I've Got You

Early in the morning on May Day.

It had rained sometime last night. It was a little cool, and the air was fresh.

Chen Lu got up with a yawn, pulled back the curtains and opened the window to let in some air, then went to wash up.

Li Sinian and Zheng Haoyu were from out of town, so they had left early to catch their high-speed trains.

Only Jiang Chao was left, still sleeping like a dead pig.

"Boss, what are your plans for May Day?" Chen Lu slung on his bag. He had been about to kick Jiang Chao, but in the end he just gave him a shove.

"Going on a trip with Liu Yan. Our train leaves this afternoon."

"Fuck you."

Chen Lu kicked him after all.

As Chen Lu walked down the road, he sent Liang Zhirou a message.

Chen Lu: Good morning. What are you doing?

Liang Zhirou: I just got dressed. I'm getting ready to go to my part-time job.

The girl replied quickly. Chen Lu had barely sent his message before he got an answer.

Whenever Chen Lu was bored and asked what she was doing, she would always give him a serious answer.

Chen Lu: Found a new job?

Liang Zhirou: Yes! I'm handing out flyers again, over by Guomao Shopping Mall.

Chen Lu smiled and continued tapping on the screen: That's good.

He walked along as he typed, only to nearly miss a step and twist his ankle.

Then, looking thoughtful, he put on his Bluetooth earpiece and called Liang Zhirou.

He was sure Liang Zhirou was looking at her phone, but for some reason, it took over ten seconds for the call to connect. Then a gentle voice came through the phone.

"Hello-"

The girl's voice sounded muffled, as though she had only recently woken up.

"I nearly twisted my ankle texting you just now. Scared me half to death. Let's talk on the phone for a bit instead," Chen Lu grumbled. Missing a step when he wasn't paying attention was genuinely scary.

Liang Zhirou's voice grew anxious. "S-sorry. Are you okay?"

Chen Lu was utterly baffled. Why was she apologizing again?

"I'm fine. I've got quick reflexes." Chen Lu yawned lazily, secretly glad he had nearly twisted his ankle.

This was the first time the two of them had spoken on the phone.

She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief on the other end, then asked, "Have you eaten breakfast?"

"No. The food at the breakfast shops isn't as good as what you make."

Chen Lu joked, without saying outright that he hadn't eaten because he was too lazy to go.

A modern-day university beast was doing well to eat two meals on time in a day. Nobody wanted to sacrifice a lie-in for breakfast.

"That won't do... You need to eat on time. How about I bring you some?"

The sweet, adorably naive girl made a not-so-clever suggestion.

Chen Lu smiled. "Then bring it to my house. Remember to bring some for my family too."

"Then, then never mind."

Liang Zhirou, who had already run to the kitchen to start cooking congee, went back and sat down on the edge of her bed.

That Chen Lu was slyly wicked. It hadn't immediately occurred to her that he would use this as a chance to tease her.

The two fell silent for a while. Moments like this weren't uncommon when they were alone together.

But neither felt awkward. If anything, they both enjoyed it, even if they were only quietly sensing each other's presence.

"I don't think I've made any progress after all."

After a long silence, Liang Zhirou spoke first.

"When I was looking for a part-time job yesterday, the manager asked me something, and I still didn't even dare to speak..."

Chen Lu was still chuckling softly, his tone gentle. "Don't rush. Just take it one step at a time.

"Your confidence has to grow slowly as your sense of self-worth improves.

"Otherwise, it wouldn't be confidence. It would be ordinary yet inexplicable confidence.

"In other words... you just need to work on becoming better and better. Take it slowly."

Noticing that the girl was still listening intently, Chen Lu added, "You've already made obvious progress. The old you definitely wouldn't have agreed to wear that school uniform."

"I keep feeling like that's not the same thing..."

"It is."

"Really...?" Liang Zhirou was still a little skeptical.

He continued in a righteous tone, "How about trying on some historical costume next time? You really suit that kind of outfit.

"You wouldn't want your friend to..."

"Could you stop teasing me...?" the girl interrupted quietly, sounding aggrieved.

A satisfied, wicked smile appeared on Chen Lu's face, but it was soon replaced by a serious expression. "Anyway, just relax and take your time. I've got you."

"Okay," Liang Zhirou replied softly, much of the heaviness lifting from her mood.

She couldn't quite say why, but hearing Chen Lu say "I've got you" really put her at ease.

Time always seemed to fly when they were on the phone. The ride of more than half an hour was over in the blink of an eye.

After reluctantly hanging up, Chen Lu scanned the code to pay and briskly got out of the car.

Sure enough, nothing was different.

That was the one drawback of going to university near home: even during the holidays, it didn't feel like coming home.

Other people's parents treated their children like treasures when they came home after a long absence-at least for the first few days.

As soon as he opened the door, he heard the adults talking.

A relative he couldn't place was talking at the top of her lungs about everything under the sun. He had no idea which one of his aunts she was.

Chen Lu's father, Chen Guanglin, and his mother, Wang Xiaoxia, sat off to one side, listening quietly with smiles on their faces.

His younger sister, Chen Mo, was beside them.

Both "Lu" and "Mo" meant roads. Chen Lu had no idea why his parents liked driving so much.

The girl was seventeen, in the prime of her youth, and had grown up to be very pretty. She too sat quietly to one side, occasionally responding with a polite little laugh, looking well-behaved and sensible.

Chen Lu knew perfectly well that this was only an appearance.

If Lin Miaomiao was an ordinary-level social terrorist, his sister was the sort who flew planes into American skyscrapers.

A pure little devil.

"Xiaoxia, I'm telling you, there's really something wrong with the way you raise your children. You have to be strict with them!"

Chen Lu put his bag down by the entrance and prepared to slip back out, quietly closing the door behind him to escape for a while. Being left there to listen to these people talk would be worse than death.

Wang Xiaoxia saw what Chen Lu was up to. Seeing that the visiting relative was still going on and on, she didn't insist on keeping Chen Lu there to chat.

Just when Chen Lu thought he could escape this calamity-

"Brother! You're back!" Chen Mo shouted happily.

Hearing this, the visiting relative finally noticed Chen Lu, who was preparing to sneak away. She pointed at him and asked, "Is this your boy? He's gotten so big!"

"Xiao Lu, say hello to your second aunt," Chen Guanglin reminded him softly.

"Second aunt."

With no other choice, Chen Lu sat down beside Chen Mo and glared at her with murder in his eyes.

Chen Mo still wore her well-behaved, sensible expression, blinking at him.

Only then did he notice the boy sitting beside his second aunt. He looked only a year or two younger than Chen Lu and was very taciturn.

Unlike Chen Mo, who had perfected her outward performance, the boy didn't speak or look at his phone the whole time. He just sat there in a daze.

It was hard to imagine he was already a university student.

Seeing that the boy had no intention of greeting him, Chen Lu was happy to leave it at that. He took out his phone and asked Liang Zhirou what she was doing.

Seeing her brother take the lead, Chen Mo followed suit and started scrolling through remix videos.

Chen Lu glanced over curiously, then frowned. "Little hater, bring your phone to the trial."

"Look at kids these days. They can't do anything without their phones." Second aunt sighed as though deeply regretful. "How many children have phones and games ruined!"

"Xiaoxia, do you see? Video games are spiritual opium!"

????

Chen Lu was stunned.

That's the ninth art, okay?

Besides, I'm already a university student!