Chapter 52

Early morning, early morning in the physical sense.

Zhai Da checked his watch, five o'clock.

He tapped the wall lightly and heard Lu Wei say: "I'm already awake."

Zhai Da rubbed his eyes: "Brush your teeth and wash your face."

"Hmm."

"Also, come in a minute later; I'm going to the bathroom."

For a man whose first thing in the morning is not peeing, there is only one situation.

He has reached the age of getting up at night.

After draining and drying, Zhai Da opened the bathroom door again, and Lu Wei was already at the door.

Just waking up, she was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts; the cold white skin matched the dim morning light, and she was holding her plastic toothbrush cup in her right hand.

Her left hand handed out a new toothbrush.

Zhai Da took it, confused.

"Your toothbrush, the bristles are already messy... so I bought you a new one."

Zhai Da stared at it for a while; it was the better quality kind, which would cost seven or eight yuan at the small shop.

He readily changed to the new one, squeezed toothpaste again, and conveniently pulled hers out of Lu Wei's cup, squeezing a portion for her too.

"In the future, just put your toothbrush cup here; there are still several months before college; no need to carry it back and forth."

Lu Wei nodded hesitantly.

The two just brushed their teeth quietly in front of the mirror like this.

Usually, because Yu Xiaoli was there, both of them were deliberately avoiding using the bathroom at the same time, even for such a child-friendly thing as brushing teeth and washing hands; today was the first time.

One by one, they inexplicably entered the same frequency.

Around 5:30, the two had already finished washing up on tiptoe, left a note saying "Lu Wei and I are going for a morning run," put on their schoolbags, and went out the door.

The sunlight was cold, as if there was a thin mist, and even the air carried a bit of cool dampness.

Zhai Da rubbed his face with the mist, exchanging it for a moment of sobriety.

Then he took Lu Wei and headed in the opposite direction of the school.

Since the plan was set last night, today he had to start executing it without stopping; although there were three days left until the registration deadline, if any link got stuck, he would have to wait another year.

There was almost no one on the street after five o'clock; instead, several wild dogs were walking themselves, and when they saw the two, they would stop and look.

Until Zhai Da saw a huge back, and also stopped and looked.

Lu Wei saw him stop and stood still behind him.

"Classmate?"

Zhai Da nodded: "Hmm."

Fan Junwei.

Zhai Da wouldn't recognize that exaggerated body shape wrong; there weren't many duplicates in the whole Wang Dongyang County, and the other party was wearing the Maofang Middle School uniform.

Fan Junwei was facing away from Zhai Da, holding a bamboo broom, cleaning the ground quickly and skillfully.

This intersection seemed to have had many night stalls the night before, and a large number of bamboo sticks, paper cups, and packaging bags were scattered on the ground; on the asphalt road, there were also puddles of oil.

Judging from the amount of trash, they definitely don't need to play "We are all living hard."

Fan Junwei piled the trash to one side, then carried a bucket of water and sprinkled it on the oil stains; the water carried a little foam, and he continued to scrub with the broom.

Very serious, very silent, very skillful.

The broom splashed up dust and water mist, slightly wetting the cuffs of his school uniform pants; the old travel shoes, whose original color couldn't be seen, were covered with tiny mud spots.

At the end of the road, a tricycle exclusive to sanitation workers drove over, with several huge sanitation trash cans shaking behind the cart.

The one pedaling was a thin old lady, who seemed to be only 1.5 meters tall, and the tricycle was not electric, so it was very strenuous to pedal.

The old lady parked the cart, pulled out the shovel placed horizontally in the cart bucket, shoveled the trash gathered by Fan Junwei into the cart, while Fan Junwei shouted: "Grandma, watch your waist."

And then he picked up a sanitation trash can over a meter high and placed it on the side of the road.

At this moment, he just happened to meet Zhai Da's gaze across the road.

Zhai Da's eyes were a bit complicated; he finally knew where the strange smell on Fan Junwei came from... and why he couldn't sleep enough every day.

He originally thought Fan Junwei would be embarrassed, would be angry from embarrassment, would pretend not to know him.

But Fan Junwei didn't hesitate and immediately waved with a smile.

"Up so early? Morning run?"

Zhai Da also waved with a smile.

"Going to the internet cafe."

Fan Junwei:...

He was a bit curious about Lu Wei behind Zhai Da, but after all, he wasn't the type of person who liked gossip, so he didn't ask more.

The old lady also looked over, and Zhai Da nodded slightly: "Good morning, Grandma."

It counted as greeting the elder from afar, and Lu Wei followed suit.

Then the two turned left at the intersection.

He always felt that Fan Junwei on the road was more...

More concrete, more vivid.

He was no longer that "classmate" who slept on the desk all day and gave off a strange smell.

But a... man.

"Little Wei, who is that~" the old lady said with a heavy local accent.

Fan Junwei looked at the backs of the two and also said in the local dialect: "School friend."

The old lady wasn't happy, but rather a bit sad: "I told you not to come help; if you're seen, you'll be laughed at by classmates!"

Fan Junwei shook his head: "Zhai Da... shouldn't."

As for why, he couldn't explain it either.

After speaking, Fan Junwei continued to move the trash cans; these thick black trash cans were not strenuous in his arms.

The old lady looked at her grandson's sturdy body, her wrinkled old face full of smiles:

"My Little Wei is just strong! This build!!"

Fan Junwei also smiled: "That's right! I didn't eat my meals for nothing! Grandma, you just rest on the side; I'll definitely finish it for you before six!"

The old lady wasn't idle either, the broom sweeping away the city's stains, talking to herself:

"Your grandfather is 1.7 meters, your father is 1.8 meters, Little Wei is 1.9 meters..."

"Your grandfather didn't go to school, your father went to junior high, Little Wei is in high school! That's an intellectual!"

"Our family isn't big, but our family is living better and better... living better and better~"

——————

Zhai Da took Lu Wei and walked for about another intersection, stopping in front of "Sabak Internet Cafe."

From the name, it's not hard to see what game the boss played back then; this is also the internet cafe closest to Zhai Da's home in Wang Dongyang County.

Before his rebirth, Zhai Da was also a regular here; not to say addicted, but he came at least three times a week; at first it was playing CS, later to hook up with little girls (online dating) he changed to playing Audition, but his hands were disabled and he couldn't play well, and he had no money or energy for the dress-up system.

Later he was abandoned by the family.

Not Zang'ai, it's called "￡Prison Evil Me Soul Break San", Zhai Da couldn't even read the full name of his family until he was kicked out.

If you count his past life, he hadn't been to an internet cafe like this for eight years.

He turned his head to look at Lu Wei; the other party probably hadn't been in for eighteen years...

"It will be a bit smelly inside."

Lu Wei nodded, subconsciously holding her breath, which was quite cute.

Once entering the internet cafe, the strange smell left by staying up all night rushed straight to his forehead: foot odor, stuffy smell, smell of old cigarette oil, smell of takeout barbecue.

He probably knew who the main customers of the night stall at the corner just now were.

Lu Wei's nostrils moved, but she didn't express more; it was smelly but bearable.

The internet cafe manager was a young man in his twenties; Zhai Da vaguely remembered that the other party seemed to be called "Brother Hai"; he didn't look much older than them, but in fact, the other party hadn't studied after junior high and had been working for almost ten years.

Wearing glasses, he looked very gentle, but in fact, Zhai Da knew that the other party was quite social; he fought fiercely and had great strength, and it seemed he usually worked out.

For Brother Hai, Zhai Da hadn't seen him for more than half a month, and he greeted enthusiastically: "Da Zi hasn't been here for a while? Rare guest!"

Seeing the girl behind Zhai Da, Brother Hai was a bit surprised, but didn't ask more.

Suddenly he felt like he was old... Zhai Da had been surfing the internet here since elementary school, and at that time he was only fifteen or sixteen.

Now he has grown up too... has some level, girlfriend is so pretty.

Morning?