Chapter 20: Lu Liu Seems to Fit Your…

After returning home, Lin Zhi sent a message to Lu Liu asking about whether he should send the money for the meal to Hang Xia.

Lu Liu and his group had gone to another entertainment venue, and along the way, a few of Hang Xia’s friends arrived. In the noisy environment, Lu Liu felt his phone vibrating. When he opened it, he saw a long message from Lin Zhi.

Lin Zhi, in an effort to save money on texting, had crammed all the questions and thoughts he wanted to convey into one message, clearly expressing the reason for his message and what answers he was hoping to receive.

It seemed Lin Zhi wanted Lu Liu to respond briefly and to the point, just as he would, but Lu Liu, perhaps influenced by the holiday or Lin Zhi’s answer during the meal, or maybe because Lu Liu wasn’t as understanding as he appeared and had a mischievous streak, decided to do the opposite and break his response into several short sentences.

As the one needing help, Lin Zhi had no choice but to go along with Lu Liu’s rambling. They chatted for a full fifteen minutes, covering seven or eight pages of meaningless conversation before finally settling the issue.

Lin Zhi summed it up, and the final message was: Hang Xia doesn’t need to pay.

“……”

What had they even talked about?

Lin Zhi was speechless for a while and slowly typed another message:

【Lin Zhi: By the way, when do you have time? Let me treat you to a meal.】

【Lu Liu: ?】

【Lin Zhi: Thanks for speaking up for me in front of Doctor Lu.】

This wasn’t just Lin Zhi’s thought, it was also Lin Qingye’s. After Lin Zhi told Lin Qingye about the relationship between Lu Liu and Doctor Lu, Lin Qingye immediately understood why Doctor Lu was so busy but still personally checked Lin Zhi’s health every day.

Moreover, Lin Qingye, seeing Lu Liu visit him many times at the hospital, mistakenly thought that Lin Zhi and Lu Liu were very close friends in class. In order to express his gratitude, he had been urging Lin Zhi to invite Lu Liu to their home for a meal.

Lin Zhi knew that his relationship with Lu Liu wasn’t as close as it seemed during Lin Qingye’s hospital stay, and while he was deeply grateful to Lu Liu, he didn’t want Lu Liu coming to his house. As a compromise, he decided to invite Lu Liu out for a meal instead.

【Lu Liu: Well, actually, there’s no need. I didn’t really say much.】

He had only told Doctor Lu that Lin Zhi was his best friend in the second high school, not expecting Lin Zhi’s father to fall ill. Lin Zhi had been upset for a long time, and Lu Liu had been very concerned, but that was all.

Lu Xueli and Lu Liu’s father, Lu Xueyi, had been close friends since childhood, and even after starting their own families, their bond remained strong. The two families maintained a close relationship, and the uncles and nephews treated each other like father and son. When Lu Liu mentioned Lin Zhi, Lu Xueli naturally took it to heart.

Lin Zhi kept typing and deleting messages, suddenly unsure how to reply. It was always easy to chat about trivial things, but once it came to matters involving him and Lu Liu, he got stuck.

Lu Liu saw the “typing” indicator for a long time and thought, “Is Lin Zhi writing another long message?”

In reality, Lu Liu was just being polite. As soon as Lin Zhi invited him sincerely again, he would “reluctantly” agree, but why was Lin Zhi hesitating? Was he having second thoughts?

Lu Liu’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly found an excuse to suggest:

【Lu Liu: How about this, since school’s starting soon, we could just have a meal at the cafeteria?】

Lin Zhi quickly replied with a “Sure.” He thought to himself that Lu Liu really was understanding. He had been worried that a one-on-one meal would feel awkward, but the cafeteria would be much better.

Lu Liu, however, breathed a sigh of relief. Lin Zhi’s quick reply clearly showed that he wasn’t writing another long message but had been hesitant to say no. Fortunately, Lu Liu had anticipated this and suggested the cafeteria, otherwise, he might not have had the chance. After all, Lin Zhi tended to avoid him, especially at school.

A few days later, the senior high school students returned to school. Lin Zhi and Yao Wenjing had agreed to travel together. With fewer first and second-year students squeezing onto the bus, the two of them surprisingly managed to get a seat each.

The afternoon sun streamed through the bus windows, making people feel drowsy. Lin Zhi dozed for most of the journey, only fully waking up as they neared the school.

Lin Zhi turned his head to look outside. The buildings in the suburbs were generally low, and in the distance, he could vaguely see the brick-red rooftops of the teacher’s apartment buildings.

The heat of summer lingered just after the start of autumn, and the sunlight was still blinding. Lin Zhi looked at it for a while before his eyes began to sting. He squinted slightly and, through the reflection in the glass, saw Yao Wenjing’s blurry figure sitting upright. He looked just like Lu Liu, but Yao Wenjing was much more slender than Lu Liu.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Zhi turned around and asked curiously. “Why are you sitting so seriously, even more so than when we’re in class?”

“I’m feeling a bit nauseous,” Yao Wenjing said, staring with his round eyes. He hadn’t sat on a bus for this long all summer, and the motion sickness had overwhelmed his stomach again. He quietly explained, “The vibrations from leaning on the seat make me feel like I’m going to throw up.”

Lin Zhi didn’t understand Yao Wenjing’s discomfort but believed he was genuinely feeling terrible, especially since Yao Wenjing didn’t even dare to open his mouth fully when speaking.

“Want some water?” Lin Zhi rummaged through his bag for the bottle of mineral water he had taken from the fridge before boarding the bus. It was no longer cold, so he pulled out an orange and handed it to Yao Wenjing. “Peel it and smell it. I heard the refreshing scent can help with nausea.”

Yao Wenjing always trusted Lin Zhi’s words. He peeled a piece of the orange skin and pressed it against the area above his lip, taking a deep breath.

“It really works!” Yao Wenjing quickly peeled another piece and sniffed it again, so relieved that he almost wanted to shove the peel up his nose. “Who told you that?”

“You did.”

Lin Zhi recalled that among the people he knew, Yao Wenjing was the only one who got motion sickness. After Lin Qingye passed away in the past life, Yao Wenjing had accompanied Lin Zhi to bury Lin Qingye’s ashes at the cemetery. The cemetery was far away, and Yao Wenjing got motion sick even in a taxi, more so than on a bus. Before they left, he had bought some oranges to alleviate his motion sickness, and the leftovers were placed in front of Lin Qingye’s tombstone.

At that time, Lin Zhi had been holding his father’s ashes, feeling utterly despondent. When he saw Yao Wenjing sniffing the orange, he had casually asked, not expecting to remember it, but he did.

The orange peel might not work for other people who get motion sick, but it definitely worked for Yao Wenjing. Lin Zhi smiled and said, “I forgot.”

When they arrived at the school, it was still early, as classes would officially begin the next morning. As they approached the dormitory entrance, Yao Wenjing asked, “Our class monitor said there’s no evening self-study today. Do you have any plans for tonight?”

“No, I’m just going to pack a bit, and then…” Lin Zhi raised an eyebrow. “Then study!”

Yao Wenjing paused for a moment, then turned to smile.

“…” Lin Zhi huffed, “Is it that funny?”

“Not funny,” Yao Wenjing said, his lips curving back into a smile after a brief pause. He became serious. “I just think that once you’ve made up your mind to study hard, you really make the most of every minute. I should learn from you.”

“I’d advise against it,” Lin Zhi said.

He always sounded enthusiastic, but the time he actually dedicated to studying each day didn’t exceed two hours. His foundation was weak to begin with, and after more than two years without touching high school material, there were so many questions he didn’t know how to solve. The more he didn’t know, the less he wanted to try. The less he wanted to try, the more he thought about “planting,” and the more he thought about “planting,” the more his thoughts drifted.

“Ah,” Lin Zhi sighed. “It would be great if there was a kind and gentle guy… to teach me how to study step by step.”

“Although I’d love to teach you,” Yao Wenjing chuckled, “I think I only meet the requirement of being male.”

Lin Zhi smiled. He still had no idea where someone who met his requirements might be.

“By the way,” Lin Zhi suddenly remembered something. “I’m going to treat Lu Liu to hot pot at the cafeteria later. Do you want to join?”

After a few seconds of silence, Lin Zhi thought this wasn’t a difficult question to answer. He turned to look at Yao Wenjing in confusion and found his expression a bit complicated.

“Lin Zhi,” Yao Wenjing said slowly, “I’ve been thinking, and Lu Liu seems to really fit your requirements…”