22

  38. The meeting with my dad was set at my home, and I did a lot of groundwork. In order to let my dad fully understand Lu You, I invited Fu Andong to come to my house for the following conversation:

  I said: "Dad, I have a boyfriend now."

  My dad closed the book he was reading, "White Deer Plain", and asked: "Which one?"

  I said: "He's a senior in our college, studying finance and ranked first." Turning to ask Fu Andong: "Andong, isn't that right?"

  Fu An Dong responded with a "Hm." in his throat.

  I continued: "He's been a teaching assistant for several classes, he's quite clever, from Hunan province, and has a relatively calm personality." Then I asked Fu Andong: "Fu Andong, what do you think? Haven't you met him a few times?"

  Fu An Dong murmured again: "Hmmm..."

  In fact, Lu You is the "kind that parents like", because he and my dad are getting along very well right now. The books my dad loves to read - those classics, those "Nobel Prize in Literature" winners, those "31 Habits of Successful People" - Lu You has actually read them all.

  Maybe on a whim, my dad also opened a bottle of white wine and asked Lu You if he wanted a drink.

  Lu You nodded: "Then I'll have a drink with Uncle." Rolled up his sleeves and poured wine for my dad.

  "My dad asked him: 'Little Lu, do you have any plans after graduation?'"

  Lu You stared blankly.

  "Dad, Luyu is still looking for a job."

  "My dad said: 'You young people these days mostly go into business, do any of your classmates take the civil service exam?'"

  Lu nodded and said: "There are also some, many of my classmates have chosen an official career."

  My dad asked me with a smile: "And you, daughter?"

  "I'm going to the company, of course. Who still wants to be an official? The officialdom is too dark."

  My dad smiled and didn't comment, but just before the end, he said to Lu You: "I think boys can go to the government to exercise, in business you talk about morality, in the unit you talk about skills, both have commonalities. But girls, like Shen Shen, I don't advocate for them to take the official path, because there are too many intrigues and struggles in the official circle, if a girl gets caught up in this kind of thing, she will lose her original loveliness."

  Lu You also knew how to respond: "Uncle, you're right. Shen Shen is quite simple-minded, which is also one of her lovable qualities."

  I picked up his scarf and said to my dad while changing shoes: "Dad, I'll see Lu You off."

  As I saw Lu You off at the door, he seemed to be deep in thought and didn't say a word in the elevator. The two of us walked in the residential area, hearing the sound of boots crunching on the snowy ground "shasha", looking up was a sky full of stars.

  I turned to ask him: "What are you thinking about?"

  Lu You looked at me and said, "Nothing."

  I smiled at him: "You must be thinking of something, otherwise why come out and say nothing."

  He looked up at the night sky and suddenly stopped in his tracks. The snowy scene was set against the blackness of the streetlights, and two very long shadows stretched out on the road.

  I think he said with a pretended calm tone: "I feel a bit pressured."

  But he's not usually a person who likes to joke around, and speaking in this tone is quite forced.

  I asked him: "Why is there pressure?"

  Lu You bowed down and hugged me: "Because I couldn't find a job." His face was blown by the wind, very cool, I could feel it.

  39. The winter break began right after my dad's initial acquaintance with Lu You. Lu You stayed in Beijing until the eve of Chinese New Year before preparing to return to Hunan. He took advantage of the winter break to help his supervisor with some research, which allowed him to earn some teaching assistant salary. His life was very frugal; previously, his internship salary was 3000 yuan per month, and after paying rent, he had nothing left. Lu You had been financially independent since university, as far as I know, he had worked as a tutor, teaching assistant, taught children Go in the Youth Palace, and done part-time translation work, not only supporting himself but also occasionally helping out with family expenses.

  When we lived together, he basically bore all the expenses. It was also because of this that I rarely splurged in front of him, buying clothes, cosmetics and accessories were done secretly behind his back, and then taking out one piece every half month to wear on my body, letting him think it was an old dress.

  With the New Year approaching, he has been busy buying goods for many years and bought two massage instruments to bring back to his parents. The mall is crowded at the end of the year, with discounts and promotions using all means. Lu You and I ran several malls, and finally managed to buy New Year's goods for his father, mother, sister, brother-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, aunt, uncle, aunt, etc.

  I really couldn't find an empty shopping mall chair to take a break, so I just sat on the floor with my things and complained to him: "I'm really...really exhausted. Let me rest for a bit..." From Beicheng to Nanbian, then from Nanmian to Xijie, and finally sweeping through the goods in Dongcheng, all on foot above ground and by subway below. I'm about to fall apart.

  I'm going to die in Andon's forest!

  Luyu bought me a Coke at the McDonald's next door.

  I looked at the big and small gift bags beside me, let out a sigh of relief: "I think I've bought everything I need to buy. Can you carry all this stuff back?"

  Lu You was also exhausted, "Don't worry, you rest for a while. Once you're rested, we'll head back to school."

  I want to call Fu Andong: "There are so many things, why don't we let Fu Andong send us instead? Anyway, I guess he doesn't have anything else to do."

  Lu You obviously disapproved of what I was doing: "It's not good to bother others."

  I waved my hand: "Ask him, maybe he's busy with something." If it were usual times, I would have called An Dong and he would have arrived immediately.

  Lu Youyi pulled me up and picked up all the shopping bags: "Let's go, I'll take you to hail a taxi, okay?"

  I reluctantly got up: "Okay..."

  Lu You took two steps and suddenly stopped, turned around and asked me: "Shen Shen, are you going back home with me this year?"

  I didn't react in time: "Huh?"

  Lu You looked at me and repeated seriously, actually he was serious every time he spoke: "I'm asking you, do you want to come to Hunan for the winter vacation this year?"

  I was shocked, "You, what do you mean? Have you met your parents? So soon?"

  He smiled, "You've met my mom before, last summer vacation."

  I whispered: "But we weren't girlfriends last time."

  He said gently: "Then this time is over."

  I and my dad proposed going to Hunan for a teaching assistant job, my dad wearing glasses stared at me for a long time, but surprisingly didn't see through me.

  As I sat in the long-distance bus to Jihe, I suddenly had a feeling of getting married and visiting my husband's family. I turned my head to look at Lu You beside me, who was leaning on the seat and sleeping soundly with earphones on, listening to light music.

  This was my last time visiting Lu You's hometown, what a busy trip it was. All of his relatives passed by me like a revolving lantern, gathering together to prepare for the New Year's Eve dinner, drinking and chatting while playing mahjong. It seemed that everyone sized me up from head to toe, smiling at me with distance, testing me in Hunan dialect to see if I could understand, and when they found out I couldn't, they would burst into laughter, then teach me that this was the local dialect of Lu You's hometown, telling me that I must learn it next time.

  I rarely get to communicate freely with his relatives, like a little daughter-in-law hiding behind Lu You and letting others watch me. On the other hand, I have to enthusiastically "pay respects" to my elders, wash dishes with cold water, help clean up the room, and do those things that I've never done before.

  There is only one gaze that I can see clearly, and that is everyone's pride in Lu You. Lu You seems to be the pride of this entire family, from top to bottom, across three generations, extending to great aunts and uncles. They will constantly mention his excellence, his intelligence, how he is one of the few people from Jiahe County who went to B University for graduate school, how he was already a star in high school, his filial piety, his thoughtfulness, his boundless future prospects...

  But Lu You mostly just accompanied me and laughed it off.

  They arranged two rooms for me and Lu You, and two days later, I formally met a person for the first time.

  On the third day of Lunar New Year, I bid farewell to Lu You's family in the morning and prepared to return to Beijing to spend some time with my old dad who spent the Spring Festival alone.

  The New Year's atmosphere here is much stronger than in Beijing, and you can hear firecrackers going off early in the morning.

  When I came out of the room, I saw Wang Shu, a fellow villager of Lu You. She had shoulder-length hair and wore a yellow coat that wasn't very stylish, holding a bag with some local specialties like fermented bean curd and rice cakes, chatting intimately with Lu You's mother in Hunan dialect.

  Although I can only roughly guess from their demeanor and conversation that Wang Shu came to pay New Year's greetings with gifts, it's obvious to anyone that they are very close. In fact, she is not only close to Lu You's mother, but also to anyone in this family!

  When Luyu's mother introduced her to me, she held her hand, as if they were mother and daughter. "Deeply, this is Wang Shu. Luyu's classmate, they have been classmates since junior high school, for many years. After the new year, she will also go to Beijing to work, at that time you and Luyu must take care of her more."

  I was stunned for a few seconds, and it took me half a day to find my hand, mechanically stretching out to her: "Hello, I'm Lu You's girlfriend, Xu Shenshen."

  Wang Shu was also taken aback, then grasped my hand and greeted me for the new year: "Hello hello, happy new year."

  "Son, Xiaoshu has come to pay his New Year's respects! Come out quickly!"

  Lu You saw Wang Shu and seemed to have seen his own relative. He shook hands with her as usual, exchanged New Year's greetings, and chatted with her in dialect.

  I admit I'm jealous, I'm jealous to death that they can speak in dialects and say things that I don't understand!

  I reminded Lu You: "I'm leaving."

  "He replied: 'Okay, wait for me again.'"

  If it's just an ordinary friend, why would there be so many things to talk about? And each conversation also takes such a long time?

  The author has something to say: How many people like Lu You, raise your hand?