Chapter 40: Because I’m Chasing You!

“It’s really round,” Lu Liu sighed, “And also… yellow.”

“Right?” Lin Zhi said proudly. “I specifically picked the two most perfect ones in color.”

Lu Liu brought the flowers back to the dormitory. Lin Zhi gave them to him with style, only handing over a practical flower preservative at the last moment, its meaning unspoken. However, Lu Liu couldn’t find a suitable vase after borrowing from all his roommates, and was teased several times.

His roommate Gao Zhenghong, who also stayed at school, gestured to a half-full large bottle of iced tea: “How about this? If you cut off this part at the top, it might work.”

“Thanks, but no need,” Lu Liu waved his hand. “You can keep drinking it.”

In the end, Lu Liu went to the school supermarket, bought a transparent glass bottle, and arranged the flowers Lin Zhi gave him on his desk.

The previously monotonous desk now had a splash of bright color. The sunflower’s bloom was large, and Lu Liu’s gaze was always drawn to it, reminding him of the person who gave it to him.

【Lin Zhi: Beep beep beep】

【Lin Zhi: Is the sunflower wilting?】

Lu Liu put down his pen, a slight smile forming on his lips. Just a second ago, he was thinking about this person, and the next second, he received a message.

【Lu Liu: Not yet】

【Lu Liu: Picture.jpg】

It had been three days, and it still hadn’t wilted. Lin Zhi didn’t know whether to be happy or disappointed. Zhao Shaochuan said he always brought flowers to his girlfriend on their dates, and Lin Zhi remembered they dated quite frequently—every couple of days, so his girlfriend must be keeping many flowers at once?

He wondered if Lu Liu would be willing to keep flowers.

【Lin Zhi: It doesn’t look very lively. I’ll buy another pack of preservative for you.】

The preservative isn’t better the more you use, and there was still quite a bit left from the last pack, but Lu Liu didn’t intend to tell Lin Zhi this.

【Lu Liu: Alright, I’ll come get it from you.】

“Oh yeah!” Lin Zhi exaggeratedly clenched his fist, mission accomplished.

Sending the preservative was just an excuse. He just wanted to get Lu Liu out, and after several quiet days, he had to stir things up again to live up to his earlier declaration of pursuing “Zhi.”

This was Lu Liu’s first time stepping into Lin Zhi’s school. It was smaller than his, with great greenery, and the tree-lined path was perfect for friends or couples to walk together.

Lin Zhi wore a gray crewneck sweatshirt, empty-handed as he approached, with no pockets on his shirt.

“Where’s the preservative?” Lu Liu asked knowingly.

“…I haven’t bought it yet,” Lin Zhi almost forgot the important item. “Shall we go buy it together?”

There were plenty of flower shops near the university, and just less than a hundred meters from the school gate, Lin Zhi spotted two with excellent quality. He pretended not to notice and led Lu Liu to avoid them.

“That one is a bit too quiet,” Lin Zhi lied with his eyes wide open. “Let’s go this way.”

“Okay,” Lu Liu secretly chuckled in his heart. “I’ll follow you.”

The two turned a corner together, and various colorful flowers placed on the steps directly greeted them.

Lin Zhi: “…”

Damn, miscalculated.

“There it is,” Lu Liu said, preparing to step inside, but Lin Zhi grabbed the sleeve of his shirt.

“Wait a minute,” Lin Zhi, seemingly throwing caution to the wind, asked with a bold face, “After you get the preservative, are you going back?”

Lu Liu lowered his eyelids and glanced at the fabric of his shirt that had been tugged flat, blinking before softly asking, “Do you want me to go back, or not go back?”

Lin Zhi released his grip, biting his lip without speaking. He could barely ask the question, but at this point in their relationship, he couldn’t bring himself to make demands of Lu Liu.

After a few seconds, Lu Liu skipped over this awkward question for Lin Zhi and smiled, saying, “It’s getting late. Want to have dinner together later?”

“Sure.” Lin Zhi tried to suppress the smile tugging at his lips and walked into the flower shop first, ordering five packets of preservative with great generosity.

Dinner was settled near Lin Zhi’s school. As the “host,” Lin Zhi was supposed to show Lu Liu the local cuisine, but since the start of the semester, Lin Zhi had only eaten out with his roommates once, and that data was too sparse to be of any reference value.

In the end, he had to ask Zhao Shaochuan for help and found a so-called “informal” Western restaurant that Zhao’s girlfriend raved about.

The restaurant had an English name, and Lin Zhi glanced at it but didn’t recognize it—it felt like it was missing a few letters.

“It looks like French,” Lu Liu, noticing his confusion, explained.

“Oh!” Lin Zhi didn’t ask for more clarification and opened his search app. Actually, he should’ve waited until they sat down to secretly search, but… he was sure he’d forget what the restaurant’s name looked like as soon as they walked in.

C’est bon! Delicious!

Lin Zhi: “…”

The restaurant’s decor was somewhat dim, perhaps to highlight its romantic atmosphere, with artistic murals, dark-colored furniture, white tablecloths, and decorative flowers.

The waiters wore matching uniforms, moved gracefully, and had a good attitude. Overall, Lin Zhi could only describe it with one phrase… it looked expensive.

It was mealtime, and though it looked expensive, the place was almost full. The waiter led Lin Zhi and Lu Liu to an empty two-person table and smiled while handing them the menu.

Before opening the hardcover menu, Lin Zhi first noticed the flowers on the table—plastic.

…Maybe it wasn’t as expensive as he thought.

Flipping open the menu confirmed his thought. Zhao Shaochuan had been right calling it an informal Western restaurant, the menu had the usual Western dishes, but it also featured plenty of authentic Chinese dishes at market prices.

Well, after all, it was located in a university town, and there probably weren’t many students willing to pay high prices if they couldn’t even get enough to eat.

Looking at the other tables, some people were being fancy, while others were more casual. The two guys at a corner table were using chopsticks to pick up their steaks and eat.

Lin Zhi relaxed, discussing with Lu Liu what to order. The waiter quickly wrote it all down, saying, “Please wait a moment,” before sending the order to the kitchen.

Lin Zhi was bored waiting and didn’t want to play with his phone, so he absentmindedly stroked the plastic green leaves that had been polished to a shiny finish. By chance, his gaze met Lu Liu’s, and for a moment, they both smiled.

“By the way, do they have hotpot here?” Lin Zhi stopped smiling, “I didn’t notice earlier.”

“No,” Lu Liu answered confidently, tapping the white tablecloth a few times with his middle and index fingers. “If they did, they wouldn’t have this.”

Lin Zhi nodded as if enlightened, “That makes sense.”

“Do you want hotpot?”

“Well, yeah. Hotpot’s perfect for cold weather.”

“Next time,” Lu Liu naturally responded.

“Alright!” Lin Zhi quickly agreed. He had just said it casually, not expecting any unexpected results. Becoming more daring, he asked, “When is next time?”

Lu Liu glanced at him and replied, “Anytime. Just tell me when you want to eat it.”

The food arrived. Although they had ordered savory dishes, Lin Zhi could taste sweetness in them.

After finishing the meal, Lin Zhi made an excuse that he was too full and needed to rest. Lu Liu said that sitting after a meal could lead to a little belly, so Lin Zhi used the excuse of needing to walk it off, and Lu Liu silently accompanied him.

After a bit of walking and asking for this and that, more than half an hour passed. Lin Zhi, too excited to pay attention to the route, ended up leading Lu Liu to the bus stop.

“Well, I’ll head back first,” Lu Liu mistakenly thought that Lin Zhi had specifically brought him here and took the initiative to leave. “We’ll meet again some other time.”

Lin Zhi felt very frustrated. Since Lu Liu said he was leaving, Lin Zhi didn’t have any excuse to keep him there. After a long moment of silence, he finally said, “I’ll take you back.”

“Why do you need to take me back?” Lu Liu chuckled. “Do you think I can’t find my way?”

Lin Zhi held back and replied, “Last time when I went to your school, you said you’d take me back.”

“So, this is a matter of reciprocity?” Lu Liu asked.

“No,” Lin Zhi shook his head, “I really want to take you back.”

“Why?”

Because I’m chasing you! Lin Zhi shouted in his heart.

Lu Liu was almost forcing Lin Zhi to admit it. He then said, “Last time when I said I would take you back, it was because I knew you didn’t have a boyfriend and wanted to see if I had a chance. Why are you doing this?”