Zhou Jingze was stunned for a moment before reacting. How could he easily let go when the girl took the initiative?
Xu Sui had just stepped into the bathroom door when the world spun and she was pressed against the door. Zhou Jingze pressed his whole body against her, grasping her hands above her head against the wall, tilting his head to kiss her.
The bathroom was steamy and humid, tiny water droplets clinging to the walls, trembling and about to shatter from the impact. Xu Sui lost control and bit her lip, soft moans escaping through her teeth, her eyes misty with a hint of red.
Zhou Jingze reluctantly released her, rubbing gently, his voice hoarse: “This old man will wait until you’re willing.”
Xu Sui went in to shower, coming out over an hour later, straightening her clothes, then Zhou Jingze went in to wash. In the dead of winter, he took a cold shower directly, finally managing to wash away the restless heat in his heart.
According to Guan Xiangfeng’s suggestion, Zhou Jingze needed to gradually get used to enclosed spaces for his condition to be cured. Xu Sui chose a very small spare room in their house – the light was dim and looked incredibly oppressive, but it was beneficial for treatment.
Zhou Jingze directly moved a camp bed inside.
Deep in the night, with the door tightly closed and lights turned off, Xu Sui clearly felt Zhou Jingze’s body stiffen for a moment, his breathing becoming rapid. Xu Sui hesitated briefly, then burrowed into his arms, pressing her face against his chest, saying softly:
“It’s okay.”
Being sick is okay, encountering those bad things is also okay. From now on, I’ll be with you.
Zhou Jingze’s nerves relaxed. He raised his hand to stroke her hair, and they slept embracing each other. For a week straight, Xu Sui stayed with him almost every day, constantly recording his psychological and physiological reactions each night when entering the stressful environment.
Xu Sui really loved this period, as if only the two of them remained in the whole world. During the day they stayed home together playing games and watching movies. In the evenings, they took one dog and one cat out for walks.
Zhou Jingze took her to try various hidden delicacies in Amber Alley. All the households had watched Zhou Jingze grow up, so they spoke naturally and intimately. Seeing him bring in a well-behaved, gentle-looking girl, they asked: “Little Zhou, is this your girlfriend?”
The orange sunset slanted in. Xu Sui crouched there, cupping some water in her palm for Lord Kui who came over panting to drink. She raised her hand to pet the German Shepherd’s head, but her mind wandered, only hearing Zhou Jingze’s voice, low and light, tinged with laughter:
“Yes, my wife.”
After staying at Zhou Jingze’s house for a week, Xu Sui had to go home. After returning to Liying, Xu Sui could only contact Zhou Jingze through her phone. She had never looked forward to the New Year’s arrival like now, so that after winter break ended, she could quickly return to school.
To see him sooner.
At the beginning of the new semester, Xu Sui was immersed in passionate love. Besides attending classes, she spent all her remaining time with Zhou Jingze. To Xu Sui, Zhou Jingze was novel, adventurous, unknown, and attractive.
Xu Sui was like a clean sheet of paper being washed over.
Zhou Jingze wasn’t like a traditional good student – casual with a hint of mischief. He would call her out in the middle of the night, secretly taking her for drives on the highway just to watch a sunrise, then sending her back to class afterward.
He took her skydiving, bungee jumping, doing things she had never dared to do in her 20 years of life.
But Xu Sui had a vague feeling of unease in her heart. By the time she realized it, she had already been called to the office by her teacher.
The homeroom teacher had a standard balding hairstyle, was slightly overweight, always smiling, and had always been kind and supportive to students. He held a thermos cup, his tone gentle: “Is something wrong at home?”
From childhood to adulthood, Xu Sui had basically never caused teachers or parents to worry – she was a worry-free child. Having grown up this much, it was still her first time being called to the office, leaving her somewhat at a loss.
“No,” Xu Sui shook her head.
“That’s good,” the homeroom teacher put his thermos on the desk and took out a blue folder from beside him to flip through. “The counselor told me you’ve asked for leave twice in one week, and you missed a public class last week.”
“Also, although your recent grades are still at the front, they’re declining,” the homeroom teacher smiled, looking at her, penetrating right to her concerns with one glance: “Have you been dating recently?”
“Yes,” Xu Sui hesitated.
“Dating is a good thing. Young people should date more,” the homeroom teacher smiled, blowing on the tea leaves on his cup surface. “But you need to balance study and romance well. Teacher will be frank with you – of the two spots in our department for B University, one is intended for you.”
Having said this much, the teacher’s expectations and the meaning behind his words were self-evident.
Before leaving, Xu Sui bowed to the teacher. When she walked out of the office, the sun was somewhat blinding, and she instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes.
After returning to the dorm, Xu Sui searched for B University. Related links showed Hong Kong, very far from Beijing, one south and one north, with Liying in the middle and slightly below.
Hong Kong’s climate was suitable year-round, located east of the Pearl River estuary. It was an international financial trading city. Related links also brought up B University – strong faculty, especially in medical achievements, with extremely high research standards.
When young, one wants to see everywhere.
Xu Sui looked for two moments, then closed the webpage. She opened her textbook and began studying. No matter what, she should now focus her mind and make up for her declining grades, putting more thought into studying.
At noon, Hu Qianxi returned to the dorm after class. The first thing she did was turn on the fan, muttering: “This garbage school is inhuman. When will they install air conditioning for us?”
Liang Shuang removed her bangs clip, chewing bubble gum: “When you graduate.”
“Don’t mention it, I’m really about to faint from the heat,” Hu Qianxi tugged at her collar to fan herself, muttering: “It’s only May, not even summer solstice yet, and it’s so damn hot.”
Xu Sui was taking notes when she heard “summer solstice” and subconsciously looked at the calendar on her desk – June 21, circled in red pen.
Summer solstice, Zhou Jingze’s birthday.
The way Xu Sui and Zhou Jingze got along remained unchanged, but she had subconsciously refused to go out with him several times. On weekends, Xu Sui did homework at Zhou Jingze’s house.
Zhou Jingze played on his phone for a while, then got bored and started getting handsy beside her. Summer cicadas chirped, the room was stuffy, a cool breeze blew, green curtains fluttered, faintly revealing some panting sounds.
Xu Sui pushed him away, picked up her pen again, and started evicting him: “Don’t come back in until I finish these practice problems.”
Zhou Jingze tilted his head to suckle her neck while groping with one hand, pulling out her test paper to examine it for a while. He pressed down gently, asking in a hoarse voice:
“Are the problems more important or am I more important?”
This was an answer she dared not avoid. Answering wrong would only result in worse punishment. Xu Sui could only say: “You… if you keep this up, I… won’t come anymore.”
Zhou Jingze had to release her, tilting his head to help the girl put on her half-removed white bra properly, then buttoning her clothes. His dark eyes swept over the test paper header on the desk – Mock Competition. He raised an eyebrow:
“Why are you participating in competitions?”
“Mm, actually two of them,” Xu Sui smiled, her tone casual: “Because there’s prize money.”
Xu Sui had recently been busy participating in competitions and putting more focus on studying. But whether it was because she had been too lax before, picking things up now took more effort than usual.
Although tired, Xu Sui gritted her teeth and persisted. She ran to the library before dawn, attended classes in the morning, then spent afternoons in the laboratory.
At 4 PM, while recording animal soft tissue dissection data, Xu Sui accidentally knocked over a test tube due to distraction. The experimental data was instantly destroyed, meaning they had to start over.
Xu Sui apologized repeatedly. One classmate from a poor family background, thin and frail, stared at the overturned test tube, his lips moving. Usually quiet in class, he seemed to have endured this for a long time.
His tone was sarcastic: “Could you bring your brain next time you enter the lab? Just because of your mistake, all of us have to pay the price?”
“You’ve skipped classes anyway, why not just miss this assignment grade too?” the male student said harshly.
Xu Sui’s apologies stopped abruptly, her voice calm as she changed her response: “Sorry for causing everyone trouble. I’ll do this experiment myself, but everyone’s names will still be on it.”
She didn’t think much of it – her mistake, her responsibility. Xu Sui stayed alone in the lab, working until 8 PM to finish all the data, exhausted with aching eyes and unable to straighten her back.
Xu Sui took off her lab coat, packed her things and left the laboratory, emailed the assignment to the professor, then sat on a campus bench in a daze.
Soon Zhou Jingze called. Xu Sui answered, saying softly: “Hello.”
“Where are you?” The sound of lighting a cigarette came through the phone.
“School.”
Zhou Jingze chuckled lightly, flicking ash: “Want to play escape room tomorrow? Da Liu organized it.”
Xu Sui thought: “I don’t have time.”
The implication was she couldn’t go. Zhou Jingze paused, then raised an eyebrow: “You’ve refused me three times this week.”
Xu Sui didn’t answer. She thought to herself: Because I’m not like you, with absolute talent for everything, always handling things with ease.
And me, whatever I do, I have to give my all.
Hearing silence on the other end, Zhou Jingze tapped ash: “Have you eaten? I’ll come find you, I’ll—”
Xu Sui suddenly interrupted, asking in a weary tone: “Could you do something meaningful?”
Besides eating and playing – anyway, his future path was smooth, while she had to work very hard just to keep up with his pace.
As soon as the words came out, the atmosphere instantly froze. The second half of the sentence “I packed your favorite shrimp noodles for you” became unnecessary.
Zhou Jingze switched hands, his tongue pressing against his left cheek as he sneered: “If being with me is so meaningless, you should have seen clearly from the start.”
Zhou Jingze hung up immediately. Xu Sui held the phone, mechanically returning to the dorm to shower, dry her hair, wash clothes, then lay down to sleep.
The next day, after waking up, Xu Sui instinctively reached for her phone – Zhou Jingze hadn’t sent any messages. Xu Sui lowered her eyes and brushed her teeth.
When one’s energy is replenished, thoughts become much clearer. Actually, Xu Sui had regretted saying those words last night. It was clearly her own problem, yet she had taken out her frustration on him.
He hadn’t done anything wrong.
One experimental mistake – she could have acted cute and told him she’d been wronged, instead of saying such things.
After class, Xu Sui thought it over and decided she should apologize first, since she had lost her temper first. She dialed his number. The phone rang for a long time before someone answered.
“Hello.” His voice was flat and somewhat hoarse.
“What are you doing?” After thinking for ages, Xu Sui could only come up with this lame opening line.
Wind sounds came through the receiver, along with Da Liu’s voice: “Boss Zhou, the instructor is calling assembly! Still sweet-talking with Sister Xu?”
Zhou Jingze seemed to have moved to another place to take the call. The noise faded and his voice became clear, his Adam’s apple moving: “Training.”
“Oh, okay, you go ahead then,” Xu Sui said.
Until 9 PM, Zhou Jingze hadn’t contacted her.
Xu Sui sat at her desk. Though she was supposedly reading, her eyes kept glancing at her phone. For the entire day, her phone screen hadn’t lit up once.
Xu Sui sighed, picked up her phone to log into WeChat, hesitating whether to message Zhou Jingze. While deliberating, she started scrolling through Moments.
She immediately saw photos of their group playing board games. Among several pictures Da Liu posted, one was a side profile of Zhou Jingze, captioned: [Boss Zhou treated us.]
In the photo, Zhou Jingze held a card between his fingers while smoking with one hand, his expression lazy as always, casual yet arrogant.
Despite their fight, he seemed completely unaffected, even in the mood to go out and have fun.
Xu Sui’s eyelashes trembled. She thought she was quite ridiculous – all her emotions revolved around him, while Zhou Jingze was naturally casual even in how he liked people.
She exited Moments and deleted all the drafted but unsent messages in Zhou Jingze’s chat box. Xu Sui put her phone aside, planning to focus on her own matters.
Hu Qianxi had just returned from outside. There happened to be a box of cut watermelon by Xu Sui’s desk. Not having much appetite, she asked: “Xixi, do you want some watermelon?”
“I—” Hu Qianxi looked at Xu Sui with hesitation, seeming to want to say something. After hesitating for a long time, as if making some momentous decision: “I have something to tell you.”
“Okay.” Xu Sui got up and walked out with her.
A sudden gust of wind swept through the corridor. The late evening wind was fierce, blowing the clothes hanging in the girls’ dormitory corridor back and forth. Many people quickly closed their doors and windows.
On the other side, Sheng Nanzhou opened the board game room window, letting some of the smoke disperse with the wind. His face was full of disgust: “You’re not going to smoke yourselves to death.”
“Hurry up, Brother Zhou, stop dawdling, it’s your turn,” someone called him.
Zhou Jingze leaned back against the sofa, drawing a card from the God player’s hand. His phone beside him lit up. He picked it up to unlock it – a message from Ye Saining.
N: [Your birthday is coming up soon.]
Zhou Jingze’s response was brief, typing three words: [Seems like it.]
The other person didn’t reply further. Zhou Jingze didn’t care either. After playing one round, he went to the bathroom midway. His phone lay quietly on the table. After a while, the screen lit up and a notification from Ye Saining appeared:
[Then I’ll give you a big surprise.]