Chapter One Little Girl

  After Li Banzhu left, the boss took away the oil dish and chopsticks. Li Luyu and An Zhi Shui remained silent.

  Two people raised their heads and their eyes met, An Zhi Shui hastily looked away, Li Lu You originally didn't think much of it, but was also made somewhat unnatural by her reaction.

  "Hehe, this is our first time eating alone together." Li Luyou made small talk, then regretted it, thinking that he was making An Zhi Shui even more nervous.

  An Zhishui nodded stiffly, she didn't know what she was doing either. She had heard that when he was with his sister, he would run out happily, it was clear that she didn't dislike eating with him, but why did she always feel so tense when they were alone together?

  "By the way, did you bring gifts for your other classmates?" Li Luyou asked again.

  "They're all exactly the same stones." An Zhi Shui hastily replied.

  Li Luyu didn't expect An Zhi to bring a big pile of stones from Tibet, but it's also too much to ask her to pick different gifts for each classmate.

  "I'll also give you a gift." Li Luyou asked the boss for a bamboo skewer and scissors, and started making something.

  An Zhi Shui had been eating nervously all along, but now he stopped and stared at Li Luyu with unblinking eyes, not knowing what he was going to do.

  Li Luoyu cut the bamboo skewers into long and short lengths, with a very skilled look, and in no time the table was filled with bamboo skewers of varying lengths.

  "What are you doing?" An Zhi was very curious, could it be that he's arranging bamboo skewers to spell out names? It doesn't seem like much fun.

  An Zhishui's brain has limited imagination in this regard, and Li Luyu would not be so foolish. The matter of putting up names is too childish.

  "Is it building a house?" An Zhi Shui guessed again.

  "Nest." Li Luyu said, and soon wove out a rough outline.

  An Zhishui received the hint and exclaimed, "Really, really, it seems like that!"

  An Zhishui couldn't help but move to the position next to Li Luyu, clenching her two small fists tightly, as if waiting for a miracle to be born.

  Li Luoyu soon finished it, which was built during the Beijing Olympics, the Bird's Nest.

  "Give it to you." Li Luyu put the bird's nest into a large ceramic plate, the plate was clean and white with a hint of water color, the bird's nest was exquisite and intricate, paired together had a strong sense of handmade craftsmanship.

  "Too beautiful!" An Zhi Shui looked at Li Lu You with surprise, "How did you manage to do something like this?"

  "When the Olympics were on, I was very curious about what kind of physical structure it was. Later, when I saw such models becoming popular, I tried making one myself and ended up selling some...I made a few hundred over the summer break and initially sold them for 20-30 each, but later they could only be sold for a few bucks each." Li Luyu also came to understand how the Olympics helped the country's economy through this experience. Thinking that even he could make money from the Olympics, not to mention high-ranking officials and government agencies, "This is nothing compared to your stone being valuable."

  "I really like this, I really love it." An Zhi Shui carefully held the ceramic plate, she decided to find the boss later and buy this plate.

  "Let's eat." Li Luyu looked at her and saw how much she liked it, and was very happy, probably just because it was fresh.

  An Zhīshuǐ was eating while looking at the bird's nest and finally forgot about his tension.

  After finishing their meal, Li Luoyu paid the bill. An Zhishui bought a plate with her own money and carefully held it in her hands.

  "I'm going to the gift shop to have a glass cover made, what do you think?" An Zhishui had never received a handmade gift from anyone before, and it felt not only fresh but also very special and precious.

  "No need, I'll make one for you, a glass cover is simple." Anyone who sees the other person treasure the gift they gave is very happy, let alone An Zhi Shui.

  "Do it now." An Zhishui said impatiently.

  "What can we do now?" Li Luoyu spread his hands, without glass and tools.

  "But if it's placed like this, won't it break? What if I accidentally knock it to the ground?" An Chishui said worriedly.

  "This structure is very solid, as long as you don't smash it to the ground and step on it a few times, there's no problem at all. Don't believe me? Try throwing it to the ground now, it can still bounce a few times." Li Luyou saw that An Zhi Shui really liked this handicraft, and felt a sense of joy as if he had found a kindred spirit.

  "No." An Zhi hid the plate by her side, as if afraid that Li Luyu would throw it to the ground.

  "If you like it, I can make a lot more. Like woven grass dogs, cats, ants, scorpions and all sorts of small animals... More complicated ones are bamboo skewer-made architectural models, I thought they would sell well at first, but they were too complex and big, nobody wanted them, and those who did want them offered prices that were too low, not worth it." Li Luyou thought he had found a shortcut to getting rich at first, but this kind of craftsmanship is hard to make a living with in China, let alone get rich.

  "Then will you do it for me?" An Zhi looked at Li Luyu with a face full of expectation.

  "Alright, I'll make it for you tonight and bring it to you tomorrow?" Li Luyu asked tentatively, wanting to know if An Zhiyu was willing to let her classmates know that she and Li Luyu had more than just a normal classmate relationship.

  "That's not good..." An Zhi said with a murmur.

  Li Luyu was somewhat disappointed. An Zhi felt that the fruit was still very resistant, even if there were some signs of a special intimacy developing between the two people, she was very vigilant.

  "I was thinking of watching you do it, and learning a bit... Next week I have something on, but the week after that, can you come to my place and teach me how to do it?" An Zhi Shui said with some embarrassment, adding: "I'm asking you to be my tutor, but not for studying, just for this."

  In that case, it's okay for Li to go home with her, right? An Zhi Shui has never invited a boy to her own home before, and now the "home" is just where she lives alone, which makes the private meaning even stronger.

  "I'm a tutor, and my fees aren't cheap, you know. It's all one or two hundred an hour." Li Rouyu was somewhat surprised that An Zhi Shui didn't want her classmates to know about their close relationship, but was willing to secretly take her to her home.

  "Don't take my money, I'll treat you to a spicy hot pot instead." An Zhishui's EQ wasn't bad enough that she couldn't tell when someone was joking, but she did find that once something had happened for the first time, the second time was completely stress-free. Just like this time, eating alone together, she could even take the initiative to invite him out again.

  "There's been progress, I thought you'd agree right away."

  "Am I really that stupid?" An Zhi Shui said with some satisfaction.

  "Then I'll send you back." An Zhishui didn't even say he wanted to go back, but Li Zi was still at home. Li Banzhuang and An Nanxiu were alone together for a long time, making Li Luzhi somewhat uneasy.

  An Zhishui held the plate, nodded slightly, as if agreeing to let the boy send her home... An Zhishui's cheeks felt a little hot, but thinking about it, she must be worried that the plate would break, so she wanted Li Luyu to send her home, because the bus would be very crowded.

  Then An Zhi quietly sent a text message and asked the driver to drive away.

  There are many more people taking the subway than taking buses, and Li Youyong and An Zhi Shui got on a double-decker tourist bus, which was surprisingly still available.

  After a while, an old man came up and An Zhi let him have his seat.

  "Let me hold it for you." Seeing An Zhi Shui holding the plate with a careful and nervous look, Li Luoyu reached out to take the plate.

  An Zhī shuǐ què bù gěi tā, "nán háizi dōu hěn cū xīn, xiǎo xīn pèng huài le."

  Translation:

  An refused to give him the water, "Boys are all very careless, be careful not to break it."

  "This is what I did, if I was careless, could I have made something like this?" Li Luoyu wasn't clear how she had come to that conclusion.

  "I've been to the cafeteria twice and both times I saw you bump into others while holding a tray!" It turns out he had a record.

  Li Luyu was nicknamed "bad luck" by his classmates, and An Zhi knew that he rarely went to the cafeteria. So how did it happen that she saw him twice, both times being the result of him and his dorm-mates pulling an all-nighter and rushing to class for roll call?

  "Y...y..." An Zhi Shui raised his head, looked at Li Luoyu, and blinked his long eyelashes. His eyes moved back and forth, looking a bit embarrassed.

  "What's wrong?" Li Luyu asked immediately, he no longer looked puzzled trying to understand her meaning at this time. Annanxiu was like this, and Ankeshui was also like this, they always looked at people with an eye, as if they wanted people to understand their meaning... Of course, Annanxiu was the closest to a goddess, ordinary people couldn't understand her, Ankeshui was slightly better.

  "You... you're surrounding me again, just like last time." An Chishui was still worried that the plate and bird's nest would fall to the ground.

  Li Ruyu looked down at her, the girl in front of him had a fresh long hair, not like An Nanxiu's hair that was scattered and covered her entire back, but a bundle of hair hanging straight down on her back. She raised her head, took a quick glance at Li Ruyu, then lowered her head again, gently tugging at Li Ruyu's clothes.

  The bus moved in a stop-and-go fashion, swaying from side to side. Heads were packed tightly together. Li Rouyu stood out like a lighthouse, her arms spread wide. An Zhiwan was like a small boat, hiding behind the lighthouse and avoiding the waves. She carefully held onto the plate, smelling the scent on his body, as well as the unique smell of the bus and the rumble of the engine. Suddenly, she felt very calm, dazed and distracted, not tense or worried, with no strong emotions. It was a very comfortable and peaceful feeling, as if only Li Rouyu and herself existed, and everything else around her had nothing to do with her.

  "I... I've arrived..." An Zhi Shui slowly came to, looking out the window at some familiar shops, and suddenly snapped back awake.

  "Your home is not here." Li Rouyou shook his head, "Anyway, next week I will come to your home, and I will know where your home is. Get off at the station near your home."

  "How did you know my home isn't here?" An Zhi Shui found it very strange.

  "This is a commercial area, the old houses behind the street shops are quite old. How can your home be here? If it's here, where did the yard come from and how can you still have a large warehouse for storing old electrical appliances?" Li Luyu said casually: "It doesn't matter, although being friends with a rich young lady like you is somewhat stressful, I don't have any ulterior motives towards the class leader, and the class leader doesn't need to worry that after knowing my family background, I will keep a distance or have other thoughts."

  "Ah... Ah..." An Zhi Shui didn't know what to say anymore, her thoughts had all been seen through by Li Luoyu.

  The two people continued to take the bus and after passing two more stops they finally arrived at a relatively new area of mid-range villas in Zhonghai.

  "I live alone with a cat, and also have servants and assistants here." An Zhishui lowered his head, with an honest and humble attitude: "I won't take you in today, because there are people inside, and they might misunderstand. Next week, come directly here, and I'll meet you at the door, okay?"

  Li Rouyu nodded, feeling that An Zhiyuan's original family was not very happy either. Girls were especially hard to bear the feeling of loneliness, and she actually lived alone with only a cat in such a large villa.

  Although it's just a mid-range villa district in the entire Mediterranean, it seems too big for Li Luyu, especially when living alone. If not for the generally reassuring security of such compounds, it would be even more frightening than Li Luyu and his sister living in their old mansion.

  Li Luyu was about to break up with An Zhi Shui when a white giant poodle suddenly rushed out, followed by a middle-aged woman who ran out in a hurry.

  "Little sweetie, little sweetie... don't run."

  Anqi was dodging but not in time, and that woman bumped her into Li Luyu's arms. The plate fell to the ground, and the bird's nest fell to the ground. As Li Luyu said, it was indeed very sturdy. The bird's nest rolled around on the ground, and that giant Poodle named Xiaotiantian got excited, ran over, and started biting the bird's nest. With a few swings, it broke into a messy pile of bamboo sticks, many of which were bitten into two or three pieces.

  Li Luyu tightly hugged An Zhi Shui, both of them staring blankly at the little Poodle named Xiao Tian Tian. After doing all that, it calmed down and stood there with its tongue hanging out, panting happily, not running wildly anymore. Its big round eyes looked at Li Luyu and An Zhi Shui with a very happy expression.

  "My bird's nest!" An Zhi Shui didn't care about anything else, and lay in Li Luoyu's arms, actually bursting into loud sobs. She had always been envious of the handmade gifts exchanged between friends since she was a child, but only received one when she went to college, and now it was ruined just two hours later!

  Today's update is 10,000 words, and there are two more updates of 6,000 words each.