After the teacher asked him if he had an upset stomach, she told him to rest in the infirmary and not to rush back to class in the morning.
Chu Ziyu watched Lu Lin leave with suspicion. Lu Lin was acting strangely today; first, he had insomnia, and then he had a stomachache.
It's not that Lu Lin can't get sick, it's just that he's not one to say it out loud. This is the first time Lu Lin has taken sick leave.
Was the pain so intense that even Lu Lin could no longer bear it?
Chu Ziyu was very worried, and after a while she pretended to have a stomachache and went to the toilet, then ran to the infirmary to see Lu Lin.
It turned out that Lu Lin wasn't in the infirmary at all.
Lu Lin climbed over the wall for the first time and landed easily. He walked through the alley next to the school and hailed a taxi by the roadside.
"The nearest fishing spot."
It was Lu Lin's first time fishing, yet he skillfully selected his fishing rod and bait. When he caught his first fish, a strong sense of familiarity washed over him again.
His dark eyes were fixed intently on the water's surface, Lu Lin's mind filled with last night's dream.
He's been having the same dream lately, about the same man.
But he couldn't see the man's face clearly.
In the dream, he was an adult and loved that man very much.
He would prepare breakfast for him in the morning and take him to school. In their free time, they would watch a movie or go fishing.
Men love to eat wontons, beef, blueberries, pineapple...
There are also cream squares.
Lu Lin rarely eats desserts. After leaving the fishing spot with a few fish, he went to a cake shop and bought three small cream squares.
He skipped class and went straight home. His grandparents weren't home, so Lu Lin ate a small cream square first.
He didn't understand why men liked ordinary cream cakes, and he certainly didn't understand why he was starting to like them now.
After school in the afternoon, Chu Ziyu brought Lu Lin's schoolbag back and jumped up to touch Lu Lin's forehead.
"You don't have a fever!" Chu Ziyu exclaimed in surprise. "Brother Lu, do you know that what you did today is considered skipping class?"
Lu Lin glanced at him, "Headache, be quiet."
Chu Ziyu then became serious, "Oh." He was quiet for a moment, then noticed Lu Lin staring at the garden. He followed his gaze and saw a flowering tree with a few scattered white blossoms.
"Pear blossoms? They're so beautiful!" Chu Ziyu remembered that pear blossoms were white and peach blossoms were pink. He simply pushed open the French doors, and a gust of cold wind rushed into the living room, making him shiver. "It's so cold so early in winter!"
Lu Lin didn't point out Chu Ziyu's lack of common sense; his dark eyes were only fixed on the white plum blossoms on the branches.
That man smelled of white plum blossoms.
Lu Lin, an atheist, couldn't help but wonder if the man was the White Plum Immortal who had entered his dream.
However, in ghost stories, the most captivating creatures are spirits and deities, not immortals?
Lu Lin's lips curled slightly.
Chu Ziyu didn't find the flowering tree interesting at all. He glanced at it a few times and then turned away. But when he saw Lu Lin smiling, his face contorted as if he had seen a ghost.
Before long, Lu Lin's maternal grandparents returned. Upon hearing that Lu Lin had caught the fish, Lu Lin's grandfather didn't let the chef cook and instead cooked it himself. Chu Ziyu quietly pulled his grandmother aside to whisper to her, and the two of them kept glancing at Lu Lin as they talked.
Lu Lin ignored them. During dinner, his grandfather asked him why he thought of fishing. Lu Lin remained silent for a few seconds.
"Like."
After finishing her free dinner, Chu Ziyu kept checking her watch, torn between staying with the somewhat erratic Lu Lin or going to the convenience store.
Lu Lin didn't let him struggle with it for too long.
After dinner, Lu Lin went back to his room.
To help him sleep better, Lu Lin even ordered a bottle of lavender essential oil and drank a glass of warm milk that he hadn't had in over a decade.
Lu Lin was not asleep.
He can't dream.
As dawn broke outside the window, his complexion worsened on his way to school that morning; he was extremely depressed.
The weather was nice in the morning, but it suddenly started raining during the third period. By the time school ended in the afternoon, the rain not only didn't let up, but it seemed to be getting heavier.
The driver came to pick Lu Lin up to go home, but the usual route was heavily congested, so the driver took a different route.
The road ahead was clear, but then we got stuck at one road. The driver turned around and reported, " A-Lin, we'll be stuck for about ten minutes."
Everyone in the Lu Family calls Lu Lin by his given name, at his maternal grandmother's request.
Lu Lin turned his head to look out the window, and through the rain-blurred car window, his gaze was drawn to the school gate not far away.
Beijing University?
His heart pounded wildly without warning, and in a flash, all of Lu Lin's memories returned.
That unfamiliar house, that campus where we used to take walks together.
Yan Heqing.
That white plum blossom is his Yan Heqing!
It wasn't a dream; it was his memory!
Lu Lin pulled out his phone at lightning speed; at this time—
Yan Heqing hid in the orphanage's storage room!
*
The rain was getting heavier and heavier. Yan Heqing stood on tiptoe and clung to the window. The world was very blurry due to the rain, and he couldn't see if his younger brother had left the orphanage.
My little brother was just led away by that kind auntie; he should be gone now, right?
Thinking that he would never see his younger brother again, Yan Heqing really wanted to go out.
He wanted to take one last look; he wanted to see his younger brother one more time.
But he quickly dismissed the idea, clenched his fist into a small fist, then opened it again, and rubbed his eyes hard to stop himself from crying.
Time passed gradually, and it became completely dark outside.
The sound of the torrential rain was terrifying. Yan Heqing withdrew his gaze, hugged his knees, and sat down on the ground. The room also became dark. No matter how sensible he was, he would be scared at this moment.
It's so dark.
He dared not look any longer, closed his eyes and buried them deeply in his knees, his thin body trembling slightly, and tears uncontrollably fell from his eyes.
He was afraid.
He's really afraid of the dark.
At the same time, Lu Lin arrived at the door. Afraid of startling Yan Heqing inside, he left quietly without knocking.
He leaned against the wall and took out a harmonica from his pocket.
Yan Heqing suddenly heard a familiar melody.
It was my mother singing Suzhou storytelling...
Yan Heqing quickly wiped away his tears; he didn't want his mother to see him cry.
After wiping his face clean, Yan Heqing looked around, his light-colored pupils locking onto the door.