To make up for accidentally dropping the rag on Luo Zhi Yu’s head earlier, Xiao Yan went downstairs to help Luo Zhi Yu.
“Why is it just the two of you?” The moment Xiao Yan opened the door, the music in the classroom gave him a headache. He turned down the volume on the multimedia equipment again before he could hear himself speak. “You two are doing the whole cleaning?”
“Their homes are far away, and they finally got a chance to go home, so they had to catch tonight’s high-speed train. They left first. I don’t really have anything going on anyway, so I’m just sweeping around.” Luo Zhi Yu had finished wiping half of the windows along the wall. “The important thing is to enjoy life.”
The two large characters “Strive” had been written on the classroom blackboard. The dust on the floor had barely been swept clean. Luo Zhi Yu was carrying a mop and circling around the classroom, but there was still dust on the windows near the hallway.
“They’re checking on Monday.” Xiao Yan took out Tang Yuan’s little floral rag. “If the evaluation fails, the class will lose points.”
“I know.” Luo Zhi Yu leaned against the mop and breathed slightly heavily. “But I seem to remember that you’re the one doing the inspection on Monday?”
“Even if I am, I won’t show you favoritism.” Xiao Yan leaned against the doorway of their classroom. “What are you thinking about?”
“I was thinking…” Luo Zhi Yu dropped the mop, placed his hand on Xiao Yan’s shoulder, leaned over, and whispered into Xiao Yan’s ear, “Did your dorm buy another little refrigerator?”
Xiao Yan: “…”
“Last time you posted on your Moments, you forgot to block me. That was a mistake, wasn’t it?” Luo Zhi Yu said. “But you guys really do live well.”
Holding Tang Yuan’s little floral rag, Xiao Yan wiped several windows for Luo Zhi Yu. One of them was inside the classroom and the other was outside. Separated by a layer of glass, Luo Zhi Yu kept talking, but Xiao Yan couldn’t make out what he was saying.
The two were standing very close. A faint layer of mist had formed on the glass. Luo Zhi Yu had very nice lips, and he was probably in a good mood. The corners of his mouth remained slightly curved upward as he spoke, and there was a crystalline gleam in his eyes.
Xiao Yan looked at him through the window. He had always felt that Luo Zhi Yu, whom he had grown up with, had a more restless personality and temper than other people, but he was also better-looking than many people his age.
“Is this okay?” Luo Zhi Yu pulled the window open. “What do you think?”
“Okay?” Xiao Yan had no idea what Luo Zhi Yu had been saying just now, so he answered with a question.
“Then it’s settled.” Luo Zhi Yu ignored the questioning tone in his voice and shook the rag in his hand, which had become impossible to identify by color. “Tomorrow, take me around the area first. I crushed my earphones when I was sleeping on them, so I need to buy a new pair. After we’re done looking around, I’ll come back and work for you.”
Xiao Yan: “…”
No. 1 High School and the residential complex where their families lived were in two different districts. Before entering high school, Luo Zhi Yu rarely came to this area and wasn’t familiar with it. He had been a day student throughout elementary and junior high, only beginning to live at school once he entered high school. A little over a month of boarding wasn’t particularly long, but when Luo Zhi Yu walked out of the school gates, he was still faintly excited.
After looking at school uniforms for so long, the moment Luo Zhi Yu left the school gates, he couldn’t stop staring at the clothes worn by passersby.
The two of them had also deliberately changed out of their school uniforms before leaving today.
“Brother Yan, you actually look pretty good in regular clothes.” Luo Zhi Yu walked a full circle around Xiao Yan, looking satisfied. “How come I never noticed before?”
“…Zhi Le, when you compliment someone, can you just compliment them properly? Do you have to look like you’re shopping at a brothel?” Xiao Yan led Luo Zhi Yu toward the commercial street near the school.
“I don’t.” Luo Zhi Yu denied it.
The commercial street was packed with people on weekends. Where there were many people, the smells were also mixed together. There were quite a few alphas around, and the occasional traces of pheromones made Luo Zhi Yu feel a little restless. He moved closer to Xiao Yan and decided that the orange scent was still fresh and refined.
“Want me to hold your hand?” Xiao Yan shook his right hand. “Come here. You’re pulling my sleeve so much that the two sleeves are going to end up different lengths.”
Xiao Yan had studied at No. 1 High School for more than a year and was fairly familiar with the roads around here. He took Luo Zhi Yu’s hand and made several turns through the crowd, changing to a street that wasn’t as crowded.
“Wouldn’t it be better to shop online? Or have your family buy it and get Uncle Driver to deliver it?” Xiao Yan asked him. “Why insist on coming shopping on the weekend? Are you trying to avoid doing any work for me?”
“I’m not. Stop thinking about exploiting me all the time.” Luo Zhi Yu continued to be stubborn. Standing at the entrance of a milk tea shop, he ordered two peach oolong teas. “I wanted to ask you out to play. Is that okay, big brother?”
He hadn’t deliberately lowered his voice. The people waiting in line around them all turned curious gazes toward the two of them, clearly taking them for a young couple who were dating.
The clothes they wore were obviously in a completely different price range from the small goods sold along this street, and their overall air was also striking. Every now and then, someone secretly stole a glance at them.
Xiao Yan stared at him for quite a while. He somehow managed to swallow the word “okay,” which had inexplicably reached the tip of his tongue, then grabbed the person who was misleading the public and left the area.
“I really like that the posters at No. 1 High School give both teachers and students the opportunity to design them.” Luo Zhi Yu had chosen his earphones, and he walked back with Xiao Yan. “I have some ideas that I still need to discuss with you guys. Later, we can ask Old Wu to buy the font license.”
“Sure.” After crossing another narrow alley, they would reach the place where several members of the student council had agreed to meet. Judging by the time, Yan Zi Han and Lu Lu should be arriving soon too. Xiao Yan opened WeChat location sharing so the two of them could find their way more easily.
But Luo Zhi Yu suddenly grabbed Xiao Yan by the wrist.
“I think I saw my sister.” Luo Zhi Yu took a step back. “Why would she be here?”
This wasn’t a place Luo-jie usually frequented.
At the three-o’clock position, near the entrance to the commercial street, Luo Si Xue and one of her girlfriends were approaching in their direction, both carrying large and small shopping bags.
“There are several major-brand boutiques if you go through here. I’m guessing your sister went over there?” Xiao Yan was familiar with the area and knew what commercial districts were nearby. “But why would your sister come to this district?”
“Retreat, retreat, retreat. Absolutely cannot let her see us walking together.” The road was too narrow. If they continued straight ahead, they would definitely run into her. Luo Zhi Yu immediately made a decision and pushed Xiao Yan into a shop beside them. “Hide properly.”
“Let me ask you something. Am I so ugly that I can’t be seen in public?” Xiao Yan pressed the cup of his iced milk tea against Luo Zhi Yu’s cheek.
“No. I’m doing this for your sake too.” The sound of Luo Si Xue and her friend chatting gradually faded into the distance, and Luo Zhi Yu breathed a sigh of relief. “Our families have such a bad relationship. Your dad and my dad were even fighting over a contract a few days ago. And here I am, holding hands with you while shopping. Isn’t that… being an unfilial descendant?”
Xiao Yan: “…Is that so?”
Xiao Yan frowned. “You didn’t have to panic and run blindly like that.”
“How was I running blindly?” Luo Zhi Yu felt that he had hidden at exactly the right time. He stomped his foot on the ground. “Isn’t this a road?”
“What would you two like to look at?” The shop owner enthusiastically began serving the two customers who had just rushed in. “No rush. Everything in our shop is in stock, including the newest releases. No need to fight over them.”
They had suddenly barged into someone else’s shop, and it seemed rude not to buy something. Although Luo Zhi Yu hadn’t even had time to see what the shop sold, he still politely said, “Then we… buy a little more? We might be able to use it?”
This was a pharmacy, but its décor was different from the other pharmacies Luo Zhi Yu had seen. The shelves were filled with colorful little bottles of medicine.
Xiao Yan glared at him, nodded at the shop owner, and pulled Luo Zhi Yu out of the store.
Only then did Luo Zhi Yu see that this pharmacy was rather special. There was an advertising sign hanging outside that read: “For Mighty A’s Only.”
“I don’t need it.” Xiao Yan said proudly. “Not now, and not in the future.”
Luo Zhi Yu: “…”
Luo Zhi Yu: “…………”
“What are you two… doing here?” Yan Zi Han and Lu Lu had followed the WeChat location and arrived just in time to witness the entire process of the two of them walking out of the store. They stared fixedly at the sign behind them, their faces filled with alarm.