Chapter 13: Why Don’t You Play by the Rules?

Feeling the vibration of his phone in his pocket, Chen Lu slowly opened his eyes.

The breeze was still blowing against his cheeks.

He glanced at the time. Five in the afternoon, two hours had passed.

Damn, he actually fell asleep…

This kind of nap always felt like time travel, especially after setting the alarm in the morning, closing his eyes and opening them again, you never know how much time will pass.

Li Sian, your dad is exhausted for you, when will you die?

Chen Lu swore that he initially just wanted to experience the feeling of someone fanning him and closed his eyes.

Unexpectedly, he fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

He rubbed his eyes again and looked to the side. Liang Zhirou was holding her phone in one hand, carefully looking at English words, and the other hand was gently fanning him.

Even though he couldn’t see her eyes clearly, at this distance, he could still tell that Liang Zhirou’s skin was very good, her face looked smooth, her dimples were shallow, and she was exceptionally charming.

A few strands of hair on the girl’s cheeks were tightly stuck to her skin by sweat, her T-shirt clung to her chest, revealing a strange light blue, but she seemed oblivious to it, her small mouth opening and closing as she silently recited words.

“…”

It seemed that Liang Zhirou had been in this state for the past two hours without moving.

Chen Lu felt a mix of emotions at that moment: happiness, guilt, gratitude, and a touch of helplessness towards this silly girl.

He wasn’t sure which emotion was dominant.

At this moment, the girl’s gaze met his.

Chen Lu immediately stood up, gently pushing Liang Zhirou back onto the chair and grabbing her fan.

The girl was startled, not understanding what he was doing.

Before she could speak, Chen Lu started fanning her.

The breeze blew against her cheeks, and Liang Zhirou closed her eyes that were sore from looking at words.

“No need, I’m not hot.” Liang Zhirou secretly squeezed her arm, which was quite sore from holding the fan for a long time, and said softly.

“Just stay put, or I’m afraid I’ll end up slapping myself.”

Seeing Chen Lu’s unexpectedly serious tone, Liang Zhirou didn’t say anything more.

She slowly closed her eyes, inexplicably enjoying this moment.

Before meeting Chen Lu, Hangzhou was cold, but afterwards, the weather became very warm.

Especially now.

The sunlight felt comfortable on her skin, and the fanning wind was very refreshing.

This was a feeling she had never experienced before.

“Ph…phone.” The girl reminded him cautiously.

The phone had been ringing for a while since Chen Lu woke up, and she thought it must be something important.

“Even if it’s the Emperor himself calling, I have to fan you for a while first.”

Chen Lu said as he took out his phone and looked at the caller ID. “Let me see who’s disturbing my peaceful sleep, I really…”

“Hello, Mom…”

Chen Lu’s tone instantly softened.

“Oh, you still remember I’m your mom?”

There was a clear undercurrent of anger on the other end of the line.

These words startled Chen Lu, and the hand holding the fan trembled, the fan hitting Liang Zhirou’s cheek.

The girl didn’t dare to make a sound.

Chen Lu, still half-asleep, subconsciously rubbed her face in embarrassment, but realized his mistake and retracted his hand.

The girl, who was already a little hot, now had even redder cheeks.

She lowered her head, pursing her lips, afraid that her voice would be heard on the phone.

This gave Chen Lu an inexplicable urge to tease her, but the pangs of conscience made him give up the thought.

Besides, if his mom heard a girl’s voice, he would be interrogated endlessly.

“It’s not easy studying away from home, you’re a nuisance when you come back. Do you know how many days you haven’t been home?”

“I went back a few days ago.”

“How come I don’t know?”

“Didn’t I go back a few days ago? I was afraid to disturb you while you were sleeping.”

“You have to be like a thief when you come back home? Your sister is in such a crucial stage of high school, and you, as her brother, don’t even care? Come back and see her these days! Otherwise, don’t come back!”

Chen Lu responded with a couple of “yes” and quickly hung up the phone, sighing.

This sarcastic skill… where did he learn it…

He looked up at the struggling drama club, and asked curiously, “Where’s Lin Miaomiao?”

“She got mad at us…”

Chen Lu was confused by this statement, “She got mad at us?”

The girl, with a hair tie in her mouth, was re-braiding her hair, making Chen Lu unconsciously swallow.

To be honest, this action could win over 80% of guys.

“She told me to stop fanning you, and I said I wasn’t tired, then she called us ‘dog-man and woman’ and went back to the dorm to sleep.”

Liang Zhirou said with some annoyance, constantly thinking about why Lin Miaomiao was angry.

“She was just joking.” Chen Lu comforted her when he saw this.

Looking at the girl who had calmed down and nodded, Chen Lu rubbed his head in frustration and asked with a headache, “Aren’t you tired?”

“You said you needed me.” Liang Zhirou said seriously.

Chen Lu felt his heart almost stop.

“I… forget it, now that she’s gone, there’s no need for us to stay here. Do you have anything else to do later?” He asked instead.

“I have to go to my part-time job later.”

Hearing this, Chen Lu suddenly felt like he was living a very decadent life. Some people work seven days a week, and he was actually spending his parents’ money with a clear conscience.

Is this good? It’s not good.

Chen Lu yawned again, “Okay, you rest for a while, I’ll fan you, and then I’ll take you there.”

Liang Zhirou pursed her lips and didn’t say anything, stubbornly closing her eyes, savoring this tenderness she had never felt before.

Trying to commit this feeling to memory, to engrave it in her dreams.

Just this once, it’s okay…

Time passed minute by minute, and the two of them chatted back and forth.

In front of Chen Lu, Liang Zhirou’s words gradually increased.

“Hey, speaking of which, Lin Miaomiao doesn’t act or help, so why does she keep running here?”

Liang Zhirou yawned with her eyes and mouth wide open, saying, “She’s the vice president.”

Chen Lu cleared his throat, “…Then it’s fine.”

It made sense, after all, she was running around in a cosplay costume for no reason, she must be the pillar of this group of socially awkward people, it’s not strange to be the vice president.

The two of them chatted like this for a long time, even though Chen Lu’s questions were all over the place and lacked substance, Liang Zhirou answered them all seriously.

It inexplicably felt like a peaceful time.

Half an hour later, Chen Lu woke up the drowsy Liang Zhirou and prepared to take her to her part-time job.

The two of them walked on the playground, their shadows stretching long.

Chen Lu felt his arm aching, and this was only after holding the fan for half an hour.

This silly girl said she wasn’t tired, she was lying…

Looking at the girl walking beside him, Chen Lu’s mood became more and more complicated.

He was about to say something when he saw Lin Miaomiao walking towards them, glaring at him angrily.

“What are you looking at?” Chen Lu asked.

“You still dare to wake up.” Lin Miaomiao rolled her eyes at him, guessing their situation from the scene, “You take her there, I’m going back to the drama club.”

Then she shouted loudly, “Remember to come and be a slave! My Liang Zhirou can’t fan you for free, you have to pay back! She should be taking a nap.”

These words made Chen Lu feel even more guilty, thinking he needed a more offensive word than ‘birth’ to curse himself.

He, a big guy, held his arm and fanned for half an hour and was already uncomfortable, he didn’t know how Liang Zhirou persisted.

She was so silly, she didn’t even know to stop.

If I sell her later, will she thank me and count money for me?

……

After sending Liang Zhirou off, Chen Lu returned to the dorm with a cup of fruit tea.

This was given to him by the manager of the hotpot restaurant where Liang Zhirou worked part-time. He didn’t know why, but the manager looked at him with a strange look, like a father-in-law looking at his son-in-law…

It was obvious that Liang Zhirou, a hardworking and conscientious girl, was very likable.

Chen Lu walked slowly behind Jiang Chao, who was playing on his phone.

Jiang Chao had already achieved a glorious 0-8-2 record with Han Xin.

The chat box had already started to greet him kindly.

“Boss, are these teammates cursing you as an idiot?” Chen Lu sarcastically asked while taking a sip of fruit tea.

“They’re cursing ‘Xue is my wife’, what does it have to do with me, Jiang Chao?”

“…You’re right.”

“Chen Lu, pass me the fruit knife, I’ll cut a watermelon for you. I just bought it this afternoon, damn, watermelon is still expensive this season.”

Chen Lu just picked up the knife when the door was slowly opened.

Li Sian glanced at Chen Lu holding the knife, staring at him, and immediately pressed his back against the door.

Seeing Chen Lu smiling and spinning the knife in his hand, Li Sian stretched out his trembling right hand to touch his glasses.

“Lu…Brother Lu, I really didn’t know. Who would have thought that the dance club would ask Mo Yuqing for help, I only found out about this when you told me.”

Chen Lu handed the fruit knife to Jiang Chao with the tip of the knife, smiling, “Of course I believe you, mainly, I don’t want the other two roommates to get into graduate school.”

Seeing the knife in Jiang Chao’s hand, Li Sian suddenly shouted, “Boss! This little bastard Chen Lu went on a date with the flyer girl this afternoon!”

…

At night.

Chen Lu lay in bed with his laptop, watching a video of Mo Yuqing performing on stage during her freshman year.

The girl on stage was dressed up, her movements were graceful and elegant, and her long black hair flew with her agile dance steps.

Even though the others around her were also beautiful, the brilliance they exuded was still overshadowed by her alone.

She was the true protagonist.

From the moment she stepped onto the stage, everyone’s eyes were destined to be on her alone.

It was also from that moment that she became a celebrity in the school, her fame far exceeding her time in high school.

During her final speech, she thanked many people in the club, even including Liu Yan, who only cheered from beginning to end.

But she didn’t mention me, who worked hard from beginning to end.

I was tired like a dog, and I didn’t even get a word of thanks.

I, who was smiling while recording this video at that time, must have never imagined that all my efforts would be in vain.

It was just to move myself, I could even play against Batman.

With a wry smile, he deleted the video.

Along with his memories and nostalgia for the past, he deleted and destroyed them.

Putting away his laptop, Chen Lu stared at the ceiling for a while.

Buzz.

Chen Lu picked up his phone and looked at the message.

Liang Zhirou: Miaomiao said you’ll definitely come over tomorrow, is that true?

Chen Lu: It depends on whether you go or not

Then he stared at the ‘typing…’ for a long time.

Liang Zhirou: Can you come earlier in the morning?

Chen Lu blinked curiously, deciding to tease this silly girl, scare her away, and then sleep soundly.

Chen Lu: You want to see me so much?

This time, it was ‘typing…’ for a full ten minutes.

Chen Lu’s eyelids were fighting fiercely, he was about to fall asleep when his phone finally rang again.

Liang Zhirou: Yeah.

The girl used ten minutes to type this one word.

Chen Lu looked at the message, rubbed his eyes, and the message was still there.

This city has one more insomniac.