Chapter 6 – How Could I Know

They settled their bills separately, and the two chatted for a bit at the entrance of the small store.

“Do you live around here?” Li Tang asked.

“Mm.” Jiang Lou said, “Do you live nearby too?”

“No, just passing through.”

“Have you been here before?”

Li Tang looked around. “No, I think I came to Xucheng once when I was very young, but I didn’t get to see much.”

As he spoke, he noticed that Jiang Lou was looking at him. That gaze seemed to… be probing?

But it was only for an instant; so quick that Li Tang wasn’t sure if he had misread it. Jiang Lou looked away. “A small city can’t compare to the capital, there’s nothing fun here.”

“That’s true, it’s pretty boring.” Li Tang nodded in agreement, then hurriedly shook his head. “No, no, I didn’t mean to say anything bad about Xucheng…”

Jiang Lou laughed. “What are you nervous about?”

Only Li Tang knew what he was nervous about.

It was Monday again. From morning reading class onwards, whenever he had a chance, Li Tang would hide behind his books, turn his head quietly, and look towards the last row of the fourth group by the window.

Today, Jiang Lou was back in his school uniform. The blue and white jacket was rather neat, making Li Tang recall how yesterday, he wore cargo pants with a simple sleeveless T-shirt on top, outlining his broad shoulders and narrow waist. His arm muscles bulged slightly with every movement—a beautiful line that even a skilled artist couldn’t depict.

To put it bluntly, he was slim in clothes and muscular out of them, unexpectedly well-built.

Unable to resist taking a few more glances, when Li Tang turned back, he suddenly bumped into Li Zichu’s amused gaze. Startled, the English book he had propped up fell onto the desk with a thud.

Fortunately, Li Zichu was not the type of conservative traditionalist that Li Tang had assumed him to be.

He leaned close to Li Tang’s ear, covered his mouth with his hand, and whispered softly, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone… I’m like you.”

From then on, Li Tang gained his first true friend in Xucheng.

Although it felt a bit like he was caught between a rock and a hard place—since Li Zichu had discovered his secret, to feel at ease, Li Tang had no choice but to become closer to him.

He hadn’t thought about trading “blackmail material.”

During a break, Li Tang surveyed his surroundings, confirming that nobody was paying attention, before awkwardly confiding in Li Zichu, “I look at him because he’s handsome.”

“Indeed, the entire school knows he’s handsome.”

“Are you also…”

Li Zichu smiled. “Though he’s great, I always feel like I can’t read him.”

“The kind of simple-minded fool who wears their emotions on their face is my type.”

But there were many such people. Just in Class 1, Grade 2, Li Tang could count over ten of them.

He had only transferred here for half a month, and he hadn’t even figured out who was close to whom. How could he accurately pinpoint Li Zichu’s “type?”

All he could do was repeatedly emphasize that he didn’t have feelings for Jiang Lou, at most, it was humanity’s pursuit of beauty, plus the appreciation and fondness sparked by gratitude.

Despite having no romantic experience, Li Tang talked about love fluently. “Love shouldn’t be a shallow emotion based solely on appearance.”

This made Li Zichu widen his eyes in surprise. “I didn’t expect that.”

“What didn’t you expect?”

“I thought, since you’re good-looking and from a wealthy family, you were also one of those empty-headed fools with a golden exterior and rotten insides. I didn’t expect…”

—I didn’t expect that not only do you use your brain to think, but you also have your own insights and principles.

Li Tang finished his sentence for him, but despite his best efforts to hold back, he couldn’t resist saying, “Class President, has anyone ever told you…”

“Too straightforward, or too annoying?” Li Zichu clearly had an accurate self-assessment. “No one has ever said it to my face, but I know it in my heart.”

Li Tang was speechless at his brazen attitude of “I know it’s not good, but I won’t change,” yet he secretly envied him a little.

In order to fit in, Li Tang was always lying and forcing himself to do things he disliked.

While Li Tang was lost in thought, Li Zichu had already moved on to the next phase. “Since we’ve laid everything out, then—”

He slammed a brand new workbook onto the table. “To prevent the teacher from thinking that changing seats was a mistake, study hard, Li Tang. Your ranking in the first monthly exam must improve, not decline.”

Li Tang was speechless. “Have you forgotten that I’m a transfer student with no ranking in this school?”

“Then compare it to your ranking in the class exams.”

“…”

In short, their “revolutionary friendship” was officially established. Besides studying and doing homework together in school, they also went to and from the cafeteria and nearby restaurants together. Even when everyone hung out on weekends, the two of them would take the same taxi to the destination.

When asked why they were together again, Li Zichu smiled. “I had some English questions I didn’t understand, so I went to his house to ask for help. It just happened that we live close to each other.”

For high school sophomores, even if they were extremely playful, there was still inevitable competition in studies. All the classmates envied and complained that although they were in the same class, why hadn’t the teacher assigned them a studious deskmate to help each other out?

Only Huo Xichen, his gaze piercing through the crowd, spat out with disgust, “Disgusting!”

The weather was overcast this weekend, with large dark clouds hanging overhead, gathering for a heavy storm.

Outdoor activities weren’t advisable, so everyone gathered at Zhou Dongze’s family coffee shop, some doing homework, others playing on their phones, and endless refills of free coffee. It was quite pleasant in this weather.

If not for the annoying commotion.

Su Qinhan from the neighboring class was also there. Originally, she thought Jiang Lou would come, so she specially put on makeup and wore a short skirt that showed off her figure. She was so eye-catching that all the males in the coffee shop, except for Li Tang and Li Zichu, had their gazes fixated on her.

Especially Huo Xichen, as if bewitched, he followed Su Qinhan around, completely forgetting his previous words of “not competing with brothers for women.” Seeing Su Qinhan frowning, he became anxious too. “Don’t wait anymore, Jiang Lou won’t come today.”

Su Qinhan’s lips drooped, and she picked up her phone to make a call, waiting for a long time before someone answered.

“Weren’t we supposed to meet at Tree House today?”

Tree House was the name of the coffee shop.

“Something came up? What is it?… Home? Isn’t it just you at home?… I don’t believe it, come over now… Then wait, I’ll come find you at your house.”

She hung up the call fiercely, slapped her phone on the table, and asked the students present, “Does anyone know Jiang Lou’s address?”

The students looked at each other, no one making a sound.

Su Qinhan turned to Huo Xichen. “You’re his deskmate, don’t you know either?”

Called out by the goddess, Huo Xichen stuttered, “I asked, but he didn’t tell me.”

At this moment, someone suggested, “There’s the address on the school enrollment form, why not go find your dad—”

Before he could finish speaking, Su Qinhan grabbed her bag and rushed out in a hurry. Huo Xichen took an umbrella and chased after her. “It’s going to rain, take an umbrella, an umbrella!”

After a brief moment of peace, Li Tang received a WeChat message.

It was from Su Qinhan, who had just left. Their first conversation after adding each other as friends was: Do you know where Jiang Lou lives?

She finally remembered that he had also been Jiang Lou’s deskmate.

Although it was only for a week.

Li Tang looked at this message, thinking back to that afternoon at the foot of the mountain, where he saw Jiang Lou walk towards a row of single-story houses on the slope above, pushing open the second door from west to east.

Should he tell her?

Before his mind could decide, Li Tang’s body made the decision for him. His fingers flew over the keyboard, ready to send out those three words, but then he bit his lip and hit the delete key, erasing them, before typing anew.

—How could I know.

Accompanied by a helpless expression.

Even so, Li Tang was somewhat restless after the gathering ended.

Even if he hadn’t given her the address, Su Qinhan could ask others. They had been in the same school since high school, so someone must know which direction Jiang Lou headed home.

Moreover, Su Qinhan’s father was the principal. Asking the homeroom teacher for a glance at the student information sheet would be effortless.

Taking a step back, even if Su Qinhan didn’t obtain the exact address and only knew the general location, there weren’t many households living in that mountain crevice. Knocking on any of the doors and asking for directions would quickly lead her to the right place.

…

If she really found it, would Jiang Lou let her into his house?

It was almost dinnertime. Would he take her to the small store at the entrance to buy those mysterious but seemingly delicious snacks?

The area didn’t seem to have good public security. Would he also protect her by chasing away hooligans?

Lost in these wild thoughts, when he regained consciousness, the taxi had already stopped at a familiar roadside—the stone path leading to the mountain slope, the low buildings scattered in an orderly fashion, the sparse lights shining from the windows.

That small store’s entrance was also lit by a dim yellow light, appearing old-fashioned and faintly veiled from afar.

Seeing the passenger in the back seat not reacting, the driver asked, “Is this it?”

Li Tang could only hum in agreement, took out his phone to pay, and got out of the car.

As the roar of the car faded away, standing at the intersection of the road and the mountain crevice, Li Tang felt like he might have gone crazy.

How did he end up here?

He secretly scolded himself, torn between calling another cab to return home or adopting the optimistic attitude of “since I’m already here,” to stroll around Jiang Lou’s house at least to see if Su Qinhan was there…

Suddenly, a cool drop of water landed on his cheek, followed by a second and third.

The rain that had been holding back all day finally fell.

As the saying goes, one autumn rain brings one chill. Just a few drops landing on his body were enough to make Li Tang shiver.

Without thinking, he ran forward, through the sparse shrubbery, stepping on the ascending bluestone steps, and took shelter under the nearest porch to avoid the rain.

Saying it was a porch is an overstatement. It was actually an overhanging roof, built by several houses together, forming a continuous canopy at the entrance. Some families had piled things under the eaves—leftover bricks, vats for pickling vegetables, benches missing a leg, even pots filled with green onions.

The strong sense of daily life made Li Tang worry about the presence of rats here. Additionally, the canopy wasn’t wide, limiting its ability to shield from the rain. Li Tang’s shirt front was dampened by the slanted raindrops, causing him to curl his limbs and huddle further inward.

Next to him was Jiang Lou’s home.

Li Tang looked at the tightly closed door, an ordinary anti-theft door with a few dents from bumps and collisions. Years of sun exposure and rain had caused the lock area near the door to yellow and rust. Li Tang remembered that last time when Jiang Lou bought the craft knife and went back, he had to twist the key several times just to open the door, which required quite a bit of effort.

In contrast, the entrance to Jiang Lou’s house was clean and tidy, with no cluttered items or underwear drying in plain sight.

What was it like inside?

Li Tang couldn’t help but start to wonder. Jiang Lou lived alone, without parental supervision. He must be quite free, right? He could do whatever he wanted and sleep whenever he wanted.

He could also invite friends to stay overnight, whoever he wanted.

As if hearing Li Tang’s thoughts, the door in front of him suddenly opened without warning.

Jiang Lou was wearing a black hoodie, the hood pulled over his head. One foot had just stepped out when he lifted his head and saw the person standing under the eaves. His pace paused.

The sudden encounter left Li Tang completely stunned. After a while, he raised his index finger toward the sky. “It started raining, I was passing by and came here… to take shelter from the rain.”

Compared to him, Jiang Lou’s surprise only lasted a moment before returning to calmness.

He scanned Li Tang’s rain-soaked clothes and dripping hair, then Jiang Lou turned around and walked back inside.

The door didn’t close, so Li Tang easily heard the voice coming from inside.

“Come in.”