To Get Married - Chapter 28.1

Chapter 28.1

In the early hours of the Mid-Autumn Festival, all the guests gradually left, but the spirits in the bar gathered together.

After preparing for this Mid-Autumn event for several days, everyone finally had some time to rest.

Gou Hongjie cut the remaining mooncakes into small pieces, mixed various colors and flavors, and arranged them into a large, floral platter. He also cut several kinds of fruit, inserted toothpicks, and placed them on the table closest to the bar counter.

The spirits all gathered around, chatting and laughing while enjoying their bedtime dessert.

The spirits working at the bar were full of energy late at night, but Lu Yudong, who was used to resting on time at school every day, was already too sleepy to keep her eyes open.

Since high school started, Manzhu had accompanied her home early every week. It had been a long time since she had stayed up this late. She felt drowsy before midnight, sleeping and waking intermittently while slumped over the table, as if she had gone through several cycles of reincarnation.

Earlier, when Xiaozhi passed by the corner table and saw Lu Yudong sleeping, she quickly went upstairs to get a jacket and draped it over her for fear of her catching a cold.

After she finished her work, Manzhu walked quietly to Lu Yudong’s side, leaned down to her ear, and gently said: “Yudong, let’s go home.”

Lu Yudong opened a slit of her eyes, whimpered softly, and rubbed them.

Just waking up, her throat was dry, and her voice was hoarse.

Manzhu took off the jacket Lu Yudong was wearing, led her hand in hand to the bar counter, asked Yan Zhaomu for a bottle of coconut milk, and handed it to her. Then she turned around and returned the jacket to Xiaozhi.

Lu Yudong hugged the coconut milk and drank a couple of sips. She looked back at the lively crowd, curious, and leaned in for a peek.

Huanxi saw Lu Yudong approach and immediately speared a small piece of cantaloupe-flavored mooncake, holding it to Lu Yudong’s mouth.

Lu Yudong opened her mouth and bit the mooncake off the toothpick. The mooncake was very sweet, but a small bite wasn’t cloying. She squinted, smiled, and quietly said: “Thank you, Sister Huanxi.”

“Yudong, eat this,” Xiaozhi speared a piece of mango, turned around, cupped it with her other hand, and carefully brought it to Lu Yudong.

Lu Yudong opened her mouth and ate the piece of mango. The mango piece was cut quite large, filling her mouth. She couldn’t help but lick her lips with her tongue.

Manzhu saw this, grabbed a wet wipe from the bar, and stepped forward to wipe Lu Yudong’s mouth.

“Go home and rest,” Manzhu said.

Lu Yudong leaned against Manzhu. When she reached the bar entrance, she turned back and waved to Yan Zhaomu and everyone else: “Goodbye, Little Master, goodbye, everyone.”

Yan Zhaomu smiled faintly and waved back at her.

“Come play again tomorrow, Yudong,” Huanxi said.

“Mhm mhm!” Lu Yudong replied, and left the bar with Manzhu.

On the deserted street late at night, a cool breeze blew in at the end of the month. Even the sleepiest person was inevitably woken up.

Lu Yudong held Manzhu’s hand with one hand, clenched her long skirt with the other, and childishly jumped across the squares on the ground.

Childish behavior seemed to be contagious. Manzhu saw Lu Yudong’s steps landing every other square, careful not to step on the lines. For a moment, she subconsciously paid attention to the squares she stepped on.

Lu Yudong saw this and burst out laughing.

Manzhu was taken aback. When she recovered, she smiled and pinched Lu Yudong’s little face: “Oh, you’re laughing at me?”

“No!” Lu Yudong quickly defended herself. “I’m just happy. I didn’t expect… Sister to play hopscotch with me too.”

“Then why are you walking like this?” Manzhu asked.

“I don’t know. I saw squares on the ground, so I wanted to walk like this,” Lu Yudong said, taking a huge leap forward over three squares, almost tripping over her skirt.

Manzhu quickly steadied Lu Yudong. Lu Yudong subconsciously looked up. She and Manzhu gazed at each other under the bright streetlights for a moment, then she chuckled foolishly.

Lu Yudong, already quite tired, chuckled foolishly all the way home. With Manzhu’s help, she untied her hair, changed into her pajamas, quickly washed up, and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, without even turning off the light.

Manzhu finished washing up, turned off the lights in the room, and walked softly to the bed. Looking at Lu Yudong’s peaceful sleeping face, she curved her beautiful eyebrows and eyes.

The Mid-Autumn and National Day double holiday passed quickly, almost in the blink of an eye.

The night Lu Yudong returned to school, Zhang Ziyun was already busy copying the homework the teacher had assigned during the holiday. When she saw Lu Yudong arrive, she immediately feigned helplessness, trying to seek assistance.

Lu Yudong couldn’t bear to watch Zhang Ziyun fail to turn in her homework, so she quickly took out her pen and helped her copy feverishly.

The two worked together until the evening self-study session began, and the class representatives for each subject started collecting homework. They finished just in time.

Lu Yudong rubbed her sore wrist from copying and couldn’t help but criticize her: “You piled up your homework until the last day again!”

To this, Zhang Ziyun replied self-righteously: “Plans always fail to keep up with changes. When facing difficulty, if I don’t engage in a life-or-death speed run, I feel restless.”

“I really won’t help you next time. What if the teacher finds out…” Lu Yudong pouted.

Zhang Ziyun immediately hugged her and pleaded softly: “Good deskmate, good sister, I know you’re a good student. I won’t dare next time, don’t be angry!”

Lu Yudong pushed her away with a wry smile: “Alright, alright, the teacher is coming.”

Only then did Zhang Ziyun let go of Lu Yudong and buried her head in her desk cabinet to play with her phone.

The temperature in October gradually dropped, and students who were sensitive to the cold had already changed into their autumn school uniforms.

The midterm exam was approaching. Lu Yudong dragged Zhang Ziyun to wake up early with her every day to recite texts and vocabulary, hoping Zhang Ziyun would get better grades this time so her mother wouldn’t criticize her at the parent-teacher meeting.

Zhang Ziyun was very smart and learned everything quickly, but she just never liked to study.

Even in junior high, her grades always hovered in the unmoving middle layer of the class, showing how lazy she was.

Initially, when Lu Yudong started dragging her to study, she complained and cried every day, but after a few days, she got used to the study rhythm and finally felt a little on track.

However, two days before the midterm exam, Zhang Ziyun, who was supposed to run to the canteen with Lu Yudong after school to grab dinner, suddenly looked serious. She ran to the homeroom teacher’s office to get a leave slip and an exit pass, and left school with red eyes.

Lu Yudong messaged her on Q.Q. with a few words of concern and learned that Zhang Ziyun’s father was suddenly hospitalized.

As for what exactly happened, Zhang Ziyun didn’t know anything, and Lu Yudong was afraid of pressing her, so she didn’t bother her further.

After school that afternoon, Lu Yudong sent Zhang Ziyun two messages.

— Will you still return to school today?

— Do you want me to fetch hot water for you tonight?

After the evening self-study session ended, Lu Yudong fetched two bottles of hot water. She sat on Zhang Ziyun’s bed, soaking her feet in hot water, and sent Zhang Ziyun two more messages.

Lu Yudong: “I’ve got the hot water for you. You can use it as soon as you get back.”

Lu Yudong: “If you’re not coming back, I’ll use the water to wash my socks tomorrow noon, and we’ll get fresh water tomorrow night.”

When she woke up the next day, Lu Yudong checked her phone, but Zhang Ziyun still hadn’t replied.

After tidying her own bed, she also straightened Zhang Ziyun’s military blanket and sheets, which hadn’t been slept in all night. Then she put on her backpack, grabbed her small vocabulary book, and left the dorm.

Before she went out, Wu An’an poked her head out from under the blanket, squinted at her, and asked: “Lu Yudong, Zhang Ziyun isn’t here today. Do you want to go to the canteen with us at noon and in the afternoon?”

Living in the same dorm, and it was just a meal. Since they had kindly invited her, it wouldn’t be right to refuse.

Lu Yudong nodded. After saying “Thank you,” she walked out of the dorm and gently closed the door behind her.

That noon, Lu Yudong went to the canteen to eat with the other three people in the dorm for the first time. She was quiet the whole time, but the three girls chatted lively, switching between three topics in the span of just one meal.

Lu Yudong finished eating, but the three girls hadn’t, so she sat on the side and listened to them chat.

Just then, Wang Yan suddenly looked up and asked: “Lu Yudong, where did Zhang Ziyun go? The midterm exam is coming up, and we’re dividing up the exam rooms tonight. She isn’t sick, so how did she get time off?”

Lu Yudong frowned, feeling that Wang Yan’s words were a bit unpleasant.

Wu An’an, who was next to her, quickly tried to smooth things over: “Wang Yan means, is Zhang Ziyun coming back for the exam?”

Wang Yan nodded and said: “Yeah, if she doesn’t take the exam, she won’t have a score. Next time there’s a monthly exam, she’ll be assigned to the last exam room.”

“So what if she is? She just missed the exam. It’s not because she has bad grades that she’s going there,” Lu Yudong said.

“I was just concerned,” Wang Yan said, smiling, and looked at Zhao Wen. “Her Zhang Hao is basically in that exam room. Maybe next time, she can pass answers to Zhang Hao and help him move up…”

Zhao Wen laughed after hearing this: “Why doesn’t someone remind Zhang Hao that if he hands in a blank paper this time, his exam room number will definitely be next to Zhang Ziyun’s for the next monthly exam.”

Lu Yudong listened and said softly: “They are not dating.”

Wang Yan said: “Isn’t it just a matter of time? Zhang Hao is so rich and so relentlessly pursuing Zhang Ziyun. I saw signs of them getting together at the Mid-Autumn party before.”

Zhao Wen agreed: “Yeah, if they really get together, we, as her roommates, must go and freeload a meal, right?”

Lu Yudong was silent for a moment, then stood up and said: “I’m going back first. You guys take your time eating.”

After saying that, she turned and walked towards the dorm.

Wu An’an called out twice from behind, but seeing that she wouldn’t turn back, she didn’t say anything more.