15

  30. Just made a big fuss, and the good mood that was barely pieced together "popped" completely, didn't want to go home, so turned around and walked along the road. Walked to "Wealthy Street" when I realized more than an hour had passed.

  "Cai Man Street" is the residential area I mentioned earlier. Inside, there are old 6-story buildings. Near the entrance of the community on the right-hand side path, there is a row of small shops for the convenience of residents. I remember there being Old Wang's grocery store, a barber shop, and a video rental store.

  When I lived with Lu You in this place, we often patronized this old Wang's grocery store to buy daily necessities and fruits. The owner, Old Wang, was a stout middle-aged man who loved to wear a vest and shorts in the summer, sitting outside his shop, shouting that his watermelons were all grown by himself in his hometown, the sweetest and freshest in B City, incomparable to those from greenhouses.

  When I first moved in and lived with him, my period suddenly came early one time. Lu You rushed to Old Wang's store to buy me sanitary napkins, but the convenience store didn't have black plastic bags, so he awkwardly carried a 20-pound watermelon in front of him to cover up, his face red with embarrassment as he returned.

  Old Wang recognized him from then on. Every time he went to buy fruit, he would smile at him and ask if he wanted watermelon.

  Next to Old Wang's grocery store was a very crude barber shop, with only one old man inside. He said he had been cutting people's hair for decades and wore an old pair of glasses. When he cut your hair, his eyes seemed to be stuck right on your scalp. Lu You came here every month, 3 yuan per haircut.

  Every time I get a haircut, I sit next to him and watch as the barber's hands shake with fear, especially worried that the master will shave his scalp. But in the end, it's always pretty good, he says it's because the old man is skilled, I say it's because he has a good foundation.

  I officially moved into "Financial Street" during my sophomore year, when Lu You was in her second year of graduate school and was about to graduate. She had almost no required courses for the entire semester and was interning at a securities company.

  The place where he was interning was too far from school, so he rented a small place next to the company for convenience. I begged him for a long time and he finally agreed to let me sneak out and live with him.

  Lu You is a person who lives a very organized life, with all the items in his home neatly arranged; when I first arrived, I completely disrupted his "order". Originally, girls have a lot of stuff, so I deliberately chose a weekday, found a moving company, and had them move my five boxes of clothes, one box of cosmetics, two boxes of books, and one box of daily necessities over.

  Lu You came home from work to find the scene in the house was that all his family's belongings were scattered all over every corner of the small room, with the front door wide open and a string of firecrackers could be pulled out directly to form an old Lu's miscellaneous goods stall. He furrowed his brow and walked to the closet, and when he opened the door, the clothes that I had stuffed in with great effort all fell out unexpectedly.

  He asked me with a smile and a bit of annoyance: "Xu Shenshen, don't you ever accept gifts?"

  I'd rather die than admit it: "Of course, we usually have more clothes, but this place is too small, the closet isn't big enough." The closets in my house are at least three times as large as this little one.

  "Then don't you fold them before putting the clothes in the closet?"

  I really dislike it when Lu You speaks to me in that slightly condescending tone, as if I were his daughter; I walked over with my head down and picked up the pile of clothes on the bed, quietly starting to fold them neatly one by one. But folding clothes is such a chore, usually at home we have an hour-long part-time aunt who helps out, so I basically don't get involved in this sort of thing, otherwise it would take forever like this, folding piece by piece.

  It wasn't long before I got fed up, moving stuff all day was exhausting, so I simply lay down on the bed with my head tilted and fell asleep hugging my clothes.

  When I woke up, Lu You was organizing my books. The several boxes of things he brought were all neatly arranged and made full use of the space.

  I was so amazed that I jumped up and hugged him tightly from behind, "You're really good at reasoning things out, Lu You, I love you to death."

  My face was leaning against his back, and I could feel the vibration of his shoulders when he chuckled silently, but the tone of teaching people was still as usual: "You brought so many books over, don't know how many you've flipped through."

  I solemnly declared: "I will definitely study hard. How about this, you tell me which book to read and I'll read it, I'll work day and night tirelessly until you're satisfied."

  He turned around, his eyes twinkling with a smile as he nodded, "Alright, now I'll make you a list of books."

  I wrapped my arms around his neck, tiptoed to face him and hugged him, pouting: "Today is my first day moving in, why are you so unenthusiastic?"

  Lu You stretched out his hand and gently hugged me, saying softly: "Are you hungry? Let's go downstairs and have something to eat."

  "Alright", I smiled and kissed him, "otherwise I'll come cook for you tomorrow."

  He raised an eyebrow slightly, "Huh?"

  "Don't you believe me?"

  He looked at me with a smile, without saying anything.

  I said with great enthusiasm: "Tomorrow I don't have class, wait for you, and I will definitely let you feel my unique charm."

  Before entering this house, I had never even turned on a gas stove. After fumbling around for half a day, I finally found the switch and lit the fire.

  Lu You was very worried about me and called back several times during work breaks, "Are you okay at home by yourself?"

  I couldn't wait to tell him the progress I'd made after working hard for half a day: "It's going really well. My egg mixture is ready, just need to chop up another tomato and it'll be time to cook."

  "House... didn't catch fire, did it?"

  "You underestimate me too much, let alone a house, I can burn down the whole building."

  Lu You started laughing softly and finally reminded me: "Wait until the oil is hot before putting in the eggs, otherwise it's easy to splash out and scald you."

  I clung to him and wouldn't let him hang up the phone, "Don't hang up yet, I still have something to say to you."

  "Huh?"

  I laughed loudly and said: "Lu You, I love you."

  He paused for a moment before responding in a low voice: "Mm."

  I knew he must be embarrassed and probably blushing too. Taking advantage of the situation, I teased him some more, "What about you? Don't you have anything to say to me?"

  "He coughed softly and lowered his voice: 'Me too.'"

  "What's wrong with you?"

  He paused for a moment, "Deeply, my colleague is beside me."

  I laughed so hard my belly hurt and pretended to be disappointed: "So that's all you wanted to tell me...?"

  He paused for a moment on the other end of the line, as if he had walked somewhere else with his phone, and then said softly, "I love you too."

  This feeling is too wonderful, happiness fills my heart to the brim, and it's about to overflow at any moment. As long as I think of him, I feel boundless energy, like Popeye after eating spinach, full of vitality, full of energy, a big explosion in my little universe.

  The author has something to say: I've never written about passionate love before, and in this article, I must indulge in it thoroughly!