Chapter 22: I’m Here

It was a cool and crisp morning on May 1st.

An unknown rain had fallen the night before, leaving the air fresh and invigorating.

Chen Lu yawned as he got out of bed, opened the curtains to let in some air, and headed to the bathroom to wash up.

Li Sinian and Zheng Haoyu, who were from out of town, had to leave early to catch the high-speed train.

Only Jiang Chao was still asleep, as sound as a log.

“Bro, what are your plans for May Day?” Chen Lu asked, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. He wanted to kick Jiang Chao, but ended up just giving him a nudge.

“Going on a trip with Liu Yan, leaving on the afternoon high-speed train.”

“Go to hell.”

The kick finally came out.

Chen Lu walked down the street, texting Liang Zhirou.

Chen Lu: Good morning, what are you doing?

Liang Zhirou: Just got dressed, about to head to my part-time job.

The girl replied quickly, almost immediately after Chen Lu sent his message.

Every time Chen Lu boredly asked what she was doing, she would earnestly tell him.

Chen Lu: Found a new job?

Liang Zhirou: Yeah! Still handing out flyers, at the China World Mall.

Chen Lu smiled and continued typing: That’s great.

He was typing and walking at the same time, almost tripping and twisting his ankle.

He then thoughtfully put on his Bluetooth headset and called Liang Zhirou.

He was sure she was looking at her phone, but for some reason, the call didn’t connect for several seconds. Then, a gentle voice came through the phone.

“Hello?”

The girl’s voice sounded muffled, as if she had just woken up.

“I almost twisted my ankle while texting you, scared the crap out of me. Let’s just chat on the phone instead,” Chen Lu complained, feeling lucky that he had almost tripped.

Liang Zhirou’s voice became a little anxious, “I… I’m sorry, are you okay?”

This confused Chen Lu. Why was she apologizing?

“I’m fine, I reacted quickly,” Chen Lu said lazily, yawning. He secretly felt grateful for the near-miss.

This was their first time calling each other.

The girl on the other end seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, then asked, “Did you eat breakfast?”

“No, the breakfast from the shop isn’t as good as yours.”

Chen Lu joked, not mentioning that he was just too lazy to eat.

College students these days were lucky to eat two meals on time, no one wanted to sacrifice their sleep to eat breakfast.

“No… you have to eat on time. Should I bring you some?”

The sweet and innocent girl made a not-so-smart suggestion.

Chen Lu chuckled, “Then bring it to my house, remember to bring some for my family.”

“Then, then forget it.”

Liang Zhirou, who had already gone to the kitchen to start making porridge, sat back down on her bed.

Chen Lu was a mischievous rascal, and she hadn’t reacted in time to his teasing.

They both fell silent for a while, a common occurrence when they were alone together.

But no one felt awkward, in fact, they both enjoyed it, even just quietly sensing each other’s presence.

“I don’t seem to be making any progress.”

After a long silence, Liang Zhirou spoke first.

“Yesterday, when I was looking for a part-time job, the manager asked me a question, and I couldn’t even speak…”

Chen Lu continued to laugh lightly, his tone gentle, “Don’t rush, take it one step at a time.

Confidence needs to grow gradually as your self-worth increases.

Otherwise, it’s not confidence, it’s arrogance.

In other words… just keep working hard to improve yourself, and it will come with time.”

Noticing the girl was still listening intently, Chen Lu added, “You’ve already made a lot of progress, you wouldn’t have been willing to wear that uniform before.”

“It just doesn’t feel like the same thing…”

“It is the same thing.”

“Really…” Liang Zhirou was still a little doubtful.

He continued with a serious tone, “Should we try wearing ancient costumes next time? You would look really good in that kind of clothing.

You wouldn’t want your friends…”

“Can you stop bullying me…” The girl interrupted him softly, her voice sounding a little aggrieved.

Chen Lu showed a satisfied yet mischievous smile, but it was quickly replaced by a serious expression, “Anyway, just relax and take your time, I’m here.”

“Okay.” Liang Zhirou responded softly, her suppressed mood lifting a little.

She couldn’t explain it, but hearing Chen Lu say “I’m here” made her feel very reassured.

……

Time seemed to fly by during the phone call, the half-hour drive was over in a blink of an eye.

Chen Lu reluctantly hung up the phone, scanned the code to pay, and got out of the car.

Nothing had changed, really.

The downside of going to college in your hometown was that there was no feeling of going home when you were on break.

Other parents would treat their children like treasures when they hadn’t come home in a long time – at least for the first few days.

As soon as he opened the door, he heard the voices of his parents talking.

A relative he didn’t recognize was loudly discussing something, he didn’t know which of his many aunts and uncles it was.

Chen Lu’s father, Chen Guanglin, and mother, Wang Xiaoxia, sat quietly beside them, smiling.

His younger sister, Chen Mo, was also there.

Lu and Mo both have the meaning of “road” in them, Chen Lu didn’t know why his parents were so fond of driving.

The girl was seventeen years old, in her prime, and had grown up to be very beautiful. She sat quietly beside them, occasionally smiling politely and responding with a sentence, appearing well-behaved and sensible.

Chen Lu knew this was just an act.

If Lin Miaomiao was a regular level social anxiety terrorist, his sister was the kind who would fly a plane into the US Capitol.

A pure little devil.

“Xiaoxia, I’m telling you, your parenting style is really problematic, you have to be stricter with this kid!”

Chen Lu put his bag in the hallway, ready to quietly slip out and avoid the ordeal. Listening to these people talk was worse than death.

Wang Xiaoxia also saw Chen Lu’s intentions, and seeing that the relative was still talking endlessly, she didn’t force Chen Lu to stay and chat.

Just when Chen Lu thought he could escape,

“Brother! You’re back!” Chen Mo exclaimed excitedly.

Hearing this, the relative finally noticed Chen Lu, who was about to sneak away, and pointed at him, asking, “Is this your kid? He’s grown up so much!”

“Xiaolu, call her Second Aunt.” Chen Guanglin reminded him softly.

“Second Aunt.”

Chen Lu had no choice but to sit next to Chen Mo, glaring at her with murderous intent.

Chen Mo continued to act well-behaved and sensible, her eyes blinking.

He only then noticed the boy sitting next to his Second Aunt, who looked only a year or two younger than him, very dull.

Unlike Chen Mo, who was a master of superficiality, this boy didn’t speak the whole time, nor did he look at his phone, just sat there blankly.

It was hard to imagine he was already a college student.

Seeing that the other party didn’t intend to greet him, Chen Lu was happy to be left alone, took out his phone and asked Liang Zhirou what she was doing.

Seeing her brother take the lead, Chen Mo started to follow suit, browsing through funny videos.

Chen Lu curiously glanced over, then frowned, saying, “Little Blackie, bring your phone to court.”

“Look at these kids nowadays, they can’t do anything without their phones.” Second Aunt sighed as if she was heartbroken, “Phones and games ruin so many kids!”

“Xiaoxia, see, video games are like opium!”

？？？？

Chen Lu was stunned.

That’s the ninth art, okay?

Besides, I’m a college student!