Less than fifteen minutes after Zhou Wan replied with an “mm,” Lu Xixiao arrived at the arcade.
He seemed to have just woken up, with faint red marks on the side of his face and slightly messy hair. Due to drowsiness and fatigue, his entire face appeared even more cold and distant. Dressed in black clothes and pants, he exuded an icy demeanor.
It was already dark outside – had he just woken up?
He walked straight to Zhou Wan, pulling out his wallet with one hand while lighting a cigarette with the other, placing five hundred yuan on her desk.
Zhou Wan loaded the money onto his game card and handed it back to him. “Done.”
Lu Xixiao didn’t leave. He continued leaning against the counter smoking, looking rather roguish. Then he raised his eyes to look at Zhou Wan, his gaze emotionless like a deep pool.
Most of the time, Zhou Wan felt that Lu Xixiao wasn’t someone who enjoyed lively atmospheres. Even though he had many boisterous friends and was never short of female attention, he always seemed somewhat disinterested in it all.
Just like now – having just woken up, that veneer of frivolity and sociability was stripped away, revealing an unmasked coldness that poured out, his entire being steeped in detached darkness.
He raised an eyebrow: “Don’t recognize me?”
Zhou Wan called his name: “Lu Xixiao.”
He smiled crookedly, his voice hoarse as if he had a cold.
Then again, wearing so little in this cold weather, it would be strange not to catch one.
He flicked his cigarette ash, slightly lifting his chin: “So you’re pretending not to know me?”
“…”
Zhou Wan didn’t know what he meant.
Was he referring to how she didn’t cling to him like other girls, or to how she pretended not to see him that afternoon during the break?
After a pause, Zhou Wan lowered her eyelashes and asked softly: “Do you have a girlfriend?”
Her question was very direct.
Lu Xixiao furrowed his brows, as if not understanding why she would ask this: “No.”
Then, remembering the scene from that afternoon, he added, “That wasn’t what you think.”
“…”
Zhou Wan was stunned for a moment, unconsciously curling her fingers: “Oh.”
She was about to participate in a physics competition and didn’t have time to chat more with Lu Xixiao, quickly returning to her practice problems.
Meanwhile, Lu Xixiao played games nearby. He was already familiar with all the arcade machines and easily won many prize tickets.
Girls around them watched admiringly, discussing among themselves.
Lu Xixiao undoubtedly had an appeal to girls their age.
Some girls gathered their courage to ask for his contact information, but Lu Xixiao didn’t give it, casually rejecting them all.
Zhou Wan heard the voices from that direction, looked up briefly, then lowered her head again.
After completing two competition papers, the light before her was blocked.
She looked up.
Lu Xixiao stood in front of her, placing a thick stack of prize tickets on her desk.
“So many…” Zhou Wan was startled.
Lu Xixiao tapped the desk: “Off work?”
Zhou Wan checked the time, only then realizing it was already eleven at night, and the arcade was empty except for the two of them.
“Yes,” Zhou Wan said, “Let me help you record these points first.”
The stack was so thick that just entering them took several minutes. Zhou Wan looked at the number displayed on the machine – already forty thousand points: “Want to redeem them?”
He took out a cigarette, tapping it on the table: “Keep them.”
Zhou Wan returned the game card to him, but he still didn’t leave. When Zhou Wan finished packing up and walked out of the arcade, he left with her.
He exhaled a breath of smoke.
He looked quite handsome when smoking.
Zhou Wan looked at his hollow cheeks as he smoked, saying softly: “You smoke a lot.”
He lowered his eyes: “Does it bother you?”
Zhou Wan shook her head slightly.
Guo Xiangling was a smoker. Back when they had no money, although she smoked thin ladies’ cigarettes, the smell was particularly acrid. Zhou Wan had grown used to it since childhood.
The two walked together on the quiet, empty street.
After the autumn rain, the ground was covered with withered yellow leaves that made crackling sounds under their feet.
Lu Xixiao suddenly asked: “Want to eat noodles?”
Zhou Wan’s steps paused, and she nodded: “Okay.”
It was the same old noodle shop. This time Uncle Kang didn’t even ask what they wanted, just called out to the small kitchen inside: “Two bowls of three-delicacy noodles.”
Zhou Wan rushed to pay again.