MLROCSHR Chapter 31

Chapter 31 Little Xun

Chapter 31 Little Xun

“Then, may I ask if you have Uncle Chen’s contact information?” Gao Jingqian stepped forward and asked.

The old lady glanced impatiently at the three tall men surrounding her. Seeing their increasingly handsome faces, her anger inexplicably subsided.

She clicked her tongue, took out her phone, fiddled with it for a while, and held it up to Lian Xun.

“Here, this number, you can try contacting him.”

“Thank you so much!”

Lian Xun quickly took a picture of the number, and the three of them left.

“Invalid number?” Lian Xun frowned, took the phone away from his ear, and confirmed the number again, “This, the number can’t be wrong, right?”

Qi Luzhi leaned against the side of the road, his fingers unconsciously stroking the wall. “It seems someone doesn’t want you to find him.”

He paused, “This Uncle Chen should be a key clue.”

“Ah, but now the clue is broken again, so annoying!”

Lian Xun sighed and stuffed the phone back into his pocket. “When I get back, I’ll arrange for people to find Uncle Chen. He’s a living person, I don’t believe I can’t find him.”

The winter wind was chilling, blowing the stray hairs around his ears. He subconsciously shrunk his neck, a movement that made the eyes of the two people beside him linger on him for a few seconds.

“Be careful not to catch a cold, let’s go back to the car first.” Gao Jingqian reached out to put his arm around Lian Xun’s shoulder, but Lian Xun dodged him without a trace, leaving him awkwardly in place.

“Cough, it’s almost noon, let’s go eat first, my treat.” Gao Jingqian awkwardly retracted his hand.

“No, thanks.” Qi Luzhi coldly refused, “We’re here on a business trip, we have things to do, so we won’t trouble Gao too much.”

“That’s right, Jingqian-ge, since Uncle Chen can’t be found for a while, we have other things to do, so let’s skip the meal.”

“Then… okay.” Seeing that the two were determined, Gao Jingqian couldn’t insist anymore. “A-Xun, I’ll go back first, be sure to call me if you need anything, don’t be afraid to bother me.”

“Yeah.” Lian Xun waved his hand.

After seeing Gao Jingqian off, Lian Xun breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Qi Luzhi, who had been looking gloomy all morning.

“Where to next? It’s not like we really have work.”

“Where do you want to go?” Qi Luzhi asked back.

“Hmm… I need to think about that carefully.”

Lian Xun thoughtfully stroked his chin.

“How about…” Lian Xun suddenly said, “Now that we’re here, let’s go take a look at the university?”

Qi Luzhi was stunned.

Since graduating, he had never been back to that place. The university had repeatedly invited him to return as an outstanding alumnus to attend an award ceremony, but he had made excuses to decline.

Lian Xun saw his hesitation and suddenly realized that perhaps Qi Luzhi didn’t want to return to that place.

After all, no one would want to go back and reminisce with an ex they disliked.

“Well, I suddenly don’t really want to go either, let’s go somewhere else.” Lian Xun scratched his head awkwardly.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been back to the university, it’s good to take a look.” Qi Luzhi said in a faint voice, “Let’s walk there, just consider it a stroll.”

The old city area where they were located was only three streets away from Shangjiang University, so it wouldn’t take long to walk there.

Lian Xun grinned and quickly followed Qi Luzhi, who was already walking ahead, matching his pace.

For some reason, his mood suddenly improved a lot.

Shangjiang University.

Walking on the familiar tree-lined path, Qi Luzhi felt a sense of being in another world.

The cherry blossom trees along the road had lost the splendor of spring and summer, leaving only bare branches. The bark was rough, the color was deep, and some were speckled with brown spots, like the traces of time.

He remembered that the year he met Lian Xun, these cherry blossoms bloomed for a particularly long time, and the fluttering petals were like a pink snow.

“Little Xun.”

Qi Luzhi suddenly spoke, his voice carrying a smile, “Do you remember this place?”

Lian Xun’s footsteps paused.

This nickname…

Qi Luzhi used to call him that all the time.

His eyes suddenly felt a little hot.

“I remember.” He said in a low voice, “Senior, your short sleeves are on backwards. That was the first thing I said to you.”

Qi Luzhi smiled, “What do you know, it’s designed like this.”

That’s how he replied at the time.

“Hahahaha, your face flushed red at the time, I was too embarrassed to call you out on it, so I could only echo and say, oh~ so that’s what’s popular now.”

Lian Xun laughed mischievously, Qi Luzhi glared at him, his face flushed red again, just like that summer seven years ago.

The two strolled around for a while, went to eat spicy hot pot on the back street of the university, went to the door of their former classroom to peek at students attending class, went to the library to sit in the seats they used to frequent…

Time has a magical power. A day that was once so ordinary, suddenly becomes a memory etched in your heart after many years.

Scattered students were running on the playground, and the setting sun stretched their shadows long. Qi Luzhi walked to the edge of the stands and sat down, Lian Xun sat down beside him, with just the right distance between them.

“Back then, you always played ball here,” Lian Xun pointed to the basketball court in the distance, “and I would watch you here.”

“Heh, I never finished a game. Every time too many girls surrounded me, you would pull me away. I don’t know what you were jealous of!”

Lian Xun’s ears burned slightly when he heard this.

He remembered that he used to declare his ownership without any scruples and enjoy Qi Luzhi’s pampering with peace of mind.

He never thought they would separate.

But now, there seemed to be an invisible membrane between them.

He was like a licking dog, chasing after him so shamelessly, yet Qi Luzhi still wouldn’t be with him.

Lian Xun pouted aggrievedly, and his eyes looking at Qi Luzhi were a bit more resentful.

The sky gradually darkened, and the streetlights lit up one after another. Qi Luzhi stood up. “It’s time to go.”

Lian Xun followed suit, and their shadows overlapped.

“Are we going back to the old house?” Lian Xun asked.

“No, sleeping in a tent for one night is experiencing life, sleeping in it for another night is just pointlessly suffering.” Qi Luzhi said slowly, his tone calm but unquestionable, “Let’s stay in a hotel.”

“Oh…”

Lian Xun suddenly felt a little lost.

As they approached the university gate, a gray-haired cleaning lady, coughing incessantly, pushed her cleaning cart towards them. Qi Luzhi subconsciously stepped aside, and the cleaning lady also moved in the same direction to avoid him, but the two still bumped into each other.

“I’m sorry, are you okay?”

Qi Luzhi politely stabilized the tools on the cleaning cart, but froze when he saw the cleaning lady’s face.

The cleaning lady slowly raised her head, her eyes scanning back and forth between Qi Luzhi and Lian Xun, finally settling on Qi Luzhi’s face. Her expression gradually became shocked, with an indescribable joy.

“Ming-bao? Is that you?”

The cleaning lady asked tentatively in a trembling voice.

Lian Xun looked at Qi Luzhi and explained to the somewhat agitated woman, “Auntie, you’ve mistaken him for someone else, his name is Qi Luzhi.”

“Ming-bao, I won’t mistake you for someone else!”