Chapter Eighty-Five: Lifelong Friends

  Li Luyu stood on the balcony, overlooking half of the residential area. Uniformly styled but differently sized villas peeked out from behind expensive landscaping trees.

  The Ferrari's red is dazzling in the garage, and the low-key but bulky A8 is parked on the lake-side Tongmu Bridge. Luxury sports cars are everywhere in this villa area. Li Luyu smiled, "Our family's affairs are just the opposite of what's here."

  "It's fine if you don't want to say anything." An Zhi Shui said somewhat apologetically, she wanted to understand her friend better, but Li Luoyu might have misunderstood her intention, and the hardships of his past life were not meant to satisfy a carefree young lady's curiosity.

  "You want to hear, I'll tell you, it's just that there isn't much good to say." Li Luyou didn't actually misunderstand, people always tend to think the worst first. The An Zhi Shui he knew was a kind and genuine girl, he would only think of her intentions in a positive way.

  An Zhishui leaned against the milky white European-style carved railing, her long black hair hanging straight down in the air, swaying gently as she looked at Li Luyu with a serious expression.

  "Since I can remember, I only knew from my mother's mouth that I also have a father, but I've never seen him. When I was young, I often pestered my mother to ask about my father, but although she never got impatient, her only words were 'wait until you grow up and you'll see him.' Li Luyu maintained a calm smile, 'What kind of father needs to wait until the child grows up before they can meet?'"

  "Maybe there's a shocking secret hidden behind, just like in the movie where the protagonist's parents actually loved him very much." An Zhi Shui could hear that Li Luoyu's tone no longer had resentment and pain, but was very calm. However, this calmness pierced An Zhi Shui's heart. She wasn't a wooden person, her emotional intelligence might not be high, but it didn't mean she completely lacked the delicate heart of a girl, especially since she was also a child who hadn't grown up in a normal family.

  "You also know that it's all an act. Where are there so many earth-shattering secrets? It's more likely that my parents' feelings for each other have broken down, they've separated and both have their own families now, and neither of them wants us two to be a burden on their new happy families." Li Luyu turned his head around, thinking of Tang Yi and An Dongyang. Although Li Luyu didn't know much about the people around An Zhi Shui, some things are actually very ordinary and easy to think of.

  It's just that Tang Yi and An Dongyang are to An Zhi Shui, and their own parents are to Li Luoyu and Li Banyan siblings, this gap is really making people want to cry with laughter. Li Luoyu looked at An Zhi Shui's clear eyes, his hands tightly grasping the railing.

  Perhaps this is the truth, listening to Li Rouyou say these things, An Zhi Shui thought of him living a hard but happy life, her eyes slightly sour, not sympathy, just heartache. An Zhi Shui suddenly realized that she had already learned to feel heartache for someone, and that person was still a boy.

  "I don't remember when my mother first left us without a word, leaving my siblings and me at home. I was probably four or five years old, and my sister had just learned to walk and talk, and loved to totter around the courtyard. She suddenly left, and I cried as I searched everywhere but couldn't find her. My sister cried for an entire afternoon until she lost her voice, and when I came back home, I made her a bowl of milk to drink, but then she got diarrhea that night because I had used tap water to make it." Li Rouyou smiled, "Really silly, huh?"

  An Zhishui quietly lowered her head and shook it hard.

  Three days later, she came back. Li Zi and I just hugged her and cried, begging her not to leave us again in the future. All I remember is that time I learned how to cook.

  Li Luoyu reached out to wipe away the moisture from An Zhi's eyes, "But she didn't mind, the second time she left was five days later, and as we siblings grew up, it went from seven days to half a month, then to a whole month, a quarter of a year, half a year, even several years... The last time I saw her was during my first year of high school, she sent Li Zi to the middle school department of Cuigu High School and had me apply to Cuigu High School's high school division, paying the tuition fees clearly."

  Li Luoyu thought for a moment, his tone flat as if he were just talking about an acquaintance who was gone, "Now I'm in my second year of college, and I haven't seen her again. Maybe she thinks her responsibilities are all done."

  "It's just like that, a very ordinary story. There are many people who are happier than us, and even more who are unhappy. It's just an ordinary story." Li Lu let go of the tightly grasped railing, "Don't cry, I haven't cried again either."

  "Li Rouyu..." An Zhi choked with sobs, tears streaming down her face, "Why are you crying..."

  "Look at you, I didn't do anything to you, but you're crying like a mess. If this goes on any longer, Li Zidu will probably think I bullied you, and Princess Xiu will definitely mock you." Li Ruyi scared her.

  An Zhishui hastily wiped away her tears, not wanting to be seen by Luoyi, but especially not by Li Banzhuang. That would definitely leave a bad impression... Of course, the main reason was Xiugongzhu, who would surely say "Look at this weak and pitiful creature!"

  Although there are always many words to find someone to confide in, to vent, to cry out the pain they have suffered, but for the vast majority of men, they ultimately choose to bury it in their hearts. Why? Sympathy, pity, this kind of emotion is not something a real man wants to enjoy.

  Li Rouyou said a little, and An Zhi Shui burst into tears. He knew that if he continued to speak, his relationship with An Zhi Shui would definitely become closer, but would she always treat him with a pitiful and sympathetic attitude in their future interactions?

  Li Luyu didn't want to and didn't need to, so he stopped talking about it.

  "Tell me about yourself, as an exchange." Li Luyu also wanted to know more about An Zhi Shui, "As friends, the exchange of information should be equal, shouldn't it?"

  An Zhī shuǐ xiān cā gānjìngle yǎnlèi, zuǒ cā cā yòu cā cā, cā de yǎnjiàng tōng hóng le.

  Translation: An Zhi first wiped away her tears, rubbing left and right, until her eyes were red from rubbing.

  "There's nothing good to say, I was born not long after my parents got divorced. When I was young, my dad told me that my mom had passed away and I cried so hard, only to find out later that she was in the US. Aunt Tang used to be our housekeeper, watching me grow up, now she's helping my dad with things, but many household matters are still taken care of by her. That's just how it is." An Zhishui grasped his hair, as if he couldn't think of anything good to say no matter what.

  "It's really strange, since they're married and have kids, why would they want a divorce?" Li Luyu couldn't understand.

  "It's either don't get married or don't have children." An Zhi Shui couldn't understand it either.

  Two broken family children, a boy and a girl, stand on the balcony, gazing at the grey Mediterranean sky. Are marriage, love, and family too complicated, or have adults handled them too simply?

  "I think loving someone should be a lifelong thing, if you've thought it through and want to love her, then you should love her for a lifetime, take care of her for a lifetime, protect her for a lifetime, and go on like this forever. If you can't do that, haven't made such preparations, and haven't thought about it, then don't go loving." Li Luoyu turned his head to the side, looking at An Zhishui with inquiring eyes.

  "I think so too." An Zhi Shui's face turned slightly red, and she was somewhat agitated, her two small fists clenched at her chest, with some unknown anger towards someone, "If you're not going to take responsibility for the person you like for a lifetime, then don't go into romance. If after a long time, you think that the initial combination was wrong, then it's absolutely not about thinking of correcting the mistake immediately. It should be one mistake after another, making mistakes and continuing to make mistakes. Such mistakes are correct for a lifetime."

  "Is being friends also for a lifetime?" Li Luyu's heartbeat accelerated, such seriousness, such persistence from An Zhi Shui, her face flushed red as she said these words with determination and stubbornness. Such a girl, wasn't she the one he liked?

  "Of course, we will be friends for life. Even if our friendship suffers setbacks in the future, even if there are misunderstandings and unpleasantness, I will never give up on you. I will definitely work hard to cherish and protect our friendship." An Zhi Shui looked up at Li Lu You, his height was very high, when she was only wearing slippers, she had to lift her head to let him see her sincere eyes.

  "Let's work together." Li Luyu stretched out his hand and made a half-hearted gesture: "Come, friendship."

  An Zhī's face flushed with a shy smile, she waved her hand and retreated several steps back, "Don't."

  "Come on, I've made a deal with you before, why aren't you cooperating with me?" Li Luyou was dissatisfied.

  An Zhishui could only stretch out his hand and make a half-hearted gesture, which he then combined with Li Luyu's.

  One big and one small hand put together, forming a heart shape.

  "Li Luyu, your hands are so big!"

  "It's too small for you."

  "A curious and strange heart, black and white."

  "My hands aren't even considered black, nor are they strange, at most they're called biased."

  An Zhi withdrew his hand and said, "I won't play such childish games with you anymore."

  Mainly blushing, feeling embarrassed.

  "Well, it's about time, I can also pretend that my stomach doesn't hurt."

  "Right." An Zhi suddenly remembered and said somewhat flusteredly: "Later when they ask us what we were doing just now, what should I say?"

  "First, avoid making bets with Annanxiu, no matter how confident you are in the bet, even if it's a bet on what you had for breakfast today. Of course, also avoid discussing these topics, don't make the same mistake as before." Li Luyou carefully reminded her, "Second, don't be nervous, because we haven't done anything, but you'll still get nervous due to various reasons. Li Zi has noticed, but she won't embarrass you. Third, if they ask what's going on, don't say anything, I'll speak up and you just nod."

  An Zhishui hastily nodded her head. She didn't dare underestimate An Nanshu anymore, after all, she was the confident and poised Princess Xiu.