Chapter 78 Daily Life (XII)
Saturday night, downtown.
Before entering the hotel with Yan Shaowen, Mu Yu was still wondering if it would be a bad idea to come here so rashly today. When he actually stepped into the banquet hall, he knew that he was overthinking...
There were so many people... so many that it was impossible for anyone to pay attention to whether there was one more person in the venue...
In the banquet hall, people were drinking and chatting, and most of them were wearing formal gowns like Yan Shaowen who was standing next to him. The air was filled with the atmosphere of the upper class...
Mu Yu was very glad that he wore a shirt and trousers today so that he wouldn't feel out of place.
Yan Shaowen greeted his family members in the distance and asked casually, "So, what are you going to do now?"
"Observe," Mu Yu glanced at him, "What did you want me to do before you came to me?"
Yan Shaowen laughed when he heard it: "I'm just curious. After all, our class monitor is always unexpected."
Mu Yu understood that this guy was just bored and wanted to have some fun with him.
He looked into the venue and asked, "So how exactly is today's banquet arranged?"
"Grandpa Lu will show up at half past six. He's old, so he probably won't stay too long. He'll just say hello and leave. As for Uncle Lu—" Yan Shaowen paused, "Oh, probably Lu Zhongnian's father. He'll be here today, too."
"You'll come today too?"
What a strange statement! Was he not going to come or should not have come?
Mu Yu cast a questioning look at Yan Shaowen, who raised his eyebrows: "You have such a good relationship with Lu Chongnian, but he has never told you about his family relationship?"
Mu Yu was determined not to be provoked: "When I talked to him before, I didn't bring up this topic."
He only knew that Lu Zhongnian had complicated family relationships and that he only returned to the Lu family, where Grandpa Lu was, when he was fifteen.
Lu Zhongnian didn't seem to like talking about family-related topics, so Mu Yu wouldn't even talk about her own family matters in front of him, for fear of accidentally touching on Lu Zhongnian's sad memories.
Thinking of this, he immediately raised his hand and signaled Yan Shaowen not to say anything: "Is it a very personal matter? If so, you don't have to tell me."
He respected Lu Chongnian, so if Lu Chongnian didn't like to talk about something, he would never ask others about it without Lu Chongnian knowing about it.
Yan Shaowen looked at him with a very strange look, as if he got to know him all over again.
"It's not that private. Everyone in the circle knows it anyway." Yan Shaowen looked in a certain direction and his sight fell on a middle-aged man. "With your IQ, you should know what the situation is after hearing what I just said."
Mu Yu paused and looked in the direction Yan Shaowen was looking.
In the crowd, a middle-aged man in a blue suit was walking around, patting this person on the shoulder and toasting that person.
His facial features were very similar to Lu Chongnian's, but whether it was because of the exaggerated expressions he forced out or because some details were different, the feeling he gave people was completely different from Lu Chongnian's.
If Lu Chongnian is a flower on the mountain top, he is aloof and cold, making people feel difficult to approach, but he is naturally attractive to others.
Then the middle-aged man in the distance at this moment... He was like a piece of dry firewood that had rotted without being burned, and people couldn't help but frown when they looked at him.
Mu Yu even found it hard to believe that the man was Lu Zhongnian's father.
He was almost certain at the first sight of the other person that there was no need for him to waste his time on this man. The latter would never try to recall Lu Chongnian, and Lu Chongnian might not expect this man to remember him.
He frowned and searched around the middle-aged man.
"Don't look for him anymore," Yan Shaowen said nonchalantly, "Uncle Lu got divorced a long time ago. Oh, not that long ago, maybe four or five years ago. No one knows where his wife is now."
Mu Yu froze.
...divorced?
Suddenly, his heart felt empty.
Before coming here today, Mu Yu had prepared himself mentally. He had thought that Grandpa Lu could not be provoked, so it would be good to find a chance to talk to Lu Chongnian's parents.
Although he thought that Lu Zhongnian's family might be different from ordinary people, he never expected such a simple and crude answer...
My parents divorced and my mother disappeared without a trace.
...Before Lu Chongnian was fifteen years old, his family seemed to have no contact with Grandpa Lu. It was not known whether Grandpa Lu did not accept the love between Lu Chongnian's parents. Anyway, it seems now that his parents' "love" eventually ended in tragedy.
After Lu Zhongnian's parents divorced, until he returned to Grandpa Lu, during the one or two years in between...did Lu Zhongnian live with his father all the time?
...and that middle-aged man?
Mu Yu pursed her lips.
In the distance, the middle-aged man suddenly turned hostile and started arguing with someone.
The quarrel attracted the attention of the whole audience. The sound of murmurs and discussions was heard everywhere. Several people hurried over, squeezed in between the two people and whispered to persuade them to stop fighting.
The man with similar facial features to Lu Chongnian was so angry that his face turned red and his neck became thick. He was pulled away and his collar was pulled hard, but it seemed that it was not enough to vent his anger.
Yan Shaowen said as if he was watching a play: "Grandpa Lu only has this one son, but compared to this son, I think he might want a grandson more. If Lu Chongnian was here, the protagonist of today's banquet might have to be changed."
——This banquet will be the stage for Mr. Lu to solemnly introduce his young successor.
Mu Yu remained silent.
...He just suddenly wondered, how much affection did Grandpa Lu have for Lu Chongnian?
During the fifteen years of separation, had Grandpa Lu been secretly paying attention to Lu Chongnian?
Or did he completely ignore it until one day he suddenly found out that his son had finally gotten divorced and his grandson was living a miserable life, and then he thought about taking him back... ?
Mu Yu didn't like to think too badly of people, but at this moment he had to consider this situation.
Because if it was the second situation he guessed, then he felt that his trip today might have been in vain.
In this crowded banquet venue, filled with Lu family members and old friends, he might not be able to find anyone who cares about Lu Chongnian.
Mu Yu took a deep breath and felt that his breathing was a little difficult. He turned his head and said to Yan Shaowen: "You came here on purpose to watch my show today, right?"
Given the Lu family's family relationships, there's no way he could get any results today.
Yan Shaowen smiled and said, "How can you say that? I just want to help you, squad leader."
Mu Yu complained inwardly and sighed.
He planned to find a corner to stay in and wait until Grandpa Lu came out, but suddenly, he heard a noise behind him.
He and Yan Shaowen turned around and saw a group of people pouring in from the entrance of the banquet hall... There was a white-haired old man in the crowd.
The old man's legs and feet seemed to be not in good condition. He leaned on a cane and his back was slightly bent, but his steps were still steady. His eyes were bright and sharp like an eagle.
Mu Yu's heart skipped a beat.
...Is this Lu Zhongnian’s grandfather?
He and Yan Shaowen stepped aside to make way for the main road.
Many people immediately came up to him in the banquet hall, offering compliments and congratulations.
Grandpa Lu had no expression on his face. He just nodded to express his gratitude and didn't say a word the entire time.
Mu Yu's cell phone vibrated at this moment.
He picked it up and saw that it was Mu Chenxi sending him a WeChat message asking him what time he would finish today. If it was early, he would drive over to pick him up.
The large group of people was about to pass by Yan Shaowen and Mu Yu. The white-haired old man glanced at them inadvertently and stopped.
He stopped, and the people around him also stopped and looked in the direction the old man was looking.
Yan Shaowen glanced at Mu Yu silently.
Mu Yu was lowering his head to reply to his brother's message when he suddenly noticed that the surroundings had become quiet and he raised his head sharply.
Grandpa Lu turned around and walked towards them with his cane.
Mu Yu was stunned.
The old man walked up to him step by step, stretched out his hand and raised it, as if asking him if he could lend it to him for a look.
Mu Yu looked down and saw that Grandpa Lu's hand was reaching for...his cell phone? ?
Grandpa Lu wants to borrow his cell phone?
Mu Yu was a little confused, but still handed over the phone.
The old man took the phone and turned it over - on the back was the photo of Lu Chongnian.
Mu Yu's eyes changed color.
The white-haired old man looked at it, rubbing his thumb slowly on the photo. He raised his head, his eyes actually turned slightly red, and his voice was old and hoarse: "... Do you remember?"
In an instant, Mu Yu suddenly tightened his hands, and Yan Shaowen looked surprised.
Yan Shaowen asked politely in a low voice: "Grandpa Lu... do you remember?"
Grandpa Lu lowered his head and looked at the photo again.
Countless people around listened in confusion, and the old man said two sentences that only the three of them could understand.
"After you came that day, I had a dream at night."
"I'm old and my memory is not good. It took me a long time to remember it completely until a while ago."
“That day”…
Is it referring to the day after the first instance was over, when Yan Shaowen was entrusted by Mu Yu to go to the Lu family to inquire about the situation? !
Mu Yu and Yan Shaowen exchanged glances.
Yan Shaowen shook his head slightly. He didn't mention anything related to Lu Chongnian that day. He just asked about it in a normal way.
Mu Yu was even more shocked.
So, Grandpa Lu recalled Lu Chongnian on his own without any reminder? !
...This is a bit beyond imagination.
But it's also a little strange.
If Grandpa Lu really remembered Lu Chongnian, then the reflected world should have shown accelerated spin. But so far, except for the day when Qu Ge remembered Lu Chongnian, they have not observed that kind of sudden acceleration at any other time.
Unless... the moment when Grandpa Lu thought of Lu Zhongnian coincidentally overlapped with the moment when Qu Ge thought of Lu Zhongnian that day...
Mu Yu looked at the white-haired old man in front of him, and immediately overturned all the guesses he had in his mind a few minutes ago.
Just a few minutes ago, he had thought the old man looked like a lion.
The aging of his body did not diminish his sharpness and majesty at all. He was solemn, powerful, unshakable and inviolable, and very tough. Mu Yu thought he would be difficult to conquer.
However, at this moment, the old man was holding his mobile phone, but his hands were shaking slightly.
At this moment, the other person seemed to have turned into a very ordinary, common old man. He was old and tired. The wrinkles between his brows seemed to have become deeper, and his whole body revealed an unspeakable pain.
Before today, did Grandpa Lu think that no one in the world remembered Lu Chongnian except him?
Mu Yu's throat seemed to be blocked.
He had prepared many words, what to say when he met Lu Zhongnian's parents, and what to say when he met Grandpa Lu, but at this moment, he couldn't say a single word.
Grandpa Lu raised his eyes and looked at Mu Yu and Yan Shaowen.
He looked at them carefully for a while, as if trying to memorize their appearance, and then handed Mu Yu's phone back.
Mu Yu quickly took off his phone case and said, "Grandpa, why don't you take this? I have a lot of phone cases like this..."
Grandpa Lu laughed and took it again: "Thank you, is there any possibility that he...will come back?"
The people around them were even more confused and had no idea what they were talking about.
Yan Shaowen couldn't answer this question, and Mu Yu also paused.
...He didn't want to irresponsibly give the old man hope and then disappoint him.
The old man understood their reaction and asked slowly, "I can't help at all?"
Mu Yu opened his mouth and was speechless.
The old man lowered his eyes.
After a long while, he gently patted Mu Yu's hand and said only one sentence: "You can come to our house when you are free. Stay a little longer today and leave after you are full."
…
Watching Grandpa Lu walking away slowly with his back bent, Mu Yu felt extremely complicated.
Yan Shaowen commented: "Grandpa Lu... is indeed a very powerful person."
Father Lu suddenly squeezed through the crowd and asked inquiringly, "What were you talking about with the old man just now? Who is this——"
He looked at Mu Yu.
Yan Shaowen immediately showed a fake smile and said politely: "Uncle Lu, this is my high school classmate. I met him today and brought him over for a meal. Grandpa Lu hasn't seen me for a long time and he missed me."
Father Lu seemed a little unconvinced. He looked Yan Shaowen up and down and muttered, "He has been acting strangely since you came that day."
Mu Yu interrupted: "Why is it strange?"
Father Lu glanced at him again, seeming a little too lazy to pay attention to him.
However, probably because the Yan family and the Lu family are old friends, and Mu Yu is a classmate brought here by Yan Shaowen himself, he finally told them reluctantly: "He has been sitting in the empty room of the old house recently, not coming out for a long time, and I don't know what he is thinking about."
...empty room?
...Could it be the room where Lu Chongnian once lived?
Mu Yu felt even more indescribable.
After Father Lu finished speaking, he perfunctorily said to Yan Shaowen: "Since the old man said he missed you, then you can come and see him when you are free."
"Yes, Uncle Lu." Yan Shaowen continued to play the role of the fake smiling boy.
After Lu's father left, Yan Shaowen put his hands in his trouser pockets and asked Mu Yu: "What do we say next? Eat something and I'll take you home?"
"No, my brother will come to pick me up," Mu Yu said absentmindedly. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Well, I'll leave for a while."
He ran into the crowd, and Yan Shaowen watched him with interest as he squeezed towards the direction where Mr. Lu was.
When Mu Yu found Grandpa Lu again, the old man seemed a little surprised.
Mu Yu pulled Grandpa Lu to a corner and secretly stuffed some badges into his pocket.
Before setting off today, Mu Yu was actually a little hesitant about whether to take the grains with him. This kind of thing can be played with among young people, but it would be strange to bring it in front of elders.
But they didn't weigh much, so he ended up stuffing a few into his bag.
At this moment, seeing these glittering badges, Mr. Lu did not seem to be much repulsed. Instead, he looked at them with curiosity.
Mu Yu said carefully: "Grandpa Lu, I can't guarantee you what the outcome will be in the future, but at least now, I can tell you with certainty that Lu Chongnian is fine."
Grandpa Lu suddenly stopped and quickly raised his head to look at him.
"He is taking good care of himself, and we are working together to find a solution," Mu Yu said solemnly, "There are many people accompanying him."
"We're going to try to...try to get everyone back together."
The white-haired old man clenched the thing in his hand violently.
He stared at Mu Yu for a long time, then slowly nodded and said, "Okay."
"……good."
*
After saying goodbye to Yan Shaowen, Mu Yu left the banquet hall and went outside the hotel.
He waited on the side of the road for a while until a car came.
Get in the car and close the door.
The young man in the driver's seat who looked 50% like him took a look at his attire, then glanced at the luxurious hotel outside, and asked calmly, "You and your classmates are eating at such a high-end place? Are they college classmates?"
"No, it's my high school classmate," Mu Yu just finished answering, and then he realized that his brother's tone was a bit subtle, and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Brother, I'm having dinner with my male classmates!"
...Wait, it seems that male classmates are more dangerous to him.
Never mind, his brother doesn't know anyway...
Mu Yu coughed guiltily.
The car drove towards home.
When Mu Chenxi heard that it was a male classmate, she instantly lost interest in continuing the questioning and began to ask him how he was doing recently and what he was busy with.
Mu Yu couldn't explain it either, he could only say that it was the beginning of the new semester, so of course he was busy. What were he busy with? He was busy with club activities, schoolwork, and all sorts of other things.
Mu Chenxi sneered and commented with five words: "You are just fooling around."
Mu Yu: “.”
How should I put it, he is worthy of being his brother.
Mu Yu was quiet for a while, then asked, "Brother, if I disappear one day, and you find that no one in the world remembers me except you, and even you almost forget me, what will you do?"
Mu Chenxi glanced at him again: "Why do you ask?"
Mu Yu continued to make up: "I just read a science fiction novel recently, and this is the setting in it."
Just at this moment, the green light ahead popped up.
Mu Chenxi turned his head and stepped on the accelerator.
"Whoever made you disappear, I will make him disappear."
Mu Yu was stunned.
He pondered over these words silently, then smiled, even laughed out loud.
After hearing him laugh for a long time, Mu Chenxi asked curiously, "Is it so funny? You've really been a little weird lately."
Mu Yu cleared his throat: "I was just thinking, brother, your mental state is worth learning from."
There was a smile on his lips and his eyes were looking out the window.
It's time to change your mindset.
What does it matter whether it disappears or not? Why should he and Lu Chongnian disappear?
It is He who should disappear.
He is the one who should get out of their world.
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