Chapter 51 Miss
Lu Jiayi waited outside the examination room for two and a half hours until someone finally showed up. He handed Cheng Che a bottle of water and said enthusiastically, "Thank you for your hard work, Senior!"
Cheng Che said calmly: "There's no need to be like this. It happened a long time ago."
Lu Jiayi didn't catch Cheng Che's subtext and continued to try to get closer, "Of course I want it. Without you, I wouldn't be who I am today. From now on, I'm your little brother. I'll do whatever you ask me to do."
After some ineffective communication, Cheng Che said bluntly: "Don't follow me."
There were many people coming and going outside the classroom. Cheng Che always stood out. Lu Jiayi was also eye-catching. It wasn't that he was very good-looking, but he was dressed like a peacock.
"Senior, I also want to apply to Hua University. Can you help me with tutoring?"
Lu Jiayi added: "Of course, there is a reward!"
Cheng Che didn't take it seriously.
Lu Jiayi followed Cheng Che the entire time, chattering non-stop, "My uncle signed me up for a repeat class, but it's definitely not enough, so I'm looking for a senior to tutor me individually. He's the top scorer in the Gaokao in Beibei, so he's so talented, I'm sure I'll pass with his tutoring."
When they arrived at the cafeteria, Cheng Che was getting his meal at the window. Lu Jiayi was from another school and didn't have a meal card, so he could only watch. Cheng Che hesitated for a few seconds and swiped his card again, "Auntie, two servings, please."
Lu Jiayi consciously helped Cheng Che pick up another meal and asked in confusion, "Senior, you eat so much, why don't you gain weight?"
The two sat down facing each other. Lu Jiayi stared at Cheng Che while he ate. The last time Cheng Che felt uncomfortable being stared at like this was when he and Li Zimai first became roommates. He pointed to another plate of food and said calmly, "You eat."
Lu Jiayi reacted, "Senior, did you buy it for me..."
His eyes were red, as if he was moved to tears by the meal, "Senior is still so good, just like before."
During the entire meal, Lu Jiayi kept recalling the few times he had met Cheng Che. Cheng Che actually couldn't quite remember when he had met him, so helping him was just a piece of cake.
Those thugs had long disliked Cheng Che and had blocked him several times. Cheng Che didn't want to get into trouble, so he avoided them. But that time, he happened to see the thugs bullying the weak. Cheng Che had just had a fight with Cheng Lijia that day, and his temper had not yet subsided, so he rushed up to vent his anger.
After the fight happened once, it never stopped. The hooligans came to trouble Cheng Che every few days. The school teachers stepped in to solve the problem because they were afraid that it would affect the academic performance of Cheng Che, a top student.
Cheng Che didn't want to listen to him rambling on about the past, so he quickly finished his meal and stood up to clear the dishes. Lu Jiayi followed him and asked, "Thank you for the treat, Senior. Can I treat you to dinner next time? When are you free?"
Cheng Che said coldly, "There's no time. Don't follow me anymore."
Lu Jiayi was immediately frightened and nodded blankly. After Cheng Che left, he stood at the cafeteria door for a long time.
That night, Cheng Che received a greeting message from Wu Ze: [Didn't Li Shen come to take the exam?]
[Cheng Che]: Yes, is there a problem?
[Wu Ze]: It’s okay, it’s okay. The teacher asked me to count the number of people.
[Cheng Che]: Okay.
After a while, a message came from the other side: [Did Li Shen go to the United States?]
[Cheng Che]: Yes.
[Wu Ze]: No wonder he always replies to my messages the next day. It turns out it’s because of the time difference.
Cheng Che hesitated for a moment, then replied: "If you have any questions, you can contact him directly."
Wu Ze was indeed not greeting Cheng Che out of boredom. It was because Lin Lin wanted to buy a bag for her mother as a birthday present, but that bag was too expensive in China, and she was afraid of buying a fake if she used a purchasing agent.
After explaining the truth, Wu Ze said sincerely, "I heard that Li Shen happened to be in Beverly Hills these past few days, so I wanted to ask if he could help me... If it's too much trouble, forget it, I'll figure it out myself."
Before going to bed, Li Zimai did tell him where he was going to go shopping with his mother. What Cheng Che wondered was how Li Zimai's itinerary information could be transmitted back even when he was abroad.
Wu Ze quickly sent another picture over. [This was shared in the girls' group with Linlin and the others. This must be Li Shen.]
The picture is a group photo - the woman in the middle has her hair tied up and wears a light green cheongsam, looking noble and elegant. Two boys and two girls are standing on both sides. The background seems to be in a winery, and there is a band in the corner that was not fully captured.
The tall boy is Li Zimai, and the boy next to him who is half a head shorter than him should be Yang Yanning.
Cheng Che stared at the photo for a long time. He thought of Li Zimai's elder brother, Gu Weihe and Zhou Xumao's friends, and a corner of his heart felt inexplicably heavy.
At ten o'clock exactly, the video call came in.
Li Zimai was not in bed for a rare moment. Instead, he sat in the car, fully dressed. He looked at Cheng Che carefully through the screen for a long time before asking, "I woke up at five in the morning and called you. Why didn't you answer?"
Seeing Cheng Che's expression was off, Li Zimai immediately broke down and anxiously tried to comfort him, "It doesn't matter if you didn't do well in the exam! There's still a chance! Let's go for a perfect score next time!"
"Can you please stop cursing me?"
"Hey, Brother Che, don't scare me. I thought you didn't do well in the exam."
Cheng Che asked about his schedule, which made Li Zimai very proud. He recounted his itinerary in a chronological order, from how many minutes he brushed his teeth in the morning to how long he played games at night. At the end, he complained, "I spent the whole day shopping with my mom. I almost broke my legs. Women really can shop a lot."
"Oh, are you still shopping today?"
"No more shopping, she has someone to keep her company."
Cheng Che mentioned Wu Ze's matter to him, and Li Zimai immediately agreed, "Okay, I'll ask Uncle Chen to buy it later and bring it back."
Li Zimai asked Cheng Che mysteriously again: "Guess what gift I brought you."
"I don't want to guess, don't."
"Can you give me some face?"
Cheng Che didn't say anything and didn't look at him. Li Zimai always felt that Cheng Che was in a bad mood. Although his Che Che had always been an expert in fighting against pretentiousness, he would cooperate with him eight out of ten times, unlike now when he looked so uninterested in anything he said.
"...Baby...did you miss me?"
Li Zimai asked Cheng Che cautiously, his eyes on the screen almost overflowing with longing.
Cheng Che's heart was pounding. He turned his face away and tried to change the subject with the design class. He didn't mention a word about asking Li Zimai to come back, but Li Zimai could hear the longing between his words. He felt more and more that his Che Che was awkward. She clearly missed him so much, but she had to hold on.
After hanging up the phone, Li Zimai immediately stopped smiling and said to the person in front of him, "You see, I really have a boyfriend."
Yang Yanning still maintained a decent smile, but his voice was a little unstable when he spoke, "How long have you been talking?"
Li Zimai didn't answer.
"It was very short, wasn't it? It definitely couldn't have been more than three months. You broke up with them very quickly before..."
Yang Yanning spoke hurriedly, as if afraid of being interrupted. "I know it was my fault before, and I apologized. Why won't you forgive me?"
Li Zimai sighed and said, "It's not your fault. My mother will find out sooner or later anyway. I'm very grateful to you."
"Then why don't you come to America with me... Your aunt clearly agreed to our relationship..."
Li Zimai held his forehead and said, "Didn't I explain it to you clearly? Why are you still confused?"
Yang Yanning turned her head away, looking out the car window with red eyes, but in her peripheral vision she saw the silver-black ring on the other person's ring finger.
Li Zimai didn't wear these accessories before. His hands were used to play the cello, so how could he wear such cumbersome things? He had never coaxed anyone like this. The boy on the other end of the video was so cold to him and refused to even say a soft word, but Li Zimai rushed to please him. Why?
Yang Yanning suppressed the anxiety welling up in her heart and pretended to be calm, "I just want to ask if there's still a possibility for us. Since you have a boyfriend, I won't rush to beg you."
Li Zimai smiled with satisfaction, "Yes, this is the Yang Yanning I know."
"After that, can I come to you if I need anything when I return to China?"
"Goodbye, my baby is very possessive and doesn't like me to get too close to others. If you have anything, you can contact Zhou Xumao. He is very free."
Yang Yanning felt unbalanced again. "Before, I told you not to get too close to the Deng guy, but you said I was overthinking it and that I was restricting your freedom to make friends. So, does your current lover mean you can restrict your freedom to make friends?"
Li Zimai nodded, "Yes, even if he asked me to delete Zhou Xumao, I would listen to him."
"you!"
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