You're Different

Lin Miaomiao rolled her eyes at Chen Lu and said nothing more.

Chen Lu propped his cheek on one hand and said, half exasperated and half amused, "Liang Zhirou, were you born in the year of the ox? Don't you know how to take a break?"

Liang Zhirou had been hesitating over how to greet him, but for some reason, his words made her breathe a sigh of relief. "I'm not tired."

He actually started teasing me right away. Now I don't have to think about how to greet him.

With Lin Miaomiao, I can just link arms with her, but, but Chen Lu is a boy...

Liang Zhirou lowered her head, lost in thought. Just then, a bead of sweat slid down her delicate cheek and dripped onto her ample chest.

She hadn't lied. After seeing Chen Lu, she really didn't feel tired anymore.

"And you call that not tired?" Chen Lu remarked.

No sooner had he spoken than he noticed that Liang Zhirou's eyes were a little red.

He glanced at Lin Miaomiao, who looked somewhat guilty, and grew even more baffled.

"What's wrong?" Chen Lu walked up to Liang Zhirou and bent down slightly to look at her eyes hidden beneath her hair.

Liang Zhirou had wanted to take a couple of steps back, but felt that wouldn't be very nice to Chen Lu. Before her brain could catch up, she froze on the spot.

All she could do was shake her head vigorously.

"N-nothing." Liang Zhirou's voice was so soft that, for some reason, a sweetness spread through Chen Lu's heart.

You don't look like nothing's wrong...

But Chen Lu soon thought of a way to handle it. Putting on a stern face, he asked, "Aren't we friends? You won't even tell me this?"

Then he sighed, looking utterly dejected. "Forget it. I got too carried away. In the end, I gave my heart to the wrong person."

Lin Miaomiao figured there was nothing they couldn't tell Chen Lu, so she simply gave a derisive snort. "Who are you?"

She had deliberately repeated what Chen Lu had just said to her. She really held a grudge.

Liang Zhirou had never seen the two of them trying to out-act each other. A mist suddenly veiled her eyes, and she confessed everything in one breath, her voice growing urgent.

"Because... because I spent too much on lunch..."

Halfway through her explanation, Chen Lu gently guided her into a chair.

Beside her, Lin Miaomiao took out the fan she used for cosplay and began fanning her.

The attention left the girl at a loss for a moment.

Like a child who had done something wrong, Liang Zhirou lowered her head and explained. The drama club members weren't particularly unwelcoming, and at lunch, they had insisted she eat with them.

They all knew she was Lin Miaomiao's friend, and she was afraid eating plain rice and shredded potatoes would make Lin Miaomiao look bad, so she hadn't bought the cheapest dishes as usual.

And somehow, she had ended up spending over thirty yuan on a single lunch.

The girl clasped her fingers together and gazed down at her fingertips.

That money was all supposed to be saved for Mom's treatment...

Thinking about it again, Liang Zhirou felt more than ever like a terrible villain, spending the money meant for her mother's treatment on enjoying herself. Tears welled up in her eyes again.

Guilt filled the girl's heart, weighing on her until she could barely breathe.

Looking at Liang Zhirou as she held back her tears, then at Lin Miaomiao, whose eyes were also a little red, Chen Lu stood helplessly to the side and scratched his head.

"A bunch of fools," Chen Lu said helplessly.

"Everyone meant well. It was all me..." Liang Zhirou protested softly, then felt a little embarrassed after speaking.

She felt that being contradicted didn't feel good, so she didn't want to contradict others.

Especially Chen Lu.

Chen Lu glanced at her and smiled. "You're the silliest one of all, and you've got such a good heart. Nobody can surpass you when it comes to being a fool."

Liang Zhirou was so embarrassed by his words that she pressed her lips together and lowered her head even further.

But she didn't dislike Chen Lu saying such things about her. On the contrary, she loved listening to his voice.

Especially when he spoke with a soft laugh, his voice made her feel warm inside.

He grew curious again. "How come I didn't see you cry when you treated me to a meal?"

"You're different."

Liang Zhirou kept her head down and clasped her hands together, speaking in earnest.

This time, Chen Lu was the one caught off guard, unsure what to say. She'd been fine treating him to such an expensive meal, but couldn't spend money on herself?

For some reason, the corners of Chen Lu's mouth curved upward.

I'm a little honored.

After a little while, seeing that Liang Zhirou had calmed down considerably and that her chagrin had been replaced by embarrassment at having opened her heart to him, Chen Lu turned to look into the distance.

The drama club members were still bustling around in a frantic rush. A few others kept flipping through their scripts, gathered together discussing something.

Every so often, a student in sportswear ran past Chen Lu, and quite a few of them had their attention drawn to Lin Miaomiao's outfit as they passed.

One idiot in a blue tracksuit had already run five or six laps. He looked at her every time he passed, even though he was clearly about to drop from exhaustion.

What a nutcase.

Even when I was a simp, I wasn't as absurd as you.

Chen Lu looked up at the sun hanging directly overhead and squinted against its glare.

Temperatures in April and May were nothing if not unpredictable.

He patted Liang Zhirou on the head, glanced at Lin Miaomiao, and headed toward the drama club members.

"Take a break. I'll go help."

Watching Chen Lu walk away, Liang Zhirou hurriedly stood up.

"I'll go too."

But Lin Miaomiao stopped her. Seeing Liang Zhirou's puzzled gaze and slightly furrowed brows, she said, half exasperated and half amused, "He's here to help a friend of his in the student council. You can't help with what he's going to do."

Only then did Liang Zhirou's brows relax. She blinked as she watched Chen Lu talking to the drama club members with a smile on his face.

Before long, a small group had gathered around him, chatting and laughing about something.

Someone even handed Chen Lu a script to look at.

Unlike her, who hadn't said a word over lunch, Chen Lu seemed able to talk to anyone, and others were willing to listen.

He had also solved her problem at the school gate with just a few words.

He's amazing...

Just then, for some reason, Chen Lu pointed in their direction. Seeing this, Liang Zhirou hurriedly lowered her head.

"Yeah, that girl had a bout of low blood sugar just now. You all know better than I do how unreliable Lin Miaomiao is." Chen Lu lowered the hand he'd used to point at Liang Zhirou and continued, "If she comes to help again, just let her and Lin Miaomiao make a token effort, then tell her to go find a cool spot and stay there."

"No wonder she looked so aggrieved."

One of the boys spoke in understanding, clearly taken in by Chen Lu's nonsense.

"So people with low blood sugar can really eat a lot," said a girl who didn't look particularly bright, nodding.

Chen Lu smiled. "I'll just go talk to my friends about the remaining problems. Even if the school can't help with some of the props or costumes you're missing, you won't have to pay for them yourselves."

Everyone who heard him was stunned for a moment, then broke into delighted smiles.

Not all of them were freshmen, and they all knew that if someone other than Chen Lu had come, something this good might not have fallen into their laps.

After all, whenever they asked, the answer was "funds are limited."

"Thank you so much!"

Chen Lu sighed helplessly. "If you want to thank someone, thank those two girls. They kept hounding me to death until I came."

Chen Lu was unlikely to have anything to do with this bunch of social terrorists from the drama club anyway, so he simply went with the flow and handed Lin Miaomiao the favor.

After spending quite a while sorting things out, Chen Lu returned to the shade of the parasol.

He now more or less understood why Li Sinian liked hanging around the student council so much. It was pure and simple: a dog throwing its weight around on its master's authority.

This feeling... well, what could he say? What could he even say?

They really weren't kidding when they called university a miniature society.

"All done?" Lin Miaomiao asked curiously.

She was now sitting in the chair, while Liang Zhirou leaned lightly against her side, memorizing English vocabulary.

It was only the second semester of her freshman year, and she was already preparing for the CET-6.

Seeing Chen Lu return, Liang Zhirou looked at him too. She took a bottle of mineral water from her bag and asked gently, "Are you thirsty? Would you like some water?"

Normally, she really couldn't bear to buy mineral water. This bottle had been handed out by the drama club.

"I don't like drinking water. Real men drink Pepsi-Cola." Chen Lu yawned lazily.

"People actually drink toilet cleaner? Coca-Cola is the best in the world, obviously!" Lin Miaomiao said disdainfully.

On hearing that, Chen Lu lifted her out of the chair and sat down in it himself. "Coca-Cola? Even dogs won't drink it."

Furious, Lin Miaomiao bit her lip with her canine teeth. "Even dogs won't drink it? Then would you drink it or not?"

Lin Miaomiao was thoroughly annoyed.

Chen Lu treated them completely differently. She was certain that if Liang Zhirou had been sitting there, he would never have stolen her seat.

Watching the two bicker, Liang Zhirou smiled to herself. For the first time in her life, she felt like she was hanging out with a few friends.

Even if there were only two of them.

But she was so happy that she began to wonder whether she was dreaming.

After all, she had always been the one watching from afar as others gathered and chatted.

Joy and laughter had never belonged to her.

"Shouldn't I go over and help?" Liang Zhirou asked, checking the time.

"No need." Slumped in the chair, Chen Lu hurriedly caught her by the arm.

The girl's arm felt just as it had that night. Though thin, it was still soft, and Chen Lu couldn't help giving it a gentle squeeze.

Although Chen Lu quickly let go, Liang Zhirou's face still turned into a little tomato.

A little confused, she said nervously, "But I, I came here to help..."

The spot on Liang Zhirou's arm where Chen Lu had held her felt hotter than it had when she'd burned herself.

"We've already been a huge help. Even if we sit here and rest, they'll still have to thank us." Chen Lu couldn't be bothered to spell it out. "If you have that much time, you might as well fan me. Your good friend needs your help too."

Liang Zhirou said, "Oh."

A little while later.

Chen Lu, resting with his eyes half closed, felt a cool breeze blowing steadily against his cheeks.

He glanced sideways and saw that Liang Zhirou really was fanning him.

The girl seemed to think Chen Lu wanted to sleep. She controlled her movements with utmost care, making the breeze light and gentle.

*??*

What kind of immortal life is this?