Chapter 3: He Deserves Better.

Chen Lu turned his head and saw a boy angrily pointing at the part-time girl, yelling at her. The girl was so scared that she trembled, and the hot soup he was holding splashed onto her arm.

Strangely, even so, she didn’t dare to say anything, just lowered her head deeply.

For every word the boy yelled, the girl trembled in fear, her eyes obviously wet, but she didn’t dare let the tears fall.

“This guy is sick! He bumped into her because he was drunk and couldn’t walk straight, but he’s blaming her!” Jiang Chao squinted and complained.

Chen Lu nodded, without a word, walked forward and gently pulled the girl behind him.

“It wasn’t her who bumped into you, you’re being too much yelling like this!” Chen Lu looked at the boy who seemed to be drunk.

The boy was about the same age as him, and two other boys were with him.

Even the highest score line can’t filter out scum…

“What’s it to you? If you want to fight, just say it!”

Seeing the boy angrily looking at him, Chen Lu didn’t rush, turned to look at the two boys beside him.

None of them dared to tell the truth, instead they looked at him with malicious intent.

Good grief, they’re all in cahoots?

Many onlookers had gathered, and many people were holding up their phones, pointing them at the scene, looking like they were enjoying the show.

Chen Lu casually put his arm around the boy’s shoulder and pointed to the monitor in the corner, “There’s a monitor, buddy. And so many people are recording.”

Then Chen Lu pointed to his roommates who had already gathered around, and whispered:

“You’re from this university too, right?

We’re from the Law School, and these two are student council members.

See that guy smoking? Don’t let his carefree attitude fool you, his dad is the police chief.

We definitely can’t fight him, he’s crazy, he doesn’t care about hurting people,

What if… I mean what if, you’re being lectured by the police while he’s playing games in his dad’s office.

So let’s not mess with them.”

The boy didn’t know what to say for a moment, he stared at him blankly, “Aren’t you afraid they’ll lose their student council positions?”

Chen Lu pretended not to understand, blinking his eyes and looking at the boy, “No, he just couldn’t persuade us, he wouldn’t do anything.

But I believe we’re all civilized people, we’ll see each other around. Maybe there’s a chance to help each other out in the future, let’s get to know each other?”

The boy looked at Chen Lu, who was calm and composed, and swallowed nervously.

Seeing that Chen Lu had given him a way out… he took it.

Then he nodded, “Okay.”

He was no longer the arrogant and domineering person he was before.

As expected, Chen Lu thought, this kind of hot-tempered guy usually cowers quickly.

He has the guts to bully girls, but he’s definitely not brave enough to mess with tough guys.

The little incident ended inexplicably. As soon as Chen Lu went back, the group started chattering again, as if they were used to Chen Lu doing this kind of thing.

“If Mo Yuqing was here, she would definitely fall for you!”

“……Are you here to drink with me or to rub salt in my wounds?”

As soon as the words were out, the girl quietly walked over and thanked him again.

“Th…thank you.”

Chen Lu looked at her reddened arm and gently advised, “You should rinse it with cold water as soon as possible, and remember to buy some medicine at the pharmacy and apply it, it’s quite bad.”

“Next time you encounter this kind of thing, just say what you need to say, don’t stand there like a doormat and get scolded for no reason, you don’t owe anyone anything.”

The girl nodded vigorously and left, leaving behind a single tear that fell to the ground.

Chen Lu shrugged at the others, “Let’s go, let’s eat.”

……

The boy was quite talkative after he got drunk, and Chen Lu was inexplicably dragged along until ten o’clock at night.

As soon as they went out, the cold wind hit them, making Chen Lu shiver.

“This weather is terrible.” He couldn’t help but complain.

The nearby mall had already closed early, but the streets were still brightly lit.

“The dorms are almost closing, right? Should we go to the internet cafe?” Zheng Haoyu rubbed his hands and said.

Jiang Chao and Li Sinian had no objections, and they all looked at Chen Lu.

“You guys go… I’ll go home.” Chen Lu said softly, the cold wind kept blowing on his face, which was slightly hot from the alcohol, making him more and more sober, and more and more disappointed.

Jiang Chao patted his shoulder, “Get some sleep early.”

Looking at Chen Lu’s somewhat lonely figure, they all felt a little sorry for him.

Jiang Chao just lit a cigarette, then saw a few children playing nearby, and quickly put it out, saying, “Let him calm down…”

“Damn it!” Zheng Haoyu suddenly cursed.

“Why doesn’t Mo Yuqing like Lu Ge?”

Jiang Chao just listened silently, biting on the extinguished cigarette butt, without speaking, he looked at the message that lit up on his phone screen.

Mo Yuqing: Where’s Chen Lu?

He looked up and saw that Chen Lu was already gone, he tapped his thumb a few times on the glowing screen.

“If you had asked earlier, maybe you would have had time, it’s too late now.”

“Other girls will realize how good Chen Lu really is.”

Then he deleted the contact.

Chen Lu didn’t go home immediately, but wandered around aimlessly, eventually ending up in a nearby park.

After passing a few scattered streetlights, the surroundings were pitch black, and only with the light from outside could he see things vaguely.

There were hardly any people in the park at this time. He sat on a swing and took a deep breath.

He used to play here with Mo Yuqing every day when he was a child, even now, he can still see traces of memories in many places.

Chen Lu smiled wryly, his smile full of bitterness.

They used to play house and say they would get married when they grew up.

How funny, he was the only one who took it seriously.

He raised his head and looked casually into the distance, suddenly he saw a strange but familiar figure on the bench by the street.

It was the girl who passed out flyers at the school gate in the evening. Chen Lu might not be able to tell for sure if it was someone else, but her inconspicuous bangs had become her trademark.

So Chen Lu recognized her at a glance.

The girl was sitting on the bench under the streetlight, wiping away tears quietly.

The dim light cast a shadow on her, making her already lonely figure look even more miserable.

She seemed to be out of place with everything.

After hesitating for a moment, Chen Lu stood in front of the girl.

“Why are you still out so late?”

The girl was startled by the sudden voice and trembled, she seemed to relax slightly when she saw it was Chen Lu, quickly lowered her head and wiped away her tears.

The atmosphere was silent for a while, then she sniffed and said softly, “When I’m feeling down, I’ll stay here for a while…”

Chen Lu recalled what happened in the evening and asked, “Did you put medicine on your burn?”

“No…”

“Wait for me.”

A few minutes later.

“What’s wrong with you? Burns can be very troublesome if you don’t treat them.” Chen Lu said, panting heavily.

The evening wind kept blowing the loose sleeves and hair of the girl’s T-shirt, she was sitting there, a complete doormat.

Chen Lu immediately squatted down in front of the girl, poked the ointment and motioned for her to apply it.

Then the girl actually stretched out her arm.

Then… she didn’t move.

She didn’t even retort when she was scolded, and now she only moves when she’s told…

This girl is so clueless…

Chen Lu secretly complained, he simply applied the ointment to her burn himself, even though the streetlight wasn’t that bright, he could still see that the girl’s arms were very white and tender, he felt like he could squeeze out water if he pressed hard.

The burned area was already red and peeling.

“Did you rinse it with cold water?” Chen Lu asked, looking down.

“I… I did.” The girl’s voice was very soft, timid, but very nice.

Although Chen Lu felt that his tone was very gentle, he didn’t know why the girl seemed to be criticized and kept her head down.

“Then why didn’t you go to the pharmacy? It’s so late.”

“I hadn’t finished work yet, and… medicine costs a lot of money.”

Chen Lu was speechless, he could only silently apply the ointment to the girl’s burn.

“That’s it, there’s still a lot of ointment, remember to apply it often.”

Chen Lu finished his instructions and looked up, he found that the girl was staring at him blankly.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew open the girl’s bangs, revealing eyes as clear as gems.

Her pure and fair face also came into Chen Lu’s view.

Jiang Chao, are you blind? Five points? This is a hundred points…

The noisy traffic and honking of cars on the roadside suddenly disappeared from Chen Lu’s ears.

The world was strangely quiet.

As if all the troubles in the world no longer mattered to them.

At this moment, their world only contained each other.

He saw the headlights of the passing cars, the lights of thousands of homes in the tall buildings behind him, and the twinkling stars in the girl’s pure and gentle eyes, and finally;

He saw himself.

……

“Don’t… don’t look at me anymore, okay?”

After a long time, the girl, who had regained her senses, lowered her head in shame, and said timidly, her eyes were still misty.

Chen Lu smiled inexplicably.

It’s something she can say confidently.

She’s actually saying “okay or not”.

What a fool.