WIFTY - 57

I want to give her a good life.
—Zhang Lurang

On the evening of the third day of the Lunar New Year, Lin Mao returned from City B.

The noise of his arrival wasn’t subtle—he made a racket that startled Su Su, who had been sleeping soundly. The dog instantly jumped up and ran to the door, whimpering and pawing at it.

Zhang Lurang was sitting at his desk in front of his computer. Hearing the commotion, he quickly got up and walked over to open the door.

As soon as the door opened, Su Su pushed off with its hind legs and bolted down the stairs.

The floor was slippery, and it looked like the dog was about to fall at any moment.

Zhang Lurang chuckled softly and followed behind it at a leisurely pace.

When he reached the ground floor, Zhang Lurang immediately spotted two boxes of local specialties from City B stacked near the entrance. Beside them lay a black 24-inch suitcase, seemingly tossed carelessly on the floor.

Lin Mao was lounging lazily on the sofa, playing with his phone.

Su Su ran ahead and rested its front paws on Lin Mao’s leg, playfully tapping it a few times.

Zhang Lurang’s brow twitched slightly, and without a word, he walked over to pick up the suitcase and carried it into Lin Mao’s room.

Then he came back downstairs.

Lin Mao barely lifted his eyelids and said softly, “Take the stuff out of the boxes and put it in the fridge.”

Zhang Lurang glanced at him. “… “

“I’m a bit tired,” Lin Mao said, patting the sofa to signal Su Su to jump up. He picked up the dog and closed his eyes to rest. “Three hours on the plane—it was exhausting.”

Zhang Lurang didn’t say anything, just nodded.

Then he walked over to the entrance, picked up both boxes at once, and headed toward the kitchen.

By the time he finished organizing everything and came back out, Lin Mao had already sat up and turned on the TV.

Zhang Lurang: “… “

Lin Mao reached for the peanuts on the coffee table, peeled a few, and popped them into his mouth.

Zhang Lurang sat beside him, poured two glasses of water, and placed one in front of Lin Mao.

As Lin Mao flipped through the channels, he suddenly remembered something and said softly, “Your grandparents’ red envelopes are in the suitcase, along with the ones from your parents.”

Zhang Lurang didn’t respond. He picked up the transparent glass and slowly sipped some water.

“Your brother didn’t come home for the New Year this year either,” Lin Mao yawned, turning off the TV. “Ah, I can’t do this anymore—I need to go to bed. I pulled an all-nighter playing mahjong with friends yesterday…”

“… “

Soon, only Zhang Lurang remained in the living room.

He sat on the sofa, lost in thought for a while, then went back to his room shortly after.

Zhang Lurang stared at his phone, sighed, and was just about to call home when the phone rang.

Without much hesitation, he answered it directly.

The person on the other end didn’t speak right away, and their tone lacked the usual commanding edge: “A Rang.”

Zhang Lurang lowered his gaze, looking at the book on the table, smoothing out the creases on its edges.

Not receiving a response, Zhang’s mother didn’t seem to mind and continued speaking on her own. “Your brother said he still has classes there, so he decided not to come back because he was too busy.”

“Mm.”

There was a brief silence on the line.

After a moment, Zhang’s mother’s voice suddenly grew choked with emotion.

“Why do you and Ali never call me? Your uncle was here for three days, and I heard him answer several calls from you.”

Zhang Lurang paused mid-motion as he held his pen, slowly retracting his fingers.

He had long since lost his temper and forgotten what emotions he should feel.

Moreover, he didn’t know what to say.

After some thought, Zhang Lurang spoke stiffly.

“Nothing bad has happened on my side. Don’t worry. Happy New Year.”

He waited for a moment but didn’t hear Zhang’s mother respond.

Just as he was about to bid her farewell and hang up, Zhang’s father’s voice came through the receiver.

His deep voice sounded much the same as always: “Your uncle told me you won a scholarship in your first year?”

Zhang Lurang instinctively replied, “Mm.”

There was no further response from the other side.

Gradually, Zhang Lurang’s attention shifted to the string of code displayed on his computer screen.

He set down his pen, switched the call to speaker mode, and began typing on his keyboard.

After a long while, a middle-aged man’s voice broke the quiet of the room.

“Good job.”

Zhang Lurang stopped moving, his expression showing no change.

Frowning slightly, he seemed to consider how to respond, but ultimately just said, “Mm, you should get some rest early.”

With that, he hung up the phone.

Afterward, Zhang Lurang checked the time and habitually called Su Zaizai.

She picked up quickly, her crisp voice ringing in his ear: “Lurang.”

“Did you get home?”

“Just arrived. Tomorrow we don’t have to visit relatives again. Let’s go out and have fun!”

Zhang Lurang thought for a moment and asked, “Where do you want to go?”

Hearing this, Su Zaizai immediately responded, “Let’s watch a movie! And the shops on the commercial street are open—we can also go eat something delicious.”

“All right.”

“The total amount of red envelopes I’ve received in these three days is almost ten thousand yuan!” Su Zaizai excitedly rolled around on her bed. “I’m only nineteen years old! Can you believe it? At nineteen, my daily income has already surpassed three thousand yuan.”

Zhang Lurang: “… “

Su Zaizai giggled mischievously on the other end: “Lurang, you’ve hit the jackpot.”

Hearing her playful tone, Zhang Lurang’s lips curved slightly as he asked, “How much more until it reaches ten thousand?”

Su Zaizai took out the red envelopes again and slowly counted: “Right now, it’s probably around nine thousand five hundred.”

But after finishing, she wasn’t entirely sure. Hesitating for a moment, she decided to count again.

Before she could start, her phone suddenly beeped.

She picked it up to take a look, and in the process, one of her earphones fell off, landing beside her.

From the other end came a muffled laugh, as if the person was in a very good mood.

“I’ll help you out.”

Su Zaizai opened Alipay and took a look, seeing that he had transferred 520 yuan to her.

She was about to say something when Zhang Lurang earnestly added, “If we’re counting, you still owe me 20 yuan.”

Su Zaizai’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You’re actually being so nitpicky with me?”

Seeing how heartless he was being, Su Zaizai decided to dig up old debts: “Do you remember that time I was in a good mood and tipped you?”

“… What tip?”

“One night you served me particularly well. Anyway, didn’t I send you a red envelope later? You should return it to me now.”

Zhang Lurang thought carefully for a moment, then recalled what she was referring to. He found himself somewhat at a loss for words.

Su Zaizai’s words were far too suggestive, and he hesitated as he answered, “Was that the time I accompanied you to your evening class?”

“Yes.”

Zhang Lurang pursed his lips, fully recalling the incident.

Then, speaking slowly and coldly, he said, “Su Zaizai, that was one fen.”

“But at that time, I only had one fen left in my WeChat wallet—I gave you everything I had!” Su Zaizai shamelessly declared, completely unbothered. “And now that you’ve just received a full scholarship, you’re even nitpicking over twenty yuan.”

“…” Her words made Zhang Lurang start to doubt whether he had just given her five hundred yuan or borrowed twenty yuan from her.

After a long pause, Su Zaizai concluded, “Lurang, you’re probably the type of man who abandons his wife and children after becoming successful.”

Although Zhang Lurang was used to her daily antics of being unserious, hearing this statement still pushed him to his limit.

Before he could frown and retort, Su Zaizai cheerfully added, “But don’t worry, I’ll work hard to always be a rich person.”

The words Zhang Lurang had been about to say instantly retreated back into his throat, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

The next moment, he leaned back against the chair and lazily called out to her, “Zaizai.”

“Hmm?”

Zhang Lurang recalled her past words and slightly modified them.

“At 1 PM tomorrow, if you leave the house one minute early, you don’t have to pay back the 20 yuan. If you leave two minutes early, I’ll give you 20 yuan. And so on.”

Su Zaizai fell silent for a moment.

Soon, her airy voice came through the phone.

“Lurang, if I were cruel, I’d leave right now, and you’d probably go bankrupt.”

Zhang Lurang: “… “

________________________________________

After the second semester of their sophomore year began, both of their lives became busier.

Aside from attending classes, Zhang Lurang was preparing for the Mobile Internet Innovation Competition.

They had to design an app and develop it. The theme was related to medical communication.

Zhang Lurang formed a team with three of his roommates and was also preparing for the defense presentation.

Additionally, he participated in several workshops organized by the department, even skipping a few classes because of it.

Every day was a whirlwind of activity.

On the other hand, Su Zaizai’s major courses increased significantly.

Because she had joined a department during her freshman year, she got to know many people. As a result, she participated in an advertising competition organized by the university with a few senior students from her department.

Time flew by.

Once the busy period ended, their sophomore year was over.

Su Zaizai’s final exam was two days earlier than Zhang Lurang’s.

After finishing her exams, she didn’t rush home. Instead, she accompanied Zhang Lurang to the library to review.

Su Zaizai yawned, put on her earphones, and opened an advertisement video to watch.

Noticing her drowsy expression, Zhang Lurang thought for a moment, then pulled out a notebook from the pile of books beside him and wrote her a sentence.

—Our team for the Mobile Internet Innovation Competition won the grand prize.

Su Zaizai glanced at it, her gaze pausing.

The next moment, she suddenly grabbed his arm, excitedly shaking it while silently laughing.

Her excitement rubbed off on Zhang Lurang, making him feel a bit happy as well.

He let her shake him while using his free hand to write another sentence.

—But I skipped class, so I won’t be getting the scholarship.

Upon reading this, Su Zaizai felt a sense of pride, her peach-shaped eyes curving downward.

She let go of his hand and took the pen from him.

Carefully, she wrote a sentence.

—I got it. It’s yours.