MY - 22

For a long time after that, Lu Nandu didn’t see Lu Endi or the girl with him again.

It was a month later when he saw her again.

That day, Lu Nandu went to visit a friend and unexpectedly encountered the girl. Coincidentally, the girl was his friend’s older sister.

That was the first time Jiang Xi met Lu Nandu, but it wasn’t the first time he had seen her.

Later, he learned her name was Jiang Xi.

________________________________________

At some point, many people noticed that Lu Nandu began to appear frequently around Jiang Xi.

He was sweet-talker, with a face that everyone loved, and no one could resist his charm.

Even Jiang Xi was no exception, though at first, her affection for Lu Nandu was merely friendly. No matter how much he flirted or confessed, she would only smile and not take it to heart.

During that time, Lu Nandu’s group of friends often teased him.

They said, “Brother Du must be holding a grudge, planning to help us get revenge on that pretty boy. If that pretty boy comes back and sees Jiang Xi has been snatched by someone else, he’ll be furious.”

At that moment, Lu Nandu was bent over, playing pool. He chuckled, “Bullshit.”

With a ball dropping into the pocket, he straightened up, “That kid doesn’t have those feelings for her at all.”

Lu Endi was two years younger than Lu Nandu, but Lu Endi was clearly late in developing, still looking and seeming like a child.

Someone didn’t believe it at all: “How is that possible? Last time, Dongzi only chased her for a few days, and that pretty boy immediately wanted to fight him to the death. How could he not like her?”

Lu Nandu was originally looking at the pool table, but hearing this, he turned his head to the person who spoke: “Don’t believe it?”

He then smiled casually, “Want to bet?”

Lu Nandu never thought Lu Endi liked Jiang Xi from the beginning.

“Damn, forget about betting.” This group of people had never won a bet against Lu Nandu before.

Lu Nandu continued to bend over, aiming for the ball.

Someone was curious and asked him why he was pursuing Jiang Xi.

Lu Nandu didn’t speak at first. He struck the cue stick forward, hitting the ball perfectly.

“Why else?” There was never a serious word from his mouth, and his words were laced with laughter, “I just like her type, is that a problem?”

The group burst into laughter, cheering him on.

“This is the first time Brother Du is pursuing someone. Before, other girls would cling to him. Now it’s finally his turn to chase someone.”

Seeing Lu Nandu in a good mood today, someone joked, “You have your day too.”

Lu Nandu indeed wasn’t angry; he just smiled.

A large group of people chimed in one by one: “When will Brother Du finally win over that senior from high school? Let’s wait and see!”

Lu Nandu cursed with a laugh, “Get lost.”

________________________________________

It was Jiang Xi’s winter break in her senior year of high school, and also Lu Nandu’s winter break in his first year of high school.

Lu Endi’s northern school had holidays earlier than theirs, so he returned to Yucheng very early.

Previously, it was just him and Jiang Xi in the art studio, but now there was an extra person.

Although Lu Endi wasn’t sensitive in this regard, he knew that Lu Nandu was pursuing Jiang Xi.

In the latter half of the winter break, Jiang Xi stopped going to the art studio to help out. Her academic workload was becoming increasingly heavy, and she couldn’t manage both.

That weekend, she went to the library early.

Lu Nandu went to her house early that morning but couldn’t find her, so he called her.

Jiang Xi had never rejected Lu Nandu and told him her location.

In the dead of winter, most people stayed cooped up at home. Lu Nandu braved the cold wind and went to the library.

As soon as he entered the library, he quickly found Jiang Xi and went to sit down in the empty seat next to her.

Jiang Xi was doing practice problems. Knowing he had arrived, she didn’t look up and continued working on her problems, chuckling, “You’re here?”

Lu Nandu propped his chin up idly and called out to her, “Jiejie.”

“Why don’t you look at me? Come on, look at me.”

Jiang Xi turned her head to look at him, smiling, “Aren’t you childish?”

“You said I’m only three, so of course I’m childish.”

Jiang Xi was amused by him. Seeing his nose was slightly red, she said, “Why didn’t you wear a scarf?”

She casually added, “Are you cold?”

Lu Nandu grinned and leaned closer to her, “Of course I’m cold. Jiejie, will you hug me?”

Jiang Xi playfully pushed his head away, laughing, “Aren’t you annoying?”

As she spoke, she threw her scarf, which was placed to the side, into his lap: “Wear it.”

Jiang Xi’s scarf was off-white and had a faint scent.

After Lu Nandu put it on, he pressed his nose into her scarf and took a deep breath.

This scene was witnessed by Lu Endi.

Lu Endi seemed to have arrived earlier. He had just gone to the book section to get a book. When he returned and saw Lu Nandu, he was also startled.

Lu Nandu saw him too at the first moment.

His nose was still pressed into Jiang Xi’s scarf, showing no inhibition about others seeing his strange fondness for Jiang Xi.

Lu Endi didn’t look at him with a strange expression; he walked straight over and sat down opposite them.

There was an old understanding between him and Jiang Xi; they often quietly did their own things, undisturbed by each other. So when he sat down, Jiang Xi didn’t even look up, continuing to work on her problems.

Lu Nandu didn’t disturb Jiang Xi while she was studying.

He never liked reading, not even getting up to grab a book. He simply lay down on the table and slept.

Later, he woke up after sleeping for a while and Jiang Xi was already gone.

Lu Endi opposite him was still in his previous sitting posture, quietly reading his book.

Lu Nandu stretched lazily and asked, “Where did she go?”

This was a rare instance of Lu Nandu speaking to him, and Lu Endi was startled. He was actually a little intimidated by Lu Nandu, though he couldn’t say why, it was just a gut feeling.

He said, “The restroom.”

Lu Nandu didn’t speak to him again.

A minute later, Lu Endi suddenly spoke, “Last time, thank you.”

His voice was timid. Lu Nandu couldn’t understand why Lu Endi had this personality, having grown up in a complete family showered with immense love.

He leaned back in his chair, lifted his gaze, and glanced at him: “Why?”

Lu Endi answered quickly this time: “Last time in the alley.”

Lu Nandu remembered. Last time in the alley, Lu Endi was cornered, and he helped him out.

At that time, he couldn’t quite say why he helped. Lu Nandu was too lazy to dwell on it and said, “It was nothing.”

Thinking of something, Lu Nandu lifted his gaze to him and asked, “You know I’m pursuing her, right?”

Lu Endi knew he was referring to Jiang Xi and nodded.

Lu Nandu inexplicably chuckled, “Why didn’t you tell me to stay away from her?”

Last time, when Li Dong, that hooligan, was chasing Jiang Xi, Lu Endi told him to stay away from her.

Lu Endi said, “You’re a good person.”

Lu Nandu found it amusing and chuckled under his breath, asking, “Just because I helped you before?”

Lu Endi nodded very sincerely.

Lu Nandu looked away and said nothing more.

Lu Endi was younger than Jiang Xi, but he never called her “Jie” (sister), usually just calling her by her name directly.

He also wasn’t as sweet-mouthed as Lu Nandu.

That winter holiday passed peacefully in a blink. Lu Endi returned to Beijing.

Lu Nandu and Jiang Xi remained in Yucheng, this slow-paced small city. Jiang Xi’s desk was piled high with high school assignments and test papers; she spent every day battling a sea of problems, sometimes even snatching moments of leisure to secretly indulge in the ambiguous, forbidden fruit of their relationship.

Day after day, Jiang Xi’s senior year ended in mid-summer.

The results were as satisfactory as could be wished; she successfully entered the Academy of Fine Arts.

________________________________________

During that time, Lu Nandu was not in very good spirits. When Jiang Xi was in high school, he could stick to her, but once she went to university, they met less often.

Jiang Xi, of course, understood his feelings.

After Jiang Xi started university, she rented a place off-campus. At that time, she was both studying and taking commissions to earn money, often working until dawn.

One time in her second year, she pulled an all-nighter until noon the next day.

Having gone without sleep for thirty consecutive hours, she collapsed on the table as soon as the draft was finished. After she recovered, there was a new message on her phone.

It was from an unknown number. Jiang Xi, still slumped on the table, opened the message.

She scanned it quickly. The sender was probably a high school girl who was pursuing Lu Nandu.

Jiang Xi didn’t know how this girl got her number, but the long message basically told her to stay away from Lu Nandu. Since she hadn’t agreed to be with him for so long and didn’t like him, she should stop leading him on.

It was very childish.

But it successfully made Jiang Xi feel a little uncomfortable, probably related to staying up for a day and a night.

Jiang Xi blacklisted the number, threw her phone aside, took a shower, and then went to sleep.

She slept until 8 PM. Jiang Xi got up, cooked some noodles, ate, and then picked up her phone to see over a dozen missed calls.

All from Lu Nandu.

Jiang Xi: “...”

Just as she was about to turn off the screen, Lu Nandu’s call came in again. Jiang Xi simply answered, “What’s wrong?”

Lu Nandu asked her why she hadn’t been answering her phone.

Jiang Xi said she had been sleeping.

During university, Lu Nandu would often come to visit her. Lu Nandu asked her, “Can I come see you the day after tomorrow?”

The next three days were exactly the college entrance exams, and Lu Nandu was also about to graduate from high school.

Jiang Xi didn’t know what was wrong with her at the time; the irritation from seeing the text message at noon still hadn’t subsided.

Her mouth was quicker than her brain, and she blurted out, “Don’t you have a girl asking you out after the exam? What do you want with me?”

Her tone wasn’t particularly impatient, but Lu Nandu immediately sensed something was off.

“Are you jealous?”

Jiang Xi realized her words were inappropriate and hung up the phone.

________________________________________

Lu Nandu finished his last exam at noon the next day. Jiang Xi didn’t expect him to immediately fly over after his exam, so when she opened the door and saw the person outside, she was stunned.

Lu Nandu said nothing and simply pulled her into the room, locking the door.

That day, Lu Nandu held Jiang Xi, coaxing her softly, even though Jiang Xi refused to admit she was jealous.

She was wearing only a thin camisole dress at home, and they were pressed against each other through a thin layer of fabric.

Lu Nandu chuckled, saying, “You girls are so troublesome.”

But then he laughed and kissed her neck, saying, “But I like you this way.”

Even with the air conditioning on in the summer, Jiang Xi was still flushed and embarrassed by his teasing.

He kissed upward along her neckline, finally stopping at her ear. Jiang Xi didn’t push him away.

He whined in her ear, “Jiejie, can we kiss?”

That day, in the living room with the curtains half-drawn, the light was dim and ambiguous. Jiang Xi was held on Lu Nandu’s lap on the sofa.

She knelt on his thighs, stroking his hair, enduring his breathtaking kisses.

...

That day marked the official beginning of Jiang Xi and Lu Nandu’s relationship.

Lu Nandu stayed at her place for nearly a month. They would go out and play or simply stay at home and do things together.

Lu Nandu was very good at having fun; Jiang Xi was rarely bored.

Later, Lu Nandu had to go back because of his report card. Jiang Xi hardly got out of bed that entire day.

When Lu Nandu left, he told her he would be back soon.

Jiang Xi said nothing, only caressed his face, looked up, and kissed his lips. Then she sent him to the airport.

Lu Nandu landed in the evening.

When he got home, he unexpectedly encountered Chu Xingru, who hadn’t gone out.

Chu Xingru usually wasn’t home at this time; she would either be out drinking or playing mahjong/cards with friends.

Lu Nandu merely glanced at her, said nothing, and prepared to go to the bedroom to get something.

Chu Xingru, on the sofa, called out to him.

She crossed her arms, watching him leisurely, “So you’ve learned to play tricks now?”

Lu Nandu turned around, “What do you mean?”

Chu Xingru chuckled, “Didn’t you get the girl that Lu family’s kid likes?”

Lu Nandu frowned, not knowing how she found out about this, but he didn’t ask. He just said, “I’m not with her because of that.”

“Also,” Lu Nandu was annoyed, “She has nothing to do with that Lu family kid, and that kid doesn’t even like her.”

Chu Xingru, however, smiled, “Even if it’s not because of that? Can you say you have no other motive?”

“After all, I gave birth to you. Don’t I know you?”