Chapter Seventy-two: Pulling Hooks

  Li spent the entire afternoon in a state of half-excitement and half-confusion, sometimes feeling that his life was calm and peaceful, not wanting to get complicated with others, and sometimes being curious about this mysterious woman, wondering what would happen next time they met.

  Logically speaking, she's just an ordinary person and shouldn't have anything to do with someone like him, so why did she come looking for him?

  Li Luyu suddenly thought that he had eaten the Longevity Fruit, and he always believed that no one knew about this matter, nor could anyone possibly discover it. However, when they first met, she said a sentence "You are somewhat different".

  Did she find out? Li Luyu's heart skipped a beat, it was impossible, how did she see through it, eating the Longevity Fruit didn't cause any mutations like growing horns on her head or wings on her back, normal people couldn't tell at all.

  Unless she's not a normal person... or the country really has a special department like Dragon Unit that hides people with supernatural powers or extraordinary abilities, and this woman is one of them?

  Li Rouyou shook his head and ruled out the possibility, although he had An Nanxiu by his side, he should be able to accept such things easily, but in fact, he simply did not want to believe it.

  After going to class, several people from Madrid came running over, each with wet pants. It turned out that a fight had broken out later on. Not only did Sun Yang and Zeng Yinan catch fish, but also Ma De Li and Qin Nan caught fish, leaving only Liu Zi Yue victorious in the end.

  Liu Ziyue said that the fish had tasted his flavor and it was not good, so he secretly transferred his divine power to him, allowing him to win a complete victory, bringing new earthworms to the fish.

  Li Luyu thought that every time they had outdoor classes to visit the botanical garden, the girls liked to touch the fish in the water, and then thought about what they did in Madrid... It's still Annanxiu's words, really disgusting.

  It's okay, Anzi knows that water is of no interest to fish and won't go touch it.

  In the afternoon class, Li Luyou brought a rattan stick to class. An Zhishui saw it and was visibly excited, holding two small fists in front of his chest throughout the class.

  An Zhishui didn't speak to Li Luyou for the entire afternoon, exchanging only glances, like underground party members, avoiding any unusual movements that might be discovered by others. It was clear that this was her first time bringing a boy to where she lived, something An Zhishui had never done before, and she felt extremely nervous, even regretful.

  What if Li Luyu suddenly becomes a bad guy?

  What if Li Luyu suddenly has some intimate actions?

  What if Li Luyu thinks her room is not pretty? What if she thinks her bed and doll are too childish?

  If...

  An Zhishui's mind was a mess, thinking that if he cancelled at the last minute after his friend had made so many preparations, it would definitely hurt Li Luyu very much. He didn't want to do something so bad and lose his only friend.

  After class, An Zhi walked out of school with his head down, hastily and quickly.

  Li Luyou went to a nearby supermarket to buy bamboo skewers, and then, in accordance with An Zhi's request, he dawdled for a while before heading towards her residential area. The reason for doing so was that An Zhi thought that if the two of them left one after another, others might suspect that Li Luyou was going to her place.

  Actually, usually when the two of them part ways at the school gate, they would say goodbye to each other, and she didn't think anyone would suspect anything, but today she felt guilty.

  It's a bit of trouble to be friends with An Chixi, but Li Luyu thinks it's not a big deal. Friends always need to make concessions for each other, even if they are the kind that usually clash when they meet. If they can get along in the long run, it's actually a process of mutual compromise, mutual help and mutual dedication.

  Just like today, Madrid can cover up for Li Luyu and play a low-level game with Zeng Yin if they need to, and Li Luyu will also cooperate.

  At the entrance of the residential area, An Zhi Shui was leading a small cat looking around, and Xiao Tian Tian who had destroyed An Zhi Shui's bird nest last time and that middle-aged woman were also there.

  "Your boyfriend has arrived," said the middle-aged woman with a smile.

  An Zhī's face turned red as she hastily explained, "No, just ordinary friends."

  The middle-aged woman just smiled, Li Lu was tall and big, very popular with such middle-aged women, his appearance was remembered very clearly, wouldn't mistake people, last time An Zhi Shui rushed into his arms and burst into tears, if it was just a gift from an ordinary friend that got broken, how could she cry so hard.

  Not everyone can understand An Zhi Shui, she is not as carefree as An Nan Xiu, but she is also not a girl who can be understood with ordinary thinking, although she is very simple, pure and a bit naive.

  Xiao Tian Tian tilted her head and looked at Li Lu You, and unexpectedly had something in her mouth again, a toothpick. She used the toothpick to tease the kitten, who glared at her impatiently.

  The Poodle's IQ ranks second among dog breeds, and their actions are very human-like. The Saint Bernard is a bit more dull, but both make excellent companion dogs.

  Li Luyu walked over, Xiaotiantian ran over and called out to Li Luyu twice, the kitten also stood up, lightly rubbed against her, and squeezed Xiaotiantian to one side.

  Li Rouyou patted the dog's head and then smiled at the middle-aged woman, but he didn't know her name either.

  "Let's go." An Zhi Shui still had some red face, his expression and tone were very stiff, apparently the reason for the middle-aged woman's misunderstanding.

  Registered at the security booth, the security guard was the one who had a conversation with Li Luyu last time. He secretly gave Li Luyu a thumbs up, and this time he personally came out to greet him, which is a huge progress compared to not being allowed in last time.

  Li Luyu walked in and suddenly realized that there was a pool of water outside the wall of Villa No. 18, separated by a passageway and a green belt from an apartment building, where Li Luyu had once been a tutor for a family.

  "It was on the eighth floor, when kids were having recess, I would gaze out at the villas from the balcony, and coincidentally, your house was in view." Li Luyu couldn't help but sigh, sometimes the gap between people's identities is too great, even if they're close by, there's often no chance of intersection.

  "I sometimes look at the stars on the balcony too, maybe we'll have a chance to see each other sometime." An Zhishui said with a relaxed tone, feeling a bit mysterious.

  "How can you see stars in the Mediterranean sky?" Li Luyu was very curious.

  I have a telescope and can see ring mountains.

  "Haha, I'm a poor man's thinking." Li Lu said with self-deprecation.

  "There's nothing good to watch anyway." An Zhi Shui hastily said, actually she liked watching because it was one of her few leisure activities.

  When I arrived at the villa entrance, the nanny was already waiting for me. She was a woman in her thirties with an ordinary appearance and figure, belonging to the type that gives people the feeling that she won't make mistakes, but also doesn't expect her to be very capable.

  Li Luyu used to think that Tang Yi was a high-level housekeeper of An Zhi Shui, but now she knows that An Zhi Shui lives with just one nanny.

  There is also a kitten.

  The villa didn't seem particularly luxurious, or maybe it was just Li Luoye's perspective. Perhaps it was understated and low-key. Anyway, he thought it wasn't as grand as many of the homes of his tutoring students. There were no large chandeliers, no large vases, and no oversized leather sofas. Everything in the villa had a light and subtle feel to it, like still water.

  This made Li Luyu feel very relaxed.

  "Want to go down and take a look?" An Zhi Shui said somewhat nervously.

  "No need." Li Rouyu saw that An Zhi Shui was a bit tense, shook his head, and thought that An Zhi Shui must be afraid of him seeing her room. For a girl like An Zhi Shui, her own room was absolutely not a place where boys could enter casually.

  An Zhishui let out a sigh of relief, Li Luyu if he wanted to see her room, she didn't know how to refuse, maybe she would have agreed, but wouldn't that be very bad? Even if they were friends, after all, he was a boy, and a girl's room hid too many secrets that couldn't be discovered by boys.

  Even those little secrets may seem like nothing to Li Rouyou, but how come girls' minds are different from boys'?

  That's where they're cute.

  Li Luyu understood, so she suppressed her inner longing.

  "Let's get started then, it's getting late." An Zhi Shui said.

  The nanny brought drinks and tea, as well as very beautiful fruits, washed clean and dry, without a single water stain on them, emitting a soft glow.

  Li Rouyou took a sip of tea and found An Zhi Shui staring at him, seemingly eager.

  Li Luoyou smiled, took off the bag he was carrying with him, and first took out the rattan stick and bamboo sign. He had prepared other tools a long time ago, including tool knives, scissors, glue, adhesive tape, cardboard, drawing pins, large-headed needles, brooches, staplers, etc.

  "It's so much stuff!" An Zhishui widened her eyes, clearly beyond her imagination again. She had originally thought that making handicrafts only required hands and materials.

  "What do you want to learn first? Puppy, kitten or insect?" Li Luyou handed a simple drawing sample to An Zhi Shui.

  An Zhishui looked around, wanting to learn everything, but couldn't decide for a moment. She ran into her own room, brought the bird's nest over, and placed it beside herself. Then she said: "Now I'll put it by my side while studying. When I encounter difficult problems, I'll take a look at it. Its structure is so complex and mysterious, who knows, maybe my mind will clear up."

  Li Rouyou nodded, he had already made a glass cover for the bird's nest and given it to An Nanxiu. The glass cover was still spotless, An Zhishui had kept it very well.

  "What is Fujio doing?" An Chishui recognized that it was Fujio and was very happy, feeling that he had already learned something.

  "This is called Bai Di Teng, the vines have less water content and are very tough. Even if they are placed for several years or even over a decade, things made from Bai Di Teng will not easily crack or deform." Li Luoyu thought that An Zhi Shui was someone who cherished these things particularly. If ordinary vines or branches were used, once they dried out, An Zhi Shui might feel uncomfortable.

  So he had to run to the botanical garden to pick those Piper kadsura vines.

  "It's been so long, aren't we both old now? The things we did are still pretty good?" An Zhi Shui seemed to be looking forward to the future and coming with Li Luoyu to see the current state of things.

  "Yes, when we're all old, perhaps our eyes are dim and we can't sit together again to look at these things, think of our youth, think of the person who made these handicrafts with us. Even if we've lost contact, maybe there's a urge to flip through the old graduation album, look at photos, find phone numbers, and chat again. Li Luyu looked at the beautiful Anzhi water, somewhat dazed. In fact, when she was already old, he would still be like this. "We need to do something to remind us not to forget our beautiful memories."

  "We are friends, how can we not be in touch?" An Zhi Shui values her friendships highly, and to her, friends are for a lifetime. How could she forget? Does she need something to remind herself of that friend?

  "Okay, it's not a reminder to remember friends, but a memento of our friendship." Li Luoyu smiled, anyone who values friends and emotions is a good person. He cherished the feeling of having good people as friends because being with such friends always felt warm and reassuring.

  "Then teach me how to use a willow branch to make a little dog, like this, silly." An Zhishui held the willow branch and gestured towards the kitten, which was already lying on its back, exposing its belly, taking an afternoon nap.

  "It's not possible to be like a kitten, but it can be seen that it is a puppy, and not a sculpture or painting, which are all fixed and similar in shape. Otherwise, even a small change would involve steps and folding methods and various length changes." Li Luyu saw that she completely did not understand the requirements of this knitting technique.

  An Zhishui didn't say a word, and seriously watched Li Luyu's fingers and the willow branch flying around. In a simple manner, a small dog with its tail wagging in the wind appeared soon.

  "How amazing!" An Zhi Shui looked at the finished puppy in disbelief and then looked at Li Luoyu.

  "Teach me this time slowly, I'll follow you."

  An Zhishui moved over from the sofa by the tea table and sat next to Li Luyu, holding a rattan stick and staring at Li Luyu.

  "Follow my every move, don't rush, I'll guide you through each step and then we can proceed to the next one." Li Luyou smiled slightly, An Zhi didn't even notice that her body was already completely leaning against his, her head tilted over, her black hair falling onto Li Luyou's arm.

  An Zhī thought that the fruit was really stupid... Of course, it was when doing handicrafts, it was simply the clumsiest person Li Lùyóu had ever seen, even the simplest finger movements, An Zhī just couldn't understand.

  Li Rouyou had no choice but to stretch out his arms and wrap them around her, one hand grasping her left hand and the other grasping her right hand, helping her complete some actions.

  Li Rouyou withdrew his arm after he was done, and didn't take advantage of the situation. But An Zhi Shui seemed to have no feeling about being held by a boy just now. She stared blankly at the wisteria in her hand, her eyes were fixed, but full of confusion, thinking about what Li Rouyou had done earlier, how did he do it?

  Li Rouyou taught him step by step like this, and the little dog that he could make in one minute took An Zhi Shui a full thirty minutes to repeat.

  "Wow, that's amazing!" An Zhi Shui finally finished it and placed the puppy on the coffee table, clenching her small fist excitedly.

  Three little dogs stood in a row, and Li Luoyu smiled and asked, "Have you learned it?"

  An Zhishui thought hard for a moment, his eyes gradually becoming distant, and after a long time, he shook his head dejectedly: "No."

  "Let's try again, this time you do it. If you come across a part that you don't know how to do, think carefully and observe the little dog that has already been done well. If you still can't remember, I'll teach you again." Li Luyou said patiently.

  "Thank you." An Zhi said with embarrassment.

  An Zhishui is still very clumsy, it takes her thirty steps to smoothly make more than ten of them, and the rest are slowly prompted by Li Luyou.

  Let's try again, this time making great progress, completing more than 20 steps, with only a few remaining that require Li Luoyu's guidance.

  At last, An Zhi Shui finally learned it.

  "It's amazing, I started learning and it took me at least five attempts to master it, but you mastered it in just four attempts." Li Luyu didn't say that he was a thief of skills, but rather that he stood beside the craftsmen silently memorizing the steps, went home and experimented with them several times before completely replicating them, and also learned some common techniques.

  "Really?" An Zhi Shui was so excited that she grabbed Li Luoyu's hand and shook it back and forth, almost hitting her own bulging chest. She suddenly realized how excited she was and quickly let go of Li Luoyu's hand, remembering the intimate way he had taught her earlier...

  Seeing her blush, Li Luyu hastily said: "Next we'll learn to make a giraffe. A giraffe is evolved from a small dog, and most of the steps are the same. With your experience, you don't need me to guide you step by step, and you will learn quickly."

  Yeah, just now he was just teaching himself hand in hand, although it's a bit intimate, but it doesn't count as anything, anyway, it won't happen again. An Zhi Shui's face turned red as she grasped the rattan stick tightly and stared at him fiercely. She had already discovered that what she did with Li Luoyu was something she didn't dare to think about before. She never thought that she would let a boy surround her without realizing it.

  "Don't look at the rattan stick, look at my technique. I don't want to waste any more time." Li Luyou reminded her.

  Annan Xiu quickly looked at Li Luyu's movements again.

  Li Rouyou taught her step by step like this, and finally she learned to make a puppy, giraffe, elephant, as well as an ant and scorpion.

  "It's getting late, I should head back. Next time we have a chance, I'll teach you to make other things with bamboo skewers." Li Luoyu glanced at the time and bid farewell on his own initiative.

  "Let's go eat hot pot, as promised. You teach me this and I'll treat you to hot pot." An Zhi Shui stood up and followed Li Luoyu to the door.

  "Never mind, next time then, it's too late." Li Luoyu felt a bit disappointed. Normally, An Zhi Shui should have invited him to dinner before leaving. Although they had hot pot together, going out to eat and eating at home were obviously very different.

  Walking to the door, I saw Li Luyu walking to the gate of the villa's small courtyard, and An Zhi Shui ran over again.

  Li Luyu heard footsteps and turned around to look at her, "Anything else?"

  An Zhī shuǐ yǒu xiē jiāo jí, yòu yǒu xiē liǎn hóng.

  Translation: An knew the water was a bit anxious and also a bit red-faced.

  "What's wrong?" Li Luyu also wondered.

  "Li Rouyu... I... I..." An Zhi Shui's face turned bright red, and after a long time, he finally said: "Sorry."

  "What's wrong?" Li Luoyu was even more surprised, comforting her and saying: "We're friends, no need to apologize so much, and you didn't do anything wrong."

  "I know I should have invited you to visit my room today, and asked you to stay for dinner... after all, we're friends..." An Zhi Shui's big eyes were wet and pitiful as she looked at Li Lu You, "Don't be angry, okay?"

  "I wasn't angry, just a bit down earlier. Now that you've said that, I know there must be a reason and I feel much better." Li Rouyou's smile became more relaxed and natural.

  "I didn't have any friends before, and I'm a boy... This is the first time I've brought a boy home, and it's also the first time I've played with a boy for so long... And we even hugged each other and held hands, although it was just as friends..." An Zhishui emphasized "as friends" again, his eyelashes were wet and trembling slightly, looking a bit wronged. "I don't have any experience making friends, and I'm still not used to it, so I didn't do well, I didn't do the things that friends should do... Don't be mad at me, okay? I'll try harder next time."

  An Zhī pulled on Lǐ Lùyóu's sleeve, like a little girl who was afraid that others wouldn't play with her, afraid that she could only play with her own dog, and that her friends would abandon her.

  "We worked together and became friends, from ordinary friends to good friends." Li Luyu stretched out her little finger.

  An Zhishui stretched out her small hand and gently hooked Li Luyu's finger, holding it tightly, having a good friend is really great.

  "By the way, last time I only said what I wanted to bet on, if I lost, what do you want?" Although Li Luyu thought he wouldn't lose, he was still curious about what An Zhi Shui would propose as a bet, but she never mentioned it again.

  Li Rouyu did know, but since the bet involved a hug, An Zhi naturally wouldn't dare mention it due to his character.

  "I just want to have winter break after the final exam, maybe it will snow, if it does, can you accompany me to build a snowman? I want a big one." An Zhishui's wishes are always so simple.

  "The Mediterranean rarely snows." In Li Luyu's memory, it had only snowed a few times in the Mediterranean, and the last time it snowed enough to make a snowman was three or four years ago.

  "It's been cold relatively early this year, who knows what might happen." An Zhi looked at Li Luyu with anticipation.

  "Win or lose, I'll definitely build a snowman with you." Li Luyu stretched out his thumb again.

  Hooking again, An Zhi Shui looked at Li Luoyu, then looked up at the sky, wishing it would snow now, and build a snowman with Li Luoyu. One silly one that looks like Li Luoyu, one beautiful one that looks like An Zhi Shui, should we also build one that looks like An Nanxiu? If An Nanxiu saw it, she'd definitely say "ugly to death", never mind then.