When Zhou Jingze brought the pomelo upstairs, Da Liu ate a piece and gave a thumbs up in praise: “Really sweet! Xu Sui, are all the fruits from the south this sweet?”

“They really are sweet, and honey pomelos are a local specialty from our area,” Xu Sui replied.

After rehearsal ended, everyone went their separate ways. Xu Sui still had to follow Sheng Nanzhou to his house to tutor Sheng Yan. As soon as they arrived, Aunt Sheng grabbed her hand and praised her endlessly, because little Sheng Yan had scored 81 in math and 72 in English on his recent mock exam out of 100 points.

For someone who previously failed both subjects, this was qualitative progress.

“You’ve worked so hard,” Aunt Sheng patted her hand.

“It’s fine,” Xu Sui replied, then entered Sheng Yan’s room. Upon entering, the little rascal sat there looking like his tail was wagging in the sky.

“Class is starting, and you’re still posing here,” Xu Sui tapped him with her book.

The little curly-haired boy laughed: “Hehe.”

Little Sheng Yan rarely achieved good grades, and having gotten what he wanted from his mother, he was unprecedentedly cooperative during class. Seeing the child’s enthusiasm for learning soar, Xu Sui added an extra set of practice problems for him.

“Teacher Xiao Xu, my fondness for you is about to disappear,” Sheng Yan said with a bitter face, sprawled across the desk.

“But it doesn’t affect the teacher’s fondness for you,” Xu Sui replied naturally.

The little chubby boy’s face quietly reddened. Xu Sui glanced at the time, packed up her things and prepared to leave. Just then, Sheng Nanzhou knocked and entered, along with Zhou Jingze.

He leaned against the doorframe, head down playing with his phone.

Sheng Nanzhou said: “Xu Sui, stay and have dinner with us.”

Xu Sui deliberately avoided looking at that person, declining: “No thanks, it’s still early. I want to go back and take a nap.”

Sheng Nanzhou wanted to say more, but the little curly-head sitting there grew impatient: “Bro, aren’t you annoying? Hurry up and leave. Teacher Xiao Xu and I have things to discuss.”

“Fine, considering your barely passable grades that don’t completely embarrass the family,” Sheng Nanzhou glanced at his brother and even closed the door for them as he left.

Little Curly sat on the carpet, holding a Switch controller, looking for the remote. Xu Sui walked over and pulled the stuck remote from the sofa crevice, handing it to him:

“Don’t tell me you’re inviting me to play games with you again? The teacher is a bit tired today.”

“Of course not. Brother Jingze promised to play games with me today,” Sheng Yan reached for two tickets from the storage box, awkwardly handing them over with an unnatural expression: “My mom told me to thank you, so I’m treating you to a movie.”

“Sure,” Xu Sui didn’t take them, saying, “Keep the tickets with you for now. We’ll meet directly at the cinema.”

“You must come!” Sheng Yan emphasized.

“Okay, okay,” Xu Sui waved at him.

After Xu Sui left, Zhou Jingze came in to play games with Little Curly. Inexplicably, Zhou Jingze was in a bad mood today and showed no mercy playing games with Sheng Yan. Instead, he killed Sheng Yan several times, leaving the little curly-head without a drop of blood.

Unexpectedly, even after losing the game, Sheng Yan started humming a song. Zhou Jingze took out a mint tablet, unwrapped a mint candy and tossed it in his mouth, raising his eyebrow: “Still this happy after losing?”

Thinking of something, Sheng Yan blushed: “I asked Teacher Xiao Xu to go to the movies.”

Zhou Jingze’s expression remained unchanged as he dismantled a broken remote control from the house to fix it. He knew the little rascal couldn’t hold it in much longer. Sure enough, the next second, Sheng Yan’s tone carried barely contained excitement:

“She agreed! I’m planning to confess to her that day!”

Zhou Jingze was using a screwdriver to turn a small screw when he froze upon hearing this, accidentally poking his finger. Coming to his senses, he laughed coldly:

“What do you like about Teacher Xiao Xu?”

Sheng Yan answered loudly—children are like this, expressing themselves purely and directly: “I like how Teacher Xiao Xu is beautiful and gentle. She has big, pretty eyes, fair skin, and dimples when she smiles. She’s especially good to me, helping me with tutoring… Anyway, she looks exactly like my future girlfriend.”

Zhou Jingze crunched the mint candy in his mouth loudly, the sugar crystals pressed against his tongue tip as he mercilessly crushed the little fatty’s dreams:

“Little brat, you haven’t even grown all your hair yet. You probably can’t even write the character for ‘confess,’ and you talk about liking someone. Also, let me tell you the truth—Teacher Xiao Xu is nice to you and helps with tutoring because she’s getting paid by your mom. She definitely doesn’t like gaming otaku with bad grades like you.”

Sheng Yan was only in sixth grade, and his entire worldview collapsed. Little Curly stared wide-eyed as he pushed Zhou Jingze toward the door, his eyes slightly red: “Brother, you’re so mean! I don’t want you to fix the remote anymore. Get out! People like you don’t understand what liking someone means.”

Zhou Jingze was pushed out the door by Sheng Yan. He wasn’t angry—he even smiled, his chest vibrating with pleasure. He had heard the phrase “people like you don’t understand what liking someone means” countless times. All his ex-girlfriends would eventually throw out this accusation.

Someone as fickle and dissolute as him seemed to act like nothing mattered. When his last girlfriend Bai Yuyue threw a tantrum and talked about breaking up, Zhou Jingze agreed without thinking twice.

Instead, Bai Yuyue cried and sobbed afterward, accusing him of never understanding what liking someone meant and never considering their future together.

Ridiculous—he didn’t even know where his own future was.

The weather forecast said Wednesday’s temperature would drop another eight degrees, with rain expected.

Xu Sui crawled out of bed in the morning as icy cold air penetrated her pores—the weather had indeed turned cold. Xu Sui, who was always afraid of the cold, put on a white down jacket before heading to class. When she went out holding her books, she noticed the corridor railings were already covered with a layer of transparent frost.

She happened to have no classes in the afternoon. After her morning class, she was too lazy to even pack up and went straight to the cinema. When she saw clearly who was standing with little Sheng Yan, she cursed herself internally—no matter what, she should have dressed up a bit. How could she just throw on a down jacket and come out looking bulky and unattractive?

Sheng Yan had originally been angry with Zhou Jingze, but his mother didn’t feel comfortable letting him go out alone, saying he must find someone to accompany him. His brother had gone to an internet cafe to game, leaving only Brother Jingze next door sleeping in.

Little Curly had no choice but to swallow his pride and ask Zhou Jingze.

“Teacher Xiao Xu, what would you like to drink? My treat,” Sheng Yan’s eyes lit up the moment he saw Xu Sui.

Zhou Jingze snorted ambiguously. He walked to the front counter to exchange Sheng Yan’s movie vouchers for tickets, turning his head to ask:

“What type of movies do you like?”

“Horror films,” Xu Sui replied.

To follow his beloved Teacher Xiao Xu, Sheng Yan completely forgot about being timid: “Me too!”

Zhou Jingze paused with the movie vouchers halfway extended, his thumb lightly brushing the ticket surface as he smiled softly: “Xu Sui, just how many more surprises do you have?”

After Zhou Jingze selected three seats for a horror movie, he stood there. Today he wore a utility jacket and military boots, making his entire figure appear tall and resolute.

When the front desk clerk handed him the tickets, she stole several glances at him, asking with a bright smile: “Your tickets. Is there anything else you need?”

Zhou Jingze expressionlessly ordered a bottle of ice water. Sheng Yan grabbed Xu Sui’s sleeve and shook it, trying to curry favor: “Teacher Xiao Xu, what would you like to eat? I’ll treat you!”

Xu Sui didn’t particularly like snacks. Her eyes showed hesitation as she was about to decline when Zhou Jingze glanced at the nervous little rascal and said: “Order something, or this little brat will start crying.”

In the end, Xu Sui entered the theater carrying a bucket of popcorn.

The movie would start in three minutes. Sheng Yan sat in the middle, Xu Sui sat on the inside, and Zhou Jingze sat on the aisle end.

From the moment Zhou Jingze sat down, he leaned back in his seat playing with his phone, never lifting his eyes. Xu Sui lowered her gaze, then refocused her attention on the screen.

The movie quickly began. Xu Sui was soon absorbed by the plot, watching attentively without any distraction. This was torture for little Sheng Yan, who was trying to act tough beside her.

From the start, he felt chills down his back but forced himself to be a man, trying hard to keep his eyes wide open staring at the screen. But when you’re afraid of something, that’s exactly what comes.

On the big screen, a female ghost with a bloody face suddenly crawled out from under a desk with a sinister expression. This scene scared the audience, with several girls screaming.

“Ahh—”

The realistic and frightening images made terrified screams echo throughout the theater. Sheng Yan cried out loudly, covering his eyes, unable to look, desperately seeking comfort.

Little Sheng Yan instinctively leaned toward Zhou Jingze’s side, but suddenly realized this was a rare, golden opportunity to get closer to Teacher Xiao Xu. So his head slowly tilted toward Xu Sui’s side instead.

Just as his head was two centimeters away from Teacher Xiao Xu, a pair of cold, firm hands grabbed the scruff of his neck. Zhou Jingze stared straight at the screen while his hands weren’t idle, directly pulling Sheng Yan back to his seat.

Zhou Jingze gave him a warning look, his voice lazy: “Behave yourself.”

Sheng Yan felt very wronged, covering his eyes the entire time and watching the horror movie through his fingers, breaking out in cold sweat by the end.

Xu Sui enjoyed horror movies and didn’t notice the commotion beside her. When the movie ended, she reluctantly took photos as mementos.

She posted a status update visible only to herself with the caption: Like a dream.

Zhou Jingze stood with his hands in his pockets, lifting his eyelids to glance at her: “You like horror movies that much?”

Xu Sui quickly turned off her screen, looking at the boy standing to her left, softly answering: “Mm.”

Very much.

The three of them walked out of the theater together. Sheng Yan walked in front, saw Spider-Man in a claw machine, pressed against the glass window excitedly: “Bro, hurry and exchange for coins! I want to catch dolls.”

Zhou Jingze had no choice but to exchange a small basket of game tokens for his lordship. Little Curly put the basket aside and played happily with the claw machine.

Xu Sui stood to one side when she suddenly noticed another claw machine in the far corner. She unconsciously walked over and stood in front of it, staring blankly. Suddenly, a dark shadow fell over her and a cold voice sounded: “Want it?”

Xu Sui nodded, her tone casual: “A little. When I was small, my dad often left early and came home late because of work, so he bought me a cabbage patch doll to keep me company. Later he passed away, and because we moved, that cabbage patch doll was lost.”

“But I’m grown up now, so I don’t need it anymore,” Xu Sui smiled, pointing at the cabbage patch doll inside the glass window.

Zhou Jingze didn’t respond. He took the cigarette from his mouth, his tone roguish and arrogant: “Lord Zhou will get it for you.”

Five minutes later, Zhou Jingze paid for his arrogance—he used over ten coins but caught nothing. Zhou Jingze let the coins in his palm slide through the gap between his thumb and forefinger toward the coin slot, clearing his throat: “This time will work.”

The claw machine’s hook grabbed the cabbage doll’s belly and slowly moved toward the exit. Both of them watched expectantly, Xu Sui’s eyes excited: “It looks like it’s coming out.”

Then with a “swoosh,” the doll dropped back down.

An awkward silence filled the air. Zhou Jingze spoke with self-satisfied embarrassment: “I’ll go exchange for more coins.”

Two minutes later, Zhou Jingze returned carrying a basket of coins. He stood in front of the claw machine, calmly inserting coins, fighting repeatedly, losing repeatedly.

Just then, a couple came over nearby. The boyfriend easily caught a doll with just two coins. The girlfriend jumped up excitedly, hugging his neck: “Honey, you’re amazing!”

“Want to play more?”

“Yes.”

Xu Sui stood to Zhou Jingze’s left, feeling somewhat uncomfortable amid the neighboring couple’s uninhibited intimacy and affection. Her neck felt slightly itchy and flushed red.

Zhou Jingze held a cigarette between his lips, assuming the focused posture of playing League of Legends for an all-out battle when suddenly someone tugged at his sleeve. Looking down, he met a pair of clear eyes.

“Maybe we should give up,” Xu Sui suggested diplomatically.

Zhou Jingze stared at the claw machine in front of him and laughed coldly: “I refuse to accept this evil.”

In the end, Zhou Jingze used over a hundred game tokens but didn’t catch a damn thing. Despite Xu Sui’s repeated persuasions like “Let’s go. This money could buy several dolls online” and “I really don’t want it that much, forget it,” he remained unmoved.

This damned competitive spirit.

Finally, a staff member came dragging a bag of dolls to refill the machine. Zhou Jingze, who had been about to give up, asked reluctantly: “How much for one? Can I buy it?”

The staff member gave a standardized smile: “Sorry sir, these are not for sale.”

Xu Sui couldn’t help but facepalm. This was… yet somehow funny too. At this moment, she forgave Zhou Jingze in her heart. Whatever—he really was worth her liking, and she couldn’t control herself anyway.

Liking had defeated her pride.

Seeing Zhou Jingze’s relentless determination, Xu Sui urgently grabbed his arm and bowed to the staff member: “I’m sorry.”

Being dragged away by Xu Sui, Zhou Jingze turned back persistently: “Name your price.”

Sheng Yan had moved on to other games. Seeing Zhou Jingze and Xu Sui walking toward the exit, he hurried to follow. The group walked out the cinema doors.

The cold wind brought her back to her senses, and Xu Sui suddenly realized she had been bold enough to grab Zhou Jingze’s arm. She quickly let go: “Sorry.”

Sheng Yan’s scream interrupted both their thoughts: “Wow, it’s snowing!”

Hearing this, Xu Sui turned toward the front and saw light snow falling everywhere, like dandelions blown in mid-air. She stretched out her hand—thin, cool snowflakes melted in her palm.

It was actually snowing.

In a child’s heart, playing was always most important. At this moment, everything about love and Teacher Xiao Xu was completely forgotten by Sheng Yan. He shouted loudly, his tone pleading: “Bro!”

Before Sheng Yan could finish his sentence, Zhou Jingze knew what he wanted to do. A brief phrase rolled from his thin lips: “Twenty minutes.”

After receiving special permission, Sheng Yan yelled with joy like a happy bird rushing toward the courtyard beside the cinema. Zhou Jingze and Xu Sui sat on chairs at the corner waiting for Sheng Yan.

Xu Sui sat on the chair as cold wind penetrated her collar, making her unconsciously shiver. Zhou Jingze sat nearby, elbows resting on his thighs, raising an eyebrow: “Cold?”

“A little. I’m from the south,” Xu Sui wrinkled her nose embarrassedly.

Xu Sui naturally had a cold constitution—her hands and feet got cold in winter. Plus this was Beijing, and even after several years in the north, she still wasn’t quite used to it.

“Wait here,” Zhou Jingze dropped this sentence and left.

Five minutes later, Zhou Jingze returned. He leaned down and pressed a cup of hot chocolate into Xu Sui’s hands. Xu Sui marveled internally at his thoughtfulness, softly saying: “Thank you.”

Zhou Jingze tugged at the corner of his mouth: “Don’t mention it.”

On this cold day, Zhou Jingze bought himself another can of iced carbonated drink, popped the tab, and took a sip. Xu Sui looked at the cold drink covered in frost and asked: “Aren’t you cold?”

“Refreshing,” Zhou Jingze answered.

They fell into silence again. Xu Sui sipped her hot chocolate as warmth returned to her body. Just as she was thinking of a conversation topic, Zhou Jingze turned to look at her, staring at those lips slowly returning to a rosy color, and asked:

“Xu Sui, was it because of Sheng Nanzhou’s joke last time, or did I do something—”

Xu Sui shook her head. She took a breath, and despite her fingertips trembling as she gripped the hot chocolate, she still raised her head and mustered the courage to look directly at him:

“Actually, I was in the same high school class as you.”