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Chapter 23 — He Still Doesn’t Know A Thing (2)
Xu Yilu was actually not very certain whether he had recognized them correctly or not. His left eye was diagnosed to be at Category 2 for blindness, and his right eye Category Three. When he wore those special glasses, at a very close distance, his right eye could make out silhouettes. Xu Yilu had simply recognized the people based on height, and that was also the reason he managed to guess correctly.
Eyes could sometimes be deceiving. However, like what Lin Mu said before, Xu Yilu’s heart could always see more clearly than the eyes of many other people.
Due to his uncertainty, Xu Yilu wanted to lean in even closer. Suddenly, someone blocked his light — Lu Rong now stood in front of him.
“He’s not Lin Mu.” Lu Rong’s voice was inflectionless; not much emotion could be heard from it. He said, “It’s Lin Zhao. Our community in the east zone has an event today, and we’re here to play.”
Xu Yilu blinked. Suspicions arose in his heart. However, he thought about how his eyes were not good, and that Lu Rong could definitely see better than him. How could Lu Rong possibly fail to recognize her?
As such, he nodded. Xu Yilu smiled in the direction where Lin Mu stood and greeted him with Lin Zhao’s name.
It had been mentioned before that there was no logical manner that a blind person and a deaf-mute person could communicate with each other, but Xu Yilu and Lin Zhao had managed to cultivate an extraordinary tacit understanding between the two of them.
Lin Zhao was also able to lip read if the speed was not too fast. As such, as long as Xu Yilu was a bit more careful, Lin Zhao was able to understand what he had said.
Hence, Lin Mu could only bite the bullet, reaching out and holding Xu Yilu’s hand.
Xu Yilu was surprised.
Again, he turned to stare at Lin Mu uncertainly. After some time, he could not help but ask, “Why are you so tall today? Are you wearing heels?”
Lu Rong looked down, his eyes falling on Lin Mu’s feet. A glance, and he looked back up and spoke expressionlessly, “Her heels are a little high.”
Lin Mu was wordless.
He was wearing a pair of low-cut sneakers today. It was really a farce to say that he was wearing heels in the first place.
Xu Yilu showed an enlightened expression. He was no longer feeling doubtful and nodded, “No wonder.”
Lin Mu could not say a word, and he just muddled along with the conversation. Deceiving himself, he pretended that he did not hear anything.
Xu Yilu had come to the park with a similar association from his district. Their association had only been set up recently, and they did not have many participants. Today could be considered the first time the association had tried to gather the people in their district for an outing so that they could interact with each other. Now that the two groups had bumped into each other, they decided to walk around the park together.
Chen Meihua was not familiar with Xu Yilu, mainly because there were only so many people and things she could remember. She had to interact with things for a long time before she could have an impression of them.
Now that there was another person added to their little group, the interaction between Lu Rong and Lin Mu was reduced even further. Seeing how Lu Rong had to take care of the three people alone, Teacher Ma decided to help him out, and he signed at Lin Mu, “Lin Zhao, why don’t you walk with me?”
Lin Mu froze a little. He turned to look at Lu Rong. Lu Rong was waiting with Chen Meihua for a boat to travel around the lake, while Xu Yilu was standing next to Lu Rong, holding his white cane with one hand while Lu Rong supported his other arm.
Teacher Ma was still trying to persuade him. “It’s fine to be apart for a while. Everyone will have to get into a boat, so why don’t you come sit with us?”
In the end, Lin Mu could only nod and followed him slowly.
It finally came to Lu Rong’s turn to get into a boat. He first helped Chen Meihua board, arranged a space for Xu Yilu, a only to not see Lin Mu when he turned around. Standing up straight, he looked around and finally saw Lin Mu queuing up behind Teacher Ma on another pier.
Seated on the boat, Xu Yilu asked, “What’s wrong?”
Lu Rong crouched down and held Xu Yilu’s and Chen Meihua’s hands together. “You guys wait me here for a while. Meimei, be good and sit still here. I’ll bring Jiejie over.”
Hearing that “Jiejie” was coming, Chen Meihua nodded vigorously. “I won’t move, hurry up and bring Jiejie here.”
Xu Yilu laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll hold onto Meimei. Hurry up and come back.”
Lu Rong did not waste any more time. He turned and walked over to the other pier next to him. Teacher Ma had already boarded, and he was holding out his hand towards Lin Mu.
Lin Mu lifted his skirt. He bent over, and just as he was about to take a step, someone caught his arm from behind.
The straw hat on his head nearly fell into the water. Lu Rong caught it with his other hand as he helped Lin Mu straighten up, then placed the hat back onto his head.
“She’s with us.” Lu Rong looked at Teacher Ma from above, saying, “There’s no need to trouble laoshi.”
Teacher Ma looked a little astonished. He seemed a little shocked, and it took him some time to stammer a reply. “A-alright.”
Lu Rong held onto Lin Mu and walked back together. Many people on the boat were looking at them, and good-natured teasing was directed at them both.
Lin Mu held onto the hat on his head. His ears were very sharp, and he naturally heard all the teasing.
Without looking back, Lu Rong led Lin Mu all the way to the pier and helped him into the boat. When Chen Meihua saw Lin Mu, she was thrilled, calling out loudly, “Jiejie, sit with me!”
Lin Mu smiled at her.
It was a boat for four — two on each side, facing each other.
Lin Mu and Chen Meihua sat at the front of the boat, while Lu Rong and Xu Yilu sat at the tail end. Lu Rong was the only one who was pedaling the boat, and he made it seem very easy.
Chen Meihua kept playing with the lotus flowers and leaves around the boat. As Xu Yilu was basically unable to see them, he touched them even more meticulously.
The water in the lake was cool to touch. Lin Mu bent over the side of the boat, drawing his fingers through the water. Small fishes swam past, kissing his fingertips. The surface of the lake was lush with lotus leaves, their rootstalks peeping out from the water, swaying gently in the wind. The blossoms were charming, shyly hiding among the leaves, and they could only be seen properly when the leaves were pushed apart.
Lin Mu looked at them for a while. When he raised his head, his eyes met Lu Rong’s. The boy’s forehead had broken out in sweat from pedaling the boat, and a bead rolled down the side of his face, falling onto his collar.
Lin Mu took out a pack of tissues from his bag. He leaned over slightly, wiping Lu Rong’s sweat for him. Due to him standing up, the boat swayed a little. Lin Mu nearly lost his footing, and he supported himself on Lu Rong’s shoulder in his anxiety.
Surprised, Lu Rong held his waist. Pursing his lips together, he said in a low voice, “Be careful.”
This position made Lin Mu’s face flushed red. It took him some time before he could finally calm down and wipe the sweat off Lu Rong’s brow.
However, it became clear that the sweat could not be wiped away in just one move.
Finally, Lu Rong could not help but reach out and hold onto Lin Mu’s fingers.
“Just like this is enough.” His expression seemed as though he was suffering a little. He said, “There’s going to be more sweat even after you wipe it anyway.”
Lin Mu could only return to his seat awkwardly. Pretending as though nothing had happened, he turned his head here and there. Many people on other boats were happily snapping photos, and so Lin Mu took out his phone as well. Turning on the camera, he snapped photos of the lake, the lotus flowers and the huge swaths of green lotus leaves. When he turned back, Lu Rong’s face appeared on his screen.
Lu Rong’s gaze was very substantive, piercing right through the lens and falling onto Lin Mu’s face.
He did not seem to mind that Lin Mu had his phone directed at him. He raised his eyebrows a little, his long eyelashes sweeping down before lifting back up again, and he looked straight at Lin Mu.
The stare made Lin Mu’s hand tremble, and he tapped on the shutter.
Hearing the sound, Lu Rong suddenly smiled and asked Lin Mu, “Did you get a good shot of me?”
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- SH Chapter 26 - October 2, 2021
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OMG. I think Lu Rong already knows. I must buy this book since it already has English trans.