convenience store
The game begins.
Strangely, Lu Er wasn't nervous at first, but ever since Ruan Xiyan said those words, her heart started racing for no apparent reason.
"3, 2, 1." As the countdown ended, several different hand gestures came together. Some people were quick and grabbed the same person's hand, while others were a beat behind and were jokingly pushed to drink fruit wine.
As if afraid of missing out, Ruan Xiyan had barely finished speaking when Lu Er felt her hand being grabbed by something. The boy's knuckles were prominent, somewhat like the bamboo Lu Er had seen in the countryside before—firm and strong. His palm was warm, and strangely, even though it was his hand that was being held, Lu Er felt her face flush.
The pressure on his wrist only eased after the person to be punished was chosen.
After several rounds, no one around was spared. Ji Sibai threw a punch, just like Lu Er and the others who were separated by one person. Ji Sibai wanted to move closer, but he was too late. He could only watch helplessly as Ruan Xiyan and Lu Er's hands were clasped together, tightly sealed like an egg, not giving a fly a chance to land.
Someone poured him fruit wine, and Ji Sibai, who had already drunk four glasses, was a little dumbfounded. He turned his resentful gaze towards Ruan Xiyan: "Ruan Xiyan, how come you haven't drunk a single glass? Did you two conspire together?"
"Yes. These two are always together."
"Oh my, trying to pull some tricks, huh? You two are really something else." Someone egged them on. "They haven't let go yet."
Suddenly becoming the center of attention, Ruan Xiyan realized that she and Lu Er were still holding hands in an ambiguous position under everyone's gaze. The two quickly let go. The lingering feeling of another person's skin on her palm seemed to always be there, or perhaps it was etched there.
Feeling inexplicably itchy, Ruan Xiyan rubbed her leg against her pants.
After finishing the game, everyone continued singing and chatting. Lu Er was looking down at her phone memorizing vocabulary when she heard someone call out to Ruan Xiyan, "Xiyan, come sing! It's been so long since I've heard you sing."
Lu Er heard his laughter, followed by his reply: "Okay."
What is Ruan Xiyan's singing style like?
Lu Er was a little curious and looked up. Ruan Xiyan went up to the stage, and Sheng Jiao, who was in the center of the sofa, raised his chin and said, "What do you want to sing? I'll get you the tablet to choose."
Ruan Xi seemed to be pondering. After a while, he said to Sheng Jiao, "Eleven. I heard it from someone recently, and I thought it sounded nice, so I learned a few lines." At that moment, that "someone" was staring at him, their fingers unconsciously gripping the edge of his trouser seam.
Ruan Xiyan's voice, like the man himself, is clear and bright. The song "11" is quite challenging in terms of vocal transitions and breath control, and Ruan Xiyan sang it just right.
"Just bury all my love."
But you can clearly understand.
"Come closer to me and don't leave."
But what's painful isn't the memories.
"Because of you crying in my memories"
Lu Er's gaze, fixed on the large screen, became somewhat hazy. The singing boy gradually blurred into a shadow, its lines indistinct yet radiant, like a moon in a distant cloud.
-
The song ended. Ruan Xiyan said she was going to the restroom and went around to the door of the private room. After washing her hands, she heard a sudden clap of thunder, followed by a torrential downpour.
Lu Er paused for a moment, then, after washing her hands, she grabbed a towel and dried them clean.
She turned out of the restroom. The lighting in the corridor was completely different from that in the private room; it was a warm, yellowish hue. A person was leaning against the side of the corridor, and after waiting for a while, he called out when he saw her come out, "Ruan Xiyan."
Sheng Jiao's makeup style is trendy, with large colored contact lenses, a pink face, and false eyelashes that make her look like a lifelike porcelain doll.
“I can tell you’re deliberately avoiding me,” Sheng Jiao said, glancing at her. “You don’t need to make so many excuses.”
Lu Er remained silent, unsure how to handle the situation. Little did she know that her silence was tantamount to acquiescence in Sheng Jiao's eyes.
Sheng Jiao twitched the corner of her mouth: "I was naive back then, completely smitten with you. I was young then and didn't think much about it." She has always been independent and did things her own way. When she had feelings for Ruan Xiyan, she confessed directly to her. "Don't worry now, I've long since let go. I don't like you anymore, and you don't need to hide from me."
Lu Er touched the bridge of her nose, following her words, her tone tinged with doubt: "...Okay?"
"..." Sheng Jiao squinted, then suddenly leaned forward, "Are you dating that girl named Lu Er now?"
"..."
Lu Er looked a little stunned: "No." She was completely confused about the current situation. Now it seemed that Sheng Jiao had confessed to Ruan Xiyan, and Ruan Xiyan probably didn't agree? Lu Er wasn't sure if Ruan Xiyan had those kinds of feelings for Sheng Jiao. She thought about it again and again, and added cautiously, "We're just classmates."
Sheng Jiao glanced back and forth at her, unsure whether she believed him or not, her expression slightly suspicious, but most likely she didn't.
The door to the private room in the distance was opened, and a short-haired figure came into view. After seeing them, the real Ruan Xiyan walked over. He glanced at Sheng Jiao, then turned to Lu Er: "They sent me to ask why you haven't come back for so long."
“…Hmph.” Sheng Jiao didn’t say anything and turned to go back into the house.
Seeing that Sheng Jiao had finally left, Ruan Xiyan patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief: "I was worried something had happened since you guys hadn't come back for so long. She didn't say anything to you, did she?"
Lu Er recounted the conversation to Ruan Xiyan verbatim.
"Is that all? She still doesn't believe me. That's just Sheng Jiao's personality, don't worry about her." Ruan Xiyan's lips curved into a smile with a hint of helplessness.
As they walked back to their private room, Ruan Xiyan explained, "We've been childhood friends and always gotten along really well. Ever since that incident... things have become a bit awkward. But when she says that, she usually really has moved on." He paused, glancing at Lu Er's expressionless profile, and then, almost involuntarily, added, "I really don't have any feelings for her. That's true."
Lu Er looked into his eyes, which shone like stars. She looked away, and her wrist, which had been held while they were playing the game, suddenly felt warm again.
She touched the bridge of her nose again: "Hmm."
-
Around 8 PM, everyone gradually dispersed. The KTV only opened after dinner. Lu Er hadn't eaten much when he arrived, and Ruan Xiyan asked him about it. She originally wanted to say that he didn't need to eat, but then she remembered that Ruan Xiyan was using her body right now, and if he didn't eat, he would be the one going hungry, so she changed her mind and told him to eat as he pleased.
Lu Er was then dragged to a convenience store by Ruan Xiyan, who claimed that Ruan Xiyan wanted to pay with her own phone and that Lu Er couldn't run away.
It had rained the night before, and several small pools of water had accumulated under the eaves. The crescent moon, like a boat, peeked out from behind the clouds, and a corner of the canvas boat was reflected in the water, gleaming and sparkling.
It will probably rain again around midnight. Lu Er was deep in thought, holding his phone, when Ruan Xiyan called him in from behind.
"Do you like oden?" Ruan Xiyan shoved the tweezers into her hand without waiting for a reply. "Come and choose."
Seeing his enthusiastic gesture, Lu Er frowned slightly, a hint of helplessness in her voice: "Do I want to buy one too?"
"Hmm. Otherwise, I'd feel a little guilty letting you watch me eat." Ruan Xiyan said matter-of-factly, urging Lu Er, "Hurry up and choose, just consider it as my soul, body and soul, needing to satisfy its appetite, okay?"
The sales clerk standing nearby looked at the two of them as if he'd discovered they were mentally challenged. This prompted Lu Er to step forward with tweezers: "I've never tried this before. Any recommendations?"
“I think fish tofu and lucky bags are both quite delicious.” Ruan Xiyan had a sudden inspiration. “Why don’t you try them all? You’ll find out which ones you like.”
The wealthy are known for their extravagant spending. However, Ruan Xiyan seemed unsatisfied with this; he led Lu Er into a large supermarket next door, pushing a huge shopping cart.
"Buy some snacks. You won't be full just from this, right?" That was exactly what Ruan Xiyan said, and Lu Er had no choice but to follow her closely. After all, it wasn't her money being spent.
“My mom doesn’t make breakfast much; she’s even lazier than me when she gets up. When I go to school, the driver usually takes me out, and I eat outside the school,” Ruan Xiyan said as she tossed a bag of bread into her shopping cart. “Now, even when I’m in tutoring class, I buy some bread for breakfast.”
How can you have bread without milk? Ruan Xiyan held a high-calcium milk in one hand and a whole milk in the other, placing them in front of Lu Er for her to choose from. Lu Er silently gave her opinion: "I don't like drinking milk."
"..." Ruan Xiyan turned around and took a box of original flavor yogurt.
After buying the milk and bread, Lu Er thought the trip was over, but Ruan Xiyan led his group straight to the fruit section. He put strawberries one by one into a plastic bag, saying with great seriousness, "Fruit provides vitamins, which are better than calcium tablets."
Strawberries, apples, grapes… he picked out almost everything on the shelf. Lu Er couldn't help but ask, "Can you finish all of this?"
"Put it in the fridge, eat it slowly, you'll finish it eventually." Ruan Xiyan passed by the peaches and picked up a pear next to them. Lu Er didn't understand the mindset of rich people, and just silently played the role of carrying things behind him.
After paying at the cashier, the total came to seven hundred yuan. Lu Er put away his phone and waited for Ruan Xiyan to hand him the two large bags of items, but he held on tightly and refused to let go.
Lu Er's eyes widened slightly. Ruan Xiyan could see the surprise on her face, so she blinked again and reiterated, "This is for you."
"..." He knew Lu Er would definitely not agree, so he brought out all the reasons he had prepared, "This is a gift from our family to each tutor, so please accept it."
Ruan Xiyan became increasingly impressed with her own acting skills as she spoke: "You can tell how much my mother likes you. Last time, she repeatedly told me to send you something. I couldn't accept anything expensive, so I had to send it to you in this way."
Lu Er tried to refuse, but Ruan Xiyan used her last trump card, saying, "Besides, this isn't just for you to eat; I can eat it too when I become you. Consider it a way of being kind to myself."
"Teacher Lu, just give in."
Ruan Xiyan's tone softened, but his eyes still held a heart-melting smile. He seemed to have an innate ability to make people unable to refuse him.
Lu Er finally agreed. She held out her hand: "...Okay. I'll take you back, and you can give me a bag."
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