As those words landed, Xu Sui looked up in disbelief, and immediately the surrounding cheers and screams grew wave after wave. Xu Sui was still dazed when someone took the opportunity to push her.

“Pop!” Someone opened a bottle of champagne, foam spraying out. Amidst the cheering, Xu Sui stumbled and fell into Zhou Jingze’s arms, her cheek against his chest. Through the fabric, the heat from his body made her face burn.

“Wow, congratulations to Master Zhou for ending his single life!”

“Sister Xu has tamed this beast—manage him well from now on!”

“May you have a harmonious union!”

Confetti and gold sequins fell on their heads. Zhou Jingze naturally wrapped his arm around her shoulder, touched his tongue to his cheek, and cursed with a smile: “Idiots.”

In his peripheral vision, that person’s figure stiffened, then left dejectedly.

Zhou Jingze withdrew his gaze, sitting down with his arm around Xu Sui’s shoulder. Knowing she was thin-skinned, he kicked the person next to them: “That’s enough.”

They didn’t dare make too much of a scene. Plus, Sheng Nanzhou organized a round of games, and before long, the private room returned to its lively atmosphere.

Zhou Jingze removed his hand from her shoulder and resumed drinking, glass after glass. Xu Sui sat beside Zhou Jingze, still feeling like it wasn’t real.

Zhou Jingze’s single sentence had thrown her to the clouds like a roller coaster.

The seating in the private room was a bit cramped. When the person next to them played games, they became very absorbed, gesticulating with hands and feet, causing Xu Sui’s leg to bump into his knee from time to time—once, twice, like her beating heart.

Zhou Jingze’s mood was still terrible as he silently drank. Xu Sui sensed his low pressure and wanted to do something about it.

Actually, Zhou Jingze had just acted on impulse when he agreed, then basically ignored Xu Sui afterward. The surroundings were filled with lively noise, alcohol was intoxicating, and after Zhou Jingze drank two cases of beer, various scenes kept flashing through his mind.

His mother had said she loved him very much before committing suicide, but what happened? She still left him. Then there was Zhou Zhengguo saying “a biological son isn’t as close as the son by my side.” In their eyes, he really didn’t amount to much.

Zhou Jingze drank until his consciousness was unclear. When he wanted to find his lighter, he just fumbled around on the coffee table. Irritation rose in his heart, and just as he was about to lose his temper, a lotus root-white arm suddenly appeared before his eyes.

He raised his eyelids. Xu Sui was holding a silver lighter, extending it to him, her pair of pitch-black eyes quiet and well-behaved. Zhou Jingze was stunned, accepted it, and most of his anger dissipated.

After that, whenever Zhou Jingze subconsciously needed something, Xu Sui beside him could always find it for him. She stayed by his side the whole time, not getting angry even when ignored, obedient beyond words. At most, she would only tell him to drink less.

Zhou Jingze lowered his head, biting a cigarette between his teeth. The lighter made a “click” sound, and smoke rolled from his thin lips as he wore a lazy smile:

“What do you like about me, hmm?”

Even he didn’t like himself very much.

Hearing no answer, Zhou Jingze raised an eyebrow but didn’t mind. He raised his hand to flick ash, leaned back against the sofa, and stared blankly at the laughing and playing scene before him, silent and lonely.

The gathering ended close to eleven o’clock. A group of people were drunk, with someone shouting: “Hurry back, the dorm supervisor will lock up in half an hour.”

Sheng Nanzhou replied: “Stop fucking pretending—you’ve climbed over the wall plenty of times.”

A crowd of people walked out of Red Crane Club with arms around each other’s shoulders. Sheng Nanzhou had only drunk a little and was relatively sober, so he called cars for the whole group.

Xu Sui supported the tipsy Zhou Jingze, intending to hand him over to Sheng Nanzhou, but the latter forcibly stuffed both her and Zhou Jingze into the same taxi.

“Sister-in-law, take good care of my brother. When we get to school, I’ll carry him back to the dorm.” Sheng Nanzhou smiled.

“…” Xu Sui.

Sheng Nanzhou adapted to his new role faster than she did.

The taxi wasn’t driving too fast, and there was a slight stuffiness in the car. Xu Sui rolled down the window, and cool wind rushed in, refreshing and chilly. The wind lifted Xu Sui’s hair, and her profile was quiet and beautiful.

Zhou Jingze was very quiet when drunk, leaning back against the seat with his eyes closed, resting. If Xu Sui hadn’t seen him drinking with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed he was drunk, because his current behavior was no different from a normal person.

She turned her head to stare at Zhou Jingze in a daze. Suddenly, there was a sharp turn ahead with emergency braking. Xu Sui was thrown to the left by inertia. Despite frantically supporting herself with her elbow on the seat, she unavoidably tumbled head-first onto Zhou Jingze’s thigh.

…

A mortifying moment.

Her cheek was pressed against it—she could really feel the pulsing and heat. Xu Sui hurriedly sat up, her face burning red. She stole a glance at Zhou Jingze—fortunately, he was still asleep.

Xu Sui sat properly in her position again, staring out the window in a daze. After a while, Zhou Jingze seemed to be sleeping deeply, his head lacking support and unconsciously knocking toward the glass before sitting back up.

This continued back and forth. Worried he would hurt his forehead, Xu Sui carefully tugged at his sleeve, slowly moving Zhou Jingze’s entire body toward her shoulder.

Afraid of waking him, Xu Sui’s movements were very careful and nervous. Finally, Zhou Jingze, with his eyes closed, leaned against her shoulder. Xu Sui turned her head to look at him.

The dark red lights from outside the car window flickered over. Half of Zhou Jingze’s face was hidden in shadow. His profile was sharp and distinct, with long black lashes hanging down, a straight nose and thin lips—devastatingly handsome.

His warm breath sprayed on Xu Sui’s neck, tickling and numbing, while reminding her this wasn’t a dream.

That stunning glimpse in the corridor three years ago—from then on, every corner of high school had been filled with him. Xu Sui no longer had to watch him from afar through crowds as he spoke on stage or chatted and laughed with other girls.

He was no longer the boy Xu Sui had secretly loved from afar during high school while doing practice tests, with the song in her earphones singing “I stand on your left side, like separated by a galaxy.”

He was her boyfriend.

The scenery outside the car window retreated rapidly like a movie, frame by frame. There was a huge billboard with an exaggerated advertisement slogan: “Use it, and dreams come true.”

Dreams come true indeed.

Xu Sui looked down at Zhou Jingze leaning on her shoulder and said: “Many things.”

“What do you like about me, hmm?”

“Many things.”

—

Zhou Jingze had a hangover all night. When he woke up, his head was splitting with pain. At 5:50, when the enthusiastic morning exercise bell rang, it jolted Zhou Jingze awake once.

He had drunk too fiercely last night, and his whole body felt like it was falling apart, so much so that he couldn’t get up at all. Sheng Nanzhou happened to be tidying up before morning exercises. Seeing his pale complexion, he said: “Don’t go. I’ll ask for leave for you.”

Zhou Jingze’s throat was dry as fire. He coughed violently, his whole being groggy, and his voice was incredibly hoarse: “Mm, and bring me some cough medicine while you’re at it.”

“Okay.”

Fatigue swept over him again. Zhou Jingze lay back down, had several bizarre dreams in succession, and slept straight through until two in the afternoon.

When Zhou Jingze got up, he looked completely drowsy. To quickly restore himself to a clear state, he went straight to the bathroom for a cold shower.

After showering, Zhou Jingze came out wearing nothing on his upper body, just pants, with a white towel hanging around his neck, coughing non-stop. His chest shook violently. He sat at his desk, poured a glass of plain water and was about to drink when a serene face flashed through his mind.

In his memory, when he was chugging alcohol last night, someone had poured him a glass of water. All the memories before blacking out came back. After leaving that house last night, he had gone to the private room where Xu Sui confessed to him.

What had he done? He had rejected her, because Zhou Jingze clearly knew what kind of person he was. Someone like him shouldn’t harm a good girl.

But the next second, Zhou Jingze had seen Shi Yuejie. He had clearly been played by Shi Yuejie regarding the memorial tablet incident. His purpose was simple—he wanted Zhou Jingze to completely break with that family, the farther away the better.

So at the moment he saw Shi Yuejie, hatred had grown in Zhou Jingze’s heart, and in a moment of heated impulse, he had agreed to Xu Sui. Now that he was sober the next day, he realized he had been impulsive.

Zhou Jingze decided to explain things clearly to Xu Sui, apologize, and let her do whatever she wanted to him—kill or dismember him.

Zhou Jingze leaned back in his chair, his throat painfully sore. He thought Sheng Nanzhou had left the medicine on his desk, but after turning everything upside down, he couldn’t find it.

He called Sheng Nanzhou while coughing. When the call connected, he asked: “Where’s the medicine?”

Sheng Nanzhou laughed ambiguously on the other end, even sounding a bit coy: “Oh, you’ll know in a moment.”

“Psycho.” Zhou Jingze hung up directly.

The weather outside was too nice—he could even hear birds chirping clearly. Zhou Jingze picked up his cigarettes and lighter from the desk, tucked them in his pocket, and was about to go out when his phone rang.

Zhou Jingze didn’t look at the caller ID before answering, greeting emotionlessly. The other end seemed to pause before a soft, sweet voice came through:

“It’s me, Xu Sui.”

“Mm, what is it?” Zhou Jingze loosely formed a fist to cover his mouth as he coughed, his tone indescribably cold.

Xu Sui could sense the change in his tone, and her mood instantly dropped: “I have something for you. If you don’t have time—”

“I’m coming out now. I happen to have something to discuss with you.” Zhou Jingze cut off her words.

“Okay.”

Zhou Jingze hurriedly ran down the stairs and saw Xu Sui outside the dormitory entrance—she had arrived early. He walked over in a few quick steps, his black shadow falling over her.

The sun was a bit harsh. Xu Sui stood in the shade under a tree. Sensing movement, she turned around, and upon seeing Zhou Jingze, joy immediately appeared in her brows. She clutched what she was holding tightly and ran to him.

“You’re awake?”

“Mm.”

Xu Sui handed him the two thermal bottles she had been clutching. A breeze blew by, and she tucked her front hair behind her fair, round ear, her tone slightly uncomfortable:

“I heard from Sheng Nanzhou that you weren’t feeling well. I happened to have time this morning, so I made some hangover tea and rock sugar stewed pear.”

Zhou Jingze looked stunned, raising his eyelids to look at her: “How long did you cook it?”

“Not long.” Xu Sui shook her head, smiling at the corners of her lips.

Actually, cooking these things was quite time-consuming, and the dorm didn’t allow high-wattage appliances, so she could only simmer them slowly over low heat. While cooking, she also seized time to memorize drug names. Liang Shuang had even joked that this rock sugar stewed pear was full of medicinal flavor.

Zhou Jingze looked at her without reaching out to take them, suddenly saying: “I don’t like sweet things.”

“Ah, then I’ll take them back—” Xu Sui’s expression dimmed for an instant, then she quickly readjusted and started to pull her hands back.

Suddenly, a well-defined, cool hand gripped hers. Xu Sui’s heart stopped, and she looked up sharply. Zhou Jingze’s voice was a bit hoarse but his tone was serious:

“Let me try.”

Starting to try sweet things from today.