Chapter 005

Lu Jin put away his tools, came out with his schoolbag slung over one shoulder, turned off the lights, and locked the door.

The two glanced at each other, and He Ye walked over, slightly behind him.

The empty teaching building was extremely quiet, with only the sound of their footsteps echoing as they walked down the stairs, one level at a time.

As they reached the platform between two floors, Lu Jin looked back and asked, “Have you informed your family that you’d be cleaning tonight?”

He Ye answered, “I told my dad I’d be late.”

“That’s good. Otherwise, I might worry.”

After their brief conversation, they walked out of the teaching building and headed to the garage.

Since students arrived at school at different times in the morning, their bicycles were parked in various locations. He Ye unlocked her bike and looked up to see that Lu Jin had not yet reached his bike.

She pushed her bike outside and waited for him.

Once Lu Jin got on his bike, He Ye looked away and began to ride forward.

Lu Jin quickly caught up with her.

No. 2 Middle School is located in the city center. Even at 10 o’clock in the evening, pedestrians could still be seen on the roads outside. Ancheng is a large city with good public security, so there was no need to worry excessively about safety for high school students finishing their evening self-study classes.

Although He Ye wasn’t afraid to go home alone, she couldn’t deny that having a classmate accompany her at night made her feel much safer.

It might have been perfect if she were more sociable and could find natural topics to talk about instead of remaining so silent.

“I’m not very good at chatting,” Lu Jin said after a while.

He Ye sighed in relief: “Me neither. I was worried you might think I’m rude.”

Lu Jin reassured her: “I understand. Don’t worry, I don’t think that at all.”

He Ye smiled.

Lu Jin added, “I still want to apologize for what happened yesterday.”

He Ye looked at him, puzzled.

Lu Jin explained, “Zhou Xiangming’s fake cough.”

He Ye instantly understood and looked at the road ahead.

Lu Jin continued, “I’ve told him not to cause you any more trouble in the future.”

It was all in the past. He Ye wasn’t petty and responded lightly, “It’s fine. Just make it clear.”

Lu Jin glanced at her shadow on the ground.

He didn’t seem to have explained things clearly to Zhou Xiangming.

Lu Jin wasn’t used to lying.

He could deny things that didn’t exist and usually stayed silent about things that did exist but were better left unsaid.

The road was about a kilometer long with three traffic lights, and they soon arrived at the community.

He Ye saw a figure limping from afar.

She waved and called out, “Dad!”

He Yong stopped beside the South Gate, smiling as he waited for his daughter.

He Ye braked, dismounted, and asked, “How did you get here?”

He Yong looked at the male classmate beside him and explained, “The supermarket is closed. I guessed you’d be back soon, so I came around to see. Is this your classmate?”

He Ye glanced at Lu Jin and introduced him, “This is Lu Jin, the top student in our class and also the leader of our duty group, from a nearby district.”

Lu Jin said, “Uncle, we’ve met before. I’ve been to the supermarket a few times.”

He Yong said, “Oh, I remember. I didn’t expect this coincidence. Since we live in the same district, you can both come back together after school. It’s good to have some company.”

He had considered driving to pick up his daughter from school but was deterred by her request to focus on running the supermarket.

Given his daughter’s age and appearance, how could He Yong not be worried?

“Dad…” He Ye looked disapprovingly at her father.

He Yong smiled innocently: “I’m not asking Xiao Lu for help for nothing. Next time he comes to the supermarket, I’ll cover his purchase.”

Lu Jin smiled: “Uncle, you’re too kind. He Ye and I are going the same way. Don’t worry.”

The two continued their back-and-forth conversation, leaving He Ye unable to interject. She bit her lip, got back on her bike, and motioned for her father to sit in the back seat.

He Yong didn’t hesitate to get on, and then continued chatting with Lu Jin: “I heard from Xiao Ye that you’re always among the top five in your grade. That’s impressive.”

He Ye: …

Lu Jin, not one to be overly modest, replied, “Not bad.”

He Yong asked, “Which building do you live in?”

“Number 10,” Lu Jin answered.

“We live in Building 7, not far from each other. Xiao Ye and Xiao Lu are both good students. If you have any questions in the future, feel free to ask them for help.”

He Ye gave a noncommittal hum and looked ahead at the road ahead.

As expected, Lu Jin spoke up: “Uncle, I’ll go this way. We’ll talk another day.”

He Yong replied, “Go ahead. Thanks in advance for going to school together!”

He Ye pedaled hard, quickly increasing the distance between herself and Lu Jin.

Once she was sure that Lu Jin couldn’t hear her conversation with her father, she said with frustration, “Dad, I don’t really know him. Why are you saying those things?”

He Yong replied, “If we live in the same district, are in the same class, or are on duty together, it’s only a matter of time before you get to know each other.”

He Ye snorted, “I’m not like you. I can’t just get along with everyone.”

He Yong said, “It’s alright. I’ll help you with it, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Seeing her father’s limping figure walking towards the South Gate under the streetlights, He Ye stopped arguing.

After returning home, He Ye checked her father’s meal receipts from the previous day before going to take a shower.

It was very late, and soon after, both father and daughter went to their rooms.

He Ye changed into her pajamas but wasn’t sleepy yet. She sat at her desk and did another set of English listening exercises.

At 10:45, she lay down on her bed, turned down the volume, and played “VOA.” Initially, she was able to concentrate, but as her eyelids grew heavy, she turned off the audio and fell asleep almost immediately.

The next day, He Ye took her bicycle from the community garage. After thinking it over, she decided to start at the east gate.

Although it was a bit of a detour, He Ye thought it was worth it to avoid some social interactions.

At the fork in the road near the south gate, Lu Jin waited as promised for Zhou Xiangming.

At 7:10, Zhou Xiangming appeared.

Lu Jin headed out of the community.

Zhou Xiangming caught up with him quickly and asked about the previous night: “Did you come back together? Did you talk about anything on the way?”

Lu Jin replied, “I talked about you.”

Zhou Xiangming asked, “Oh? What did you say about me?”

Lu Jin said, “The fake cough, and an apology.”

Zhou Xiangming hesitated and then asked, “How did she react?”

Lu Jin answered, “She forgave you this time.”

Zhou Xiangming said, “Got it. It won’t happen again!”

A few minutes later, Lu Jin followed Zhou Xiangming into the classroom. He glanced at He Ye’s seat and saw her sitting upright with an English textbook in her hand.

Lu Jin smiled.

Either she had gotten up earlier than him or had taken a detour to avoid social interaction.

Returning to his seat, Lu Jin took out his textbook for morning reading. From the corner of his eye, he saw Zhou Xiangming tearing a small piece of paper from his notebook.

He tilted his head to watch as Zhou Xiangming wrote a large “sorry” in a flourish with a fountain pen.

He Ye was startled by the paper balls falling from above and looked back reflexively.

Zhou Xiangming, with a silly grin on his face, said, “Look, it’s just one word.”

He Ye unfolded the paper ball and saw a crumpled “sorry.”

Zhou Xiangming continued to stare at her. When he saw the corners of her mouth turn up, he breathed a sigh of relief, winked at Lu Jin, and whispered, “She’s smiling.”

Lu Jin looked up.

Unfortunately, a male classmate was blocking his view of He Ye.

Zhou Xiangming then suggested, “How about we switch positions?”

Lu Jin replied, “I’m memorizing words.”

After two morning classes, Zhu Qing and Wu Yuanyuan took He Ye’s arms on either side and walked toward the playground, chatting and laughing.

Most students were walking normally, so when Zhou Xiangming jumped onto the back of a tall, thin boy in front of him, He Ye and the others couldn’t help but pay attention.

The boy who was pounced on exclaimed, “Damn,” then happily put his arm around Zhou Xiangming’s shoulders and turned around to look at the three girls.

It was clear they were waiting for Lu Jin.

He Ye noticed Zhou Xiangming glance at her and quickly looked away.

The three girls soon passed the two boys.

At this point, Zhou Xiangming pointed at He Ye’s back and winked at Li Liang beside him.

Li Liang asked, “What do you mean? Are you interested in her already?”

Zhou Xiangming pointed at Lu Jin, who was approaching.

Li Liang’s glasses nearly fell off his nose as he exclaimed, “Is the iron tree blooming?”

Zhou Xiangming replied, “I don’t know if it will bloom, but someone’s spring has arrived anyway.”

Li Liang directly asked Lu Jin, “Is it true?”

Lu Jin glanced at his two friends and said, “Think what you like, but don’t bother her.”

With that, he walked straight ahead.

Zhou Xiangming, having learned his lesson, quickly reminded Li Liang not to cause trouble.

Li Liang said, “I got it. He has his own rhythm. Let’s not complicate things.”

Li Liang, from Class 6, wasn’t in a hurry to line up. He put his arm around Zhou Xiangming’s shoulders and followed behind Lu Jin into Class 8.

He pretended to have a serious conversation with Zhou Xiangming but was actually sneaking glances at the girls in Class 8, though he hadn’t even seen what she looked like!

As good friends, it was impossible not to be curious.

He Ye was tall, ranking third from the bottom among the girls, with Wu Yuanyuan ahead of her.

Noticing Lu Jin and the others, she deliberately pulled Wu Yuanyuan’s arm, and the two of them turned around to chat.

Li Liang strained to see the girl, and his impression was that she was “fair and skinny.”

“That’s enough. If you keep staring, you’ll get caught,” Zhou Xiangming warned. “There will be plenty of opportunities in the future.”

Lu Jin stood by his seat, expressionless.

Zhou Xiangming looked at him and suddenly felt uncertain: “There are many opportunities, but whether he becomes one of us depends on Old Lu.”

Li Liang laughed, “Just based on his looks, he can catch up with anyone.”

Lu Jin asked, “Is that your class teacher?”

Li Liang immediately turned around and quickly slipped back to Class 6.

He Ye was so focused on her studies during the evening self-study session that she forgot about the conversation between her father and Lu Jin the previous night. After class, she packed her schoolbag and went downstairs with Wu Yuanyuan.

It wasn’t until they parted at the school gate that He Ye suddenly remembered the previous day’s events.

She glanced back casually.

A few meters away, Lu Jin and Zhou Xiangming were riding side by side.

He Ye quickly turned around, wondering to herself whether it was just a coincidence or if Lu Jin had accepted her father’s proposal.

“I bet she saw us,” Zhou Xiangming said to Lu Jin.

Lu Jin hummed indifferently.

Zhou Xiangming continued, “You’re the protector, right? You should show some skill. What’s the point of just following me silently?”

Lu Jin didn’t respond.

Zhou Xiangming, growing impatient, said, “I’m bored. I want to chat with classmate Xiao Ye.”

With that, he sped up and rode next to He Ye in no time.

Lu Jin followed, riding between them and staying a car length behind.

He Ye glanced at Zhou Xiangming.

Zhou Xiangming said, “We live in the same district. Can we go home together after school?”

He Ye replied awkwardly, “Is this because of what my dad said? It’s really not necessary. He’s just worrying about nothing.”

Zhou Xiangming looked puzzled, “Your father?”

Lu Jin quickly clarified.

Zhou Xiangming laughed, “That’s great. It’s on our way, and we can get a discount from Uncle.”

His laughter was so infectious that He Ye didn’t know what to say.

Zhou Xiangming, being a chatterbox, continued to talk about his relationship with Lu Jin, regardless of whether He Ye was interested or not.

He Ye wasn’t particularly interested but didn’t dislike it either. With Zhou Xiangming around to liven up the atmosphere, it was much more relaxing than riding alone with Lu Jin.

Upon reaching the residential complex, He Ye said goodbye to the two and rode toward Building No. 7.

Zhou Xiangming and she had been on the same route for a while, but he deliberately followed Lu Jin and remarked, “Great, you’ve even started winning over her father.”

Lu Jin responded, “You can go now.”

***

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