Chapter 6
Zhang Xiaomeng, a student at Jiang Wan's studio, had been studying painting there for almost two years. This past September, when he started his third year of junior high, his mother, worried that painting would interfere with his studies, quietly canceled his classes. She'd intended to keep it a secret until after the final exams, but a girl from the same studio let the cat out of the bag. The boy, unable to bear it, stayed home after school every day, running to the nearby basketball court to play all night, staying there until closing time.
His mother tried to persuade him several times without success, and even agreed to let him take back the lessons he had given him, but the child was adamant and couldn't be persuaded. His mother even asked Jiang Wan to be her intercessor, but the child simply said, "A traitor is not worthy of speaking to me."
Today the child rebelled and ran away again. Jiang Wangang finally caught him at Rosen outside the venue, but he refused to go back with her no matter what.
Unless, he put forward a condition.
Zhou Zifang was quite good at making a comedic cameo. After handing a bottle of water to the girl in front of him, he followed up on her question, "Unless what?"
Jiang Wan unscrewed the bottle cap and took two sips. After suppressing his thirst, he looked at him and said, "He said that unless I can shoot better than him, he will come back with me."
Zhou Zifang was quite surprised: "You can also play basketball?" What an all-round talent.
Lu Jiyu, who had been silent all the time, also looked up at him.
Jiang Wan shook his head honestly: "I play basketball like a rubber ball. If he plays a rubber ball contest with me, I have a good chance of winning. But for me to beat him in shooting, I'd have to be a sow that can climb a tree."
Zhou Zifang couldn't help but laughed out loud, thinking that this girl was quite humorous.
Lu Jiyu was testing the webpage he'd just finished on his phone, and he found it still didn't meet his expectations. He opened WeChat and was discussing the matter with a friend. He listened to Jiang Wan's words for a while, and gradually began to understand what was going on.
"You want us to be your external aid?" Lu Jiyu put away his phone, clasped his hands in front of him, and tilted his head to look at her.
Jiang Wan thought, he has to be a smart person, talking to a smart person is not difficult at all.
"Yes." Jiang Wan nodded and took a few gulps of water. Zhou Zi, who was standing next to him, sighed inwardly, "This kid must be so thirsty. He drinks water like a cow."
Lu Jiyu wanted to say, "Do I know you well? Why should I help you? There are so many people here, and we haven't known each other for more than 24 hours." But when the words came to his lips, he felt that this was a bit unfriendly. Lu Jiyu rubbed his hands, crossed his arms, and stared at the field, then changed the subject and asked, "Why are you filming me?"
In fact, when this question came out of his mouth, it really seemed like he was showing off. Sure enough, Zhou Zifang glanced at him speechlessly.
Ouch, why do you want to take secret photos?
That’s because you’re handsome, my little brother.
Jiang Wan had expected him to ask this question, so she answered honestly, "The T-shirt you wore this afternoon, a friend of mine has wanted for a long time. I told her I saw someone wearing it, but she didn't believe me and insisted it was fake, so she asked me to take a picture and show it to her."
"Oh." Zhou Zifang pretended to wake up from a dream and whispered in Lu Jiyu's ear: "So it's not because you're handsome."
Lu Jiyu wasn't so easy to fool. He cast a scrutinizing look at me. "The first time was to take a picture of my clothes."
"What about the second time?"
To be honest, Jiang Wan herself had no idea why she did it the second time. She glanced at the plain black jacket he was wearing, which he looked so handsome in. She couldn't bring herself to repeat the reason she had just given.
"The second time was—"
Jiang Wan turned his head and stared at Lu Jiyu sincerely: "Because you are so handsome."
Zhou Zifang, who was sitting between the two of them, immediately thought, “Well, I’m also part of your play.”
Lu Jiyu hadn't expected her to be so direct. His train of thought paused for a moment, a rare moment. She didn't even bother to preface her words, just going straight for it.
Jiang Wan pressed on: "So can you help me?"
Zhou Zifang could see that she was quite sincere: "We are not related at all, but you are quite considerate of others." The next second, he almost imitated his father's gesture and patted her on the shoulder: Xiao Jiang, you are quite ambitious.
But Xiao Jiang obviously didn't do it for this reason.
"Actually, it's mainly because they have three other children. His mother promised me that if I could tame that rebellious kid, she would send the rest of the family to our studio to learn painting."
"According to market parlance, is this called customer maintenance?"
Zhou Zifang: That’s a waste of praise.
Lu Jiyu: Well, you are quite sincere.
Zhou Zifang figured that if they didn't give in now, they'd seem incredibly uncouth. He nudged Lu Jiyu next to him with his elbow and mouthed, "You go, or me?" Logically, Zhou Zifang wouldn't want to give anyone else this opportunity to show off, but he instinctively felt something was definitely going on between Moonlight Goddess and Lu Jiyu.
We are all brothers, so Zhou Zifang will not hold on to things that he should give in.
It's a pity that Lu Jiyu didn't appreciate it at all. When Zhou Zifang talked to him, he acted like a deaf person and fiddled with his cell phone every day.
Those who don’t know would think that he has a harem and chats with eight hundred beauties every day.
"Speak!" Zhou Zifang lost his patience.
Lu Ji finally raised his head, but not to look at him. He handed his phone directly to Jiang Wan, and the page stopped at the chat history between him and Zhang Xiaomeng.
"Do you know him?" Jiang Wan carefully read the chat log. In it, Zhang Xiaomeng was like a dog, calling him brother and idol. He was completely different from the rebellious and domineering attitude he had in front of her. Jiang Wan was quite surprised. How come this guy is like RMB, loved by everyone wherever he goes?
When Jiang Wan mentioned Zhang Xiaomeng's name just now, Lu Jiyu didn't remember this person, but then she talked about his rebellious experience, and Lu Jiyu remembered that he had played a few games of street basketball with him. Since they got along well, he added WeChat by the way, and he didn't expect it to come in handy.
"We played a few games together," he said casually.
Let’s deal with Zhang Xiaomeng’s problem here.
Jiang Wan's attention couldn't help but shift to another thing.
On a weekday evening, with the college entrance examination approaching, two senior high school students were not at home studying for their exams, but were wandering around the gymnasium watching people play basketball.
If Jiang Wan's homeroom teacher, Old Wang, saw this, he would be so distraught that he would cry out to the heavens, "What a sin!"
The game was already halfway through, and Zhou Zifang checked the time on his phone and prepared to go home to take a shower and sleep, after all, he had classes tomorrow. Just when he was planning to leave the time alone with the goddess to his good brother.
Jiang Wan suddenly said, "Um, aren't you guys stressed out about studying in your senior year of high school?"
Lu Jiyu slowly turned his head to look at Zhou Zifang: Did you tell her?
Zhou Zifang: It’s so unfair, it’s absolutely not okay!
Then how did she know that the two of them were high school seniors?
Fortunately, Zhou Zifang is a master at mediating the atmosphere. He smiled and touched his nose: "Learn. Don't you need to relax for a while?"
Unfortunately, his brother Lu Jiyu is not as sensible as him.
Lu Jiyu tilted his head to look at Jiang Wan. Half of his face was buried in the collar of his pulled-up sweatshirt, which made his already deep eyes even sharper. He asked meaningfully, "How did you know we were in the third year of high school?"
Jiang Wan was stunned. Yeah, how do I know that? She can't say I know you, right? I also know you used to be a top student, but later failed the high school entrance exam.
Although she wasn't particularly good at socializing, she knew what to say and what not to say. She could only perfunctorily say, "I guess."
You guessed it right the first time, that’s pretty impressive.
Lu Jiyu thought, he really treated me like a three-year-old child.
She wasn't actually a very good liar, but the evasiveness in her eyes when she spoke earlier was frighteningly obvious. Lu Jiyu unscrewed the cap on the water bottle, leaned back against the wallboard, spread her legs solemnly, and said with a seemingly gentle smile, "Why don't you guess tomorrow's lottery winning numbers with me?"
This is a strong smell.
The atmosphere between the two fell into an awkward silence. Zhou Zifang saw something was wrong and was about to intervene to smooth things over when he felt a numbness in his leg. He looked down and saw his phone was vibrating.
This call came at the perfect time. He picked up the phone and quickly handed it to Jiang Wan: "Your number."
Jiang Wan then remembered that she had just sent a message to Zhang Xiaomeng's mother and threw her phone on the chair.
She took the phone, checked the caller ID, said goodbye to them hurriedly, and answered the call as she walked out. A moment later, her back disappeared through the gate.
Lu Jiyu's eyes fell on the half-drunk bottle of water she had left on the chair. He turned his head away, folded his arms calmly, and continued to watch the game. It was already overtime, the crucial moment that would determine the final outcome.
Zhou Zifang was unusually quiet.
Lu Jiyu unscrewed the cap of the water bottle and glanced at him: "What are you daydreaming about?"
"Lu Jiyu." Zhou Zifang had always been a person who couldn't keep secrets to himself. Whenever he had a secret, his emotions would show on his face. He was struggling with whether or not he should tell Lu Jiyu about this matter, which could be a big deal or a small one. But if he did, he felt like he might be being too nosy.
Lu Jiyu finished his drink and snorted, then casually screwed the lid back on. The boy who had just given him candy on the badminton court was happily leaving with his parents, carrying the lemon tea Lu Jiyu had just given him as a return gift. He waved happily at Lu Jiyu and shouted, "Goodbye, brother!"
Lu Jiyu raised his eyelids and waved back. Before he could lower his hand, a fierce cheer erupted from Number Eight's team. He glanced over and saw a group of people, already hugging each other and roaring excitedly. Lu Jiyu overheard a few words from the people around him. It turned out that Number Eight's team had conceded a three-pointer to the opponent. Number Eight's individual performance was flawless, but in the end, he couldn't withstand the opponent's perfect coordination and suffered a narrow defeat.
Although a person's heroism is heroic and beautiful, it cannot go very far.
Zhou Zifang leaned over and put his hand on Lu Jiyu's shoulder. "You tried your best to carry the whole game, but in the end, you still lost. Isn't it a bit like you in the first-year league against Class 8?"
Lu Jiyu remained silent.
Yes. Number Eight's playing style is very similar to Lu Jiyu's. He's both technically proficient and physically exceptional. Lu Jiyu's advantage over him lies in his greater emphasis on teamwork, learning to transform his own strengths into team advantages. He also deeply understood the principle of "two fists cannot beat four hands" after being trounced by Class Eight in the first-year high school league.
"So, what exactly do you want to tell me?" Lu Jiyu pulled out his phone and checked the time. It was time to go. He stood up, zipping up his black jacket as high as he could. The veins on his neck, beneath the cold white skin, stretched faintly and sexy. As he stood up, he was immediately met with a wave of scrutiny from the crowd.
It's so eye-catching.
He's handsome and well-dressed. He even had a shower and a freshly cut hair today, with it all neatly tied up. Any other day, Zhou Zifang would have whistled at him.
"She knows Chen Wulin."
Jiang Wan's WeChat account was set to display real-time messages by default. A WeChat message came in a minute before the call.
Chen Wulin: How's it going? Is everything going well? When will you be home?
When Zhou Zifang first saw those three words, he thought he was dazzled.
But he knew that the name "Chen Wulin" was not an ordinary name, and it would be very difficult to have the same name as someone else.
When Lu Jiyu heard these familiar words, he didn't react as much as Zhou Zifang had imagined. Instead, he was unusually calm: "Is this what's making you lose your mind?"
Zhou Zifang was furious. He had the air of a young master who was so confident and composed, saying, "The world belongs to me." This made Zhou Zifang's worry seem a bit like the emperor's lack of anxiety, but the eunuchs'.
Chen Wulin was something of a taboo for Lu Jiyu. It wasn't that he couldn't mention him, but Lu Jiyu, who could talk to anyone, had a habit of practically never opening his mouth to Chen Wulin. This was the first time Zhou Zifang had seen Lu Jiyu so cautious around someone. If he hadn't known that Lu Jiyu had never shown much interest in girls, he would have thought Chen Wulin had stolen his girlfriend, which was why he was so cold.
"Don't you have any idea at all?"
"That girl knows Chen Wulin."
"They are suspected of living in the same home."
Zhou Zifang chased Lu Jiyu all the way outside the stadium, leaving the surging crowd behind him as he stepped into the cool early summer night breeze without looking back. Zhou Zifang had just finished his last sip of water and was about to toss the bottle into the trash can to continue asking Lu Jiyu. Suddenly, two elderly women clutching plastic bags leaped at him simultaneously like two cheetahs lurking in the night. From either side, they flanked him, perfectly blocking his path down the stairs. "Young man, have you finished your water? I'll give you the bottle."
"What nonsense are you talking about? I came here first, so it should be mine!" The aunt in the blue floral shirt on the left glared at Zhou Zifang fiercely, as if she would point at his nose and dig up his ancestors from the ground and curse him if he dared to give the bottle to another one.
The short-haired lady on the right naturally refused to give in: "You better have some shame! I was the first one to come up here! I was the one who picked up all the bottles around here. Who allowed you to snatch them from me?"
It looked like the two were about to have a big quarrel.
This was the first time in Zhou Zifang's life that he'd encountered two people of the opposite sex so persistently pursuing him, but he hadn't expected it to happen in this situation. He was convinced that if he didn't make a choice, these two women would soon snatch him away. Zhou Zifang cast a helpless and horrified look at Lu Jiyu, who was only four or five steps away from him at the bottom of the stairs, watching the show: "Save me."
The night unfolded gently, and the boy's shadow fell behind him, slender and cold.
Lu Jiyu, who had been watching from the sidelines for a long time, stood by the flower bed, pulled off the hood of his sweatshirt, sighed, and then walked around to the side of the two aunts. He put on the sincere tone of a good boy and said, "I just came out and saw that the trash cans in the gym were full of plastic bottles."
Those words were truly magical. Or perhaps it was Lu Jiyu's righteous and handsome face that truly held such power. His words engendered an irresistible sense of trust.
As soon as the words fell, the two aunts who had been blocking Zhou Zifang didn't have time to care whether it was true or not. In an instant, they pushed and squeezed each other and disappeared.
"Oh my god." Zhou Zi patted his chest with a lingering sense of relief, then turned his head to take another look inside the venue. "Lu Beibei, did you know that the small bag that the old lady with the floral pattern was carrying was Prada? Based on my years of experience carrying bags for my mother, I can guarantee that it's absolutely authentic."
"Carrying a bag worth tens of thousands of yuan and picking up a ten-cent mineral water bottle, is this a new trick for old ladies these days? I'm shocked."
Lu Jiyu thought it was quite normal: "I have money, time, and I can't sit still. People always have to find a goal in life, like picking up a hundred mineral water bottles first."
"Then do you know what my current life goal is?" Zhou Zifang climbed up the pole.
Lu Jiyu seemed to have a premonition of what he was going to say. He glanced at him sideways. There was no emotion in his eyes, but there was a kind of oppressive power.
Zhou Zifang swallowed his saliva, but couldn't help asking, "Lu Beibei, tell me about Chen Wulin."
After all, Zhou Zifang has been curious about this question for three years.
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