Upon Lu Ze's return, the two lovebirds were all lovey-dovey to each other. In a bout of carelessness, the two went to a wine store and did the deed that would have her father hack Lu Ze into pieces. Upon seeing the bedsheet, Lu Ze went downstairs and bought a pair of scissors before neatly cutting the stained portion. Afterward, the two escaped the store like thieves.
Youngsters would inevitably step out of their bounds, and it was the case for the two.
This incident had its advantages and disadvantages. Firstly, Lu Ze certainly had to somewhat worry about his well being. After all, no father would be unconcerned upon finding that the cabbage he'd raised through years had been eaten by some pig. Secondly, this affair made her worried. Like any other woman, she was worried if he would turn cold or unfaithful after taking her most precious thing.
Of course, there were also advantages. Since the things had already progressed so far, she wholeheartedly plunged herself into the feeling of love. After all, there was nothing left for her to lose.
This was the reason a lot of girls always remembered their first love after having separated. Of course, whether this remembrance was fondness or hate, that was a different matter.
Lu Ze didn't know why he turned into a wolf that night. However, the body of a twenty-year-old was brimming with energy, so being horny was nothing strange. However, the next day, he felt pressure, as if his back were carrying something.
In this manner, the two began their second semester in bliss.
Every month, Lu Ze would buy her gifts; snacks, cosmetics, and so on. She didn't have a thick skin to be only at the receiving end. So, she bought him clothes, ties, shoes, and other such products with her pocket money. She even gave him a hand-knitted scarf, which Lu Ze treasured so much that he even felt unwilling to put it on.
Afterward, the two began to live independently outside the campus like Old Second, starting a sweet new life.
Living together exposed many problems of one's spouse, such as one's seemingly clean-freak sweetheart being actually a guy/girl in underwear inside the house with dirty socks scattered all around.
She was precisely the same. She wasn't that dirty, but she loved to make a mess of everything, never being able to find anything when it mattered. She liked to munch on chips. So, of course there were some crumbs scattered on the ground, which Lu Ze would clean later on. However, it was anything but unbearable. At the very least, he was happy to sort out the house. This was what family felt like: noisy yet warm.
A month after the college started, her birthday came. Lu Ze took his hard-earned money and invited his and her roommates to dinner. Then, they went to Lu Ze's first trip to KTV. With the help of alcohol, he sang loudly. Although it was quite dry and coarse, at least it wasn't offbeat.
From that day, she began to change herself.
Indulging oneself in the feels was romance, but concerning oneself with rice, oil, and salt was love.
She began to accompany Lu Ze to construction material shops and formulated them according to what she had learned, recording the price fluctuations. Moreover, she read some architecture books, learning construction costs under Lu Ze's guidance. Thus, he only had to worry about designing or sometimes going to the client's house to take measurements; he could leave the other work to her. In this manner, Lu Ze accepted more and more projects, increasing their income.
After the end of semester last year, he'd applied for a driver license, which now came in handy. They two bought a car, spending all their savings to buy a Honda Accord. They finally had their own car!
On the National Day holidays, they jumped into the car for a holiday: This was their first trip together. However, it wasn't all that wonderful. They were stuck in a jam on the highway for two days. Upon arriving at their destination, they didn't do any sightseeing, drowning in the sea of tourists.
They became the target of envy amongst all of their acquaintances. While the others were still cutting on their living costs- eating less and wearing less clothes- to buy gifts for their partners, these two had no such economic burdens. They didn't rely on the money from their parents and were even already thinking of buying a house and settling down in the capital.
By the second semester of the third year, the two were already closing on the down payment to buy a house.
As of now, due to the exceedingly high satisfaction rate of his clients and his fashionable designs, Lu Ze had earned some fame in the circle of capital's interior designers and was called a bigshot amongst rookies; his fans even including formal designers that had been working for several years.
He began to post the work he was pleased with on an interior designing website as his sample designs. All of his design plans gathered more than a thousand likes and had several hundred comments at the very least.
This was the era of the internet. The people who had bought their house but not designed it would also go to interior design websites and browse with covetous gazes. Charmed by Lu Ze's sample designs, they would find his contact details and work out the price.
To put it a bit arrogantly, the current him wasn't interested in anything below a hundred and twenty square meters house, and his charges had already gone up to fifty yuan per square meter.
Many designing firms had already contacted him, offering to hire him after his third year. Some even offered an annual salary of five hundred thousand yuan to hire him directly as a field designer for the firm without any internship.
Lu Ze didn't decline them, only wondering which company to choose.
However, she was a bit down recently. Everyday, she would tightly hug Lu Ze without letting go. Sometimes, she even shed tears for no reason. In his nervousness, Lu Ze even forced her to speak out the reason for her gloomines—her mother and father wanted to send her abroad to continue her studies. She would be leaving once the three years completed.
This was an overused cliché drama and movie plot, but it was playing out in their life.
Lu Ze was furious. He questioned her why she would mention it only now. The two had a big fight. No...It was only Lu Ze venting while she simply preserved silence and cried.
He soon calmed down, but he still couldn't accept it. Thereupon, he bought two plane tickets to Sichuan to see her parents.
This was Lu Ze's first time visiting her home. Upon entering the house, Lu Ze picked out many faults in the house design, but he had to admit that this family was indeed quite well-off financially. A designer could easily figure out a family's financial situation by one glance at their house. This also explained why she had a monthly allowance of five-six thousand yuan.
Since his visit was somewhat rude, her father's face was somewhat unsightly, but her mother revealed a little smile and offered some snacks to Lu Ze. Although their family was on the richer side, when it came to the marriage of their daughter, they had to make sure that the two families were well-matched. Therefore, they tacitly inquired about Lu Ze's background. Consequently, their faces turned black.
She then explained Lu Ze's current work as well as grades, which finally made their faces regain some color. At least, this kid had the ability to provide for his wife.
Then Lu Ze ate dinner with them and accompanied her father for a few drinks. Since his host was a rich guy who basically didn't lack money, her father was happy to serve a sumptuous dinner and finally revealed a smile on the wine table.
Lu Ze also began to understand her family's situation. Her family could easily be worth a few ten million yuans; this was a fairly rich household. Lu Ze could also be considered half-peer to them. Their main business was construction, and they also had a furniture making site. The difference between their economic status was nothing like heavens-and-earth-apart; the only difference was time.
Then, Lu Ze raised the topic of her going abroad. She somewhat nervously clenched his hand under the table, clenching it a little too harshly. Her parents didn't assume an overbearing appearance or tone. They spoke as if comforting him, saying things like if the two of them really loved each other, then there shouldn't be any problem in waiting a few years, and there was no need to be hasty.
However, Lu Ze knew that her parents didn't like him, and they were killing the two of them with a soft knife. Since they knew that he could understand what was going on, they had placed this knife upon their daughter.
Lu Ze observed her expression. She seemed to be hesitant from her parent's words and was secretly glancing at him, hoping to hear his suggestion. Lu Ze understood: This was the time for him to fight for his love. Therefore, he spoke, and his words rendered all three of them speechless for a while.
"She should go. She shouldn't waste a chance to improve herself, and I'm the same."
Lu Ze gave up the five hundred thousand annual salary job, gave up the house he'd already chosen, gave up everything within the country, to be able to go with her.
As for IELTS and TOEFL, he'd already taken them in his leisure time: IELTS 80% and TOEFL 112
He was excellent as always.