Xie Zhuzhou swept his gaze over him. The young man was handsome, with well-defined features and skin that looked a little sickly pale.
His most striking feature was his pair of amber eyes, like two beautiful gemstones.
"Do you need help?"
Xie Zhuzhou glanced at the sky. Dark clouds were gathering, and it looked about to rain.
"I'm lost. I don't know where I am, and my phone's out of battery, so I can't make a call."
Xie Zhuzhou looked around and saw no sign of any accomplices. This probably wasn't some new kind of scam, was it?
Besides, with looks like that, livestreaming, walking the runway, or modeling would all pay better than this, wouldn't they? And judging by his clothes, he probably wasn't short of money.
The extremely wary Young Master Xie let his guard down for the moment.
"Where do you live? I'll take you home."
"Would that be too much trouble? If you have something to do, please go ahead. You could help me call my family..."
"It's about to rain."
"Huh?"
"I said, by the time they get here, you'll be soaked through. There's nowhere to shelter from the rain here." There were a few big trees up ahead, though.
Xie Zhuzhou had never volunteered so many words before, but the next second, he suddenly thrust his index and middle fingers toward the other man's eyes. Those eyes showed no reaction at all. Fine. A believer in ghosts and gods, Xie Zhuzhou believed this was a test from heaven. He took the other man's hand and placed it on the bicycle's handlebars.
"Where's your home?"
"Parasol Tree Residential Complex." Chu Yanzhang could only walk alongside the bicycle. He wanted to ask how to get to the bridge, but this kindhearted person probably wouldn't give him directions there.
Xie Zhuzhou searched his phone's map, his brows drawing together slightly. "That complex is so far away. You managed to walk all the way here?"
"I don't know either. People along the way gave me directions, and I ended up here... I originally just wanted to go out for breakfast." He had sneaked out for most of the day, only for those people to lie to him. There was no bridge here at all, but he couldn't exactly tell this kindhearted person that he wanted to jump into a river and die.
"It's already noon," Xie Zhuzhou said.
He had to admit, the guy was lucky to still be alive. Still, he looked like a beginner at being blind, someone who had only recently lost his sight.
Xie Zhuzhou had intended to stop by school, but now he could only return to the villa first and then drive this man home. Otherwise, things would get troublesome once it started raining.
"The bicycle doesn't have a rear seat. I'll take you to my place first, then drive you home."
"Is that all right?"
"Cut the chatter." This was heaven's test for him, an attempt to awaken that tiny, tiny scrap of conscience he had. It was just a shame he had planned to go fishing that afternoon, but judging by the weather, that probably wasn't happening.
Xie Zhuzhou's home was very close. Just over five hundred meters brought them to the upscale villa complex ahead, where every inch of land cost a fortune. Seeing him approach, the security guard immediately opened the gate.
Once inside the complex, he voiced his puzzlement. "You seem pretty trusting of me. Aren't you afraid I might take you somewhere and sell you?"
"You wouldn't. I believe you're a good person. May I ask your name?"
Xie Zhuzhou: ...
Across two lifetimes, this was the first time anyone had called him a good person. It would be impossible not to feel guilty.
Ever since childhood, he had always stayed out of anything that didn't concern him.
Yet now he had played the good Samaritan for once. What a novelty.
Still, his former self had barely been able to look after himself.
"My name's Xie Zhuzhou. Zhu as in vying for supremacy in the Central Plains, and Zhou as in cycles repeating."
"My name's Chu Yanzhang. Yan as in perfunctory, and Zhang as in regulations."
A perfunctory piece of writing?
Taking advantage of the blind young man's inability to see him, Xie Zhuzhou raised his eyebrows, surprised by his self-introduction.
"Didn't you say you hadn't eaten? Why don't you have something before going home? There's going to be a downpour."
"Would that be too much trouble?"
"Not really. The ingredients at my place are about to expire. They'll go bad if they aren't eaten soon. Do me a favor."
Chu Yanzhang: "All right."
"Can you cook?"
"Yes, but that was before I went blind..."
"Oh. Then you can teach me, and I'll make you a bowl of noodles."
Xie Zhuzhou couldn't help growing more talkative. The blind young man couldn't see him anyway, which made being around him quite comfortable. Even if he did something ridiculous or made a silly face, no one would laugh at him.
"All right."
No sooner had he spoken than Xie Zhuzhou brought him to the front door, and a torrential downpour began outside. Seeing rain this heavy in autumn was quite unexpected.
"Didn't you listen to the weather forecast before going out today?"
"No. I only went blind last month, so I didn't think everything through."
"I see. Come in and change your shoes."
Xie Zhuzhou placed a pair of disposable slippers beside his feet.
With his support, Chu Yanzhang sat down on the leather shoe-changing bench and slowly changed his shoes, following the sounds.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
There was little emotion in Xie Zhuzhou's voice; his hands did more than his mouth said. He waited for the other man to finish changing his shoes, then led him to the kitchen.
Although it was his first time cooking noodles, it wasn't a task that took much technique, and he finished under Chu Yanzhang's direction.
"Aren't you eating?"
"I've already eaten. For lunch, I had lamb soup, lamb offal, lamb chops, lamb..."
Chu Yanzhang suddenly felt that his bowl of beef noodles wasn't so appealing anymore.
A pair of chopsticks was placed in his hand, and he began eating slowly. The flavor was decent, perfectly ordinary. For someone cooking noodles for the first time, this was a talented contender.
Meanwhile, sitting opposite him with his chin propped on his hand, Xie Zhuzhou thought Chu Yanzhang was far too careless. He had actually dared to follow a stranger home. As pretty as he was, if someone had ill intentions, he wouldn't even know he had been sold. And he was a little blind guy, too-he couldn't even count the money.
Rain fell outside, and the rain and wind howled like wailing ghosts. Chu Yanzhang might have to stay a while longer before going home.
Bored, he searched online to find out what A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains was.
When he saw the results, he froze.
I'm probably never going to graduate in this lifetime!
The point is, painting A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains on a radish-was the teacher really not deliberately making things hard for me?
Damn it, this society is far too treacherous!
Xie Zhuzhou placed absolutely none of the blame on himself. Everyone else was at fault.
Chu Yanzhang quietly finished his lunch.
"The rain's too heavy. It's not safe to drive. I'll take you home later."
"Then I..."
"Rest in the guest room for a bit. I'll charge your phone for you."
With crippled legs, you could still use your phone, but losing your sight meant losing the whole world!
Once the other man had finished eating, he led him to the guest bedroom on the ground floor.
"This is the guest bedroom. Rest here for now. I'll come get you when the rain stops. Let me show you around the bathroom first." Xie Zhuzhou felt he could absolutely use Chu Yanzhang to practice speaking. In front of the little blind guy, he didn't stammer at all!