Chapter 7
After lunch, I also brought Tiger a bag of bones.
Seeing that the two useless human cubs had finally returned from their hunt without returning empty-handed, Tiger wagged his tail happily and gnawed on the bone with a loud clatter.
In the afternoon, the two of them applied waterproofing material to the small bathroom again. This time, Lu Mingxiao applied it, and he gave Jiang Huaiyu a thick needle, instructing him to pop any air bubbles he found to prevent water seepage. Jiang Huaiyu followed behind him, carefully popping each air bubble.
Although the waterproof coating in the bathroom had been applied, it wasn't completely dry yet. Once it was completely dry, they would have to lay tiles, so the two of them still had to go to the public bathhouse to take a shower.
As it turns out, human adaptability is astonishing. This time, Jiang Huaiyu appeared very calm, as if she had "seen it all," but...
Lu Mingxiao still managed to squeeze her into that "single room".
The young master, who had been holding on, breathed a sigh of relief and took a long, refreshing bath.
After taking a shower and eating a bowl of cold noodles, Jiang Huaiyu lay on the bed feeling refreshed, staring at the air conditioner above her head, while she could hear the fan running on Lu Mingxiao's side.
“We can take turns staying here…” Jiang Huaiyu suggested, “Would you move in tomorrow?”
"It was too much trouble, but it's okay." Lu Mingxiao's voice carried a hint of amusement: "Who told me to be born ten minutes earlier than you? You can have the air conditioner."
"Although asking this might seem like I'm being hypocritical, I really want to ask you..." Jiang Huaiyu turned to the side, looking at the thin, smooth wooden board, and said softly, "They gave me the air conditioner that originally belonged to you. Do you... feel uncomfortable about that?"
"What's there to be sad about? It's just an air conditioner." There was a rustling sound from the other side of the wooden board, and Lu Mingxiao seemed to have turned over to face the board. "Is it hard to understand? You are their child. They are good to me, so I am willing to be good to you. It's a simple principle of 'love me, love my dog'."
In the darkness, the corners of Jiang Huaiyu's eyes curved slightly.
Lu Mingxiao continued, "Of course, I understand that you are not happy. After all, given the Jiang family's wealth, what you lost is not just an air conditioner."
There was no formal opening, just casual conversation. Under a star-filled night sky, two boys whose fates had been intertwined since birth calmly discussed the past and the future.
“It wasn’t that it was taken away…” Jiang Huaiyu retorted calmly, “It was that I encroached on what should have belonged to you.”
The wooden board was tapped twice, neither too hard nor too soft.
Lu Mingxiao's lazy voice came over: "Don't make yourself sound like a thief. You were just a tiny little kid back then, what could you have done wrong? Besides, you really don't need to feel indebted to me. Here, although the conditions are a bit worse, my parents have never mistreated me and have raised me with great care. On the contrary, I'm the one who gets criticized every time there's a parent-teacher conference. If it were you, you'd probably have a whole wall of certificates by now."
Jiang Huaiyu shook her head, then, remembering that he was blind, said, "No, everyone is shaped by their environment. If I had grown up in the Lu family, I would have too..."
"You would also use mosquito coils to light unfinished summer homework, pretending it was an 'accident,' and almost set the house on fire?"
Jiang Huaiyu: ...
"You also put firecrackers in Hu Zi's rice bowl, making the bowl fly into the air and then fall down and knock Li Rui down?"
Jiang Huaiyu: …………
"You also climb trees to steal bird eggs, then get scratched in the face by a big bird, fall from the tree, and fracture your tailbone?"
Jiang Huaiyu: ………………
“Look…” Lu Mingxiao said, “Even if you’re in the Lu family, you’re still a good boy. As for the future… to be honest, I don’t think I could handle the Jiang family’s business even if it were given to me. After all, you’ve received elite education for over ten years. As for me, I don’t want to go through the trouble of learning those things again. It would be great if you managed the company and I just sat back and enjoyed the dividends. I wouldn’t have to work and would still get paid. I’d be laughing in my sleep…”
Jiang Huaiyu thought to himself that this prince, who had fallen into obscurity, had no idea what it meant to give up half of the country with his words. But he did not doubt Lu Mingxiao’s sincerity at this moment. Even if sincerity was ever-changing and they might have their own ambitions ten years later, he was still moved by the boy’s sincerity.
He laughed and said softly, "You wish."
...
Around six in the morning, Jiang Huaiyu heard some noise from the wooden plank. She looked up and saw Lu Mingxiao's tiptoeing back. It was clear that he was trying very hard not to wake her. His pants were not belted and hung loosely on his waist. He was shirtless and wearing a short-sleeved shirt with him on.
"Lu Mingxiao..." Jiang Huaiyu called out to him in a muffled voice, "Are you ready to lay the tiles?"
It's clear that the young master really doesn't want to go to the public bathhouse.
Lu Mingxiao turned around and said in a soft voice, "You go to sleep. I just received a message in the group that the supermarket in the east of the city is having a promotion today, with vegetables on special. Mom asked me to go buy some, saying she'll be back soon and will cook something delicious for you when she gets back."
Jiang Huaiyu sat up, a tuft of hair sticking up on her head: "You didn't have to go so early..."
“Yeah, we didn’t have to go this early.” Lu Mingxiao spread his hands helplessly: “The pharmacies in the west of the city are having a promotion, and it’s more cost-effective to buy Dad’s usual medicine today. Since we’re going to both places, I thought I’d go early so I can bring you breakfast when I get back.”
In the young master's world, neither discounted dishes nor discounted medicines exist. He sat there blankly for a while, then got out of bed and put on his slippers.
"I'll go to the supermarket, so you won't have to run back and forth."
Lu Mingxiao thought for a moment: "Okay, how will you get there?"
Jiang Huaiyu blurted out, "Take a taxi."
Lu Mingxiao laughed: "Why take a taxi? You want to take a taxi to buy discounted vegetables? The fare will be more expensive than the vegetables. How about this, you ride Li Rui's bicycle. Can you ride a bicycle?"
Jiang Huaiyu nodded and took out her phone to turn on navigation.
So early in the morning, they split into two groups.
Li Rui's bicycle was brand new, and it was clear that he took great care of it, as the frame was polished to a shine. However, as soon as he heard that Lu Mingxiao wanted to use it, he pushed it out without saying a word. It was just that the bright yellow and bright green paint was a bit too eye-catching.
Unfortunately, this was the only means of transportation available, so Young Master Jiang had no choice but to make a conspicuous bag.
On the way, he was still thinking about the timetable that Lu Mingxiao had just taken out.
He wrote down the nearby pharmacies, their event times, and their phone numbers on this piece of paper. Along with the schedule, he also included Lu Chuan's chronic disease card.
The paper has deep creases and frayed edges, indicating it's quite old, meaning...
From the age of fourteen, or even earlier, Lu Mingxiao had already been helping his father buy medicine. In order to save more than thirty yuan, he would sometimes ride his bicycle all over the small town.
Lu Mingxiao's sense of responsibility, which far exceeds that of his peers, is both admirable and heartbreaking.
Jiang Huaiyu knew that these were his responsibilities.
He had only thought that living with strangers would be awkward, and Lu Mingxiao was right; he was indeed a spoiled young master.
...
Lu Mingxiao bought medicine and brought back breakfast from the morning market. When he entered the yard and found that Jiang Huaiyu had not returned yet, he had a bad feeling. After all, the supermarket was closer to home, and Jiang Huaiyu, who was riding a bicycle, should have arrived home before him.
He put down his breakfast, took his phone and walked towards the alley entrance. Just as he was about to make a WeChat call to the young master, that conspicuous bicycle appeared on the street corner.
Lu Mingxiao smiled and waved to Jiang Huaiyu: "Boss Jiang!"
The next second, his smile vanished, and he quickly went to meet him.
What happened to your foot?
Jiang Huaiyu's riding posture was a bit awkward, and there were bloodstains on the white slipper on his left foot, which made Lu Mingxiao's eyelids twitch. He took a few steps to meet him and was looking down at Jiang Huaiyu's foot when he was dazzled by the young master's bright smile.
“Lu Mingxiao, there are so many people.” Jiang Huaiyu picked up the groceries to show him: “But I bought everything on the list.”
His face still had a slight flush from exercise; that light, pretty pink emerged from beneath his pale skin, spreading from his cheeks all the way to his ears. A bead of sweat clung to the tip of his nose, like a sweet peach glistening with dew, promising a mouthful of sweet fragrance if you took a bite…
Lu Mingxiao shook his head, banishing this inexplicable association from his mind. Was he craving peaches?
Seeing him shake his head, Jiang Huaiyu pursed her lips: "Did you buy the wrong thing?"
"That's right, everything is fine."
Actually, I bought shiitake mushrooms instead of oyster mushrooms, but it doesn't matter, it's not important.
Lu Mingxiao squatted down and carefully examined his feet. When he saw the slightly upturned big toenail, he gasped, "How did this happen?!"
"That's right, when I was buying white radishes, an old lady suddenly squeezed up from behind and pushed me, and I bumped into her."
Having completed her grocery shopping task, Jiang Huaiyu belatedly felt the pain and frowned slightly.
"You were only thinking about how close the supermarket was, but you forgot how fierce the battle was there, tsk..." Lu Mingxiao took the groceries from his hand and helped him steady the bicycle: "Don't exert any more force, put your feet on the bike and sit firmly. I'll push you in. There's standing water in the alley, so don't get it on your wound. It'll be troublesome if it gets infected."
"It's not that serious..." Jiang Huaiyu said somewhat awkwardly, "I was trying to help, how did I end up causing you trouble?"
"What's so troublesome about this? Even I couldn't squeeze past those old men and women. The supermarket shutters were only half open, and they were crawling in like zombies, so agile. I feel like they could kill three fragile college students with one punch." Lu Mingxiao pushed his bicycle easily into the alley: "I would have gotten the same result. Would I dare to push an old lady? You're the one who got hurt for me."
Jiang Huaiyu laughed, then winced in pain: "Lu Mingxiao, you're really good at comforting people."
"That's right, your brother Xiao has high emotional intelligence."
The bicycle was returned to Li Rui, and the two walked towards their house. There was a puddle of water in front of the house. Lu Mingxiao had placed a few bricks in the puddle that morning to help them cross the road.
Jiang Huaiyu was just about to endure the pain, thinking it would pass in a few moments, when Lu Mingxiao walked up to him and squatted down.
“Come on, get on,” he said. “I’ll carry you home.”
Author's Note:
It's late, so I'll send you a red envelope by clicking the paw icon in the comments! [heart emoji]
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