Chapter 2

After leaving the apartment building, mounting her electric scooter, and departing from Huafeng Neighborhood, Lu Wuqi’s breathing and heartbeat finally began to return to normal.

However, the composure and indifference she’d shown on the way there were completely gone now, replaced by an urgent need for money and the pressure of limited time.

In twenty-three days, how was she going to earn the 7,000 yuan for a semester’s tuition and miscellaneous fees?

Adding in the first month’s living expenses and the cost of buying some essentials, she needed to make at least 8,000 yuan.

No, it wasn’t just 8,000. She also had to earn back the student loan money that had been reassigned, which meant doubling it to 16,000 yuan.

Lu Wuqi rode her electric scooter toward the milk tea shop while mentally outlining her money-making plan.

Perhaps Heaven had sensed Lu Wuqi’s desperate need for cash and decided to open its eyes for once. Orders at the milk tea shop surged, allowing Lu Wuqi to earn an unusually high commission of 300 yuan in a single day.

Of course, Lu Wuqi paid the price for it. She delivered milk tea from morning till night, all by herself on that one electric scooter, pushing through nearly 300 cups. The thickened white T-shirt she wore was soaked through with sweat.

“Hmm? You’re not coming tomorrow?” The boss transferred the money to Lu Wuqi via WeChat and tried to persuade her to stay. “If you’re feeling tired, I can give you more rest time. I can even bump up your commission a bit.”

Lu Wuqi shook her head and handed over the keys to the electric scooter and her helmet.

“I’ve earned enough to hang out with friends now. Thanks for taking care of me these past couple of days, Boss.” Lu Wuqi needed to make real money, and staying on as a delivery girl at the milk tea shop wouldn’t cut it.

Upon hearing it was to go out and play, the boss let out a light sigh and didn’t press further. “Alright, I get it. You young people just love to go exploring.”

“Take this. It’s way brighter than the flashlight on your phone. It’ll come in handy while you’re out having fun.” The boss stuffed a powerful mini flashlight into Lu Wuqi’s hands.

The milk tea shop closed at ten at night. Though the streets weren’t empty, there weren’t many young women walking alone. Such a strong flashlight would be very useful.

“Thanks, Boss.” Lu Wuqi accepted the boss’s kindness.

She stood at the door, waved goodbye to the boss one last time, slung her crossbody bag over her shoulder, and left in a dashingly carefree manner.

She hadn’t gone more than fifty meters when Lu Wuqi suddenly stopped in her tracks.

“Ah, I think I forgot something.” Lu Wuqi muttered to herself and turned back toward the milk tea shop.

“Lu Wuqi!” Lan Xu, who had been staking out at the bus stop for who knows how long, rushed out and grabbed the strap of Lu Wuqi’s crossbody bag, forcing her to stop.

“What a coincidence, Xuxu. What are you doing here?” Lu Wuqi turned back slowly, flashing an innocent smile.

Seeing Lu Wuqi play dumb despite knowing full well what was up, Lan Xu ground her molars. Her hands itched to grab a chunk of flesh on this woman’s arm and twist it hard!

But when her gaze fell on Lu Wuqi’s arm, which had obvious color differences from sun exposure, a flicker of heartache passed through Lan Xu’s eyes.

She had seen how busy Lu Wuqi had been all day, zipping back and forth on that electric scooter countless times from day into night. Lu Wuqi probably hadn’t even had proper lunch or dinner.

“Yeah, what a coincidence. We keep running into each other.” Lan Xu tried to keep her expression and tone calm. “So, can you tell me now? Why did you send me that text a week ago? Why did you want to… with me…”

Lan Xu swallowed the last two words. She didn’t want to say them out loud.

Lu Wuqi gripped Lan Xu’s wrist again, but this time she didn’t pull her hand away. Instead, she raised it and gently pressed her own face against the back of Lan Xu’s hand.

“Xuxu, can I tell you later?” Lu Wuqi gazed intently at Lan Xu, her eyes sparkling. “I can’t explain the reason right now, but I regret it. I regret sending that text. I don’t want to break up with you. I want to be with you.”

The moment the back of her hand touched Lu Wuqi’s soft cheek, Lan Xu’s heart trembled. Most of the anger and resentment inside her vanished in an instant.

This was a gesture they had established when they first got together. If they ever fought but neither could bring themselves to apologize, they’d raise the other’s hand and press their face against the back of it—as a stand-in for “I’m sorry.”

“But I’ve already seen that text. I can’t just forget it.” Lan Xu mumbled, still clutching the strap of Lu Wuqi’s crossbody bag tightly.

Given this woman’s attitude that morning, Lan Xu worried that if she let go, Lu Wuqi would bolt. After all, Lu Wuqi had taken first place in the short-distance race at the School Sports Meet before.

“How about I write you a 10,000-word self-criticism?” Lu Wuqi asked tentatively. She still had a pile of issues to sort out, so it was best to keep the breakup reason under wraps for now.

Lan Xu stared blankly at Lu Wuqi. Only after seeing her swallow nervously for the second time did Lan Xu hum in agreement through her nose.

“Handwritten.” Lan Xu added, “It has to be full of emotion, no repetitions, no copying from the internet, no typos, and no half-assing it!”

Lu Wuqi: “Got it…”

Writing a self-criticism? This would be her first time.

Back at the Lu Family, she’d been punished directly for any mistakes, with no chance to even write one.

“You…” Lan Xu started, but after the first word, she swallowed what she’d meant to say. “Are you still working here tomorrow?”

Lan Xu looked conflicted. “If you want a part-time job, you could try one-on-one tutoring over the summer. Parents of rising seniors love hiring top Gaokao scorers to teach at home. You’re ranked in the provincial top 500, so you’d be popular.”

“I’m not sure on the rates, but it should be over 50 yuan per hour.” Lan Xu continued, “I know someone doing it. I can give you her contact info.”

Lan Xu and Lu Wuqi had known each other since high school first year, so she was well aware of the Lu Family’s situation.

Though Lu Wuqi had hidden the student loan issue well, Lan Xu wasn’t stupid. With Gaokao scores high enough and the admission letter already in hand, what else could keep Lu Wuqi from university?

Lan Xu knew Lu Wuqi didn’t want to expose the family’s ugliness, so she didn’t offer to lend money. Instead, she shared the best money-making idea she’d spent half the day researching.

Lu Wuqi let out an “oh” and couldn’t resist rubbing her face against the back of Lan Xu’s hand again. “Sure, just send me the contact via WeChat.”

“Also, no ignoring my messages. Even if you don’t see them right away, reply later. No pretending you didn’t see them.” Lan Xu frowned. Thinking back to the past week’s ordeal made her angry all over again.

The feeling of messages sinking into the void was awful, just like waiting at Lu Wuqi’s house and getting no answer!

“Got it.” Lu Wuqi nodded obediently.

She really had messed up there. Suddenly dropping a breakup text was bad enough, but then avoiding Lan Xu to make her forget? What a stupid decision!

Lan Xu huffed lightly. Seeing Lu Wuqi’s decent attitude, she finally released the bag strap. “I said I want to see that self-criticism before school starts, not on the last day.”

Lan Xu poked Lu Wuqi’s stomach. “Admit your mistake sooner, and maybe I’ll forgive you earlier.”

“Got it.” Lu Wuqi agreed instinctively. Meanwhile, she secretly planned to carve out an hour each night to write the criticism, aiming to finish the 10,000 handwritten words while sorting out her money issues.

Seeing Lu Wuqi zoning out, Lan Xu kicked her shoe. “What are you standing there for? It’s late—aren’t you going home? Planning to sleep on the streets?”

“I’m going home, yeah. Let me walk you back first.” Lu Wuqi said.

After a moment’s hesitation, Lu Wuqi pocketed the mini flashlight and slowly extended her left hand.

Lan Xu glanced down. Seeing the gesture, the corners of her mouth curved up slightly.

She still knew to offer her hand for holding. Looked like Lu Wuqi really did regret it. The two of them couldn’t possibly…

Hmm? Why did the hand stop halfway? Was Lu Wuqi an idiot? What was she doing!

“Xuxu, until I finish that 10,000-word self-criticism, are we still… girlfriend and girlfriend?” Lu Wuqi asked cautiously.

She truly had no experience with this—neither the original Lu Wuqi nor her current self.

“Idiot.” Lan Xu whispered under her breath and took the initiative to interlace their fingers.

“Xuxu?” Lu Wuqi still looked confused.

Did Lan Xu taking her hand mean she’d been forgiven? That they were back to being lovers?

“Friends can hold hands too.” Lan Xu huffed. Not a single word of that 10,000-word criticism existed yet—how could she forgive Lu Wuqi? Might as well dream on!

Lu Wuqi let out an “oh” and gripped Lan Xu’s hand in return. Following her memory, they walked together toward Lan Xu’s home.

The summer night was a bit more pleasant than the daytime heat, but still sweltering. After ten-plus minutes of walking, their pressed palms grew sticky with a bit of sweat.

The sensation felt both unfamiliar and novel to Lu Wuqi. Her memories held plenty of scenes of holding hands, hugging, even kissing Lan Xu, but memories weren’t the same as the real, tangible experience now.

She could clearly feel another person’s body heat now, even the pulse throbbing beneath the skin. It was as if the barriers between them had temporarily vanished, leaving them intimately connected.

But even with the sweat, neither wanted to let go. Was this the way lovers held hands?