Su Zаi Zаi's gооd mood instаntlу vаnishеd.
Shе instinctively grаbbеd Zhang Lu Rang's wrist аnd whisperеd, "Саn't I sее уou off аt the airport?"
"No," he immеdiаtelу refusеd.
"Оh."
Не sighed аnd ехрlаined, "I dоn't want you tо сomе back alоne."
Su Zai Zаi fell silent fоr а mоmеnt.
Sооn, shе spokе аgain, hеr vоiсe sоft, as if соquettishly рlеading.
"I'll listеn to everуthing you saу."
"Yоu tоld me tо eat onlу оnе jellу а dау, tо рaу аttentiоn in clаss, and not tо hang оut with оthеr boуs—I'vе dоnе all of that."
"I'll dеfinitely do the prаctice рroblems tоo."
"I'm sо оbediеnt, won't you come back to see me often?"
Zhang Lu Rang gently patted her head.
His Adam's apple bobbed twice, and he couldn't help but lower his head.
To kiss her.
Tenderly, to the extreme.
Zhang Lu Rang pushed open the front door and walked inside.
The house was quiet, appearing somewhat desolate.
Silently, he changed into a pair of indoor slippers and fetched a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
Then, he headed toward his room.
After telling Su Zai Zai he had arrived home, Zhang Lu Rang immediately pulled out a set of practice papers to work on.
Unconsciously, the afternoon passed by.
Noticing that it was already dark outside the window, he glanced at his phone.
Seven o'clock.
Zhang Lu Rang stood up, left his room, and walked downstairs.
His parents and Zhang Lu Li had returned from outside and were now sitting at the dining table, eating.
Seeing him, Zhang Lu Li was taken aback. "Bro, you're back? Why didn't you say anything?"
Zhang Lu Rang replied nonchalantly, "Just got back."
After speaking, he went to the kitchen to serve himself a bowl of rice.
As soon as he sat down, Mother Zhang frowned and asked, "Why do you keep running off to your uncle's place? I had already arranged a tutor for you for this holiday..."
Zhang Lu Li couldn't hold back and interrupted her, "Mom, can we not talk about this during dinner?"
Mother Zhang paused and asked again, "A Rang, what were you doing at your uncle's place?"
Hearing this, Father Zhang also spoke sternly, "You went there before because you had classes. What are you going there for now? Your uncle isn't that old, but don't keep troubling him."
Zhang Lu Rang's hand, holding the chopsticks, froze mid-air. Finally, he spoke.
"I'll be going there again during winter break."
Mother Zhang immediately objected, "No! What are you going there for? Next semester is already the second half of your second year of high school. Can't you let me worry less?"
"I'm going," he insisted, unusually firm.
Father Zhang sighed and said to Zhang Lu Li, "A Li, go get his ID card for me."
Zhang Lu Rang suddenly looked up, disbelief in his eyes.
Zhang Lu Li stopped eating but didn't move.
Mother Zhang seemed utterly disappointed in Zhang Lu Rang and repeated what she often said in the past.
"Can't you learn from A Li..."
Zhang Lu Li immediately turned his head and shouted in frustration.
"Mom! Can you please stop?"
Su Zai Zai sat at her desk, about to pull out a practice paper to work on.
Her phone vibrated—a message from Jiang Jia.
Jiang Jia: OMG, listen to this.
Jiang Jia: Remember that B University department hottie's Weibo post I tagged you in last time?
Jiang Jia: Someone in the comments said! The third photo! He's a sophomore!
Jiang Jia: But! He's! Only! Fifteen! Years! Old!
Jiang Jia: OMG!
Su Zai Zai was stunned.
The third photo?
The one that looked like Zhang Lu Rang?
She blinked, pursed her lips, and replied: 6666
For some inexplicable reason, she remembered the conversation she had with Zhang Lu Rang a few days ago.
—"Lùràng, do you have an older brother?""No."
"Just a younger brother, one year younger than me."
A scene suddenly flooded into Zhang Lu Li's mind.
He knocked on Zhang Lu Rang's door but received no response.
Then, he opened the door and saw Zhang Lu Rang lying on the bed, asleep.
The window was open, and the wind blew in from outside.
It rustled the pages of the book on the desk, flipping them one after another.
It stopped right on one particular page.
He instinctively looked over.
—If they had only given birth to A Li, how much better it would have been.
Zhang Lu Rang's handwriting.
His brother's handwriting.
Mother Zhang was stunned by his outburst and mumbled, "What did I say wrong?"
"Watch your tone when speaking to your mother," Father Zhang frowned.
Zhang Lu Li's eyes reddened, and he choked back a sob, saying, "Stop talking."
In a family with two children,
both parents pour all their love onto one child.
The neglected one gradually becomes withdrawn and silent,
while the favored one begins to live in constant fear and anxiety.
How twisted such a family is.
Even the children sense something is wrong, but the parents see no issue at all.
Zhang Lu Rang had always lived in such a place.
Because his younger brother was too outstanding, he grew up surrounded by voices of disappointment.
No matter how hard he tried, it was useless.
—"Hey, Zhang Lu Rang, your brother is three grades ahead of you?"
—"You're Zhang Lu Li's older brother? What was your rank last time? ...Tsk."
—"How come the older brother is so much worse than the younger one?"
—"A Rang, what are you so proud of? Your brother gets perfect scores every time."
—"Sigh, I don't even want to say anything. If you don't understand something, just ask your brother."
That day, Zhang Lu Rang pushed open Zhang Lu Li's door.
He told himself that if he didn't understand something, he should ask.
There was nothing to be ashamed of.
Zhang Lu Rang mustered his courage and placed his workbook in front of him.
"A Li, do you know how to solve this problem?"
But Zhang Lu Li was still young back then, and he didn't understand.
He didn't realize how much his words would hurt Zhang Lu Rang.
"Of course."
Just as Zhang Lu Rang was about to ask him to explain, he heard him ask,
"Brother, why can't you even understand something so simple?"
No matter how many years passed,
Zhang Lu Rang could never forget those words.
Like the final straw that broke the camel's back.
Because of those words, he took the initiative to call Lin Mao.
For the first time, he cried like a child.
For the first time, as if unable to bear it any longer, he bowed his head to reality.
"Uncle, I don't want to stay here anymore."
"...Can I go study at your place?"
Zhang Lu Rang escaped from City B to City Z.
And then, he met Su Zai Zai.
Someone who, one by one, stripped away the deep-seated inferiority within him.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
She asked me when I could call her Zai Zai.
I need to practice.
—Zhang Lu Rang
The scene instantly fell silent.
Zhang Lu Rang placed his bowl back on the table with a crisp sound.
He stood up and said softly, "I'm full."
Mother Zhang glanced at his bowl and frowned. "You've barely eaten anything."
The rice in the bowl was still almost full; he had hardly taken a bite.
The dishes on the table were still steaming hot, giving off warmth.
The warm yellow light shone down from above, yet it felt not the least bit warm.Zhang Lu Rang was about to head upstairs.
Beside him, Zhang Lu Li rubbed his eyes and said in a placating tone, "Brother, have your meal."
His steps paused, and he eventually sat back down.
At the dining table, Mother Zhang continued speaking.
Her voice was gentle.
But to Zhang Lu Rang’s ears, it felt like it carried thorns.
After finishing the meal, Zhang Lu Rang returned to his room.
He turned on the bright white desk lamp, which clicked softly.
Zhang Lu Rang sat down and glanced at his phone.
The light from the lamp was too bright, making it hard for him to see the content on his phone clearly.
Zhang Lu Rang increased the brightness.
Instantly, he could see the message Su Zai Zai had sent him.
—I thought about it, it shouldn’t always be you coming to see me.
—How about I visit you during winter break?
Zhang Lu Rang lowered his gaze, thinking about how to reply.
But his fingers seemed to move on their own, dialing her number.
After one ring, Su Zai Zai answered.
"Lùràng."
"Hmm."
"Why did you call me?"
"..."
"Are you in a bad mood?"
"No."
She didn’t press further and changed the subject.
"Today, Jiang Jia told me that people with repeated-character names are usually good-looking."
"Is that so." Zhang Lu Rang chuckled softly.
Su Zai Zai said earnestly, "No wonder your name is Zhang Rangrang."
Zhang Lu Rang: "..."
"But I think," Su Zai Zai continued flattering, "a mere name can’t possibly define your looks."
After a moment of silence.
Zhang Lu Rang suddenly asked, "How did you know I was in a bad mood?"
"Because I’m not by your side," she shamelessly replied.
She had thought Zhang Lu Rang would deny it.
But unexpectedly.
The next second, he murmured in confusion.
"How do you always guess right?"
Su Zai Zai fell silent on the other end.
Soon, Zhang Lu Rang heard a series of beeps in his ear.
At the same time, there was a knock on the door—three soft taps.
He instinctively looked up and said softly, "Come in."
Zhang Lu Li slowly turned the doorknob and entered.
He habitually walked to the bed behind Zhang Lu Rang and lay down silently.
Zhang Lu Li turned his head, looking at Zhang Lu Rang’s back.
The light shone on his black hair, casting a faint halo.
From this angle, he could see him holding his phone, typing intently on the screen.
The room was quiet.
There was no sound from typing on the phone screen.
No sound of flipping pages, and the person on the bed remained motionless, as if asleep.
Neither of them spoke.
After a while, Zhang Lu Rang flipped through the English vocabulary book in front of him.
A sticky note tucked inside fell out.
Light blue, its edges slightly wrinkled.
It was the one Su Zai Zai had stuck on the medicine box the day he caught a cold.
—Zai Zong’s affection.
Zhang Lu Rang parted his lips, silently mouthing the words.
Word by word: "Zai Zai."
He was lost in thought.
Soon, hearing the sound of movement from behind, Zhang Lu Rang turned around.
At the same time, Zhang Lu Li lowered the arm he had been covering his eyes with.
Only then did Zhang Lu Rang realize Zhang Lu Li was still in his room.
"Go back to your room," he said flatly.
Zhang Lu Li sat up, his head lowered, saying nothing.
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