entanglements and choices
After July 7th, apart from going to school, Xiaofeng spent all his remaining time and energy in Electric City.
That night, the lights and shadows in the arcade flickered. Zhen Kang, known as "Prince," suddenly approached Rao Xiaofeng and spoke with a somewhat flirtatious smile, "Beautiful lady, I've been observing you for a few days. You come here every night, and your skills are pretty good. Are you interested in trying a real motorcycle?"
Rao Xiaofeng didn't even raise his eyelids, and his voice was full of listlessness and fatigue: "I'm not an adult yet." After saying that, he turned and left, walking straight home.
Arriving at her doorstep and seeing the lights on the first floor, her heart suddenly tightened, and her pace quickened. But the fingerprint lock repeatedly failed. Before the panic had subsided, she had barely finished entering her password when the door opened from the inside. "Brother Zhou Yang..." she blurted out, a subtle hint of disappointment mingled with a reassuring warmth.
Zhou Yang frowned slightly, his tone filled with reproach, but the ending was so soft it hurt: "Where have you been?"
Xiao Feng lowered her head and rubbed past him. As soon as she entered the living room, she heard him ask behind her ear: "Have you had dinner?"
She turned around and replied softly, "I've eaten. How about you, Brother Zhou Yang?"
"No, I was planning to wait for you to come back and eat together."
"I don't have an appetite right now. I want to do my homework first."
"Then you go ahead and do your work. I'll see what's in the fridge and grab something to cushion the pain."
But the moment he opened the refrigerator door, Zhou Yang was stunned—it was completely empty, not even a trace of leftovers. He walked over to Xiaofeng, who was packing her books, and said with conviction, "I'll move in tomorrow and take care of you. You're such a worry."
Xiaofeng nodded vigorously, her eyes slightly warmed.
The next day after school, her feet seemed to be under a spell and turned into the arcade again. Zhen Kang was still there. Seeing her coming, he immediately came up to her and continued what he had said yesterday: "Beautiful girl, come with us to play for real? Racing motorcycles, it's very exciting."
"I have no experience at all, can I do it?" she asked inexplicably.
"Of course, just treat it as an experience. I guarantee you'll like it." Zhen Kang smiled even more happily. "I'll wait for you here at two o'clock tomorrow afternoon."
"Yeah." She responded softly.
When Xiaofeng returned home, the house was already brightly lit. Zhou Yang had truly moved in—his daily necessities, books, and notebooks were piled in a corner of the living room, and the refrigerator, half-full, exuded a homely, down-to-earth feel, overflowing with fresh produce, milk, and fruit.
Zhou Yang came forward, his brows furrowed even tighter than last night: "Have you eaten?"
"I bought some bread on the way back."
"Are you fooling yourself like this? You've become so thin." He leaned over and gently pinched her cheek with his fingertips. His tone was as soft as cotton. "The chubby Xiaofeng was more adorable before."
That night, when Xiaofeng was doing her homework, Zhou Yang stood by her side, occasionally handing her milk or a piece of fruit, as if he wanted to make up for the nutrition she had been lacking recently in one night.
As the morning sun crept over the windowsill, Zhou Yang brought out mutton soup and egg noodles. Xiao Feng ate it all up, even drinking the soup, and kept praising him, "Brother Zhou Yang, your cooking skills are amazing!"
After sending Xiaofeng out, Zhou Yang quickly packed up the house and rushed back to school. He quickly finished his portion of the department's group assignment, only then could he feel at ease if he could pick Xiaofeng up from school early.
At six in the afternoon, he arrived at the school gate, still an hour before dismissal. He leaned against the car, pondering dinner—should he cook her favorites, or go to that Japanese restaurant she'd been raving about? She'd been craving thick omelette lately.
The school bell rang and students poured out of the school one after another. Zhou Yang's eyes swept through the crowd until he saw Ming Xiaoqi.
"I went to look for her during the break," Xiao Qi said. "Xiao Feng said she had something to do and seemed to have left at noon. Did you get in touch with her?"
Zhou Yang's heart sank, and he immediately called Xiao Feng. When the call connected, the background was empty, and Xiao Feng only said, "I'll be home right away."
But when Zhou Yang drove home, the house was still deserted. He had just taken the ingredients for dinner out of the refrigerator when he heard a commotion outside—the sound of laughter and the roar of a motorcycle engine.
Zhou Yang walked quickly to the window and saw Xiaofeng walking towards home. He turned back and waved goodbye to several men and women on motorcycles.
He opened the door with a click, unable to suppress the urgency in his voice: "Why did you ask for leave? Who are those people? Where did you meet them?"
Xiao Feng raised her head, looked at him with a worried look on his face, and said softly, "Brother Zhou Yang, I'm back."
Zhou Yang's words got stuck in his throat, and after a while he changed his words: "What do you want to eat? Dinner."
"I like whatever you do."
Looking into her clear eyes, Zhou Yang swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. Yes, she was back, safe and sound. Perhaps he should keep a closer eye on her.
After a moment of silence, he couldn't help but ask, "Xiaofeng, did your friend... take you for a ride?"
“They taught me how to ride a motorcycle.”
"You're not yet an adult. You need a license to drive a motorcycle."
"I know. I just played with it for a little while." Her eyes sparkled. "I loved it."
Zhou Yang sighed and changed the subject: "Xiao Feng, do you want to apply to the same university as Brother Zhou Yang?"
"Yes!" she answered quickly.
"Then you have to study hard now. After the exams are over and you turn 18, we can go get a driver's license then." He looked into her eyes and promised seriously, "Once you get your driver's license, Brother Zhou Yang will buy you a car."
"Really?" Xiao Feng immediately smiled, "Then let's make a pinky promise!"
Seeing her smug look, Zhou Yang extended his pinky finger and hooked it with hers. Although childish, he had never broken his promise to her since they were little.
Life returned to normal. Zhou Yang commuted between school and home every day, picking up and dropping off Xiaofeng without fail, and making breakfast and dinner in various ways, not wanting to miss a single minute of her daily routine.
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