When Lumi and Auntie Er arrived home, dinner was just ready.

Lumi reached out to grab a chicken foot, but Yang Liu Fang slapped her hand away: “Go wash your hands! Dirty!”

Lumi retracted her hand, grunted, and went to wash up. She heard Yang Liu Fang asking Auntie Er outside: “How is he?”

“A smart young man, very upright, quite good. More reliable than Zhang Qing.”

As a mother, she was naturally curious about the man her daughter was interested in, asking Auntie Er about Tu Ming.

The Lu family was always eager for news, and anything that happened would be shared in the family group. Naturally, Auntie Er had live-streamed Lumi’s pursuit of the young man at the tennis club on Saturday. The family group was lively, even commenting on Tu Ming’s physique: “This young man is not short, nor too thin, looks healthy.”

“Quite clean-cut.”

“Not bad-looking.”

“He’s Lumi’s boss, makes money, enough for their daily expenses.”

Lumi listened to the elders talking from the washroom, laughing uncontrollably. This was just the beginning; a few more words and they’d be talking about her marrying Tu Ming and having children.

And I just want to sleep with him once! He doesn’t even pay attention to me!

Lumi let the elders gossip and sat down to enjoy the chicken feet. When Lu Qing passed by and came upstairs to join the meal, Lumi was truly grateful. With her there, the elders’ topic shifted to scolding her ex-husband Qian Xiao Bin.

“What a thing! An ungrateful wolf! When he married our Lumi, he didn’t even have a house. Did we make things difficult for him? No!”

“Now that he has money, he turns his back on us!”

Lu Qing and Lumi exchanged a smile, helplessly shaking their heads. The sisters each gnawed on a chicken foot, pretending to be deaf and mute. The elders felt sorry for their children, and some things that the children might have already moved past, they couldn’t. They would think about it and scold them again.

At least they got a free meal out of it, and with a full stomach, they went to Lumi’s room, closed the door, and Lumi lay on the bed, while Lu Qing sat on the small sofa, chatting casually.

“Have you seen Yao Luan lately?”

“I’ve seen him. He came by when the shop was being renovated, gave some advice, and helped find someone to redo the waterproofing.”

“Then what?”

“Nothing else. He went abroad, and I’ve been busy with the renovation every day, no time or mood for anything else. But we talk every day.”

“That’s good.”

Lu Qing was different from Lumi. She had always been burdened with worries. She had been with since university, enduring pressure to marry him when he had nothing. The rich young lady was willing to cook for him, only to be betrayed. This divorce was like having a rib taken out, taking a long time to heal. The wind and rain always seemed to make the wound itch and hurt.

After the divorce, she wanted to change her way of living, thinking about opening her own small shop, whether it be a clothing store, a coffee shop, and finally settled on a flower shop.

“I don’t think Yao Luan and I are on the same path. I can only be casual with him, not serious. But I’m not a casual person.” Lu Qing lay down beside Lumi: “Qian Xiao is getting remarried.”

“That bastard’s remarriage can’t be any good. Just wait and see, that little bastard did so many bad things, retribution will come sooner or later.” Lumi handed her a piece of chocolate, and they both tore open the wrappers and put them in their mouths.

“But whether Yao Luan is the right person for me, I really don’t know. I only know that if I’m interested, I’ll go for it. Why think about the future? Isn’t it better to be a little reckless?”

“I don’t have the capital to be reckless…”

“Nonsense!” Lumi sat up and looked at her: “You’re talking nonsense again, right? If a dog bites you, you don’t bite the dog back. What’s there to be inferior about?”

Lu Qing bit her lips and didn’t speak.

Lumi felt bad for her and said, “It doesn’t have to be Yao Luan; it could be someone else, anyone you’re interested in. The key is not to belittle yourself.”

Lumi always got angry whenever Lu Qing said she didn’t have the capital. What did Qian Xiao leave her with!

“Don’t talk about me~ My emotions are up and down, but basically, I’m fine.” Lu Qing pulled Lumi: “How’s it going with your boss? Did you make a move?”

“It’s just like that. I want to make a move, but he doesn’t give me the chance.”

“Yao Luan said Tu Ming is a stickler, has high standards for himself, and never fools around. Sometimes, a few friends would suggest going to a bar to hang out, but he never goes. He said once they played a game where they looked at each other’s phones, and only Tu Ming’s phone was clean, not chatting with any girls.”

“How does he know if they deleted their records?” Lumi retorted. A phone with no records isn’t something to brag about. Zhang Qing’s phone also had nothing on it.

“That’s true.”

They chatted for a while, and Lumi started rummaging through her things at home. Finally, she found the CD player she used to listen to, covered in dust. She replaced the batteries and tried to play a CD, but it didn’t work.

“What are you doing?” Lu Qing asked, seeing her fiddling with it.

“It’s for a gift.” Lumi told her about Tu Ming giving her the comic books: “I need to give him a gift in return, you know, reciprocity.”

“Just this?”

“Yeah.”

Lumi thought the CD player was great. He gave her something old from the bottom of his box, didn’t spend much money, but the thought was there.

Lumi dragged Lu Qing out to get the CD player fixed and took a detour to the hutong. They piled the children’s clothes, rice, and oil they bought online at the door, knocked on the window, heard movement inside, and turned to leave.

They hid at the door and watched as Grandma brought the things inside before turning to leave.

“Aren’t you going to tell him?”

“No, what’s there to say? I just feel sorry for the kid, it’s getting cold and he doesn’t have any decent clothes.”

Lumi was just like that. If she was willing, she could give her heart to someone. If she wasn’t willing, everything was off the table.

Grandpa Liu, who fixed the CD player, lived in the hutong. He had spent many years repairing watches at a clock company and had seen many good things. In his spare time, he loved to fix all sorts of things, from children’s toys to broken personal stereos. Grandpa Liu didn’t charge for his repairs, but you had to chat with him.

Grandpa Liu was happy to see Lumi and even happier to see the somewhat vintage item she was holding. He patted a small stool for her to sit on, took out his toolbox, put on high-magnification glasses, and dismantled Lumi’s CD player into pieces.

“Grandpa Liu, you’re dismantling it quite happily, but can you put it back together?” Lumi teased him while munching on sunflower seeds: “If you can’t put it back together, you’ll have to compensate me.”

Grandpa Liu raised an eyebrow: “Grandpa Liu isn’t old yet!”

“Hehe.”

Lumi leaned closer to watch him dismantle and assemble it, feeling that these old craftsmen were truly amazing. Many old items that couldn’t be used anymore could be repaired by him and used for a few more years.

Grandpa Liu asked Lumi, “Why are you fixing this thing?”

“It’s for a gift.”

“Giving this broken thing as a gift?”

“It’s not broken! The sound quality is great, better than a lot of modern equipment, I really like it.”

“The recipient might not like it, though?”

“If they don’t like it, I’ll hit them.”

Lumi chatted with Grandpa Liu, and they fixed the CD player until 10 o’clock. She drove Lu Qing home and then headed towards the Summer Palace.

Lumi didn’t know where Tu Ming lived, but there were only a few residential areas behind the Summer Palace, so it wasn’t difficult to find. As she approached, she called him, and he actually answered.

“Boss, where do you live near the Summer Palace? I’m nearby right now.”

“What are you doing around here so late at night?”

“I’m here to see you!”

Tu Ming thought for a moment before telling her the name of his residential complex. By the time he arrived at the entrance, Lumi was already there, holding a bag. She ran up to him as soon as she saw him: “I have a gift for you too!”

“I don’t need it.” Tu Ming hadn’t expected her to reciprocate when he gave her the books.

“That’s not right. When you gave me a gift, I didn’t refuse.” Seeing that Tu Ming wasn’t reaching out, Lumi took out the CD player, put a record in it, and looked at Tu Ming: “Listen to the sound quality? It’s great.”

“This model is very old, can it still be used?” Tu Ming asked her.

“It couldn’t, but I just spent a few hours having it fixed by an old man.” Lumi spoke lightly, but her day had been far from easy.

She had gone to play tennis, returned to her parents’ home for dinner, repaired the CD player, and then came to the Summer Palace. But that was just how she was.

When she had something on her mind, she had to do it. She wanted to give him something, and she had to do it today; waiting until tomorrow was not an option.

Tu Ming nodded and leaned in slightly to listen.

Lumi put an earbud into his ear. The weather was cold, and her fingertips were a bit chilly, brushing against his eardrum like a snowflake. She put the other earbud into her own ear and pressed play.

The song was very old, and Tu Ming hadn’t heard it in years. He remembered the girls in his class liked to listen to it, and sometimes it would play over the school’s broadcast system.

“The feelings of once loving him, with a foolish courage…”

Lumi listened to all kinds of songs when she was fifteen or sixteen, spending much of her pocket money on CDs. Sometimes she would go to burn discs, and the one she was playing now was a compilation she had made back then. Many boys liked her, and she had many people to play with. Her adolescence was not lonely. But girls always listen to love songs in their teens, and she was no exception.

Tu Ming listened to the song with Lumi. He stood opposite her, rarely seeing Lumi so quiet. She was usually like a hurricane, leaving chaos wherever she went. Today, she was a gentle breeze, like a child eager to share her candy. She played the songs from her teenage years for him, as if laying out her youthful years before him, very precious.

Tu Ming was suddenly very moved.

He knew that interactions between people were not always equal and sincere. He had seen many people act selfishly, exclude others, and even maliciously harm others. In short, most emotions were not pure; people like Lumi, who dared to love and hate openly and honestly, were rare.

The two of them quietly listened to a song. Lumi handed the CD player to him: “It’s a gift, don’t refuse. Although you taught me tennis today and also taught others, which made me very angry, I’ve reflected on it. You’re not my boyfriend, I can’t control you. I admit I’m overly enthusiastic. But reciprocity should be fine. If you don’t want my CD player, I’ll return your comic books, and then neither of us will give each other gifts anymore.”

“I do have something to say. I was very touched when you gave me the comic books. I didn’t expect it, and I just gave them to you on a whim, but I really like them. I like them more than any other gift I’ve received in the past. I need to tell you that.”

“Okay.”

“You just want to be friends with me, right? Then let’s just be friends. Anyway, I’m quite annoying. Not many people like me, and not many people want to be my friend.”

Tu Ming heard her say that not many people liked her and that not many people wanted to be her friend, and he didn’t quite agree. Holding her CD player, he said to her seriously: “Saying you’re annoying, I don’t agree. In the months we’ve interacted, I’ve seen a very warm, kind, transparent, and interesting person. It doesn’t matter if there are few people who like you; what matters is that those who do like you are sincere and can’t be driven away.”

‘Damn.’

Lumi really wanted to cry. Every word he said hit her right in the heart.

“There is something else. I really like the gift. I especially like the effort you put into fixing it and driving here in the middle of the night to give it to me. It’s very rare and very precious. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

After Lumi finished speaking, she got into her car. Seeing Tu Ming standing there like a big fool, she felt like she was possessed. Why did she have to fall for such a block of wood when she could choose any other man? But she didn’t know what was wrong with her; she actually thought the wood was quite good. Better than some flashy things.

Tu Ming knocked on her car window, and she rolled it down: “What is it, good friend?”

“Don’t go out so late in the future. If you must send something today, call me, and I’ll come and get it myself.”

“Then what?”

“Be careful when driving.”

So the big brother really wouldn’t say a single ambiguous word. If he had just said, “Come up and sit for a while,” the story would have been different!

Lumi rolled up the car window and drove off.

Tu Ming returned home and prepared to go to bed. He turned on a small night light, put the CD in to listen, and they were all love songs, with the occasional rock and jazz tracks, but they were all very nice to listen to.

Tu Ming lay on his side in bed, the music flowing in his ears, listening to one song after another. By the time he finished playing, it was already three in the morning.

Very rarely, he suffered from insomnia.