When Cheng Yue heard the voice coming from Ji Xu’s phone, he got so startled that he accidentally hit the hang-up button. Holding the now-blank phone, he felt a bit at a loss, wanting to explain but not daring to call back.
Ji Xu, hearing the phone disconnect, looked even more displeased.
Ning Zhengyu, feeling awkward, scratched his head and explained, “I answered because I saw Cheng Yue was calling, but I haven’t seen him recently.”
Ji Xu managed to calm his expression slightly, nodded, and said, “Cheng Yue must have forgotten his keys. I need to leave for now.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Ning Zhengyu waved his hand with a smile. “You’re still the same as in college. By the way, I have a gathering on Saturday night. Want to join us?”
“Got things to do tomorrow; I have plans with Cheng Yue to buy a dress.” Ji Xu didn’t forget about Saturday’s plans.
“Alright, we’ll catch up another time.” Ning Zhengyu said.
Cheng Yue scratched his head, feeling too nervous to call again. He looked at the closed door and, realizing he had forgotten his keys, took off his backpack and hugged it, sitting against the wall while casually watching a movie on his phone.
When he heard the elevator coming up, Cheng Yue quickly turned off his phone and stood upright, holding his backpack.
As Ji Xu turned the corner from the elevator, he immediately saw Cheng Yue standing straight against the wall.
“Today… didn’t I just…”
Cheng Yue started to speak twice but couldn’t find the right words, so he took his frustration out on the person who answered his call, “Who was that answering your call? Just picking up calls from strangers, how…”
“If you use foul language again, you’ll do 30 squats.” Ji Xu took the backpack from Cheng Yue’s hands and opened the door.
Cheng Yue stuck out his tongue and made a face at Ji Xu’s back but quickly composed himself before Ji Xu turned around.
“Are you hungry?” Ji Xu asked as he watched Cheng Yue follow him.
Cheng Yue rubbed his stomach and nodded.
“Go do your homework first.” Ji Xu lightly tapped his forehead, “I’ll cook.”
At dinner, when Ji Xu saw Cheng Yue coming out of the small room where the exercise equipment was kept, he remembered the painting Cheng Yue was supposed to donate to the auction.
Ji Xu had moved Cheng Yue’s painting setup to the small room to avoid inconvenience when he saw Cheng Yue painting in his own room last time.
Realizing he hadn’t checked Cheng Yue’s progress and that the auction was coming up soon, Ji Xu asked as Cheng Yue sat down with his bowl of rice, “How’s the painting coming along?”
“It’s good.” Cheng Yue replied.
Seeing Cheng Yue’s little proud expression, Ji Xu couldn’t help but pinch his face and asked, “What’s the painting of?”
Cheng Yue smiled brightly and replied, “It’s a secret.”
Ji Xu raised an eyebrow, becoming curious about what Cheng Yue had painted.
Cheng Yue seriously emphasized, “You can’t peek.”
After dinner, Cheng Yue was pulled into the study by Ji Xu and started working on homework.
By 11 PM, Cheng Yue was completely exhausted and groggily returned to his room.
The next morning, Cheng Yue, unusually lazy, was still sound asleep when his phone by the bed started vibrating.
However, the person on the other end persistently called back after being hung up on.
Cheng Yue was woken up, and as he peeked out from under the covers, he was startled to realize it was Saturday.
The phone on the bedside kept vibrating, and after rubbing his eyes, Cheng Yue fell back onto the bed and answered the call with his eyes closed, “Hello?”
“Still asleep?” The voice on the other end sounded amused.
Cheng Yue was taken aback, opened his eyes, and looked at the unfamiliar number, trying to figure out who it might be. He said into the phone, “Did you dial the wrong number?”
“Cheng Yue, are you pretending not to remember me?” Bai Zhen sounded a bit helpless.
“Uh?” Cheng Yue was confused, “Who are you? Have we met?”
Bai Zhen cleared his throat awkwardly and, seeing that Cheng Yue genuinely didn’t remember, introduced himself.
“Bai Zhen?” Cheng Yue frowned, “How did you get my phone number?”
“Don’t worry about how I got it.” Bai Zhen smiled, “Just get ready. I’ll pick you up soon. I have some friends who are racing today.”
“I don’t drive.” Cheng Yue quickly declined.
“But weren’t you driving happily the other day?” Bai Zhen thought for a moment and added, “If you don’t want to drive, you can just watch from the side.”
Cheng Yue hesitated. He had always liked cars, and although he couldn’t drive now, watching was fine.
Bai Zhen noticed Cheng Yue’s hesitation and quickly added more details, mentioning the cars and their models, then continued, “My friends only get to race occasionally; they usually treat their cars like treasures.”
“Alright, I’ll come.” Cheng Yue was quickly persuaded.
Thinking about checking out the “treasures,” he quickly finished getting ready and dressed.
On the coffee table in the living room was a note left by Ji Xu:
[Emergency at work, remember to eat breakfast and lunch by yourself.]
Cheng Yue studied the note for a while, noticing there was no mention of dinner, which meant Ji Xu would be back before dinner.
So Cheng Yue needed to return before dinner.
Having decided when to come back, Cheng Yue went downstairs.
Bai Zhen had been waiting downstairs for a while. When he saw Cheng Yue, he threw a helmet to him and called out, “Hurry up.”
Cheng Yue caught the helmet and hopped onto the bike.
Halfway through their ride, Bai Zhen suddenly turned around and headed in the opposite direction.
“What’s going on?” Cheng Yue asked.
“I forgot something, heading back home.” Bai Zhen said, glancing at Cheng Yue through the rearview mirror. “It’s fine, we have time.”
As Bai Zhen drove further, the scenery became more familiar to Cheng Yue, who began to feel uneasy.
When Cheng Yue saw the familiar detached villas in the distance, his heart skipped a beat, and his hand, resting on his lap, clenched involuntarily.
He hadn’t expected to come back here after he left that day.
Not because he didn’t want to, but because he was afraid.
Though Bai Zhen’s speed wasn’t fast, he didn’t give Cheng Yue much time to react before driving into the villa area.
After Bai Zhen parked the car, he noticed Cheng Yue hadn’t gotten out and turned around to ask, “What’s wrong?”
Hearing his voice snapped Cheng Yue out of his shock. His legs felt weak as he got out of the car but he managed to hold himself together.
“You wait here, I’ll be right back.” Bai Zhen said, then jogged towards the house ahead.
Cheng Yue stood there in a daze for a moment, looked around to confirm his direction, and then slowly walked towards the left road.
As expected, he saw the house from his memories.
Seeing the black iron gate in front of the yard, which he had closed with his own hands before, Cheng Yue felt a pang in his nose.
He rubbed his nose with his hand, about to step closer to look, when suddenly a car horn sounded behind him.
Frowning, Cheng Yue moved aside, and a black car drove past him.
The car continued into the house in front. Cheng Yue was still in shock when he saw the car enter his old home.
The woman who got out of the back seat of the car made Cheng Yue’s eyes widen in disbelief, and his hand in his pocket trembled with shock.
Was that Tan Minmin?
When Tan Minmin turned her head to adjust her hair and saw him, she froze. Her expression became awkward but was quickly suppressed, and she forced a smile, saying, “Ah Yue, what are you doing here?”
Even Cheng Yue, who was usually naive, could sense something was off. He stared at her coldly, “What are you doing here?”
