The Love Umbrella

The girl lowered her head and fiddled with her fingers for a long time before saying softly:

"Thank you, really, for earlier."

Chen Lu smiled to himself. "I waited all that time, wondering what you were going to say. No more thanking me, okay?"

Liang Zhirou had just opened her mouth, but obediently closed it again. Her little head worked for a moment before she cautiously asked, "Then... can I treat you to a meal?"

Chen Lu was about to refuse when he noticed that the girl's head was bowed low, her fingers repeatedly pinching the hem of her clothes.

He cursed himself inwardly, then hurriedly smiled and said:

"Looks like my stomach has a mind of its own. Come on, I'm going to take you to the cleaners."

If he didn't accept the girl's thanks, he would probably only make her feel even more inferior.

Liang Zhirou seemed to brighten up at once and nodded repeatedly.

Chen Lu found it funny. She had taken him seriously when he said he was going to take her to the cleaners. How could anyone be so easy to fool?

There were quite a few people around, so Chen Lu reached out and gently took hold of Liang Zhirou's sleeve. Together, they slowly squeezed their way forward.

While Chen Lu wasn't looking back, Liang Zhirou alternated between glancing at him and looking at the sleeve he was holding.

That perfectly measured kindness, which never crossed the line, filled her heart with a sense of security.

For some reason, she hoped that, if possible, they could walk like this a little longer.

Unfortunately, the good times didn't last. As soon as they reached a less crowded spot, Chen Lu let go and turned to look at her. "The cafeteria's too crowded at this hour, and it's expensive and tastes awful. Let's eat outside."

"Okay, we can eat whatever you want," the girl replied at once. Then she lowered her head, a little nervous. "But I don't have an umbrella..."

It hadn't been raining when she came.

Chen Lu glanced at the dense curtain of rain outside and said casually, "It's fine. We'll have one soon."

With that, he took out his phone, his thumb tapping rapidly on the screen.

Chen Lu: Boss, boss, I'm at the library. Bring two umbrellas over, quick. Respond if you copy.

Jiang Chao: The organization copies, over.

Chen Lu: Remember to bring one for yourself too. I'm going out to eat with a girl.

Jiang Chao: ?

His dear son was quick. Within a few minutes, he came running over.

"Here. I'm leaving." Jiang Chao climbed two flights of stairs and handed the umbrella to Chen Lu, who had come to meet him.

After seeing Liang Zhirou, he gave Chen Lu a meaningful look.

"Why is there only one?" Chen Lu asked curiously.

Jiang Chao looked at him without changing expression. "The other one suddenly broke."

Watching Jiang Chao stride away, Chen Lu sighed helplessly. He slowly opened the umbrella and sheltered the girl standing there in a daze beneath it.

"Will this do?"

Liang Zhirou lowered her head and nervously fiddled with her fingers. Then she softly murmured her assent and followed silently beside Chen Lu, looking sweet and obedient.

Standing under the same umbrella, the two gradually joined the crowd.

Seeing that Liang Zhirou was too timid to speak, Chen Lu didn't start another conversation. They walked quietly through the fine curtain of rain.

Raindrops pattered against the umbrella, gradually drowning out the girl's rapid heartbeat.

This was her first time walking so close to a boy, let alone sharing an umbrella with one.

After a while, Chen Lu led her outside the university gates and stopped on an old street.

"Here we are."

Hearing Chen Lu's voice, the girl looked up. The first thing she saw was a well-decorated hot pot restaurant. She pressed her lips together, but still said earnestly, "Let's go in."

She could earn more money, but she had to repay the favor...

Besides, Chen Lu was the first person to step forward and help her of his own accord.

"Not there, here. Who eats hot pot in the middle of the day?" Chen Lu pointed to a noodle shop next door.

"This place has been open for over twenty years. I used to come here with my dad a lot when I was little."

It wasn't really appropriate to bring a girl he barely knew here for a meal, but since Liang Zhirou was treating him, this place was more suitable: it was cheap and tasty.

Chen Lu's explanation was perfectly reasonable, so Liang Zhirou didn't suspect anything and followed him inside.

Even though it was raining outside, there were still plenty of customers in the shop. Most of them were Yuhang University students.

Clearly, no good restaurant could escape the eyes of today's college cattle.

Chen Lu didn't fight over the bill. He quietly watched Liang Zhirou scan the code and pay: one bowl each, twenty-eight yuan in total.

"Only you freshmen are silly enough to like eating at the cafeteria," Chen Lu said with a chuckle. "Try it and see if you like it."

Liang Zhirou handed Chen Lu a pair of chopsticks before lowering her head and eating in small bites. From time to time, she secretly looked up at Chen Lu, then quickly looked away.

Chen Lu looked at the timid girl before him, his thoughts complicated.

It seemed that ever since he first met this girl, everything had unfolded so strangely.

Although he didn't know which of them had barged into the other's world, Chen Lu always felt that Liang Zhirou had brought a different shade of color into his life.

He never would have imagined that Liang Zhirou had been so afraid he wouldn't find her that she had stood somewhere she would get rained on.

The warmth he felt still hadn't subsided. Like a pebble suddenly tossed into a lake, it sent ripples spreading through his heart, one after another.

"Good, isn't it?" Chen Lu asked with a smile.

"Mm..."

Although Liang Zhirou ate quite neatly, her little mouth was still stuffed round and full. Her eyes inadvertently met Chen Lu's in an innocent gaze.

Then, like an ostrich, she hurriedly lowered her head again, a barely perceptible blush showing on her cheeks, as if saying, "If I can't see you, you can't see me."

Girls apparently didn't like looking like foodies in front of other people.

Looking at the girl with her cheeks puffed out like a hamster's, Chen Lu found the corners of his mouth lifting for no apparent reason.

He rested his chin on his hand and watched her quietly.

Then he looked out at the drizzling rain, feeling only that time was gentle and life was beautiful.

"Why are you still saving money like this when you already have a part-time job?"

Chen Lu looked at the burn on the girl's arm and asked softly.

Liang Zhirou hurriedly swallowed the food in her mouth and slowly said, "Because I need to save up for my mom's surgery."

Seeing the girl's expression suddenly dim, Chen Lu dropped the subject.

After that, Chen Lu didn't say much else. He simply took out his phone and held it in front of the girl.

"Let's add each other on WeChat. We can eat together when we're free."

"Huh?"

"I said, let's add each other on WeChat."

"Okay..."

Liang Zhirou held her phone in both hands and scanned his code. Her phone was an old, cheap model, but she had evidently taken great care of it. It was completely different from Chen Lu's Syrian battle-damage edition.

"Why is your profile picture a bubble machine?" Chen Lu couldn't help asking with a smile.

It was really strange. He had thought Jiang Chao using Brother Kun as his profile picture was already bizarre enough.

"Because someone gave it to me."

"I bought one of those too. This model was pretty expensive when we were kids. I gave mine away once, and when I got home, my mom gave me a real beating."

As Chen Lu laughed, he no longer felt like laughing. He remembered the little girl who had probably lost her father, and then saw Liang Zhirou before him, scrimping every day to pay for her mother's treatment.

This world really wasn't gentle at all.