MY - 15

Jiang Xi wasn’t drunk; she still had the ability to think clearly.

She could hear everything Lu Nandu said, and she knew what he meant.

She looked up; Lu Nandu had been watching her the whole time.

“Close to whom?”

Before Lu Nandu could speak, she said, “Besides, who I’m close to doesn’t seem to concern you.”

With that, she tried to get out of his embrace, pushing him away.

She hadn’t walked many steps when the person behind her caught up in two or three strides.

Jiang Xi was embraced by Lu Nandu from behind, her back pressed tightly against his chest: “How does it not concern me?”

Jiang Xi didn’t want to get entangled and tried to break free: “It doesn’t.”

But Lu Nandu seemed not to hear her words, gripping her tightly with both hands.

His gaze was hostile, and his voice rumbled from his chest, chilling and filled with a desire to destroy: “You can only be mine.”

Hearing the abnormal tone in his voice, Jiang Xi froze.

Lu Nandu was using great force, as if he wanted to knead her into his flesh. He hugged too tightly, and Jiang Xi, aching all over, let out a muffled groan.

Only then did Lu Nandu react, immediately loosening his grip slightly, but still refusing to let go of her. He only asked: “Does it hurt?”

Seeing his rogue-like behavior, Jiang Xi suddenly lost her temper, perhaps due to the alcohol.

“It doesn’t hurt, you try it.”

Jiang Xi rarely had a good attitude. As soon as her words fell, Lu Nandu froze.

The hostility in his eyes from seconds ago completely vanished, replaced by a trace of bewilderment.

But he quickly reacted. Before Jiang Xi’s attitude could worsen, he let go of her: “Okay.”

With that, he walked in front of her and held out his hand: “Let me try.”

“Jiejie, will you please hug me?”

He was backlit, his short hair fuzzy, and his large eyes looked at Jiang Xi cleanly and seriously.

Jiang Xi tilted her head slightly, meeting his gaze.

There was no disgust towards him in her eyes, nor impatience.

Lu Nandu thought that at this moment, she would indulge him as she used to.

But she didn’t. Jiang Xi looked away the next second. She lowered her eyes, wondering what she was thinking.

Lu Nandu felt a momentary helplessness; all his intelligence failed when it came to Jiang Xi.

Like a lost child who didn’t know how to get home.

When Jiang Xi looked up again, her eyes had returned to their cold state. She didn’t look at him: “If there’s nothing else, I’m going back.”

With that, she didn’t even wait for his reply, intending to bypass him and return to the hotel.

Lu Nandu immediately reached out and grabbed her arm: “I do have something.”

Although they hadn’t seen each other for so many years, having been together before, Jiang Xi still understood Lu Nandu.

She thought he was going to be unreasonable again, but to her surprise, he just asked her: “What do you want to eat tomorrow morning?”

Jiang Xi froze.

Remembering it was already past midnight, Lu Nandu corrected himself: “No, it’s this morning. What do you want to eat this morning?”

His words were direct and clear; there was no way Jiang Xi wouldn’t understand.

Her face showed no emotion. A few seconds later, a sentence extinguished his enthusiasm: “I don’t want to eat anything.”

Lu Nandu pretended not to understand: “You can’t skip breakfast.”

Jiang Xi turned to look at him: “Don’t you understand? I don’t want to eat breakfast from you.”

Lu Nandu froze, then mumbled: “Jiejie.”

Jiang Xi looked away, no longer wanting to see the expression on Lu Nandu’s face, she couldn’t say why.

She pulled her hand free from Lu Nandu’s grip and walked back to the hotel without looking back.

________________________________________

Back at the hotel, Jiang Xi took a shower in the bathroom.

When she came out, she wasn’t wearing a towel, her skin blindingly fair.

The curtains had been pulled open by Ji Yuanzhou earlier in the day. Outside the window, mountains were stacked, and the sparse lights of buildings glimmered.

Jiang Xi originally wanted to go over and close the curtains, but then she remembered what Ji Yuanzhou had said that morning.

She had said, “Is this what you mean by ‘mostly fixed’?”

Jiang Xi stopped in her tracks. Her gaze was faint as she looked out the window. After a while, she finally moved, turning back to the bed.

She didn’t turn off the light. The cold white light shone on the tiles, making her eyes sting.

But this time, Jiang Xi didn’t care. She didn’t insist on getting up to turn off the light. She sat on the edge of the bed, her hands propped behind her, her long hair half-wet.

She just sat there, looking out the window.

Recently, everything seemed abnormal. After drinking, she wasn’t sleepy; instead, she was exceptionally clear-headed.

So clear-headed that she remembered the expression of the person downstairs from the hotel an hour ago with perfect clarity.

Tonight’s Lu Nandu, for a fleeting moment, made Jiang Xi feel disoriented, as if he had never grown up, still that high school boy.

Mischievous, playful, fun-loving, and the best at coaxing her.

When they first met, she wasn’t familiar with him, but he clung to her relentlessly, unafraid of her rejection, like a little shadow, sticking to her every day.

But everything had changed after all. In this world, there were no people or things that remained unchanged.

Jiang Xi lowered her eyes. Over the years, she had become more composed, no longer as easily affected by emotions as before.

After a while, she stopped thinking and burrowed into bed to sleep.

________________________________________

In fact, Jiang Xi had heard Lu Nandu’s name many times before she even knew him.

At that time, Jiang Xi was in her senior year of high school, busy with academics, with both cultural and specialized subjects putting pressure on her.

During that period, many students in the class would collapse asleep at their desks as soon as class was dismissed, and Jiang Xi was no exception.

On Monday, after the flag-raising ceremony, Jiang Xi immediately slumped onto her desk to catch up on sleep.

The class bell rang, and her deskmate nudged her to wake her up, gossiping with the student in front.

“Did you see them just now? The ones reading self-criticism at the flag-raising platform.”

The girl in front nodded: “Those who got into a fight? Yes, I saw them. There’s a freshman among them who’s very handsome.”

“Ah,” Jiang Xi’s deskmate immediately became interested, “He’s the one I wanted to tell you about.”

Jiang Xi was pushed awake but remained sprawled on the desk.

Her deskmate chattered on about the gossip: “You must have heard, right? The self-criticism mentioned a dispute that led to a gang fight after school.”

Typically, by senior year, students in their final year would treat the Monday flag-raising ceremony as just a formality, not listening attentively, most of them busy jotting down knowledge in small notebooks.

But today, quite a few people listened intently through the entire ceremony, solely because a handsome face stood on the platform.

The girl in front added: “And skipping classes to climb over the wall to go to internet cafes.”

“That one must have been caught by the principal before, and they’re settling scores this time.”

The girl in front laughed: “How could they be so unruly?”

Jiang Xi’s deskmate laughed: “I think so too, but I heard those who got into fights weren’t because of a dispute, but simply fighting over a girl.”

The girl in front seemed to suddenly remember something: “Is it a girl named Li Chun?”

Jiang Xi’s deskmate was surprised: “You know?”

“Wasn’t it a big fuss a few days ago? So it was them,” she said, a little disappointed, “So Lu Nandu is already taken?”

“Yeah, Li Chun is in their class,” Jiang Xi’s deskmate chattered, giving her the lowdown, “Li Chun is my junior high friend’s younger sister. Last time I went shopping with her, she kept complaining to me that her sister is now completely infatuated with Lu Nandu, and it’s driving her crazy.”

The girl in front pushed her glasses up: “It’s all because he’s handsome.”

“Of course, who doesn’t like good-looking people? It’s just his temper isn’t very good. Someone just pursued his girlfriend, hadn’t even said a few words, and he beat them up badly.”

Jiang Xi finally crawled up from her desk.

Her deskmate was still talking. She wasn’t interested in gossip, so she yawned and pulled a book from under her desk.

But she had indeed heard the name Lu Nandu. Since the beginning of this semester, people around her frequently mentioned this name. Jiang Xi was initially a little curious about how outstanding his appearance must be to attract so much attention, even from upperclassmen in different grades who were discussing him.

However, Jiang Xi later pieced together Lu Nandu’s image from bits and pieces of conversations around her.

A first-year high school student, handsome, domineering, and a notorious troublemaker. Most importantly, he was handsome; it was because of that face that everything he did attracted countless people’s attention.

Bad temper, mischievous, domineering, likes to fight, handsome.

This was Jiang Xi’s initial perception of the name Lu Nandu.

This initial perception was so vastly different from the Lu Nandu she later knew that for a long time afterward, Jiang Xi wondered if her classmates’ perceptions of Lu Nandu back then were mistaken.

________________________________________

That afternoon after school, as Jiang Xi walked out of the school gate, she saw the boy who had thrown small stones at her window that morning.

The moment she appeared, the boy instantly looked over, his gaze burning.

Jiang Xi wasn’t familiar with him, but she had seen him once that morning, so she politely nodded.

To her surprise, just as she was about to leave, the person behind her hastily got up from the wall and ran towards her.

“I was waiting for you. Why didn’t you pay attention to me at all?”

Jiang Xi had already turned to leave, but hearing that, she turned her head and looked at him in confusion, then pointed to herself: “You’re waiting for me?”

“Yeah.”

Jiang Xi truly couldn’t figure out why a stranger would be waiting for her, so she asked: “Do you need something from me?”

“Yes,” Lu Nandu said, “To go home with you.”

Jiang Xi: “?”

Lu Nandu saw Jiang Xi’s bewildered expression and was a little disappointed: “Don’t you want to be friends with me?”

Jiang Xi: “No, I... I don’t seem to know you very well.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the boy in front of her, who was a head taller than her, suddenly drooped the corners of his eyes, looking wronged.

“Not familiar? We just met this morning.”

This boy was truly too handsome. So handsome that even just a slight frown from him softened Jiang Xi’s heart.

As if by some strange impulse, she asked: “What’s your name?” Her tone carried a hint of comfort.

The boy in front of her, hearing her question, immediately curved his lips into a smile again: “Lu Nandu.”

Upon hearing that name, Jiang Xi froze instantly.

Lu Nandu?

That high school freshman who fought, was domineering, and ignored everyone?

Jiang Xi eyed the person in front of her suspiciously.

“...”

He didn’t look like that kind of person at all...

His temper wasn’t bad either. Could it be that others had too much of a filter on him?

Jiang Xi was momentarily speechless, not knowing what to talk about. She forced out a question: “Are you... Jiang Chi’s friend?”

Lu Nandu smiled: “Yes, that’s why I went to find him last night.”

“But when I woke up this morning and asked him, he said he didn’t see you. Were you out all night?” Jiang Xi asked.

As Jiang Xi’s words fell, Lu Nandu’s focus clearly shifted. He smiled, his voice somewhat ambiguous: “You looked for me when you woke up this morning, huh?”

For some reason, hearing him say that made Jiang Xi feel a little awkward and disoriented. She awkwardly cleared her throat: “Not really, I just thought seeing you last night was a dream.”

Lu Nandu, having successfully conversed with Jiang Xi, was no longer as cautious as before, becoming more carefree.

“Here I am right in front of you, it’s definitely not a dream.”

With that, he hooked his arm around Jiang Xi’s shoulder: “Let’s go, Jiejie.”

________________________________________

Jiang Xi propped her head on her hand and sat up from the bed.

She hadn’t turned off the light before sleeping last night, filling the room with bright light. Outside the window, faint morning light hinted at the sun not yet risen.

Her temples throbbed subtly. She pressed her right temple.

Drinking really messed things up, Jiang Xi frowned.

After falling asleep, her thoughts were beyond her control, and all sorts of chaotic old memories came rushing out, dredging up long-forgotten affairs.

She even remembered that before she knew she had misunderstood him, Lu Nandu had gotten into fights for his girlfriend, so desperate that he rushed to her house overnight to explain.

He was always someone unconstrained by emotions, living openly and freely. What others said about him fighting for his girlfriend was merely their imagination.

The only person Lu Nandu ever fought for was Jiang Xi, and it wasn’t just once.

He used to be genuinely good to her then, but later, it was indeed confirmed that everything was fake.

The room was so bright that she felt uncomfortable for a moment. She reached out and slapped off the overhead light.

The room plunged back into darkness. The throbbing in her temples gradually subsided, and Jiang Xi leaned back against the headboard.

Her expression was calm, as if she hadn’t been the one frowning just a moment ago, very peaceful.

Jiang Xi reached for the cigarette pack nearby and pulled one out.

After lighting the cigarette, she tossed the lighter back onto the table, took a puff, and a crimson glow pulsed in the night.

Half a cigarette later, Jiang Xi hadn’t moved an inch. At some point, her phone lit up, and she finally lifted her eyes; someone had sent a message.

Jiang Xi picked up her phone, surprised to see a message from Ji Yuanzhou.

• I’m on the plane. Let’s get together when I’m back.

Ji Yuanzhou hadn’t told Jiang Xi when she would be returning this time, probably because she herself wasn’t sure. This was likely a last-minute decision.

Jiang Xi called her.

Ji Yuanzhou answered: “Not asleep?”

“No, I’m awake,” Jiang Xi asked, “Why the sudden rush to leave?”

Ji Yuanzhou chuckled on the other end: “No choice, work is busy.”

Jiang Xi was silent for a moment before saying: “Your director position is busier than mine.”

“It’s alright,” Ji Yuanzhou chuckled, saying no more, “It’s still early now, won’t you sleep a little more?”

“No.”

Jiang Xi held the phone to her ear with one hand, and rested the other on the edge of the bed, the cigarette between her fingers emitting thin wisps of white smoke.

She said: “Are you about to board?”

Ji Yuanzhou hummed on the other end, then chuckled: “See you in Beijing, then.”

After hanging up, Jiang Xi idly scrolled through her phone for a while. After a few minutes, she lost interest, tossed her phone aside, and got out of bed.

After a quick wash, Jiang Xi left her room.

The hotel corridor was empty, the lights cold and desolate. Jiang Xi took the elevator downstairs.

The lobby was very quiet, with only the front desk staff working. She walked straight through the lobby. After pushing open the main door, Jiang Xi paused.

The late autumn air was cool and crisp. It wasn’t yet dawn, and stars and moonlight were transitioning.

Lu Nandu was outside the hotel, covering something with his hands. The moment she emerged, he looked over as well.

Seeing her, he smiled.

Jiang Xi quickly reacted, no longer looking at him as she walked down the steps.

Lu Nandu quickly caught up, blocked her path, and handed her a bag: “Your favorite pan-fried buns from that shop.”

Jiang Xi froze.

Years ago, when they traveled here, Jiang Xi loved to eat the pan-fried buns from a specific shop. She would go there every morning and only eat from that one.

Last night, Lu Nandu asked her what she wanted for breakfast, and she had said she didn’t want breakfast from him.

But he still went and bought them, buying her favorite pan-fried buns.

Lu Nandu saw her silent and pushed the pan-fried buns forward again: “Jiejie, eat them while they’re hot.”

That shop wasn’t close to here; it would take two hours round trip. This meant he had spent the entire night on this.

“Lu Nandu,” Jiang Xi suddenly called out to him, “What exactly do you want to do?”

But her coldness no longer seemed to work as it used to.

Lu Nandu looked at her, and after a few seconds, he smiled: “I’m pursuing you.”