Five years old Lu Mingfei

Chapter 147, 144. All that has passed is not the one.

Shilan Middle School.

The sound of rain gradually changed from a crisp "pitter-patter" to a muffled roar, as if a huge hole had been torn open in the sky. The continuous rain curtain was torn into countless cold silver needles by the gale, wantonly displaying its ferocity and violence under the leaden sky.

The whole world was immersed in a damp, almost suffocating cacophony.

The empty classroom was like a forgotten island, with only the girl remaining, meticulously fulfilling her duties as a cleaning lady.

The pure black school uniform suit outlined her slender figure, making her skin appear even whiter. The black stockings that tightly hugged her legs stretched out straight, powerful lines as she tiptoed to wipe herself up, and her waist-length straight black hair fluttered silently with her movements, like a silhouette in cool tones in the dim light.

In this private elite school, anyone who has heard of Chu Zihan knows that she not only has outstanding grades in all subjects and is an all-around athlete, but she is also beautiful, has a wealthy father who owns a company, and a stunning mother who was once a dancer.

Using the phrase "someone else's child" to describe her seems pale and powerless.

Her presence made all the boys in the school flock to her, and even many girls were captivated by her aloof temperament and icy beauty.

If there were a food pyramid on campus, she would undoubtedly be the goddess at the very top.

However, few people know that she also has a father who works as a driver.

Chu Zihan wiped the blackboard clean and looked up silently at the terrible weather outside the window.

Her mood was like the weather, a strange sense of oppression weighing heavily on her, and everything in front of her seemed familiar, carrying a strong sense of déjà vu.

Her wandering gaze returned to the text message on her phone screen: "It's raining heavily, can you come pick me up?"

The other party replied quickly: "Okay, no problem! Wait for me at school, I'll be there in a bit!"

Judging by the time, he should arrive soon.

After finishing her chores, Chu Zihan went outside the classroom and found that, besides her, there was a younger boy sheltering from the rain under the eaves.

It seemed no one was coming to pick them up; they were staring blankly at the torrential rain outside.

He stood there with his arms around his shoulders, head down, looking pitiful like a puppy abandoned by the roadside in the rainy night.

For some reason, looking at his lonely and thin back, Chu Zihan felt a little reluctant to leave him alone.

She hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke to him: "Excuse me, the rain isn't going to stop. Do you need a ride?"

The boy, upon hearing her voice, froze for a few seconds as if he hadn't quite caught her voice, then quickly turned around and nodded like a chick pecking at rice: "Yes, yes, I was just wondering how to get home..."

He approached familiarly, smiling ingratiatingly, "Senior sister, you're so kind. I asked a few classmates, but none of them paid any attention to me. I felt like a clown..."

Chu Zihan felt a strange sense of familiarity as she watched him chatter on and on. Contrary to her usual behavior, she did not feel any aversion to people who talked a lot.

She was silent for a moment, then asked, "Aren't you afraid of me?"

People at school say that Chu Zihan is cold and unapproachable, but in reality, she is just expressionless.

The boy paused for a moment, then asked, "Senior, are you Batman?"

Chu Zihan glanced at him involuntarily: "...My parents are still alive."

The boy gave an awkward smile: "That's not like him at all."

Chu Zihan still didn't smile, staring blankly into the distance. He didn't seem embarrassed at all, rubbing his hands together and breathing hot air into them.

"By the way, are your parents picking you up later, senior sister?" He asked, seemingly curious, "Or is it your family driver?"

Chu Zihan paused, then said in a voice that wasn't quite as strong as usual, "It's my dad..."

The boy said "Oh," and nodded: "That's pretty good. Of course, I'm not saying it's bad to have the driver come, but coming in person shows more fatherly love..."

Fatherly love... These two familiar yet unfamiliar words left Chu Zihan momentarily lost in thought. If such a thing truly existed, how had she fallen to this state?

The so-called new family, the stepfather who bore her father's name, the formulaic character, and everything in the house, gave her no sense of home whatsoever. To make matters worse, her biological mother was a carefree woman who was like a little girl, completely unaware of the resistance her daughter harbored deep inside.

Chu Zihan's expression was calm, but her words were chillingly cold: "If you are the same way with other people, then I know why they rejected you."

Perhaps this harsh and cold remark made no sense, but Chu Zihan's agitated mood caused it to slip out without much thought.

The boy was startled, his face turning bitter. He quickly waved his hands, protesting, "I'm innocent, senior sister! I really didn't mean it and just said it offhand. I apologize if I said something wrong..."

He hesitated for a moment, then stammered in a low voice, "Actually, I never talk about family matters with others, just because I'm afraid people will ask me..."

The boy scratched his head, as if he were talking about two strangers unrelated to him: "After all, I haven't seen my biological parents for several years. It's like when a teacher asks me a question in class; I know nothing. I've forgotten everything. If someone calls me one day in a somber tone and says that those two have accidentally died and wants me to attend their funeral, I won't even be able to find a way to verify whether it's an online scam..."

Chu Zihan was stunned and didn't know what to say.

She suddenly realized that he was different from her; he couldn't even find someone to pick him up on a rainy day.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have struck up a conversation with me...

Chu Zihan's heart sank, but the boy seemed to have forgotten what he had just said and put on his carefree smile again.

Her long eyelashes cast a small shadow beneath her eyes, and her voice was so low it was almost a soliloquy: "You don't seem like someone whose parents aren't around at all. Should I say you're optimistic, or..."

The boy paused for a moment, then muttered softly, "Actually, I just play games all day and waste all my time online. I don't have time to think about anything else. How should I put it? As long as I have food and drink and a place to stay, it feels like my parents and such don't really matter whether they're here or not..."

Chu Zihan suddenly turned to look at him. Perhaps angered by the boy's indifferent attitude, a nameless fire welled up in her heart, a stark contrast to her previous indifference to other people's affairs. Her tone suddenly rose, and she said coldly, "Can a place without parents be considered a home?!"

"Using internet addiction as an excuse is just a way of escaping reality!"

"Since you feel it doesn't matter whether you have parents or not, would you choose to maintain the status quo or go back to the years when your parents were still around?!"

For some reason, she seemed particularly irritable today.

Perhaps it was affected by the weather.

The boy shrank back, opened his mouth as if to explain, then closed it tightly again, squeezing out a few weak words through gritted teeth: "It worked... so I chose it..."

Chu Zihan's anger vanished without a trace in an instant.

She was speechless and had nothing to say.

After a long pause, she spoke again: "...I'm sorry, I was in a bad mood today, and I took it out on you..."

The boy remained the same, waving his hand rather nonchalantly: "It's okay, I'm used to being scolded. In the years I've lived at my uncle's house, my aunt has treated me like a grandson a lot. I'm the lowest-ranking person in the family. Senior sister, you really don't need to apologize to me. I feel a little overwhelmed by your kindness..."

Seemingly realizing he was trying to elicit sympathy, he added, "Let me make this clear, I'm not feeling sorry for myself. I read online that boxers become numb and lose their sense of pain after a few fractures, and I feel like I'm pretty much the same. Once I get used to it, I'm no different from anyone else. Even if you, senior, feel sorry for me, I'll just feel a bit confused and incredibly embarrassed..."

Chu Zihan listened quietly.

She suddenly had an urge to reach out and pat his head, like comforting a wronged puppy.

Perhaps he doesn't need his comfort, but that doesn't stop Chu Zihan from wanting to do so.

Just then, a low horn sounded from outside.

The blinding white light of the car headlights pierced through the rain, like a giant beast opening its cold eyes, shining straight at you, making it impossible to look directly at it.

"Let's go," Chu Zihan said.

"Oh, oh." The boy was overjoyed and nodded quickly, following behind her like a lackey.

As she walked along the eaves, the man in the car opened his black umbrella to greet her, as if offering himself up.

Chu Zihan paused for a moment, then her cold gaze fell on the man.

Upon seeing a boy hiding behind his daughter, the man's smiling face froze instantly.

"Junior, take him home while you're at it," Chu Zihan said briefly.

The young man felt a chill run down his spine under the man's gaze, coughed, and then launched into a frenzy of flattery: "Uncle, your car is so cool! I think it's called something like 'Mercedes-Benz,' it must cost several million..."

Clearly, the flattery hit the mark, and the man's unfriendly gaze immediately softened.

He readily replied, "That's right, a Maybach, a car worth nine million. I'm not bragging, it's top-of-the-line globally."

"Wow!" the boy exclaimed politely.

Chu Zihan glanced at the man.

This was the first time he had ever felt so important in front of his daughter, and he was a little smug, since she usually always snapped at him.

She didn't care, and walked straight to the car in the rain, opened the back door, and got in.

She saw the man outside the car window awkwardly holding up his umbrella, seemingly ignored.

Although she had always acted this way, this time it was in front of outsiders, and the man, who was used to being ignored by his daughter, felt a little embarrassed.

However, the boy seemed to say something to him with a smile, and the man's expression immediately brightened.

She was curious about what they had said.

Soon, the boy opened the car door and sat down next to Chu Zihan.

As soon as he got in the car, the man started bragging about his Maybach again.

Chu Zihan rubbed her forehead, feeling a little embarrassed for the man in front of outsiders. "You're just a driver, what's the point of all this boasting?"

"Let's go quickly," she urged, feigning impatience.

The man, interrupted, cleared his throat, seemingly still unsatisfied, and then, speaking in a deliberately elevated, ceremonial tone to the central control screen, commanded, "Start!"

The screen lit up, and this top-of-the-line luxury car opened its eyes like a lion finally awakening from its slumber.

He said smugly, "There are only three people in the world who can start this car with their voice. Besides me and the boss, guess who the other one is?"

"I don't care." Chu Zihan said expressionlessly.

Is it something you're proud to be someone's driver?

The boy next to him couldn't help but chuckle.

He quickly tried to salvage the situation by saying, "...I know."

Chu Zihan looked at him in surprise.

The man was also somewhat surprised.

The boy analyzed seriously, looking very confident: "I bet it's my senior sister. Uncle Chu likes this car so much, he probably really wants his precious daughter to experience it too, although Senior Sister Chu definitely isn't interested..."

Chu Zihan was stunned for a moment.

The man scratched his head and laughed out loud: "You guessed it! Was it that obvious?"

He shifted gears and stepped on the gas, changing the subject: "When I first entered the school gate, the security guard wouldn't let me in, but as soon as I mentioned that the car was worth nine million, he immediately backed down..."

Chu Zihan lowered her eyes, her feelings somewhat complicated.

The boy echoed the man's words while winking at her.

Oh right, she suddenly realized that she didn't know the boy's name.

Just as she was about to speak, the man suddenly swerved the steering wheel sharply, cutting into the congested traffic.

He grinned smugly.

Outside, you could hear the shouts and curses of the driver who had been overtaken.

Chu Zihan frowned.

Is it so hard to drive properly? Why show off your driving skills? However, the good times didn't last long. Before long, the road ahead turned into a sea of ​​red brake lights. Even the best driving skills are useless against this steel torrent.

The Maybach had no choice but to stop, lying dormant like a trapped beast in the long line of cars. Outside the window, there were blurry figures of drivers holding umbrellas, blaming and arguing with each other, amidst a cacophony of noise.

She leaned against the car window, feeling frustrated, and remained silent.

In the back and forth, the question that was originally meant to be asked was forgotten.

The face of the boy on the other side was reflected in the car window. He was staring blankly ahead, seemingly looking at something.

"What did you just say to him?" Chu Zihan suddenly asked.

The boy snapped out of his daze and gave a dry laugh: "I didn't say anything..."

Chu Zihan pursed her lips slightly, her expression appearing somewhat indifferent.

The boy immediately backed down: "...I was just afraid Uncle Chu would misunderstand, so I explained the situation to him. Otherwise, it's not easy for Uncle Chu to have time to come and pick up his daughter in person, and my senior sister is also very happy. I would definitely feel bad if I, an outsider, caused an unpleasant situation between the father and daughter..."

The man in the front row paused, his gaze shifting between the two men.

Chu Zihan looked at him without saying a word.

The boy forced a smile and stammered, "Did I...did I say something wrong again?"

Chu Zihan raised her hand without saying a word.

He instinctively shrank his neck.

However, what he received was not a slap, but a gentle caress.

"Do you think I would lay a hand on you?" Chu Zihan sighed.

It was probably the first time the boy had been so close to a girl; he blushed and stammered, unable to understand what he was saying.

She glanced at the man in the front row and sneered, "You don't need to consider his feelings. Even if there's something unpleasant, it's his own fault."

When the man saw how things were developing, his face turned green and his heart sank. He thought to himself, "No, I have to hurry and get my daughter home, otherwise something bad will happen sooner or later if this traffic jam continues."

He peeked out and saw an empty side road.

Logically, the surrounding drivers should have rushed over instead of ignoring it like they are doing now.

It's probably connected to an elevated highway, but the road above it is closed.

You can control others, but can you control him?

Without saying a word, he stepped on the gas and drove off.

To break the strange atmosphere inside the car, he deliberately turned on the stereo.

The music playing is "Day Growing" by the Irish band Atan.

Thetreestheygrowhigh, theeavestheydogrowgreen,

ManyisthetimemytrueoveI'veseen
……

The Maybach sped along the empty viaduct, and the man whistled, "How about it, not bad, right? I heard this disc is about fatherly love..."

He waited for a long time, but the boy who had been playing the straight man didn't reply to him.

In the rearview mirror, he saw the boy sitting there meekly, looking very obedient.

Then she turned her gaze to her daughter, who was holding her forehead and looked like she couldn't stand her anymore.

Before he could react, he asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"

Chu Zihan said coldly, "Do you know what these lyrics are about?"

The man replied matter-of-factly, "I don't know. Aren't you fluent in English? Can you translate it for me?"

Chu Zihan turned her head away: "Go find him."

"Huh?" the boy asked with a pained expression. "Should I do it?"

He tried one last time, forcing a laugh: "My English is terrible..."

The man had a bad feeling: "It can't be those lyrics, can it? I've heard people in Europe and America are quite open-minded..."

The boy quickly clarified, "No, no, it's actually quite normal. It's about a father who marries his daughter to a wealthy man much younger than her, hoping that his daughter will have someone to rely on when he gets old. It's just that the boy dies before he grows up..."

The man's face darkened: "What a terrible song! I wouldn't object to finding a younger son-in-law, but why find a short-lived one? Isn't that a sin? What country wrote this song? It has no meaning whatsoever."

Chu Zihan was well aware of her father's poor taste in art, and she didn't bother to offer a single comment.

She rested her chin on her hand, her gaze unconsciously falling on the boy.

She just felt a strange sense of familiarity when she looked at him, at his silhouette, at the occasional expression he showed, which inexplicably calmed her chaotic mind.

The boy became very reserved under her gaze.

After struggling for a while, he mumbled out, "...I'm quite healthy. I've never been sick since I was a child, and living to ninety-nine shouldn't be a problem..."

Realizing what he had said, he immediately feigned innocence: "...I didn't say anything..."

The man in the front row didn't hear clearly: "What?"

A faint blush seemed to have settled on Chu Zihan's fair and jade-like face, like the first peach petal falling on the snow in early spring, quietly spreading out.

"Just drive your car properly," she said angrily.

"Oh, okay, is the air conditioning in the back hot?" the man asked casually.

"Are you the taxi driver I called?" Chu Zihan asked in an unfriendly tone.

“Oh, I was just worried about you…” The man was used to being retorted by his daughter.

Chu Zihan suppressed her anger and remained silent.

Ha, the excuses they've told a million times, when have they ever truly cared? It's not just empty words, not even a single concrete action.

He disappointed her time and time again. Whether he breaches the contract or makes empty promises, she's tired of it all.

The man wanted to talk to his daughter about family matters some more, but since there was another stranger in the car, he had to give up.

After much thought and racking his brains, he began to feign concern for his daughter's studies: "Well, I heard that seventeen students from Shilan Middle School got into Tsinghua and Peking Universities this year. You'd better make your dad proud..."

Chu Zihan said coldly, "What does it matter to you what school you apply to? I already consider it an act of concern for your child since you attended a school event once."

The man's voice trembled slightly with guilt: "...I just really couldn't find the time..."

Chu Zihan sneered: "You can't even make time for something you promised in advance?"

"I..." The man was about to speak.

Suddenly, I was interrupted by a casual, unrelated remark from the boy: "Although the memory is a bit distant, I still remember that when my parents broke their promises, they would apologize and say they would do it next time. Even if they did it again, I could understand, because at least I knew they cared about my feelings..."

The man realized his mistake and immediately apologized, "I'm sorry, Dad was wrong. I'll definitely go next time!"

Chu Zihan remained expressionless: "...So I'm as easy to coax as a child, huh..."

Even though she said that, her expression softened a little.

Chu Zihan poked the boy's face with her slender index finger, her tone more like a joke than a warning, "You're not allowed to teach him. Let him suffer the consequences of his own actions."

The boy quickly pledged his loyalty like a lackey: "I'm just standing up for my senior sister. Even if she's a parent, she should apologize for breaking the contract. Keeping making excuses is going too far..."

Chu Zihan couldn't help but find it a little funny: "Whose side are you on anyway?"

The boy said seriously, "I'll go whichever side will make my senior sister happy."

These words made the corners of her mouth curl up slightly, but she quickly calmed down: "She was so afraid to speak just now, how come she's suddenly becoming so glib..."

"No way..." the boy denied, "My parents taught me from a young age not to lie, and everything I said came from the bottom of my heart..."

Chu Zihan raised an eyebrow: "Didn't you say you didn't remember your parents?"

The boy said seriously, "That means there's something wrong with their education."

Chu Zihan tapped his head in annoyance.

The man in the front row realized he seemed to have been deliberately "ignored" for a long time, and cautiously said, "Um, we're about to get off the elevated highway, classmate, you should be almost home by now..."

The boy immediately said, "Uncle Chu, you can just stop at the supermarket entrance by the roadside. I'll go in and buy an umbrella and walk back myself, otherwise I'll still get wet..."

A few minutes later, the car stopped.

The boy ran to the supermarket entrance in the rain.

He had just tossed his hair when he suddenly noticed someone beside him and asked in surprise, "Senior Sister?"

Chu Zihan hesitated for a moment, then calmly said, "Before I leave, I want to say a few words to you..."

The boy nodded: "Senior sister, please speak."

Chu Zihan took a deep breath: "Although from your perspective, your parents leaving you for several years is no different from abandoning you, judging from what you said, they apologized to you when they broke their promise and taught you not to lie. At least it shows that they love you, and like you said, they care about your feelings..."

"Perhaps they never came back because of some unspeakable reason..."

The boy laughed: "What my senior sister said is right, but actually, there's another possible reason..."

He suddenly stopped laughing and said, slowly and deliberately, "All those things they said were made up by me..."

"Because I really wanted my parents, who abandoned me, to apologize to me, I made up a lie about my parents apologizing to their child. Because I felt a little pathetic for constantly lying, I made up another lie on top of that lie..."

His voice was calm and flat, like a newly nailed coffin.

Chu Zihan placed her hand on her chest, trying to remove the cold hand that was gripping her heart, but she failed.

"You..." her voice was hoarse, "What's your name?"

“My name,” the boy smiled, “is Lu Mingfei, senior sister, how could you forget…”

After Chu Zihan remembered everything, the world before her eyes shattered.

She opened her eyes and stared blankly for a long time.

"Is it a dream?" Chu Zihan murmured to himself.

"Ding dong~"

A message came through my phone from someone I'm particularly interested in.

"Tsk tsk tsk, the same Maybach as Toyokawa Shoko, the reverse Tian Gang part, the character design plagiarism part."

Chu Zihan replied to "Lu Mingfei258": "You lied to me."

"Hey hey hey!!! Does that count even in a dream, Senior Sister? I was wrong, I was really wrong, I'll never do it again, no, there will absolutely never be a next time!!!"

Chu Zihan put down her phone with a faint smile on her lips.

However, the words she heard in her dream kept echoing in her mind, refusing to leave.

(End of this chapter)