Chapter 24: Ren Tianyou
Ren Tianyou and his family had always taken good care of Li Mu.
Even before Li Mu’s parents passed away, their two families had been close friends.
When his parents died, Li Mu was right in the middle of preparing for his high school entrance exams. If it hadn’t been for Ren Tianyou’s family comforting and supporting him, he might have given up on school completely and gone straight into working life.
In fact, at that time, Li Mu had already started working as an apprentice in a hair salon.
Even though he eventually did take the entrance exams, he was so shaken by the loss that he didn’t do well and only got into a local vocational school.
Although a vocational school wasn’t as good as a regular high school, there was still a path forward. He could go to a junior college, then transfer to a full university, and maybe even go to graduate school someday if he had the ability. That road might seem uncertain, but it was still better than leaving school completely after middle school.
“You’re taking your spring entrance exams around January, right?” Ren Tianyou said as he ate the breakfast he had brought.
“Then you’ll be going to college. Listen to your big brother, get yourself a girlfriend in college.”
“The problem with you is you don’t like to smile, and you don’t talk much. But with your looks, finding a girlfriend shouldn’t be hard.” After a pause, he boastfully showed off, “Look at me, I’m not even that good-looking, and I only make a few thousand yuan a month. But I'm a smooth talker, I’ve had more girlfriends than I can count.”
Li Mu just nodded and quietly ate his breakfast without replying.
Maybe it was because he was still young, but he believed that dating should be about responsibility and looking toward marriage. He didn’t agree with Ren Tianyou’s more casual attitude.
“Aren’t you afraid of catching something?” he mumbled.
“It’s fine, I always use protection,” Ren Tianyou said casually as he tossed his empty takeout box aside and stretched.
“I’m not tired yet. How about I help clean your place a bit more?”
“Sure.”
Li Mu put down the rest of his breakfast and stood up to help.
Last night, with Yu Fan’s help, they had already cleaned half the apartment. With Ren Tianyou’s help today, they finished the rest by around midday, and the place looked completely refreshed.
“You shouldn’t work night shifts lately. There aren’t many passengers for ride-hailing at night anyway,” Li Mu said, handing Ren Tianyou a wrung-out towel as he stood on the windowsill, wiping the glass and metal bars.
“It seems like public safety hasn’t been great recently.”
Though Li Mu quietly wondered just what kind of “night shifts” Ren Tianyou was really working.
Ren Tianyou looked back at Li Mu, clearly touched by the rare concern, and gave a relaxed smile.
“It’s fine. Worst case, I just get robbed for some cash. Besides, you never know, I might even meet someone at the bar while waiting for a customer…”
This neighbor was great in many ways, except for the fact that he often thought with the lower half of his body. You could see it in the dark circles under his eyes from too much partying.
Li Mu frowned slightly and silently handed him a newspaper to use for wiping the glass.
“By the way, have you lost weight recently?” Ren Tianyou asked, noticing the change in Li Mu’s figure.
The last time they met was during the summer break. Back then, Li Mu didn’t have a super bulky build, but he still looked solid and healthy.
That made sense, in his free time, Li Mu often did food delivery work. Their town was full of old buildings without elevators, and going up and down stairs all day was a great workout.
Li Mu looked a lot thinner now.
“Have you not been eating much this month?” Ren Tianyou stood by the window, reached out, and squeezed Li Mu’s now softer biceps. “Your muscles are gone.”
This was the change brought by Lin Xi over the past week.
Even though Li Mu didn’t look too different on the outside, the loss of muscle made him seem weaker and more fragile.
His biceps hurt from the pinch, and Li Mu frowned slightly but didn’t show it. He gave a simple explanation.
“Yeah, there’s been a lot of stuff I needed to pay for at the start of the school year.”
It was the only excuse he could give. He couldn’t exactly say, ‘I’ve been dealing with a ghost.’
“Didn’t you just say you didn’t need money? If you don’t have enough to eat, just tell me!” Ren Tianyou looked annoyed and poked Li Mu on the forehead.
“You’re still growing. How can you not eat enough? If you don’t eat well, how will you have the energy to get into a good school?”
Even though the spring exam only allowed him to apply to vocational colleges, there were still big differences between schools. Some were much better than others.
Li Mu could feel that Ren Tianyou truly cared for him like a younger brother. Expressing feelings was hard for Li Mu, so he forced a small smile.
“Come eat lunch at my place. Don’t eat that junk food outside. It fills your stomach but doesn’t do your body any good,” Ren Tianyou said as he went back to wiping the window.
“And the money your grandpa gives you, I’ll go pick it up for you in the car. Your grandpa still doesn’t know how to send money by phone in this day and age...”
“Just eat at my place this whole week, okay? Don’t feel awkward. It’s just one more plate and bowl at the table.”
“My mom talks about you all the time, says you’re so well-behaved and then scolds me like I’m not even her son.”
Ren Tianyou kept rambling. He was only about twenty-five or twenty-six, with a tired look from too much drinking and partying, but he acted like a nagging mom.
“Alright, your place is finally clean now,” he said, jumping down from the windowsill, yawning and stretching. It wasn’t clear if he’d been working a late shift as a driver or out playing all night, but he looked totally worn out.
Li Mu didn’t say anything, just quietly picked up the bucket and cloth, then threw the used newspapers into the trash can.
Ren Tianyou walked toward the living room, but after a few steps, he turned to look at Li Mu, who was still on the balcony.
“Something feels off about Xiao Mu today...”
He muttered to himself, staring at Li Mu’s back. For a moment, he even thought he saw a bit of a girl’s figure.
He scratched his head in confusion and walked into the bathroom. While washing his hands with alcohol-based soap, he tried to figure out what exactly felt strange about Li Mu today.
Suddenly, the light flickered.
Ren Tianyou jumped in surprise and looked up at the ceiling light, then shouted toward the balcony.
“Your light’s broken again! You really need to get someone to fix the wiring!”
“Why does a light always break every time I come here?”
“Coming!” Li Mu had just finished cleaning the balcony and quickly ran to the bathroom, afraid Ren Tianyou might get scared by the ghost in the house.
But when he looked up, he saw Ren Tianyou had already grabbed a chair and was about to change the lightbulb.
“Wait!”
“Why? Aren’t you going to replace it if it’s broken?” Ren Tianyou looked down at Li Mu but kept moving. “Let’s use an energy-saving bulb this time. I heard they last longer.”
“Don’t change it. It’ll be fine in a minute.” Li Mu suddenly looked nervous.
That bulb is still working! Please don’t change it!
Over the years, he had already changed at least 20 or 30 bulbs like this, that’s nearly a hundred yuan!
What a waste of resources! It’s not eco-friendly at all!