Shen Xingruo showed no emotional change, simply gazing quietly at the beer belly in front of her—
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Suddenly, she pocketed her phone and looked towards the table in front of Lu Xingyan, asking, “Excuse me, can I borrow some water?”
The bottle, already one-third empty, was quickly tossed her way.
She twisted off the cap.
“Are you leaving or not? If not, everyone else might as well stand up.”
The bottle tipped slightly, hanging directly above the beer belly.
?!
The surrounding people were all stunned.
The beer belly seemed to have undergone some major upheaval in its worldview, its face filled with disbelief. “You little brat…”
Before he could finish, the water mercilessly poured down.
An hour later, the train arrived at its final destination, Xingcheng South Station, and passengers began to disembark. Shen Xingruo pushed her suitcase while talking on the phone, heading towards the exit.
“Little beauty, have you arrived?”
Pei Yue’s voice sounded quite cheerful, lifting Shen Xingru’s mood as well. “Auntie Pei, I’ve gotten off the train.”
“Then head towards Exit B, I’ll be waiting here for you.”
“Auntie Pei, you’re here too?” She thought only the driver would be there.
“Of course, both your Uncle Lu wanted to come, but he suddenly had a meeting and couldn’t make it.”
Shen Xingruo quickly found Exit B. Meanwhile, Lu Xingyan and his group also headed towards Exit B, but with more people, they were moving slower.
“…Then the guy snapped out of it, and started yapping away, you know? Damn, I was so shocked! That girl just poured the water down without hesitation! Poured it down!” Xu Chengzhou vividly recounted the scene, gesturing and pulling at his coat to show, “Look at my clothes, just look! The water splashed all over me, and it’s not even dry yet!”
Because there were too few seats available when buying tickets, except for Lu Xingyan and Xu Chengzhou, everyone else sat in another train carriage and didn’t witness the scene at that time.
“And then what happened?”
“Then the train conductor showed up. That guy was in second class sitting in a first-class seat, and he only bought a ticket for one stop but ended up riding for six stops. Anyway, in the end, he got escorted off.” Xu Chengzhou remembered something, “Oh yeAh that girl who borrowed water from Lu Xingyan, she even gave him five bucks back.”
“Hey, Young Master Lu, why don’t you take out that five bucks and have a look…”
Lu Xingyan glanced at him with an expression that suggested he was looking at a fool, then resumed chewing his gum expressionlessly, his gaze quickly returning to his phone screen.
This incident only seemed amusing to Xu Chengzhou; the others hadn’t witnessed it firsthand, so they didn’t feel much about it and had little interest. They started interrupting each other with different topics, quickly shifting to discussing the evening concert.
Half of this group had been friends since middle school, and their circle expanded when they moved to Mingli Academy for high school.
During winter break, they spent about ten days at the seaside, mainly because a few girls wanted to attend a concert by their idol, Lin Yu. They rushed back early because of it.
Seeing a few girls’ eyes light up and hearts flutter at the mention of Lin Yu, Xu Chengzhou rolled his eyes. He didn’t bother finishing his sentence and instead went to grab Lu Xingyan’s neck, “Hey, Young Master Lu, wanna see something?”
In just a few seconds, Lu Xingyan’s phone buzzed with a WeChat notification.
Xu Chengzhou pocketed his phone and proudly leaned in, “So, what do you think? Not bad, right? Has that arty film vibe, doesn’t it?”
The scene in the photo was quite familiar—the girl standing in the aisle, coldly watching as the middle-aged man was escorted away. Her posture was impeccable, standing there like a beautiful and elegant white peacock.
Xu Zhengzhou couldn’t stop praising, “Seriously, this girl is stunning, especially her aura. I bet she’s into ballet or something. Just look at her, she’s like the epitome of a pure and elegant first love.”
“You have quite the taste,” Lu Xingyan chuckled lightly, tapping Xu Chengzhou’s head with his phone.
“What’s wrong with my taste? I’m telling you, in Mingli, she’d be a goddess-level school flower. Don’t believe me? Ask Bian He…”
The group laughed and joked for a while before finally reaching the taxi stand. Since they were a large group, they hailed three taxis. The first two taxis seated four each, leaving Lu Xingyan and Xu Zhengzhou to share one.
Just as they were about to get in, they saw Chen Zhu getting out of the front taxi, waving at them.
Xu Chengzhou immediately sensed someone meddling, stopped his motion to get into the back seat, and gestured towards Lu Xingyan, “Let’s switch, I’ll sit in the front.”
But Lu Xingyan, with earphones on, didn’t hear him. He closed the car door without a second thought and took the passenger seat.
Xu Chengzhou was exasperated. He followed suit, got into the car, and yanked the earphones off Lu Xingyan from behind, wondering, “You’re back and you still can’t make a move? If you don’t seize the opportunity at the concert tonight, I bet you’ll be single for another thirty years.”
This time around, everyone was trying to create opportunities for Lu Xingyan and Chen Zhu during the trip, but neither of them took the initiative. As a result, when they returned to Xingcheng, there was no progress between them.
Xu Chengzhou kept nagging, and Lu Xingyan, annoyed, lifted his gaze, “Could you please shut up?”
Just as Chen Zhu was getting into the car, Xu Zhengzhou couldn’t say much more. He moved to another seat, chatting with Chen Zhu cheerfully.
Lu Xingyan’s mind was elsewhere. Chen Zhu asked him a couple of questions, but his responses were perfunctory, and he quickly put his earphones back on, engrossed in his game.
Chen Zhu lowered her voice and asked, “What’s wrong with him?”
Xu Zhengzhou: “Who knows? His picky attitude is nothing new, you’ve seen it before.”
Chen Zhu: “True, last semester he was picky like a dog, and now he’s upgraded again.”
Lu Xingyan turned up the volume to the maximum, feeling an inexplicable surge of irritation. He swiped at the screen absentmindedly, feeling somewhat restless. He sent a WeChat message to Pei Yue, letting her know he’d be home tonight.
After waiting for a response for what seemed like ages, he boredly opened Xu Chengzhou’s chat interface and clicked on the photo. It was indeed as Xu Chengzhou described, with an arty vibe.
The photo froze three-quarters of the girl’s facial profile, immersed in the twilight shadows cast through the window, creating an ambiance of ambiguity.
Perhaps because she wasn’t smiling, beyond her beauty, she exuded a coldness, like fresh snow in winter, clean and chilly.
Lu Xingyan gazed at it for a while, then casually tapped to save it.
Just then, Xu Chengzhou suddenly exclaimed, “Holy crap!” and yanked out his earphones again, pointing ahead excitedly, “I think I see your family’s car, the Oulu, 088, I’m not mistaken, right? That’s your family’s car, isn’t it?”