Chapter 56: The Past Is Far Behind, the Future Is with You

Lu You and Tang Wan walked out of the hot pot restaurant and headed toward the adjacent plaza. Looking into the distance, one could still see the surging crowds. It seemed that even the biting cold wind could not stop people from taking an after-dinner stroll.

At this point, Tang Wan’s emotions had stabilized. Although she had not yet returned to her initial lively and cheerful state, at least the low-pressure aura surrounding her had dissipated.

A silent atmosphere settled between the two.

Lu You was waiting for her to speak. Some matters could not be directly and proactively asked about; a person might peel back their own healing scars, but they would not allow others to touch them.

"You... aren't you going to ask?"

"Ask what? What it felt like to hug me?"

Steam instantly puffed from the top of Tang Wan’s head, and her small face flushed with two red glows, looking as though she were slightly drunk.

It wasn’t as if she had never hugged anyone before—hugging Xu Nian was a common occurrence. Yet, when holding Lu You, there was an unprecedented peace in her heart, alongside a yearning—a yearning to stay in that embrace and never come out.

"Asking the obvious! That's not what I meant."

"If you don't want to talk about it, naturally I won't ask. For someone insignificant to me, there is no need to understand. Of course, if you want to talk, I will listen attentively."

Tang Wan raised a hand to pull down the scarf covering her mouth. With lowered eyes, memories gradually surfaced.

"Do you remember what I told you about being pointed at during middle school?"

"I remember. You said it during the military training party."

"In fact, it wasn't just being pointed at. There was much more vicious gossip."

Tang Wan recounted her past in a gentle, flowing narrative.

"On the first day of middle school admission, I met Gu Qingzhi—the girl from just now. She sat at the desk right in front of mine. At that time, she didn't look like she does now; instead, she was a bit chubby and had a bowl-cut hairstyle.

Later, after a few seating rearrangements, she was still the one in front of me, and we grew increasingly familiar. While we weren't inseparable, we could at least exchange little secrets.

Then, starting on who knows which day, rumors began to spread that I liked the class monitor of the neighboring class. He also seemed to have caught some strange illness, wandering in front of me every day and often sneaking candies, milk tea, and chocolates onto my desk when I wasn't around. I could only return all of it to him, stating clearly that I didn't need those things.

As a result, he said something about this being what he should do as a boyfriend. I was dumbfounded at the time; the only thing I had ever said to him was 'Hello, please move aside.'

Then I explicitly stated that I had no interest in these things, and if he wanted to play house, he should find someone else and stop bothering me from then on. I still remember to this day—his face was as dark as the iron wok at my house.

Unexpectedly, rumors subsequently spread that I was loose and promiscuous, that I had hooked up with boys outside the school and cheated. From then on, whenever I spoke a single word to a boy, such talk would circulate.

Do you know what that feeling is like? I hadn't done anything at all, merely studying quietly, yet in the mouths of certain people, I had become a dissolute person.

In the end, Niannian discovered that the one spreading rumors every day was Gu Qingzhi, and even the story of me dating the neighboring class monitor was something she fabricated using my name.

I asked her why she wanted to fling such dirt upon me. What did she say? She said, 'You look so pretty, you must have seduced plenty of boys; I was just speaking the truth.'

You know what? At that time, I wanted nothing more than to pick up a desk and smash it against her forehead. However, letting a rotten person ruin my life and leave a stain wasn't worth it."

For the first time across two lifetimes, Lu You felt a sense of helplessness, accompanied by a piercing ache in his heart. He could accompany her in the present and look forward to their shared future, yet he could not participate in her past to shield her from harm.

"Did you... ever go to the teachers?"

"Hah."

Tang Wan let out a sarcastic laugh. "That head teacher in the first year was merely a good-for-nothing who only knew how to turn major issues into minor ones, minor issues into nothing at all, and smooth things over!

It wasn't until the second year, when Gu Qingzhi and I were assigned to different classes, and the new head teacher held a class meeting—coupled with my own academic grades—that this nonsense slowly subsided."

Lu You gazed at her flawless profile. Her eyes reflected the lights and crowds of the plaza, showing no lingering negative emotions.

"Do you no longer care?"

"I care!"

Tang Wan raised her small fist encased in a white glove and said fiercely, "If I hadn't just eaten my fill and it was inconvenient to throw hands just now, next time I see that woman surnamed Gu, I'm definitely going to punch her."

"Alright, count me in next time. I'll kick her twice as well."

"It's a deal?"

"It's a deal!"

...

The two circled the plaza twice. During this time, several girls wearing different school uniforms came over to ask Lu You for his contact information.

After he politely rejected another girl yet again, Tang Wan finally couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Why is it that with someone as pretty as me standing right beside you, they still come to you for your contact info?"

Lu You looked amusedly at her throwing a little tantrum, pretended to ponder for a moment, and said, "Could it be because the two of us are just taking a very ordinary walk without any intimate gestures?"

"Humph! You! Take off your left-hand glove!"

Lu You obediently complied. Going against a girl in a fit of temper was not a wise choice.

Tang Wan also took off her right-hand glove, revealing a soft hand white as jade.

"Starting from tonight only! You are not allowed to let go!"

Then she grabbed his left hand.

At that moment, two hands of similar size were tightly intertwined—one slender and delicate, the other distinct with clear knuckles.

*Gasp!*

So this is what a girl's hand feels like!

This was the first time Lu You had truly held a girl's hand in the truest sense. It was soft and smooth, like a fragile glass object that would shatter with the slightest bit of force, leaving him no choice but to hold it with the utmost care.

Watching his dazed expression, Tang Wan felt much of her own shyness recede and teased, "What? Have you never held a girl's hand before?"

"Ahem, ahem."

Lu You collected his thoughts. Being able to hold her hand and let her feel triumphant for a little while wasn't entirely unacceptable.

Just then, as if thinking of something, Tang Wan fished her phone out of her pocket and said tentatively, "Lu You, let's take a selfie."

"Huh? Why?"

"To commemorate the first time we held hands! So we can look back and reminisce about the good times in the future!"

When she finished speaking, Lu You could feel the hand he was holding trembling slightly.

"Let's take it then, and send me a copy on WeChat by the way."

"Mm! No problem!"

The two fumbled around for nearly ten minutes before Tang Wan nodded in satisfaction.

"This one is good, let's pick this."

Lu You breathed a sigh of relief internally.

It was finally over!

"Eh? No, wait, it seems..."

Lu You's heart instantly leaped into his throat.

Not again!

He didn't want to suffer any more torment, so he hurriedly changed the subject.

"Let's go find a milk tea shop and sit for a while. At ten o'clock, I'll walk you home."

Upon hearing the words "milk tea," Tang Wan instantly turned her head to look at Lu You, her eyes sparkling as she excitedly replied, "Okay! Let's go right now!"

Lu You: (-ι_-)

As expected, milk tea was a girl's true love, while he was just someone picked up from the street.

...

Ten-thirty in the evening.

Timing it precisely, Lu You followed the route in his memory and escorted Tang Wan back to the building where she lived.

If it were too early or too late, it would easily arouse suspicion from Tang Wan's mother.

Tang Wan got off the back of the bike, faced Lu You, and said, "I'm here. You should hurry home too and ride safely."

"Alright, I'm heading out."

Lu You picked up his helmet, preparing to put it on.

"Wait a moment!"

"Is there something else?"

Tang Wan took a step closer to him, pulled something out of her pocket, and clutched it tightly in her hand.

"Hold out your right hand."

Was she planning to give him something?

Without hesitation, Lu You obediently extended his right hand.

Tang Wan opened her palm to reveal a plain black hair tie adorned with a small star decoration.

She slipped the hair tie onto Lu You's right wrist and instructed, "From now on, except when sleeping or showering, you are not allowed to take it off. That way, if anyone tries to chat you up in the future, you can take this out and show it to them."

Was this staking a claim?

Lu You looked gently at Tang Wan and said nothing.

Seeing that he didn't reply, Tang Wan frowned and urged, "What are you spacing out for? Did you hear me?"

"I heard you. I'll wear it."

"Good. Hurry back now, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

...

When Lu You arrived home, Shen Yuyin was sitting in the living room with her arms crossed, an enigmatic smile hanging on her lips.

"Tell me, where did you go to play tonight?"

Instead of answering, Lu You asked, "Dad and little sister? Are they asleep?"

"Asleep. Don't change the subject, answer the question."

"I'm going to take a shower first. I'll show you a photo in a moment."

"Tang Wan's?"

"Yes."

Fifteen minutes later.

With his hair still slightly damp, Lu You handed his phone to Shen Yuyin.

"Take a look, your prospective daughter-in-law."

"Oh? So serious?"

Shen Yuyin took the phone. The screen displayed a photograph.

A bright-eyed, picturesque girl with a shy smile on her face was leaning gently against Lu You.

"Wow! You're committing a crime! You've gone and poached such a tender head of cabbage!"

"How can anyone talk about their own son like that?"

"It's the truth!"

Shen Yuyin looked at the photo, finding it more pleasing the longer she looked.

"I hereby declare that she is my daughter-in-law. If you ever lose her in the future, don't bother coming back to this house."

Lu You couldn't be bothered to respond. Anyway, in Shen Yuyin's eyes right now, he was no different from a lump of dog dirt.

"By the way, when are you bringing her home for me to see?"

"Bring who home?"

Lu You rolled her eyes.

"We aren't even together yet."

"You aren't even together yet and you're already calling her your daughter-in-law?"

Shen Yuyin raised her foot and gave him a light kick.

"Are you daydreaming here, trying to amuse me?"

Dodge-rolling flexibly away from her attack, Lu You explained, "Don't worry, a formal confession is all that's missing before she becomes my girlfriend. I just need some time to brew it."

"Brew what nonsense, just go for it! Aren't you afraid someone else will beat you to it if you keep waiting?"

"Not afraid." Lu You smiled faintly. "In Chunhua, no one compares to your son."

"You'd better be right!"

After that, Shen Yuyin said no more. Although she always called her son good-for-nothing, if she really compared him to anyone else's child, he was still undoubtedly the best one.

...

On the other side.

Tang Wan blew her hair dry, turned off the lights, and burrowed under the cotton quilt. Staring at the dark ceiling, she occasionally let out soft bursts of silly laughter.

Tonight, she had spent a truly wonderful time. Even though an unidentified object had crashed into the middle of it all, it didn't affect her mood in the slightest.

"I did so many things I wanted to do today! We held hands, hugged, and even took our first group photo."

Although their actual first group photo had been taken during the mid-term exam grade assembly, the presence of a bald middle-aged man right between them had caused her to mentally erase it entirely.

"He didn't deny what I said about reminiscing in the future. Does that mean he wants to be with me too?"

Tang Wan's thoughts gradually drifted away. She imagined traveling together after the college entrance exams, attending the same university, then working hard, buying a tiny little house together, and having a cute daughter.

Her eyelids slowly drooped. Inside the room, nothing remained except the steady sound of breathing and a young girl fast asleep.