Be Passionately In Love

As soon as the words were spoken, Xu Zhi recklessly kissed him. Just as he was about to speak, the bathroom door unexpectedly clicked, startling them both awake. Someone was home? Chen Luzhou gave a low hum in response, and the two swiftly disentangled themselves from each other. When it came to pretending, they were both experts. Their gazes shifted, each looking more innocent than the other.

"What are you two doing?" Zhu Yangqi emerged, pulling up his pants, mercilessly calling them out. "Stop pretending. I heard you two smacking away in there. My eighty-year-old grandma doesn’t even make that much noise eating an orange. What, is your saliva that sweet?"

Chen Luzhou: "..."

Xu Zhi: "..."

Zhu Yangqi leaned against the wall, adopting an interrogative stance, his eyes fixed on them—mostly on Xu Zhi. "Spill it. Did you start this? I know this dog Chen Luzhou too well. He wouldn’t dare mess with you at a time like this."

Before Xu Zhi could respond, Chen Luzhou, looking weary and dispirited, slumped back on the couch. He tilted his head to glance at the ceiling, his expression one of impatient frustration. "Are you done? What’s it to you?"

Zhu Yangqi’s tone was dripping with sarcasm. "My brother’s here making out with someone in my house, and I can’t even ask a few questions—"

Before he could finish, Chen Luzhou clicked his tongue, his Adam’s apple bobbing numbly as he lazily cut in, "Yeah, you and your curiosity. Remember the last time your dad beat you?"

That time, one of Zhu Yangqi’s dad’s colleagues had visited their home. Zhu Yangqi had taken one look at the colleague’s son and thought he didn’t resemble his father at all. Assuming the kid was adopted like Chen Luzhou, and being young and blunt, he’d asked outright, "Why don’t you two look alike? Are you even his real dad?" The colleague’s face had turned ashen, and he’d gone home in such a panic that he dragged the kid to the hospital for a paternity test. Turned out, the kid really wasn’t his.

Zhu Yangqi had gotten a brutal beating from his dad that time and ran away from home for three days. When the police finally found him, his dad had casually taken a drag from his cigarette and remarked to the officer holding a starving, disoriented Zhu Yangqi, "Oh, still alive, huh?" From then on, Zhu Yangqi learned to keep his mouth shut.

Zhu Yangqi leaned against the wall, silent for a moment. "...Fine. I’ll leave. Happy now?"

This was the first time Xu Zhi had seen tension between them like this. Zhu Yangqi was acting strange tonight—normally, he wouldn’t have been so aggressive. Maybe it was because Chen Luzhou was leaving soon, and he was upset.

"Should I go first?" she offered.

"So, you came to see me just for that?" Chen Luzhou shot her a sidelong glance from the couch. His neck was stiff from being pinned down earlier, and he tilted his head back, his tone indifferent. "Do what you want. Leave if you’re going."

Xu Zhi said, "Call Zhu Yangqi back. Don’t fight over me after all these years. Besides, you’re leaving soon. If you board that plane angry, the rift between you two will only grow. It’s not worth it."Actually, Zhu Yangqi had been acting a bit strange these past couple of days. Chen Luzhou probably understood the reason he was leaving. He remembered back in middle school when he went to study in another province, Zhu Yangqi had also been this awkward—finding all sorts of trivial reasons to pick fights. He knew Zhu Yangqi just wanted an excuse to have a good, loud argument with him, to scold him for leaving so abruptly without a care for their brotherhood.

Zhu Yangqi would always ask him bluntly, "Can't you stay? Old Chen and Lian Hui treat you pretty well, don't they? Just beg them. If you beg them, they’ll definitely agree. My parents always talk tough, but every time I kneel and beg them, they give in."

But what Zhu Yangqi might not have understood was that the love he received from his parents and the love Chen Luzhou got from Old Chen and the others might seem similar, but they were actually very different. Zhu Yangqi’s father was the type whose face was cold but heart warm. During the three days Zhu Yangqi ran away from home, his father hadn’t slept a wink, yet when he saw Zhu Yangqi again, all he said was a lukewarm, "Oh, you’re still alive." As for Lian Hui, though she always fussed over Chen Luzhou, worrying if he was eating enough or dressed warmly enough, that night when he was locked up at the police station and called her at 3 a.m., she didn’t answer. She hadn’t been at a meeting at the station that night—she was sleeping for beauty’s sake. Even if she had seen the call, she would’ve hung up. Her routine was always rigidly disciplined.

These were things Zhu Yangqi, who had grown up with him, didn’t understand. But Xu Zhi seemed to.

Before long, Zhu Yangqi came back, muttering something under his breath—probably cursing. "I’m going to buy some fried chicken strips. Do you two want them spicy or not?"

Chen Luzhou, unsurprised, leaned back casually, tilting his chin slightly toward the empty bottles on the coffee table. "Not spicy. And grab a couple of fruit wines while you’re at it."

When the door closed again, leaving just the two of them in the room, Xu Zhi noticed that most of his belongings had been packed away. The place felt empty. The canvases and models that had been piled in the corner were gone, as were the books that had once cluttered the coffee table—only a few empty liquor bottles remained. Soon, all traces of this place would be effortlessly erased.

"Have you packed everything?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied, closing his eyes again as if he didn’t want to talk to her. His Adam’s apple bobbed occasionally.

"Chen Luzhou," Xu Zhi said, turning her head to look at his clean, sharp profile, her gaze lingering on his throat. Some words slipped out before she could stop them. "Actually, the first time I saw you wasn’t at your doorstep that day."

"When was it?" he asked, his voice hoarse as he spoke. He cleared his throat lazily, then repeated the question more clearly.

The curtains were drawn, the TV was off, and the lights were out—only the hum of the air conditioner filled the quiet, peaceful room.Xu Zhi glanced at the clock on the wall, still ticking away as usual, and said, "Back in my first year of high school, during the basketball league, our first preliminary match was actually against your team. It was held in your school's gymnasium. The boys in our class weren't very good, so by the time I got there, they were already losing pretty badly. As the class monitor, I was responsible for bringing them water. But that day, Old Qu dragged me into a meeting, so when I finally arrived, you guys were on a halftime break. There were so many people crowded around the court—it was the first time I realized that boys playing basketball could draw such a big crowd. At our school, hardly anyone played, so your school felt especially lively."

"Then what happened?"

"Then I happened to see you standing by the court, talking to some girls from your class. But I couldn’t squeeze through the crowd, and I noticed our class’s sports committee member near you. So I tapped you on the shoulder, hoping you could call him over for me. At the time, I was holding two bottles of water, and I guess you thought one of the girls from your class was handing you a drink. You took it, drank it, then turned and walked away before I could even stop you."

"Come on, I never chat with girls during games. You must’ve mistaken me for someone else."

Xu Zhi gave him a thoughtful look. "Suit yourself if you don’t believe me. But you were definitely talking to that girl. What was her name again? I saw her during the show recording the other day—she’s really pretty."

Chen Luzhou studied her with an amused expression, his face suddenly smug, even his leg giving an involuntary shake. "Don’t tell me you were jealous."

"I didn’t have any feelings for you back then," Xu Zhi said firmly, her eyes scanning the room. "You’ve kept this place so clean. I’m dying of thirst—got any water?"

"Zhu Yangqi went to buy some," Chen Luzhou said, handing her the half-finished bottle from the coffee table. Casually, he added, "So when did you start having feelings?"

Xu Zhi twisted the cap open and took a sip before countering, "What about you?"

Perhaps because she’d opened the door, his gaze turned unexpectedly frank and direct. "I felt something the first time I saw you."

Chen Luzhou stood up, planning to take a shower. He hadn’t expected Xu Zhi to drop by today, and his hair was practically matted. He grabbed a clean T-shirt from his bedroom, slung it over his shoulder, then leaned against the bathroom door with his arms crossed, looking at her with unguarded honesty.

"But I don’t believe in love at first sight. Back then, I thought you had a boyfriend, so I didn’t let myself think too much about it."

With that, he disappeared into the bathroom.

About ten minutes later, he emerged wearing a hoodie, his hair still damp. He haphazardly toweled it a couple of times before tossing the towel aside and plopping down next to her, legs sprawled. Xu Zhi noticed that good-looking guys seemed to dress for style regardless of the season. Curious, she asked, "Aren’t you hot, School Hunk?"

Chen Luzhou ignored her. Leaning back, his hair still dripping, he pulled the hood over his head and lounged lazily on the sofa. Then, with a mysterious air, he crooked a finger at her.

Xu Zhi leaned in.

Under the hood, he looked down at her and said, "Let me ask you something. If you had stopped me back then and I asked for your name, would you have told me?"

"Yes, and I’d have added you on WeChat too."

"Why?"

"So you could pay me back for that bottle of water," Xu Zhi said.

"..."Chen Luzhou leaned against the sofa, giving Xu Zhi a long, speechless, and cold stare. Then he pinched her cheek hard, his eyes sparking with helpless frustration and gritted teeth as he said, “Do you have any idea how many senior girls used to block my path when I first got there?”

Xu Zhi buried her head in his chest, laughing uncontrollably. Her voice, muffled with laughter, rose from his firm and broad chest, “Well, do you know how long the line of guys chasing me since childhood would stretch?”

He chuckled. Right, this was Xu Zhi—she never backed down.

Naturally, neither did he. “By the time they get to the front of that line, grass would already be growing on your grave, with how slow you are.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Yangqi returned with a group of people. The rustling sounds from the doorway made the two quickly separate. From the voices, Chen Luzhou could tell who had arrived: Feng Jin, Jiang Cheng, and two of Zhu Yangqi’s art classmates, Da Zhuang and Da Jun.

Unexpectedly, Gu Yan was also trailing behind Zhu Yangqi.

Everyone except the two art classmates knew about Chen Luzhou and Gu Yan’s history. Jiang Cheng had no idea who the girl beside Chen Luzhou was—this was his first time seeing her—but sensing the awkward atmosphere, he explained, “We ran into Gu Yan at the beer shop. She said you still owe her a meal, so we thought we’d come eat together. We called you twice, but you didn’t pick up.”

Chen Luzhou gave a noncommittal “Hmm.” “Make yourselves comfortable. I’ll turn on the lights.”

Gu Yan hadn’t expected another girl to be at Chen Luzhou’s place. At the time, she didn’t think much of it, assuming it was a cousin or something. It was hard to imagine Chen Luzhou having any kind of relationship with a girl. His demeanor at school was too memorable—he joked around with guys and even got along with teachers, but with girls, he was always indifferent. The only exception was one girl who was rather plain-looking but had excellent grades. Zhu Yangqi had once mentioned that Chen Luzhou found her interesting, but she later dropped out of their class in her second year due to the pressure of the competition program.

The group split into smaller clusters—some drooling over the barbecue, others hyped up on beer, and a few singing as if they’d lost five wives. The atmosphere was oddly disjointed.

Xu Zhi and Gu Yan sat in the middle of the sofa, while the others stood or sat around the coffee table. Zhu Yangqi was unusually quiet that night, leaving Jiang Cheng and Feng Jin to liven things up. Da Zhuang and Da Jun, like two unpaid lounge singers, hogged the microphones, belting out song after song.

Given the mood, someone had to propose a toast. Jiang Cheng volunteered, raising his glass and glancing around. Apart from the living room, the rest of the house was dark and deserted. “Where’s Chen Luzhou?”

“In the bedroom,” Da Zhuang mumbled mechanically, leaning on Da Jun’s shoulder with a melancholic expression, still mouthing the lyrics but chiming in nonetheless.

Zhu Yangqi rolled up his sleeves and marched over, banging on the door twice. “Chen Luzhou, what are you doing in there? Come out and drink!”

The door opened the next second, and his voice, as lazy as ever, replied, “Just drink without me. Why drag me into it?”At that time, Gu Yan hadn't sensed anything amiss yet, because Xu Zhi was still sitting beside her, quietly sipping her drink in small gulps while playing with her phone. Jiang Cheng struck up a conversation with Xu Zhi, "Why do you look so familiar to me?"

Xu Zhi held the wine glass between her teeth, head lowered as she replied to a WeChat message. She lazily glanced up at him for a brief moment before indifferently dropping her eyelids again, answering absentmindedly, "Oh?"

It was dismissive and cocky.

Jiang Cheng got annoyed. He prided himself on being no less handsome than Chen Luzhou—was he really that unworthy of her attention? Just as he was about to suggest they have a drink together, Zhu Yangqi walked back over and promptly kicked him. "Stop being an idiot. Her boyfriend is way hotter than you."

Xu Zhi glanced at Zhu Yangqi but didn't refute him, silently accepting the statement as she sat there texting Chen Luzhou.

Cr: Still not coming in, huh?

Xu Zhi: [Sighing while lighting a cigarette].JPG.

Xu Zhi: The gorgeous Gu Yan has been staring at me.

Author's Note: There will be another update after midnight.

Because I'm still polishing the final part of the ending.

Don't wait up for me!!! Conservatively estimating it'll be around 1 AM.