Chapter 42
There is an outdoor basketball court across the street from the restaurant.
It was hot at night and the air condensed into large sticky pieces that hung on people's skin.
Lawson is brightly lit at night. There are no tall buildings nearby, making this small convenience store look like a silent aircraft flying in the vast universe.
Quiet and cold, yet eternally romantic.
Jiang Wan was still picking out ice milk in front of the shelf, while at the other corner, Chen Mingjia was picking out ice cream in front of the freezer.
"Six is enough." Jiang Wan shook the milk in his hand: "I don't need it."
Chen Mingjia raised her head, staring at the milk in the girl's hand in front of her, and asked knowingly, "Do you like drinking milk?"
Although this was the second time the two met, surprisingly, they didn't feel too much of a stranger.
Jiang Wan nodded, staring at the freezer, picked up a green tea flavored Baxi, and said strictly, following Chen Mingjia's words, "Yes, I like it, but I only like to drink ice milk."
Chen Mingjia's understanding gaze fell on Jiang Wan. She remembered that some time ago, Lu Jiyu suddenly asked her which brand of milk tasted best after being chilled. She had no answer at the time because Chen Mingjia only drank milk hot or at room temperature. She had known since she was a child that iced milk was too cold.
After picking out their things, the two walked to the cashier one after the other. While the cashier was scanning the code, Jiang Wan had already opened his payment code: "Let me pay. Even though it's just an ice cream, it's an apology."
Chen Mingjia's eyes lit up. It wasn't the first time she realized that Jiang Wan was interesting, but it deepened her impression of him.
Chen Mingjia didn't bother to exchange polite words and put her phone away. Jiang Wan, on the other hand, asked for another vest bag and put all her belongings in it. After they paid their bills and left, the automatic door slowly closed behind them, singing a song. Chen Mingjia stood on the steps, gazing at the brightly lit basketball court not far away, and remained silent for a few seconds.
It wasn't until Jiang Wan stepped down the last step that she realized the person behind her hadn't caught up. She turned her head, the cool white light of the convenience store bathing her delicate, smooth face. Her eyes, no longer as sharp and fearless as before, were now shrouded in a faint, innocent air. The full moon hung high above her head. If a gust of wind had picked up at this moment, everything would have been perfectly composed, like a painting.
To be honest, after all the years of Jiayuan and No. 3 Middle School's rivalry, Chen Minjia had heard of Jiang Wan before, saying she was both smart and beautiful. However, she herself was a gifted woman, so even when the rumors were fervent, she always maintained a faint suspicion and reserved attitude.
It was not until he met the real person at the last symposium that Chen Mingjia realized for the first time that the rumors were too modest.
Jiang Wan wasn't just pretty; she also met all the three common beauty criteria of being tall, white, and thin. But what attracted her most was the aloof yet calm expression in her eyes, a natural ability to control the whole situation, which naturally evoked a sense of admiration and even dependence.
Chen Minjia also has her own pride.
You are very good, but she is never bad either.
"I like Ji Yu."
The late evening breeze blew away her words at this moment.
"But I only liked his face for a short time." She smiled: "And it was a long time ago." Chen Mingjia looked at Jiang Wan's face, and there was no ripple on her calm face.
Jiang Wan was not surprised, but stared at her with a particularly sincere look: "Actually, you like someone else."
Chen Mingjia was aroused by her curiosity: "What do you mean?"
"You like Xu Le." What was originally thought to be unrequited love turned out to be mutual affection.
When masters fight, the last blow is always the fatal one.
Chen Mingjia was speechless. She thought she had hidden it well, after all, not even the person involved had noticed. But Jiang Wan had only met them once and saw through it at a glance.
"In that case, why use Lu Jiyu as a cover?" Jiang Wan touched the cold body of the milk bottle.
"Did he tell you that?"
Jiang Wan paused and said nothing, but Chen Mingjia knew that she had asked the wrong question. Lu Jiyu would never gossip about others behind their backs.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed that about him."
"Xu Le and I." Chen Mingjia felt that the ice cream in the vest bag in her hand was melting inch by inch at a very slow pace, just like the small hole in her heart, which was slowly expanding.
"It's unlikely that he and I will be together. Our family is going to immigrate soon, and I will go to Canada to study."
"A long-distance relationship?" Jiang Wan wasn't the type to be particularly interested in other people's lives. In Chen Wulin's words, she was quite cold-blooded. But Chen Mingjia's frankness instilled in Jiang Wan an inexplicable fondness and a rare curiosity.
"I have a sister who is in an interracial relationship with her boyfriend. It's very tiring and the ending is not happy." Chen Minjia stood with her back to the light, her face hidden in the shadows.
"But in the end, I still don't like it enough."
"I do like him, but not enough to go through so much trouble for him. And as you saw today, he's just too childish."
"In that case, why should we let him misunderstand Lu Jiyu?"
Chen Minjia:? Sister, I'm confessing my feelings to you. Can you enlighten me a little according to the common sense, instead of focusing on Lu Jiyu's innocence every moment?
Chen Mingjia took a deep breath: "Because it's not Lu Jiyu, he won't give up."
If she wasn't someone more capable than Xu Le, Xu Le would have kept chasing Chen Mingjia and asking why. She was not a soft-hearted person, but she was also afraid that she would be pressured into agreeing to him.
"How do you know he has given up on you?" Jiang Wan thought of Xu Le's performance at the dinner table today, and once again deeply understood the saying "those who are involved are often confused."
If you give up, will he sit next to you and ask if you want to drink? If you give up, will he save your face and help you save your face?
＊
"Damn it, Xu Le, when did you become a beast?"
Four dark shadows hung beneath the fierce searchlights of the basketball court. The night wind mingled with the boy's scorching breathing and the long, lingering chirping of early summer cicadas.
Zhou Zifang raised his hand and hit the ball into the boy standing under the basket. Sweat dripped down his forehead. Li Mu was called in on an emergency call and stood on the sidelines listening to a boy named Gao Zhuo tell him the whole story.
This guy talked about things like he was writing an essay, not only was he eloquent but he also sprinkled in a lot of his own subjective comments. Li Mu had been feeling annoyed and down at first, but now he was absorbed in the story.
"Two men fighting for one woman?" He frowned in discomfort, a little unconvinced that such a cheesy plot could happen to Lu Jiyu. Li Mu turned his head and asked the person standing on the other side, who had been answering messages on his phone, "Is what he said true?"
Lu Jiyu had just accepted Ji Yang's invitation to his birthday party when he sent him a 36-page birthday plan in Word. After opening the document and reading it for 3.6 seconds, Lu Jiyu began to regret his momentary weakness in accepting the invitation. He then typed "Get lost" in another 0.36 seconds and sent it back.
It’s still not too late to regret now.
"What's true or false?" Lu Jiyu replied before glancing at the person who was talking to him. "Why are you here? When did you get here?"
Li Mu: ???
"Is it okay if it grows in my field?" Li Mu still didn't give up and asked Lu Jiyu, "Don't you already have someone in your heart?"
A ball slowly rolled to Lu Jiyu's feet. He habitually raised his foot to steady himself, then bent over and scooped it up with a hook shot. He casually tossed it to Zhou Zifang across from him. With a pair of dark eyes shining, he spoke slowly and in a low voice, "I have someone I love, do you?"
Li Mu thought to himself, why are you pretending to be nice to me? If the girl really runs away, you won't be able to cry and won't have anywhere to go. "I'm not into this. Go find Zhou Zifang. Zhou Zifang has no taboos."
"Oh." He nodded and stopped talking.
It can be seen that he really has no mentality now.
Zhou Zifang was truly busy right now. Ever since leaving Wangyue Tower, he'd been training with Xu Le on the court for nearly half an hour. It was a one-on-one match, and logically, their skills were evenly matched, but Xu Le was feeling unsure, his actions sluggish, as if he hadn't eaten. Even more unbearable was the fact that Lu Jiyu, clearly the person involved, was watching him from the sidelines, his arms folded, like a spectator.
After being blocked several times by Zhou Zifang, Xu Le couldn't stand it anymore. He snatched the ball from Zhou Zifang and threw it towards Lu Jiyu. He regretted it as soon as the ball left his hands because he used too much force, making it look like a malicious sneak attack.
But Lu Jiyu's reaction was so quick that he dodged it by leaning back. Li Mu, who didn't know the truth, was curious and wanted to reach out to help him, but he was hit right in the face.
"Fuck you, Xu Le, are you blind?"
Xu Le was really feeling guilty at this moment, and he was willing to endure all the scolding, but he just wanted a result, a satisfying ending.
"Lu Jiyu, you clearly know that I like Chen Mingjia."
The shadows of the trees rustled, and the young man's thoughts were so straightforward, yet passionate and pure.
Lu Jiyu felt really wronged, and there was a rare hint of impatience in his voice: "If you like her, go tell her. What's the point of nagging me here?"
Lu Jiyu wasn't someone without a temper. On the contrary, when he got angry, it was hard to stop him. But he rarely took things too seriously. Whether others scolded him or loved him, he didn't care much and would just turn a blind eye.
But Xu Le really touched his bottom line tonight.
Xu Le was speechless because of Lu Jiyu's insincere defense.
"I'm not interested in her, not at all. How else do you want me to promise you? Or should I sign it for you?"
Just now, a group of people came out of Wangyue Tower and silently dispersed into two groups. A road led to both ends, and everyone went their separate ways and parted unhappily. When passing by Lawson, Chen Mingjia said she wanted to go in to buy something. Xu Le was about to go with her, but Chen Mingjia looked at Jiang Wan.
"Can you stay with me?"
Jiang Wan was a little surprised, but agreed without hesitation.
Lu Jiyu looked at her pair of clear and bright eyes at that time and instinctively wanted to say something, but in the end he was rarely able to speak.
Xu Le took two deep breaths and sorted out his thoughts: "On the day of the symposium, she asked you to go to the administrative building. Why did you agree to go?" Xu Le wanted to take a step forward to ask more questions, but Zhou Zifang pushed him back a step.
"Damn it, that's enough. Are you done yet?"
Xu Le wasn't being relentless, he just felt unwilling to give in. He knew that liking Lu Jiyu wasn't a particularly unpopular thing, and he also acknowledged that Chen Mingjia liked Lu Jiyu, but he just couldn't tolerate their unclear relationship, and couldn't tolerate Lu Jiyu keeping Chen Mingjia hanging.
"She didn't ask me to go to the administration building."
"The director of the Academic Affairs Office wants to talk to us about something." Lu Jiyu said half the words but kept the other hidden. Although Xu Le had a good relationship with him, there were some things Chen Mingjia had told him not to say, and he would not spread them around.
"That's it?" Xu Le asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"That's it."
The voice that answered him was Chen Mingjia's.
Lu Jiyu also turned around and looked behind him, and saw Jiang Wan standing next to Chen Mingjia.
She was holding a bottle of ice milk with a straw stuck in the bottle cap. When he looked over, her eyes were looking right at him.
At this moment, many people were pouring into the basketball court. Several boys who looked like high school students passed by her from behind, and some curious people deliberately whistled.
Jiang Wan ignored him and just stared at Lu Jiyu motionlessly.
The two men's eyes met in mid-air, and in the end, Lu Jiyu was defeated first.
Xu Le was like a frost-bitten eggplant when he saw Chen Mingjia. He immediately gave in. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and stared at the dark green forest outside the court without saying a word.
Chen Mingjia walked over as if she knew nothing, smiling and handing out the ice cream she bought at the convenience store to everyone: "Jiang Wan treats everyone to ice cream."
After sending it around, the last one was sent to Xu Le. The other party reached out to take it, but Chen Mingjia held the ice cream in her hand and did not let go: "Xu Le, I have something to tell you alone. Are you free now?"
A group of people were scattered around, eating and watching the show.
There is Li Mu between Jiang Wan and Lu Jiyu.
"Long time no see." Li Mu glanced at the two people on his left and right, and the gossip in his eyes could not be hidden. He raised the eight-happy in his hand to Jiang Wan and said: "Thank you for the meal."
On the other side, Lu Jiyu held the ice cream in his hand without moving. Jiang Wan glanced at him. Li Mu saw what she meant and explained to her considerately, "Lu Jiyu doesn't like green tea flavor."
Jiang Wan said "Oh" and took two sips of milk: "That's a pity, I picked it specially."
Li Mu almost laughed out loud. No wonder Chen Mingjia didn't agree when he wanted to pick the green tea flavor. It turned out that she had this in mind.
He suppressed his gloating and whispered to Lu Jiyu: "What should we do now?"
Lu Jiyu sighed deeply in his heart. It was really like everything happened on the same day. He did not care about Li Mu's smug look on his face. He could only apologize to Jiang Wan from the bottom of his heart: "I really can't eat it." He wanted to vomit as soon as he tasted this taste.
Jiang Wan was silent for a few seconds, then he reached out to Lu Jiyu: "Then I'll eat it, don't waste it."
"Come with me to the convenience store and I'll buy you another one."
"I didn't take your taste into consideration. It was indeed inconsiderate of me."
"Don't you think so?"
Lu Jiyu: The fucking college entrance exam is over, why are there still fatal questions waiting for him?
Ten minutes later, Jiang Wan pointed to a row of iced beers in the freezer in the canteen and looked sideways at Lu Jiyu standing next to her: "How many bottles can you drink?"
"If you don't like the green tea flavor, then let's drink some wheat drinks."
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