Lu Zhu didn't sleep all night, and her mind was like a movie looping through the details that she had ignored.

When she woke up the next morning and rushed to the high-speed rail station, with less than twenty minutes to go, she only had time to nibble on a croissant and drink a cup of coffee to refresh herself.

She sat at half past eight and arrived in Jinyang City at exactly ten o'clock.

Xia Zhu was worried that she would not be able to find the address of her new home, so she came to the high-speed rail station to pick her up.

Lu Zhu swiped the ticket and came out of the turnstile, Xia Zhu saw her at a glance, and before she could say anything, the corners of her mouth rose first. Lu Zhu trotted over with his suitcase.

"Is it cold?" Xia Zhu hugged her and patted her hand on the back, "Wear so little, as long as the demeanor is not warm, no wonder your hands are cold."

Lu Zhu wore a thin white down jacket, a light apricot undershirt, and a leather beret, which was light and delicate.

Lu Zhu exhaled white air as he spoke: "It's not cold in the carriage."

"Don't stand still, go back."

Xia Zhu couldn't drive, so he pulled Lu Zhu's suitcase and took her arm to the side of the road to take a taxi.

The mother and daughter sat in the back of the taxi, Xia Zhu looked at Lu Zhu over and over again, she hadn't seen her for a semester, even if she could video call her on weekdays, it was better to see the truth with her own eyes.

She became prettier, I don't know if it was because of her shoes, but she grew taller and taller visually.

Lu Zhu covered his face and acted shyly: "Mom, you don't know your daughter anymore? Why do you keep staring at me?"

She didn't sleep well last night, she almost missed the train in the morning, hurried to the high-speed rail station, put on a simple makeup on the car, in order to cover up her bad complexion, and didn't want her parents to worry about picking her up.

"How can I not know, I know everything about you." Xia Zhu grabbed her cold hand and helped her warm up, "I see my daughter grow into a big girl, and I feel relieved."

Lu Zhu rested his head on her shoulder: "Where's my dad? Why didn't you see him coming, didn't he know that I was going home today?"

"There is a company that has chartered the floating house group building, and your father is busy over there, so it is estimated that he will not be able to come back in the morning." Xia Zhu said, "Your Uncle Jiang has not been feeling well for the past two days, so he is resting at home."

Lu Zhu was stunned, and his head stood up: "Uncle Jiang is okay, right?"

"It's just a common cold, with your Aunt Sun taking care of it, it's fine."

"That's good."

The two chatted about some family matters, and soon arrived at the place.

The new home is in Zhongzhou Jiayuan, and the entrance to the community is a long cement slope, with cyan lattice bricks on both sides. Xia Zhu pointed to one of the fence gates and said to Lu Zhu, "Your Uncle Jiang's family lives here, and the third building in it is."

"Where is our home?"

"Go uphill, go through the door on the right, and the innermost one is our house, on the tenth floor." Xia Zhu introduced to her as she walked, "The infrastructure of the community is very good, there are supermarkets, pharmacies, and barber shops. It's also close to the big shopping mall, just a few bus stops away."

The wheels of the suitcase made noise all the way, Lu Zhu looked around, and saw that there was a pet store with an open door, next to which was the express delivery point, and there were people queuing up at the door to pick up the express. Indeed, as she said, there are all the facilities needed for daily life.

Walking to the end of the ramp, Xia Zhu took out the access card from his pocket, swiped open the side door, and led her in.

A black Audi drove out, the doorman lifted the crossbar, and the car drove out.

One building after another stands in sight, and the walls are clean and new.

Lu Zhu heard Xia Zhu on the phone before that the two families were close, but he didn't expect it to be so close, in the same community, Jiang Huaining's house is in the second phase, her house is in the fourth phase, and the two phases of buildings are separated by half a slope.

Smoothly arrived home, the heating has been supplied, and the interior is warm like spring. Lu Zhu took off his coat and hung it on the hanger in the entrance, and walked around the house in his slippers.

After Xia Zhu's careful care, the interior of the house is several times more delicate than in the photo.

Her room is the best-looking, with light-colored curtains, a white plush carpet, small and fresh bedding, an oversized wardrobe with a full-length mirror next to it, and a desk that is off-white with some decorative items on it.

Lu Zhu opened the curtains,

Sitting on the bay window and looking out, the sun is not out today, and the sky is a pale blue-gray, like a brush dipped in ink soaked in clear water.

Xia Zhu squeezed a glass of juice for her: "Are you hungry? Shall we have lunch earlier?"

Lu Zhu drank the hot juice and nodded his head and said yes.

——

At one o'clock in the afternoon, Lu Guoming, who was busy with work, came back in the business car of Fushengju, and looked for Lu Zhu as soon as he entered the door.

"Where's the Zhu?"

Lu Zhu came out of the room, had already changed into a set of comfortable home clothes, leaned against the door frame, put his hands around his arms, looked at the middle-aged man in front of him who had dyed his hair black, and his eyes were crooked: "Dad, who matched you with this body, it's so handsome."

He was dressed in a business-like style, with a black tweed coat and suit pants, and an iron-gray scarf around his neck.

Lu Guoming smiled so much that the corners of his eyes folded a few more: "Your mother picked it up for me."

Lu Zhu changed the object of praise: "My mother has a really good eye."

Lu Guoming took off his coat, and the clothes inside were quite personal, a black down vest, and a dark gray velvet warm autumn coat. He rolled up the sleeves of his autumn coat and said, "I'm going to make something delicious for my daughter."

Lu Zhu raised his wrist and tapped his finger on the dial: "It's past one o'clock, are you going to make lunch or dinner?" I've already eaten lunch, and dinner is a little early."

"Don't you love the braised vegetables I make? I'm going to give you a pot of stew." Lu Guoming teased her, "If you don't want to eat, forget it, I'll rest for a while."

Lu Zhu grinned the corners of his mouth and smiled flatteringly: "I'll eat, I'll eat."

Lu Guoming tinkered in the kitchen for several hours and made a pot of all kinds of braised vegetables, which was not much different from what was sold in the store. As soon as Lu Zhu was ready, he ate it, took a duck wing in his left hand, and put a quail egg in his mouth with chopsticks in his right hand.

Xia Zhu took out a glass crisper box, put out a box, and scooped a spoonful of soup: "Zhu Zhu, send this box to your Aunt Sun, she also loves to eat it."

"Shall I go?" Lu Zhu put his hand under the faucet to rinse, "Which floor is her house on, I found the wrong one."

"Unit 1, Building 3, Phase II, 1201."

Lu Zhu remembered, changed into clothes for going out, put on a woolen hat, went out with a box of pickled vegetables, and entered after registering at the doorman.

The door of the corridor was closed, Lu Zhu pressed 1201 in front of the phone doorbell, and took a deep breath while waiting for the connection, Jiang Huaining should be later than her on vacation, right?

Sun Jingfang's voice came from there: "Who?"

Lu Zhu cleared his throat: "Aunt Sun, it's me, Lu Zhu."

The access control was lifted, Lu Zhu took the elevator to the 12th floor, the door of the Jiang family was already open, and Sun Jingfang stood at the door wearing a thin light gray high-neck woolen sweater, looking at the people who came out of the elevator with a look of surprise.

"Zhuzhu, it's really you, I thought I heard it wrong. When did you get back? Let Auntie take a look, I almost don't recognize you." Sun Jingfang pulled her into the house and found her a pair of slippers.

Lu Zhu was warmly relieved: "I came back in the morning. My dad made a braised vegetable for you to try."

Sun Jingfang smiled, "Your mother knows that I love to eat this."

Lu Zhu sat on the sofa, clasped his hands on his lap: "Is my uncle feeling better?"

"After taking medicine, from noon to now, he didn't pay attention to it, he had to go fishing in the cold weather, and he caught a cold."

Sun Jingfang sent the things to the kitchen and put them away, and then took out a bunch of fruits and snacks from the refrigerator to entertain Lu Zhu.

Lu Zhu sat and chatted with her for a few words before going back, and when she left, she asked, "Didn't Jiang Huaining come back?"

Sun Jingfang said: "He called me last night, and he had to stay in Beicheng for more than half a month after the final exam, and he could only go home after the research on the subject organized by the professor."

Lu Zhu counted the days: "Isn't it almost the New Year?"

"Who's to say it isn't?" Sun Jingfang sent her out.

Lu Zhu entered the elevator and waved at Sun Jingfang, telling her to quickly enter the house, it was cold outside.

The elevator door was closed, and Lu Zhu put his hands in the pockets of his down jacket, with his back against the elevator wall.

She stomped her foot and knocked it off, staring down at the toe of her shoes, her snow boots were shaggy and the uppers were rubbing a little dirt on them.

Sun Jingfang returned to the house and heard Jiang Xuewen getting up in the master bedroom, and then asked, "Who is here?"

"Zhu Zhu. I came back from vacation and brought some food." Sun Jingfang pushed open the door of the master bedroom, "The little girl is so beautiful, you didn't see it."

Jiang Xuewen put on his coat: "You still swore to me at that time that she and Huaining would definitely succeed, did you succeed?"

"Don't mention it." Sun Jingfang waved her hand, "It's your son who is not angry."

She didn't know what happened between the two children, after all, they were neither together, nor did they see Jiang Huaining say anything. Every time I asked him, he would only tell her to leave it alone.

Sun Jingfang suddenly had an idea and called Jiang Huaining.

After a few rings, she hung up, Sun Jingfang glanced at the time and frowned: "This kid, hang up my phone, haven't you finished school yet?"

After waiting for more than ten minutes, Jiang Huaining called back and said in a hoarse voice: "Mom, what are you looking for me?"

Sun Jingfang was stunned: "What's wrong with your throat, you have a cold?"

"No, on fire."

"I'm calling to ask you, when is the holiday?"

"I didn't tell you last night, I'm so busy that I'm not sure when I will have a holiday." On the other side of the phone was the sound of drinking water, Jiang Huaining held a cup in his hand, "The professor said that it was more than half a month, and I can't say how many days it will be."

Sun Jingfang didn't talk to him, and was concise: "Lu Zhu has gone home on vacation, and he just came to our house and asked when you will come back."

Jiang Huaining coughed, probably choking: "What did you say?"

Sun Jingfang: "Are you hoarse and deaf?"