23

  I couldn't take it anymore. I picked up my bag and said goodbye to Mrs. Lu, then turned to Lu You and said: "I'm leaving first, you don't need to see me off, I know how to take the bus."

  Then he quickly ran out without looking back.

  He hadn't gone two steps when Lu You, who was chasing after him, grabbed his arm: "Why didn't you wait for me before leaving?"

  I didn't look at him: "No need for you to see me off, aren't you still going to chat with others?!"

  Lu You's expression was a bit inexplicable, and he also looked a bit helpless. He sighed and said: "Xu Shenshen, what kind of temper are you born with?"

  "I'm not angry! I need to rush home, I've been stuck here for so many days, and my dad is spending the New Year alone at home."

  He kindly advised me: "You can't just leave without saying a word, my mom hasn't even reacted yet. There are other people at home, you should at least greet them."

  I'm so annoyed: "Are you greeting that classmate of yours? Aren't you in the middle of talking to her? Isn't my greeting interrupting your conversation?"

  He frowned: "You're being a bit too willful, when others come to our home for New Year's greetings, I should at least be polite and entertain them. Besides, didn't she also talk to you? It's just that you ignored her."

  "I shook off his hand: 'So that's my fault?! Anyway, it's all my business, right? I really can't understand why I came to your house!' I took a few steps back and distanced myself from him: 'You don't have to see me off, I'll take the bus back by myself! My dad is better than you, he won't let me suffer.'"

  He didn't say a word, stretched out his hand and grasped mine. For the first time I found that his grip was so strong, no matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't get free. All along the way, he pulled me forward like this, neither of us speaking to each other.

  He waited with me for the long-distance bus and pulled me onto it, sitting beside me.

  I've been holding it in for a while, but I still can't hold it in, and then someone says: "Why are you following me onto the bus?"

  Lu You said quietly: "I'll send you back."

  "What's the point of you coming with me? I can just take a taxi to the airport by myself."

  He looked at me and said: "Do you know where the airport is?"

  "I know. If I couldn't find it, I'll just take a taxi there." I said to him with confidence, but actually I was quite nervous.

  Lu You helplessly looked at me: "It's New Year's Day, where are you going by hailing a taxi?"

  I pouted and turned my neck sideways, saying: "There's no need for you to send it."

  Lu You sighed and put my hand in his pocket: "Xu Shenshen, you're being unreasonable today. What did I do wrong?"

  His words left me speechless, and for a moment I really didn't know how to respond to him. All I could say in a low voice was: "I don't know..."

  "If you think I've done something wrong, just say it directly."

  I'm in the wrong, I turned my head to look out of the window, "I didn't think you did anything wrong."

  Lu You smiled: "Then you're still sulking."

  I turned serious and looked at him, saying very seriously: "Do you like me or Wang Shu more?"

  He stared blankly and said, "Of course it's you."

  "You still talked with her for so long."

  Lu You patted my head: "It won't be long, I'll just exchange a few pleasantries, they're bringing gifts to celebrate the new year, I can't just say 'oh, happy new year to you too' and then send them off, right?"

  "Hmph, but I'm about to leave, why haven't you pulled me aside to talk..."

  He put his arm around me and smiled with a curved corner of his eyes: "You look small, but your temper is quite big."

  40. Lu Youyun spent the second half of his sophomore year busy looking for a job, running around every day, but at that time, most of the companies doing campus recruitment were some of the big four banks and manufacturing enterprises, with almost none being his ideal unit.

  He doesn't like to talk about his troubles with others, but I can feel that he has a lot on his mind. Occasionally when I go to his dormitory to see him, he will hold me from behind and lie in bed without saying a word.

  They are all empty in the dormitory because of their graduation, and Du Shaotu, who usually hangs out with countless people, has also found a new home. I think this world is very unfair to Lu You.

  I made a proposal to him: "Luyu, what do you think... if we go and be civil servants, would that be good?"

  He seemed to stir, but said nothing.

  "I think you can take the civil service exam for the Ministry of Finance. Firstly, it matches your major and secondly, the Ministry of Finance is actually a very good unit."

  I waited for a long time without getting his response, I turned around and looked at him: "Why aren't you speaking?"

  He slightly furrowed his brow: "I'm thinking about this matter."

  I reached out and hooked his neck: "The competition for civil servants in the Ministry of Finance is fierce, often with thousands of people competing for one position. If you have this idea, you should start preparing for the exam as soon as possible."

  He replied: "Uh-huh."

  I leaned in close to him and gently kissed his lips.

  Lu You couldn't be ignited by anyone, once lit, every time it was like that. Normally quite elegant, but when he got to bed, he seemed particularly different, he liked to take the initiative, now it's hard to imagine the awkwardness of his first time with a red face and not knowing what to do.

  He responded to me, grasping my waist, and dense kisses went down from the nape of my neck. Every part of my body seemed to wake up with his kiss, fitting together with him seamlessly...

  Time flies like water. Compared to Pei An Dong, Lu You graduated quietly. He ended up finding a job at a bank as a private banking client manager, working the usual 9-to-5 every day, along with other finance and accounting graduates from his school. His college roommates all went to investment funds or securities companies, earning double what he did. With the pride in his heart, he must have been unwilling to settle for this, and anyone who heard about Lu You's last job would be surprised that someone with such good grades didn't end up at a top investment bank.

  In fact, there were not many classmates attending the graduation ceremony. There were only a few photos taken together. One of them was me and his dormitory standing in front of the library, everyone was celebrating their graduation with flying colors, Lu You had a faint smile as usual, but it was hard to hide the loss in his eyes.

  In the end, we didn't manage to smoothly settle the matter of a European graduation trip. July wasn't a perfect ending for Luyu's two-year graduate life. I didn't want to add financial pressure on him. It seemed like he never really cared about this matter. Since I brought it up at the celebration dinner after he found his job, and he passively agreed, he never mentioned it again. The European trip was left in the past.

  Fu Andong is a typical example of "having money but no place to spend it, so he wants to install a big loudspeaker on his off-road vehicle all day to tell others: Brother has money". So after he started working, he also generously invited everyone to dinner.

  I helped him count, just the one about graduating and starting formal work, with "I found a job!", "Found a job and moved out to live on my own", "Graduated", "After graduation I'm going to travel in Europe, let's eat before traveling!" , "This is a good employer giving more money, let's eat again" and other derived jokes, we had over ten meals.

  Maybe he was too showy, the people sitting at the dinner table were getting fewer and fewer, until only I, his childhood friend, and two of his followers were left.

  Fu An Dong handed me a gift box, his eyes slightly narrowed with a sly smile: "Hehe, I brought you a little something."

  I opened it and found a light-colored sheepskin wallet inside, which was very beautiful. "This one is quite expensive, right?"

  "Of course, but it's much cheaper than buying domestically. Are you moved?"

  I'm quite happy: "Four digits?"

  He nodded.

  "Is it senior four or junior four?"

  He smiled and said, "What's the price to you? From now on, I'll officially become a member of the rich generation. Girl, what do you want? Just ask, as long as it's within my monthly salary, I'll satisfy all your demands!"

  I despise his arrogant appearance: "Look at the golden light bursting out of your forehead, I've finally seen a nouveau riche of the 21st century."

  Fu An Dong took a bite of the dish, shook his head and said: "Don't you feel moved? Having such a friend doesn't make you feel honored, doesn't make you feel proud? I'm really considerate of you, Xu Shenshen."

  I smiled and said, "I'm especially honored."

  "Hey, didn't you say that your family's Lu You also went to Zhongtai? How come he ended up stuck in a bank, how boring is that?"

  I was indignant: "You're such a boss, really have no integrity. Originally had already given him a verbal offer, but later said the quota was full and couldn't hire anyone else."

  Fu An Dong said hesitantly, "Really?" and then changed the subject: "Hey, by the way, Shenshen, I rented a house on Financial Street. If you're ever in the area, feel free to drop by."

  I responded with a sound, lowering my head to look at this wallet, the logo on it is elegant and also quite eye-catching, but it's undeniable that it's very beautiful.

  At the end of November, Lu You officially took part in the civil service examination. He originally had strong learning ability, and I had previously made arrangements with my dad. In the end, he was first in both the interview and written test, and he quit his job at the bank to enter the Ministry of Finance.

  And we still have normal couples' little quarrels and bumps, but we've finally gotten on the right track. My dad really likes Lu You, the boy I like, and his shining points can't be hidden.

  The early stage of being a civil servant was leisurely and poor, I'm not sure if Lu You likes this job, because he rarely talks to me about anything work-related, but he still keeps his own pace, taking some common qualification certificates in the financial industry such as Practitioner Qualification Certificate, CFA.

  In my impression, Wang Shu entered our lives probably in the summer when I was about to finish my junior year. But perhaps she had been in Lu You's life for a long, long time, and I just didn't notice it.

  The earliest signal was a text message she sent to Lu You: Work has finally settled, thank you so much, want to hang out on Friday?

  I have to admit that doing so is not decent, but I still involuntarily looked through all the conversations between Lu You's phone and hers. There weren't many, as Lu You wasn't very talkative with others in the first place. They had a few more calls, each lasting quite long. I couldn't help but speculate about their conversation content, and the uncertainty in my heart grew bigger and bigger.

  When Lu You came out of the shower, I didn't know how to confront him, so I pretended to be nonchalant and asked him: "Just now when you were taking a bath, your phone rang, it seemed like someone sent you a text message, do you want to take a look?"

  He picked up his mobile phone and took a look. I took the opportunity to move closer to him and asked: "Who is it?"

  He walked over to the bedside table and picked up his glasses: "A former classmate came to work here and said let's get together."

  "Oh", I asked him again: "Which classmate, do I know?"

  He lightly said: "Wang Shu, you've seen it."

  "Oh~~~" I teased him again, jokingly saying: "Is it that girl you had a crush on in college?"

  He looked at me and smiled, saying with deep meaning: "Nonsense, I was busy being chased by others in college, who had time to chase people?"

  I'm unhappy: "If I didn't chase you, would you have ended up with her?"

  Lu You rubbed his temples and said: "Where did you get so many ifs from? What's for dinner tonight?"

  "Want to have noodles? I love the green vegetable noodle with egg you made, add an egg!" Successfully diverted attention, I suddenly jumped up from bed, staring at Lu You with shining eyes.

  He leaned down, pinched my face and said: "Tsk tsk, seems like I've fattened you up."

  I twisted my waist and raised my head: "And a small waist."

  He picked me up at the waist and carried me into the kitchen, saying: "Little savage waist, in charge of washing vegetables."

  I cooperated specially and hooked his neck, "Look at you, it's so easy to pick up, which means my figure is still devilish."

  Lu You suddenly loosened his hand. I lost my support and hugged his neck, wailing.

  He tightened up again and laughed: "Sorry, my hand slipped and I didn't catch it. This tonnage is a bit crushing."

  "Bad guy! I won't wash vegetables for you anymore."

  He took the opportunity to say: "If you don't give me cabbage, I'll cook noodles with shredded meat."

  I licked my lips and said weakly: "Then I'll just take a bath..."

  It was all because of this bowl of noodles with vegetables and egg that I threw Wang Shu's matter to the back of my head.