Chapter 26: Those Years

That night, Yin Zhicheng and Li Guohong, two old men, got utterly drunk at the dinner table, collapsed on the sofa watching TV, and kept blathering nonsense to each other before finally snoring soundly.

Lin Xiuhong got up to clear the table, and Li Luo helped Ying Chanxi clean the living room and kitchen together.

"What do we do with them?" Li Luo asked, turning to look at the two men on the sofa.

"Same old rule," Lin Xiuhong rolled her eyes. "Cover each of them with a blanket. Ying Chanxi's sofa is plenty wide."

Saying that, Lin Xiuhong went to fetch the blankets, but suddenly, Yin Zhicheng—who had been asleep—jolted awake, sat up, and shoved Li Guohong half-heartedly.

"Get up, let's keep drinking."

Li Luo and Ying Chanxi exchanged glances, then couldn't help laughing.

But unexpectedly, Yin Zhicheng still had energy—he staggered to his feet from the sofa, shuffled over to the cabinet beside the TV, and pulled out a guitar.

"Friends for life, we walk together!"

"Those days! Ugh~"

"Hey hey hey!" Li Luo rushed over, tossed the guitar onto the sofa, and dragged Yin Zhicheng toward the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom, squatting before the toilet, Yin Zhicheng vomited violently.

Ying Chanxi stood at the bathroom door, wrinkling her nose and waving her hand in front of it: "Why do grown-ups love drinking? It tastes awful, and getting drunk just makes you sick."

"Well…" Li Luo gently patted Yin Zhicheng's back and smiled.

At fifteen, he certainly wouldn't have understood the reason behind it.

But at thirty-five, he knew exactly how hard adult life was.

It wasn't the kind of hard work students faced—predictable, with clear goals—but something entirely uncertain, without right answers, where accidents could happen at any moment.

Studying was hard, sure, but there was always a clear score to chase.

But after entering society, success rarely depended solely on scores.

Alcohol wasn't tasty, but when you wanted to forget all your emotions, it was the most delicious thing in the world.

If you wanted to be happily confused, nothing tasted better.

"Maybe it's not the alcohol they're drinking," Li Luo said. "Like when you're upset, you like listening to songs, emptying your mind—drinking is the same."

"Then why not just listen to songs? Drinking hurts your health," Ying Chanxi replied, clearly annoyed her father drank too much and worried about his health.

"My dad smokes too. What can you do?" Li Luo sighed. Seeing Yin Zhicheng finish vomiting, he turned to Ying Chanxi. "Bring me a towel."

Ying Chanxi murmured "Oh," handed him a clean towel from the rack, then added: "You can't drink like this anymore. And no smoking either."

"You're managing a lot," Li Luo wiped Yin Zhicheng's mouth. Seeing his expression ease after vomiting, he helped him back to the sofa and laid him down.

At that moment, Lin Xiuhong walked in carrying two blankets and covered the two men.

Yin Zhicheng and Li Guohong's snores rose and fell like a chaotic symphony rehearsal by newcomers.

"Alright, pour two glasses of water and leave them on the coffee table. The rest can wait till tomorrow," Lin Xiuhong said, exasperated. "What about you two?"

"I still need to study with Ying Chanxi," Li Luo said boldly.

"Just say you want to play on the computer—don't pretend to be so noble," Lin Xiuhong rolled her eyes and headed to the opposite room to prepare for a bath and sleep. "Your dad probably won't wake up tomorrow morning. Remember to come with me to the store."

"Got it."

After seeing Lin Xiuhong off, Li Luo returned to the living room—but had no intention of playing on the computer.

He picked up the guitar from the sofa and held it casually against his chest.

Watching him hold the guitar so naturally, Ying Chanxi asked curiously: "You can play guitar?"

"A little," Li Luo strummed a few notes, found his rhythm, then suddenly had an idea. He walked toward the door. "Come on, let's not wake them up."

"Where to?" Ying Chanxi followed him to the door, slipped on her shoes, and blinked up at him.

"The rooftop," Li Luo said, already putting on his shoes and heading upstairs.

Jincheng Community's buildings were only six stories tall—relocation housing from the early 2000s—with stairs leading straight to the roof.

Li Luo climbed to the rooftop with the guitar, breathed in the cool night air after the rain, stepped on the damp cement floor, and exhaled under the moonlight.

Ying Chanxi followed him up, still skeptical: "You really can play?"

"Pick a song—you'll find out if I can," Li Luo found an open spot, turned to face Ying Chanxi, touched the strings, and strummed a few random notes.

Seeing his confident expression, Ying Chanxi thought for a moment, then said: "Hmm… Can you sing 'Those Years'?"

"That song?" Li Luo heard the title, searched his memory, and when he recalled the lyrics, he froze for a moment.

"You can't?" Ying Chanxi, seeing his expression, thought he couldn't.

But the next second, Li Luo let out a soft laugh and lowered his head to pluck the strings.

"Back to the very beginning~"

"I remember your youthful face~"

"We've finally arrived at this day~"

Li Luo's quiet voice echoed across the rooftop, carrying nostalgia and longing, instantly drawing Ying Chanxi into the song's atmosphere.

Ying Chanxi's small hand tapped gently along the melody, her eyes reflecting the boy playing guitar under the moonlight, a faint smile curling at her lips.

"... The rain I missed those years~"

"The love I missed those years~"

"I really want to hug you~"

"Hug the courage I missed~"

…

When the song ended, Ying Chanxi stood frozen in place.

Li Luo glanced at her and couldn't help laughing: "Hey, don't you know how to clap?"

Ying Chanxi snapped back to reality and clapped vigorously: "You sang so beautifully! And you really can play guitar?"

"Just a little," Li Luo said modestly.

He wasn't lying, after all, when he made short videos, he really had learned a few tricks from a musician.

But to say he was truly skilled? That was certainly not the case.

It was enough to fool a girl like Ying Chanxi.

"When did you sneakily learn this?" Ying Chanxi snapped back to reality, suspiciously asking, "I didn't even know."

"There's a lot you don't know." Li Luo, fearing she'd keep pressing, immediately plucked the strings again and began singing the next song.

……

Over the weekend, Yin Zhicheng, rare as it was, had no work and stayed home to keep Ying Chanxi company, even cooking several meals himself to treat his daughter.

When he left on Sunday afternoon, besides her usual living expenses and tuition, he gave Ying Chanxi an extra ten thousand yuan.

"Dad?" Ying Chanxi frowned in confusion, "I don't need that much."

"It's not just for you," Yin Zhicheng said. "Li Shu and the others won't charge you rent, but when you're staying there, don't skimp on expenses if you need to spend money with Li Luo or your classmates, understood?"

Ying Chanxi blinked, clenched the money in her hand, and nodded firmly.

Meanwhile, Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong took a trip to the northern part of Yinjiang District and transferred ownership of that house into their names.

But since the couple still had to run their store, Lin Xiuhong called her brother to ask Li Luo's uncle to help move things.

"Mom says you should pack up your things—bedding, clothes, that sort of thing—and bring them all along."

On the next weekend, Li Luo, knowing Ying Chanxi had no class, stopped by her house and said, "This afternoon, my uncle will drive over to help us move our things to that house."

"Are we moving over already?" Ying Chanxi checked the dates and asked, "A week and more until school starts, right?"

"What's wrong with that?" Li Luo looked puzzled.

"So if we move over, will I just live there until school starts?" Ying Chanxi asked again.

"Of course," Li Luo said as if it were obvious. "You take the bus every day to school—don't you get tired?"

"Actually… it's not that bad?" Ying Chanxi said, then quietly added, "What about you?"

"I'm moving over too, obviously," Li Luo looked at her strangely. "You're bringing your computer over too—I have to go with you, otherwise what am I going to play?"

Hearing this answer, Ying Chanxi didn't know whether to be happy or speechless.

"What? You thought I wasn't coming with you?" Li Luo chuckled at her. "Tsk tsk tsk—you're that eager for me to move in?"

"I just thought you'd cook for me," Ying Chanxi turned her head away, stubbornly saying, "After we move, I won't be able to eat Lin Yi's food anymore."

"My cooking isn't necessarily better than my mom's."

"Hmph." Hearing Li Luo say that, Ying Chanxi let out two cold laughs, narrowing her eyes at him. "You can't cook? Then why was the food so good the day my dad came back?"

Li Luo blinked, feeling uneasy under her stare, and insisted, "That was your dad cooking well…"

"You're kidding me," Ying Chanxi snapped. "My dad cooked the next two days too—nothing like the first day's meal."

"Oh, maybe my parents secretly went over to help."

"Don't you remember when I told you to bring an umbrella to the bus stop?" Ying Chanxi narrowed her eyes, wearing the expression of 'the truth is revealed.' "When we came back, we ran into your parents at the gate of the neighborhood—when did they have time to cook for my dad?"

"How do you remember this so clearly…" Li Luo muttered under his breath.

"So it really was you who cooked for my dad?" Ying Chanxi confirmed it, instantly furious, grabbing Li Luo's ear and starting to settle accounts. "At dinner that day, you asked if Dad's food was good! How could you even say that!"

"Ow—stop, stop!" Li Luo gripped her wrist tightly, bending over in surrender. "It was just because your dad hurt his finger—I helped out a little. Just pretend he cooked it, okay?"

"Hmph." Ying Chanxi hadn't really pulled hard; she let go and turned away, stomping off to pack the clothes they'd take over, still fuming.

Li Luo, left in the living room, was speechless, thinking: How could Uncle Yin be so clueless? Doesn't he have any clear sense of their cooking skills?

Who does that to a teammate?

"Go to the study and sort out the computer—what needs to be taken over, I don't know." Ying Chanxi, halfway through packing, stuck her head out of the bedroom, then warned, "If you ever trick me again, I'll make Lin Yi bring the computer back and not let you play with it."