanced at her.

"I'm back."

He greeted them naturally and then hammered the nails in with a clanging sound.

Immediately, Chi Jun turned the table over, straightened it, put it back in its original position, dropped the hammer, and walked over to Xu Qingzhou.

"Come on, let me show you something."

Xu Qingzhou stared at him, motionless.

Chi Jun simply raised his hand and covered her eyes.

"Close your eyes."

*

Xu Qingzhou's vision went completely black. Chi Jun blindfolded him and helped him down the steps and around the corner.

She guessed that they must have arrived at the courtyard downstairs.

Finally, Chi Jun said, "Alright, you can open your eyes now."

He lowered his hand.

A sudden light entered his vision, and Xu Qingzhou couldn't help but squint. Then he slowly opened his eyelids and saw what was in front of him clearly—

It's an electric car.

The electric car is yellow and appears to be designed in the shape of Pikachu. The front of the car is Pikachu's head, and the back seat has Pikachu's lightning bolt tail, making it look very cute and adorable.

On the vehicle, there was also a small, exquisitely designed yellow helmet of the same style.

"Is it pretty?" Chi Jun asked.

Xu Qingzhou's face remained expressionless as he stared at the electric scooter and nodded.

Chi Jun picked up the small helmet and handed it to her: "Try it on."

Xu Qingzhou reached out and took the helmet, his hands trembling slightly.

Chi Jun noticed this and frowned slightly. He was about to ask her if she was cold when he saw Xu Qingzhou holding the helmet with both hands and putting it on her head. She pursed her lips, and suddenly, large tears rolled down her cheeks.

Chi Jun: "..."

He stared at Xu Qingzhou.

Neither of them spoke, yet something unknown seemed to be surging in the air, gradually becoming clearer and more concrete.

The doubt in Chi Jun's eyes quickly disappeared, replaced by clarity.

But she still asked, "What's wrong?"

Xu Qingzhou's eyes were already red.

She wiped away her tears, took out paper and pen from her pocket, and when she looked up at Chi Jun again, her eyes were filled with a sense of resignation to her fate.

She wrote:

Are you leaving?