Chapter 1 Section 7 A Step Away

  Lu Youyou looked at Zhi leaving and suddenly felt at a loss because if there was no Anzhi now, it would be a bit difficult for her to go home.

  Watching the sky turn black. Lu Youyou was still standing in place, constantly thinking about her strange encounter tonight. It's so strange that she didn't even dare to believe it herself.

  Looking at the rose in her hand, she wondered if anything would happen after going home. It's really helpless. Lu Youyou turned around and looked in the direction of An Zhi's departure. After calming down, she finally understood that this should be the way home.

  Lu Youyou thought to herself as she walked step by step along the road, following the footprints that An Zhi had just made. Gradually, she saw lights in the distance. In her heart, she thought, "I've finally returned home alone." It was a somewhat fulfilling feeling. Lu Youyou quickened her pace and walked back to the familiar door of her own home.

  Look at the time, it's still so early. But the sky outside has lost its original brightness. Lu Youyou thinks that winter days are really annoying. To think that if it were in the past, now would be bright and sunny. Such days have lost their former charm.

  Lu Youyou lay back on her own bed, gazing out the window at the sky outside, which was no longer illuminated by stars and moonlight. It was a vast expanse of blackness. The tree outside the window had lost its green leaves, leaving only its sturdy branches swaying continuously in the wind. As she watched the quivering branches, Lu Youyou's body, wrapped in her quilt, involuntarily shivered with a chill.

  "Come and eat." Mom poked her head in from the doorway, looking at Lu Youyou lying on the bed.

  "Alright, here it comes." As she spoke, Lu Youyou flipped over and covered the rose placed beside her, not letting her mother see her little secret.

  Lu Youyou leaned sideways, looking at the bright red rose, unsure of what to do. If Mom saw this, her own life would be in danger.

  Lu Youyou stared blankly for a while until her mother called out her name again before she got up to go eat.

  "What's wrong?" Mom looked at Lu Youyou holding a bowl of rice but not eating, feeling somewhat strange.

  "I'm fine, just a bit tired." Lu Youyou quickly covered up and said.

  "Really nothing?" Mom looked at Lu Youyou's appearance and knew that this guy must have something. But it's not good to ask, so she had to probe indirectly.

  "An Zhi that kid didn't come back with you?" Mom said with a smile. Still looking out the window without stopping.

  "I don't know." Lu Youyou said coldly.

  "What's wrong with you? Didn't he send you..." Mom said halfway through her sentence but suddenly stopped. She lowered her head and continued eating the rice in her bowl.

  Lu Youyou almost spat out the food in her mouth. She thought that her mother must have seen her bringing home the roses. Nothing could escape her mother's sharp eyes.

  But Lu Youyou thought again it's impossible, must be blasting herself. Can't say.

  "Who knows? I haven't seen him." Rou said with a huff.

  "Haven't seen him before. What a huge surprise!" Mom looked at Lu Youyou's expression, her face full of forced smiles.

  "I've finished eating." Lu Youyou, who had only eaten a few bites, slammed down her bowl and chopsticks and ran into the room.

  Behind her was her mother's continuous laughter, which made Lu Youyou's heart tremble slightly.

  "Tomorrow, I'll definitely make An Zhi compensate me for this." Lu Youyou thought to herself as she lay back into her own bed.

  When the sun rises, the snow outside becomes even more dazzling. Lu Youyou shrinks her head into the quilt to avoid the sunlight disturbing her sleep. However, without the disturbance of sunlight, she couldn't escape the expected disturbance. Before Lu Youyou could fully wake up, An Zhi's shouting had already disturbed her and made it impossible for her to fall back asleep.

  "Lu Youyou, pig, get up quickly. If you don't get up soon, the sun will shine on your butt." An Zhi shouted from outside. The voice entered Lu Youyou's ears without any loss.

  "What's wrong with you?" Lu Youyou sat up. Wrapped in a quilt, she approached the bedside and looked at An Zhi standing outside. She shouted loudly.

  "The bell is ringing. Hurry up. If we don't hurry, we won't make it to school." An Zhi looked very anxious.

  "Wait for me." With that, Lu Youyou swiftly gathered everything and rushed out, standing in front of An Zhi.

  "Look at you. Haven't even washed your face?" An Zhi looked at Lu Youyou standing in front of him, his expression becoming very strange.

  "What's wrong. Let's hurry up. Otherwise, we'll really be late." As she spoke, Lu Youyou instead pulled An Zhi's arm and started running forward.

  This scene is like an old movie that hasn't changed in over a decade, and it's been replayed non-stop since school days. Everyone living here knows that every morning there will be a guy standing here shouting loudly. They're all used to it.

  "You have dinner with me." Lu Youyou said while walking.

  "Have dinner with you? What's the point?" An Zhi stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at this guy: "Breakfast is still okay, but you don't have the habit of eating breakfast anymore. Now you want me to have dinner with you again. Is there something going on?"

  "I don't care. Anyway, you're going to have dinner with me tonight." Lu Youyou started to show off her spoiled side.

  An Zhi looked at Lu Youyou's unyielding expression. He began to feel that the little pocket money he had would be gone again. But being stirred up by Lu Youyou like this, An Zhi was completely at a loss for what to do. He could only agree with him.

  "Okay. Where do you want to eat?" An Zhi was really at a loss.

  "I haven't thought it through yet. Wait till I figure it out and then I'll tell you. Got it? Don't forget to bring money." As she said that, Lu Youyou burst into laughter, shining brightly like today's sunshine.

  An Zhi looked at Lu Youyou walking in front of him and a smile appeared on his face.

  The snow around was still silvery white. Lu Youyou sat in her own seat, looking at everything outside. Her heart became a little confused. She flipped through the book in her hand, not knowing which page she had read to.

  "Hey, Nizi, are you hungry?" An Zhi leaned over and lifted Lu Youyou's head up.

  "What's wrong? Don't move around." Lu Youyou pushed An Zhi's hand aside.

  "It's nothing. I just wanted to invite you out for a meal. It's getting late, aren't you hungry?" An Zhi smiled and stood beside Lu Youyou.

  At this moment, Lu Youyou suddenly found that An Zhi blocked the winter sun. Originally cold herself became even colder. But when Lu Youyou raised her head and looked at An Zhi's face, she suddenly discovered that the previously bullied An Zhi had become so tall and handsome. His face still had a clear and handsome outline.

  "What's wrong?" An Zhi waved his hand in front of Lu Youyou's eyes.

  "Huh? Didn't see anything. What do you want to treat me to?" Lu Youyou's mind was in a mess, unable to make up her mind. The bouquet of roses from yesterday was still lying in her dresser drawer. She didn't know if her mom had discovered it yet.

  "What are they thinking about?" Lu Youyou's mind was a mess.

  "You said eat what to eat. Hurry up. There's no one left." As he spoke, he was about to pull Lu Youyou up. He pushed Lu Youyou away with a shove.

  An Zhi and Lu Youyou still maintained the formation they had kept for over a decade as they walked on the road. To others, the two people seemed to be unrelated, but when the two turned around the street corner together, thinking in the same direction, it became clear that these were two people who were together.

  An Zhi stopped in his tracks. He turned around to see Lu Youyou almost stepping on him again for the nth time. It wasn't the first time, but every time An Zhi stopped, Lu Youyou would stop just one step behind him and wouldn't take another step forward.

  An Zhi never figured out what was going on. He always wanted to know why Lu Youyou could control the distance of only one step so well. An Zhi always wanted to ask, but he never opened his mouth. He just kept thinking about finding an opportunity to turn this one-step distance into no distance at all.

  It's been so long, but An Zhi still hasn't succeeded. Yet, looking at Lu Youyou transform from a little kid to the big girl she is today, still such a beautiful young woman. The only thing that hasn't changed is the distance of one step between them.

  "Shall we stop here?" An Zhi raised his hand and pointed to a small shop by the side of the road.

  "Here?" Lu Youyou poked out her neck, which was shrunk into her clothes, and sized up this small storefront.

  "Yes, it's here. I don't have any money." An Zhi said with an innocent face.

  "No money. Where's your allowance?" Lu Youyou asked An Zhi as if interrogating him. The habits from childhood hadn't changed even after growing up.

  "It's not like you've been completely cleaned out, is it? You still have the nerve to say that. If you had treated me to a meal two months ago, I might have changed my mind about this place." An Zhi shrugged and said.

  "Alas, my life is really bitter." Lu Youyou stuck out her tongue and said: "Is there no room for choice?"

  "It's gone. Come in with me." An Zhi dragged Lu Youyou into the store with one pull.

  "Let go." As he spoke, Lu Youyou shook off his hand and broke free from An Zhi's grasp.

  An Zhi sat down in a window seat. Lu Youyou stopped again, just one step behind An Zhi. An Zhi turned around and looked at Lu Youyou, almost laughing out loud. Because Lu Youyou was lowering his head, as if he hadn't seen everything here.

  Two people sat by the window, waiting for their ordered dishes to arrive.

  "Can you tell me a secret?" An Zhi leaned in close to Lu Youyou's face and said.

  "What secret? What are you talking about?" Lu Youyou raised her head that had been lowered and looked at An Zhi with a puzzled expression.

  "Yes. Can you tell me why it always stops at the same distance?" An Zhi finally couldn't hold back and asked out the words in his heart.

  "What distance? What are you talking about?" Lu Youyou looked at An Zhi with some confusion.

  "It's just that when I stop, it will stop one step away from me. Why is that?" An Zhi repeated his question again.

  "This problem." Lu Youyou tilted her head as if thinking about how to solve this problem.

  "What's going on with this..." An Zhi looked at Lu Youyou and said half a sentence but didn't continue. Because he saw Lu Youyou staring out the window in a daze.