Jiang Tu and Tu Ge are completely different to Zhu Xingyao. When she was in high school, she started to call him that as a joke along with Ding Xiang and Li Xixi. Later, she couldn't stop calling him that. At that time, she felt that he was reliable and trustworthy, and she relied on him involuntarily, which brought some ambiguity without her realizing it.
Now, Zhu Xingyao still thinks he is a reliable man, but she has grown up, and she will no longer rely on him as ignorantly as she did when she was a girl. Moreover, they haven't seen each other for many years and have no contact.
Zhu Xingyao said honestly: "Well, we haven't been in touch for many years."
At the beginning of their freshman year, they still had some contact, and Jiang Tu would briefly reply to her messages on QQ. Later, when she asked for his cell phone number, he stopped replying. She was very frustrated and aggrieved at first, wondering why they had such a good relationship in high school, but they had lost contact.
Later, when she heard that he had a girlfriend and had checked into a hotel with her, she suddenly realized that his girlfriend was probably unhappy that he contacted her.
Later, she had an argument with Lu Ji, and Lu Ji said, "I don't want my girlfriend to always take the initiative to contact other boys." She felt very uncomfortable at the time. She was uncomfortable with Lu Ji saying that to her, and even more uncomfortable with Jiang Tu's loss of contact with her, but she suddenly understood.
Jiang Tu might be trying to avoid suspicion because he has a girlfriend and she also has a boyfriend.
They can no longer be as casual as they were in high school; they need to avoid suspicion so as not to cause misunderstandings.
The relationship between her and Lu Ji seemed to be separated by a veil from the very beginning. Perhaps because they were in different countries, they didn't have much time to spend together. It was unknown when their relationship gradually became strained, but neither of them was the kind of person who would argue violently, not to mention that most of the time they were separated by telephone and Internet lines, so they were just in a cold war.
During the National Day holiday in 2010, Zhu Xingyao came back from Germany and attended a concert in Beijing with teacher Chen Lan's orchestra. After the concert, she stayed in Beijing for one more day. That night, Lu Ji took her to dinner with his classmates. Xu Xiangyang and Li Xixi were also there. After dinner, they went to sing.
Xu Xiangyang and Lu Ji were in the same class, and Li Xixi went to school together in Beijing. She had known their classmates for a long time and had revealed all their secrets to Lu Ji early on. Everyone knew that Lu Ji and Zhu Xingyao had been together since high school.
Of course, we also know that Lu Ji made a heroic act of confessing his love under a large field of star lights.
In the KTV box, Zhu Xingyao was dragged to play Truth or Dare. She lost. The game was a bit perverted. She chose Truth or Dare, thinking that everyone should be friendly to her and would not ask excessive questions.
One of Lu Ji's roommates smiled maliciously: "Where did you have your first kiss with Mr. Lu?"
Even Li Xixi doesn’t know the answer to this question.
Zhu Xingyao felt embarrassed. She glanced at Lu Ji, lowered her head and whispered, "Hospital."
Everyone was making a fuss and no one noticed that Lu Ji's expression was stunned for a moment.
That night, Lu Ji drank a lot of wine, and when Zhu Xingyao went to the airport the next day, he did not see her off. Once they returned to a foreign country, the two still could not find the most comfortable way to get along. One night in early December, Lu Ji seemed to be drunk.
Lu Ji whispered on the phone: "If I said that the star light was not given by me, would you still agree to be with me?"
Zhu Xingyao was stunned: "Didn't you give it to me?"
He smiled, seeming to be a little self-deprecating: "Let me tell you a little secret, I'm a little afraid of heights."
Some of the trees in that forest have grown very tall and big. If Lu Ji is afraid of heights, how can he hang so many stars? He is telling her that he can't do it. Zhu Xingyao's heart suddenly became a mess. She stuttered and asked: "Who did that?"
Lu Ji was silent for a long time, and then he asked softly, "Who do you think it is?"
Who does she think it is
The first thing that flashed through Zhu Xingyao's mind was Jiang Tu's calm and cold face. It had been more than two years since she turned 17. She didn't know how to describe her feelings at that moment. She just couldn't help shaking.
Two days later, she couldn't help herself and sent a message to Jiang Tu on QQ: "Brother Tu, is that the star light you gave me?"
Still no response.
The rift between her and Lu Ji widened little by little until it completely broke apart.
During the Spring Festival of 2011, Zhu Xingyao, Li Xixi and Lin Jiayu met. During that Spring Festival, Jiang Tu did not return to Jiangcheng. Li Xixi asked, "Didn't he go to his girlfriend's house?"
Lin Jiayu was stunned, then shook her head frantically: "What girlfriend? Those rumors are fake! Jiang Tu absolutely, absolutely cannot have a girlfriend. He... With his personality, if he had a girlfriend, then I would have ten boyfriends!"
From then on, her memory began to recall Jiang Tu uncontrollably. She thought of the debts his family owed, how he always worked many jobs, how he was forced by Chen Yi to pay off the debts, how he had problems with the college entrance examination... and every incident that happened when he was with her.
She began to understand his self-esteem and pride that were deep in his bones, his forbearance and restraint, his clarity and rationality.
Sometimes she wondered how strong his psychological endurance was.
She sometimes wants to ask, if the star lights were really made by you, why did you never explain
Sometimes she wants to ask, do you like me
But what good will it do to ask
Jiang Tu still wouldn't reply to her. They were not in the same country, and something went wrong with his college entrance exam. His clarity and restraint would have doubled, otherwise he wouldn't have not replied to her at all.
However, whenever she thought about how he liked her, how he made the star lights for her, but gave the credit to Lu Ji, pushing her towards him. Then she faced the empty dialog box where she was the only one talking.
I still feel wronged and resentful.
…
The shadows of the trees were swaying, the night wind blew Zhu Xingyao's skirt, and Jiang Tu smelled her faint fragrance in the air, which was a little different from when he was in high school. He looked down at her, not knowing how to explain that he had sunk from the mud layer to a deeper quagmire in the year of the college entrance examination.
It was such a terrible situation that he had given up even thinking about her.
What's more, she was Lu Ji's girlfriend at that time.
He didn't know how to respond.
What else could he say to her
Later, when he was abroad and knew that she had broken up with Lu Ji, he did not deny that he was very happy when Lin Jiayu told him. However, it had been more than two years since she broke up with Lu Ji, and they were still in different countries. He still could not do anything and could not give anything.
After so many years, how much weight does he have in her heart
He couldn't tell her, wait for me, don't have a boyfriend, give me three or four years.
He could only pray that she would not have a boyfriend or be with someone else. That thought was very selfish, but he couldn't control it.
Jiang Tu was silent for a moment, then whispered, "I'm sorry."
Zhu Xingyao was stunned. She looked up into his eyes and suddenly didn't know what to say. It seemed that she didn't want him to say sorry. Thinking carefully, what did he do to her? She suddenly felt a little confused.
Jiang Tu looked at her: "As for whether you want to call me Jiang Tu or Brother Tu, I am used to hearing you call me Brother Tu."
Zhu Xingyao's eyelashes trembled. She tugged at the strap of her guitar bag and whispered, "It didn't matter when I was younger, but now I'm grown up..." Suddenly, a beam of light shone from the front, causing her eyes to squint.
A car was coming, and where they were standing was kind of blocking the road.
Jiang Tu pulled her to the side. As the car passed by them, Zhu Xingyao came to her senses and took another step outside: "It's late. I'll go back first."
"Wait a moment."
Jiang Tu looked down at her and said, "Let's have a meal together sometime. Invite Lin Jiayu and Ding Xiang. I should treat you to a meal when I come back."
Zhu Xingyao was silent for a moment, lowered his head and said, "Okay."
Jiang Tu said: "I'll call you."
Before Zhu Xingyao could say anything, her cell phone rang. She took out her phone from her bag. It was Zhu Yunping calling. It was already midnight. She looked up at Jiang Tu and said, "I'm going home."
Zhu Xingyao changed her shoes and walked into the living room. Zhu Yunping stood up from the sofa and turned to look at her: "How did you come back?"
"My classmate gave it to me," she said.
Zhu Yunping smiled: "Male classmate?"
Zhu Xingyao paused and nodded. She didn’t tell her father that it was Jiang Tu.
Zhu Yunping yawned and reminded her a few words: "Go to bed early after taking a shower. Drink a cup of hot milk before bed and you will sleep better. Don't take medicine all the time. Your mother counted the remaining medicine in your medicine bottle at night. You have to control yourself and not rely too much on medicine. Relax your mood and go out with friends when you have time."
Zhu Xingyao didn't know what to say when she went to count her medicines again. She nodded obediently: "I know."
Zhu Yunping smiled and said, "It would be best if I could have a boyfriend."
Zhu Xingyao whispered: "Dad..."
"Okay, okay, I won't talk about you anymore. Don't feel pressured. I'm going upstairs to sleep." Zhu Yunping came over, rubbed her head, and went upstairs.
Late at night, Zhu Xingyao habitually poured a glass of water and unscrewed the medicine bottle, then suddenly paused, lowered her eyes, and put the medicine bottle down. She sat on the bed, opened WeChat and found the friend addition, thought about it, turned off the phone, threw it on the cabinet, and got into the quilt.
She thought, Jiang Tu didn’t say this was his WeChat.
The lesson of the blood of the star lamp is ahead. She doesn't add it randomly.
Downstairs, Jiang Tu's car was still parked. He leaned back in his chair, tilted his head back slightly and took a puff of cigarette. He placed his hand on the edge of the car window, looking at the dim street lights outside. Jiangcheng had changed a lot over the years, but this place had remained almost the same.
He saw that the light in the east window of the second floor suddenly went out.
Only at this moment did he feel a sense of belonging.
After a while, Jiang Tu drove away.
The next morning, Zhu Xingyao woke up peacefully. Li Xixi sent her a WeChat message early in the morning, saying that she had taken an early flight back to Beijing.
Li Xixi: "Last night, many people took photos and posted them on WeChat Moments, and some posted them on Weibo. My agent just wanted to stir up some hype and let you know."
Li Xixi: "You should also sign an agent as soon as possible."
Zhu Xingyao smiled and replied: "Okay."
When she was in college, Zhu Xingyao had a manager, but she terminated the contract after something happened. In the past two years, she has rarely participated in other activities except concerts. She also has no manager and has not disclosed her personal mobile phone number. Therefore, many jobs that want to find her are basically found through Li Xixi. When she went on stage to support her, Li Xixi's manager also included her in the character created for Li Xixi. According to the manager, "She has a talented and beautiful best friend who can also attract fans."
Zhu Xingyao opened Weibo and saw that Li Xixi was on the hot search list, along with their photos and short videos.
At this time, it is 9:30 Beijing time.
Xu Xiangyang walked into Lu Ji's office. Lu Ji looked up from his desk and said calmly, "You guys can become a hot topic even if you attend a wedding."
Xu Xiangyang yawned: "Li Xixi's agent never misses any opportunity to stir up the hype. There's nothing we can do about it."
Lu Ji glanced at the computer screen and saw Zhu Xingyao's photo. He saw netizens praising her for her beauty and talent. Some netizens who thought they knew a lot also commented:
"She must be beautiful. She has been the goddess of Jiangcheng No. 1 Middle School for many years. No one can surpass her! And her boyfriend was also the idol of our No. 1 Middle School back then."
"Zhu Xingyao broke up with her boyfriend a long time ago. Her idol has become her ex-boyfriend. It's a pity to think about it. At the beginning, her idol was so fierce in pursuing her. He used thousands of stars to express his love. They were made by hand. It's the romance of an engineering guy."
"I've seen a photo of my idol. He won the gold medal in the National Physics Competition a few years ago!"
When Lu Ji saw Xingxingdeng, his face turned unhappy. He closed his Weibo page, stood up, handed the coffee on the table to Xu Xiangyang, and asked casually, "Jiang Tu also attended the wedding, right?"
Xu Xiangyang wanted to chat with him for a while, so he sat on the sofa and said, "He has changed a lot after joining the program. He is doing very well now. If nothing had happened to him in the college entrance examination, he would have been our classmate." Xu Xiangyang smiled and said, "The three of us might be able to form a team, the Three Musketeers."
Lu Ji chuckled: "Three Musketeers? Jiang Tu and I will never be able to cooperate in this life."
Let him cooperate with Jiang Tu? Impossible, impossible in this life.
Xu Xiangyang turned to look at him, a little puzzled: "Why do you dislike him so much? He is better than me." He paused, and changed the subject with great interest, "By the way, I saw Jiang Tu was very caring towards Zhu Xingyao at the wedding. Based on my many years of experience in judging people, I think Jiang Tu seems to be interested in Zhu Xingyao."
Lu Ji's expression was cold: "You finally figured it out? And you have many years of experience. You really think too highly of yourself."
"What do you mean by finally? You saw it a long time ago?" Xu Xiangyang thought about it carefully, "He hasn't been back for eight years, and you haven't seen him."
Lu Ji leaned against the back of the sofa and said coldly, "It's not that early, just a little earlier than you."
If he had known this earlier, would Jiang Tu have been accused of so many things
The author has something to say: Because this paragraph is not written in a sequential order, it will bring back memories and will slowly describe the moods of the two people in detail.
If you have any doubts, you can go back and read chapters 40 and 42. This story has a lot of foreshadowing and details. You should be able to understand it after the plot is finished.