Chapter 36: Matters of the Heart

After returning home, Lu You took out the two large boxes of hairy crabs one by one and placed them in the refrigerator's crisper drawer. He then covered them with a damp towel, ensuring they would stay alive for the next couple of days.

Li Yu sat on the living room sofa, teasing Xiao Bao with a cat toy.

"Haha, Xiao Bao hasn't seen its godfather in a long time, has it?"

Lu You walked into the living room with two glasses of water, set them on the table, and said, "Give it a rest. You didn't even bring it any treats; it would be a miracle if it remembered you."

After saying this, he sat on the sofa and patted his thigh. "Come here, Xiao Bao, come to me."

Hearing this, Xiao Bao immediately trotted over on its short legs, hopped onto the sofa, and found a comfortable spot to curl up in Lu You's lap. It nudged his hand with its head, signaling for him to pet it.

Watching the harmonious scene between the man and the cat, Li Yu said enviously, "That little gas canister is so nice!"

Lu You stroked Xiao Bao's fur and said to him, "If you like it, get one of your own."

"Forget it." Li Yu thought about his own situation. "I can't even take care of myself, and I have classes every day. How could I possibly raise one?"

"Well, that can't be helped. You can get one when you're in college then." Lu You opened JD.com, planning to buy some meat jelly for soup dumplings, as well as a set of "eight crab tools," intending to make crab roe soup dumplings.

While he was at it, he looked for some dessert ingredients and snacks. He figured that if they were going to eat, it couldn't just be a meal; there had to be other activities, and he would rely on desserts and snacks to fill the gaps during their afternoon leisure time.

Li Yu leaned back on the sofa, bored, staring blankly at the ceiling. He muttered gloomily, "Lu You, I'm so bored."

Lu You kept his head buried in his phone, filling his shopping cart, and replied casually, "Then play some games."

"Playing by myself is no fun. Want to play Borderlands?"

"Wait a bit. I'm buying some things online first."

Li Yu shifted his gaze over and asked, "Buying what? Action figures or model kits?"

"Neither. Buying some food. I'm having a meal with Tang Wan in a couple of days."

"Hmm?" Li Yu bounced up from the backrest. "You aren't planning to make it for her at the Carp Club, are you?"

"You're quite sharp," Lu You replied affirmatively.

"No way! You have to take me with you!" Li Yu said eagerly. "I'm counting on you for food this National Day holiday."

"Sure," Lu You agreed readily. "But you have to invite Xu Nian."

"Huh?" Li Yu looked puzzled. "Didn't Tang Wan invite her?"

Lu You glanced at him and said, "She didn't call her this time. Are you inviting her or not? If she doesn't come, you don't come either."

"Inviting, inviting her right now." Li Yu immediately picked up his phone and opened their WeChat chat interface.

Eat My Sea Turtle: You there?

The person on the other end replied quickly.

Has Fish: ?

Eat My Sea Turtle: Free in a couple of days?

Has Fish: What are you doing?

Eat My Sea Turtle: I'd like to invite you to dinner.

Has Fish: What are your motives?

Li Yu scratched his head and turned to ask Lu You, "How did you invite Tang Wan back then?"

Lu You thought for a moment and replied, "I just said we should grab a meal together sometime when we're free, and she asked me for the location and time directly."

"…That's really bold. Weren't you afraid she'd reject you?" Li Yu admired her courage.

"Actually, I would almost never reject her," Lu You said with a smile.

Li Yu felt like he had just been force-fed a mouthful of something indescribable; he felt a bit full.

After a moment of silence, Li Yu asked again, "What are you planning to make?"

"I'll cook the hairy crabs in the fridge; they won't last until my parents get back."

Thinking of a reason to invite Xu Nian, Li Yu lowered his head and typed.

Eat My Sea Turtle: Do you like hairy crabs?

Has Fish: I can eat them. Whether I like them or not depends on how they're prepared.

Eat My Sea Turtle: As it happens, I have a few hairy crabs at home. Want to come eat them?

Has Fish: A few hairy crabs and you think you can trick me into coming to your house? Do I look like that kind of casual person to you?

Eat My Sea Turtle: …

Eat My Sea Turtle: I didn't say come to my house, did I?

Eat My Sea Turtle: Go to my board game shop. Lu You is doing the cooking himself, and he's also invited Tang Wan.

Has Fish: Then I'll go.

Has Fish: Also, [Photo]

Has Fish: Susan!

Has Fish: That's all.

What the f—!? Such a straightforward "little hater"?

Li Yu witnessed a new side of Xu Nian.

Lu You clicked pay, cleared his shopping cart, and the interface indicated the delivery would arrive tomorrow. He then looked up at Li Yu and asked, "How's the situation?"

"No big problems."

"That's good." Lu You patted Xiao Bao’s bottom to get it off his lap, then stood up and put away his phone. "Let's go. Let's go to the residential complex's badminton court and play for a while."

"Huh?" Li Yu froze. "Didn't you say we were going to play Borderlands?"

"Did I?" Lu You looked surprised. "Why don't I remember that?"

Seeing that he didn't look like he was lying, Li Yu began to doubt if he had misremembered.

"Never mind, let's play badminton first, and we can play games in the afternoon," Lu You decided quickly.

...

Indoor badminton court.

The two placed their phones and other miscellaneous items on the side of the court.

Li Yu picked up a racket, swung it a couple of times, nodded, and said, "This weapon is very much to my liking."

Lu You, who was warming up, stiffened all over, regretting coming out to play with him.

After they finished warming up, Li Yu stood across from Lu You, bent down slightly into a standard receiving posture, and said, "Come on, son, let Daddy see if you've grown up!"

Lu You gripped his racket tighter, his right hand exerting more force. With a forced smile, he said, "Then you'd better be prepared."

"Bring it on!" Li Yu's voice was filled with confidence.

However, in reality, for the next thirty minutes, Li Yu was toyed with by Lu You's various smashes and powerful ball control.

The shuttlecock landed on Li Yu's side of the court again and again. He was panting like an ox, his clothes were soaked through, and he looked like he had been fished out of water, with absolutely no strength left to continue.

"No more, no more." After saying this, he collapsed on the ground, and all that could be heard was the sound of his ragged breathing.

In contrast, Lu You was much more relaxed. Although he was also nearly soaked through, his breathing was indeed much steadier.

"That's it?" Lu You looked up at the wall clock. "You're done after only half an hour?"

"Damn, it's just a game of badminton, did you have to be so ruthless? It's like we're enemies," Li Yu said indignantly.

Lu You mocked him, "Without a bit of force, how would the mortals on the ground ever dare to look directly into the radiance of the sun?"

"You're amazing, I concede." Li Yu had already given up the fight; he truly had no strength left.

Lu You walked to the side of the court to drink some Pocari Sweat to replenish his electrolytes.

Just like that, after the two rested in silence for a while, Li Yu asked, "Lu You, tell me the truth, what do you think of Tang Wan?"

Lu You squeezed the plastic bottle in his hand and replied, "I suppose I have a good impression of her and want to get closer to understand her better."

Li Yu shifted from lying down to sitting up. He cast a serious look at Lu You and asked, "Are you serious? Serious about getting to know her, then dating, the kind with marriage as the end goal?"

Lu You lowered his gaze, his face showing a hint of conflict. "I'm not too sure. I've never even thought about it that much. It's my first time having feelings for a girl, and a lot of things are a complete blur.

My mom told me some principles about how to conduct myself, what it means to like someone, and about responsibility. I understood most of it, but it was just too vague—it was like she said nothing at all."

"Actually, I have imagined the scenario of finding a girlfriend."

"Who's the target? Megumi Kato, Rem, Emilia, or Yukino Yukinoshita?"

Li Yu was immediately stifled; he couldn't continue the conversation. Was he supposed to say he had imagined all of them?

Lu You looked at his expression—which looked like he had just swallowed feces—and laughed. "I know. You guys in the 2D world share your wives and they all have expiration dates. I understand."

Li Yu's expression grew even uglier.

"Alright, alright, that's enough about my business. Two people who have never dated talking about these things so seriously is pretty stupid. Rested enough? Come on, let's keep playing." Lu You stood up and stepped back onto the court.

...

The Tang residence.

Tang Wan lay in bed, chatting with Xu Nian on WeChat about what was happening in two days.

Wan: Niannian, did Li Yu invite you over?

Has Fish: Yeah, at first I thought he was going to invite me to his house.

Has Fish: I almost called him a perverted jerk.

Tang Wan chuckled; she was afraid he might have said something that easily caused a misunderstanding.

Has Fish: By the way, do you know where we're meeting in two days? What time?

Wan: Nine in the morning at a place called the "Carp Club."

Has Fish: Hmm? Are we going to play at the board game shop for a while first?

Wan: I'm not entirely sure, maybe.

Just then, a knock sounded on the door of Tang Wan's room.

"Wanwan, it's Mom. Can I come in?"

Wan: My mom's here. That's all for now, we'll talk later.

After sending the last message, Tang Wan said to her mother, "Come in."

Tang Mom pushed the door open, sat by the bed, and asked directly, "Wanwan, how is high school going? Are you used to it yet?"

Tang Wan found it somewhat amusing and replied, "It's been two months already. Everything I should be adjusted to, I'm adjusted to. How could I not be used to it?"

"How are your relationships with your classmates?" Tang Mom began to fish for information.

"They're just okay. Aside from one person who is very disgusting, everyone else is about the same," Tang Wan answered truthfully.

Seeing that there was nothing abnormal about her expression, Tang Mom could only ask directly, "So, have you met someone you like?"

Tang Wan's expression flickered for a split second, but she immediately regained her composure, pretended to be normal, and said, "No, why do you ask that?"

Tang Mom still caught that fleeting anomaly and already had her answer in her heart, but she said, "It's fine if you haven't; I was just asking. Though it would be very normal if you had."

Tang Mom then officially started her lecture.

"In high school, feelings are very pure, and it's very easy to develop a crush on a boy who is a little bit handsome."

Tang Wan thought of Lu You's appearance; that was probably more than just "a little bit handsome."

"Having a crush or a good impression is very normal. After all, I was a high school student once, too, and I liked the school heartthrob at the time."

Tang Wan's soul of gossip burned brightly.

"But I don't remember what he looks like anymore. I only remember that he was tall and handsome, played basketball very well, and there were always girls swarming around him."

Tang Wan subconsciously compared him to Lu You again. Lu You was handsome; although he wasn't very tall, he could cook, and there were no girls swarming around him. Lu You won by a landslide.

"And what I want to say is, having a crush or an impression is fine, but as much as possible, don't let it reach the point of ambiguous entanglements or dating.

High school boys—you could say 99% of them—are emotionally immature and have never experienced the heavy burdens of life. The promises they make sound very earnest, but they basically can't fulfill them.

Wanwan, if you ever like someone to the point where you can't help it, you must tell Mom. I won't scold you. After all, once you've fallen for someone, it's hard to suppress."

Tang Wan thought of Lu You for the third time. Recently, she had been thinking of him often, and the frequency wasn't low, and it was completely without regard for the occasion—that figure would just suddenly pop into her heart.

"Wanwan, I hope that when you face relationships, you can remain rational, have your own independent thoughts, and not be deceived by a few flowery words from others."

"Mom, aren't there couples who started in high school and stayed together until the end?" Tang Wan asked.

Tang Mom shook her head and said gently, "Those are really too rare. I believe such people exist, but I don't think you can be that kind of person.

High school relationships are very sincere and pure, without much material influence mixed in. But precisely because of that, a relationship without external support is like a bubble blown by a child—beautiful, yet fragile and easily popped at a single touch."

Tang Wan felt a chill in her heart. She really wanted to refute it, but she had nothing to say.

Seeing her silence, Tang Mom didn't continue to preach. She stood up, walked out of the room, and said, "Think about it slowly. I'm going out now," before closing the door.

Tang Wan lay on the bed, took out her phone, and opened the chat interface with Lu You. She really wanted to say something to him, but her fingers hovered over the virtual keyboard, remaining motionless for a long time.