"I couldn't tell……Senior Lu is very enthusiastic……" Big Head broke the silence.
However, no one responded to his words. Mrs Liu sized up Fu Jia seriously: "You and Qi'an know each other?"
This question pulled Fu Jia out of his shock. He thought Lu Qi'an would ignore him, so he thought about possible scenarios on how to start a conversation with him, but……
He looked down at the plate Lu Qi'an gave him. It had nothing special, just a classic meat and vegetable combo; with a side dish of fish, beef and broccoli. He reached out to pull the plate closer bit by bit and traced the rim.
He gave it to me, it's mine.
He nodded and responded with certainty: "Yeah."
Mrs Liu smiled: "That's rare, that child is very weird, other than his family, I've only seen him with Li Qinhe and ignore others.
Fu Jia felt proud from Mrs Liu's words, but said, "We're not very familiar."
After hearing this, Big Head became dispirited and poked his food.
"I think you are familiar" Mrs Liu beckoned to Fu Jia, "Qi'an is the same as his mother, he's an extremely picky eater, yet gave you his food. You must have a good relationship with him."
Just then, Lu Qi'an came back with another plate. Mrs Liu ended the conversation and looked at Lu Qi'an with a gentle gaze, then at Fu Jia. The smile on her face became warmer.
"Thank you." Fu Jia looked at Lu Qi'an and thanked.
Lu Qi'an also looked at him and said, "No worries."
Big Head was completely blown away by the exceedingly natural dialogue between the two. He lowered his head even more, and ate as seriously as he completes tests.
Mrs Liu was very happy and asked Fu Jia: "Why have I never seen you before? What's your name?"
Fu Jia was eating and felt very comfortable, so he replied confidently: "I'm Fu Jia."
"Fu Jia…" Mrs Liu immediately realised who he was. Lu Qi'an asked for her help a few days ago with transferring a student from No.16 High to here. Although she arranged for someone else to do that, she still remembered the name 'Fu Jia'. "Which class are you in?"
"Senior 2 Class 7" {T/N: Senior 2=Year 11}
Once Mrs Liu, who was also the Director, started chattering she won't stop. She continued to ask: "How old are you? You look younger than Qi'an."
"I started school late, I'm already of age."
"How did this happen? Your parents don't worry?"
Fu Jia was in a good mood and very cooperative.
Moreover, after seeing Mrs Liu's enthusiasm and Lu Qi'an's attitude towards her, she and Lu Qi'an should be more than teacher and student.
"They aren't worried." Fu Jia smiled. He looked at Lu Qi'an and deliberately said, "I have a relative in my family who is a teenager and haven't gone to school yet."
Mrs Liu laughed and thought he was joking, so she said, "I know, your family must love you dearly and didn't want you to go to school."
"Maybe." Fu Jia nodded in agreement.
Mrs Liu was immersed in the joy of discovering Lu Qi'an's new friend, she stopped eating and chatted with Fu Jia. She asked about Fu Jia's family situation all the way to his studies, while Fu Jia easily made up lies to entertain her. Mrs Liu was so invested, she didn't notice Lu Qi'an's mood. While Fu Jia distracted her with his lies, he still focused on Lu Qi'an.
He seemed...not too happy.
Therefore, after Mrs Liu asked how he was revising for the weekly test, Fu Jia changed the topic: "Mrs Liu, please forgive me. The food is about to go cold, and I still haven't eaten most of it. This would waste Lu Qi'an's kindness."
This sentence made Fu Jia feel ecstatic.
"Lu Qi'an's kindness!"
Kindness!
"That's true," Mrs Liu showed a guilty expression, 'Blame my mouth, I'm too used to talking to students that I can't stop. In fact, Qi'an doesn't like to talk and eat. When we eat together, it's so quiet. Qi'an is different from his mother at this point, when she was young, she……"
Mrs Liu suddenly stopped.
She paused just before: She was very talkative.
She opened and closed her mouth, a tract of embarrassment appeared on her face.
Lu Qi'an didn't like eating outside, but Mrs Liu often invites him to eat here under the pretence of asking him to help out with the papers. At first, she would always chat with Lu Qi'an and tell him stories about her friends. But, when she saw that Lu Qi'an was in a bad mood, she tries to restrain herself.
Lu Qi'an didn't like listening to her chatter, because she would always bring up his mother.
There were some things that outsiders couldn't talk about.
"I'll stop talking,' Mrs Liu said, " Hurry up and eat, go study when you are finished. It's your most important years, go back and review for the weekly test after eating."
Big Head, who had been silent the whole time, was even more hurt by this. Why did he come here and had to listen to his teacher urging him to review?
After they finished, the four separate. Lu Qi'an left with Mrs Liu and headed towards Senior 3 building. The Senior 2 building was on the other side, and Fu Jia followed Big Head while looking back every three-step.
Big Head suddenly stopped.
Fu Jia almost ran into him and looked up. Big Head was pale, his eyes looking resentful. He asked: "What's wrong with you, do you have a stomachache?"
Big Head shook his head, and complained, "Fu Jia, are you playing with me……Who is the one that needed to be introduced to Senior Lu? You don't need my help……"
Fu Jia was amused and apologetic, he apologised, "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would be like this. I thought I wasn't familiar with Lu Qi'an."
Big Head turned away in dejection and ignored him.
Was Fu Jia showing off?
When they returned to the classroom, the sulking Big Head lied on his desk and napped, but Fu Jia was energetic. He spread out his textbooks, then exercise books and began to review for the weekly test.
Whenever he writes on an exercise book, he would clip the paper clip that Lu Qi'an gave him on the cover.
He had used many exercise books, but that paper clip still looked as good as new.
After the evening self-study period ended, Lu Qi'an returned to his condo, and just as he walked into the estate, Lin Fengxun called him.
Lin Fengxun sleeps early, and he would often call Lu Qi'an before going to bed. For someone like Lin Fengxun, who stay at home all day, every day, Lu Qi'an managed to constrain the frequency of his calls to once or twice per week.
"Bro Qi'an, are you home yet?"
"Almost there," Lu Qi'an replied.
"Oh……I'm sorry to disturb you on your way home." Lin Fengxun said with a smile, "I've finished showering and took the medicine. Before I took my medicine, I was reading an English book, there are so many things I don't understand. time you come, can you help me read it? Also, I'm going to sleep soon, Aunt Chen will take my phone in five minutes……"
Lu Qi'an listened to him babbling while talking the elevator to his floor: "Don't be stubborn tonight, give your phone to Aunt Chen on time, don't make things difficult for her."
"Oh…" Lin Fengxun wasn't willing and dragged on, "I know, but I haven't called mom today. She hasn't been home for several days, I purposely didn't call her to see if she would be worried!"
"That's not a reason to be stubborn. You can call Aunt tomorrow morning, understand?"
Lin Fengxun quietly rolled his eyes and whined: "No……"
When the elevator stopped, Li Qi'an stepped out and walked to his door.
Lin Fengxun continued, "Just one more minute, Bro Qi'an. I'll tell my mom goodnight."
Lu Qi'an didn't reply.
An unexpected guest stood in front of his door.
Fu Jia was leaning against the door of his condo, looking down at a book. He seemed to be silently reading the text, subvocalizing with each word.
Lu Qi'an whispered to the phone, "No." Then hung up.
Fu Jia heard his voice and closed the book with a bang before hurriedly stuffing it into his bag.
He looked a little overwhelmed. He had stuffed the book in so violently that a corner was still sticking out when he started to pull the zipper, then it got stuck.
Fu Jia's face burned, so he felt it alone and placed the bad behind him.
He said: "I have some questions I want to ask you."
Fu Jia felt quite proud saying it.
This excuse was so perfect he gave himself full marks.
Lu Qi'an said: "Move aside."
"Huh?" Fu Jia was stunned.
"You're blocking the door."
"Oh…" Fu Jia obediently moved aside
Lu Qi'an walked to the door and unlocked it as if no one else was there.
Fu Jia closed his eyes, he didn't dare look at the password and repeated the excuse without his previous confidence: "I have some questions…"
Lu Qi'an interrupted him: "There is a guard in front of the dorm, if you rush back now, you might be able to get in."
Fu Jia didn't care: "It doesn't matter if I stay out once or twice."
Lu Qi'an continued: "No.6 High has strict rules. If you don't hurry back, you would be criticised on the notice board."
Fu Jia was frustrated. However, he wasn't scared by Lu Qi'an's words, instead, he shamelessly said: "That's fine. I'll go to Mrs Liu tomorrow morning and tell her that I spend the night hanging out with you. She'll definitely help me, right?"
Lu Qi'an was silent.
Fu Jia couldn't help but feel guilty, he was afraid that his shamelessness would anger Lu Qi'an.
With a beep, Lu Qi'an opened the door of the condo, turned around and said to Fu Jia, "Come in."
"I couldn't tell……Senior Lu is very enthusiastic……" Big Head broke the silence.
However, no one responded to his words. Mrs Liu sized up Fu Jia seriously: "You and Qi'an know each other?"
This question pulled Fu Jia out of his shock. He thought Lu Qi'an would ignore him, so he thought about possible scenarios on how to start a conversation with him, but……
He looked down at the plate Lu Qi'an gave him. It had nothing special, just a classic meat and vegetable combo; with a side dish of fish, beef and broccoli. He reached out to pull the plate closer bit by bit and traced the rim.
He gave it to me, it's mine.
He nodded and responded with certainty: "Yeah."
Mrs Liu smiled: "That's rare, that child is very weird, other than his family, I've only seen him with Li Qinhe and ignore others.
Fu Jia felt proud from Mrs Liu's words, but said, "We're not very familiar."
After hearing this, Big Head became dispirited and poked his food.
"I think you are familiar" Mrs Liu beckoned to Fu Jia, "Qi'an is the same as his mother, he's an extremely picky eater, yet gave you his food. You must have a good relationship with him."
Just then, Lu Qi'an came back with another plate. Mrs Liu ended the conversation and looked at Lu Qi'an with a gentle gaze, then at Fu Jia. The smile on her face became warmer.
"Thank you." Fu Jia looked at Lu Qi'an and thanked.
Lu Qi'an also looked at him and said, "No worries."
Big Head was completely blown away by the exceedingly natural dialogue between the two. He lowered his head even more, and ate as seriously as he completes tests.
Mrs Liu was very happy and asked Fu Jia: "Why have I never seen you before? What's your name?"
Fu Jia was eating and felt very comfortable, so he replied confidently: "I'm Fu Jia."
"Fu Jia…" Mrs Liu immediately realised who he was. Lu Qi'an asked for her help a few days ago with transferring a student from No.16 High to here. Although she arranged for someone else to do that, she still remembered the name 'Fu Jia'. "Which class are you in?"
"Senior 2 Class 7" {T/N: Senior 2=Year 11}
Once Mrs Liu, who was also the Director, started chattering she won't stop. She continued to ask: "How old are you? You look younger than Qi'an."
"I started school late, I'm already of age."
"How did this happen? Your parents don't worry?"
Fu Jia was in a good mood and very cooperative.
Moreover, after seeing Mrs Liu's enthusiasm and Lu Qi'an's attitude towards her, she and Lu Qi'an should be more than teacher and student.
"They aren't worried." Fu Jia smiled. He looked at Lu Qi'an and deliberately said, "I have a relative in my family who is a teenager and haven't gone to school yet."
Mrs Liu laughed and thought he was joking, so she said, "I know, your family must love you dearly and didn't want you to go to school."
"Maybe." Fu Jia nodded in agreement.
Mrs Liu was immersed in the joy of discovering Lu Qi'an's new friend, she stopped eating and chatted with Fu Jia. She asked about Fu Jia's family situation all the way to his studies, while Fu Jia easily made up lies to entertain her. Mrs Liu was so invested, she didn't notice Lu Qi'an's mood. While Fu Jia distracted her with his lies, he still focused on Lu Qi'an.
He seemed...not too happy.
Therefore, after Mrs Liu asked how he was revising for the weekly test, Fu Jia changed the topic: "Mrs Liu, please forgive me. The food is about to go cold, and I still haven't eaten most of it. This would waste Lu Qi'an's kindness."
This sentence made Fu Jia feel ecstatic.
"Lu Qi'an's kindness!"
Kindness!
"That's true," Mrs Liu showed a guilty expression, 'Blame my mouth, I'm too used to talking to students that I can't stop. In fact, Qi'an doesn't like to talk and eat. When we eat together, it's so quiet. Qi'an is different from his mother at this point, when she was young, she……"
Mrs Liu suddenly stopped.
She paused just before: She was very talkative.
She opened and closed her mouth, a tract of embarrassment appeared on her face.
Lu Qi'an didn't like eating outside, but Mrs Liu often invites him to eat here under the pretence of asking him to help out with the papers. At first, she would always chat with Lu Qi'an and tell him stories about her friends. But, when she saw that Lu Qi'an was in a bad mood, she tries to restrain herself.
Lu Qi'an didn't like listening to her chatter, because she would always bring up his mother.
There were some things that outsiders couldn't talk about.
"I'll stop talking,' Mrs Liu said, " Hurry up and eat, go study when you are finished. It's your most important years, go back and review for the weekly test after eating."
Big Head, who had been silent the whole time, was even more hurt by this. Why did he come here and had to listen to his teacher urging him to review?
After they finished, the four separate. Lu Qi'an left with Mrs Liu and headed towards Senior 3 building. The Senior 2 building was on the other side, and Fu Jia followed Big Head while looking back every three-step.
Big Head suddenly stopped.
Fu Jia almost ran into him and looked up. Big Head was pale, his eyes looking resentful. He asked: "What's wrong with you, do you have a stomachache?"
Big Head shook his head, and complained, "Fu Jia, are you playing with me……Who is the one that needed to be introduced to Senior Lu? You don't need my help……"
Fu Jia was amused and apologetic, he apologised, "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would be like this. I thought I wasn't familiar with Lu Qi'an."
Big Head turned away in dejection and ignored him.
Was Fu Jia showing off?
When they returned to the classroom, the sulking Big Head lied on his desk and napped, but Fu Jia was energetic. He spread out his textbooks, then exercise books and began to review for the weekly test.
Whenever he writes on an exercise book, he would clip the paper clip that Lu Qi'an gave him on the cover.
He had used many exercise books, but that paper clip still looked as good as new.
After the evening self-study period ended, Lu Qi'an returned to his condo, and just as he walked into the estate, Lin Fengxun called him.
Lin Fengxun sleeps early, and he would often call Lu Qi'an before going to bed. For someone like Lin Fengxun, who stay at home all day, every day, Lu Qi'an managed to constrain the frequency of his calls to once or twice per week.
"Bro Qi'an, are you home yet?"
"Almost there," Lu Qi'an replied.
"Oh……I'm sorry to disturb you on your way home." Lin Fengxun said with a smile, "I've finished showering and took the medicine. Before I took my medicine, I was reading an English book, there are so many things I don't understand. time you come, can you help me read it? Also, I'm going to sleep soon, Aunt Chen will take my phone in five minutes……"
Lu Qi'an listened to him babbling while talking the elevator to his floor: "Don't be stubborn tonight, give your phone to Aunt Chen on time, don't make things difficult for her."
"Oh…" Lin Fengxun wasn't willing and dragged on, "I know, but I haven't called mom today. She hasn't been home for several days, I purposely didn't call her to see if she would be worried!"
"That's not a reason to be stubborn. You can call Aunt tomorrow morning, understand?"
Lin Fengxun quietly rolled his eyes and whined: "No……"
When the elevator stopped, Li Qi'an stepped out and walked to his door.
Lin Fengxun continued, "Just one more minute, Bro Qi'an. I'll tell my mom goodnight."
Lu Qi'an didn't reply.
An unexpected guest stood in front of his door.
Fu Jia was leaning against the door of his condo, looking down at a book. He seemed to be silently reading the text, subvocalizing with each word.
Lu Qi'an whispered to the phone, "No." Then hung up.
Fu Jia heard his voice and closed the book with a bang before hurriedly stuffing it into his bag.
He looked a little overwhelmed. He had stuffed the book in so violently that a corner was still sticking out when he started to pull the zipper, then it got stuck.
Fu Jia's face burned, so he felt it alone and placed the bad behind him.
He said: "I have some questions I want to ask you."
Fu Jia felt quite proud saying it.
This excuse was so perfect he gave himself full marks.
Lu Qi'an said: "Move aside."
"Huh?" Fu Jia was stunned.
"You're blocking the door."
"Oh…" Fu Jia obediently moved aside
Lu Qi'an walked to the door and unlocked it as if no one else was there.
Fu Jia closed his eyes, he didn't dare look at the password and repeated the excuse without his previous confidence: "I have some questions…"
Lu Qi'an interrupted him: "There is a guard in front of the dorm, if you rush back now, you might be able to get in."
Fu Jia didn't care: "It doesn't matter if I stay out once or twice."
Lu Qi'an continued: "No.6 High has strict rules. If you don't hurry back, you would be criticised on the notice board."
Fu Jia was frustrated. However, he wasn't scared by Lu Qi'an's words, instead, he shamelessly said: "That's fine. I'll go to Mrs Liu tomorrow morning and tell her that I spend the night hanging out with you. She'll definitely help me, right?"
Lu Qi'an was silent.
Fu Jia couldn't help but feel guilty, he was afraid that his shamelessness would anger Lu Qi'an.
With a beep, Lu Qi'an opened the door of the condo, turned around and said to Fu Jia, "Come in."
