Forced Me to Regress, Huh?

In her room, Lin Lu’s slipper-clad feet kept tapping against the wooden floor, raising and lowering them repeatedly.

She stared at the open journal on her desk, her eyes fixated on the name Cheng Zhu, a strange feeling welling up inside her. I kind of want to cross his name out.

But after reconsidering, she decided to leave it as is. We’re friends, and friends should be open and direct. If I don’t write his name, it’ll seem like I have something to hide. Hmph!

Speaking of which, she was the one who had invited Cheng Zhu to play League of Legends.

Unexpectedly, their skills turned out to be equally mediocre, each with their own amusing characteristics.

Strangely enough, she didn’t mind. She thought this noob duo full of mutual teasing was quite fun.

She had even picked up a new phrase today.

In one game, she had made a failed Flash that didn’t evade any attacks or pursuers.

Cheng Zhu had witnessed her death and let out a chuckle, calling her move a grave-relocating Flash.

Lin Lu had been so angry she nearly lost it. But recalling it now, she found it amusing.

The voice actress smiled as she closed her journal and placed it back in the drawer.

Ever since her grandmother passed away, she had kept up this habit. It all started when she came across a saying: “Pausing time is a divine skill, but photography and recording allow us a glimpse of this divine skill.”

When she read this line, a sense of regret washed over her.

She hadn’t taken many photos with her grandmother.

From then on, she became proactive about recording her life.

In a way, her grandmother’s death had changed some of her habits, influencing countless moments throughout her life.

—The departure of a loved one is not a sudden downpour but a lifelong dampness.

Unlike her, Shen Qingning was not someone who enjoyed taking photos or recording videos. At first, when Lin Lu asked her to take group photos and the like, she would feel a bit uncomfortable.

After gradually understanding her thoughts, this cold and aloof girl became more accommodating.

After the voice call ended, what was Shen Qingning doing?

This cold and aloof girl was in a daze for about half a minute.

Then she picked up her phone and sent a message in the WeChat group with her family members of the same generation.

It was the group chat with Shen Minglang, Jiang Wanzhou, and their eldest cousin.

Shen Qingning asked, “Have any of you noticed something going on between Cheng Zhu and Lin Lu?”

In this group chat, only the eldest cousin wasn’t in Hangzhou. He worked in Beijing and had even missed Shen Minglang’s birthday. Even so, he was always the most active in the chat.

Eldest Cousin: “Lin Lu? Your sweet voice actress friend Lin Lu?”

Shen Minglang: “What do you mean?”

Jiang Wanzhou: “I think there’s something going on too.”

Eldest Cousin: “By the way, who is Cheng Zhu? No one explained it to me last time.”

Shen Minglang: “Now that you mention it, it seems they’re talking a lot less in the chat recently.”

Jiang Wanzhou: “Duh, that’s just the most superficial sign, okay?”

Eldest Cousin: “What?! You guys have another chat without me?!”

Shen Qingning: “I think Lin Lu really likes playing with him.”

Shen Minglang: “What’s so strange about that? I like playing with Cousin too!”

Eldest Cousin: “Since nobody cares about me anymore, I’m leaving the chat!”

Jiang Wanzhou: “No, no, no. Shen Minglang, you idiot, you still don’t understand!”

Shen Minglang: “What don’t I understand? Do you mean I don’t understand Lin Lu or Cheng Zhu?”

Eldest Cousin: “Hey! Who the hell is Cheng Zhu????!!!!”

In their four-person family chat, Shen Qingning hesitated repeatedly and ultimately decided not to continue the conversation in depth. She couldn’t just arbitrarily say it seemed Lulu was interested in Cheng Zhu, right?

Jiang Wanzhou recalled Cheng Zhu’s outrageous remark, “I’m going after your cousin too,” and chose to remain silent.

Only Shen Minglang, in the tone of someone who had seen it all, said, “Oh, come on, Little Lu is so pretty and has a beautiful voice. It’s normal for young guys to have a little crush on her!

“But even with how outstanding I am, I don’t have a chance with her, let alone Cheng Zhu.

“If he manages to win her heart, I’ll wash his underwear for a whole year!

“He’ll figure out his place soon enough.

“Isn’t it good just to stay friends? Isn’t it fun for everyone to hang out together?”

It was obvious that when he said ‘hang out together’, he hadn’t considered the feelings of their eldest cousin, who was far away in Beijing.

At this moment, their eldest cousin erupted in the same frustrated outburst as the last time in the chat. “No one is even paying attention to me. What am I even doing in this chat?”

* * *

After dinner, Cheng Zhu took Little Youzi out for a walk, leaving the restaurant.

Although he said they were going for a walk, it was actually an excuse to check if the small supermarket was officially up for transfer yet.

They strolled leisurely, Cheng Zhu’s large hand holding Little Youzi’s small one.

With her short legs, Cheng You couldn’t keep up with his long strides.

The summer weather in August was stiflingly hot, and holding hands like this made it easy for their palms to get sweaty.

Whenever Little Youzi felt her palm getting sticky, she’d wipe it on her dress to dry it before quickly slipping her little hand back into Cheng Zhu’s larger one.

As they passed by a bubble tea shop, Cheng You glanced back several times but didn’t say anything.

She was the kind of child who rarely made requests and never caused a fuss—unlike some children who wanted things, but when denied by their parents, they would throw a tantrum or even roll around on the ground.

Cheng Zhu stopped walking and looked down at her. “Do you want one?”

Little Youzi didn’t answer directly but asked cautiously, “Big Brother, do you have money?”

Cheng Zhu was amused by her. After laughing heartily, he said, “I’ve made some money recently, yes.”

People were strange. When talking to cute children, they couldn’t help but add extra expressions.

Cheng Zhu was the type to say things like: “First day of the no-swearing challenge! Let’s fucking start!”

But in front of Little Youzi, his tone was much softer.

Little Youzi looked up at him, blinking her big eyes. Her two pigtails swayed as she tilted her head. “Then I’ll just have one occasionally!”

Since her mother always monitored her snacks and bubble tea intake, constantly reminding her that she could only have them occasionally, Little Youzi, at her young age, had already learned to flexibly define the word ‘occasionally’.

No matter how often or infrequently, she would always murmur to herself when eating or drinking, “I’ll just have it occasionally.”

Cheng Zhu took her over to order and even lifted her up so she could choose for herself.

The little girl looked at the options for a long time before asking hesitantly, “Big Sister, which bubble tea is the cheapest? And sweet. I can’t drink sour ones.”

Cheng Zhu laughed happily. “It’s not that bad.”

He ordered a cup of her favorite flavor and specially added coconut jelly for her. She didn’t like tapioca pearls, but she was especially fond of coconut jelly.

After paying, Cheng Zhu took a picture of Little Youzi while they waited for the bubble tea, then sent it to the group chat, specifically tagging Jiang Wanzhou.

“Don’t you want a godsister? Little Youzi wants bubble tea. Aren’t you going to express yourself?”

A few seconds later, Jiang Wanzhou sent Cheng Zhu a red packet in the chat.

It was quite a generous amount, enough to buy two cups of bubble tea, essentially treating Cheng Zhu to one as well.

—He really is. I’m crying.

Lin Lu immediately chimed in, “Wow, your little sister is so adorable!”

Cheng Zhu quickly responded, “What little sister? You have no sense of hierarchy. Call her Aunt-Master!”

Shen Minglang, always eager to engage in such conversation, chimed in too. “Ningning was very cute when she was young. Unfortunately, she’s not cute at all now that she’s grown up.”

Shen Qingning saw the message but couldn’t be bothered to respond.

Once the bubble tea was ready, Little Youzi said sweetly to the shop assistant in her childish voice, “Thank you, Big Sister.”

Cheng Zhu said with a straight face, “I paid for it. You should thank me too.”

“Thank you, Big Brother.”

As for Jiang Wanzhou, Cheng Zhu didn’t even mention him.

With bubble tea in hand, Little Youzi walked faster.

Before long, the two of them arrived at the small supermarket.

Cheng Zhu had come by two days ago, but the for-transfer notice hadn’t been posted yet. Today, however, it was up.

“Let’s head back,” he said to his sister after going in and buying a bottle of water.

As they walked back to the restaurant, the brother and sister tacitly avoided entering immediately. Instead, they found a nearby corner to sit down, waiting for Cheng You to finish her bubble tea, sipping it slowly with both hands, before entering the restaurant.

Just then, a table of customers had finished eating, so Cheng Zhu went over to help his mother clear the table.

While clearing the table, he casually shared what he had seen and heard earlier.

It was as if he was chatting at home, telling a story about the last time he went to a supermarket to buy something, where he encountered a girl and an old man causing trouble because the girl had gotten an abortion because of the supermarket owner…

Cheng Zhu delivered the story like a comedic skit, even poking fun at himself.

Xu Yun shot him a look. “With that mouth of yours, I don’t know who you take after!”

She didn’t say anything more, but she silently took note of the supermarket’s transfer and planned to bring it up with Old Cheng when she got home later.

At this moment, Cheng Zhu turned around and saw Little Youzi listening intently.

He knew his sister didn’t understand anything. But in her eyes, any supermarket where you could buy snacks was one of the most amazing places in the world, on par with a bubble tea shop. So even though she didn’t understand, she still listened attentively.

An idea crossed his mind, and he asked, “Little Youzi, when you grow up, what kind of shop do you want to open?”

The little girl hesitated for a long time before finally choosing between a supermarket and a bubble tea shop. “Bubble tea shop!”

Cheng Zhu gently patted her head and said arrogantly in front of their mother, “Sure. When I make enough money, I’ll open it for you!”

Xu Yun didn’t take him too seriously. She just smiled at her son and said, “Look at you, all talk.”

But Little Youzi looked up at him with hopeful eyes. “Can we pinky swear?”

“Sure.” Cheng Zhu smiled and reached out his hand.

At this moment, Old Cheng came out of the kitchen to drink a bowl of iced mung bean soup since there were no dishes to cook.

Xu Yun immediately said, “Old Cheng, your son is bragging. He said he’s going to open a bubble tea shop for your daughter someday.”

Hearing this, Cheng Zhu raised an eyebrow and said irritably, “Mom, you misheard. I never said I’d open one for her.”