Chapter 60
We had beef hotpot for dinner today, which was recommended by the owner of the B&B.
After Lu Jiyu woke up, he took a shower and changed his clothes. When he arrived at the store, the beef pot was already cooked and the aroma filled the room.
Zhou Zifang had left an empty seat next to him, but when Lu Jiyu sat down, he realized there was one missing. He glanced at the person next to him, who immediately understood and said, "Jiang Wan isn't eating with us today."
"Why?" Lu Jiyu picked up his chopsticks and added a piece of cold beef to the plate in front of him.
Chen Meiyun, who was sitting across from her, put down her phone. "Li Yiran suddenly had a fever and is lying in the hospital. He has no relatives or friends here. Jiang Wan went to accompany him when she found out."
"Wow." Shen Nian, who was sitting next to Dong Lin, showed a gossipy look: "Is that boy pursuing Jiang Wan? We went out to play yesterday, and he kept sticking to her."
"Maybe." Chen Meiyu took a sip of water.
After finishing a piece of cold beef, Lu Jiyu picked up a piece of cold black fungus with chopsticks, lowered his head and ate silently, with his elbows half-supported on the table, as if he was enjoying the cold dish.
"But Jiang Wan definitely doesn't like him." When Chen Meiyu said this, her eyes swept over Lu Jiyu intentionally or unintentionally, and Zhou Zifang happened to see it.
"If you don't like her, why don't you refuse her? Won't it give people the wrong impression if you try to flirt with her like this?"
Lu Jiyu put down the chopsticks in his hand and looked at him unhappily: "Is that enough?"
Li Mu also quickly poked Zhou Zifang with his elbow, telling him to shut up.
Before Chen Meiyu could explode, Li Qingxi, who was sitting in the corner, gently slammed down his chopsticks, propped up his chin, and said, "It's said that men always sympathize with men. You don't even know the boy, and you're so eager to speak up for him? Jiang Wan has known you for a while, right? How did you know she was hooking up with him?"
Seeing Zhou Zifang didn't answer, she asked again: "How do you know she didn't refuse?"
"Did you fail Chinese in elementary school? Do you know there's a word in the world called 'persistence'?"
Li Qingxi tapped the primary-colored tabletop with his black manicure, his face filled with so much disdain that it threatened to burst out: "Zhou Zifang, did you not drain the water out of your head when you were reincarnated into this life, or did you drink expired Meng Po soup? How dare you bring up these feudal remnants of thought? The spring breeze of reform and opening up hasn't blown away your stubborn mind, right? You guys just said some nonsense behind my back, but what's the point of saying it out in the open now? Huh?"
Li Qingxi has always been known as a person with a good personality and a strong sense of loyalty among this group of people, but those who are familiar with her know that this sister has many sensitive points that should not be stepped on. She is the kind of person who can get along well with friends and can also make friends get along well.
What Zhou Zifang did today hit her sore spot exactly, which is why Li Qingxi was so relentless in attacking him.
"Is it time for you?"
"Does it seem like you're isolated from the world?"
"Are you going to ascend to heaven soon?"
"Okay, okay." Li Mu saw Zhou Zifang's pale face and knew that he had just complained too much, so he wanted to persuade Li Qingxi.
I didn't expect to be defeated in the game.
"What's good about that? I haven't even said anything about you yet." Li Qingxi was clearly furious. She nodded at Li Mu and then pointed at Lu Jiyu: "You two are birds of a feather."
"Hey." Li Mu was immediately annoyed. "What does this have to do with me? Why am I involved again? I don't get to praise Zhou Zifang when he does good things, but why do you have to punish him when he does something bad?"
Li Qingxi spread his hands and said, "Why would I blame you for anything? I don't even want to talk about what you did."
"Why don't you want to talk about it? Let's talk about it today."
…
The two had been getting along peacefully until today, but now they were about to quarrel because of Zhou Zifang. Zhou Zifang tugged at Lu Jiyu's sleeve for help: "Can you say something?"
Lu Jiyu was not in a good mood at the moment. He just gave him a look that told him to get lost, without even bothering to say anything.
Zhou Zifang watched the mess he'd created grow even more serious, and he had to admit that sometimes he just couldn't resist a few sassy comments. But he hadn't expected to get on Li Qingxi's nerves today. She and Li Mu were arguing fiercely. People at the nearby tables kept glancing in their direction.
finally.
"Okay, stop arguing, please. I'm a bitch, okay." Zhou Zifang stood up, raised his hand to call the boss over and asked for a bottle of white wine.
He looked at everyone and said, "I have a foul mouth, so I will drink half a bottle of liquor today as punishment. Everyone calm down and don't be angry with me." After saying that, he picked up the bottle of liquor and started blowing into it.
Damn it.
It took everyone three seconds to realize what was going on. The boss at the cashier was also stunned by his outrageous behavior.
Lu Jiyu came to his senses first: "What are you crazy about?" He stretched out his hand to grab the bottle of wine from Zhou Zifang, but the latter dodged it nimbly left and right.
Li Qingxi stood up and walked around behind Zhou Zifang. Without saying a word, he grabbed his throat with his arms. Then Li Mu took the opportunity to snatch the bottle from his hand.
"How much have you drunk?" Chen Meiyu asked.
Li Mu shook the bottle and said, "Almost halfway."
"He won't die, will he?" Shen Nian was also stunned.
Zhou Zifang's alcohol kicked in quickly, his neck, ears, and face turning red, and his speech becoming lisp. He staggered, trying to find a place to lean on: "I want more—"
Lu Jiyu used a finger to push the man's head away in disgust, and said with a blank expression on his handsome face: "Let him sleep on the roadside tonight. If he vomits when he gets home, he'll have to trouble others to clean up."
"I agree!" Li Mu, who lived in the same room with Zhou Zifang, was the first to express his opinion.
Dong Lin shook his head: "Tsk tsk, men's friendship."
＊
Darkness descends slowly in Xinjiang, and it's not until around ten or eleven that the entire world is plunged into the stillness of the night. The hospital is hushed, save for the occasional barking of a dog. Li Yiran lies on the hospital bed, his face pale, an IV drip still tucked into the back of his hand.
The doctor diagnosed the fever as acute gastroenteritis.
Jiang Wan had been with him all afternoon and evening, and now she was starting to feel sleepy. Li Yiran saw her yawning and pursed his lips: "Why don't you go back first? I'll be done soon."
Jiang Wan was watching the video Chen Meiyun had sent her of Zhou Zifang going crazy while drunk. She paused halfway through and looked at the IV drip at the bedside. "It'll probably take about ten minutes. I'll leave when I'm done."
Li Yiran couldn't help himself: "You don't have to be like this."
He paused and continued, "Have you ever thought that I didn't do that entirely for you? I just wanted to get your attention or gratitude."
Jiang Wan nodded in agreement: "I am not grateful to you now."
"I mean, my motives are never pure."
"But Li Yiran, I never thought you were a bad person." Jiang Wan lowered his head and watched the rest of the video before continuing, "Humans are inherently complex creatures. For me, it's better to observe what others do rather than guess what they are thinking."
"Okay." Jiang Wan gave a faint smile. "I'm really tired now and I don't have the energy to tell you this. Can we talk about it tomorrow?"
After Jiang Wan sent a message back to Chen Meiyun, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest. Then, he soon fell into darkness.
After a few minutes, Li Yiran sat up from the bed. He sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Jiang Wan who was already asleep in front of him. He wanted to ask her if she had been doing well these past few years. She was obviously smiling much more than before.
He knew she was strong and resilient, able to take care of herself no matter what situation she was in. He had also inquired about her life abroad over the years, from her studies to her family and friends, and learned that her life was finally getting out of the chaos and back on track.
He suddenly wanted to see her in person again. Just to see her, without any extraneous thoughts. Because he knew that everything was impossible, he could openly express his love for her, unlike before -
Li Yiran had a feeling that this moment, this place, on this cold night, might be their last chance to be alone together. A flood of emotions washed over him, and before he even realized what he was doing, his hand instinctively moved to touch the girl's face.
Just “to fall”.
A hand suddenly reached out and grasped Li Yiran's wrist, stopping him. That morning, the owner of this hand had politely shaken his hand and introduced himself.
The night was cold, and the person who came was covered with the cold air from outside. "Are you free? If you don't mind, you can talk to me?"
＊
When Jiang Wan returned to the room, Chen Meiyu and Dong Lin had already fallen asleep, leaving a floor lamp on for her.
Jiang Wan was trapped in the darkness at the head of her bed, replying to someone's WeChat message. She had just dozed off for a moment, but now she wasn't sleepy anymore.
Jiang Ziya: Have you been here just now?
gazer: Still asleep?
Jiang Ziya: I just slept for a while, and now I can’t fall asleep again.
This time, Lu Jiyu took several minutes to reply: "Do you want to go out and see the stars?"
"Where are you going?"
"Just come out."
After sending the message, Jiang Wan found a thick coat from her suitcase and put it on herself. Then she turned off the lights and tiptoed out of the room in the dark.
Outside their guesthouse stood a small courtyard, where several rattan chairs were placed around a small wooden table. When she left, one of the chairs was already occupied. A chill hung heavy over the village at night. Jiang Wan tightened her coat and approached him.
There was a kitten lying on the chair where Lu Jiyu was sitting. It was really a kitten, so small that it looked like it hadn't been weaned yet. He occasionally stroked the kitten, making it meow non-stop.
Lu Jiyu sat there with his head bowed, dressed in a black windbreaker suit, almost blending into the night. His cold, pale profile was fixed there, expressionless.
Jiang Wan thought he looked a little unhappy.
"Didn't you tell me to come out and look at the stars?" Why are you sitting here motionless?
Lu Jiyu then pretended to look up, as if he had noticed someone standing next to him. There were a few drops of sparkling liquid hanging from the tip of his nose and under his eyes. Jiang Wan was startled, thinking they were his tears. Upon closer inspection, she realized he was holding a white towel in his other hand, and his hair at the temples was also stained with glistening water droplets.
"Why didn't you blow-dry your hair after washing it?"
Lu Jiyu raised his hand to touch the water on his face, and said as if he realized it belatedly: "I didn't rush out to watch the stars with you."
"Really looking at the stars?" Jiang Wan sighed, seeming quite disappointed.
Lu Jiyu smiled and said, "Then what do you want to do?"
He had just washed his hair, and his bangs fell down obediently, covering half of his eyes. His smile was vague, and the canine tooth that was faintly visible at the corner of his mouth made him look clean and youthful.
Jiang Wan stood in front of him with his shoulders folded, and imitated his seriousness: "Look at the stars."
"Didn't you say you missed me so much? You were all lying?" Lu Jiyu pulled him in front of her, shook his head and looked up, looking at her with eyes moistened by the night. The water droplets he shook off accidentally or intentionally splashed onto the back of Jiang Wan's hand, feeling a little cool and a little itchy.
"Yes, I'm just trying to trick you."
Jiang Wan leaned down and whispered in his ear deliberately. Lu Jiyu was about to look up at her when Jiang Wan took the towel from his hand and covered his head with it without any courtesy and started to scratch him. Lu Jiyu was shaking back and forth. He was able to hold back his voice at first, but he couldn't help laughing.
"Murder you."
Jiang Wan cooperated and pulled off the towel: "Really? Let me see if you're still breathing?"
Their eyes met, then separated. Only they understood the undercurrents within.
Lu Jiyu looked up at the sky. The entire village was quiet. Each homestay was decorated with lights, connecting them into a series of intermittent, beautiful light strips. From above, it looked like a shining crown crowned this vast, lonely, and silent land.
He remembered that when he first came here, he asked his father with amazement how there was electricity and water in such a remote place.
His father didn't answer him at the time. It was another soldier next to his father who answered Lu Jiyu: "Because there are people like your father."
You and I are both human.
But some people are born to light up the earth and crown the mountains and rivers, even if it costs their lives.
As a child, Lu Jiyu had little patience for Lu Mingfei. He simply complained about his father's constant absence, his absence from every crucial milestone in his life. It wasn't until many years later that Lu Jiyu began to see a glimpse of Lu Mingfei's youth reflected in his own growth. His old comrades told him that Lu Mingfei had already submitted a report and intended to return to Nanyuan. That was his last dangerous mission.
Unfortunately, the reality is not as expected.
From then on, Lu Jiyu felt like a lost dog. He longed for love, but he knew that after losing his parents, all the love he received would come at a price. So he began to doubt love.
"Do you want to see the stars?" Lu Jiyu asked again.
Jiang Wan raised her head to glance at the Queen, then looked down at him: "You're watching right now, aren't you?"
She had fair skin, long hair like a waterfall, and a gentle yet cunning look in her eyes. She stood in the everlasting yet ever-new moonlight, looking at him quietly.
In fact, every time she looked at him with such eyes, Lu Jiyu felt very emotional, very moved, and wanted to -
"Let me show you some different stars." Lu Jiyu pulled Jiang Wan's hand with a little force, and the next second, she fell back into his arms.
Jiang Wan didn't react until she was sitting on his lap. She said in an exaggerated tone, "Why are you so proactive today? Such a pure and innocent high school boy."
Lu Jiyu put one hand loosely around her waist, and the boy's usually sharp eyes were now filled with anxiety, panic, and a bit of hesitation as if he wanted to say something.
It was like a puppy whimpering after being drenched by heavy rain.
"How's the saying? The billions of stars in the sky are not as bright as your eyes. Why, haven't you heard of it?" After Lu Jiyu said this, the tips of his ears had turned red.
Jiang Wan finally realized that this romantic-minded handsome man was also a master at playing with awkwardness. She gently held his face and continued with him, "Well, brother, your eyes are truly more dazzling than gems and more enduring than stars—"
She was only halfway through her words when she couldn't help laughing and buried her head in his neck.
Lu Jiyu raised his leg and shook her viciously, shaking her out of his arms. He raised his head and stared at her face relentlessly, not letting her hide. He said with a click of his tongue, "Go on, why are you stopping halfway? Jiang Wan, you're not sincere."
It turns out that when you are with the person you love, even if things are awkward, it can still be so romantic.
As they laughed, their eyes met again, and this time neither of them dodged. Lu Jiyu glanced at the position of her lips and asked, his throat tightening and his voice hoarse, "Do you want to take the call—?"
Before she could finish the rest of the word, Jiang Wan kissed her.
The Milky Way hung in the eternally unchanging sky, witnessing tens of thousands of years of historical change. In the long river of history, even proud individuals like them were but a drop in the ocean, but tonight, in this life, they were each other's entire universe.
Crows cawed in the distant branches, but here and now, all was still, save for the sound of two young bodies pressed together, the rustling of fabric mingling with the soft, close-knit sounds of kisses, like two young birds pecking at each other's affection and love. A youthful restraint, yet a repetition of plunder.
Although it was their first kiss, and the kiss wasn't very methodical, they were dizzy and just relying on their most primitive impulses, but it still made people's hearts flutter, and sparks flew all the way. Lu Jiyu was kissed so hard that his head tilted back, almost retreating step by step. Jiang Wan held his face and kissed him halfway, but suddenly thought of something and raised her head, panting and pushing Lu Jiyu's head away, looking at him with a pair of sparkling eyes.
The man's eyes were filled with confusion, his eyes and heart were hot, but his voice was still clear. He restrainedly tightened and loosened his hand on her waist: "What's wrong?"
"Lu Jiyu?" Jiang Wan's voice was calm, completely unlike the infatuated state she had just been in when she pressed him down and kissed him.
"Hmm?" He leaned back in his chair, the collar of his windbreaker pulled open to one side, revealing his cold white collarbone.
"Have you done something to offend me?" She asked word by word, curiously and seriously.
Lu Jiyi thought he had misheard: "What do you mean?"
Jiang Wan counted on her fingers and said to him: "Why is it that you don't allow holding hands or kissing before, so why are you suddenly so proactive today?"
As the saying goes, when something is abnormal, there must be something wrong.
When Jiang Wan said this, Lu Jiyu's hand was still hanging around her waist, and she had her arms around Lu Jiyu's neck, completely intimate. Her lips were shiny, and the lipstick had long been gone. They kissed each other, and she was already confused and passionate.
Lu Jiyu tilted his head back, his beautiful and sexy Adam's apple rolling there, and then he tilted his head to look at her, looking at her with a completely submissive tone: "Jiang Wan, I really admire you."
"Why is that?"
"What do you think?"
Lu Jiyu pinched her face in frustration. Jiang Wan was a little disgusted that he had just touched a cat, so she stood up and wanted to hide, but Lu Jiyu saw her intention first. He casually pulled down his hand that had been around her waist without much strength, and Jiang Wan immediately fell on his legs again. Their eyes met, and the distance between them was even closer than before.
Maybe because they had just kissed, the two of them looked a little ambiguous and shy as they looked at each other.
Fortunately, Lu Jiyu's cell phone in his pocket vibrated at this moment. It was a call from Li Mu.
He didn't want to answer it at first, but the other party was relentless and called again.
"Lu Jiyu, where have you been?"
"What's up?"
"What the hell is wrong with your voice? It's so hoarse. Did someone sleep with you?"
Although Lu Jiyu hung up the phone quickly, Jiang Wan was right next to her and she heard every word Li Mu said on the phone.
"Lu Jiyu." She suddenly became serious.
"One more question for you."
Lu Jiyu's intuition told him that every time Jiang Wan was serious in front of him, something bad was bound to happen.
really.
"Have you seen the movie?"
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