Since it was Shen Qing’s exhibition, Shen Qing’s parents and Father Bai naturally came to show their support. Lu Zhi was busy entertaining classmates and friends, and couldn’t be as attentive to her own circle, so she simply let Bai Lu accompany them.
The parents of both families had always thought the two of them didn’t get along. Now, seeing Bai Lu bustling around helping Lu Zhi, they couldn’t help but be very surprised.
Bai Lu felt incredibly guilty, forcefully suppressing the unease in her heart, and managed to bluff her way through with a stream of chatter and jokes.
After a hectic day of being constantly on her feet, Bai Lu only found a gap to spend a moment with Lu Zhi in the late afternoon when things were winding down. At first, Bai Lu still remembered to keep some distance from Lu Zhi. But later, seeing two girls who looked like students walking in arm-in-arm, heads together, chatting and laughing, she grew bolder and began intimately linking arms with Lu Zhi as well.
Lu Zhi didn’t mind any of this and casually let Bai Lu play with her fingers.
She had been talking all day to different people and was somewhat tired now, so she simply accompanied Bai Lu for a quiet walk.
Lu Zhi had spent nearly two months preparing for this exhibition. Bai Lu had seen these paintings many times with her before the exhibition started, but now, strolling hand-in-hand through the exhibition hall, she felt she was perceiving a different meaning in them.
Finally, they stopped in front of the oil painting “Untitled.” This was the last, unfinished painting Shen Qing had worked on. Lu Zhi hadn’t touched it afterward either. Strictly speaking, this painting could only be considered a half-finished piece.
Night, the deep sea, moonlight without blending, that one heavy stroke of white standing starkly between sea and sky like a boulder, yet carrying a suffocating sense of oppression.
Teacher Wang had given this painting a very high evaluation.
Bai Lu was silent for a long time before asking softly, “Is it because of my brother? He was deep-sea diving when he…”
“Probably so,” Lu Zhi didn’t lie, but quickly turned around, took Bai Lu’s slightly stiffened fingers and kissed them, saying, “But that’s already in the past.”
Her gaze was calm, meeting Bai Lu’s eyes without evasion, carrying a steadying power.
Bai Lu believed her instantly.
She thought, probably no one in this world could fail to be convinced by such a gaze.
The two stood quietly for a moment, then ran into Li Ai.
Even having only met her once, Bai Lu immediately recognized this tall, elegant woman.
Bai Lu’s eyelid twitched. Her fingers slowly slid down through the gaps of Lu Zhi’s fingers, then interlaced tightly with them. Following that, her body also leaned in, almost wrapping around one of Lu Zhi’s arms, intimate to an unusual degree.
Li Ai was visibly taken aback for a moment, looking at her with some hesitation.
Lu Zhi thought Li Ai had forgotten her, so she reintroduced her: “My girlfriend, Bai Lu. You saw her once before.”
As soon as she finished speaking, not only was Li Ai astonished, but Bai Lu also jumped in fright, her ears instantly burning red, her eyeballs frozen in place.
Li Ai recovered quickly. Countless emotions flickered through her heart, but her face revealed no prying expression. She smiled politely and naturally at Bai Lu, extending a hand: “Hello.”
Lu Zhi also patted Bai Lu’s hand, bringing the daydreaming Bai Lu back to her senses, and added reassuringly, “Li Ai won’t speak of this to anyone.”
Bai Lu snapped out of it and hurriedly shook hands with Li Ai. Her initial pang of jealousy had long since vanished, replaced by a dizzy feeling, as if her heart had been struck by a ball of cotton.
Li Ai curved her lips into a smile upon hearing Lu Zhi’s words. After the greeting, she indeed didn’t look at Bai Lu again, simply asking Lu Zhi, “I walked around, but I didn’t see a single portrait of me?”
Lu Zhi: “The paintings in this exhibition were all done before September of last year. The ones of you are still at the cafe.”
Li Ai was curious: “Oh, are you dividing exhibitions by time period?”
Lu Zhi: “This is it for now. I’ll find another time to hold an exhibition for the rest.”
Li Ai nodded, not probing further, just a bit disappointed. She joked, “I thought I was about to become famous.”
Lu Zhi laughed, spreading her hands. “You’ll have to wait until next time to become famous.”
The two chatted casually for a while. Before leaving, Li Ai’s gaze, despite herself, briefly flickered towards the silent girl beside Lu Zhi.
Beautiful, radiant, delicate. She remembered that Lu Zhi had been married once. Yet now, she spoke with a tone as natural and ordinary as ever, saying, “This is my girlfriend.”
Li Ai glanced at Lu Zhi. Compared to the undisguised adoration brimming in the other girl’s eyes, Lu Zhi herself seemed no different. Her expression was still that same cool detachment Li Ai had seen countless times before, only occasionally, when she turned her gaze, a few threads of gentle tenderness would settle upon the girl.
Because it was so rare, it appeared all the more precious, utterly captivating.
After Li Ai left, Bai Lu hesitated for a long time before timidly asking Lu Zhi, “Why did you say… say I’m your girlfriend?”
Lu Zhi asked with a smile in return, “Aren’t you?”
Bai Lu held back, but ultimately couldn’t help it. The corners of her mouth lifted, her eyes curving as she said, “Then you are my girlfriend too.”
That evening, Lu Zhi treated the museum staff to dinner at a nearby hot pot restaurant. In the air-conditioned room, the bubbling red soup pot, paired with beer, made for a very enjoyable meal.
Bai Lu had a good alcohol tolerance. Beer was like soda to her. Even taking small sips, she drank five or six cans, ending up with just a slight flush on her face and nothing else amiss.
It was nearly midnight by the time they left. Lu Zhi hadn’t drunk, so she drove Bai Lu back to her apartment herself. Her driving was always very smooth; starting and braking felt like gliding, without any bumps.
On the road, however, they encountered a car that maliciously cut them off. Lu Zhi didn’t pay it much attention at first. Then, a white Mercedes deliberately pulled up alongside her car, its window rolling down to reveal a young man’s face, who whistled at Bai Lu in the passenger seat.
Bai Lu had originally rolled down the window to air out the lingering smell of hot pot on her clothes, not expecting such a disgusting thing to happen. She wasn’t the patient type and immediately cursed back at him.
Lu Zhi glanced over. The man clearly didn’t think Bai Lu’s angry scolding had any effect; instead, he grew increasingly energized, his gaze lustfully fixed on the two of them, his mouth spewing filth, his face full of lechery.
Lu Zhi frowned, pressed a button, and the window slid up.
Bai Lu was forced to pull her arm back. She was furious and grabbed her phone, ready to call someone.
Lu Zhi gently pressed the accelerator, sped up, then turned the steering wheel left, placing her car in front of the white one.
Bai Lu’s phone nearly flew out of her hand. Lu Zhi softly reminded her, “Hold on tight.”
Bai Lu was stunned for a moment, then felt the car slow down, almost forcing the car behind to follow at a crawl. Sure enough, before long, the white car behind accelerated, changed lanes, and overtook them. Through the car window, Bai Lu could see the man had stopped right next to them again, even arrogantly sticking his arm out the window to slap his car door.
Lu Zhi’s expression didn’t change. She repeated her tactic, overtaking him again.
The white car refused to back down and sped up to overtake again.
Lu Zhi was driving a black Audi today. From a bird’s-eye view, one could see the two cars, black and white, engaged in a neck-and-neck chase at a relatively normal speed initially. But after just three or four rounds, the black car got faster and faster, provocatively slowing down each time after overtaking. Soon, the white car also got heated and floored the accelerator. The two cars clashed with increasing ferocity.
It was midnight, and there weren’t many cars on the highway. The occasional vehicles that flashed past were mostly large trucks.
Five minutes later, the needle on the dashboard was pointing at 140, and Lu Zhi showed no intention of slowing down.
Watching the landscape speeding backward outside, Bai Lu couldn’t help but swallow nervously and said uncertainly, “Maybe we should just let it go…”
“It’s fine,” Lu Zhi turned her head, glanced at Bai Lu, and smiled. “Hold on tight.”
Bai Lu had no choice but to shut her mouth and grab the handle above the door.
Lu Zhi looked at the map on the car’s screen. There was a fork in the road five hundred meters ahead. She turned the steering wheel and began changing lanes to the right. In the rearview mirror, the white car indeed started leaning right as well. Lu Zhi pressed the accelerator and drove straight ahead, not letting the white car pass. The needle on the dashboard continued to fall, soon surpassing 150.
A highway sign flashed past with a “whoosh.” The fork ahead was getting closer and closer. Bai Lu’s heart leaped into her throat, her palms sweaty. Then she felt her body twist uncontrollably with the car’s turn.
At the very last moment, Lu Zhi gently turned the steering wheel, and the car quickly darted left, returning to the straight lane.
Bai Lu fell heavily back into her seat. She didn’t bother to steady her breath before urgently turning her head to look back.
The white Mercedes, which had been clinging stubbornly behind them, clearly hadn’t expected them to be able to change lanes at such a high speed. In a panic, it could only slam on the brakes to avoid a collision. The four wheels, spinning at high speed, suddenly locked up, emitting a piercing screech. The entire car was forced to bounce violently in place, ultimately veering in a drift-like manner, crashing heavily into the guardrail.
Lu Zhi also saw the condition of that car through the rearview mirror. She didn’t stop, driving straight on. She only slowly eased off the accelerator to reduce speed, then turned to look at Bai Lu and asked with concern, “Are you okay?”
Bai Lu shook her head, her face still full of lingering shock.
Lu Zhi glanced again at the receding accident scene in the rearview mirror, her expression calm. “That Mercedes had good performance; the people should be fine.”
Bai Lu pursed her lips and didn’t speak. The car continued forward, but the space inside fell silent for a moment.
After a while, Lu Zhi turned her head to look at Bai Lu and asked with a smile, “What’s wrong? Scared already? When did you become so timid?”
Bai Lu responded with a heavy “Mm.”
Lu Zhi hadn’t expected such a direct answer and raised an eyebrow slightly.
Bai Lu’s eyes reddened, and she glared at Lu Zhi angrily. “From now on, you’re not allowed to drive this fast!”
Only then did Lu Zhi belatedly realize she was worried about her. Her heart softened, and her voice involuntarily gentled. “Alright, I’ll listen to you.”
Bai Lu thought about how skillfully Lu Zhi had raced that car and feared how wildly she must drive in private. She was terrified and fixed her eyes firmly on Lu Zhi. “You promise! From now on, no driving over 120—no, no driving over 100 miles per hour!”
Seeing that she seemed truly frightened, Lu Zhi quickly nodded repeatedly, coaxing her. “I usually drive very slowly. I just couldn’t hold back earlier. How could I tolerate someone flirting with my girlfriend? That’s completely unacceptable.”
Her speech was rarely this gentle and direct. Upon hearing it, Bai Lu’s anger indeed subsided for the most part. But she still crossed her arms and looked at Lu Zhi relentlessly. “Even so, you can’t drive that fast! I have plenty of people. One phone call, and I could get seven or eight cars to block him in, right? Then we could deal with him however we wanted!”
Lu Zhi nodded. “You’re right.”
“At worst, we could have called the police and let them handle it, instead of you being so impulsive just now. What if you lost control and crashed? And now there’s been an accident. Be careful the police don’t come to arrest you tomorrow!” Bai Lu tried to scare her like frightening a child.
“Okay, I understand,” Lu Zhi said. “I’ll have Secretary Li contact the other party later to negotiate—”
Bai Lu interrupted her resentfully. “You’re still arguing! You’re still justifying yourself!”
“Alright, I was wrong,” Lu Zhi admitted her mistake obediently while turning the steering wheel to enter their residential complex.
“I was still in the car today, and you drove like this. What if you were alone? Would you drive even more wildly? I never knew you were this good at driving!”
“I won’t do it again in the future,” Lu Zhi said, driving down into the underground parking garage.
“You have to promise, you won’t disregard safety in the future. Even if you’re a skilled driver, it won’t always guarantee safety. What if you’re not careful…”
In two seconds, Lu Zhi finished parking, turned off the engine, and unbuckled her seatbelt, then leaned over to silence Bai Lu’s chattering mouth and, in the process, swung a leg over to straddle Bai Lu’s lap.
Bai Lu always liked to adjust her seat far back so she could stretch her legs straight. This good habit conveniently facilitated Lu Zhi’s movement without any crowding.
Bai Lu was startled and immediately reached out to push her away.
Lu Zhi first cupped Bai Lu’s cheeks with both hands, prying open her lips and teeth to slip inside. Then, with a deft twist of her left hand, she pinned both of Bai Lu’s pushing hands above her head simultaneously. Her right hand unbuckled Bai Lu’s seatbelt and then deftly found the seat controller, adjusting Bai Lu’s seat into a semi-reclining position.
All this happened in the span of a finger snap. Bai Lu’s eyes widened, her lips and tongue already conquered. “…You… mmm… not allowed… mmm…”
Lu Zhi’s right hand continued up to her neck, fingers threading into Bai Lu’s hair, holding the back of her head steady, single-mindedly sucking on her lips, giving her no more chance to speak.
A long while later, Lu Zhi finally released her, nuzzling the tip of her nose against Bai Lu’s flushed cheek. “Finished lecturing? You bossy little manager.”
Bai Lu was still catching her breath. It took her a moment to recover before she stammered out a sentence: “You… you… you’re being a hooligan…”
Lu Zhi laughed. The pad of her thumb gently stroked Bai Lu’s smooth, delicate skin, her gaze lingering on the glistening, moist color of her lips. “Yes, I’m being a hooligan just for you.”
