Chapter 35
The sun was noisy all morning, but it died down in the afternoon.
"Hey, I'm telling you, I ran into Li Yuelin today. You know him? He's the guy who had a crush on you for two years in junior high. I chatted with him for a while, and he showed me their class graduation photo. Do you know who I saw?"
Jiang Wan was sitting on an open-air chair in front of the school supermarket. In front of her was a bottle of iced green tea that had just been taken out of the refrigerator, with water droplets hanging on the bottle.
The temperature was not high in the afternoon, but it was a bit stuffy. Jiang Wan looked up at the cloudy sky and thought it was going to rain.
"Li Yuelin?" She seemed to remember that there was such a person, but the name and the person's face no longer matched.
"Have you forgotten?" Chen Meiyun seemed a little speechless at Jiang Wan's ruthlessness: "But that's not important. What's important is that I saw Lu Jiyu in his graduation photo."
"Do you know Lu Jiyu? Isn't he from German Middle School? How did he appear in the graduation photo of No. 3 Middle School?"
"Does he have a twin brother?"
Jiang Wan was touched by Chen Meiyu's imagination and couldn't help laughing.
"why are you laughing?"
"Nothing." Jiang Wan rubbed the water droplets on the bottle with his fingers: "I saw him at a lecture at No. 3 Middle School today."
Chen Meiyun blinked. "Is he really from No. 3 Middle School? Then why is he wearing Devinde's skin? What's going on? Is he addicted to cosplay?"
But then again.
Chen Meiyu still felt something was amiss: "He's from No. 3 Middle School, so why doesn't he go to school every day? He doesn't look sick."
Jiang Wan thought that since things had come to this, there was no need to hide it any further.
"Because he was recommended to the F university."
"……Depend on!"
There was a sharp explosion on the other end of the line.
Chen Meiyun yelled, "What's wrong with me being one more talented and beautiful person in this world? What's wrong with me?"
"Yes, yes, what's wrong with having one more person like me?" Jiang Wan followed behind and echoed Chen Meiyu's words.
As a result, when the other party got angry on the microphone, he was sent away with just one word "get out".
After Jiang Wan hung up, he checked the time. His meeting with Chen Wulin was still ten minutes away. During the last barbecue, Chen Wulin had mistakenly taken Jiang Wan's headphones in the chaos. Since he was back at school to answer questions with his teacher, Jiang Wan decided to take the headphones back.
The phone on the table vibrated again.
Jiang Wan glanced down.
——It will take me about ten minutes.
She didn't reply.
When the lecture ended just now, Cheng Xiang came down from the stage and went straight backstage. Lu Jiyu picked up a bag on his right, turned his head and asked in a low voice: "Do you want to go backstage with me?"
Jiang Wan lowered her head to check the nearby traffic information on her mobile phone. It seemed that she was about to leave immediately. She did not directly reply to Ji Yu's words. She said, "Wait a moment," and then continued to fiddle with her mobile phone.
Lu Jiyu really waited quietly by the side, watching her openly click on all the mini-programs on her phone, and even opened the app store in the end to start downloading new mini-programs.
Lu Jiyu remained silent, and Jiang Wan finally couldn't help but ask, "Don't you really have any sense at all?"
"What?" There was a faint smile in his eyes. People were coming and going in his peripheral vision, but he was only looking at her.
"I may not want to talk to you." Jiang Wan finally put down the phone and stared at him bluntly.
Lu Jiyu sighed inwardly and said sincerely, "I know it's my fault for not explaining it to you clearly at the beginning. It's normal for you to be angry."
"But you really won't go backstage with me?"
Jiang Wan raised an eyebrow: "What are you going to do backstage? Digging for treasure?"
"I'll take you to get an autograph." Lu Jiyu had already stood up when he spoke.
Jiang Wan was about to say "I don't want to go", but when he heard the word "signature", he automatically shut his mouth.
To be on the safe side, she asked one more question: "Whose signature is it?"
Lu Jiyu pointed at the poster in his hand: "What do you think?"
They were sitting in the front row, very close to the backstage area, only a few steps away. However, in these short steps, they also encountered several students who greeted Lu Jiyu. Everyone's expression was quite restrained, but Lu Jiyu had been with them day and night for so long that he naturally knew their little thoughts. Lu Jiyu had already taken off his black coat and held it in his hand. He walked in front to clear the way for Jiang Wan. Jiang Wan walked behind him, staring at the shoulder blades on his back that were pushed out of shape by the coolness of the coat. Suddenly, she thought that the school uniform of No. 3 Middle School was actually quite nice.
The backstage was not very big and was a bit shabby. Cheng Xiang, who had just come down from the stage, was surrounded by a group of students, signing autographs for people.
Lu Jiyu explained, "These are all students from the Student Union. The school has been preparing for this event for them for quite a while. After discussing it with Cheng Xiang, we decided to give them this small benefit."
Jiang Wan understood the meaning behind his words. She turned to look at him and asked, "Are you also in the student union?"
Lu Jiyu looked back at her, his eyes shining, a little lazy and a little teasing: "Why, it doesn't look like it."
Jiang Wan thought it might be because he was back on home turf. Lu Jiyu, dressed in the red and white No. 3 Middle School uniform, looked more at ease than usual, his every move exuding a calm and composed composure.
Thinking about when he was greeting others outside just now, he realized that Jiang Wan had met several of the students during competitions outside. They were all top students.
When Jiang Wan had previously considered him Dewen's student, Lu Jiyu had been a good-looking, intelligent, somewhat temperamental, yet interesting person. They could talk about many interesting things, but some things seemed difficult to touch upon, such as dreams and life plans. But now she suddenly realized that they had long been from the same world. They could have sympathies and disagreements, but there should be few gaps between them.
Who doesn't like the feeling of being on equal terms?
"Yeah, you look like someone who is good at playing tricks on people."
Jiang Wan really felt that Lu Jiyu was the most suitable boy to wear red among all the boys he had ever seen. The warm and even a little rustic red was perfectly neutralized by his cool temperament into a fresh and vigorous youthfulness.
This was the first time she regretted not choosing No. 3 Middle School in the high school entrance examination.
Lu Jiyu felt uncomfortable being stared at by her: "Is this considered scolding me?"
"Half and half."
Jiang Wan also replied sincerely, and then returned to the previous topic: "According to what you said just now, only the student union can ask for autographs?"
Her meaning was very clear, she had nothing to do with anything, so how could this be okay?
Yes, of course not if you are not from the student union.
The family members of the student union can still make it.
Lu Jiyu didn't know where her sense of morality came from, but she was also addicted to acting, so she started to act like a normal person. He nodded as if he suddenly understood something and said, "You're quite right. Why don't we go?"
He acted out the whole thing, and after he finished speaking, he turned around and was about to leave, but Jiang Wan immediately reached out and grabbed him. The school uniform was short-sleeved, and she quickly pulled it only to one side, leaving most of her palm covering the boy's upper arm. She then said, "Lu Jiyu, haven't you heard the old saying of us Chinese people? Since we are here, we are here."
Lu Jiyu's mind wasn't on her words. He lowered his head and glanced at Jiang Wan's hand covering his upper arm. Perhaps it was because the air conditioning in the hall was too low, the temperature of her fingers was a little cold, like the texture of some kind of cold jade, delicate and cool.
Jiang Wan didn't notice Lu Jiyu's brief distraction. She put down her hand and pointed ahead: "Writer Cheng Xiang is waving at us."
As expected, when Lu Jiyu looked up, he met Cheng Xiang's meaningful gaze.
But he didn't care, because he never intended to hide it.
Jiang Wan took out the book that she had prepared to sign from her schoolbag. She didn't expect to get an autograph, she just wanted to try her luck.
Cheng Xiang took the book she handed over with a smile: "Do you like this one?"
Jiang Wan thought for a moment and said, "I like every one of your books."
Cheng Xiang was really happy now. This little girl not only had a quiet and well-behaved face, but unexpectedly, the words she said were even more pleasing.
After she signed her name, she asked again, "Do you have any message you'd like to receive?"
Jiang Wan replied without a second thought: "I hope to live a life where I can go to bed right after eating soon."
Several junior students from No. 3 Middle School couldn't help laughing when they heard it. Lu Jiyu felt that this sentence was a little familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it for a while.
This was also the first time that Cheng Xiang signed such a blessing message.
After signing, she didn't rush to give her the book: "By the way, you don't look like you're from No. 3 Middle School. Which school are you from?"
Jiang Wan didn't expect to be exposed so quickly. She thought the other party was going to condemn her for not being a member of the student union and yet daring to come and cheat for signatures.
But Cheng Xiang immediately asked, "How did you and Lu Jiyu know each other?"
This really sounded a bit strange, a bit like a household registration check. Normally, Jiang Wan would just say a few words and get away with it, but when it was Cheng Xiang who asked her, she was speechless.
Lu Jiyu was still chiming in, "Do you want me to give you my birth date and address?"
This tone.
This reminded Jiang Wan of when they first met. She thought he was just being rude to her, but it turned out he was rude to everyone he met.
Lu Jiyu took the book from Cheng Xiang and gave it back to Jiang Wan. Cheng Xiang still had a lot to ask, but then he realized he was being impatient. So he smiled and patted Jiang Wan on the shoulder: "Come to the capital when you have time. I'll have a book signing at Century Bookstore in the second half of the year."
Jiang Wan nodded somewhat flattered.
After signing, Cheng Xiang left the backstage with his assistant.
Jiang Wan now remembered that the junior high school girl seemed to have something to talk to her about. She looked at Lu Jiyu who was surrounded by those student union members and wanted to go up and say hello before leaving.
But someone inside called out, "Senior Minjia is here."
Jiang Wan saw a girl wearing the uniform of No. 3 Middle School walking in from another door in the backstage. She was tall, fair-skinned, and looked intelligent and generous.
She was obviously looking for Lu Jiyu and stood firmly in front of him.
"Director Chen asked me to come see you."
Lu Jiyu didn't seem surprised either; he hummed softly. Jiang Wan's phone vibrated again. She picked it up and saw it was a voice call from Chen Wulin. Seeing Lu Jiyu was talking to someone, she didn't bother to greet him and simply walked around to the outside of the crowd, intending to go out and answer the call.
Jiang Wan was halfway there when a hand suddenly reached out from the crowd and loosely grasped her wrist. She looked at the owner of the hand, puzzled.
Lu Jiyu felt uneasy when he saw her looking at him. Why is it that the officials are allowed to set fires but the common people are not allowed to light lamps?
But in fact, he didn't mean to pull her. She was just walking too fast. Lu Jiyu was distracted and said a few more words to Chen Mingjia. When he looked up again, he found that Jiang Wan was almost passing by them.
He grabbed her completely out of instinct.
Lu Jiyu let go of his hand and asked, "Where are we going?"
"Go out and answer the phone."
"Wait for me for ten minutes, and we'll go back together later."
Jiang Wan looked at her with some confusion: "Don't you have something else to do?"
Chen Mingjia noticed the girl standing in the corner of the crowd as soon as she entered the door. Before she came to the theater, she heard that Lu Jiyu was accompanied by a very beautiful girl.
Chen Mingjia originally thought that the other person was just pretty.
But this familiar beauty surprised her a little, but she remained calm: "Are you Jiang Wan from Jiayuan?"
Jiang Wan was a little surprised that the other party knew her: "Yeah."
"I've seen you before at a CRC game."
Jiang Wan remembered: "That was because a member of our school team was sick and couldn't go on stage, so I went to fill in."
Chen Mingjia thought, "But your performance is very impressive." However, she would not say such words out loud. She only appreciated each other in moderation. If she said too much, it would seem a bit flattering.
"If you have something to do, just go ahead and do it. We'll contact you later."
The phone in Jiang Wan's hand vibrated again. She didn't bother to look at Lu Jiyu's reaction and left in a hurry.
Several younger students in the student union had already switched to spectator mode, looking at each other in confusion, not daring to think or ask.
Lu Jiyu knew a little about the rumors about him and Chen Mingjia, but he just thought it was nonsense and didn't take it too seriously. When he was still in school, there was a group of people who loved to make up gossip about him.
He still remembers the most ridiculous thing.
When he was in the second year of high school, he couldn't find his pencil case at home, so he took a pen from Lu Lin's desk and went to school.
Then, before school was over, the news spread throughout most of the first grade that the class hunk from Class 1 and the class belle from Class 8 were dating.
Originally, Lu Jiyu had been immune to stories like being rumored to be in a relationship when sharing a table for dinner, being accused of being interested in the girl in front of him when he accidentally stood too close to someone in line at the supermarket, etc. However, after hearing this rumor, he still couldn't help but ask Zhou Zifang why this time.
Because he didn't know anyone in Class 8, and he didn't even know a broom in their class, let alone the class beauty.
After Zhou Zifang asked around outside, he found Lu Jiyu with a gloating look on his face.
"Do you know what the reason is this time?"
"The pen you used this morning is also owned by the class beauty of Class 8. I heard they're a pair, a limited edition worldwide. After hearing this, I think you can't blame people for being gossipy. It seems pretty real to anyone who sees it."
Lu Jiyu just wanted to say, damn it: "This money belongs to Lu Lin. Lu Lin has a crush on her. It has nothing to do with me."
Zhou Zifang: ...
Chen Mingjia looked at Lu Jiyu with a smile: "How can you be sure that what they said is definitely false?"
It's the weekend, and the exchange meeting has been over for a while now. There are almost no students to be found on the streets. As they walked along Zhuangyuan Bridge, Lu Jiyu casually glanced toward the school's Sibo Lake. A familiar figure flashed by. Lu Jiyu wondered if the mushroom porridge he had that morning was undercooked. Otherwise, the whole day felt like a hallucination, with familiar things everywhere.
"Do you really like me?" He patted the stone bridge railing gently, thinking of the time when Director Chen, in his first year of high school, would squat by the bridge after evening self-study every day to catch young couples secretly holding hands at night.
For a while, Zhou Zifang was into rock music, sporting a medium-length hairstyle that he'd tie up during the day and let down at night. At first glance at night, he looked like a Barbie doll, which led to Lu Jiyu, who was walking with him, being arrested twice for no reason.
Lu Jiyu found it simply unreasonable.
To be honest, Chen Minjia is indeed a beautiful and smart student.
The two of them participated in a chemistry competition and won a prize. During the flag-raising ceremony on Monday, they went on stage together to receive the award, and all the students in the school followed them and praised them for being a perfect match.
But Lu Jiyu felt that if you didn’t feel anything at first sight when you liked someone, no matter how much you cultivated it later, it would just be an illusion.
Love at first sight is often explained as lust at first sight, and Lu Jiyu thinks this explanation is fine. However, not all lust can be aroused. He had never experienced love at first sight, and he couldn't explain the specifics of it.
Later, Li Mu found a weekend to hold a cross-border video conference for the two of them. The topic of the conference was - what is love at first sight?
Zhou Zifang cursed twice, but then thought, this guy seemed to be the only one among the three of them who had ever had a serious relationship, even if that relationship was terrible. But a downtrodden phoenix is still better than a chicken, so forget this bullshit metaphor.
He cursed himself.
"Love at first sight means you can tell from the first moment that the other person is your kindred spirit."
“Isn’t it amazing?”
"Being able to identify your similarities with someone simply through a glance is what I would call a human superpower."
Lu Jiyu actually didn't particularly believe in Li Mu's boastful theories, but there is a good saying that goes, "People can't teach people, but things can teach people."
Therefore, some things can only be understood after you experience them yourself.
The entrance to the administration building was right in front of them. Chen Mingjia had always been half a body length ahead of Lu Jiyu. She turned around and asked, "Why? Is liking you something so unpopular?"
Lu Jiyu nodded shamelessly: "It's not unpopular. It's not unpopular to like the school hunk."
"But." He changed the subject and stood in the shadow of the pillar at the door, his back straight, his plain and casual look with a hint of sharpness in his eyes.
That is a kind of seeing through.
Lu Jiyu is really blessed. He is smart and knows how to pretend. He seems to not understand things, but in fact he knows everything, but he is just too lazy to say it.
For example, now.
"What about Xu Le?"
The smile on Chen Mingjia's face remained unchanged, but the emotions in her eyes gradually became more intense, but quickly dissipated.
"I guess you don't really care about Xu Le's affairs."
"But I think Jiang Wan from Jiayuan is very important to you."
"But." Chen Mingjia pointed behind him, the direction they had just come from.
"I saw Chen Wulin and her enter the small theater together."
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