Chapter 9

She quickly picked up her phone. Lu: “Remember to buy Claude Monet next time. I don’t like jasmine.” Jin Nian could not recognize who this person was. There was no chat history between her and Lu on her phone. She had just gotten a new phone a while ago, so her previous chat history was gone. When she opened his Moments, there was also a horizontal line. This person had never posted anything in his Moments. There were many friends in the list who did not have a name, but Jin Nian quickly remembered that this person was Lu An.

He had just s.n.a.t.c.hed her jasmine flowers away today, and only he would speak in such an arrogant tone. The last time they contacted each other was on the eve of the Lunar New Year. Lu An sent her a group message at midnight: “Ward off evil, and long peace meets good fortune.” Jin Nian did not manage to stay up that night and went to bed at around ten o’clock. She only saw Lu An’s message the next morning. The list was full of red unread messages. Everyone’s blessings were the same. It was obvious that they were ma.s.s blessings. At that time, Lu An was not using his current online name, nor was he using his current ident.i.ty. He was always changing.

Jin Nian saw a faint pink dot in the middle of Lu An’s dark blue photo. Curious, she clicked open the photo and saw that the pink color was from a jellyfish. The pink jellyfish swayed under the light, looking as beautiful as a fairy. However, pink really did not match Lu An. However, when she searched for a flower named Claude Monet on the Internet, the picture that popped up shocked her. Jin Nian, who could not fall asleep, replied with a few words, “You like this kind?”

“Which kind?”

“This.” Jin Nian sent over the picture that she had just saved. The orange-yellow and pale pink flowers were unique and charming. It looked exactly like the famous Impressionist painting of Monet. It was a world of difference from the grumpy Lu An who shamelessly preached his self-criticism on the rostrum every week when he was in school.

Jin Nian: “I haven’t seen you for so many years. Has your taste become so girlish?”

Lu: “Do you have a problem with that?”

“No, I would not dare.” As soon as she sent this sentence, a voice call came from the other end.

What was going on? Why did this person always do whatever he wanted? Jin Nian hesitated for half a second before picking up. There was no sound around her. Jin Nian leaned her ear closer to the receiver and whispered, “h.e.l.lo? Lu An?”

There was silence on the other end. Lu An did not speak. Jin Nian picked up her phone and glanced at it. The signal was good and there was no lag. She turned on the speaker and asked, “Lu An? Can you hear me?” The faint sound of electricity could be heard, but the person on the other end of the phone did not speak. Suddenly, memories flooded into her mind like a raging tide. This scene was too familiar. A few years ago, Lu An had been like this. On the other end of the phone, he listened to Jin Nian’s complaints without complaint. Today, it was Old Ban’s fault for giving her so much homework. Tomorrow, it was mathematics. The subject was really not suitable for people to learn. In the end, she simply gave up. Young Master Lu, give me some money and let me rest.

In her memory, Jin Nian called Lu An a few times but Lu An did not respond. She hung up the phone decisively and called him back. Everyone else was afraid of Lu An, who was an unstable person, but Jin Nian was not. Later, Lu An picked up the phone and said lazily, his voice filled with exhaustion, “I did not hear you just now. I fell asleep. Say it again.” Jin Nian scolded him for wasting her breath. At the age of ten, he was reckless and said whatever he wanted.

Jin Nian never hid herself in front of Lu An. Several years pa.s.sed in a flash, but the memories seemed to have the magic to travel back in time. They brought Jin Nian from the thoughts of getting married and starting a family back to the countless nights when they were studying late at night. The phone screen showed that they were on the phone, but Lu An did not speak from the beginning to the end.

Jin Nian did not understand and could only hang up. She sent a message to Lu An, “Why did not you say anything when you called? Did you fall asleep again?” The phone fell silent. Jin Nian was already used to it. She had wanted to take this opportunity to share the news of her engagement with Lu An tomorrow, but after thinking about it, she decided against it. On one hand, she did not know how to bring it up. On the other hand, the people invited to the engagement party were basically relatives of both parties. It would not be too late to invite him to eat wedding candy during the official wedding. Jin Nian was curious. She clicked into Lu An’s Moments again. The background picture was a landscape photo. A figure stood at the top of a tall mountain. The surrounding cliffs, blue sky, and white clouds were pulled far away by the camera. It looked magnificent. Jin Nian felt that the photo looked familiar, but she could not remember where she had seen it before. Perhaps the magnificent scenery were all similar looking.