Chapter 10
I cautiously sounded Dad out.
“Dad, what would you do if I got together with Lu Liubai?”
He gave me a suspicious look.
“Usually, by the time a kid says they need to pee, they’ve already filled their pants. You haven’t…”
“Of course not! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.”
“Good, then.”
I bought Lu Liubai a wig.
A blond one.
He refused.
“It’s hideous.”
I clicked my tongue. “Do you want to be with me or not?”
He gave in.
The wig was such poor quality that it actually made him look a little sleazy.
I kept taking pictures of him from behind, plus a few of us hugging.
Then sent the whole lot to Dad.
“Dad, I’ve thought it through.”
“I like Lu Liubai, but you’re the one I love most.”
“The best way to get over an old love is to find someone new.”
“My current boyfriend treats me really well. We don’t even split the bill for drinks at Mixue anymore.”
“He says he’ll be very good to me.”
“He’s not just some poor kid. He’s a promising investment who happens to be my type.”
“Love you, Dad. See you tomorrow.”
The next second, just as expected, Dad launched a barrage of calls.
I didn’t answer a single one.
That evening, Lu Liubai and I came back from our date, ready to return to campus the next day.
As we lingered at the intersection, reluctant to part,
I looked at the cheap blond wig on his head and burst out laughing.
“Good thing my boyfriend’s handsome enough. With that face, his kingdom will never fall.”
Lu Liubai leaned down proudly.
“Want to give your darling boyfriend a kiss, then?”
I planted a loud smack on him.
As he held me in his arms, my phone rang.
Dad.
I told Lu Liubai to keep quiet.
Then answered.
Sure enough,
my threat had worked.
Dad had lost some of his bluster.
“Sweetheart.”
“Yes?”
“I’m giving you permission to date Lu Liubai.”
“Really?” I asked, delighted.
“Yes. On one condition.”
“Dearest Daddy, name it.”
“Send that goddamn blond punk you’re holding hands with over here to fight me.”
I looked up in alarm.
Sure enough, Dad was standing across the road.
!
Danger.
The End
Lu Liubai went home.
“Dad.”
Uncle Lu turned around.
“Sonny boy.”
“Yeah.”
Lu Liubai said, “Could you go across the hall and apologize to Uncle He?”
“Get lost!”
Lu Liubai said, “Setting everything else aside, don’t you think you were even a little bit at fault?”
Uncle Lu: …
The next morning,
Dad opened the door to find Uncle Lu putting on a fawning smile.
On the way back to campus,
I sent a photo of Lu Liubai and me to my roommates’ group chat.
“I have a boyfriend!”
My roommates sent a string of question marks.
“What do you mean? We’ve only been apart for seven days!”
“How did you fall so madly in love already?”
“Didn’t you say you’d never date him?”
“The He Cheng I trusted, confided in, communicated with, heart to heart… I don’t recognize her anymore.”
(The End)
Lu Liubai’s Extra:
I noticed He Cheng as soon as I boarded the high-speed train.
Same carriage.
She didn’t see me at all.
With me looking this good.
Infuriating.
And she’d said she wouldn’t date a hypocrite like me.
Ha.
Who cared?
Who used to trail after me as a child, calling me her big brother?
Who used to cry and beg to play with me?
Who had so coldly, heartlessly, unreasonably given an innocent little boy the silent treatment?
She wouldn’t date me.
I didn’t care.
Leaving the station, I spotted Uncle He at once.
I’d practically polished Dad’s old photo album to a shine from handling it so often. Whenever I was lonely, I’d take another look. He Cheng might have kept biting me, but she was still the person I missed most.
Uncle He hadn’t changed much. Still dressed like a carnival.
Still teasing He Cheng in the middle of all those unlicensed cab drivers.
“Call me Dad, and I’ll take you home for free.”
Ha.
How childish.
“Dad.”
…
Who said that?
Oh.
Me.
Oh well.
Already said it now.
He Cheng kept warning me not to take the free ride. Free things cost the most in the end.
Ha.
She just didn’t want to make a detour to drop me off. Well, I wasn’t about to let her have her way.
I smiled gently. “Why aren’t you saying it? I can say it for you.”
He Cheng said there was no need.
But inside, I’d already roared it ten million times.
Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad…
(The End)