For some reason, after chatting sporadically with Yu Sui at the dining table, Luo Huai felt his mood improve a lot.
Those heavy things pressing down on his chest seemed to have been washed away a bit. Yu Sui wasn’t a very talkative person, but those uncomfortably comforting words still worked.
After finishing the meal, Luo Huai took the initiative to wash the dishes. Yu Sui leaned against the kitchen doorframe and watched him, his expression as indifferent as ever.
“How much for the groceries? I’ll split it with you.” Luo Huai finished washing the dishes and shook the water off his hands.
Yu Sui quoted a number, and Luo Huai immediately transferred the money via WeChat, rounding up the small change. Yu Sui accepted it straightforwardly without declining.
Luo Huai quite liked this way of getting along. No unnecessary politeness, no hypocrisy; you cook, I wash dishes, split the bill evenly, crisp and decisive.
After lunch, Luo Huai returned to his room for a nap, drew the curtains, and collapsed onto the bed. His mind felt much more relieved.
Ji Chuli had already spent two years in prison.
Two years, more than seven hundred days. With her personality, someone who dared to single-handedly challenge the schoolyard bully back in the orphanage, dared to protect him and fight back at fifteen, and dared to plunge a utility knife into that greasy boss’s neck at twenty-two.
Surely, clever as she was, she wouldn’t end up bullied by other inmates. She might even manage to become a big sister boss.
Luo Huai flipped over, staring at the unlit ceiling lamp, turning the matter over and over in his mind.
In any case, he couldn’t be too depressed, and his sister wouldn’t want to see him feeling negative.
That person of hers loathed it when others cried and wailed. When he was bullied by people in the orphanage and cried as a kid, Ji Chuli would haul him up from the ground, always frowning and saying, “What are you crying for? Fight back.”
Ever since then, he hadn’t really cried in front of people. But why were his eyes inexplicably red and swollen when he woke up this morning? Mysterious, very mysterious.
Whatever, since he didn’t remember crying, that meant he hadn’t cried.
Luo Huai thought to himself that no matter what, he could go visit his sister at the prison next weekend.
He had paid the money after all. Although the middleman’s contact info was always disposable and unreachable now, he knew a thing or two about the prison visitation process, so he should be able to see her.
Going directly there carried high risks, but it was still better than doing nothing.
Thinking of this, the panic in his heart settled down a bit.
There was only one class in the afternoon.
Luo Huai glanced at his schedule. Even after class, it would only be around four o’clock, leaving plenty of time in the day.
He flipped through his phone, scrolling aimlessly for a few moments before closing it, opening it again, and closing it once more.
His thumb hovered over the WeChat icon, pausing for a moment.
Suddenly, he really wanted to look for Pei Jiheng.
And by the way, trick the bank card password out of him. After all, he was truly broke right now. All his savings had gone to that middleman, and the small change left in his WeChat wallet wasn’t even enough for next month’s rent.
He originally hadn’t wanted to touch the bank card Xiao Shu gave him, but now he had no choice.
Right, it was purely to get the password, no other reason whatsoever.
Luo Huai opened WeChat.
Luo Huai: [Is Uncle around?]
The reply came very quickly.
Pei Jiheng: [Not around]
Luo Huai stared at those two characters for two seconds, his mouth twitching slightly.
Luo Huai: [I want to go find you after class today.]
Pei Jiheng: [Not around]
Luo Huai gritted his teeth, his fingers tapping furiously on the keyboard.
Luo Huai: [Transfer to a human!]
The other side paused for a moment, then sent a question mark.
Pei Jiheng: [?]
Luo Huai couldn’t help laughing. He took a deep breath and typed out the next line.
Luo Huai: [I don’t care, I already know where your house is anyway.]
This time, the other side remained silent for even longer.
Long enough for Luo Huai to think he wouldn’t bother replying anymore, and then a message popped up.
Pei Jiheng: [I’m not around this afternoon.]
Luo Huai leaned against the head of the bed, licked his lips, and kept typing.
Luo Huai: [Then I’ll just wait at your door until you come back.]
This time, Pei Jiheng completely stopped replying.
As soon as afternoon classes ended, Luo Huai directly scanned a shared yellow bicycle and headed toward the villa district where Pei Jiheng lived.
His memory was pretty good. Having been driven out that morning, he remembered the route back clearly.
The security at the villa district was strict. Luo Huai parked the bike and stood at the entrance, running into a snag because the card-scanning area required owner authorization, and he had nothing.
Luo Huai hesitated, wondering whether he should climb over the wall, though that was just a fleeting thought, when the security guard immediately recognized him.
“You look quite familiar. Are you Mr. Pei’s guest?”
Luo Huai froze, then hurriedly nodded.
The security guard smiled and opened the gate. “Mr. Pei gave a heads-up. Go right on in.”
Luo Huai murmured his thanks to the guard and walked inside, an indescribable feeling welling up in his chest.
Pei Jiheng clearly said he wasn’t home, yet he had notified the security guard in advance to let him in? What kind of tsundere behavior was this?
Luo Huai quickly found that villa with its gray bricks, dark tiles, and tightly shut courtyard gate.
He walked up the steps, rang the doorbell a few times, and got no response. After waiting a moment, he pressed it again, still nothing.
Luo Huai stepped back, stood on tiptoe to look up at the second floor, but the curtains were drawn tight without a single chink of light visible, making it look genuinely unoccupied.
Luo Huai grew a bit gloomy.
Clearly the other person had explicitly stated they weren’t home, and he knew the probability of seeing anyone was low, but standing here at the empty doorstep, he felt gloomy for no good reason.
Yet he didn’t want to leave, so he paced back and forth in front of the villa, walking from left to right, then right to left, lowering his head to look at the steps before raising his head to look at the sky.
The weather suddenly turned gloomy.
It had been sunny when he arrived, but from somewhere overhead, large swaths of dark clouds drifted in, pressing heavily over the city and blocking out the afternoon sunlight entirely.
The air grew stuffy and humid, looking like it could rain at any second.
Luo Huai stood at the entrance, hesitating whether to leave.
If he left, he wasn’t willing to give up.
If he didn’t leave, standing here waiting blankly made him look like a fool.
Though, he glanced down at his phone’s weather app, which showed light rain coming soon and stopping quickly, though who knew if it was accurate.
Luo Huai narrowed his eyes, a mischievous idea brewing in his mind.
He tucked his phone back into his pocket, sat down on the steps cradling his face, and waited for about half an hour until a drizzle indeed began to drift through the air.
Just as the weather forecast predicted, it wasn’t heavy, falling in a swaying, fine, and dense mist. The raindrops rustled against the leaves, staining the bluestone pavement a deep shade.
Luo Huai wasn’t an idiot. The moment the rain started, he quickly stood up and retreated backward under the eaves.
The eaves extended out over a meter, more than enough for him to stand securely without a single drop of rain touching him.
He leaned against the door, listening aimlessly to the sound of the rain and watching the droplets flash into a golden mist under the streetlights.
Then his ears twitched.
In the distance, the roar of an engine drifted over, low and steady, drawing closer from afar.
He is here!
Immediately after, Luo Huai stepped out from under the eaves, took two or three hurried steps, and planted himself right out in the open rain.