This street is no longer as old as it used to be. It is bustling with people coming and going. The streets are clean and tidy. Behind them, there are skateboarding teenagers rushing by. Jiang Tu does not let go, and Zhu Xingyao does not move either, as if they have tacitly accepted the hug.
The noise of skateboards rubbing against the ground came closer again. No one knew which bad boy took the lead, but several teenagers on skateboards surrounded them and started circling around them, making a fuss and whistling.
Passersby stopped and looked at them curiously, talking about them. Some said the man was handsome and the woman had a great figure, but they couldn't see her face. Some said, "Are these skateboarders hired? A new kind of romance?"
Zhu Xingyao: “…”
Zhu Xingyao looked up at Jiang Tu at a loss. Jiang Tu was looking down at her. His eyes behind his glasses were dark and deep. He took his hand off her waist, held her hand, and whispered, "Lower your head and follow me."
Zhu Xingyao was stunned, pulled his hat down again, and whispered, "Okay."
Jiang Tu turned around and looked at the boys with a cold look in his eyes, and they immediately ran away on their skateboards. Zhu Xingyao lowered her head and was led by Jiang Tu across the road, walking towards the newly opened store in front. When there was no one at the corner, Zhu Xingyao looked up at the man who was one step ahead of her. She no longer had the confusion she had as a girl, and she was very clear about her feelings for Jiang Tu.
She moved her fingertips and tickled his palm.
Jiang Tu paused for a moment, unsure whether she wanted to pull her hand away or respond to him. He held her hand tighter without hesitation.
It wasn't until they reached the door of the store that Jiang Tu let go of her hand and looked down at her: "Come in."
At this time, there were few customers in the store, so Jiang Tu asked Zhu Xingyao to sit at the corner table and wait for him while he went to order. Jiang Tu ordered two servings of duck blood vermicelli soup, a few snacks, and a bottle of room temperature soy milk, which was not the brand she liked when they were in school.
Zhu Xingyao tasted a mouthful of vermicelli, looked up and said, "Not as good as Cao Ji's."
Jiang Tu couldn't help but laugh when he saw her reviewing seriously: "That store has been open for many years, and the taste has always been the best. Let's go there next time."
Zhu Xingyao agreed. She lowered her eyelashes and thought absentmindedly, wondering if the boss still remembered her. She cried in his store that year and asked about Jiang Tu's family and address. Even if she was low-key, she was still a public figure. And the boss obviously knew Jiang Tu. If she appeared with Jiang Tu, what if the boss remembered her? She didn't want Jiang Tu to know about that.
Zhu Xingyao had just got off the plane and didn't have a good appetite. She bit the straw to drink soy milk. Jiang Tu finished the remaining food. He saw that there was obvious fatigue in her eyes. She must be exhausted after sitting on the plane for more than ten hours.
He quickly stood up and whispered, "Come on, I'll take you home."
Zhu Xingyao was drowsy in the car for more than ten minutes, and then the car stopped. Jiang Tu turned to look at her and asked softly, "Do you have any plans for the next few days?"
"My mother's birthday is tomorrow." Zhu Xingyao looked at him, "I promised the principal that I would perform on stage at the school anniversary party. Xixi will be back tomorrow night, and I will rehearse with her on the 3rd and 4th."
Jiang Tu remembered that October 4th was Shu Xian’s 50th birthday, so he nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll help you carry your luggage in.”
Zhu Xingyao groaned and said quickly, "No need, my parents are here... I'll ask Lao Liu to come out and get it for me."
Lao Liu quickly came out to help with the luggage. He walked into the yard with Zhu Xingyao and couldn't help asking, "Miss, are you having a secret relationship with that boy now? And you haven't told your family yet..."
Zhu Xingyao corrected Lao Liu: "Uncle Liu, his name is Jiang Tu."
When Zhu Xingyao went to take a shower, Ding Yu helped her pack her luggage. Half an hour later, Zhu Xingyao walked out of the bathroom in her nightgown and caught Ding Yu counting her pills. She said unhappily, "Mom, why are you counting my pills again?"
Ding Yu put down the medicine bottle and looked at her with relief: "I only took three pills, and I feel much better than before."
Zhu Xingyao sat down at the dressing table and began her evening skin care routine. She lowered her eyes and whispered, "It's much better. I don't have nightmares as often." She had one less nightmare. Now she almost never dreamed of herself chasing Jiang Tu, but couldn't catch up and ended up falling with a bloody leg.
Ding Yu glanced at the white robot on the table, rubbed her head, told her to go to bed early, then closed the door and went out.
In the living room, Zhu Yunping was still watching the evening news. Ding Yu sighed beside him. Zhu Yunping lowered his head and asked his wife, "What's wrong? Did our daughter take more medicine again?"
"No, she ate it three times." Ding Yu smiled, "You saw the robot, too, right? I think she loves it very much, and I don't know who gave it to her... I remember Lu Ji was a computer major, right? Do you think it's possible that he gave it to her?"
Zhu Yunping smiled, "They broke up when they were in college, it's been many years."
“I wonder if their old relationship has rekindled,” Ding Yu said.
"Probably not. If they could get back together, they would have done it a long time ago." Zhu Yunping sighed, "When Xingxing was in her senior year of high school, she was molested and it was Jiang Tu who helped her beat someone up to vent her anger. If it was an ordinary male classmate, she would never do this. Xingxing beat Chen Yi because of Jiang Tu. Didn't the psychologist tell me to find Jiang Tu? I found him. He studied artificial intelligence in the United States."
Fate has long since entangled these two people together, and sooner or later they will meet again.
The next night, Zhu Xingyao and Zhu Yunping were cutting the cake with Ding Yu. Messages came one after another from the WeChat class group. After she finished eating the cake, she took a look and saw that Xu Xiangyang was organizing a party on the evening of the 5th.
Almost everyone signed up.
Xu Xiangyang: "In the past, there weren't so many people at the New Year's party."
Student Councillor: "Jiang Tu and Zhu Xingyao haven't spoken yet. Are they participating?"
Li Xixi: "I will definitely go to Xingxing if I go. We will leave after the performance at around 8 o'clock."
Some people dared to go to Jiangtu, but received no response.
There was silence in the group.
Zhu Xingyao thought about it and sent a message: "I participated."
Next second.
Jiang Tu: “Yeah.”
Li Xixi: “…”
Soon, Zhu Xingyao received a private voice message from Li Xixi: "Are you two together? You sent messages at the same time. When you sent that sentence, he said "hmm", it was as if you were representing two people."
Zhu Xingyao took a look and it seemed to be true...
She sent a picture to Li Xixi: "I just cut the birthday cake with my mother."
The phone vibrated and a private message came in.
Jiang Tu: "Do you want to drive Xiao Jiang?"
Zhu Xingyao gave Ding Yu a birthday present, and then sat for a while before going upstairs. She took a photo of Jiang Tu with Xiao Jiang covered with a veil and sent it to him, then took off her handkerchief and poked the "on-call" service with her finger.
Zhu Xingyao and Li Xixi prepared only two programs, one was Li Xixi singing and she playing the cello, and the other was her solo. In the afternoon, Lin Jiayu sent a series of crying emojis and asked Zhu Xingyao: "Where are you? I want to go to play with you. I'm almost bald from writing manuscripts!"
Zhu Xingyao sent her the address. Li Xixi said, "Jiayu, afternoon tea time is almost here. Please bring us some food."
Not long after, Lin Jiayu rushed in with a big bag of afternoon tea. Li Xixi immediately went on strike and ran out to greet her: "Xingxing, pause for a moment, I'm starving."
The three of them sat at the table and had afternoon tea. Li Xixi suddenly remembered something and turned to ask Zhu Xingyao: "Where is your robot? Didn't you say you would show it to me?"
Zhu Xingyao put down the cake fork, stood up, took Xiao Jiang out of her bag and put it on the table. Li Xixi said, "I want to see the one who comes whenever you call."
Li Xixi had been curious since she heard Zhu Xingyao talk about it. In fact, mobile phones can also be used to contact people at any time, but the robot service sounds very romantic. Zhu Xingyao glanced at her and poked at the screen.
Jiang Tu was driving at that time. After the call was connected, he put the phone back. All he could hear was his voice: "Are you looking for me or is Xiao Jiang crazy?"
Lin Jiayu: “…”
Li Xixi: “…”
They both looked at Zhu Xingyao at the same time.
Zhu Xingyao said quickly: "It's me, Xixi wants to try this robot, Jiayu is here too."
Lin Jiayu asked, "Why is Xiao Jiang crazy?"
Zhu Xingyao said the word "crazy". Jiang Tu looked ahead and still thought that this description was a bit cute. He smiled and said, "The robot is a test machine, and its functions are not very stable."
After Zhu Xingyao cut off the service, Li Xixi stared at the robot thoughtfully and said, "Xiao Jiang, why does this name sound so much like your son?"
Zhu Xingyao: “…”
Lin Jiayu laughed: "That makes sense."
Zhu Xingyao glared at her: "You're the one who inspired me. Xiao Jiang is better than those names you mentioned, right?" She changed the subject, "What kind of manuscript are you writing? You're writing until you go bald?"
"Well..." Lin Jiayu looked at her, embarrassed to say that she was writing the story of her and Jiang Tu. Of course, this story includes their group of people, but she couldn't experience everyone's feelings firsthand. She could only write what she knew and understood, half of it was real and half of it was made up. Especially Zhu Xingyao's visual angle, it was particularly difficult to write here. She hesitated for a moment and whispered, "If I say that I am writing the story of our group of people, can you accept it?"
They were both stunned at the same time, and Zhu Xingyao asked: "We?"
Lin Jiayu said boldly, "Yes, think about us. Lu Ji and Xu Xiangyang won the gold medal in the physics competition and were recommended to Tsinghua University. Xingxing is the school goddess and has been able to hold solo concerts since she was a teenager. Xixi was a singer in a talent show. Who doesn't know you now? Ding Xiang is a policeman, and Zhou Yuan has become a bit famous for his photography. Don't you think this is good material?"
Especially Zhu Xingyao, a perfect heroine.
Li Xixi suddenly became interested: "Write it! Write about me and Xu Xiangyang as well. What do you want to know? Let me tell you. My rival published a book before, and my agent wants me to publish one too, but how can I write it?"
They stopped practicing singing and playing the piano and started chatting about their high school days.
At the end, while Zhu Xingyao was in the bathroom, Lin Jiayu pulled Li Xixi aside and asked quietly, "There are some things I can't ask Xingxing about, can I ask you?"
Li Xixi raised her eyebrows: "Do you want to ask about her and Lu Ji?"
Lin Jiayu nodded desperately. Li Xixi basically told him everything he knew.
Lin Jiayu was stunned and asked, "You said Lu Ji wrote 87 love letters to Zhu Xingyao? Starting from the freshman welcome party, every Friday?"
Li Xixi nodded, "Yes, almost three years. Oh, by the way, there is only one missing letter, which seems to be the week when Xingxing and Lu Ji were reported for their premature love. There was no signature that week. At other times, rain or shine, the signature was always J. You have been deskmates with Lu Ji for so long, you must know that his handwriting is not good, and he likes to use letters instead of his signature."
Zhu Xingyao pushed the door open and Lin Jiayu turned around and looked at her blankly.
Zhu Xingyao was puzzled: "What's wrong?"
Lin Jiayu forced a smile and said it was nothing.
Lin Jiayu has been desk mate with Lu Ji for a year. She has never seen Lu Ji write a love letter. Lu Ji's handwriting is very ugly. He is too lazy to write, so lazy that he would not write if he could avoid it. Sometimes she asked him to help write math steps, and he would write a "j" at the end after he finished writing.
But…
j can also be Jiang.
Eighty-seven love letters, all signed with “J”, and the handwriting was ugly... But Jiang Tu’s handwriting was very beautiful.
Lin Jiayu tried hard to recall everything about Lu Ji back then, but still felt that Lu Ji was not the kind of person who could endure writing eighty-seven love letters. It was more like what Jiang Tu, who was hiding in the dark, did back then.
October 4th was Shu Xian's birthday. Jiang Lu booked a restaurant and invited Shu Xian's friends and Lin Jiayu's family. When lighting the candles, Jiang Lu put his arm around Shu Xian's shoulders and said, "Mom, just make a wish for a romantic relationship this year."
Shu Xian was stunned for a moment, slapped him on the hand, and said angrily: "What nonsense are you talking about."
Jiang Lu smiled and said, "I'm not talking nonsense. You are only fifty and still young. You have to find someone to live with. My brother and I don't object to your remarriage. Right, brother?" He raised his chin towards Jiang Tu.
Jiang Tu stood on the other side, with no expression on his face. He glanced at Shu Xian and said, "This is Mom's business."
Shu Xian's eyes turned red, and she raised her hand to wipe away her tears: "Ah, why are you talking about this? I haven't thought about it that much. I'm just hoping that you can find a girlfriend and get married soon. If you have children in the future, I'll take care of them for you."
Jiang Lu patted his chest and assured: "Don't worry about this."
Shu Xian glared at him: "I didn't say you."
Jiang Lu said: "I know, I will guarantee it for my brother."
Jiang Tu glanced at him and said nothing more.
After a while, he went out with the bill to pay.
A group of people walked out of the restaurant. Jiang Tu sent Jiang Lu and Shu Xian back to the community. He parked the car downstairs and was about to drive away when someone knocked on the car window. It was Lin Jiayu.
Jiang Tu and Lin Jiayu stood in front of the car. He looked down at her and asked, "What's wrong?"
Lin Jiayu looked up and asked directly: "Jiang Tu, did you write love letters to Xingxing when you were in high school? Did you write the eighty-seven love letters?"
Jiang Tu frowned, was silent for a moment, and asked: "How do you know?"
Lin Jiayu sighed: "Sure enough, you wrote it."
He added: "But your handwriting is very beautiful. Did you write it ugly on purpose?"
"What do you want to say?" Jiang Tu frowned.
Lin Jiayu said helplessly: "Xingxing thought that the eighty-seven love letters were written to her by Lu Ji."
Jiang Tu was shocked and asked in disbelief: "What did you say?"
Lin Jiayu had never seen Jiang Tu so surprised before, so she repeated, "Xingxing thought that the eighty-seven love letters were written by Lu Ji. Love letters, Xingxing lights, what else? There must be more, right? Aren't you sending her to Lu Ji with all these things?"
"Jiang Tu... If I were a star, I would be pissed off by you."
The author has something to say: Well, they are now in an adult relationship but with a bit of the school days feeling. I will finish writing the next part of the story tomorrow and then update it, probably in the evening. Just a word in advance~
Thank you everyone~