13 Trophies

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Yet when Lu Yu heard that they were still worried about him, a faint happiness stirred in his heart.

He placed both hands on his knees and nodded firmly. “All right.”

His eyes, bright with tears after crying, gleamed—but Zhuang Ningyue could not see them.

All she saw was him nodding, and all she heard was his quiet assent.

“You really are my good boy.” Zhuang Ningyue reached out and stroked Lu Yu’s cheek.

Lu Yu was so happy he could hardly contain himself.

Afterward, Zhuang Ningyue had the people in the villa move Lu Yu’s belongings to a guest room near the rear garden. He did not own much, and once everything had been carried in, he began tidying the room himself.

The guest room was smaller than his old bedroom, and it received less sunlight. Its only real advantage was probably that it was quiet.

His former room had been next to Lu Linxing’s. Sometimes, Lu Linxing played games in the middle of the night and made quite a racket.

Lu Yu had complained to him several times, but it had done no good.

Thinking of that, Lu Yu managed to comfort himself again. At least it was quiet here, wasn’t it?

The phone on the bed suddenly rang. Lu Yu hauled himself up from the floor, picked it up, and saw that Song Jianli was calling.

He brought the phone to his ear and answered. “Brother Jian.”

“What are you doing?” Song Jianli sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, while Wang Yang sat opposite him.

“In my room,” Lu Yu said softly. “Why?”

Song Jianli listened carefully, trying to determine whether there was any unusual emotion in Lu Yu’s voice. Fortunately, it sounded much as it always did.

“Nothing. Where are your mother and the others?” Song Jianli asked casually. He was not particularly interested in the whereabouts of anyone in the Lu family except Lu Yu.

At the mention of Zhuang Ningyue, Lu Yu’s eyes brightened. “Brother Jian, I’ll tell you something in secret. Mom praised me today.”

The happiness in his voice nearly spilled over. Song Jianli’s lips curved as well. “Were you happy?”

“Mm!” Lu Yu nodded.

After smiling, sorrow and tenderness slowly crept into Song Jianli’s eyes.

“That’s good, then. You keep busy. We’ll chat on WeChat tonight.” Song Jianli could tell that Lu Yu was probably organizing his belongings, so he did not want to disturb him.

“All right. Bye, Brother Jian.”

Only after hearing the other man hum in response did Lu Yu hang up.

He placed the phone on the bedside table and returned to the carpet to sort through his books and notes.

His diary slipped out from the pile of books, and the medical report tucked inside drifted to the floor in front of him.

Lu Yu’s hands, which had been holding the books, froze. He carefully set them beside his legs, then picked up the report.

Because of this illness, he seemed to have forgotten two people: one was his older brother, and the other was… a classmate.

He had not told his family about the illness yet. Before today, he had been afraid to tell his mother. But after what had happened today, surely she would worry about him, wouldn’t she?

If nothing else, perhaps he could tell his… older brother. He simply did not know what kind of person his brother was. Would he, like their parents, think Lu Yu was troublesome and making a fuss over nothing?

The thought made Lu Yu afraid to face Lu Jinlv again.

After much deliberation, Lu Yu seemed to make up his mind. He picked up all the medical reports, arranged them in order, and opened the door to return to his former room.

After his belongings had been moved out, the family had begun redecorating it for Lu Xiangyi.

Lu Yu hurried out barefoot. He was so light-footed that his steps across the wooden floor made no sound at all.

“Here, move the bed a little farther in. Leave more space for Xiangyi. And the bookshelf—don’t put it too close to the bed. What if Xiangyi bumps into it?” Zhuang Ningyue directed Uncle Liu and the others from inside.

Lu Yu’s hand rested against the doorframe. The foot he had been about to step into the room came to a halt. Carefully, he edged half his head inside and saw Zhuang Ningyue sitting at the desk.

She had already changed clothes, now wearing something more suited to the home: a soft white dress.

“The wardrobe is rather old, isn’t it? Uncle Liu, contact someone and have a new one delivered later. As soon as possible—Xiangyi will be here soon.” Zhuang Ningyue opened the wardrobe and glanced inside. It was clean enough, but after more than a decade of use, it was hopelessly out of step with modern tastes.

Uncle Liu agreed to each instruction in turn.

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Just then, a phone rang inside the room. It was Zhuang Ningyue’s phone, and Lu Yu heard her answer it.

“You’re almost here?”

“I’ve already had your room prepared. I’m sure you’ll love it!”

“I know. It’s right next to your Brother Linxing’s room. I knew you two brothers were close.”

“Your uncle-in-law and I even bought the earliest flight back especially for our precious boy. Your aunt loves you most, doesn’t she?”

At that point, Zhuang Ningyue seemed to notice something stuck to the desk where she was sitting.

While continuing her call, she picked at it with her manicured fingers.

But it was firmly attached, and she could not peel it off.

“You want mango pudding? Of course. I’ll have Auntie make some for you later.” Zhuang Ningyue patiently answered the person on the other end.

“All right, all right. Be careful on the way, sweetheart.”

Her voice was so gentle it seemed almost syrupy.

Lu Yu’s heart turned cold.

He had thought his mother had rushed home for his sake.

So that was not the case.

She had made him move to the guest room only because Lu Xiangyi wanted to stay next to Lu Linxing.

All right, then, Mother. Your love for me was a lie. You love outsiders more than you love me.

He could only blame himself for wanting too much.

“Replace the desk too,” Zhuang Ningyue said as she rose.

Lu Yu knew what she had just been picking at. It was a photograph.

A photograph of himself as a chubby little boy with Zhuang Ningyue.

Lu Yu could no longer hold himself together. Hiding the medical reports behind his back, he turned and ran back to his room.

Downstairs, Aunt Hui hurried forward and warmly took the coat Lu Jinlv had removed.

Lu Jinlv looked up and watched Lu Yu run all the way back to his room, an inscrutable expression on his face.

“What is it, Young Master?” Aunt Hui asked cautiously when she saw him frown.

“Has Mother come home?” Lu Jinlv asked.

“She has. Sir and Madam are both home.” Aunt Hui smiled with great affection.

Lu Jinlv nodded, then asked, “Where are they?”

“Sir is resting in his room. Madam is in the Second Young Master’s room,” Aunt Hui replied.

“What is she doing in his room?” Lu Jinlv asked, puzzled. Why had Lu Yu just run away?

Aunt Hui then told him the whole story from beginning to end.

Lu Jinlv’s brows drew tightly together. “She wants the two of them to stay next to each other? What is Mother thinking?”

A few years ago, when Lu Xiangyi had come to stay for a while, he and Lu Linxing had shared a room. The noise had been unbearable even from two rooms away. Now that they were both older, wouldn’t they tear the house apart?

“It was Madam’s decision.” Seeing Lu Jinlv’s anger, Aunt Hui’s smile faded.

Lu Jinlv pressed his lips together. “What about Lu Yu?”

“The Second Young Master is staying in the room at the end of the corridor.”

Lu Jinlv looked upstairs again.

At that very moment, he met Zhuang Ningyue’s eyes as she stepped out of the room. Seeing the son she had not laid eyes on for two months, Zhuang Ningyue rarely allowed herself to display a mother’s tenderness.

“You’re home from work, Xiaojin. You must be tired.” Zhuang Ningyue came downstairs in her slippers.

Then she opened her arms and gave Lu Jinlv a large hug. “Have you lost weight, Xiaojin?”

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Lu Jinlv removed her hands from him and said, “Mother, why did you put Lu Xiangyi’s room next to Lu Linxing’s?”

Zhuang Ningyue smiled gently. “Xiangyi likes playing with Xingxing. There’s no harm in letting the two brothers stay together.”

“I disagree,” Lu Jinlv said bluntly.

“I know you’re worried about the noise. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they behave themselves. They absolutely cannot make a racket after ten o’clock, all right, son?” Zhuang Ningyue hooked her arm around his and spoke to him coaxingly.

“They’ve come all this way. We can’t treat them poorly. Lu Yu’s room is larger and gets better light, and Xiangyi is about to take his college entrance exams. He needs a good environment for studying, doesn’t he?”

“Besides, your aunt has helped you so much in business.”

Knowing that persuading Lu Yu to give up his room would be easy, while persuading Lu Jinlv to agree would be difficult, Zhuang Ningyue brought up both the proper treatment of guests and matters concerning his business.

As expected, Lu Jinlv finally began to waver.

“All right. Just remember to make sure they keep quiet at the proper hour.” Even so, Lu Jinlv could not bear to hear his mother speak to him in such a coaxing manner.

Zhuang Ningyue smiled when she heard that. Rising onto her toes, she kissed him on the cheek. “You’re the best, son.”

Lu Jinlv was her proudest child. From childhood to adulthood, he had never given her anything to worry about; he excelled in every way. That was why, only when she faced Lu Jinlv did Zhuang Ningyue lose so much of her maternal authority.

She told Lu Jinlv to change his clothes and wash his hands, then went to the kitchen to have the staff prepare mango pudding.

Lu Jinlv remained where he was, looking again toward the room where Lu Yu now stayed. When Lu Yu had run back just now, he seemed to have been carrying something.

It had looked familiar, somewhat like the thing Lu Yu had wanted to show him the night before.

Only now did Lu Jinlv finally believe that what Lu Yu had wanted to show him last night had not been a report card.

As for what it had been…

If Lu Yu did not want to show him, then so be it.

—

The photograph had been left there deliberately by Lu Yu. He knew Zhuang Ningyue would see it, but he had not expected her merely to look at it.

The desk had been thrown away. That meant Lu Yu would never again have a photograph of himself and his mother by his side.

Back in his room, Lu Yu slid down the door and sat on the floor. He did not cry. He simply could not understand. The room was utterly silent.

The medical report had become badly crumpled. Lu Yu did not know whether he had shown it to anyone before, but at that moment, he seemed to have made a decision. The report would remain hidden forever, never again seeing the light of day.

Because his mother and the others did not love him. His brother probably would not love him either.

Lu Yu did not own many things, but that did not mean they were easy to organize. He threw himself into tidying the room, as though concentrating on the task could stop him from thinking too much.

It was all right, Lu Yu. You had known for a long time that Mother did not love you, hadn’t you?

He worked in a panic, putting away whatever his hands happened to touch, yet the room remained a complete mess.

Whenever he touched a pen, he put it in the desk. Whenever he touched a stuffed toy, he placed it on the bed.

Then his fingers found a trophy. Rising onto his toes, he tried to put it on the bookshelf. It was the trophy Song Jianli had taken him to win at an amusement park for his fifteenth birthday.

They had happened to arrive while the park was holding a competition. The challenges had been exhausting and difficult, and Lu Yu had wanted to give up. Song Jianli had led him through every round, from the first to the last, until they won the grand prize and the trophy.

The prize had been an iron badge—a pass proving they could enter the amusement park free of charge for the rest of their lives. Song Jianli had kept that. The glass trophy had remained with Lu Yu.

But the bookshelf was too high. Even standing on tiptoe, Lu Yu could not reach it.

The trophy slipped from his hands, just as expected, and fell beside his feet. Glass did not withstand impact. After a tremendous crash, shards flew everywhere.

The sound was not quiet. Zhuang Ningyue, sitting downstairs on the sofa and looking at her phone, had certainly heard it. But she only glanced upstairs before ignoring it.

Staring at the broken glass scattered across the floor, Lu Yu could no longer hold back. He crouched down and covered his face as he sobbed. Tears seeped through the gaps between his fingers.

He was not as strong as he seemed. He had simply been unable to find a good excuse to cry.

Brother Jian, the trophy is broken. Brother Jian…

Sob, sob… Brother Jian, our trophy is broken…

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