Chapter 4 – 04

“Is that so?” Lou Jia avoided Jiang Siwei’s gaze by pretending to yawn. “Then why haven’t you contacted us for so long?”

“The situation was quite complicated at the time,” Jiang Siwei said after a moment of silence.

It was clear he was intentionally withholding information, but Lou Jia didn’t ask further. She had originally planned to stay until he finished taking his medicine, but Fang Jin, who lived in this dormitory, returned for a midday rest. Not wanting to linger, she gave a couple of reminders and then got up and left.

The heavy rain, like strings of beaded curtains, pounded the muddy ground in the courtyard. For several days in a row, Jiang Siwei had woken up to this sound.

Suddenly, one morning, he didn’t hear any noise. He was surprised and quickly opened his eyes, realizing that the sky had cleared, and he felt much more at ease.

There was no one in the room. Jiang Siwei got up and walked outside. Lou Jia, standing on the other side of the corridor, saw him and walked over to ask, “How are you feeling today?”

“Much better.” Jiang Siwei rubbed his hair. “I feel like I could eat a whole cow right now.”

Lou Jia smiled. “Then hurry up and get ready. I’ll take you to the cafeteria. Now that the rain has stopped, we have a lot to do.”

Jiang Siwei nodded. “Alright.”

The rain in Wutong Village had completely stopped.

Several classrooms on the second floor of the school had severe leaks, and the unfinished playground was soaked, but fortunately, the heavy rain didn’t trigger a flash flood, so everything was still salvageable.

The aftermath work following the rain was overwhelming. All morning, Jiang Siwei only exchanged a couple of words with Lou Jia during lunch, and by the afternoon, he didn’t see her at all.

When he returned to the dorm in the evening and noticed Lou Jia still hadn’t come back, and there was no response to his messages, he couldn’t help but ask Fang Jin about her.

“I would have forgotten if you hadn’t asked. Teacher Lou went with the principal to town in the afternoon to pick someone up. She probably won’t be back until tomorrow,” Fang Jin recalled after being asked. “Before she left, she told me to let you know and reminded me to tell you to take your medicine. It’s been so busy that I totally forgot.”

“Picking someone up? Is someone else coming?” Jiang Siwei poured himself a cup of hot water, preparing to let it cool before taking his medicine.

“I’m not too sure either. It seems like the donated supplies Teacher Lou arranged for the school have arrived,” Fang Jin said. “She left in a hurry, so I didn’t ask for details. But never mind that—did you take your medicine? I need to take a photo to send to Teacher Lou.”

“About to take it,” Jiang Siwei smiled. “Bro, you go wash up first. I’ll take the photo myself after I finish.”

“Alright.”

Jiang Siwei liked the feeling of being cared for all the time. He was meticulous about the photo task, taking pictures of the pills, the poured water, and even the empty medicine box after finishing.

Lou Jia quickly responded with a message: [Good boy.]

She also sent a sticker of a hand patting a kitten’s head.

Jiang Siwei remembered how she used to like doing that to him, and now he wished he could turn into the little kitten on the screen.

He typed back: [Is there a reward?]

Lou Jia replied: [Jiang Siwei, how old are you? You still want a reward for taking medicine?]

Jiang Siwei sent a crying puppy sticker in response.

Lou Jia couldn’t help but laugh when she received the message. Zhang Lin, sitting next to her, turned and asked, “What’s so funny?”

She shook her head and put away her phone. “It’s nothing.”

Zhang Lin was one of the donors for the supplies to the school, and also Lou Jia’s first boyfriend from her university days. They had broken up during their senior year because of differing future plans.

It had been three years since they last saw each other.

When Lou Jia first arrived in Wutong Village, she posted a message on her Moments^[1]Moments is a social feature in WeChat that allows users to share updates, photos, and videos with their contacts. Similar to a timeline or newsfeed, users can post content, which their friends can … Continue reading. Zhang Lin happened to see it and proactively suggested organizing a donation of supplies with some friends who were also living in the U.S.

As the main organizer, Zhang Lin not only took personal responsibility for everything but also made a special trip back from the U.S.

Lou Jia wasn’t unaware of his intentions, and though she privately didn’t want to have any further interactions with him, his goodwill was undeniably a great benefit to Wutong Village.

She couldn’t just turn a blind eye to it.

Along the way, Lou Jia did her best to avoid being alone with Zhang Lin, keeping their communication strictly professional. Zhang Lin, understanding the situation, didn’t say anything further.

The car drove straight to the entrance of the school.

Jiang Siwei watched as Lou Jia got out of the car, just about to smile, when he suddenly froze upon seeing the person who stepped out from the other side of the car.

Everyone else greeted them with smiles, but Jiang Siwei remained standing where he was, motionless.

Lou Jia left the welcoming duties to the others at the school and walked over to Jiang Siwei. Seeing him still in a daze, she raised her hand and snapped her fingers. “What are you thinking about?”

Jiang Siwei had an odd sense of déjà vu, as if he was back on that winter night when his heart shattered into pieces. “So, you went to pick him up yesterday?”

Lou Jia nodded and handed something over. “Hold out your hand.”

Jiang Siwei instinctively extended his hand, and a small green grass-woven dog landed in his palm. “What’s this?”

“Didn’t you ask for a reward?” Lou Jia glanced at him.

“Oh.” Despite just a night passing, Jiang Siwei no longer felt any happiness at all.

“What’s wrong with you?” Lou Jia noticed something was off with him and raised her hand to feel his forehead. “No fever, but why do you look so pale?”

“It’s nothing, I might be… maybe…” What was it? Jiang Siwei couldn’t find the words. He had once witnessed them when they were in love.

It was the nightmare that haunted him on countless sleepless nights.

But he couldn’t say anything about it.

Zhang Lin, surrounded by the crowd, had been watching Lou Jia the entire time. He also noticed her interaction with Jiang Siwei, but he didn’t recognize him.

Once the crowd dispersed, he walked over to the two of them. “Lou Jia, who is this?”

“This is Siwei,” Lou Jia reminded him. “You used to play basketball together.”

Zhang Lin’s gaze returned to Jiang Siwei’s face, surprised. It was clear that he remembered the name, but he hadn’t expected the boy to have changed so much.

“Hello, Siwei, do you still remember me?”

Jiang Siwei unconsciously clenched his hand, feeling the grass-woven dog in his palm. He forced a small smile. “Of course, I remember.”

“You’re quite different from before.” Zhang Lin’s eyes carried a hint of scrutiny.

“Is that so? I don’t really feel that different,” Jiang Siwei seemed to resist making eye contact with Zhang Lin and turned to Lou Jia instead. “I still have some work to finish, so I’ll head over.”

“Siwei…” Lou Jia noticed the dazed look in his eyes and wanted to ask more, but Jiang Siwei walked away quickly. From his retreating figure, it almost gave the impression of someone fleeing.

“Weird,” she muttered to herself.

Zhang Lin also watched Jiang Siwei’s retreating figure with a thoughtful expression. After a few seconds, he turned back to Lou Jia. “Can you show me around? I’d like to take some photos.”

Lou Jia looked at him.

He shook the camera hanging around his neck. “I need them for the report.”

“Alright,” she agreed.

The school wasn’t very big, so it wouldn’t have taken long to walk around. However, Zhang Lin took his time, snapping photos as they went, and by the time they were done, more than an hour had passed.

Lou Jia had been preoccupied with thoughts of Jiang Siwei. Once Zhang Lin was finished, she quickly found an excuse to slip away.

But Jiang Siwei had disappeared, and no one she asked had seen him. It wasn’t until dinner, when the cafeteria was already full, that Jiang Siwei finally came in, squeezing into a small table in the corner where the children were sitting.

At first, Lou Jia didn’t notice him. When she finally did, she sent him a message asking him to come sit with her, but Jiang Siwei made an excuse, unwilling to move.

In the end, it was Principal Luo who stepped in and pulled him over, seating him in the empty spot diagonally across from Lou Jia.

Since they were seated a bit far apart, Lou Jia couldn’t ask him what was really going on with him today. However, when Fang Jin was about to pour him some alcohol, she intervened. “Fang Jin, Siwei is still taking medicine. He can’t drink.”

Just as Fang Jin was about to set the bottle down, Jiang Siwei said, “It’s fine. I didn’t take any today. I can drink a little.”

“Jiang Siwei—” Lou Jia couldn’t say much in front of so many people, so in the end, she simply reminded him, “Watch how much you drink, don’t overdo it.”

Jiang Siwei glanced at her, and for some reason, after seeing her warning look, the discomfort in his heart eased. “Got it.”

The wine was brewed by Principal Luo himself. Although it wasn’t particularly strong, its aftereffects were potent.

By the time Jiang Siwei had had a few more drinks, his ears and face were bright red, and he was feeling a bit dizzy. At one point, he got up to go to the bathroom, but after a long time, he still hadn’t returned.

Lou Jia, worried that Jiang Siwei might have gotten stuck in the bathroom, called Fang Jin to help her look for him. They found Jiang Siwei sitting on a large stone by the wall outside the cafeteria, gazing up at the sky.

“I’ll go check on him,” Lou Jia told Fang Jin, sending him back inside. She slowed her pace and walked over to Jiang Siwei. “What are you looking at?”

Without moving his head, Jiang Siwei replied, “The moon.”

Lou Jia looked up at the sky as well.

The post-rain moon wasn’t as bright or clear as it would be on a clear night. It wasn’t particularly full or crescent-shaped, and there didn’t seem to be anything special about it.

She couldn’t understand what had captivated Jiang Siwei for so long. “Are you interested in astronomy?” she asked.

Jiang Siwei chuckled softly and shook his head. “I just like looking at the moon.”

“Why?” Lou Jia asked.

He suddenly turned to look at her, his cheeks flushed, and his eyes seemed even brighter than the moon itself. “Because you can see it too.”

The moon itself wasn’t anything special.

It was just the thought that perhaps you were looking at the same moon as me—that was enough.

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Author’s Note:

A man, three parts drunk, acting until your heart breaks. 😀

*

It’s been a while since I sent out red envelopes, so here’s some for everyone in this chapter! Leave a comment before the next chapter update, and you’ll get a red envelope =3=
Also: I revised the timeline at the end of the last chapter. Currently, the female lead has graduated from her master’s program, and the male lead has graduated from university.

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