Due to Liu Huamei's "kindness," Chen Qianqing and Lu Zhengfei ended up sleeping in the same bed that night.
In fact, Chen Qianqing and Lu Zhengfei used to sleep together often, but ever since Chen Qianqing broke his leg and his sleep quality deteriorated, they started living separately.
After taking a shower, Chen Qianqing got into bed, ready to sleep.
Lu Zhengfei also got into bed shortly after. When he lay down beside Chen Qianqing, he found that Chen Qianqing had already closed his eyes and his breathing had become steady, seemingly asleep.
Lu Zhengfei knew that Chen Qianqing had trouble sleeping, and once he was next to him, Chen Qianqing couldn't fall asleep, no matter how tired he was.
Lu Zhengfei guessed it might be some sort of mental illness, but Chen Qianqing had no intention of telling him.
Lu Zhengfei lay on his right side, emitting a faint breathing sound. He had a good sleeping habit and rarely turned over in his sleep.
But Chen Qianqing couldn't sleep. He turned over and looked through the floor-to-ceiling window at the drizzling rain outside, his tired expression clearly indicating his poor mental state.
He couldn't fall asleep throughout the night, and only managed to rest for a little while just before dawn.
At around seven in the morning, Lu Zhengfei woke up. He rarely slept in, even on holidays, because his biological clock made it difficult for him to continue sleeping.
Lu Zhengfei opened his eyes, still feeling groggy, and turned his head to look at Chen Qianqing, expecting him to still be sleeping. However, he found Chen Qianqing looking at him with clear eyes.
Lu Zhengfei asked, "When did you wake up?"
Chen Qianqing yawned, "Just now."
Lu Zhengfei responded with an "oh" and asked again, "What do you want for breakfast?"
Chen Qianqing lazily replied, "Let's see what my mom made. You go wash up first, and I'll stay in bed a bit longer."
Lu Zhengfei got out of bed and put on his clothes before leaving the bedroom without saying much to Chen Qianqing.
Chen Qianqing watched Lu Zhengfei's figure, then lay in bed for another ten minutes before getting up.
Liu Huamei was the first one awake, and breakfast was already prepared. There was eight-treasure porridge specifically made and her homemade pickled vegetables, as well as steamed buns and dumplings from the previous day.
After Chen Qianqing finished washing up, he sat at the table with Lu Zhengfei, lazily picking up a steamed bun to eat. His mental state was always not great in the morning, so he didn't feel like talking much.
It was Liu Huamei who was engaged in conversation with Lu Zhengfei, keeping the atmosphere from becoming awkward.
Liu Huamei said, "Qianqing, your father will probably be back in a couple of days. How about you take your friend out today?"
Chen Qianqing asked, "Where should we go?" He wasn't familiar with the city, and besides, it was the first day of the National Day holiday, so everywhere would likely be crowded.
Liu Huamei replied, "Places young people like to go, I wouldn't know where you want to go. I'm just an old lady."
"Uncle, don't bother..." Lu Zhengfei said shyly.
Liu Huamei scolded Chen Qianqing while picking up the phone. She turned to Chen Qianqing and said, "Qianqing, it's your call!"
Chen Qianqing was taken aback by the news and went to answer the phone.
As Chen Qianqing picked up the phone, he heard a gentle voice of a girl saying, "Qianqing, are you home?"
At the moment he heard this voice, Chen Qianqing froze.
"Qianqing, are you there?" The girl's voice was familiar to Chen Qianqing, and after a moment of silence, he called out her name, "Yuan Zhitao."
Upon hearing Chen Qianqing's voice, Yuan Zhitao's laughter became even more pronounced, but she pretended to be resentful, saying, "You changed your phone number without telling me. If Auntie hadn't said you were coming home for National Day, I wouldn't have been able to contact you, right?"
Chen Qianqing didn't know what to say, he just remained silent while holding the phone. He knew that if he was really Chen Qianqing, he should be happy or even ecstatic upon hearing this voice.
Yuan Zhitao and Chen Qianqing can be considered childhood sweethearts. They were classmates since kindergarten, and went to the same school from elementary to high school, only parting ways in college.
Then, Chen Qianqing met Lu Zhengfei, and everything went off track.
Yuan Zhitao continued talking, saying, "Qianqing, do you have plans today? Come out and hang out with me."
Chen Qianqing still didn't say anything.
Yuan Zhitao sensed Chen Qianqing's unusualness on the other end of the phone, and said, "Chen Qianqing, you're being so unreasonable. I didn't get angry even after you didn't contact me for months, and now you dare to ignore me?"
Chen Qianqing slowly said, "Okay."
Yuan Zhitao liked Chen Qianqing, but whether Chen Qianqing liked Yuan Zhitao was a mystery, because before he expressed his attitude to Yuan Zhitao, Lu Zhengfei had already taken Chen Qianqing under his wing. How could possessive Lu Zhengfei allow Chen Qianqing to get close to another girl who admired him so much?
And the young Chen Qianqing had no idea what compromise was.
This was bound to be a tragedy. Chen Qianqing and Lu Zhengfei, perhaps they could be friends, but they could never be lovers.
Chen Qianqing didn't know what Yuan Zhitao said later, he only knew that he hung up the phone in a daze, then turned to Lu Zhengfei and said, "Let's go out and have fun."
Liu Huamei was puzzled and asked, "Qianqing, what's wrong? Why do you look so pale?"
Chen Qianqing smiled and said, "It's nothing, I didn't sleep well last night."
Even Liu Huamei could see that something was off with Chen Qianqing's expression, not to mention Lu Zhengfei. But with Liu Huamei present, he couldn't say anything. It wasn't until they left the house that he asked, "Qianqing, what's wrong?"
Chen Qianqing bent down to tie his shoelaces, and upon hearing Lu Zhengfei's question, he raised his head expressionlessly. "Lu Zhengfei."
Lu Zhengfei responded with an "mm."
"Do you really think we're suitable?" Chen Qianqing's tone was calm, completely unlike venting anger, but more like wanting to calmly discuss with Lu Zhengfei. "Are we really suitable?" - This question was not only asking Lu Zhengfei, but also asking himself.
Lu Zhengfei frowned, "What do you mean by that?"
Chen Qianqing knew he couldn't change Lu Zhengfei's mind, and seeing the flickering flames in Lu Zhengfei's eyes, he sighed, "It's nothing."
Chen Qianqing smiled and said no more.
The meeting place Yuan Zhitao and Chen Qianqing agreed upon was at the bus stop.
Chen Qianqing and Lu Zhengfei didn't speak the whole way, until they arrived at their destination, Lu Zhengfei asked, "Qianqing, where are we going?"
Chen Qianqing replied, "Wait for someone."
Lu Zhengfei noticed Chen Qianqing's strange behavior and, even though he was naive, he knew it had something to do with the phone call they received. And the person they were waiting for was likely the one who made the call.
Ten minutes later, the person Chen Qianqing was waiting for arrived.
A girl with long hair, wearing a cute bear hoodie, a short red dress, and white boots that accentuated her youthful and adorable appearance, walked towards Chen Qianqing and Lu Zhengfei. She called out, "Chen Qianqing, come help me carry something!"
Lu Zhengfei's expression instantly turned cold.
Chen Qianqing, seemingly unaware of Lu Zhengfei's change, walked forward naturally and took the things the girl was holding.
Lu Zhengfei followed behind and spoke gently, "Qianqing, who is this?"
Chen Qianqing glanced at Lu Zhengfei, his eyes filled with a subtle sense of pity, "My childhood friend, Yuan Zhitao."
Lu Zhengfei smiled and reached out his hand towards Yuan Zhitao, "Hello, I'm Lu Zhengfei, Chen Qianqing's good friend."
Yuan Zhitao shook hands with Lu Zhengfei, then turned her attention back to Chen Qianqing, pouting and complaining, "Chen Qianqing, how could you not contact me at school and even when you came home?!"
Chen Qianqing explained, "I had a car accident, broke my leg, and needed a few months to recover... Didn't have the chance."
Yuan Zhitao exclaimed, "You had an accident? Why didn't you tell me? Is it serious?"
Chen Qianqing shook his head, "It's fine, just a broken leg."
Lu Zhengfei was walking on Chen Qianqing's right side the whole time, and seeing their interaction, he smiled and said, "Yeah, Qianqing is just too careless, that's how he broke his leg. If he's not careful, who knows, he might break another one next time."
Yuan Zhitao's face showed surprise upon hearing Lu Zhengfei's words. She naturally didn't know what Lu Zhengfei was alluding to and just thought that Lu Zhengfei was scolding Chen Qianqing for being careless, so she responded with a heavy tone.
Chen Qianqing didn't show any anger towards Lu Zhengfei's words, instead, he smiled and said, "Yes, I will be more careful."
Yuan Zhitao said, "Qianqing, let's go then, let's buy tickets. There will definitely be a lot of people today."
Lu Zhengfei had no idea where they were going, but upon hearing Yuan Zhitao's words, although he still had a kind smile on his face, the warmth in his eyes when he looked at Chen Qianqing had dropped close to zero.
Ignoring it, Chen Qianqing simply said, "Let's go."
And so, the three of them hailed a taxi and headed straight to the amusement park.