Chapter 45
With the two people so close, Jiang Huaiyu naturally knew it wasn't Lu Mingxiao calling, but Hu Zi under the window.
By this time, it was completely dark. Tiger was a very well-behaved dog. After nightfall, it would not bark when someone passed by the yard, much less bark incessantly like it was now, making the chain around it rattle.
The sound was clearly a warning.
Li Qing accompanied Lu Chuan to the provincial capital for a follow-up investigation. Only Jiang Huaiyu and Lu Mingxiao were at home. The two boys looked at each other and then looked out the window together.
Small lamps hung on the flower rack in the courtyard, casting a tranquil, warm yellow glow over the yard. Tiger had stopped barking and was just pacing back and forth under the window, dragging his iron chain, looking somewhat restless.
The drowsiness in Lu Mingxiao's eyes faded, and the cold sharpness between his brows almost frosted over in the spring night. He got up first and went to the kitchen to get the shovel used for heating the boiler in winter. Jiang Huaiyu remained silent and took the largest rolling pin.
Pushing open the door, the two walked into the courtyard. The early spring night sky was exceptionally clear, and the wind whistled softly through the decorative holes in the wall. Tiger had already lay down on the spot, his pointed ears still alertly perked up and turning.
A swaying shadow could be seen through the gap under the iron gate.
Lu Mingxiao's breath hitched.
Nightmare overlapped with reality. The shadow seemed poised to squeeze in through the crack in the door at any moment, transforming into a monster crawling on all fours. For a fleeting moment, he was numb and stiff. The iron door suddenly seemed incredibly tall, and he felt like he was still that little boy.
A hand, cooled by the night breeze, gently pulled him back, binding him like a rope to prevent him from slipping into the cold, sticky abyss.
"Brother Xiao."
His wrist was gently encircled by something warm and soft. He turned around abruptly and looked into a pair of eyes clearer than moonlight. The dark clouds instantly dispersed, and the sky was filled with stars.
Jiang Huaiyu pulled him behind her, the boy's slender and upright body blocking his way. He reached for the bolt on the iron gate, and Lu Mingxiao snapped out of his daze and quickly pulled him back, saying, "Jiang Xiaoyu..."
"Clang—"
Jiang Huaiyu kicked open the iron gate, startling the shadow outside. It jumped up with a "whoosh" and looked up to face Jiang Huaiyu, who was expressionless and had a frosty look in his eyes, still holding a rolling pin in his hand.
“Learn from the genius…” Li Rui was so frightened that he stammered, “A slacker like me doesn’t deserve to die! I don’t deserve to die!!”
Jiang Huaiyu: ...
It was all a misunderstanding. Lu Mingxiao breathed a sigh of relief and picked Li Rui up from the ground with a annoyance: "What are you doing lying in front of my house so late at night?"
"Oh, oh..." Li Rui picked up the iron basin that had fallen to the ground: "I brought bones to Brother Hu. My grandma specifically told us not to gnaw them too clean. Look, there's still a lot of meat left..."
Tiger ate a lot of imported snacks, but he still had a special fondness for the big bones at Grandma Li's house. Right now, he was wildly wiggling his butt in the yard, making the iron chains clang loudly.
A night breeze blew, and Jiang Huaiyu belatedly felt cold, sneezed, and was pushed back into the house by Lu Mingxiao.
Only Li Rui and Lu Mingxiao remained in the yard, feeding the dog. Li Rui, oblivious to the undercurrents that had just occurred, was carefree as he stroked the dog's head, getting his face covered in saliva from Hu Zi's licks.
Lu Mingxiao stood in the interplay of light and shadow under the flower trellis, one hand in his pocket, his expression somewhat obscure and difficult to discern.
Li Rui looked up and met Lu Mingxiao's gloomy gaze, and was startled: "Hey, bro, what are you doing? Striking a cool pose in the cold wind?"
"Get lost..." Lu Mingxiao slowly exhaled and beckoned to Li Rui: "Come here, I have something to tell you."
Li Rui: "Am I someone you can summon and dismiss at will?"
A moment later, the two boys walked out of the courtyard. Lu Mingxiao closed and locked the iron gate, put away the key, and walked with Li Rui towards the big willow tree at the entrance of the alley.
This was clearly a serious matter, and Li Rui, a little nervous, pulled his hands out of his sleeves and scratched his hair: "Brother Xiao, you're being so serious, I'm a little flustered. What's up?"
The large willow tree sprouted light green buds, its branches swaying gracefully in the night breeze. Lu Mingxiao grabbed a willow branch and gently plucked off a bud. The fresh scent of the plant lingered in his nostrils, somewhat reminiscent of Jiang Huaiyu's fragrance.
He kneaded the small, cool patch between his fingertips, then turned slightly to look at Li Rui: "Are you still in contact with Guo Shun and the others?"
Upon hearing the name, Li Rui paused for a moment, then quickly stated his position: "Brother, I have no contact with him, I haven't been fooling around with him. If I were to hang out with those people again, how could I face Grandma and you?"
"I didn't say you were fooling around with them." Lu Mingxiao brushed the crushed willow buds off his hand, his tone flat. "Do you know what he's been up to lately?"
Li Rui scratched his head: "I heard he went back to jail for stealing electric bikes. He was just released a couple of days ago. There's a bunch of them with criminal records. They go in and out every few days, and when they get out, they don't go home. They just hang out at the billiard hall on Xiao'an Street..."
The security situation on Xiao'an Street is not good. Some idle people who have been released from prison often gather there and spend their days aimlessly wandering around the billiard hall and small hotels.
Lu Mingxiao's hair was getting a bit long, and when the night wind blew it across his eyelashes, it was caught on the magnifying glass and he was about to lose points. He subconsciously squinted and beckoned to Li Rui: "Come here a bit, I need your help with something."
The two huddled together and whispered for a while. Li Rui's small eyes gradually widened, and he was so shocked by what Lu Mingxiao said that he stammered, "The...the wrong baby...the real young master of a wealthy family...then...who is the fake one?"
He realized something and immediately raised his voice: "Brother Yu?!"
"Tsk..." Lu Mingxiao hooked his arm around his shoulder, wanting to cover his mouth, but then realized the kid hadn't wiped his mouth after gnawing on the bone, and couldn't bring himself to do it: "Why are you making such a fuss? Everyone's life has its little surprises."
"You call this a minor accident?" Li Rui muttered to himself, "So I really am an NPC in this world..."
Lu Mingxiao patted him on the shoulder: "That's not important. Just tell Guo Shun about this."
Li Rui couldn't understand: "Brother, you and Guo Shun have a grudge. If he finds out about this, he'll definitely tell everyone he's been talking about. He says none of the people around him are good people..."
“I know.” Lu Mingxiao looked in the direction of his home, where the warm light from the courtyard was dim. “I just wanted him to pass on the message to certain people.”
...
Jiang Huaiyu went back to the small bedroom first, and helped Lu Mingxiao take a look at the two test papers. She filtered out the basic questions and crossed them out so that Lu Mingxiao could directly do the advanced questions when he came back.
Unexpectedly, after waiting for quite a while, Lu Mingxiao finally entered the room, bringing with him the chill of the spring night. He was dressed in thin clothes and was shivering from the cold. He rubbed his arms and poured himself a cup of hot water.
Jiang Huaiyu was leaning against her bed, doing exercises on her tablet. When she saw him return, she casually asked, "What did you and Li Rui talk about?"
“Ask Grandma Li how she stews those big bones; they’re more popular than imported dog food…” Lu Mingxiao pulled out a chair and sat down, glancing at the test paper: “Oh, my boyfriend is so thoughtful.”
He held his pen and focused on his work. Jiang Huaiyu didn't disturb him and continued doing her own homework.
Spring breezes turned the bare branches on the flower trellis in the yard green, and the colorful flags of the school sports meet were taken down one after another. In the blink of an eye, two weeks of sports meet had passed, and the noise in the classroom returned to calm. The study intensity of the second semester of the second year of high school suddenly increased, and the coursework was heavy. During breaks, looking around, one could see a whole bunch of students sleeping.
Considering the children's cervical spine health, the school leaders specially designed a set of neck exercises. A group of children were shaking their heads wildly during recess. Lu Mingxiao said it looked like a shamanistic ritual. No matter if you're a cool school bully or an elegant school beauty, you have to shake your head. Zhuoran's ponytail even came loose from shaking. She protested indignantly, "This isn't fair! Why doesn't the academic genius have to shake his head? He's only responsible for supervising us? Academic genius, you're too concerned about your image! Where's Brother Xiao? Brother Xiao, can you control your... teammates?!"
Zhuoran's deskmate was desperate: "Stop talking, I think the one shaking the most is Xiao Ge, it's like he has a spring under his head. Let's hold on for two more days, and when it gets warmer we can go out for morning exercises. I'd rather run laps!"
After stretching his neck, Lu Mingxiao felt refreshed and took out a set of test papers to continue working on the questions. Jiang Huaiyu finished supervising him, got down from the podium, and returned to his seat. In fact, he had never remembered any of the students' names; he just felt that he really couldn't handle this sport.
The hand resting on my lap was gently squeezed and then held.
Jiang Huaiyu remained calm and looked at Lu Mingxiao: "You need to concentrate on doing the questions."
"How am I not concentrating?" Lu Mingxiao's eyes were still on the test paper, but his fingertips were mischievously hooking Jiang Huaiyu's palm lightly: "We are all classmates, we should be united and friendly. I'm borrowing your spiritual energy, so be generous."
Jiang Huaiyu glanced at him sideways, a half-smile on her face: "Do you think you're practicing some kind of 'nourishing life' cultivation?"
"Tsk..." Lu Mingxiao: "Look at you, as a minor, how impure your thoughts are..."
Jiang Huaiyu forcefully pulled her hand back: "Don't do anything impure."
Finding the path of metaphysics blocked, Lu Mingxiao, looking resentful, obediently took the scientific route and went off to do practice problems.
Unlike the end of the semester, the beginning of the semester is a time when physical education teachers are growing and generally don't take sick leave. Class 5 has a physical education class in the afternoon, and Lu Mingxiao was dragged out to sunbathe by Jiang Huaiyu, mainly because she was afraid he would get moldy from being buried in books and exercises.
There were some first-year high school students playing basketball on the court. The boys from Class 5 went over and asked if they wanted to play together. The younger students readily agreed, and the two classes formed their own teams. Jiang Huaiyu also played two games, playing the point guard position, while Lu Mingxiao was unsurprisingly assigned to the power forward position.
Lu Mingxiao has been growing taller recently. He was already tall and straight, and now he has the height of a mature man. He looks very imposing when he stands in front of others. He hasn't been able to let loose for a long time. He dunked several times in a row, making the younger students almost cry. The several first-year junior girls watching were all smiles.
Li Rui said with a long face, "With Brother Xiao around, do I even have the right to choose a partner?"
"Of course not, half of them are looking at Xiao Ge, and the other half are looking at Yu Ge..." Liang Jing realized, "Wait a minute! How did you manage to sneak into my class again!"
The small forward cried out, "Genius! Please! Can you pass me the ball just once? Let me touch it!"
Jiang Huaiyu had indeed been passing the ball to Lu Mingxiao. Hearing his teammate say that, he felt a little embarrassed and was about to throw the ball to his own small forward when Lu Mingxiao stretched out his long arm and intercepted it.
"Hey~ Even begging has to be done in line!"
He dribbled past two players, and while they were all focused on him, he made a graceful turn and passed the ball back to Jiang Huaiyu: "Hey deskmate, give me a shot!"
Jiang Huaiyu seized the opportunity, weaving past the opposing team's hastily retreating defenders, and leaped high under the basket—
The boy's clothes fluttered in the wind, his narrow waist taut, his abdominal muscles slender and beautiful, and sunlight fell on his flying hair, refracting into tiny, solitary rays.
Clang—
The basketball was pushed into the basket by an open hand.
The sounds of the wind, the cheers of the girls, and the applause of the boys became insignificant background noise at this moment. Looking at the spirited young man who had landed, Lu Mingxiao really wanted to rush over, pick him up, and spin him around.
Jiang Huaiyu was also smiling. A bead of sweat appeared on the tip of the boy's fair nose, and his slightly upturned eyes were damp with a thin red. His gaze passed through his excited teammates and dejected juniors, and landed on Lu Mingxiao with a gentle smile.
Lu Mingxiao's Adam's apple bobbed, and he cursed under his breath. He walked through the crowd, hooked his arm around Jiang Huaiyu's shoulder, and led the group off the court. Without turning his head, he waved to Li Rui and the others, "With me here, you guys aren't having any fun. We're leaving the court, you guys play."
He hadn't originally planned to play for a whole class, otherwise he would have been the center of attention, and everyone else would have been overshadowed, which would have been a bit unfair. After stretching his muscles, he wanted to take his little fish and slip away to find a quiet place to touch her little hand.
It was during class time, and only students taking physical education classes were active on the playground. Most of the girls had gone to the cafeteria because they were afraid of the cold. Lu Mingxiao looked around and set his sights on the stands not far away.
The stands were newly renovated by the school; the cement steps had been painted in different colors for different sections, but the seats hadn't been installed yet. The steps were cold, and in the early spring weather, nobody wanted to sit on them, so they were practically empty—perfect for secret trysts…
Crossed out, a good place for a date.
Lu Mingxiao saw a sign leaning over in the green belt, but he didn't pay much attention to it, thinking he would pick it up after class. He and Jiang Huaiyu put their arms around each other's shoulders, looking like brothers from a distance, and casually strolled to the steps. Lu Mingxiao even greeted a few classmates he knew along the way.
Jiang Huaiyu nodded and greeted them as well. After they left, he glanced at them out of the corner of his eye and said with a half-smile, "Brother Xiao, you have a strong mentality. Aren't you afraid that someone will find out that you went to the convex lens to tattle on us?"
"Jiang Huaiyu, don't talk nonsense. We have a perfectly innocent classmate relationship. Why would I be guilty?" Lu Mingxiao said righteously, reaching out to pull down the hem of Jiang Huaiyu's hoodie. "I'm saying, isn't your shirt a bit short? Can't you tuck this part into your waistband? Be careful not to catch a cold with your belly button showing..."
Jiang Huaiyu grabbed his wrist, a forced smile on his face: "Your actions are anything but innocent. Li Rui would never stuff Liang Jing's clothes with his hand. Take your hands out, brother."
Lu Mingxiao coughed and retorted in a low voice, "I didn't put it in either."
There was still a faint smell of paint near the steps. Lu Mingxiao remembered something, slapped his forehead, and turned around to search everywhere: "Where did we put our school uniform jackets? Here, put them under your bottom so you don't catch a cold. I think we left them on the basketball court..."
Turning around, Jiang Huaiyu had already sat down, her expression slightly subtle.
"Look at you, why are you in such a hurry..." Lu Mingxiao reached out to pull him up: "Is it particularly cold? Get up first..."
Jiang Huaiyu remained unmoved.
Lu Mingxiao: ? ? ?
A moment later, Jiang Huaiyu looked up at him with a smile, his expression unchanged. "It is a bit chilly, Brother Xiao. Go get your coat. I'll wait for you here."
He sat there looking up, smiling sweetly. Lu Mingxiao felt his heart melting with sweetness. His steps faltered as he walked away. He questioned, understood, and became like King You of Zhou. He didn't notice the contradiction between Jiang Huaiyu's words and actions—if it was cold, why was he still sitting there?
When Lu Mingxiao returned with his coat and light steps, Jiang Huaiyu was still sitting there obediently, without moving. When she saw him come back, she smiled with her eyes crinkling and waved to him, "Brother Xiao, come here, I have something to tell you."
Lu Mingxiao achieved a great time of 2 seconds in the "Don't be seduced by Jiang Huaiyu" challenge. Come and try it too!
He leaned closer, trying to maintain his composure, and coughed, putting his fist to his lips: "There are security cameras above us, be careful."
Jiang Huaiyu smiled with her eyes still curved, the corners of her upturned eyes slightly reddened by the wind: "Sit next to me, I have something to tell you secretly."
Lu Mingxiao experienced firsthand what it meant to be "soul-captured by beauty." Holding his school uniform, he sat down close to Jiang Huaiyu, his ears burning, his eyes shining. The handsome young man blushed slightly and turned his head to look at the refined young man beside him: "What did you say?"
Jiang Huaiyu leaned slightly towards him, her thin lips curving into a smile, her voice clear and melodious:
"The paint isn't dry."
Lu Mingxiao's smile froze, more solidified than the paint under his buttocks.
“Jiang, Xiao, Yu…” Lu Mingxiao reached out to pinch that adorable little fox face: “Aren’t you being mean? I got you some clothes because I was worried your butt would be cold, and this is how you treat my butt? You repay kindness with enmity!”
Jiang Huaiyu slapped his hand twice: "Put your hand down, you innocent male classmates... don't pinch cheeks like that!"
The touch was warm and delicate. Lu Mingxiao reluctantly let go, looked around, and finally saw the sign that was covered in the green belt. He couldn't see the first three words, but the last word was: Dry!
"Damn it..." Now that things had come to this, Lu Mingxiao took a deep breath: "Li Rui! Liang Jing! I have something to tell you guys in private—!!"
...
In the blink of an eye, four promising young men emerged from the steps.
“Hehe…” Liang Jing looked at Lu Mingxiao: “Brother Xiao, you really are my brother. We don’t ask to be born on the same day, month, and year, but we do ask to die on the same day, month, and year, right? This is red paint. If I stand up in a moment, people will think that my hemorrhoids have ruptured.”
Jiang Huaiyu lowered her eyes, seemingly ashamed, but in reality, she was holding back her laughter so hard that her shoulders trembled.
Li Rui, a child with ADHD, had never sat so still in his life. He looked at Lu Mingxiao with the same resentment: "Brother, if we stand up and run away in a bit, should we cover our butts or our faces? And you, genius, stop laughing. How do you solve this problem?"
"Ahem..." Jiang Huaiyu turned her head to the side, paying attention to her facial expression, before looking at Li Rui: "If you want to blame someone, blame your brother Xiao. I didn't actually intend to call you over. We only have two school uniforms."
Li Rui slowly lowered her head and looked at the school uniform in his arms.
Those weren't two school uniform jackets, those were two faces!
Today, it all comes down to who can regain their dignity!
Li Rui let out a "whoosh" and lunged at Jiang Huaiyu, but Lu Mingxiao reacted too quickly. He pulled Li Rui to his feet, bent over with his school uniform pants stained with paint, and fastened Jiang Huaiyu's school uniform around his waist in the blink of an eye. After tying it, he didn't forget to adjust it before tying it for himself as well.
"Brother Xiao!" Liang Jing accused him in anguish, "You've saved face, but what about the faces of our brothers?"
Lu Mingxiao walked around Jiang Huaiyu to make sure there wasn't a trace of paint left before he was satisfied. Only then did he look at the two sworn brothers outside.
"Don't worry, am I the kind of irresponsible person? I'll get you two new pairs tomorrow. Where are your school uniform jackets? I'll bring them to you."
Li Rui's jacket is on the basketball court, while Liang Jing's is in the equipment room.
Lu Mingxiao and Jiang Huaiyu first took Li Rui's uniform, then crossed the entire playground to get Liang Jing's school uniform.
They were both tall and had long legs, so even when they wore their school uniforms properly, people would still secretly stare at them when they walked around the school. Now that they had tied their school uniform jackets around their waists, they looked even more carefree and unrestrained like teenagers. One was handsome and dashing, and the other was elegant and refined. Lu Mingxiao was talking to Jiang Huaiyu with his head down.
Even the sunlight seemed to favor them, falling on the corners of the boys' eyes and brows, reflecting a youthful and beautiful radiance.
Zhuoran, who had just left the cafeteria, was dazzled by the scene and secretly pricked up his ears to try to eavesdrop.
"Nitrogen dioxide reacts with water to produce nitric acid and nitric oxide. Nitric acid is HNO. This is too simple, Jiang Xiaoyu. Let's try something else."
Zhuoran: ...
Knowledge entered my mind in unexpected ways.
...
As soon as he entered the equipment room, Lu Mingxiao kicked a volleyball that had rolled away. He picked it up, walked to the basket in the corner, and put the runaway volleyball back in its place.
Jiang Huaiyu went to look for Liang Jing's clothes and finally found them on the top shelf of a shelf. She wondered how Liang Jing, with his height, had managed to hang the clothes so high up.
He stood on tiptoe and just managed to grab it. With a little effort, he prepared to pull the clothes down, but the hem of the school uniform happened to get caught on some miscellaneous items. Jiang Huaiyu looked up, and a cloud of dust fell into his eyes. The miscellaneous items on the shelf made a clattering sound as they collapsed.
Jiang Huaiyu reacted quickly and took a step back...
Before he could back out, he stepped on Lu Mingxiao's instep, his back pressed against the boy's warm chest. The boy sprinted over, his heartbeat still pounding, landing like drumbeats on Jiang Huaiyu's shoulder.
Lu Mingxiao stretched out his arm and supported the box containing the old badminton racket. He pushed the rickety box back before looking down at Jiang Huaiyu, whose eyes were red.
"Oh my, when did you become so delicate?" He held Jiang Huaiyu's shoulder and turned her around: "Let me see, did you cry from fright?"
“…Scared to tears, my foot.” Jiang Huaiyu frowned and raised her hand to rub her eyes: “Dust got in there, it hurts.”
Lu Mingxiao grabbed his wrist: "Your hands are dirty, don't touch them, let me blow on them for you."
He lowered his head, carefully moved closer, and blew on the trembling eyelashes.
Jiang Huaiyu subconsciously closed his eyes, his thin eyelids flushed red, his moist eyelashes trembling slightly, his nose straight and delicate, his lips…
Thin and soft, with a barely noticeable cupid's bow.
How could someone be so perfect for him? His mother is really good at giving birth to children.
He withdrew his hand from the shelf and, with a touch of force, placed it on the back of Jiang Huaiyu's neck, giving it a quick squeeze.
Sensing his intention, Jiang Huaiyu opened her eyes and, her breathing slightly disordered, reminded him: "Monitoring."
“You can’t see from here. The PE teacher sometimes hides here to smoke.” Lu Mingxiao’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He turned his head slightly, his warm breaths mingling softly. “Jiang Xiaoyu…”
Her moist eyelashes trembled, and a few seconds later, Jiang Huaiyu stood on tiptoe.
Their soft, warm surfaces pressed together, the sensation transforming into a tiny electric current that numbed their hearts and sent shivers down to their fingertips. The two boys, who had never kissed before, froze, their heartbeats synchronized at that moment.
Jiang Huaiyu even heard a faint buzzing in her ears. She didn't know whose heartbeat was so loud, nor whose tongue had probed first. In the stumbling and entwining, there were subtle, ambiguous sounds of water.
Jiang Huaiyu wrapped her arms around Lu Mingxiao's neck, her slender fingers gripping the back of his collar, as if trying to pull him away, or as if she were drowning and trying to hold onto the only thing that was floating.
...
Li Rui and Liang Jing were still waiting in the stands of the playground.
"Brother Xiao..."
"You haven't forgotten about us, have you?"
Author's Note:
One hundred small red envelopes will be randomly given away in the comments section.
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