Seriously, How Can Someone Be This Smooth?

When Xu Sui woke up, she found herself lying on a hospital bed, her gaze meeting a stretch of snow-white walls. Xu Sui struggled to get up, but Liang Shuang quickly stopped her: “Hey, don’t move around, or the needle will shift and you’ll start bleeding.”

After speaking, Liang Shuang walked over to help her sit up, stuffing a pillow behind her waist. When Xu Sui saw clearly that it was her roommate, a flash of disappointment crossed her eyes, her lashes lifting: “Shuangshuang, why is it you?”

“Well,” Liang Shuang dragged over a chair, deliberately keeping her in suspense, “the great god called me to come over.”

“Hm?”

“Do you know that you fainted from low blood sugar after not eating anything all day? The great god brought you to the hospital and stayed with you the whole time. Later, something urgent came up at his house, so he had to leave first,” Liang Shuang’s tone was excited, “then he called me to come over and specifically asked me to take good care of you.”

Xu Sui’s jet-black lashes trembled slightly, but she didn’t speak.

“Alright, after you finish the IV drip, drink the shark fin porridge and red date pumpkin soup that Zhou Jingze bought, plus the desserts,” Liang Shuang sat there pointing at the things on the table, “he asked me to supervise you and watch you finish everything.”

Xu Sui looked at the pile of things Zhou Jingze had bought on the table, pressed her lips together but didn’t speak. Fortunately, the IV finished quickly. Xu Sui suffered through eating one portion after another under Liang Shuang’s death stare, until she was so full she couldn’t say a word, and only then did Liang Shuang reluctantly let her off.

After finishing the glucose drip, while packing up, Xu Sui unconsciously touched her pocket and found that the silver ring she was supposed to give to Sheng Nanzhou was missing.

“Xiao Shuang, did you see a ring here? The one we bought before.”

“No, I didn’t see it. You probably dropped it somewhere.” Liang Shuang replied.

Xu Sui wrinkled her nose, her tone tinged with regret: “Probably.”

After returning to the dorm that evening, Xu Sui washed up and turned on her phone that had been off for a long time. During this period, zjz had sent three messages:

【Feeling better?】

【My girl isn’t replying to my messages.】

Xu Sui’s lashes moved slightly. She didn’t bring up that incident again and replied in the chat box: 【Much better.】

She clearly didn’t mention that incident again, but two minutes later, Zhou Jingze seemed to know what she was thinking and brought it up himself: 【I deleted her.】

【There’s nothing between me and her.】

【I don’t like her.】

【Yiyi, I was wrong.】

Zhou Jingze’s sudden softening caught Xu Sui off guard, and these words expanded the sense of security in her heart. After a long while, Xu Sui replied with: 【Mm.】

When this matter was more or less settled, Miss Hu Qianxi finally returned to school. For some reason, Xu Sui always felt that Hu Qianxi had lost a lot of weight, her face pale, so thin that her baby fat had faded a bit, making her eyes appear even larger.

“Xixi, why do I feel like you’ve lost weight?” Xu Sui asked.

Speaking of this, the young miss looked distressed, playing with her sparkling nails: “One of our cooks at home took leave, and the new auntie’s cooking is terribly salty, so salty I can’t even pick up my chopsticks.”

“But I did lose weight,” Hu Qianxi touched her face, looking pleased, “I’m so happy about that.”

After chatting with Xu Sui for a bit, Hu Qianxi changed the subject: “Sui Bao, I heard you and my uncle had a fight.”

Xu Sui hesitated for a moment, then nodded: “Yes.”

“I heard the general situation from Sheng Nanzhou. Liu Sijin is truly one of the top white lotus flowers in Beijing North City, all fake and scheming,” Hu Qianxi had done her nails with crushed diamonds, and every time she gestured in the air, they looked like weapons, “if I had been there, I would have torn her apart. Just hearing about it made my fists itch.”

“It’s nothing,” Xu Sui thought of that day’s scene, her tone pausing, “I just think I was being too anxious about gains and losses.”

Just having a woman sit next to him with slightly intimate gestures was unbearable for her.

Hu Qianxi shook her head: “You weren’t wrong. Men are just naturally cheap! Let me tell you, Suisui, you shouldn’t be proactive in the future. You can care in your heart but can’t show it, you need to put on an act, you know!”

“Anyway, Suisui, I’m on your side. My uncle has been spoiled rotten with that bad temper of his. You need to discipline him.” Hu Qianxi said.

Xu Sui nodded as if she half-understood.

On Wednesday night, Sheng Nanzhou posted a picture in the group chat of tickets to Beishan Ski Resort for a two-day, one-night trip that they had won in a school competition last year, with a message: 【Everyone remember something?】

Zhou Jingze: 【?】

Da Liu: 【Damn, I remember we didn’t go after winning because of all the exams that followed.】

Sheng Nanzhou: 【Bingo, there’s still a month and a half before it expires. Going or not?】

The young miss immediately perked up: 【Raising my hand! I’ve been wanting to go.】

Zhou Jingze: 【…Can you handle it?】

Hu Qianxi: 【What’s there that I can’t handle! Don’t I have you guys?】

Da Liu: 【Count me in, more people make it livelier.】

Xu Sui exited the phone chat page and was about to ask Zhou Jingze if he was going. She remembered what Hu Qianxi had taught her – girls shouldn’t be too proactive – so she didn’t ask Zhou Jingze and said in the group: 【I’m going.】

Less than a minute later, Zhou Jingze, who hadn’t replied to any messages, suddenly appeared in the group: 【I’m going too.】

The few of them set the time for the ski resort trip for the weekend. In late November, there was another sharp drop in temperature. When they got up in the morning, the evergreen leaves by the roadside were weighed down precariously by thick ice crystals. A fierce cold wind blew, scattering transparent crystals to the ground, leaving the pavement wet and slippery.

When Xu Sui and Hu Qianxi appeared arm in arm at the meeting point, she discovered that several people had come for this ski trip, including one she vaguely remembered named Qin Jing – the one who had pretended to be a senior to get her number that day.

Everyone complained about the cold weather and hurriedly got on the bus. Xu Sui was at the back of the line when a tall figure suddenly appeared, startling her.

Qin Jing greeted her enthusiastically: “Little sister Xu, long time no see.”

Xu Sui nodded, still shaken, and was about to speak when a lazy voice interrupted, dark eyes carrying a hint of menace: “See your ass.”

Xu Sui turned to look and saw Zhou Jingze arriving fashionably late, appearing behind them. He wore a black assault jacket and short boots, his neck straight and giving him a sharp, handsome appearance. He had pulled the zipper up to the very top, barely covering his cold, hard jawline, revealing a pair of deep, dark eyes.

At this moment, he was casually chewing gum, looking sideways at Qin Jing.

“No, Zhou-ye, I—” Qin Jing tried to explain.

Zhou Jingze smiled, patted Qin Jing’s back, and without warning, threw a handful of snow down his neck. The ice instantly stuck to his skin along the back of his neck, sending cold all the way down to his tailbone.

Qin Jing had been smiling, but like a Sichuan opera face-changing performance, he immediately let out a earth-shattering scream, then started jumping up and down, entering old-man disco mode.

Zhou Jingze had been suppressing his laughter at first, but later couldn’t hold back, laughing so hard his chest shook and his shoulders trembled violently. When Qin Jing saw that the culprit was actually laughing at him brazenly.

Qin Jing made a show of chasing after him. Zhou Jingze dodged while laughing, and when passing by Xu Sui, his sleeve brushed against the back of her hand.

Very lightly, Xu Sui caught the scent of basil on him.

Most people had arrived. Xu Sui was the last to board, and she glanced at Zhou Jingze sitting in the back row. Just as she was about to walk toward him, Hu Qianxi, sitting by the aisle, pressed her into a window seat and winked at her.

Xu Sui had no choice but to sit down, then put on her earphones to listen to music while staring out the window in a daze. She and Zhou Jingze had made up long ago, but for some reason, there was still a slightly awkward atmosphere between them.

There was an empty seat next to Xu Sui. Sheng Nanzhou was taking attendance, the bus was noisy and chaotic, and she hadn’t even finished listening to one song when someone pulled off her earphones.

Qin Jing plopped down next to her with an enthusiastic expression, waving the earphones at her: “Let’s share good music together.”

Xu Sui’s dark eyes moved, then she took off the other white earphone and handed it to Qin Jing, her tone characteristically good-natured: “Here, you listen.”

Qin Jing: “…”

How did he end up flirting with a straight guy?

Qin Jing had to work hard to find topics, sometimes saying that girls like her who studied medicine and could endure hardship were really amazing, and other times bragging about some fun things he’d done at school.

Xu Sui was quite polite – when others spoke, she would listen patiently, looking at them with her long lashes, occasionally responding with a sentence or two.

From a distance, the atmosphere of their conversation looked quite harmonious.

Qin Jing sat next to Xu Sui and patted his thigh: “Little sister, let me tell you—”

Before he could finish, someone patted Qin Jing’s shoulder. Before he could say a word, Zhou Jingze, taking advantage of being a head taller than Qin Jing, directly grabbed Qin Jing’s collar and lifted him away, making Qin Jing cough: “I can walk by myself…”

After Qin Jing was driven away, the seat cushion beside her sank slightly. Zhou Jingze plopped down, leaned his head against the back seat, and closed his eyes to rest.

He made himself comfortable, but whether intentionally or not, Zhou Jingze’s thigh pressed against a section of Xu Sui’s skirt hem. The fabric rustled, and his thigh occasionally bumped against her, burning hot.

Making it impossible for her to move.

Xu Sui tried to pull her clothes free, but they wouldn’t budge.

Having no choice, Xu Sui gently tugged at his sleeve. Zhou Jingze opened his eyes to look at her, the little girl’s tone slightly complaining: “You’re pressing on my clothes.”

“Am I?” Zhou Jingze raised an eyebrow and looked, lifted his leg slightly, and Xu Sui immediately rescued her clothes, lowering her head to arrange them.

Zhou Jingze suddenly leaned over, his warm breath brushing her ear, making Xu Sui dodge to the side from the tickling sensation. A smiling voice whispered close to her ear:

“I thought you were going to ignore me forever.”

Xu Sui’s ears began to turn red again. Zhou Jingze knew when to stop, sat up straight, and lazily closed his eyes again. The bus moved slowly forward. There was a small gap in the window that wasn’t closed properly, and cold wind rushed in, making Xu Sui sneeze.

Zhou Jingze opened his eyelids, his deep eyes looking at her with a somewhat scrutinizing meaning. Xu Sui was dressed very lightly today – a white horn-button lamb coat, black and white plaid short skirt, and just white leggings on her lower half. Now her face was a bit pale, her lashes and nose tip red from the cold.

“Are you cold?” Zhou Jingze asked her.

“A little.” Xu Sui replied.

Actually, she was freezing, okay? Xu Sui naturally had a constitution that was sensitive to cold. Her upper body was fine, but her legs were quite cold. Being looked at by Zhou Jingze made her feel a bit embarrassed – she should have known better than to wear this outfit today.

Zhou Jingze withdrew his gaze from her, suddenly stood up, walked to the front of the bus, braced one arm against the horizontal bar, and bent down to talk to the driver.

Soon after, Zhou Jingze returned and sat next to Xu Sui. He had somehow gotten a blanket and leaned over to cover her legs completely, also taking out two hand warmers from his pocket.

Zhou Jingze bit the hand warmer package, tore open a slit, put it into a small capsule, and reached out to hand it over: “Hold this.”

Xu Sui’s eyes widened slightly as she asked: “Where did you get this?”

“You’re in luck. Looks like Aunt Sheng stuffed them in my jacket a couple days ago.” Zhou Jingze pulled at the corner of his mouth, his tone casual.

Actually, Xu Sui had worn this outfit because Hu Qianxi had nagged her all morning, even saying: “Sui Sui baby, although I taught you that in relationships, girls should pretend not to care, you need to dress yourself up beautifully so his eyes can’t leave you.”

“Let me tell you, men are all visual creatures. Don’t wear long underwear, wear a skirt! Don’t waste those long legs of yours.”

Later, Xu Sui somehow listened to Hu Qianxi’s advice and confusedly changed into this outfit before going out. She regretted it a bit now – not only had Zhou Jingze not complimented her beauty or looked at her more because of it, but she had also embarrassed herself in front of him.

Zhou Jingze leaned over like a father figure, buttoning up Xu Sui’s open coat one by one. With their faces close together, he lazily lifted his eyes, as if seeing right through her thoughts, and said:

“You don’t need to dress like this. The woman I’ve chosen looks good no matter what.”

They rode the bus for two hours in the morning. Xu Sui didn’t even know when they arrived because she had fallen asleep midway and woke up to find herself leaning on Zhou Jingze’s shoulder.

Zhou Jingze didn’t say anything and held her hand as they got off the bus. Xu Sui secretly glanced at their interlocked fingers, the corners of her lips curving up slightly.

Sheng Nanzhou and Hu Qianxi were like two comedians, laughing and playing around the whole way. Seeing Sheng Nanzhou reminded Xu Sui of the ring she had lost.

Xu Sui’s pinky scratched lightly at Zhou Jingze’s broad palm, very gently. Zhou Jingze’s throat tickled, and he pressed down on her little finger, his voice a bit hoarse:

“What?”

“Oh, have you seen my ring? The one I was planning to give to Sheng Nanzhou.”

Zhou Jingze narrowed his eyes and replied: “No.”

“Oh.”

For some reason, Xu Sui felt his expression had turned a bit cold.

The group got off the bus in high spirits, all the way filled with laughter. They had booked two rooms at a guesthouse near Beishan Ski Resort to rest and store their things, planning to camp in tents on the mountaintop that night.

The guesthouse was located at the foot of the snowy mountain with a somewhat Japanese style – yellow building, dark red roof, floor-to-ceiling windows, tatami mats, beige furniture, and a beckoning cat by the entrance that bobbed its head adorably.

At noon, the group rested at the guesthouse. Sheng Nanzhou was packing in his room, turning everything upside down but couldn’t find a single hand warmer in his clothes. Shivering, he went to Zhou Jingze to ask for a hand warmer, but Zhou Jingze just lifted his eyelids to look at him without saying anything.

“Bro, I heard this morning on the bus that my mom loves you so much. Share one hand warmer with me – you’re not afraid of cold anyway.” Sheng Nanzhou hunched his neck.

After all, Zhou-ye only ever wore two pieces of clothing in winter and drank ice water, never seen him complain about the cold.

“Don’t have any.” Zhou Jingze dropped those words.

“No way, didn’t you say this morning that—”

“The clothes are over there, wear whatever you want,” Zhou Jingze pointed to the clothes on the bed, his tone impatient, “don’t make me beat you up.”

Sheng Nanzhou wasn’t afraid of Zhou Jingze’s threats at all. He pounced over and hugged him, saying: “My mom gave them to you, so just share one with me—”

“Your mom didn’t give them to me.” Zhou Jingze couldn’t stand it anymore and gave him a slap, then turned and left.

Sheng Nanzhou stood there looking confused. So he had told Xu Sui this morning that he just happened to have them in his clothes? So he knew that Xu Sui’s hands and feet got cold in winter and specifically bought them to carry around?!

Seriously, how can someone be this smooth?