The elderly Mr. Lu was nearly seventy but still full of vigor. He didn’t live with them, instead staying in a suburban house with a caretaker, contentedly spending his days gardening, playing with birds, and playing chess with neighboring elderly men.
It took over an hour to drive there from the city. When Lu Jiaheng arrived, it was almost two o’clock. As soon as he pushed open the small courtyard gate, he saw the old man playing with birds in the garden.
It was a cockatiel that had clearly been well-cared for, with vibrant feathers and bright, round black-bean eyes that looked at him quite spiritedly.
Perhaps animals truly have consciousness. Lu Jiaheng had zero patience for small animals, so from childhood onwards, small animals never really liked him. The old Mr. Lu had kept this cockatiel for many years. When Lu Jiaheng was in high school, he often played with it roughly. Now seeing him, the previously happy fluttering bird immediately went quiet, flapping its wings to hide behind old Mr. Lu: “He’s here! He’s here!”
Lu Jiaheng watched the little green creature desperately trying to hide, deliberately chuckling maliciously: “Er Gou, did you miss me?”
The cockatiel called Er Gou stood on old Mr. Lu’s shoulder, hiding its head behind the old man’s hair, completely avoiding looking at him, appearing extremely afraid.
Lu Jiaheng continued humming. Every time he hummed, the bird would shiver.
Old Mr. Lu laughed and scolded: “You rascal, is it so difficult to get you to visit once?”
Lu Jiaheng stopped teasing the bird and walked to the old man’s side, obediently lowering his head to call him “Grandpa”: “Not difficult at all, see how I came right away when you called.”
Old Mr. Lu glanced at him sideways: “Then why didn’t your father’s calls work?”
Lu Jiaheng’s lips curved up as he said softly: “They didn’t work.”
Er Gou peeked out from behind to secretly look. Lu Jiaheng stood by the garden stone table, carelessly leaning his body: “Did he come complain to you again?”
The old man held out a hand: “Said you haven’t been home for two months, won’t answer calls or messages.”
Lu Jiaheng raised an eyebrow: “He calls that place home? Well, I suppose it is his home.”
Old Mr. Lu fell silent.
Lu Jiaheng didn’t speak either. After a quiet moment, the old man asked again: “Are you comfortable in your new place?”
Lu Jiaheng smiled: “Nothing escapes your notice.”
“You weren’t trying to hide it from me anyway,” old Mr. Lu also smiled, lowering his head to look at his bare winter garden, fiddling with dead branches. “Junior year already.”
Lu Jiaheng made an “mm” sound.
“What are your plans?”
Lu Jiaheng was quiet for a moment before saying lightly: “No plans.”
Old Mr. Lu sighed.
“Ah Heng, grandpa can’t wait for you much longer.”
The door suddenly opened and Lu Hongsheng came out: “Dad, please come inside, it’s cold out here.” Seeing Lu Jiaheng beside him, his face darkened: “So you know how to come back?”
Lu Jiaheng smiled ambiguously: “Come back where? To Mr. Lu’s house?”
Lu Hongsheng said sternly: “Is this how you talk to your father! Look at what you’ve become! Hanging around with those good-for-nothing friends all day, not coming home for months, skipping classes, doing nothing productive, indulging in all sorts of vices, just look at yourself now—”
Lu Jiaheng’s head hurt from his shouting, feeling extremely annoyed. He frowned and impatiently interrupted: “I’ll intern at the company during winter break.”
Lu Hongsheng choked for a moment before quickly reacting: “What did you say? Don’t think interning is such a simple thing, what do you know? Do you understand anything about the company? You think I’ll let you come just because you say so?”
“I don’t understand, that’s why I’m planning to learn about it,” Lu Jiaheng couldn’t help laughing, “The company isn’t even yours yet, what are you so proud about?”
Old Mr. Lu didn’t intervene, calmly stroking Er Gou’s little green head.
Er Gou immediately shrieked: “Not his! Not his!”
Lu Hongsheng’s face turned red with anger. After struggling for a while, he looked at the silent old Mr. Lu, his eyes somewhat panicked: “Dad, I didn’t mean—”
Old Mr. Lu didn’t speak, turning his head to look at Lu Jiaheng: “Winter break?”
Lu Jiaheng made an affirmative sound.
Old Mr. Lu smiled: “Why suddenly not being lazy anymore?”
Lu Jiaheng lowered his eyes without speaking.
He suddenly remembered You Cai’s black-smeared head stuffed into the can, finishing one can after another like a whirlwind, still not getting enough.
He hooked the corner of his mouth: “Want to keep a cat, it eats too much, can’t afford it without earning money.”
On the way back, Lu Jiaheng drove like he was playing Grand Theft Auto, significantly shortening the journey time.
Even so, it was almost dusk when he got home. After parking the car and going upstairs, he stood at the door, staring at the doorbell button for a few seconds, hesitating.
After a few seconds, Lu Jiaheng took out his key and opened the door.
Looking up, he saw Chu Zhi sprawled on the sofa, hands gripping the armrest, chin resting on it, only her big eyes showing, blinking at him: “Senior, what’s for dinner?”
Lu Jiaheng was stunned.
He didn’t speak, silently looking at her for a good while before suddenly leaning against the doorframe and laughing.
The room was dark with no lights on, warm red sunset light filtering in through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows in patches.
The entryway was dim. Lu Jiaheng had his head slightly lowered, half his features hidden in shadow, only his curved lips and soft, low laughter visible.
Chu Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed nothing terrible had happened this time.
Maybe they reconciled! — Chu Zhi thought optimistically.
But judging from the earlier situation, it didn’t seem like a relationship that could be easily reconciled. — Chu Zhi deflated again.
She tilted her head, leaning it against the sofa back, watching Lu Jiaheng walk in and toss his keys on the coffee table: “What do you want to eat?”
Chu Zhi didn’t speak, looking at the keys for a few seconds before suddenly asking: “Senior, did you drive there?”
Lu Jiaheng made an “mm” sound, bending down to grab a bottle of mineral water from the box beside the sofa, tilting his head back to drink.
His dark eyelashes lowered, his jawline sharp and handsome.
Chu Zhi stared at his Adam’s apple bobbing as he drank, secretly watching for a while before looking away, quietly reaching up to pinch her earlobe: “Don’t you get carsick…”
Lu Jiaheng paused, turning to say calmly: “You can still drive even if you get carsick.”
“Really?”
“Mm, it doesn’t affect much, and mainly it was because Lin Baiyang’s driving was too unstable last time,” Lu Jiaheng said seriously.
Chu Zhi tried to recall but couldn’t remember if the driving was stable or not, though she did remember sleeping quite soundly at the time.
She tilted her head and slid back into the sofa, feeling somewhat guilty and frustrated.
Her current posture wasn’t very elegant, her whole body kneeling and sprawled on the sofa, both arms stretched forward, gripping the armrest.
Chu Zhi wasn’t very aware of this issue, because the position was actually quite comfortable and she was used to it. She buried her head between her knees, secretly trying to feel her heartbeat.
It was a bit fast.
But she hadn’t run 200 meters today, just rolled around on the sofa all afternoon.
She frowned, thinking about this when she felt her collar being pulled upward. Chu Zhi raised her head accordingly, and Lu Jiaheng pulled her with one hand, standing by the sofa with raised eyebrows: “What kind of posture is this?”
Chu Zhi tilted her head back, saying blankly: “Do you want to learn? I can teach you, it’s very comfortable.”
“…”
Lu Jiaheng’s eye twitched: “Get up, it’s time for dinner.”
Having not gone out all day, Chu Zhi was still wearing fluffy pink coral velvet bunny socks, the kind worn at home, with two long ears hanging down, drooping on the sofa.
She went home to change her socks. Ms. Deng and Mr. Chu were cooking in the kitchen. Chu Zhi carefully tiptoed back to her room. You Cai was lying by the bed, and hearing her come in, raised his noble head, giving her a light glance before lying back down.
As she reached out to pet him, You Cai unhappily meowed once and nimbly jumped off the bed, darting out.
He wouldn’t even let her pet him anymore.
Chu Zhi found it amusing. After changing clothes and saying goodbye, her father, holding a carrot, asked: “We’re having curry rice tonight, you’re not eating at home?”
Chu Zhi picked up her backpack: “I’ll go straight back to school, you guys eat.”
“Want Dad to drive you?”
“No need.” Chu Zhi put on her shoes and opened the door. “I’m going then!”
The security door closed with a bang. Mr. Chu frowned, looking somewhat melancholic: “Our daughter won’t even let me drive her to school anymore. When she was little, she’d be upset if I didn’t take her.”
Ms. Deng, holding a knife and cleanly chopping potatoes, didn’t look up as she said: “You’re old now, too ugly, embarrassing.”
Mr. Chu: “…”
When Chu Zhi went downstairs, Lu Jiaheng was already waiting in the car. Lu Jiaheng had several cars, and he specifically chose a mature and steady SUV. Though not as flashy as a sports car, it was low-key luxurious with substance, not at all ostentatious.
Sure enough, Chu Zhi made a surprised sound: “Senior, you seem quite mature.”
Lu Jiaheng maintained a calm expression, quite composed: “Mm, it’s alright.”
They had just left the community when Lu Jiaheng’s phone rang.
Cheng Yi’s loud voice was faintly audible to Chu Zhi. Lu Jiaheng frowned slightly in disgust, put on his bluetooth earpiece to listen, occasionally responding with a sound.
After the other person spoke for quite a while, Lu Jiaheng made an “ah” sound and turned to look at Chu Zhi: “Some friends are calling.”
“Then you go, it’s fine, I can manage on my own,” Chu Zhi hurriedly said.
“I meant, would you like to come along?”
“Eh?”
Cheng Yi was still shouting something on the other end, but Lu Jiaheng ignored him, looking at her very patiently: “Come with us.”
Chu Zhi blinked slowly: “Okay.”
Lu Jiaheng turned back, one hand loosely holding the steering wheel: “We’ll eat first, I’m bringing someone.”
Whatever Cheng Yi said made Lu Jiaheng slowly curl his lips.
The red light came on, and the car stopped at the crosswalk. He suddenly turned, his whole body facing Chu Zhi, looking at her with dark eyes as he leaned closer.
“Don’t move,” he said softly, his arm reaching over, fingers threading through her hair to her ears, both hands firmly covering her ears.
Chu Zhi’s world instantly went quiet, all sounds cut off far away by his hands.
Lu Jiaheng lowered his eyes, looking at the little black head in front of him, his pleasure continuously rising.
He tilted his head, saying lazily: “Who? Of course it’s my wife.”
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