MY - 47

Lu Nandu’s change was particularly surprising to Liang Sirong.

Lu Nandu would never have made such a request before, and he hadn’t seen a doctor in the last few years he was abroad.

Liang Sirong knew he still needed to see a doctor regularly and had gently tried to persuade Lu Nandu. But Lu Nandu would always make excuses, and even Liang Sirong couldn’t do anything about it.

After a long time, no one tried to persuade Lu Nandu anymore. Later, Liang Sirong once asked him why.

Lu Nandu only said that he wasn’t sick and had gotten better.

Lu Nandu seemed to listen to Liang Sirong, but in reality, once he made a decision, he wouldn’t turn back, no matter what. By then, Lu Nandu was an adult and had the right to make his own choices and be responsible for them. Liang Sirong didn’t interfere too much.

After that, Liang Sirong rarely saw Lu Nandu’s condition acting up, or perhaps he just didn’t let the people around him see it.

Liang Sirong even almost believed that Lu Nandu was all better.

But today, Lu Nandu, who had been so resistant to seeing a psychiatrist, was actively asking for Xu Qingzhou’s number. Everything he had resisted and opposed in the past was now null and void.

Liang Sirong couldn’t help but worry and was afraid that Lu Nandu had encountered something bad. “A-Du, tell me, what happened?”

But Lu Nandu didn’t say anything, only saying, “Auntie, give me the number. I need to contact Xu Qingzhou.”

Liang Sirong didn’t ask him anymore and took him upstairs.

She held his hand and sat down on the living room sofa. “Don’t be in a hurry. I’ll go help you ask first. Xu Qingzhou has been resting for the past few years and hasn’t been working much. I’ll make a phone call to him first to tell him about you.”

Xu Qingzhou was a psychiatrist that Grandpa Lu and Liang Sirong had found together back then.

Lu Nandu said, “No need. I’ll contact him myself.”

Since Lu Nandu said so himself, Liang Sirong nodded. “Alright. I’ll go get it for you. Wait a moment.”

Liang Sirong went into the room for a while and came out with a small piece of paper for Lu Nandu. “This is Xu Qingzhou’s number. I wrote it down for you.”

Lu Nandu took it and hummed.

Liang Sirong sat down next to him. “If you need any help from me, just say the word.”

Lu Nandu only nodded. “Thank you, Auntie.”

“It’s nothing,” seeing that Lu Nandu didn’t want to talk much, Liang Sirong didn’t ask any more questions. “You haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? Let’s go downstairs and have some together?”

Lu Nandu got up with the piece of paper. “I’ve already eaten. You should eat more.”

Liang Sirong wasn’t sure if she believed him or not. “Okay, then go to your room and rest for a while.”

________________________________________

Half an hour later, Lu Nandu came out of the bathroom.

The man’s upper body was bare, with a smooth physique, broad shoulders, and a narrow waist.

His short black hair was wet. He ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed it messily.

Lu Nandu walked to the desk and sat down on the sofa with his legs apart.

A pack of cigarettes was on the coffee table. He reached out, grabbed it, pulled one out, and put it in his mouth. Then he threw the pack back.

He took out the lighter, lowered his head slightly, and cupped the flame to light the cigarette in his mouth.

The smell of tobacco burned into his lungs. Lu Nandu threw the lighter back on the table.

Soon, the room was filled with smoke. A ray of sunlight leaked through the curtains, and fine dust and smoke floated in the light beam.

After half a cigarette, Lu Nandu finally looked up.

The piece of paper Liang Sirong gave him was on the low table.

He stared at it for a while, then leaned forward, stretched out his long arm, and pulled the ashtray from the table.

Lu Nandu put out the cigarette butt in the ashtray. After a few seconds of not moving, he finally picked up the piece of paper.

The number was written in black ink. Liang Sirong had copied it down.

A simple, unremarkable eleven-digit Arabic number, but Lu Nandu stared at it for a long time.

He just sat there for a long time.

Like a person without a breath.

He didn’t know if he could ever come back to life.

Jiang Xi’s face inexplicably appeared in his mind. Her emotions were always calm, as if she didn’t care about anything.

But she was the sweetest piece of candy he had ever tasted in his life.

And this bit of sweetness was his greatest attachment to this world.

Even if he held the candy for a long time, the sugar coating melted, and only bitterness was left inside. But he still couldn’t bear to let go. He didn’t want anything else.

Lu Nandu came back to his senses and finally made a move.

He picked up his phone and typed the numbers into his phone one by one, without any more hesitation.

He pressed the call button and put the phone to his ear.

________________________________________

That day, when Jiang Xi returned from the company, she saw Chen Huan squatting by the flowerbed outside the community.

The young girl still had her ear-length hair and a new earring on her left ear. She was looking down, her hands hanging lazily on her knees.

Jiang Xi looked at her through the windshield. The car slowed down slowly and finally stopped in front of Chen Huan.

The headlights brightened the girl’s surroundings.

Jiang Xi turned off the lights. Chen Huan looked up, saw her, and waved her hands at her lazily, smiling.

“Good evening.”

Jiang Xi didn’t close the car window, so she heard her clearly.

Chen Huan got up, walked over, opened the passenger door, and got in the car.

Jiang Xi glanced at her. “You’re so polite.”

Chen Huan grinned. “When have I ever been polite with you?”

Jiang Xi smiled and asked her directly, “What do you need?”

Chen Huan: “I need to stay with you for a few days.”

“Out of money?”

“My aunt gave me some money, but I have to be frugal. Your free hotel is great.”

Jiang Xi started the car. “You’re very resourceful.”

“It’s not my fault my mom cut off my allowance. I have no other choice but to be frugal.”

Chen Huan rolled down the car window. A cold wind instantly filled the car, and she shivered.

“Damn it,” she then turned to look at Jiang Xi, who had half the car window down. “Aren’t you cold?”

Jiang Xi drove the car into the community and didn’t look at her. “I’m fine.”

Jiang Xi didn’t feel cold. She just rolled down the window to sober up and get some fresh air.

Chen Huan rolled her window back up. “I look more like a thirty-year-old than you do.”

Jiang Xi was too lazy to talk to her.

After the car was parked in the underground parking lot, Chen Huan followed Jiang Xi upstairs. The house was warm. As soon as Chen Huan entered, she took off her jacket and asked Jiang Xi, “Have you eaten?”

Jiang Xi came out of the kitchen with a glass of water. She looked at her. “I have. You haven’t?”

Chen Huan shook her head. “No.”

She got up from the sofa. “Do you have any instant noodles? I’ll just make something to fill my stomach.”

Jiang Xi walked over with her water and sat on the sofa. “Just order takeout.”

But Chen Huan didn’t really want to order takeout. She was an impatient person. “That’s too much of a hassle. By the time it gets here, I’ll probably be full from eating air.”

Jiang Xi: “...”

Seeing that Chen Huan had no intention of ordering takeout, Jiang Xi said to her, “Instant noodles are in the second cabinet in the kitchen.”

Chen Huan: “Thanks.”

The pots and pans that Xia Xinyan had bought for Jiang Xi the last time she came to her house were finally put to use. Chen Huan cooked a pack of instant noodles.

A few minutes later, Chen Huan came out of the kitchen with her noodles and sat on the sofa.

Jiang Xi had already finished her water and put the glass on the table. She was leaning on the sofa, playing on her phone, not sure what she was looking at.

Chen Huan didn’t bother her.

She suddenly noticed a man’s watch on the table.

It was simple but elegant. Chen Huan recognized the brand of the watch.

A watch that cost at least seven figures was not something everyone could afford.

Chen Huan looked at Jiang Xi, with a noodle still in her mouth. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

When Jiang Xi heard that, her eyes moved away from her phone.

She looked at Chen Huan. Without saying anything, her gaze fell on the watch on the table.

The last time Lu Nandu was here, he left his watch behind and never came back to get it. Jiang Xi knew very well that Lu Nandu hadn’t forgotten about it. He was always looking for various reasons to stick by her side. He wouldn’t have ignored such an opportunity.

This could only mean he didn’t want to come looking for her.

Jiang Xi could probably guess why Lu Nandu didn’t come to see her. After all, he didn’t recognize her last time and even caused her to have wounds on her back.

But she didn’t really mind. Perhaps among the billions of people, there might not be true empathy, but there would always be people who had similar experiences and felt empathy.

Who doesn’t get sick sometimes?

They shouldn’t be seen as freaks.

Chen Huan saw her reaction and thought she had guessed correctly. She asked directly, “Does my aunt know you’re dating?”

Jiang Xi finally looked up at her again. “I’m not dating anyone.”

Chen Huan was shocked. “No way. He even stayed the night at your place, and you’re not together?”

Jiang Xi squinted at her. “How do you know he stayed the night?”

Chen Huan: “Who takes off their watch during the day for no reason? It’s obviously before bed at night.”

Jiang Xi: “...”

Chen Huan said, “I’m amazing, right? Whoever I date will probably be caught cheating in less than two days.”

Jiang Xi: “We’re not dating. Stop guessing.” She then lowered her head and continued playing on her phone.

Chen Huan saw that she didn’t seem to want to talk about the topic and didn’t ask any more questions.

She then noticed that Jiang Xi’s phone screen had been on a text message conversation the whole time.

She didn’t look at it for long, just a quick glance.

She wondered what was so interesting about a text message.