LHKE Ch45

Du Heng’s flight arrived in S City at eight in the evening.

The flight was on time. Du Heng followed the crowd, dragging his suitcase as he walked out of the airport.

The airport was brightly lit at night, with the noise of dragging suitcases filling the air as pedestrians stepped into the night. A wave of heat was followed by a gust of night wind. Du Heng heard someone calling his name. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw Shen Li getting out of a car parked by the airport exit. Shen Li’s eyes and brows were filled with the joy of a long-awaited reunion.

“Shen Xiao Li,” Du Heng walked quickly over, first examining his old friend carefully, then clapping him on the shoulder and laughing heartily. “Long time no see.”

“From now on, we’ll be seeing each other often.” Shen Li took the suitcase from him, opened the trunk, and placed it inside. “Get in the car.”

Du Heng glanced at the understated yet luxurious car and eased the door open. “You got a new car?”

He remembered Shen Li was still driving an Audi at the end of last year.

“It’s not mine.” Shen Li opened the other door and got in. “Let me introduce you. This is my boyfriend and our driver for today.”

Lu Changting glanced up from the rearview mirror and met Du Heng’s eyes.

“Hello, I’m Du Heng.” Du Heng looked much the same as before, only a bit more mature. “I’m a high school friend of Shen Li.”

“Hello.” Lu Changting nodded slightly and didn’t say much more.

He wondered when Du Heng would recognize him.

From the rearview mirror, all Du Heng could see were the man’s handsome features—neatly trimmed hair and eyes like dark lacquer. After looking at him for a while, Du Heng thought he seemed familiar.

Du Heng puzzled over it for a while, then looked at Shen Li with a peculiar expression.

“Your boyfriend…”

He couldn’t say it.

He didn’t know how to address it, and he didn’t want to guess incorrectly.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Li tried to suppress a laugh, feeling a bit mischievous for teaming up with Lu Changting to tease Du Heng.

Du Heng swallowed the rest of his words, glancing at the man in the driver’s seat and then back at Shen Li, sighing with concern.

He thought Shen Li had moved on from the past, but it turned out he had found someone who looked so much like Lu Changting. It was quite distressing.

Du Heng was anxious all the way.

When the car finally stopped in front of his rented apartment building, and the man got out of the car, Du Heng saw his face clearly under the streetlight and was stunned.

The resemblance was striking; the man’s face was like a younger version of Lu Changting.

Du Heng’s thoughts became a jumbled mess. He wondered where Shen Li had found someone who looked so much like Lu Changting, and then absurdly speculated if this person could be Lu Changting’s long-lost brother. The stifling summer night, with its persistent insect sounds, made his head spin, and the more he thought, the more confused he became. He wondered if the long journey had made him hallucinate.

But upon closer inspection, the man really did look exactly like Lu Changting.

Lu Changting, who was being scrutinized, didn’t speak, only carried the suitcase upstairs from the trunk.

Once inside the elevator, Shen Li handed Du Heng the apartment key. “I moved the luggage you sent back yesterday. You don’t need to make another trip. Here’s the key.”

“The landlord might come by in a few days and will call you.”

Du Heng took the key, thanked Shen Li, and seemed on the verge of saying something but hesitated.

Du Heng hadn’t recognized Lu Changting and hadn’t dared to think of him as such, assuming he was just a high-end stand-in. Occasionally, he would look at Lu Changting with a complex expression.

Lu Changting found Du Heng’s behavior both strange and amusing. He had a vague feeling that he might get the answer he was looking for from Du Heng.

Du Heng went ahead to open the door with the key. Shen Li squeezed Lu Changting’s fingers and quietly asked, “Have you had enough fun?”

Lu Changting held his hand and smiled.

Forget it. For old times’ sake, he decided not to tease Du Heng anymore.

“Du Heng,” Lu Changting cleared his throat and said casually, “Long time no see.”

“Huh?” Du Heng fumbled to turn on the light switch on the wall and turned around with a confused look.

“Class 13, Lu Changting,” Lu Changting reminded him. “Don’t you remember me?”

Du Heng stood frozen for a moment, staring blankly at Lu Changting. After a while, he suddenly patted Lu Changting on the shoulder and exclaimed, “What the hell.”

“What’s going on with you two?” He ran a hand through his hair, his face filled with disbelief. “You and Shen Li… what’s happening?”

His mind was even more chaotic now. Shen Li’s boyfriend had suddenly turned out to be Lu Changting. Was the West Lake water gone dry, or had the temple of the matchmaker on Pavilion Hill finally shown its magic?

So Shen Li was really with Lu Changting?

Lu Changting smiled. “We’re dating.”

“You’re not…” Du Heng noticed the red string on Lu Changting’s wrist, glanced at Shen Li standing beside him, and finally blurted out, “You’re not straight!”

Back in high school, Lu Changting had been with his goddess, which had made him heartbroken for several days.

But his heartbreak was short-lived; Shen Li had been heartbroken for ten years.

“That was before,” Lu Changting said. “Now, I’m with Shen Li.”

Du Heng still found it hard to believe, even pinching himself to check—he felt pain.

“Who pursued whom…” Shen Li’s personality didn’t seem like someone who would actively chase after Lu Changting.

Lu Changting said, “I pursued him.”

“Oh…” Du Heng thought, it wasn’t really a chase. If Lu Changting liked Shen Li, Shen Li wouldn’t have refused him at all.

The room was stifling with all the windows closed. Du Heng wiped the sweat from his neck and realized that standing at the door talking was rather foolish, so he went inside to look for the air conditioner remote.

He had come to accept the reality that Shen Li, who had secretly harbored feelings for Lu Changting for years, was now being pursued by Lu Changting and they were together. But his gaze towards Shen Li was still somewhat complex, and his tone was mixed as well: “You and Lu Changting are together, such a big thing, Shen Xiao Li, and you didn’t even tell me…”

“Heng Ge, don’t be angry.” Shen Li closed the door, pushed the suitcase to the coffee table, and handed Du Heng a disposable cup of water he had prepared the day before. “He returned to the country at the end of February. We got together in May. It’s my fault for not telling you.”

“I’m not angry.” Du Heng drank a cup of water, feeling his sweat-soaked clothes cling to his back. The cool air from the air conditioner made him feel a bit better. “I’m happy for you.”

He was a bit surprised, though; he hadn’t expected them to actually end up together. He was genuinely happy for Shen Li.

“You owe me a drink, Shen Xiao Li.” Du Heng didn’t say much more. Some things were understood between him and Shen Li, but he wasn’t sure if Lu Changting knew, so he kept his thoughts to himself.

“It’s too late today.” Shen Li smiled. “Come over to my place tomorrow. I’ll host a welcoming dinner for you, and there will be plenty of food and drinks.”

He and Lu Changting had discussed whether to eat out or have a gathering at home. After considering it, they decided it would be more comfortable to stay in. Since it was the weekend, they planned to have a hotpot and bring a few boxes of drinks from the bar to drink to their heart’s content.

“Alright, I won’t be polite.” Du Heng walked around the living room, where his returned luggage was all packed in cardboard boxes. Seven boxes were neatly stacked by size in the corner of the room. He easily found the smallest box, took it down from the top, and handed it to Shen Li.

“This is a gift for your mother and you.” He always brought souvenirs for Cheng Zhao and Shen Li whenever he returned from City B. They weren’t valuable items, just tokens of his thoughts.

“We should head back now.” It was getting late, and Du Heng needed to rest after his long journey. Since everyone was back, catching up could wait. Shen Li said, “Get some rest, and we’ll have dinner at my place tomorrow night. We can chat more then.”

After a simple farewell, Shen Li and Lu Changting went downstairs and back to the car. When they opened the box, they found two large gift boxes.

Du Heng’s gifts were well thought out, divided into two portions, each in a gift box. One box, labeled “For Shen Xiao Li and his boyfriend,” contained some snacks. The other, labeled “For the beautiful Cheng Zhao,” contained not only snacks but also a box of ejiao cake.

Shen Li put the gift boxes back in place and took out his phone to send a WeChat message to Cheng Zhao.

“Since we’re nearby, let’s visit my mom.” Shen Li typed while speaking. “We’ll drop off the gifts.”

Lu Changting tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “So suddenly… I didn’t prepare any gifts…”

It seemed inappropriate to go empty-handed when Du Heng always brought gifts.

“Buy some fruit,” Shen Li suggested, thinking that Lu Changting hadn’t given him a chance to prepare a gift when he took him to meet his parents. “My mom likes lychees.”

The place was indeed close—just one subway stop away or a ten-minute drive.

Lu Changting carried a basket full of lychees and followed Shen Li into the elevator, adjusting his appearance in the mirror.

Shen Li found it amusing. “It’s not like it’s your first time meeting my mom.”

“It’s different,” Lu Changting said. “Before, I was just a friend. Now, I’m her boyfriend.”

Even though Cheng Zhao liked him, Lu Changting was still nervous about meeting her as Shen Li’s boyfriend for the first time.

When they arrived on the sixth floor, the elevator door dinged open, and Lu Changting straightened up, stepping out of the elevator with composure.

Although he seemed a bit stiff.

Shen Li held his hand, suppressing a laugh. “Don’t be nervous; my mom really likes you.”

Lu Changting responded with an “Mm,” saying he wasn’t nervous at all.

Not nervous, just a bit hot and sweating.

Shen Li unlocked the door and led Lu Changting inside.

Cheng Zhao’s apartment had a simple layout. From the entrance, you could see the entire living room at a glance. One side was the TV wall, and the other side was the sofa. The warm-toned space had a round window facing the entrance, with some small items on the windowsill and an easel beside it.

Cheng Zhao was wearing an embroidered white qipao and sitting on the sofa, watching a documentary on artifact restoration.

Lu Changting smiled at her politely and greeted her.

Seeing him standing somewhat awkwardly, Cheng Zhao smiled and took the fruit basket from his hands. “Why are you still standing, Changting?”

Her gaze lingered on the red string on Lu Changting’s wrist, and her smile became even gentler.

“Come sit down.” She placed the fruit basket on the coffee table and poured a cup of tea for Lu Changting. “As I mentioned before, don’t be formal. Make yourself at home.”

Lu Changting accepted the tea with both hands and thanked her.

Shen Li handed Cheng Zhao the gift box. “This is a souvenir from Du Heng.” He briefly explained the situation, “He has returned to S City. His rented place is nearby. We just dropped him off and came over.”

Cheng Zhao asked, “It’s not a holiday. Why did Xiao Heng come back?”

Shen Li didn’t inquire why Du Heng had resigned and returned. He didn’t know, so he replied, “He must have had enough of wandering around, so he came back.”

“His place probably needs renovation soon,” Shen Li joked. “I’ll try to bring this business to you.”

“Don’t be silly,” Cheng Zhao chided with a smile. “It’s not appropriate to profit from Xiao Heng’s money.”

After a bit of light conversation, Cheng Zhao’s attention shifted to Lu Changting. “Is work busy for you lately?”

“Not too bad,” Lu Changting replied. “I just finished a project recently, so it’s a bit lighter these days.”

Cheng Zhao said, “You’re still young. While work is important, you should also take care of your health.”

Lu Changting nodded in agreement.

The conversation naturally turned to Lu Changting’s family. After Lu Changting described his family’s relationships, Cheng Zhao smiled and remarked, “Your home must be lively during festivals.”

“We go back to my hometown for the New Year,” Lu Changting said, then added suddenly, “At the end of the year, I’d like to take Xiao Li back to my hometown.”

The Lu family’s roots are in a quaint little town in S City, a few hours’ drive away. Every New Year’s Eve, regardless of how busy work is or how far they’ve traveled, the Lu family members always return to the town to have a reunion dinner.

Cheng Zhao was momentarily taken aback, then smiled and said, “For the matters of young people, you should decide for yourselves.”

She had asked about Lu Changting’s family to gauge his attitude. Having received a satisfactory answer, she could see Lu Changting’s affection for Shen Li and decided not to ask further.

“It’s getting late, so I won’t keep you any longer. Please head back early and drive safely.”

Lu Changting, feeling a bit more relaxed, replied, “Please get some rest, and we’ll visit you another day.”

With Lu Changting having said his piece, Shen Li had nothing more to add, except to remind as they left, “Don’t eat too many lychees; they’re likely to cause heat.”

Cheng Zhao chuckled, “Got it.”