LVLYA

Chapter 29: Late Night Chat by the Lake

His words came too abruptly.

Yue Zhishi didn't know why, but the piece of shrimp he'd just picked up fell straight out of his chopsticks and back into his bowl.

Lin Rong seemed to not really understand. "What do you mean you're not going?"

"I'm not leaving the country." Song Yu was very calm. "I want to take the university entrance examinations, and also, I've already thought about what I want to do afterwards and what I want to study. I don't want to waste time exploring other options."

Yue Zhishi finished dinner in the midst of his doubt and confusion.

In comparison, Song Yu's parents were a bit more relaxed. Song Jin was more satisfied knowing Song Yu had already planned out his future than if Song Yu had merely chosen one of the options he'd previously given him.

Lin Rong had never placed too much importance on her children's grades and their future academic prospects. She knew Song Yu was a mature child and the best way to show him her love for him was to give him respect.

Only Yue Zhishi didn't understand, so he sat blankly on the sofa, hand caressing Orange's fur stroke after stroke. Orange was unusually obedient today and didn't run away from his arms.

Of course, inside his incomprehension was a slowly bubbling happiness — because this meant the distance between them had immediately shortened from two sides of the ocean to a range he could accept.

He didn't come to his senses until Song Yu stood in front of him; he raised his head.

"Come out with me for a bit." Song Yu threw over a coat and walked by himself to the entrance of the house.

It was late spring, and the temperature of its nights was always very tricky. Wearing the coat Song Yu had thrown to him, Yue Zhishi felt like his flu medicine finally started to kick in — he didn't feel so uncomfortable anymore. Their bicycles weaved through the late night, the wind softly rising and wrapping around their bodies as though they were swimming in warm water. The light of the street lamps rippled as they rode past.

They passed a decently sized park centred around a lake with many people taking a night walk. Song Yu parked his bike in front of a brightly lit convenience store and went inside to buy some things, Yue Zhishi very docilely standing outside and waiting for him, just like when he was a child.

As a child, Yue Zhishi had very much been a glutton. He hadn't been able to move every time he entered a convenience store, wanting to buy everything he saw, but the majority of the food inside were things he couldn't eat. He hadn't been able to hold back from crying if he wasn't allowed to buy what he wanted, and it had made things very difficult for everyone.

Song Yu later thought of a plan — he ordered Yue Zhishi to stand in one particular spot in front of the convenience store's ceiling to floor windows, and Yue Zhishi hadn't been allowed to move. Song Yu would then enter the store and buy what he needed at the quickest possible speed, and he'd constantly look back to check on Yue Zhishi. If Yue Zhishi was obedient enough, Song Yu would reward him with an ice cream.

It was the same this time as well, but these things had been so long ago. Yue Zhishi had long stopped being the child who'd needed to be supervised. This unwritten rule hadn't been used for a very long time, so Yue Zhishi found it a bit strange when Song Yu gave him an ice cream cone.

The ice cream was still carrying the frigid air of the freezer, and Song Yu's fingertips were also cold.

"Congratulations." Song Yu led him to a nearby bench and sat down. "Your reward for raising your midterm grades."