Jiang Lu looked up by chance and found that Lin Xuan’s gaze was fixed on him with a focused intensity.
He blinked his eyes: “?”
Lin Xuan’s reaction, however, was calm and composed, showing not a trace of embarrassment at being caught red-handed. “What is it?”
“Why have you been looking at me like that?” Jiang Lu felt a bit strange and couldn’t help touching his face. Was there something on his face?
Lin Xuan smiled, his tone easy and natural. “Because Classmate Xiao Lu reminded me of a little bird I used to keep.”
“A little bird?”
“Yes, it was a violet-necked lovebird.” Lin Xuan’s tone turned somewhat dejected. “However, I didn’t take good care of it, and it flew away.”
Jiang Lu felt a slight pang of emotion and instinctively said, “You liked it very much.”
“Yes,” Lin Xuan said softly. “It was very cute.”
At this moment, Jiang Lu suddenly recalled what Lin Xuan had just said and felt a bit puzzled as to why Lin Xuan would think of his bird upon seeing him. However, Lin Xuan didn’t dwell on the matter, seemingly mentioning it only in passing.
Jiang Lu quickly pushed it to the back of his mind and comforted Lin Xuan, saying, “It probably longed for freedom. That is not your fault.”
Lin Xuan smiled, smoothly changing the subject. “I drew a picture of it. Would you like to take a look?”
“You know how to draw?” Jiang Lu was a bit surprised and grew interested. “Let me see?”
“A little bit.” Lin Xuan pulled up a photo and handed it to his phone. “I studied it for a period when I was young, but later on, because my family members didn’t like it, I didn’t continue.”
Jiang Lu took the phone and saw the lifelike little bird on the screen.
The bird’s head and neck were covered in white feathers, while the feathers on its wings and tail were indeed a gorgeous purple. The image was frozen in the moment it was holding a piece of paper plucked from a book in its beak, narcissistically tucking it into its tail feathers.
Every single feather was drawn with incredible clarity and realism. If not for the frozen posture, it would be impossible to tell this was just a painting.
But being able to draw to this degree meant it was far beyond just “a little bit.”
Jiang Lu handed the phone back and said sincerely, “You are too modest.”
After finishing, he thought about it and added, “It is indeed very cute. No wonder you liked it so much.”
Lin Xuan gave a faint smile, glanced at the screen, and pressed the screen to turn it dark. Soon, his eyes swept casually toward the phone Jiang Lu had left on the table.
After Jiang Lu sat down, his phone had been lying on the table with the screen dark, showing no activity.
Lin Xuan withdrew his gaze to chat with Jiang Lu. After a while, he suddenly raised his hand as if to grab something, but accidentally bumped into the water pitcher on the table.
The pitcher immediately tipped over, and hot water poured out. Lin Xuan made a futile gesture to rescue it, but half of the water spilled onto his hand.
Jiang Lu was caught off guard and startled, standing up from his seat with his chopsticks in hand. “Be careful!”
Only after standing up did Jiang Lu remember his phone on the table.
By this time, Lin Xuan had already picked it up for him, looking at him with deep guilt. “I am so sorry, it was my carelessness. Are you alright, Classmate Xiao Lu?”
The water was not very hot, and combined with Jiang Lu’s quick reaction in standing up, only a spot near his knees was slightly dampened. “I am fine.”
“That is good.” Lin Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out a tissue to wipe Jiang Lu’s phone, but accidentally brushed against it, lighting up the screen.
His gaze swept swiftly over the status bar, catching the silent icon, and the corners of his lips curved slightly upward.
The waiter had already noticed the commotion over their side, peeked over, and walked over with a towel to clean up the water on the table.
Jiang Lu stood aside to make room for the waiter, and Lin Xuan handed the phone back to him. Fortunately, the rescue was timely, and water hadn’t gotten inside the phone.
Jiang Lu said gratefully, “Good thing you picked it up. I didn’t even react in time.”
“It was my fault to begin with,” Lin Xuan flashed a sincere smile and said, “I am just glad your phone is fine.”
While the two were talking, the waiter brought over a fresh pitcher of water and placed it between them.
Lin Xuan looked somewhat helpless as he moved the water pitcher a bit further away.
Then, looking at Jiang Lu with a hint of self-mockery, he asked, “Shall we put the phone down lower instead, Classmate Xiao Lu? Otherwise, if I pull another stunt like that later, I really will feel terrible toward you.”
Jiang Lu was wiping the water stains off his pants with a tissue. Hearing this, he nodded and obediently placed his phone downward.
Because his watch had gotten wet while blocking the water pitcher earlier, Lin Xuan had no choice but to take it off, wipe it dry, and place it aside along with his phone.
Fortunately, no further accidents happened afterward.
Jiang Lu was pleasantly surprised to find that he and Lin Xuan had many shared topics of conversation, making their chat exceptionally smooth.
Lin Xuan’s delivery was humorous and witty, and he excelled at controlling the boundaries of the conversation. He didn’t look at his phone while talking, showing great respect for his conversational partner, which made Jiang Lu feel very comfortable.
Jiang Lu, too, felt embarrassed to check his phone. Plus, their spot was in a corner, and he had his back to the door, so even though he clearly remembered needing to return to the dorm on time, he completely lost track of the passage of time.
It wasn’t until the sound of rain outside grew louder, turning into a torrential downpour, that Jiang Lu suddenly snapped to his senses. “Oh, it is raining?”
It was only then that he noticed the restaurant, which had been packed earlier, was now nearly empty.
“It is raining?” Lin Xuan frowned, seeming equally unaware.
Jiang Lu hurriedly checked the time: ten-forty-five, leaving only fifteen minutes until the dormitory curfew.
Normally without rain, walking from this campus gate back to the dorm building took about twenty minutes. Running back might take around ten minutes.
However, it was pouring rain right now, and he didn’t have an umbrella. Even if he ran back through the downpour, not only couldn’t he guarantee reaching the dorm in fifteen minutes, but there wouldn’t be hot water for a shower either.
Yanda’s dormitories shut off the hot water supply every single night.
How did I lose track of time?
Jiang Lu couldn’t help feeling a bit annoyed, just in time to see Lin Xuan lowering his head to check the time on his watch.
Lin Xuan frowned, raised his head, caught his gaze, and pursed the corners of his lips. “It is ten-fifty. Can you still make it back to the dorm in time?”
“Probably not in time.” Jiang Lu frowned as well, thought about it, and opened his phone. Sure enough, he saw a string of messages in the dormitory group chat tagging him.
Shi Jiayu: [@Little Lu It is raining, did you bring an umbrella?]
Xie Yu: [@Little Lu Do you want Big Brother to pick you up? My singing might go off-key, but Big Brother will never walk away.jpg]
Chen Feng: [@Little Lu Drop a pin if you receive this, drop a pin if you receive this.]
Chen Feng replying to Xie Yu: [Wrinkled-face-covering-mouth panda head.jpg]
Xie Yu: [Did you forget to turn off silent mode again? Where did you go? Send a location, I will come get you. @Little Lu]
[@Little Lu Are you still coming back?]
The three of them took turns calling him and trying video calls, but uniformly, he hadn’t heard any of them.
Jiang Lu couldn’t help feeling rather sheepish. Just as he was about to reply, he saw another message pop up below: [@Little Lu Bed check has happened, we covered for you.]
Jiang Lu replied instantly: [Thank you thank you thank you, Big Brother! /Joined hands /Bow]
Xie Yu: […]
[You brat.]
Lin Xuan sat across from him, his gaze obscure and unreadable.
“There is still time to buy an umbrella and head back now,” Lin Xuan spoke up suddenly, catching Jiang Lu’s attention.
He let out a helpless, gentle sigh. “Stop chatting, Classmate Xiao Lu. You should hurry back now; do not worry about me, I can just hail a taxi.”
“No need.” Jiang Lu rubbed his nose, placed his phone face down on the table, and said honestly, “Aunty already checked the rooms, and they covered for me. If I go back now, my cover will be blown.”
He thought about it and offered helpfully, “I will send you back first. With such heavy rain right now, it is not convenient for your foot either.”
Lin Xuan then asked, “Then where are you staying tonight?”
“A hotel, I suppose.”
“Alright.” Thus, Lin Xuan didn’t push back further and stood up.
Jiang Lu noticed an umbrella placed in the corner, hurriedly said to him, “I am going to buy an umbrella, wait for me here,” and ran off.
He found the owner of the umbrella, greeted them, held it up as he stepped into the curtain of rain, and bought an umbrella at the nearest supermarket.
Fortunately, around here there were not only college students renting places off-campus, but also many local residents, so the supermarket hadn’t closed yet.
When Jiang Lu returned with the umbrella, Lin Xuan was waiting at the entrance, holding the medicine he had bought, while a black car sat idling in the rain.
Seeing him return, Lin Xuan said in a low voice, “Let us go, the car has arrived.”
“Okay,” Jiang Lu said. After returning the umbrella, he temporarily acted as Lin Xuan’s human crutch and got into the car with him.
The car was called by Lin Xuan through a ride-hailing platform, and the driver turned around to confirm their destination and the last four digits of their phone number.
The place where Lin Xuan lived was neither too far nor too close, about a ten-minute drive. The ride-hailing car couldn’t enter the residential compound’s garage, so the two of them had to get off at the compound gates.
Jiang Lu held the umbrella while supporting Lin Xuan. To make matters worse, Lin Xuan was tall, bumping into the top of the umbrella every so often.
Luckily, Lin Xuan quickly took over the umbrella, wrapping one arm around him while holding the umbrella with the other, as continuous raindrops beat a dull rhythm against the canopy.
“Slow down,” Jiang Lu advised in a soft voice. “Do not let the muddy water splash onto your foot, do not get an infection.”
“Alright,” Lin Xuan curved his lips. “Thank you, Classmate Xiao Lu.”
Over those few hundred meters, the two of them ended up taking a good ten minutes to finish the walk. It wasn’t until they entered the security gate that Jiang Lu took back the umbrella and folded it up.
“Come up and sit for a bit?” Lin Xuan tilted his head to look at him, inviting, “And go check out Bububu along the way.”
Jiang Lu pondered briefly and agreed, “Okay.”
The smile at the edge of Lin Xuan’s lips deepened slightly as he led Jiang Lu upstairs. He lived on the sixth floor, and before he could even open the door, Bububu’s meowing echoed from behind it.
The nanny had already left. Bububu was sitting neat and proper on the entryway mat just inside the door, wearing the knitted woolen collar Jiang Lu had seen in the photo last night, lazily wagging the tip of its tail and looking up at the door. Seeing the door open, the calico cat tilted its head cutely at Jiang Lu: “Meow.”
“Bububu.” Jiang Lu bent down to carefully pick Bububu up, burying his face slightly in it, and caught the faint scent of pet shampoo.
Sitting in his arms, Bububu fixed its round cat eyes on Lin Xuan standing behind Jiang Lu, rubbed its whiskers against Jiang Lu’s cheek, and meowed again.
Seeing its cute appearance, Jiang Lu’s heart swelled with delight. He couldn’t help kissing it, whispering soft nonsense to it, “You are so cute, baby.”
Lin Xuan stared at the calico cat for a moment, then expressionlessly withdrew his gaze, closed the door, lowered his gaze, and bent down to fetch a pair of slippers for him, saying, “Make yourself at home.”
“Okay.” Holding the cat, Jiang Lu raised the corners of his eyes to look at him, his eyes still brimming with warm smiles.
He changed into the slippers and was led inside by Lin Xuan.
Lin Xuan’s place was a two-bedroom, two-living-room apartment. The living room had plenty of cat toys, a cat bed, a litter box, and a pre-prepared maternity nest for the cat. The decoration style was also in warm tones, arranged very cozily with a strong sense of home, a glimpse of which Jiang Lu had already caught from the photos and videos last night.
It didn’t look much like the style of a single man, nor did it look like a place lived in by someone who had suffered domestic abuse.
Jiang Lu observed his surroundings, stroked Bububu’s back, and secretly scolded himself for wild guessing and stereotyping.
Lin Xuan poured him a glass of warm water, sat down beside him, used his fingertips to scratch the soft flesh under the chin of the calico cat in Jiang Lu’s arms, and invited him, “Why don’t you stay here for the night, Classmate Xiao Lu?”
“Ah?” Jiang Lu hesitated slightly, whispering, “That would not be appropriate.”
“The guest room is always kept tidy by the nanny, and the quilt was aired out when the weather was nice a couple of days ago, so it is ready to sleep in directly.”
As he spoke, Lin Xuan raised his eyes, looking straight into Jiang Lu’s eyes, while a soft smile rippled across his own. “You cannot return to the dorm because of me, and it is raining this hard outside. If I really let you walk away in the rain, my conscience would never rest.”
“If you stay for the night, I will feel a bit better. Besides, Bububu likes you very much, does it not?” Lin Xuan curved his lips, his gaze carrying deep undertones, though his face wore a joking expression. “Or could it be, Classmate Xiao Lu, that you are worried I might do something to you?”