Be Passionately In Love

The talk of a blind date was an exaggeration. It was actually just the child of one of his mother's colleagues at the TV station who was also preparing to study abroad. Coincidentally, they had chosen the same continent. Since Chen Luzhou was a boy and the two families knew each other well, he was asked to look after the girl. There was no way for Chen Luzhou to refuse, so he sat at the dining table without batting an eye. From start to finish, he didn’t even glance up to see what she looked like, his phone buzzing incessantly with WeChat messages. Ms. Lian Hui glared at him several times, but he showed no signs of stopping.

Meanwhile, Zhu Yangqi watched Xu Zhi and Chen Xingqi engage in a battle of wits, updating Chen Luzhou on the situation via his phone.

Cr: 【Where did you say Xu Zhi took him?】

Zhu Yangqi: 【A foot massage parlor. Xu Zhi said his feet stink too much—she couldn’t even stand being in the same room. Chen Xingqi’s face turned green with anger. Who in your family would dare to criticize him like that?】

Cr: 【…Kids smell when they’re growing. What’s the big deal? Why take him to a foot massage parlor?】

Zhu Yangqi: 【Weren’t you the one going on a blind date?】

Cr: 【Are you stupid? I told you it’s not a blind date—I was just asked to look after her.】

A while later, Zhu Yangqi received another message.

Cr: 【Did she really say nothing when she heard I was on a blind date?】

Zhu Yangqi: 【She did. She asked if you’re still interested in this “business” because she’s waiting to take over. Didn’t you two go drinking last night? Did something happen?】

Take over your ass.

Cr: 【Just talked. Split the bill. Nothing happened, got it? Ask again and I’ll block you.】

At the dining table, the parents from both families continued exchanging pleasantries, casually making plans to visit their children in Liverpool during the station’s holidays and go sightseeing. The girl beside him blushed at their words—it really did sound like a matchmaking session. Maybe he was overthinking it, but her mother’s words seemed to hint at exactly that. But she already had a boyfriend—she just hadn’t told her parents yet. Her boyfriend had even decided to go to Liverpool with her. For now, she could only sneak glances at the handsome guy next to her. Who knew Aunt Lian’s son would be this good-looking?

Chen Luzhou barely touched his food. Ignoring Zhu Yangqi, he absentmindedly opened Xu Zhi’s WeChat. The latest message was still the one he had recalled—she hadn’t replied, nor had she asked what he had withdrawn.

His expression indifferent, he stared at his phone under the table, fingers flying across the 26-key input.

—Did you really feel nothing at all? About me.

After typing it, he stared at the screen blankly for a long time, hesitating to hit send.

Until Ms. Lian Hui called his name. Chen Luzhou sighed wearily, deleted the message, and obediently responded, “Hmm?”

Ms. Lian Hui set down her chopsticks. “Your dad’s back. Uncle Liu had to take Director Yang back to the station for a meeting. Drive to the airport to pick up your dad, and drop Huihui off at the subway station on the way—she’s meeting friends to go shopping this afternoon.”

So that was the real purpose behind all the roundabout talk. His dad was back—no wonder his mom wasn’t in a hurry to set him up on a blind date just yet. Chen Luzhou stood up unhurriedly. “Alright, come with me.”

“Mom, Aunt Lian, I’ll be going now,” the girl said shyly, rising to her feet.

“Go ahead. Come back early.”Chen Luzhou slowly drove out of the underground garage. Once in the car, Huihui didn’t initiate conversation, busy texting someone on WeChat. As they neared the subway station, the person on the other end frantically called—a male voice. Huihui hurriedly said she’d be there soon and hung up.

“Boyfriend?”

Huihui didn’t expect him to speak to her first. “Yeah. Don’t tell my parents. We’re planning to go to Liverpool together, so don’t worry—I won’t bother you once we’re there.”

Chen Luzhou felt he should explain. At a red light, he leisurely pressed the brake, rested his elbow on the window frame, and glanced at her. “At the dinner table, it wasn’t about you. It’s between me and my mom.”

“Auntie Lian is really nice,” Huihui said. “She’s actually very proud of you. At work, she often tells my mom and others how outstanding you are. My mom says she’s just stubborn but soft-hearted. Seeing how tense things were earlier, I thought your relationship was strained, but it’s clear she cares about you.”

“I know.”

“Does your high school have a lot of good-looking guys and girls? We went to a game there once—your gym is huge.”

Chen Luzhou released the brake as the light turned green. Sensing the conversation was veering into awkward territory, he gave a noncommittal “Mm” and let the topic drop.

Huihui wanted to say they hadn’t exchanged WeChat yet. “Should we add each other on Wei—”

Just past the intersection, the subway station came into view. Chen Luzhou pulled over at the curb, cutting her off as he nodded toward a boy with a backpack, phone in hand, craning his neck—clearly waiting for someone. “That your boyfriend?”

Of course not. Huihui’s boyfriend was waiting at the Starbucks in the mall. But she could tell Chen Luzhou didn’t want to add her—this was just a polite way of refusing. Without explaining, she quietly opened the door and got out.

……

On the way to the airport, the neatly trimmed greenery along the road blurred past the windows. Following the signs, Chen Luzhou felt an inexplicable sense of relief. Zhu Yangqi had been wrong.

He didn’t like taboos, didn’t crave excitement, and certainly didn’t have a thing for other people’s girlfriends. The truth was, he only had feelings for Xu Zhi.

Thank god.

After Zhu Yangqi’s comment that day, he’d wondered if he was really that messed up. He’d even searched on his phone for a long time.

—Is being unable to resist someone else’s girlfriend a disorder?

No clear answers, but one guy shared his unrequited love story online—how neither he nor the girl ever confessed, and it eventually turned into a friends-with-benefits situation. They even slept together, but she never gave him a title.

Chen Luzhou thought, If Xu Zhi ever treated me like that, I’d probably cut ties with her for life. But he never imagined he’d end up coming back for more. Of course, that’s another story.

Chen Jishen’s flight was delayed by half an hour. Chen Luzhou leaned lazily against the car door the entire time, only straightening up when he heard the sound of rolling luggage in the distance. “Dad.”

Chen Luzhou had always been sweet-tongued since childhood.Especially when he was first brought home—after all, he was already over six years old—Chen Jishen worried that he might be reluctant to call them Mom and Dad in an unfamiliar environment, so he told him it was fine to just call them Uncle and Aunt. But to his surprise, Chen Luzhou immediately started addressing them as Mom and Dad, startling Chen Jishen so much he nearly jumped. Yet inwardly, he was overjoyed, beaming all night long, telling Lian Hui repeatedly that Chen Luzhou was his eldest son.

Chen Jishen had always treated him as his own. Whatever Chen Xingqi had, Chen Luzhou had too—in fact, many of the things Chen Xingqi still used today were hand-me-downs from Chen Luzhou. Knowing his love for movies, Chen Jishen once went out of his way to buy him a sound system during a trip to Spain, even though the family wasn’t as well-off back then. Chen Luzhou had given up buying his favorite audio equipment to get Chen Xingqi a drawing board, so Chen Jishen skipped buying a suit to get him the speakers instead. Lian Hui called him crazy—a suit could last ten years, but how long could a "worthless" sound system last?

Chen Jishen just chuckled and said, "Not long, but if it makes my son happy, I’ll buy it."

That was why, when Chen Luzhou later told him, "Don’t worry, after all these years you’ve raised me, I’ll still take care of you in your old age," upon learning he was going abroad, Chen Jishen thought he was cutting ties and angrily slapped him.

The car was silent. Secretary Xiao Wang, sensing the tension, pretended to be on a phone call the whole ride. Chen Luzhou had always been stubborn—Chen Jishen believed it was something he’d instilled in him, and he saw no issue with it. A man should be tough; it would help him weather life’s hardships.

But Chen Luzhou’s stubbornness was practically unbreakable. All these days had passed, and he hadn’t even called once.

"What have you been up to lately?" Chen Jishen fidgeted, glancing between his phone and the window before finally settling his gaze on his son’s face.

Chen Luzhou drove calmly, merging onto the elevated highway, his expression far more relaxed. "Accompanying Chen Xingqi to paint at the mountain villa."

"..."

"Luzhou," Chen Jishen paused, then broke the silence first, "That day, I didn’t mean to—"

"Yeah, I know. No need to apologize," Chen Luzhou said sincerely. The car was quiet and cramped, the turn signal ticking steadily. "I was the one who spoke out of line. I understand your and Mom’s concerns. It’s fine. After all the kindness you’ve shown me over the years, it’d be ungrateful if I couldn’t even agree to this."

"When you come back," Chen Jishen said earnestly, "I’ll put the Jiang'an villa in your name."

The car slowly turned into the underground garage. Chen Luzhou parked with practiced ease, glancing at the rearview mirror as he reversed, then flashed a careless, half-hearted smile. "We’ll see. Maybe I’ll find a girlfriend in Liverpool and settle down there."

The villa door swung open. Seeing them enter in good spirits, Lian Hui relaxed slightly. The air conditioning was set low, and she rose from the sofa, draped in her ever-present blanket, taking Chen Jishen’s briefcase. Softly, she said to Chen Luzhou, "I heard you coughing this morning. Did you catch a chill in the mountains? I asked Aunt Zhang to make some pear soup. Go have a bowl."

"Alright."

He had just sat down but lazily got up again.Chen Luzhou had just stepped into the kitchen when Ms. Lian Hui followed right behind him. She saw him leaning casually against the Western-style kitchen island, one hand in his pocket and the other holding a bowl, drinking soup straight from the rim with an air of nonchalance. The words "Slow down, it's hot" that had been on the tip of her tongue instead turned into, "Can’t you behave properly? Would your hand fall off if you used a spoon?"

Chen Luzhou sighed, pulling a spoon from the drawer. With shameless cheek, he said, "Mom, I won’t even watch Sichuan opera face-changing acts if you’re not in them."

"Enough with the lip," Ms. Lian Hui retorted. She had actually come in to explain—she hadn’t arranged any blind date for him with Yang Huihui. She’d lied to get him home so he could talk properly with his father, who hadn’t slept well for several nights. Who knew it would be such a coincidence that Director Yang would drop by with his daughter?

Chen Luzhou sipped his soup leisurely and glanced at her. "You sound worked up. Want me to pour you a bowl?"

"What did your father say to you when he got back?"

"Nothing much. Just that he’d put the Jiang’an villa in my name when I return from abroad. I said we’d see—I might not even come back."

Lian Hui’s hands paused slightly as she adjusted her shawl. The calm in Chen Luzhou’s eyes as he spoke was unsettling, like stagnant water. An inexplicable panic rose in her chest. She had always known her son possessed a serene, accommodating heart beneath his carefree exterior—someone who weathered every storm quietly, processing all emotions on his own.

"We never said you couldn’t come back. Why are you acting like you’ve been exiled? Your father just wants you to spend a few years abroad. When you return, we can arrange a job for you—there are plenty of openings in his company. You could pick any position you want. Do you realize how easily you can attain things others might spend a lifetime striving for—"

"And then what? You’ll find me a ‘suitable’ girlfriend, and my entire life will be neatly arranged by you, right? Mom, it’s not that I don’t want to come back. It’s that I see no hope or freedom by your side. Don’t you get it? I know you’ve given me everything since I was a child, but now I finally understand what it means when they say all fate’s gifts come with a hidden price. Isn’t this the moment you’ve been waiting for?"

Lian Hui’s mind felt like an old, sluggish tape recorder, processing his words too slowly. By the time she grasped their weight, Chen Luzhou was already gone. The only trace left on the empty kitchen island was the bowl he’d been drinking from—likely with some pear soup still unfinished. Her lips felt parched, her heart ached, and his parting words echoed in her ears:

"So, Mom, even if you decide not to let me go abroad, I’ve made up my mind to leave. Because I refuse to live like a watchdog for you."

**

Before heading back to the villa, Chen Luzhou called Zhu Yangqi to ask what he should bring. Zhu Yangqi was in the middle of a heated game of poker with Xu Zhi and another friend, his face plastered with white slips of paper. The moment he answered the phone, his spirits perked up despite the playing card clenched between his teeth. Slowly calculating his next move, he mumbled, "Grab a few packs of instant noodles, and don’t forget your brother’s water. The rest is up to you."Chen Luzhou was at the supermarket—the same one he had visited with Xu Zhi before—deserted and nearly empty. He wandered aimlessly through the liquor section with his phone in hand, a black baseball cap pulled low over his head as he tilted it back, lazily scanning the shelves.

He remembered a certain fruit wine he had tried in Spain before.

"Where are they?" he asked casually, picking up a bottle and glancing at its origin.

Zhu Yangqi, currently engrossed in a high-stakes round of Landlord, was determined to win back all his previous losses and had no patience for the call. Without hesitation, he tossed the phone to Xu Zhi. "Here, you talk to him."

Xu Zhi glanced at the name on the screen—cy Zhou—before pressing the phone to her ear in slight confusion. "Chen Luzhou?"

"Yeah."

Chen Luzhou, now at the checkout with two bottles of wine, his cap pulled down snugly, replied teasingly, "Which one is that?"

Xu Zhi immediately thought of the nickname she had saved for him. He was clearly fishing for trouble. "The 'Lu' that stands for 'short-circuited brain.'"

"Then forget it. I was going to bring you a bottle to try," he said with a laugh.

Xu Zhi quickly amended, "The 'Lu' that means 'twists and turns,' the 'Lu' in 'all roads lead to Rome'!"

Pushing the door open to leave, his mood lifted considerably, though his words remained playful. "Too late."