Chapter 80

Mother Lu was a very talkative person, unlike Lu Shenxing.

Or rather, completely different.

After greeting Ji Wei, she crossed her arms, turned around, and said to the elevator, “Come in.”

Then, several assistants pushed rows and rows of mobile clothing racks into the room. The racks were all hung with men’s clothing.

She took a dark blue suit from the first rack, walked over to Huang Bo, and held it up to him. “Dark blue suits you. There’s no need to tie the bow tie so formally; a cross knot will do.”

“Thank you, Madam.”

Although Huang Bo didn’t understand why there were so many rules about dressing, he was used to it.

As a typical socialite, Mrs. Lu’s daily life consisted of socializing and shopping. She was always in the front row of fashion shows, and Hermès had even opened a dedicated production line for her.

He calculated the time. Today happened to be the last day of Haute Couture Week, so it was no wonder she had returned to the country.

In her youth, Mrs. Lu was a famous beauty among socialites, but no one dared to marry her because she was simply too much of a spendthrift.

Only Lu Ji had spoiled her to this day. Even when the company was in its most difficult times, he would still buy her expensive jewelry.

Mrs. Lu not only liked to spend money on herself but also on her family.

Huang Bo shook his head with a smile.

“Take it to his room,” Mother Lu instructed an assistant.

One of the assistants went downstairs with Huang Bo.

The other assistants followed her with the clothing racks.

Mother Lu walked over to Ji Wei, pointed at the clothes on the racks, and asked, “Weiwei, see if you like any of these? Mom picked them out one by one. You’ll look especially handsome in them.”

Suddenly meeting a parent, Ji Wei’s heart was in a panic. He hadn’t even noticed when three more rows of clothing racks had appeared. Hearing Mother Lu’s words, he suddenly looked up and replied, “I like them all.”

Compared to Mother Lu’s enthusiastic attitude, his own response was a bit perfunctory.

So, Ji Wei stood up and bowed solemnly to Mother Lu. “Hello, Mom!”

“You were in the hospital before, and I didn’t go to visit. I’m really sorry.”

Mother Lu was staring intently at the little young man bowing so formally. She was charmed, and a smile involuntarily appeared on her face. It took her a few seconds to come back to her senses. “When was I ever in the hospital?”

Ji Wei blinked slowly. “Weren’t you worried and hospitalized because your child wasn’t getting married?”

That’s what Ms. Ye Zhi had told him during the blind date arrangement.

Otherwise, why would his idol go on a blind date?

Mother Lu was stunned. She looked at Lu Shenxing, who had a normal expression. His fingertips tapped lightly on the table. Although the movement was slight, she could tell at a glance that her son was shy.

She was surprised for a short while.

No wonder he was unwilling to bring Weiwei back.

Even so…

She still felt she was the one who had been wronged. She had been labeled a feudalistic parent forcing a marriage before they had even met. She had no intention of helping her son smooth things over.

“It was A-Xing who wanted to go on a blind date with you. He was the one who sent your mother your blind date profile. I was on vacation abroad at the time. I don’t know what he told your mother.”

She had subtly cleared her own name.

Ji Wei was stunned and asked Lu Shenxing, “Is… that so?”

The man lowered his eyes and gave a soft “mm.”

His tone betrayed no emotion.

But Ji Wei’s breathing suddenly quickened, and at the same time, his heart was in turmoil. Everything else was thrown to the back of his mind, leaving only one question: why did his idol want to go on a blind date with him?

***

Hua University, Teaching Building 3.

As Cheng Liang walked out of the teaching building, a friend called out to him, “What’s with you today? You actually praised Ji Wei’s calligraphy. Didn’t you used to hate Ji Wei the most?”

He used to complain to him all the time.

If you asked him, there wasn’t that much to complain about.

It was a wonder Cheng Liang could even think of it, his friend grumbled to himself.

“It is well-written. Can’t I praise him?” Cheng Liang frowned. “Academician Ye’s lecture is about to start. Let’s go over early.”

“Whatever you say,” his friend smiled and walked with Cheng Liang towards the conference room.

He didn’t dare to waste time. Academician Ye Zhi was Cheng Liang’s idol, an academician from a humble background who grew up in a welfare home in Border Town.

Today’s lecture was all about cutting-edge physics. Ms. Ye Zhi’s thinking was extremely fast, rarely giving people time to think. It was less of a lecture and more of her own recollection and organization of thoughts, which was very difficult for both of them to follow.

Those in attendance were all master’s and doctoral supervisors. Normally, undergraduate students like them would not have the opportunity to attend the lecture, but since there were fewer people during the holiday, the physics department did not impose any restrictions.

After the lecture, several doctoral supervisors from the department continued to discuss issues with Academician Ye Zhi in a serious manner. It wasn’t until the evening that Cheng Liang had the opportunity to speak with her.

As Academician Ye Zhi was walking out, accompanied by the vice dean, Cheng Liang stepped forward to introduce himself. “Hello, Academician Ye Zhi. I’m a sophomore at Hua University. I read your paper ‘Theoretical Analysis of High-Energy Neutrino Experiments’ published last year, and I have a few questions for you…”

The vice dean looked at Cheng Liang in surprise. Although the questions he raised were not particularly debatable, his courage was still very commendable. At his age, he wouldn’t have dared to ask an academician such questions.

Academician Ye Zhi didn’t seem very interested in answering.

After Cheng Liang finished his questions, to avoid embarrassment, he tactfully changed the subject. “Why are you still at school during the holidays?”

Cheng Liang quickly said, “I was doing experiments in the lab before. Recently, I joined a volunteer program to help the children of migrant workers, so I stayed at school.”

The vice dean nodded. “The course load in the physics department is heavy. It’s very thoughtful of you to volunteer to help students during the holidays.”

“It’s because I saw a streamer online offering free lessons, and I suddenly wanted to try it too,” Cheng Liang said, a little embarrassed by the vice dean’s praise.

It wasn’t because he was inspired, but because he had the idea of competing with Ji Wei. But only after he actually started did he realize that teaching for an entire afternoon was very tiring, not to mention the effort of preparing lessons and grading homework. Only then did his opinion of Ji Wei change. Seeing the way the young classmate in the stream was dressed, he didn’t look like he came from a wealthy family. He felt that someone who could teach so diligently couldn’t be all that bad.

“Which streamer?” a younger instructor asked curiously.

Cheng Liang wasn’t sure if the instructors, who were engrossed in research, would know his name, but he still said it, “Ji Wei. His calligraphy and painting are both very good, and he’s very famous online.”

“Regarding the two questions you just raised, let me briefly explain…” Academician Ye Zhi, who had been silent, began to speak.

Cheng Liang quickly listened attentively.

Ji Wei?

The vice dean gave Cheng Liang a deep look. He had originally thought he was a newborn calf unafraid of a tiger, but now it seemed he was a student who had surpassed his master.

After seeing Academician Ye Zhi off, Cheng Liang couldn’t help but exclaim, “Academician Ye Zhi is so approachable.” He had never expected his questions to be answered with such patience.

The vice dean smiled. “Do you really not know, or are you pretending not to know? Academician Ye Zhi’s son is Ji Wei.”

He had just praised her son. How could she not be happy?

Cheng Liang let out an “ah,” completely shocked.

He remembered how he had arrogantly criticized Ji Wei before, and was suddenly filled with shame and remorse, desperately wanting to make amends.

He took out his phone, found a top fan in Ji Wei’s Super Topic, and sent a private message.

[Hua University Physics Department Cheng Liang] Hello, how do I join the Ji Wei fan group?

And then he discovered that he had been blocked.

Cheng Liang: …………

Meanwhile, Ji Wei’s fan group was indignantly discussing the matter.

[Does that Cheng Liang think we’re stupid? He didn’t even bother to switch accounts before trying to join the group. I’m slowly typing out a question mark? ]

[He must be trying to pretend to be a fan to talk trash, tsk tsk tsk!]

[Is he really from Hua University? Today’s dose of confusion!]

[Forget it, forget it. Just be careful recently. Any side account trying to join the group will be treated as Cheng Liang!]

***

After seeing Mother Lu off, Ji Wei was also very tired.

Because he had spent the whole day changing clothes—suits, sportswear, and even… little dinosaur pajamas. For every outfit, Mother Lu would say, “So cute, try it on,” so he had to try on every single one and even had his picture taken.

He had never taken so many pictures in his life.

Ji Wei sighed and turned from the door to walk into the living room.

Lu Shenxing was sitting on the sofa, looking at his phone.

Ji Wei yawned, intending to go back to his room to sleep, but he really wanted to ask his idol why he had gone on a blind date with him. So he walked over, sat down next to his idol, and opened his mouth several times without asking.

It was Lu Shenxing who turned to glance at him and said flatly, “Go on, say it.”

Then I’ll really say it.

Ji Wei thought so, but when the words reached his lips, they gutlessly turned into, “What are you doing?”

That question was really boring, and it had a faint interrogative tone.

Fortunately, his idol didn’t mind and replied, “I’m looking at your pictures from today.”

Ji Wei immediately became restless. He had a sense of nervousness in front of the camera. The last time he went for a poster shoot, he didn’t smile much. Today, even though the pictures were taken at home, his expression was very stiff.

“I look very serious, right?”

Ji Wei lowered his head, waiting somewhat nervously for Lu Shenxing’s answer.

Lu Shenxing looked at the picture of the young man in the little dinosaur pajamas, who was looking down shyly, his thick eyelashes fluttering as if about to take flight.

Because he was standing sideways, the tip of the blue tail was exposed, making him look like a shy little dinosaur that made one want to hug him.

He shook his head gently and set the photo as his screen saver. “Not serious.”

Ji Wei quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t want his idol to see unflattering pictures of him.

Then, the man added another sentence, “Cute, makes me want to…” He paused at the last word.

Ji Wei couldn’t help but ask, “Want to what?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

“How much later is later?” he asked again.

Lu Shenxing lowered his eyes. “Soon.”

“Oh.”

Ji Wei suppressed his doubts and nodded. His mind was heavy with thoughts. Taking advantage of the good atmosphere, he clenched his hands and mustered the courage to ask the question he had been pondering all day, “Why did you go on a blind date?” As soon as the words were out, there was no taking them back. Blood rushed to his head, and he asked more clearly, “Were you just looking to go on a blind date with anyone, or were you looking to go on a blind date with… me?” After asking, he quickly lowered his head, his hands clenching tighter and tighter, so tight that his fingertips dug into his flesh, but he felt no pain because his mind was a complete blank, with no room left to perceive pain.

“Is there a difference?” Lu Shenxing suddenly asked.

“There is a difference.” Ji Wei felt that he had probably used up all nineteen years of his courage today. He looked up, felt the presence of the man beside him, took a deep breath, and asked, “Do you… like me?” As Ji Wei said the last part, he suddenly lost his nerve.

What would Lu Shenxing think?

He would probably think he was… being self-important.

At the beginning, he just wanted to look up to him. Later, he wanted to get closer, even closer. And now, he even wanted his eyes to be only on him.

—To have a one-of-a-kind love.

Surrounded by a world of light, what made him think he would be seen?

Such a greedy self.

The head he had lifted slowly, slowly drooped, his eyelashes trembling. He wanted to shrink into a shell.

But the next second, the man’s deep voice came from outside the shell, “You’re only just realizing it?”