Chapter 15

The noodles had finally cooled down a bit. Yun Li twirled one around her spoon and brought it to her mouth, just as she was about to eat.

Suddenly, Fu Zhengchu slammed his chopsticks down on the table, startling Yun Li so much that the noodles almost got stuck in her throat. Coughing lightly, she patted her chest.

“Li Li, do you realize how abnormal Uncle is?” he said indignantly. “I didn’t want to go to school, and he tricked me by saying he’d be at the same school as me, so I agreed. The day before, he was thumping his chest, promising we’d always go to school together, but then—”

Fu Shizhe’s rice ball, which he was about to eat, was snatched away by Fu Zhengchu, who devoured it in frustration. Fu Zhengchu continued, “The bastard only lasted two days before he skipped a grade!!”

Yun Li: “…”

Fu Zhengchu: “And he went straight to middle school!” After saying this, he looked at Yun Li, his round eyes signaling that she should say something.

Fu Shizhe didn’t even lift his eyelids, acting as if he hadn’t understood a word, his face stiff.

Under Fu Zhengchu’s gaze, Yun Li hemmed and hawed for a while before finally saying, “Well, it seems he didn’t lie, he was indeed at the same school as you, right?”

The three fell into silence.

Seeing Fu Zhengchu quiet down, seemingly taking in her words, Yun Li gently persuaded, “And it’s not his fault for being born smart, after all.”

Now, Fu Zhengchu looked stunned and somewhat peculiar. Unsure if she had misspoken, Yun Li tentatively asked, “Don’t you think?”

Despite the cafeteria’s noise, Yun Li felt as if everything went completely silent the moment her words ended.

Eager to escape this odd situation, she fiddled with her noodles and took a bite.

Seeing this, Fu Shizhe also quietly took a rice ball, waiting until Fu Zhengchu was silent before slowly moving it towards himself.

“But,” Fu Zhengchu suddenly snatched Fu Shizhe’s rice ball again, “Uncle, you’ve given me a psychological shadow since I was little, everyone always compares us.”

Yun Li nearly choked.

“I never thought that after so many years, I’d still be living under Uncle’s shadow,” Fu Zhengchu said, feigning sorrow.

Fu Shizhe put down his chopsticks and coolly stared at Fu Zhengchu.

Unfazed, Fu Zhengchu blurted out, “And you’re still scolding me, Uncle!”

Fu Shizhe: “…”

The latter half of the meal was marked by Fu Shizhe’s deadpan state, seemingly resigned to the futility of struggle, silently enduring whatever “provocations” Fu Zhengchu threw at him.

Once Fu Zhengchu started, he couldn’t stop himself, going on and on about Fu Shizhe’s childhood.

The main event was Fu Shizhe skipping grades, which set off a chain reaction, making Fu Zhengchu’s mother believe for over a decade that her son and daughter might also possess genius genes, potential geniuses.

Thus, Fu Zhengchu was sent to various tutoring classes, and his mother always felt he was being overlooked.

The most absurd thing was that after entering middle school, Fu Shizhe was already in high school. Just when he thought he could catch a break, another classmate, Sang Chi, arrived.

Solving problems as if counting.

After a long rant, the other two acted like an audience, occasionally uttering acknowledgments.

“Eventually, even my mom admitted that her son’s IQ couldn’t compare to her cousin’s,” Fu Zhengchu stated matter-of-factly. “They’re a generation apart, how could they be the same?”

Even Yun Li, patient as she was, found it hard to listen to Fu Zhengchu’s ramblings. After finishing her last bite of noodles, she wiped her mouth clean with a napkin.

Gently, she said, “Don’t be sad.”

Fu Zhengchu’s eyes welled up, feeling he had finally won Yun Li over to his side, waiting for her next comforting words.

Yun Li pursed her lips, “We’re all ordinary people; we need to be aware of our limitations.”

Rarely, after a long silence, Fu Shizhe finally agreed, “Accepting oneself is not scary.”

“…”

Descending the stairs, Yun Li noticed several dessert stalls set up in the center of the square, selling the same cookies and pastries she had seen earlier in the cafeteria.

“Huh, they’re selling them today,” Fu Zhengchu remarked with a hint of surprise.

Shifting her focus to the new environment, Yun Li turned to Fu Shizhe with feigned casualness, “Uncle, would you like some?”

Fu Shizhe was unimpressed and called out, “If you want some, just buy it.”

After his comment, he glanced at Yun Li, “You too.”

Just as Yun Li was about to decline, Fu Zhengchu didn’t give her a chance and nudged her towards the line.

Armed with sealed bags and tongs, Fu Zhengchu critiqued each new cookie display, pointing out their strengths and weaknesses, and even picked out a couple for Yun Li whenever he found something he liked.

Yun Li was too drained to respond. Fu Zhengchu was quite the talker. Not only that, but he also kept asking her questions, refusing to let any go unanswered.

Taking advantage of a lull in the conversation, Yun Li asked, “Fu Zhengchu, did you often chat like this with your Uncle before?”

“I suppose so,” Fu Zhengchu pondered for a moment, “But Uncle used to talk more, not as quiet as he is now.”

Curious, Yun Li inquired further, “What would he typically talk to you about?”

“He’d ask me if I had grown two mouths.”

Yun Li looked outside.

Fu Shizhe stood apart from the crowd, his aloof and cool demeanor reminiscent of a skyscraper, head bowed, engrossed in his smartphone.

Contrary to what one might expect, although Fu Shizhe often ignored Fu Zhengchu, his treatment of him could almost be described as indulgent. Like a ball of seaweed, his emotions swelled but never burst into anger.

Yun Li thought if Yun Ye were like this, she would have lost her temper long ago.

After they packed the cookies, they headed to checkout, only to find that the line had grown significantly.

“We should move forward, Li Li, Uncle is up ahead,” Fu Zhengchu said, noticing Yun Li’s surprised look. He added, “Whenever we went out, Uncle was always the one to stand in line. He’s a professional at it.”

Indeed, they saw Fu Shizhe’s figure at the front of the line.

Yun Li slowed her pace. She had already troubled him enough today and hesitated, looking at the bags in their hands, “Should we get some for him too?”

It hadn’t occurred to her that he would be in line. Now, it felt as though they had sacrificed Fu Shizhe for their enjoyment since everyone else could freely choose what they liked, while the one willing to queue had given up this privilege.

Fu Zhengchu was unconcerned, “Don’t worry, Li Li. With our help, Uncle has become a giving person.”

Without waiting for Yun Li’s reaction, he handed both bags to Fu Shizhe.

Fu Shizhe took the bags and switched his phone to the payment code. Seeing this, Yun Li quickly drew her campus card from her pocket.

Fu Zhengchu was his nephew, she was not. It didn’t seem right to let him pay for her.

Yun Li said, “I can… just use my campus card to pay.”

Fu Shizhe didn’t take it, remaining silent.

After a long wait, with her hand growing numb, she did not receive the response she expected.

Looking up, Yun Li saw both Fu Shizhe and Fu Zhengchu staring at the photo on her campus card, with Fu Zhengchu nearly pressing his face against it.

Yun Li was puzzled.

She realized she might have been overthinking. Her focus was on not having Fu Shizhe pay for her, while the other two were clearly on a different wavelength.

Fu Zhengchu commented, “Li Li, this photo is quite nice. Is it from your undergraduate days?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Yun Li replied, “It’s from high school.”

Fu Zhengchu wasn’t interested when the photo was taken, but he expressed sincere admiration, “Li Li, I think you look much better with long hair than my sister.”

He looked to Fu Shizhe for agreement, “Right, Uncle?”

Fu Shizhe did not respond and looked away.

Yun Li felt a bit embarrassed and flipped the card over.

Her undergraduate graduation photo was taken when she had to return home for an emergency, so the information system used her high school graduation photo by default. Back then, Yun Li had waist-length hair, which she later cut into a shoulder-length bob on a whim.

At the time, her younger brother Yun Ye had cried, unable to accept her new look.

“I’ll transfer the money to…” Yun Li struggled to say the next two words, “Uncle…”

Fu Zhengchu naturally said, “Don’t worry about it, Li Li. We are the younger generation; Uncle won’t let us pay.”

Yun Li felt genuinely indebted. As someone the same age as Fu Shizhe, it was hard for her to accept this ‘younger generation’ role.

“I think your Uncle is quite nice. Maybe you shouldn’t tease him so much,” she said, trying not to sound too deliberate, and added, “He’s already paying for us.”

Fu Zhengchu replied, “Li Li, it’s not teasing. Anyway, Uncle doesn’t have a girlfriend. It’s fine to spend money on the younger ones.”

“Eh, didn’t you say a lot of people wanted his number last time?”

“At first, he gave it to a few,” he paused, “but Uncle never replied to them.”

Yun Li fell silent for a while, “He gives out his number?”

Realizing her tone was off, she quickly added, “I mean, he doesn’t seem like he would, remember at dinner last time?”

“What are you thinking?” Fu Zhengchu said with pride, “Of course, we gave it out.”

“Why?”

“To find an aunt to keep him in line.”

Before long, Fu Shizhe returned with two bags of cookies, and Yun Li slung the ‘hard-earned’ canvas bag over her shoulder, packing both her original small bag and the cookies inside it.

Perhaps overly pleased with herself, she tiptoed and leaned over to get a better look at the canvas bag.

Seeing Yun Li’s fondness for the EAW prize, Fu Zhengchu curiously inquired if there was anything special about it: “Li Li, how does it feel to wear it?”

Yun Li glanced down at the bag and shyly smiled, “It’s quite nice, just…” She lifted the canvas bag a bit, “A little big.”

Feeling a bit self-conscious about posing in front of them, Yun Li ran to an open space two meters away to take pictures.

Fu Zhengchu, out of boredom, started eating cookies from the package and watched Yun Li from a distance. Maybe due to the dullness, he scrutinized the canvas bag she was wearing and suddenly let out a long “huh”.

“Uncle, isn’t that your profile picture?”

To confirm his observation, Fu Zhengchu enlarged Fu Shizhe’s WeChat profile picture and held it up to him.

One was sky blue, the other pure black.

Fu Zhengchu pointed out, “Look, the moon on it is the same.”

Fu Shizhe looked at him as if he were simple-minded.

Unsatisfied, Fu Zhengchu pushed further, whispering teasingly childishly, and cheekily, audible only to them, “Uncle, Li Li just said you’re big.”

He chewed on the cookies in his mouth, looking particularly annoying.

Fu Shizhe: “…”

As the evening grew darker, the campus greenway’s speakers were broadcasting an interview with an alumnus who had graduated and started working.

“So, Senior Yin, as a former prominent figure of Nanwu Institute of Technology University who has won countless awards, your fans, including myself, are curious, what do you think is your biggest regret during your university days?”

The man’s voice was warm and pleasant, even through the speaker’s noise, and he chuckled before pausing, “That would probably be… not dating?”

“These past few years, my classmates have even started having kids.”

Fu Zhengchu casually asked, “Li Li, did you leave university with this regret?”

Caught off guard, Yun Li thought of a myriad of responses in an instant, each one embarrassingly revealing.

Was Fu Zhengchu doing this on purpose?

Yun Li didn’t like prying into others’ affairs, mainly because she feared being questioned in return. Being perennially single was also proof to others of her poor social skills.

Suddenly feeling a chill in the evening breeze, she rubbed her elbows with the palms of her hands and admitted with difficulty, “I… have never been in a relationship.”

Desperate to change the subject, she asked, “What about you guys?”

“Ah…” Fu Zhengchu tilted his head in thought for a while, answering with certainty yet nonchalance, “I’ve dated four or five times, but they never lasted long.”

“That means…” The focus of the conversation shifted to Fu Shizhe.

Worried he might share a similar sentiment and see not having dated as a flaw, Yun Li pondered before asking innocently, “You too, four or five times?”

Fu Shizhe slightly leaned back his head, his neck pale and veins delicately branching out. Just then, he passed under an incandescent lamp, igniting a flicker of light in his eyes.

He turned to look at her, “You really think highly of me.”

“Li Li, what Uncle means is…” Fu Zhengchu took it upon himself to interpret, “The fact that he’s even being asked this question is already an overestimation.”

He feigned seriousness, “After all, in our eyes, he’s an asexual reproducer.”

Yun Li: “…”

Fu Shizhe: “…”

The female host continued to question the man, “So, Senior Yin, do you have any advice for the new students?”

The man concealed a laugh, “I hope everyone studies hard and, in their spare time, doesn’t forget to enjoy a wonderful campus romance.”

The interview concluded with the recent overseas hit song “Wonderland,” its intro volume gradually rising.

Fu Zhengchu kept commenting, “They shouldn’t have invited this guy as a guest.”

Yun Li: “?”

Fu Zhengchu: “I think the odds are that in the future, by the time Uncle’s classmates’ children are in elementary school, he won’t even have a girlfriend.”

He concluded, “Uncle obviously has more authority to speak on this.”

…

The three of them strolled leisurely along the residential area.

Before they knew it, they had reached West Street, a row of shops built along the outer edge of the residential area, mostly cafes for student entertainment and study.

Several stray cats lounged lazily by the roadside, unafraid of pedestrians. They would get up to eat a bit if there was food, too lazy to make any extra effort.

The streetlights cast long shadows, and from this angle, Yun Li and Fu Shizhe’s silhouettes overlapped perfectly.

After settling the bill, they headed towards the parking lot when Yun Ye made a video call, which Yun Li promptly declined. She immediately received a message from him: “Feeling any better?”

Despite their usual banter, her brother proved to be reliable when it mattered.

Yun Li was already in a good mood, and now she felt even better: “Not bad, been out and about all day, heading to the next spot now.”

Yun Ye: “…”

Yun Ye: “Stop lying. It’s only been two months, how could you have made friends?”

Yun Li’s eyebrows furrowed, typing faster: “Don’t be jealous, don’t worry, your sister is doing great!!!!”

Yun Ye: “Okay, okay.”

After a while.

Yun Ye: “A guy?”

Why would he ask that?

Though nothing had happened, for some reason, Yun Li felt guilty, as if being honest would imply something more.

She glanced at Fu Shizhe and replied without confidence: “A girl.”

Yun Ye, guessing she couldn’t have gotten a boyfriend in such a short time: “Alright, where are you off to this late?”

Yun Li: “To watch soccer.”

Yun Ye: “Since when do girls make plans to watch soccer??”

Yun Li didn’t realize she was walking faster while texting.

Gradually, she was two meters ahead of the others.

Fu Zhengchu vaguely saw Yun Li texting with several exclamation marks, thinking she was venting about something that had happened. Recalling how he asked for her WeChat at the airport, he thought Yun Li was somewhat conservative.

He whispered to Fu Shizhe: “Can’t Li Li see that guy was just trying to hit on her? She seems to think he’s a creep spying on her?”

The canned chips and drinks in the bag clinked together.

Fu Shizhe asked: “What else could it be?”

Fu Zhengchu, not sensing Fu Shizhe’s disagreement and perhaps relating to a similar experience, defended: “Just a simple hit-on! Right, Li Li is so beautiful, it’s surprising she’s so inexperienced.”

“I’m inexperienced too,” Fu Shizhe said, turning his head, “not like you, who’s been in four or five relationships.”

“…”

Upon reaching Nanwu Stadium, they realized the drinks were a futile purchase. The stadium was bustling, and security at the entrance stopped anyone with their drinks, a large sign reading “No Outside Beverages Allowed” prominently displayed.

Seeing this, Fu Shizhe put the items back in the car. Yun Li and Fu Zhengchu entered and waited inside, noticing most spectators wore either white or black, clearly supporting the two teams.

“Do you have a team you’re rooting for?”

“Yeah!” Fu Zhengchu lifted his shirt, “See? I’m wearing black.”

“But…”

Both she and Fu Shizhe were wearing white jackets.

Fu Zhengchu, appearing to understand, calmly said, “No worries, just follow me!”

The audience was divided by an aisle, with those in black on one side and those in white on the other.

Yun Li and her companions walked to the black section under the gaze of many, frequently asked if they were in the wrong place.

Eventually, even Fu Zhengchu couldn’t stand it.

“Uncle, Li Li, maybe you should go to the other side.”

Embarrassed, Yun Li grabbed her bag and found a seat in the white section, with Fu Shizhe sitting next to her.

The seats were close, their knees occasionally touching, causing Yun Li to flinch back.

Yun Li broke the silence: “Do you support the white team?”

Fu Shizhe: “No.”

“Do you usually watch games?”

“No.”

“So, you’re here with Fu Zhengchu today?”

Fu Shizhe looked back at her: “Aren’t you too?”

Their awkward conversation made Yun Li wish she could disappear.

Fortunately, the game started soon, heating up the atmosphere and sparing Yun Li from further awkwardness with Fu Shizhe.

This was Yun Li’s first live soccer game.

She had watched many commentators’ videos online before, and Fei Shui, whom she met during a store visit, was somewhat famous in soccer commentary.

The experience as a spectator and a participant was entirely different.

Now, Yun Li felt the excitement.

To enhance the entertainment, Nanwu Stadium provided live commentary, the enthusiastic tone matching the crowd’s cheers, pushing the atmosphere to its climax.

Upon entry, Yun Li was given two clappers, which she found herself using at the right moments.

Gradually, she got carried away by the surrounding excitement, clapping furiously when the white team scored their first goal.

Fu Shizhe: “…”

He wanted to say something, but seeing Yun Li’s joyful expression, he closed his mouth.

Ignoring the subdued mood beside her was impossible for Yun Li.

After a moment, she offered one of the clappers to him: “I think you might enjoy joining in, it’s quite fun.”

Fu Shizhe didn’t take it.

A few seconds later.

Yun Li, holding up her white shirt, suggested: “Aren’t we supporting the white team?”

Initially indifferent to soccer, Yun Li was now fully engaged.

Fu Shizhe even detected a hint of accusation in her slightly pursed lips.

“…”

The two exchanged looks, silently amidst the fervent backdrop, Yun Li feeling a bit nervous yet stubbornly maintaining eye contact.

After a while.

“Clap, clap, clap!”

Compliantly, Fu Shizhe took the clapper and waved it silently.