With Lu Yang not at home, Ruan Mian was alone and didn’t know what to do, so he threw himself completely into his studies.
He immersed himself in his studies so thoroughly that he barely noticed anything happening outside his window, focusing solely on his books. After a week, Ning Mixiang couldn’t stand it any longer and dragged him out for a shopping trip.
Ruan Mian accompanied Ning Mixiang on a shopping trip all day. He was so tired that he could barely lift his feet. When they were coming back, he happened to see Wang Dali at the door. Wang Dali seemed to have been waiting there for a long time and came over as soon as he saw him.
Ning Mixiang thought it was Ruan Mian’s classmate, so she smiled, said hello, took all the bags in Ruan Mian’s hand, and went into the house alone.
Ruan Mian looked at Wang Dali and said, “Are you here to find Lu Yang? He’s not at home now.”
“I know. I’m here to find you this time.”
Ruan Mian was stunned for a moment, “What’s the matter?”
Wang Dali looked at him and suddenly straightened his chest and said, “I’m here to declare war on you.”
“Declare war?”
“Yes!” Wang Dali nodded vigorously and said loudly, “Although you and Lu Yang are already engaged, as long as you haven’t gotten married yet, I don’t want to give up. I know that he was sent to the army by his grandfather, so I also want to go to the army to train with him. I want to openly issue a challenge to you now.”
The army that Grandpa Lu sent Lu Yang to is in this city. That army is mainly responsible for training new recruits. Officers often send their children there for training. Wang Dali’s father is also a member of the army. If Wang Dali wants to go for training, his father will be so happy that he will naturally agree to let him go.
Wang Dali looked at Ruan Mian and said somewhat hesitantly, “Of course, as his fiancée, you have the right to object. If you don’t want me to go, I can choose not to go.”
“No, you must go!” Ruan Mian’s eyes lit up, grabbed his arm, and answered excitedly.
Wang Dali looked down at Ruan Mian’s excited eyes and was stunned for a moment. Why did Ruan Mian’s reaction differ from what he thought?
Ruan Mian’s lips moved, and his voice became excited, “You must take good care of him when you go. He will be in a bad mood when he is tired. You have to tell him jokes to make him laugh. If he trains too much during the day, his feet will hurt. You must remember to remind him to soak his feet more…”
Ruan Mian hadn’t heard from Lu Yang for days and had been worrying about him constantly. Now that Wang Dali said he was going to the army to accompany Lu Yang, Ruan Mian felt like he had grabbed a lifeline. He wanted Wang Dali to do everything he could on his behalf.
Wang Dali: “…” It’s too difficult.
“Lu Yang doesn’t like to eat carrots, chopped green onions, coriander… When eating, you should pick out the things I just mentioned with clean chopsticks in advance for him. Also, he is afraid of sun exposure in the summer.”
Wang Dali was so confused that he wanted to cry. Suddenly, he didn’t want to go to the army anymore.
He only knew that Lu Yang was pampered, but he didn’t know that Lu Yang was so picky.
Ruan Mian talked for a long time before stopping. After he finished speaking, he looked up at Wang Dali and asked, “Do you remember what I just said?”
Wang Dali rubbed his forehead, thought about it carefully, and said with uncertainty, “I think I do? But I can’t recall…”
Ruan Mian frowned slightly, thought about it and said, “Wait for me.”
He took out a notebook and a pen from his school bag and began to write against the wall. He wrote down every habit and taboo of Lu Yang, stroke by stroke. He wrote for a long time, and even when the street lights on the roadside were on, he did not stop.
Wang Dali stood by the side of the road, watching Ruan Mian’s earnest expression, and for some reason, he suddenly felt a bit envious of Lu Yang. He wished he could also have someone like that—a little rabbit who cared about him and was so attentive and diligent.
He looked at Ruan Mian for a while and was stunned. He shook his head violently. How could he admit that his rival was good!
When Ruan Mian finally finished writing and handed a thick stack of papers to Wang Dali solemnly, Wang Dali couldn’t help but sigh. He suddenly felt that the mission to go to the army this time was very heavy and extremely difficult.
He folded the stack of papers neatly and put them in his backpack. Looking at Ruan Mian’s expectant eyes, he felt that he should say something.
He thought for a while and said, “I… will work hard.”
Ruan Mian nodded and asked, “When are you leaving? Remember to tell him that I’ve been reminding him to eat well. Also, make sure he eats properly and puts on sunblock. If he gets too sunburned, I’m afraid he’ll come back looking like a black wolf.”
“… I’ll go tomorrow.”
Wang Dali suddenly had an illusion that he was not going to the army to serve, but to help take care of the children in the kindergarten. In Ruan Mian’s eyes, he seemed not to be a love rival, but the principal of the kindergarten.
This cognition made him a little frustrated, and he couldn’t help asking: “Aren’t you jealous? After I go to the army, I will be with Lu Yang every day. Aren’t you afraid that he will like me and forget you? Lu Yang might break up the marriage with you at that time.”
“He won’t.” Ruan Mian blinked, patted his chest, and said with certainty: “He can’t forget me, and he probably will never like you either.”
Ruan Mian was very confident that even if Lu Yang had someone he liked, he would never forget him. He would always be Lu Yang’s best friend. Moreover, he felt that the chance that Lu Yang would like Wang Dali was very small.
Wang Dali was speechless and choked, and he was deeply defeated by the certainty in Ruan Mian’s tone.
Ruan Mian continued indifferently: “As for marriage, we will talk about it when we grow up. If he has someone he likes, then I won’t be his groom. At most, I can be his best man.”
Wang Dali: “…” He has a big heart, which is incomparable to ordinary people.
He was speechless, and finally could only nod his head resignedly, facing Ruan Mian’s trusting eyes, he turned back.
Ruan Mian looked at his back and waved his hand vigorously, “Wang Dali, you can do it! ”
Wang Dali: “…” I thought of you as my love rival, but you cheered me on!
…
Three days after Wang Dali left, Ruan Mian suddenly received a call from Lu Yang. He was already lying on bed, ready to go to sleep. When he heard Lu Yang’s voice, he almost cried with excitement.
He lowered his voice and shouted in surprise: “Baby Lu! How come you have a phone?”
Lu Yang was very quiet, and occasionally there were a few animal calls on the phone. Ruan Mian guessed that he must be secretly calling outside.
“Wang Dali secretly brought a phone in.” After Lu Yang finished speaking, he couldn’t wait to complain and said in a broken voice on the phone: “Tutu, Captain Song actually gave me a police dog!”
Ruan Mian was shocked. Lu Yang usually takes a detour when he sees a dog, and now Song Weimin actually asked him to keep a dog!
He couldn’t help but get anxious and suggested: “Let Wang Dali help you take care of the police dog, don’t let it get close to you.”
Speaking of Wang Dali, Lu Yang was furious. He squatted in the grove, glanced at Wang Dali who was keeping watch for him not far away, and said angrily: “He is more afraid of dogs than I am!”
“Ah?” Ruan Mian felt that there should be few people in the world who are more afraid of dogs than Lu Yang.
“Today, Captain Song brought the dog over. Before I could react, he ran faster than me. You’d think a rooster that’s scared of dogs would also be afraid of me, a wolf. Is he underestimating my wolf power?”
Ruan Mian stuttered, “You, you know he’s a rooster?”
“Yeah,” Lu Yang complained in a low voice, “Yesterday, when we were fighting, I accidentally scared him into his true form and ended up with a mouthful of chicken feathers. Just thinking about it makes me mad.”
Ruan Mian couldn’t help asking: “…Is he okay?”
“It’s okay, just a few chicken feathers fell off. “Lu Yang said calmly: “In order to save his remaining chicken feathers, he took the initiative to hand over his phone today.”
Ruan Mian: “…” He suspected that Wang Dali’s chicken feathers should not be very many by now, otherwise, Wang Dali would not easily hand over his phone and let Lu Yang contact his ‘love rival’.
Suddenly, a dog barked on the phone. As soon as the bark was heard, both Lu Yang and Wang Dali on the other end of the line let out simultaneous, deliberately stifled screams.
“Baby Lu, are you okay?” Ruan Mian imagined Lu Yang’s lips tightly pursed and his face pale, and suddenly became anxious.
Lu Yang patted his chest in shock, swallowed his saliva, and said: “It’s okay, the police dog was tied to a tree by Captain Song, and it shouldn’t come over.”
He spoke with a voice that still had a slight tremor, but suddenly started laughing again, saying, “Wang Dali turned back into a rooster again, hahaha… Why does he always revert to his true form whenever he’s excited or scared? We’re both pure-bloods too, but we don’t react like that…”
Ruan Mian was in no mood to laugh and couldn’t help worrying. He didn’t expect Wang Dali to be as afraid of dogs as Lu Yang. When these two guys met the police dogs, it was like meeting their natural predators.
He waited for Lu Yang to finish laughing, and asked with some concern: “Did Captain Song ask you to train the police dogs?”
“He asked me to get familiar with the police dogs first and cultivate some feelings.” Lu Yang inhaled harshly, and said with tears in his eyes: “Tutu, I don’t even dare to look at it, how can I cultivate feelings! I still have to feed it. When I threw the meat buns in front of it today, you didn’t see the way it looked at me. Its black eyes were particularly big, and it looked at me like I’m the meat bun.”
Lu Yang hadn’t had a chance to talk to Ruan Mian for so many days, so he couldn’t help but talk more than usual. He muttered with lingering fear, “Captain Song is worthy of being taught by my grandfather. He knew I was afraid of dogs, but he still insisted on giving me a dog to raise. It was definitely intentional.”
Ruan Mian frowned, and suddenly wanted to see Lu Yang eagerly. If he was there, he could help Lu Yang block the dogs. He had clearly promised Lu Yang that he would protect Lu Yang in the future and help him drive away all the dogs that approached him, but now he had no way to do anything.
“Tutu, it would be great if you were here.” Lu Yang sighed as if he had a telepathic connection, and his voice sounded equally lost.
Suddenly, longing filled every corner of Ruan Mian’s chest. He was overtaken by an impulse, one that suppressed the pangs of bitterness he was feeling inside.
He made a decision in an instant and said to the microphone with a firm and brisk tone: “Baby Lu, I’ll go to the army to see you!”
…
At night, the Lu family residence was very quiet. As the first light of dawn began to rise, occasional sounds of dogs barking, and roosters crowing could be heard from around the area.
Before daybreak, Ruan Mian left a note on the table, gathered up a bundle of items, and, under the cover of darkness, quietly slipped out through the back door of the Lu family home.
