After finalizing the apartment, Shang Jue went to the school library at noon and only returned to the dormitory in the afternoon.
As soon as he entered, he bumped into Lu Yuxing, who was walking out.
Shang Jue instinctively moved to the side to avoid him.
However, this time Lu Yuxing didn’t step aside as usual. Instead, he blocked Shang Jue’s path, raising his hand to close the dorm door.
Shang Jue found himself pressed against the door.
He lazily spoke up, “Are you trying to pull off some idol drama scene, Lu?” His gaze slid past Lu Yuxing's shoulder as he quickly scanned the dorm.
The other two roommates were absent.
“I sent a friend request.”
Shang Jue tilted his head as if he was seriously recalling something for a few seconds. “Oh, right, that did happen.”
Even though it was something from today, anyone observing his demeanor would think he had received Lu Yuxing’s message a long time ago.
“Sorry, I thought it was impossible for you to add me on your own; I figured my account had been hacked,” he said with a smile.
Lu Yuxing had no interest in deciphering how much truth there was in Shang Jue’s words. “Then let’s do it now.”
Shang Jue paused, a bit reluctant. “Do you need something?”
“Once you find a place, I’ll transfer you the rent.”
“...That's not necessary.”
Lu Yuxing remained silent, merely looking at him.
The distance between them had become too close.
Shang Jue was uncomfortable being this close to someone; he leaned back slightly, the back of his head lightly bumping against the door, retreating to the end of the space.
His gaze shifted, locking onto Lu Yuxing’s eyes.
Lu Yuxing’s pupils were a deep black, but his eyes were bright.
"Like a dog," Shang Jue thought mischievously.
He had only seen such distinct black-and-white eyes in the dogs on the roadside.
"You're so eager to add me; what is it? Do you have a crush on me?"
"..."
"I found a place, and I’m moving out today. As for the rent, let’s forget it. If I charge you half, people will think we’re living together, and that’s just disgusting."
Lu Yuxing was caught off guard by this “living together” comment, feeling a bit nauseated.
Nauseated or not, he didn’t want to owe Shang Jue anything.
He reiterated, “You agree to the friend request.”
Shang Jue: “...”
Lu Yuxing: “How much is the rent?”
Tsk... This guy is so annoying.
Shang Jue knew that with Lu Yuxing’s personality, even if he wanted to refuse, it would take a lot of effort.
He didn’t lack money and didn’t want this guy's money, but he had to resolve the current hassle. Shang Jue gave a standard number, saying, “One thousand.”
For a small room near A University, a cheaper one for a thousand bucks would indeed suffice.
Lu Yuxing stepped back slightly. “One thousand exactly?”
Just as Shang Jue was about to nod, he suddenly remembered something and changed his mind. “One thousand and forty.”
Lu Yuxing frowned, thinking that the number one thousand and forty was a bit strange—neither round nor flat.
The two of them added each other on WeChat.
Lu Yuxing lowered his head to transfer the money. When inputting the numbers, he didn’t react much until he typed in the password and his gaze landed on the number that was divisible by two.
Five hundred and twenty.
Lu Yuxing’s hand hesitated while entering the password.
He suspiciously glanced at Shang Jue, but seeing his usual calm expression, he had no choice but to lower his head again, staring blankly at that somewhat ambiguous number on the screen.
Lu Yuxing had no experience in romance, but in today’s age, he was well aware of what the number 520 represented.
Shang Jue watched the furrow in Lu Yuxing’s brow and knew he must be feeling quite uncomfortable inside; his lips nearly curled up in a smirk.
“Is there a problem?”
“What’s the forty in the rent for?” Lu Yuxing was worried that this was another trick.
Shang Jue replied smoothly, “Management fee.”
Lu Yuxing’s fingers lingered, still not finished entering the password.
“If you want to drop the cents, that’s fine too,” Shang Jue said generously.
As if Lu Yuxing was being stingy over that twenty bucks.
The next moment, a transfer message for five hundred and twenty appeared on Shang Jue’s phone.
Having just added each other as friends, their only message record was actually a transfer of 520. At a glance, it looked as if Lu Yuxing was Shang Jue’s little "dog."
Having had his fun, Shang Jue happily accepted the payment and then spent two hours moving all his stuff to the new apartment.
This afternoon, with no classes, Ge Zhicheng played basketball with Lin Xuying for half the day. When he returned to the dorm at night, he found that the bed opposite Lu Yuxing was entirely empty, as clean as if Shang Jue had never existed in dorm 323.
Lu Yuxing was also absent from the dorm.
“He really moved out, huh?” Ge Zhicheng sighed.
Earlier in the afternoon, Shang Jue had sent him a message saying he was moving out.
Ge Zhicheng had a good impression of this former roommate, having known him for only two days.
He and Shang Jue had only recently met, yet Shang Jue had specifically explained his reasons for moving before leaving.
While he was glad that Lu Yuxing could continue living with them, he still felt a bit guilty toward Shang Jue.
“Xuying, I actually think Shang Jue isn’t bad,” he sighed.
“But Lu Ge wouldn’t just dislike someone for no reason, right? Sigh, their grievances don’t concern us.”
“I know. I just think it would be great if their relationship could ease up a bit. We have two academic top students in our dorm; maybe we can get some guidance from them. If we manage to get an excellent dormitory award, I can put that on my resume.”
"Who writes this kind of thing on a resume?" Lin Xuying said helplessly. "Look at Lu Ge's attitude; there's definitely no chance for their relationship to improve. Unless we knock Lu Ge out and start over."
Ge Zhicheng laughed.
"If Lu Ge really got knocked out and lost his memory, I’d make him recognize me as his dad."
Lin Xuying replied, "Then I’d make him recognize me as his grandpa."
"Get lost! I’ll make him recognize me as his great-grandpa."
The two of them kept raising their ranks, and as soon as Lu Yuxing pushed the door open, they immediately fell silent.
Lu Yuxing glanced at the two of them, noticing their sneaky expressions. "What’s going on?"
“Ahem, nothing. Lu Ge, Shang Jue moved out."
Shang Jue's bed was completely empty.
“Mm.”
The vacant second bed stood in stark contrast to the other three, making the originally symmetrical layout of the dorm feel unbalanced, which made Lu Yuxing uncomfortable.
He sat in his spot for half an hour, trying to study math, but his thoughts were inexplicably jumbled.
His phone vibrated a few times on the table; it was his brother, Lu Yunsheng, sending a few messages.
There wasn’t anything important, just some very casual and simple greetings. Lu Yuxing replied a few times and then exited the chat.
(Chat page)
Below was Shang Jue’s avatar, a cartoon little fox.
Lu Yuxing had saved Shang Jue’s number back in high school. After graduating, he tossed it into his contacts and forgot to delete it. Today, he thought of it and tried searching for Shang Jue’s WeChat using the phone number.
When he clicked in, he saw the transfer record where he had sent money like a lovesick fool.
No matter how Lu Yuxing looked at it, he felt awkward. He wanted to delete the record but found that action too childish.
In the afternoon, his mind had been stuck, and he forgot that he could have directly transferred a semester's rent to Shang Jue, avoiding this embarrassing record altogether.
He turned off his phone and sat at his desk for half an hour, but his thoughts remained inexplicably jumbled.
Deciding to give up on studying, Lu Yuxing closed his book and stood up.
Ge Zhicheng asked, “Lu Ge, where are you going?”
“Just taking a walk outside the school.” Normally, whenever Lu Yuxing got stuck on a problem, he would find a quiet place to walk. But the school’s playground was filled with couples, and instead of clearing his mind, it only frustrated him more. So, he had to run off-campus.
“Can you stop by the supermarket on the way back? Bring me a cup of instant noodles.”
Lu Yuxing put on his jacket. “Sure.”
Lin Xuying chimed in, “Add a pineapple popsicle, thanks, Lu Dad!”
With his roommates’ hopes in mind, Lu Yuxing headed out.
The A University campus was not in a bustling area, and the evening outside the school was a rare peaceful tree-lined path in the big city.
As he reached a crosswalk, he happened to encounter a red light.
Even though the road was completely empty, Lu Yuxing still followed the rules, standing patiently at the crosswalk, waiting for the green signal to light up.
6, 5…
A red motorcycle roared from the other side of the road, intentionally slowing down as the signal's countdown continued.
The rider wore a helmet, and the bike wobbled slightly, but it was too far away to see clearly.
Lu Yuxing glanced at the rider, a bit surprised.
There were still a few seconds left, yet the rider didn’t rush to catch the green light.
…2, 1.
The light changed, and Lu Yuxing moved forward.
The motorcycle rider's helmet swayed drunkenly, and the right hand gripping the throttle suddenly twisted. The lazy rumble changed tone abruptly—
Lu Yuxing turned in confusion, looking at this seemingly well-mannered rider and the dazzling, bright red motorcycle racing towards him.
The blinding headlights illuminated Lu Yuxing’s shocked black eyes.
It turned out the rider wasn’t ignoring the green light… but was colorblind.