Chapter 26: Memento
Lu Li and Chu Jingyi sat down on a sofa in the amusement park’s rest area. Fortunately, it was the off-season, so besides him and Jingyi, only two old ladies with their young grandsons were sitting and chatting in the distance.
The Silly Goose snuggled into his arms, enjoying her beloved’s embrace. She said happily, “You can talk now~”
“Mm…” Lu Li hesitated for a moment, not immediately starting the topic, but instead savoring the warmth of the young girl’s body for a while. The Silly Goose didn’t speak either; both were enjoying this warm and peaceful moment.
In the end, it was the Silly Goose who spoke first. “Lu Li, you like Wen Hupo, don’t you?”
She drew circles on Lu Li’s chest. “Because you like her, you don’t want her to move out. Because you like her, you helped her with everything back then, right?”
Lu Li could have chosen to lie, just as he had the first time he tricked Chu Jingyi into forgiving him. Manipulating the joys and sorrows of a pure young girl was an effortless task for him. But this time, he didn’t. “Yes. Do you think I’m very greedy?”
“Mm. So greedy a snake would try to swallow an elephant, eating from the bowl while eyeing the pot.” The Silly Goose poked Lu Li’s chest, a little forcefully. It seemed she was indeed a bit angry.
“Do you hate me for being like this?”
“…” The Silly Goose looked up at him. “I don’t know how to hate you.”
They say that love is a consumable. As two people get along, they wear each other down, and love naturally disappears. But in the Silly Goose’s heart, her love for Lu Li was like a boundless sea, and Lu Li was a tiny mythical bird; he could never fill up this sea of love.
“Wen Hupo is a very important person to me.” Lu Li’s gaze was distant, as if recalling the past. “She is like the bright moon hanging high in the sky. I can often gaze at her, but I can never seem to touch her.”
“Then what am I?”
“You are my little sun.”
“Then what is Baili?”
“Baili is… what is Baili?” Lu Li didn’t know either.
The Silly Goose didn’t dwell on these details. She hugged Lu Li’s waist, her breath as fragrant as an orchid. “You know, if you had just lied to me, told me you didn’t actually like Hupo, that you only liked me and Baili, I would have chosen to believe you. As long as you lied to me, I would have obediently fallen for it. But why did you have to tell me the truth? …This way, I can’t bring myself to hate you at all… Lu Li, are you doing this on purpose?”
Lu Li was consumed with guilt. This girl had poured all her love into him, willing to be hurt herself just to continue loving him. This filled him with a sense of culpability. “Yibao, I’m sorry.”
“I forgive you,” the Silly Goose said, nuzzling her head and squinting her eyes comfortably. “Actually, I’ve been thinking about these things recently. I was wondering if maybe I don’t like you as much as I thought, not to Baili’s extent… But being with you today, I really don’t want to think about anything. I just want to stay in your arms and smell your scent. Lu Li, I really, really like you so much. Can you spend more time with me?”
“It’s okay for you to be with Wen Hupo, but can you please not show favoritism toward her anymore… I want to be favored by you too. I want to be cared for by Lu Li. I’m not just a pushover…” The Silly Goose poured out her true feelings. “I’ve already been cheated by you into bankruptcy…”
Lu Li had prepared many scripts before today’s date, but the one thing he never expected was that before he could even begin his speech, Jingyi had already agreed to accept Wen Hupo. Perhaps while he was racking his brains for the right words, this simple girl had already gone through thousands of intense psychological struggles.
A feeling of unworthiness welled up in Lu Li’s heart. This feeling had first appeared when he met Jingyi, and now it was only stronger. He had to ask himself once more: did he really deserve this girl’s love?
“Lu Li…”
“I’m here.”
“Can I make one condition? I was originally planning to tell you after we graduated from high school…”
“Tell me. I’ll definitely agree to it.” He rarely made such a full-throated promise.
“After Hupo, can you please not like any other girls…” the Silly Goose murmured softly. “You’re already popular with girls. Even without Hupo, there will be other girls in the future. You might like many girls, but there is only one Lu Li that I like. Can you take good care of the Lu Li I love, and not let him be shared with any other girls?”
This request could almost be considered humble.
Lu Li was a content person. With Jingyi, Baili, Yameng, and Hupo, he already felt he had no regrets in this life. The Silly Goose didn’t know about his relationship with Yameng yet. Lu Li shouldn’t have agreed to this condition, but he truly didn’t want to refuse this girl, didn’t want to disappoint her.
“Mm. Besides the girls I’m with now, I won’t like anyone else.” Lu Li left himself a little bit of wiggle room. He truly didn’t plan on adding any more burden to his kidneys. As for Zou Yameng’s matter… he would find a chance to confess and apologize to the Silly Goose in the future… at least now was not the right time.
The Silly Goose smiled happily and kissed Lu Li on the cheek. “Mhm~”
She suddenly remembered something, stood up, and pulled Lu Li by the hand. “We can take couple photos over there. Let’s go take pictures together!”
I am truly an insatiable, greedy, and shameless person, Lu Li thought. Did I save the universe to deserve the Silly Goose’s love to this extent, for her to yield this much?
He and the Silly Goose squeezed into the small photo booth. Only then did he remember that the only photo he had with the Silly Goose in his previous life was their graduation photo. The Chu Jingyi in that photo had a serious expression, while the Chu Jingyi now was full of sweet coyness. They were, in fact, the same person…
Click, click, click. The flash went off incessantly, and one sticker photo after another was printed out. Lu Li and Chu Jingyi made all sorts of funny faces, like the most old-fashioned of couples—the classic type who would draw hearts on their goofy photos. Lu Li’s mind was floating high above the clouds, unsettled. His thoughts, which usually soared like a swift bird, now hovered and slowed because of the girl beside him. He thought, perhaps this was the first installment of the Price? To have a restless heart because of love, and perhaps to feel guilt for a lifetime because of love. For Lu Li, this might be the cruelest Price of all.
The Silly Goose carefully laid out the photos one by one, then sorted them into categories, stacking them up as if she were handling a priceless treasure.
“This one is yours, this one is mine, this one is also mine, this one is for you…” the little girl said seriously.
Lu Li looked at her serious profile and suddenly said a single sentence: “I love you.”
Why did he say that? Even he himself didn’t know.
He just felt that if he didn’t say it now, he might never have the chance to say it again…
The Silly Goose was taken aback by Lu Li’s sudden declaration of love, then giggled. “I love you too.”
In the twilight sky, a line of wild geese flying south was faintly visible. Lu Li didn’t know if these were the same geese he had seen last year. What good deeds have I done, to be worthy of this beauty’s fragrance?
