Нis hаnd сlеnched intо а fist, unаblе tо resist pulling her bасk and lowеring his head tо kiss hеr.
Аftеr thе kiss еnded, he lоwered his gaze, his coоl fingеrtips gеntly tоuсhing thе сornеr оf Su Zаizаi’s еyе.
His exрrеssion sеemed thoughtful, аnd soon hе spokе еаrnеstlу:
“Dоn’t аlways listеn tо othеr реoрle’s nоnsеnse.”
On thе еvening оf Decembеr 11th.
Su Zaizai and Zhаng Lurаng wеre strоlling along the snасk strеet оutsidе thе sсhооl.
Thе twо walkеd up tо one оf the stаlls sеlling Shаndong-stуlе раncakes.
Su Zаizai turned her head аnd asked, “Lùràng, do уou want sоme?”
Zhаng Lurаng ordеred one for her, took out his phone to scan and pay: “You eat it.”
The vendor spread the egg evenly, sprinkled on pickled vegetables, chopped scallions, and pork floss, folded one-third of the pancake, brushed on sweet bean sauce, added a crispy cracker and fresh vegetables, rolled it up, and cut it in half.
Divided into two pieces.
One for each of them.
Su Zaizai stuffed one piece into Zhang Lurang’s hand, saying, “This is really delicious.”
Zhang Lurang didn’t refuse much, picked it up, took a bite, and chewed.
Su Zaizai wasn’t in a hurry to eat either, looking up to watch his expression.
Seeing him frown slightly, as if he didn’t quite like the taste.
She quickly pulled that piece back, making up an excuse: “Forget it, I don’t have enough, you shouldn’t eat it.”
Zhang Lurang: “…”
Su Zaizai suddenly remembered that tomorrow was her eighteenth birthday.
She turned her head and asked expectantly, “Lùràng, do you remember what day tomorrow is?”
Zhang Lurang took a tissue from his backpack and wiped the sweet bean sauce off her fingers.
After cleaning it, Zhang Lurang obediently replied, “Your birthday.”
Su Zaizai shamelessly added, “Also, it’s the age where I can take my ID card and go book a hotel room.”
“…”
Seeing his expression immediately turn unpleasant again, Su Zaizai blinked innocently, “I just want to book a room very innocently, not to do anything else, don’t get the wrong idea.”
Zhang Lurang uncomfortably looked away, ignoring her.
“But bringing you along would be nice too,” she said with a grin.
“…Hurry up and eat, we need to go back.”
Su Zaizai bit into the pancake and suddenly said, “Tomorrow, the people in my department said they want to celebrate my birthday.”
Hearing this, Zhang Lurang frowned: “Is your department head going too?”
“Whether he goes or not has nothing to do with me,” Su Zaizai said while eating, her voice slightly muffled. “Anyway, I’m not going. I told them not to bother.”
“…”
“I definitely have to spend time with you,” Su Zaizai declared confidently.
Zhang Lurang fell silent for a moment, then spoke somewhat gloomily.
“Why are there always so many guys around you whose names sound like ‘nan’?”
It made him feel a physical aversion whenever he heard that sound.
Su Zaizai thought seriously: “No, there aren’t.”
Hearing this, the sour bubbles in Zhang Lurang’s heart surfaced again, making it impossible for him to maintain his usual calm and detached demeanor.
Before he could say anything, Su Zaizai added again:
“There’s only Ràng.”
In previous years for Su Zaizai’s birthdays, Zhang Lurang would simply buy her things she needed.
After that, he’d buy a cake, send a red envelope, without thinking of anything too elaborate.
In fact, he couldn’t think of anything fancy.
But for Su Zaizai’s eighteenth birthday this time, Zhang Lurang put in a lot of effort.
Searching online, reluctantly asking his roommates, occasionally pretending to casually ask Su Zaizai.After hesitating for a long time, he decided to try every trick in the book.
Sending flowers, necklaces, cosmetics, singing love songs...
The two of them had nowhere to go—getting a hotel room was out of the question—so Zhang Lurang booked a small private room in a café near the school in advance.
The next day, Su Zaizai was led by Zhang Lurang into the private room.
At first glance, she spotted the cake on the table, adorned with over a dozen candles arranged in the shape of a heart.
Beside it lay a bouquet of red roses, with an exquisite gift box nestled among them.
Several gift bags were also placed on the table.
Su Zaizai’s first reaction was, "Lurang, did you arrange that heart?"
Zhang Lurang licked his lips, admitting somewhat awkwardly, "Yeah."
Hearing his answer, Su Zaizai suddenly fell silent beside him.
Zhang Lurang turned his head in confusion.
Just then, Su Zaizai abruptly grabbed his collar and planted a firm kiss on his lips.
Their noses bumped into each other with a bit too much force.
Zhang Lurang winced in pain, but instinctively reached out to rub her nose, his voice low as he asked, "What are you doing?"
Receiving such treatment put Su Zaizai in an excellent mood.
It also felt as if she had instantly gained a higher status, and she declared boldly, "It’s my birthday today! If you don’t let me do whatever I want to you, I’ll get angry too! I’m going to show you with actions—it’s not just you who can get angry!"
"..."
As she spoke, Su Zaizai pulled Zhang Lurang over to the seat and made him sit down.
She rummaged through the gift bags on the table and suddenly felt a pang of hesitation. "Aren’t these too expensive...?"
Zhang Lurang shook his head. "It’s not much."
"You don’t have to buy me these..."
Zhang Lurang cut her off. "I earned all this money from tutoring over the summer."
Hearing this, Su Zaizai stared at him in a daze.
"In the future, I’ll buy you even more," he said softly, lowering his gaze.
After speaking, Zhang Lurang picked up the lighter from the table and slowly lit the candles on the cake.
In the quiet private room, only the sound of the lighter’s lid opening echoed repeatedly.
Click—click—
After the birthday song ended, Zhang Lurang began to sing again.
His deep, magnetic voice filled the room, the tail end of his notes rising slightly, carrying a gentle, lingering tenderness.
It was a song Su Zaizai had been playing on repeat lately.
...
"My precious, my darling,
Let me give you a little sweetness,
So you can sleep well tonight."
...
Su Zaizai was Zhang Lurang’s treasure.
An invaluable treasure in his heart.
Chapter 48
When she’s not here, no one makes me laugh.
—Zhang Lurang
The sky looked as if it had been smeared with thick ink, resembling an endless, dark sea.
Outside, the leaves rustled in the cold wind, and dried leaves on the ground swirled into clusters.
Occasionally, a few bursts of fireworks lit up the sky, celebrating the arrival of New Year’s Eve the next day.
After washing up, Su Zaizai returned to her room.
She scrambled onto the bed, buried herself under the covers, and called Zhang Lurang.
Zhang Lurang answered almost immediately.
Because the covers were stuffy, Su Zaizai’s voice sounded muffled. "Lurang."
His voice was hoarse from coughing, with a hint of a nasal tone, making it sound softer than usual.
"What’s up?"
"How are you spending New Year’s Eve tomorrow?"Zhang Lurang paused for a moment on the other end, seemingly thinking, then quickly replied, "I’ll be spending it with my uncle. He’s not going back to B City this year."
"Oh." Su Zaizai pushed the blanket aside, her expression hesitant. "I’m going to my grandparents’ house tomorrow. It’s like this every year..."
"Mhm."
"But I’ll be back after the New Year’s Eve dinner, though it might be a bit late."
Only then did Zhang Lurang catch the underlying meaning in her words. He lowered his gaze, smiling silently. "Zaizai."
His voice came through the phone, carrying an inexplicably tender tone.
It was rare for him to call her like this, and Su Zaizai felt pleasantly surprised.
Unable to help herself, she wrapped herself in the blanket and rolled over on the bed.
The movement was loud enough for the person on the other end of the phone to hear the rustling sounds.
Zhang Lurang couldn’t help but feel his face grow warm. He licked his lips and said softly, "I’ll give you a New Year’s gift when you come back."
"What gift?" Su Zaizai asked excitedly.
Hearing this, Zhang Lurang hesitated for a moment before asking, "What do you want?"
Without hesitation, Su Zaizai replied, "Your body."
"..."
"To be honest, I’ve been thinking about it since freshman year."
"..."
"You’ve made me go without for three years."
Zhang Lurang remained silent.
The next second, Su Zaizai suddenly changed her tune. "Actually, it should be ten years, right?"
"..."
"Ten years might even be an underestimate of you," she said gloomily.
Zhang Lurang opened his mouth, wanting to refute something, but in the end, he said nothing.
His fingers tapped lightly on the soft cotton blanket, as if he were feeling a bit restless.
After a while, Su Zaizai shamelessly blurted out, "Have you ever dreamed about it?"
The question came so suddenly that Zhang Lurang didn’t react at first.
But soon, he understood, and his breath hitched for a moment.
His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he spoke somewhat flusteredly, "I’m going to sleep."
Su Zaizai took the phone away from her ear and checked the time.
It was 10:30.
Zhang Lurang always kept a regular schedule, so Su Zaizai didn’t bother him any further.
She reached out and turned off the bedside lamp, giggling as she said, "Alright, go to sleep. Good night."
Hearing her words, Zhang Lurang suppressed the flutter in his heart and scolded her, "You should go to sleep too. Don’t stay up so late scrolling through Weibo."
"Got it."
After hanging up, Su Zaizai gave up on the idea of browsing Weibo. Obediently, she placed her phone on the bedside table, closed the curtains, pulled up the blanket, and fell asleep.
On the other side.
Zhang Lurang, who usually would have been asleep by this time, tossed and turned restlessly in bed.
It was unclear what he was thinking about, but he seemed inexplicably agitated.
Ten minutes later, he sat up.
Feeling his slightly sweaty forehead, he got up and walked to the bathroom.
Soon, the sound of running water echoed through the room.
In the quiet of the night, the noise seemed especially clear.
On New Year’s Eve night.
The dining table, occupied only by the two of them, was quiet, with only the occasional clinking of utensils breaking the silence.
Lin Mao swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "Go turn on the TV."
Zhang Lurang instinctively set down his chopsticks, about to do as he was told, when he heard Lin Mao continue, "Maybe it won’t feel so pitiful with a bit of noise."
"..."
"Sigh, you’re still young, yet you hardly say a word."
Zhang Lurang thought for a moment before replying earnestly, "I don’t know what to say to you."Lin Mao was taken aback by the remark: "Are you saying there's a generation gap between us?"
Zhang Lu Rang didn't respond, lowering his head to continue eating as if silently agreeing.
His cold expression softened slightly, and the corners of his tightly pressed lips secretly curved upward.
Lin Mao raised an eyebrow but didn't take it too seriously.
After a while.
Lin Mao suddenly remembered something: "Haven't you contacted your parents at all this semester?"
At the mention of this, Zhang Lu Rang's good mood instantly crumbled: "No."
"You're not answering their calls?"
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