Chapter 70
In the evening, Lu Jiyu picked up Jiang Wan, who had just finished driving lessons, and took them to a nearby mall for lunch. Then, they went to the park where they planned to go fishing. Because it was rush hour, the traffic was so heavy that the journey, which should have taken half an hour, took a full fifty minutes.
It wasn't completely dark by the time they arrived at the park, though. Lu Jiyu drove around the park's perimeter and finally found a parking space. The car faced west, facing the vibrant sunset outside. An English song, "California," was playing on the car radio.
The air conditioner was set to 25.5 degrees. The two of them leaned back in their chairs, saying nothing, just quietly admiring the last moment of the sunset. It was like being on the deserted Sunset Boulevard, quietly admiring the warm feeling of time flowing by.
The afterglow of the setting sun fell on their faces, and time seemed to take on a substantial form at the junction between light and darkness.
Until the golden streak completely disappeared on the horizon, the two turned their heads and smiled at each other as if they had witnessed some important moment.
"How do you feel?" Lu Jiyu waved his hand at the air outlet of the air conditioner and raised the temperature by one degree.
Jiang Wan took the milk tea she had just bought at the mall and took a sip. "Do you want to learn how to drive?"
"To be honest, it's okay. At least it's easier to get started than I thought." Jiang Wan unbuckled his seat belt and moved his legs. "But the student in the same car with us is quite interesting."
Lu Jiyu pretended to be eager to hear more details: "What do you mean?"
"He drives with two feet, you know?" Jiang Wan could still hear the driving instructor's exasperated voice lingering in her ears: "He uses one foot on the clutch and the other on the brake and accelerator."
"But to be honest." Jiang Wan spread his hands: "Actually, I also thought that this is how you drive. Fortunately, he took the blame for me first."
Lu Jiyu smiled and asked, "When will we take the first subject test?"
"I don't know. The instructor said he's helping us schedule a time. I just downloaded the driving test guide and am ready to study hard."
"What about fishing?"
Jiang Wan argued: "That doesn't count."
The two chatted for a few more minutes in the car and waited until it was getting dark before getting out of the car with their things and going to the lake to find a seat.
The park they came to was recently built, and the news of free fishing was just released not long ago, so there were not many people coming to the lake.
Because it was his first time fishing, Jiang Wan was not sure how long he could persist in it, so he asked Lu Jiyu to keep everything simple when preparing.
But obviously Lu Jiyu didn't listen to her.
Not to mention the complete set of fishing tools, from headlamps, camp lights, to various protective equipment, he even brought a life jacket.
Lu Jiyu noticed her surprise and said, "Zhou Zifang's father is a seasoned fishing enthusiast. He lent us half of the things here."
Jiang Wan was curious: "How did his father know we were going fishing?"
"I took Zhou Zifang with me when I bought fishing gear, and I picked him up at his house. Then I casually mentioned it to his father."
Jiang Wan admired him: "Lu Jiyu, you really are——"
"No need to praise me." Lu Jiyu waved his hand and said modestly, "Compared to you, I still have a lot of room for improvement." As he said that, he took the fluorescent yellow life jacket and handed it to Jiang Wan.
Jiang Wan stood there without answering: "You don't want me to wear this, do you?"
Lu Jiyu didn't force it. He bent down and sat on the fishing chair, stretching his long legs to put bait on the hook. When he came to pick up Jiang Wan today, he was wearing a striped long-sleeved shirt and black trousers. He just found a brown four-pocket vest from somewhere and put it on. With his fisherman's hat, he looked like a fisherman.
Lu Jiyu handed Jiang Wan a fishing rod with bait on it, and they sat side by side by the lake: "I can swim."
Jiang Wan sprayed himself thoroughly with mosquito repellent and looked at Lu Jiyu: "Would you like some?"
Lu Jiyu came out in the evening wearing long sleeves and long pants: "No, are you cold? I brought you one of my coats."
Jiang Wan seemed not to hear what Lu Jiyu said, and insisted on rolling up his sleeves to apply mosquito repellent on him: "Mosquitoes will get into your clothes and bite you, don't disbelieve it."
"Besides, I can swim too, so I won't wear that."
Lu Jiyu didn't say much. He had checked before coming here and found that the waters in this area were not deep and were relatively safe.
After they arrived, two or three more groups of people came from the other side of the lake. Everyone kept a certain distance and was very tactful.
Jiang Wan moved his fishing rod and asked, "When are you going abroad?"
"It must be the beginning of August." At this moment, the sky has completely darkened. The ground lights in the park light up one after another. The calm lake surface is covered with a few cold purple lights, and unknown insects are flying up and down in the light.
There was a muffled and sticky tone in Lu Jiyu's voice, which gave off an unreal feeling amid the chirping of cicadas on a summer night.
When he was in middle school and high school, he went to Europe for study tours several times during the summer vacation and met a few friends there. Whenever they were free, they would find time to spend the holidays together.
"Then I'll wait for you to come back and we'll go to school together?"
"I'll be back around mid-August." Lu Jiyu had already made plans. Jiang Wan was not familiar with the capital, so he could take them on a quick tour first, then go to a nearby city for a few days before starting school together.
Jiang Wan huddled in his chair, his eyes fixed on the floating object on the river. He was silent for a few seconds. "Chen Wulin came to see me a few days ago. He said he wanted to go with me when school starts."
Jiang Wan hadn't specifically mentioned this to Lu Jiyu; she knew their relationship wasn't great. But if Chen Hong and Jiang Huainan continued to be so affectionate, she and Chen Wulin would likely be seeing each other frequently.
Lu Jiyu was sitting in a dark grey camping chair with his body stretched out wide, one elbow resting on the armrest, half of his chin casually supported by his palm, his head slightly tilted to stare at the still lake, looking as if he was worried about something, but he might as well have fallen asleep.
"Jiang Wan--." After a while, he said slowly.
"Um?"
"Is he older or are you older?"
"Age? He's a few months older than me." Jiang Wan understood what Lu Jiyu was thinking and comforted him, "Don't worry, I won't call him brother, and you don't have to."
Lu Jiyu leaned his head back against the cloth chair, looking at her with his head half tilted to one side, a hint of despair in his eyes: "So he is older than you?"
Jiang Wan patted his shoulder and generously took all the responsibility on himself: "This is indeed my fault, that——"
As she was speaking, Jiang Wan noticed her float moving several times in a row. She pointed at the river and whispered to Lu Jiyu, "Look."
It turned out that the float on Lu Jiyu's side also started moving.
"What is this, a double happiness?" Jiang Wan and Lu Jiyu reeled in their lines and raised their rods almost at the same time. The metal fish hooks flashed a cold light in the purple light.
Water drops fell on the surface of the lake, creating small ripples.
The two men raised their rods excitedly, but found that the bait on the hooks had disappeared. Not only that, their hooks were inexplicably tangled together.
After a flurry of activity, they found that it was all in vain. They squatted face to face, each with a pair of wet hands spread out, staring at each other.
"Lu Jiyu, where did you find this place? The fish here are all spirits." Jiang Wan deliberately shook his hand and asked him.
Lu Jiyu shook her head like a puppy, took a step back, and laughed, "Are you so angry now? Where's the cool goddess you promised me?"
The last few words were read in a gentle and tender way, making people feel numb.
Zhou Zifang was right. Being friends with someone like Lu Jiyu was a real pleasure, whether as a lover or a friend. He was the most protective of his people, and he showed unconditional favoritism to anyone who fell into his life camp.
Jiang Wan stood up and walked over to touch his face with her wet hands. After doing the bad thing, she was about to turn around and leave, but someone grabbed her wrist. Due to inertia, Jiang Wan lost his balance and fell into Lu Jiyu's arms. They both fell to the ground on the grass.
People fishing on the other side of the river: ...I come out to fish and get fed dog food.
They fished for about two hours and caught two small fish, which they eventually released. Despite working so hard for so long and not catching anything, they didn't feel tired at all; instead, they felt quite fulfilled.
Lu Jiyu was going back to Lu Lin's place today, while Jiang Wan would continue to stay in the studio. He would send Jiang Wan off first before going home.
"Are you in a cold war with Dad?"
Jiang Wan didn't have so much emotion to waste. She sat there with a wet towel and wiped her hands: "That's not the case. I'm happy to live in Luoying Lane purely because the takeout around there is delicious."
"Wipe your face." Lu Jiyu took the tissue handed to him by Jiang Wan and agreed: "I moved here because of this."
Lu Jiyu sent Jiang Wan to the alley entrance, and he was planning to get out of the car and continue to see her off, but Jiang Wan didn't let him.
"My dad has been coming here a lot lately, maybe he's here."
Although Lu Jiyu is a person who advocates freedom of love and attaches great importance to status, he and Jiang Wan can be as affectionate as they want. But after all, they are still young and have been instilled with the idea that premature love is not advisable. If he really tells the parents now, he won't be able to do that.
"Then send me a message when you get there."
Jiang Wan was unbuckling her seatbelt. She looked at him knowingly and asked, "How about letting my dad call you personally so you can feel more at ease?"
Lu Jiyu leaned his head against the back of the chair, one hand on the steering wheel, and acted as if he would accept any offer. "So, do you think Teacher Jiang will come out with a knife and chop me?"
"That won't happen." Jiang Wan looked up and down at the person next to him: "But you have to be careful, he might trick you into being a nude model."
Lu Jiyu: ...
It was almost ten o'clock, and all the shops at the entrance of the alley were closed, except for the Lawson. This place was a quiet part of the city, with only occasional traffic on the road. The two of them chatted back and forth for a while, and finally Lu Jiyu pinched Jiang Wan's face, reluctant or worried, and was about to say that he should come down and take her to the studio.
In the end, he didn't have time to speak.
Two "dong dong" sounds.
I don't know when a person appeared outside the glass on Jiang Wan's side, and it was quite creepy late at night.
"Dad?" She blurted out, a little scared.
But this reflexive shock, in Jiang Huainan's eyes, was all guilty conscience. He knocked twice more slowly, and Jiang Wan finally realized and lowered the car window: "Why are you here?"
Jiang Huainan didn't look at her, but stared straight at Lu Jiyu in the driver's seat, looking past Jiang Wan: "Xiaolu."
Lu Jiyu reacted quickly and immediately opened the door and got out of the car.
"Teacher Jiang." He walked around the front of the car and stood in front of Jiang Huainan.
Jiang Huainan looked at him deeply, clenched his fist into a fist, put it to his mouth and coughed twice, his voice and eyes were cold: "Xiaolu, thank you for your hard work in sending Jiang Wan back."
Lu Jiyu stopped halfway.
He felt a kind of ambiguous hostility in Jiang Huainan's eyes.
Jiang Wan also got out of the car at this time. She did not feel embarrassed after being caught: "Dad, what are you doing here so late?"
Jiang Huainan snorted twice: "Am I late? Aren't there people who are even later than me?"
Jiang Wan pursed her lips, hesitant about whether to formally introduce Lu Jiyu to Jiang Huainan: "Dad, this is——"
"I know." Jiang Huainan glanced at Jiang Wan and said, "No need for an introduction." He handed the bag of fruit in his hand to Jiang Wan and said, "You go in first. I have something to say to Xiaolu."
No way, this is going to be a trial by three judges?
Jiang Huainan saw her hesitant expression and asked, "What's wrong? Can't I even ask a few questions?"
Jiang Wan climbed up the pole: "If I say no, can you really not ask?"
"cannot."
Jiang Huainan ruthlessly shattered her fantasy.
Well, that's really a redundant question.
Only two figures were left at the entrance of the alley. Jiang Wan on the other side slowly walked along the path towards the studio deep in the alley. After walking a few steps, he did not forget to turn around and wave to Lu Jiyu who was still standing by the car, and at the same time put his hand to his ear to make a phone call gesture.
Lu Jiyu had been watching her, and seeing this, he didn't dare to do anything too obvious, so he gestured twice with his hands beside his legs.
It’s not that Jiang Huainan didn’t see it, he just pretended not to see it.
It was late at night, and Jiang Wan was no longer visible.
Jiang Huai leaned against Lu Jiyu's car and looked up at the sky for a while without saying a word. Then he lit a cigarette for himself: "You don't mind, do you?"
Lu Jiyu shook his head.
"Actually, I haven't smoked this thing for a long time. Jiang Wan doesn't agree."
"But my daughter is really hypocritical. She doesn't allow others to smoke, but she smokes behind my back." He glanced at Lu Jiyu's expression, which was calm. "You knew about this a long time ago? About her smoking?"
"Um."
Jiang Huainan laughed self-deprecatingly after hearing this: "It seems that in her heart, you are more important than me as a father."
Lu Jiyi thought he would ask him some questions, such as how they met and how they got together, and also give him a few warnings.
He hadn't expected him to say that. And it didn't seem right no matter how he responded. Lu Jiyu fell silent. The night was thick, and in the alley, the Wang family's dog was barking again.
Salty and bland, another day is coming to an end.
Jiang Huainan took a deep puff of cigarette, his face hidden in the swirling smoke: "Xiaolu, do you know why she smokes?"
Without waiting for Lu Jiyu to answer.
"It's because of her uncle."
Jiang Huainan frowned and sighed deeply.
"When her uncle was young, he met a girlfriend in Guangdong. The girl was introduced to an opportunity to make a lot of money, and the two were deceived into a fraud organization. My brother's legs were broken when he came back. The girl later broke up with her. In the end, my brother couldn't stand this kind of life and jumped off the building to commit suicide."
"On the day he committed suicide, Jiang Wan was the only one at home."
"I remember I cursed her at that time." Jiang Huainan's hand holding the cigarette trembled: "Why didn't she just die after cursing her?"
Then, one summer vacation two years later, Jiang Wan suddenly cut off her long hair, started dressing more masculine, and even started drinking and smoking.
"She looks a bit like her uncle with her short hair."
"I asked her why she did that."
"She said she would die in her uncle's place if she could. I knew instantly how wrong I was."
After saying that, Jiang Huainan looked at Lu Jiyu, who was unable to digest this information for a moment.
"Xiaolu, I know you are a very good boy."
"When I was teaching your class, I really admired you, so I brought you home. I didn't expect it to backfire. After not seeing you for a few years, I didn't expect you to move upstairs from our studio and now you're with Jiang Wan."
"Actually, I can understand why you're with Jiang Wan."
"Jiang Wan is indeed very happy to be with you."
"But, but there are some things I still have to say." Jiang Huainan tremblingly took out two wrinkled photos from his pocket. Under the streetlight, the familiar face in one of the photos made Lu Jiyu's heart sink suddenly. "Jiang Wan's uncle is a hurdle that our family can't get over."
"Lu Lin, the president of the famous Lulutong catering company is your aunt, right?" Jiang Huainan twisted his fingers on the two photos and seemed to sigh a long sigh in his heart.
"Maybe you don't know yet, she is Uncle Jiang Wan's girlfriend."
After a long and difficult silence.
"Xiaolu, separate from Jiang Wan."
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