So he hadn’t given his number to that girl. Zhou Jingze must have sensed her insecurity.

What she wanted, he gave her openly and honestly.

Xu Sui continued scrolling through the thread on her phone, but within two minutes, the post showed as deleted. Someone on the forum quickly started a new thread:

Pack it up, Zhou Jingze had it deleted.

The fantasy was terminated, over two thousand floors of admiration vanishing instantly.

This matter was over.

Xu Sui’s mood cleared up like sunshine after rain. She thought, dating this person really was wonderful.

Although at the beginning of sophomore year, Xu Sui’s tutoring sessions with Sheng Yanjia reduced from four times a month to twice a month, Xu Sui’s coursework was becoming increasingly busy, and Sheng Yanjia had already successfully gotten into Huaji High School with steadily improving grades.

Xu Sui mentioned to Aunt Sheng about resigning from the tutoring position. Aunt Sheng’s reaction was like losing her own daughter, pleading repeatedly over the phone.

Sheng Nanzhou’s voice came faintly through the receiver: “Mom, she’s a medical student who has to get up early and study late into the night. Where would she find the time? Besides, she still has to date—”

Just as the words “date” were about to slip out, Sheng Nanzhou thought of Zhou Jingze’s troublemaker face and his throat suddenly choked up, unsure if their dating situation could be mentioned.

“Date what? Do you have phlegm in your throat?” Aunt Sheng immediately scanned him alertly with her eyes.

“Negotiate, negotiate with the dorm supervisor about confiscating their high-power appliances,” Sheng Nanzhou said expressionlessly.

Xu Sui on the other end of the phone: “…”

Aunt Sheng glared at Sheng Nanzhou who had suddenly interrupted, then immediately changed her expression when facing Xu Sui, her voice gentle over the phone: “Ah, it’s my fault for being too greedy, almost forgetting you need to focus on your studies. Since that’s the case, Little Xu, come have dinner at my house this weekend. I’ll cook personally – consider it your farewell banquet.”

“Aunt Sheng, I—” Xu Sui instinctively wanted to refuse.

“Then it’s settled, see you there.” Aunt Sheng hung up first.

The busy signal came through the receiver. Xu Sui smiled helplessly. After hanging up, she messaged Zhou Jingze: [Aunt Sheng invited me to dinner at her house this weekend.]

Zhou Jingze quickly replied, his tone casual: [Go ahead.]

Xu Sui typed again: [Will you go?]

After a while, her phone screen lit up, zjz: [Have something on, not sure.]

Xu Sui saw this message and lowered her eyes, a small disappointment rising in her heart. Soon, Zhou Jingze sent another message. Through the screen, she could imagine his expression – eyebrows raised, face full of teasing:

[What, want me to go?]

Another message: [If you want me to, I can come.]

Xu Sui’s face reddened as she replied: [No I don’t.]

Saturday, the sky cleared up. Xu Sui wore a white loose sweater with her hair in a bun, dressed neat and tidy, heading to Sheng Yanjia’s house.

Xu Sui took the bus to Sheng Yanjia’s front door. When pressing the doorbell, she deliberately glanced at Zhou Jingze’s house next door – the gate was tightly closed, so he wasn’t home.

The doorbell rang, and Sheng Yanjia opened the door. Not having seen him for a while, Xu Sui felt he’d grown taller. The boy’s bones were rapidly developing, but he still looked like a little devil, pretending to put on a stern face to express his dissatisfaction with her resignation.

“Here, a gift from your teacher.”

Xu Sui gave him two gifts – a Switch game disc and a Marvel character puzzle, both things he liked.

Sheng Yanjia couldn’t maintain his stern expression anymore. He sighed in relief: “I thought you were going to give me practice books.”

Xu Sui patted his shoulder: “Am I that perverted?”

“You are.”

Walking into the Sheng family home, Xu Sui noticed it was very quiet and asked: “Is no one home?”

“My mom went to the supermarket to buy groceries, my brother is sleeping,” the little curly-haired boy poured Xu Sui a glass of water with practiced ease. As soon as she took a sip, he revealed his true nature: “Teacher Little Xu, want to play games?”

“Yes.” Xu Sui answered decisively.

The two went upstairs together. Sheng Yanjia skillfully turned on the projector and tossed Xu Sui a game controller. Both sat cross-legged in front of the projector and started their gaming battle.

They played for an hour and a half – five rounds, with Sheng Yanjia losing three times. He collapsed defeat onto his crossed legs with a mournful face:

“Teacher Little Xu, you’re so amazing.”

Sounds came from downstairs. Sheng Yanjia thought his mom had returned and didn’t pay attention, continuing to speak with a tragic expression: “My academic performance is as disastrous as my gaming record.”

“That’s improvement though – before, you would have lost five straight,” Xu Sui accidentally stabbed him in the heart.

“Ah, I feel so much more pressure since starting middle school,” Sheng Yanjia said, then changed topics: “Teacher Little Xu, I can’t bear to part with you… r teaching.”

“It’s okay, you can still ask me questions on WeChat if you have problems in the future,” Xu Sui’s tone was gentle.

Little Curly’s eyebrows lifted with joy, unconsciously moving closer to Xu Sui: “Really? Teacher Little Xu, I can ask you about anything in the future?”

Though puzzled by little Sheng Yanjia’s excited tone, she was about to nod when suddenly an oppressive shadow loomed over them. A man bent down and lifted Sheng Yanjia away from her side like picking up a chick, without any mercy.

At the same time, a cold voice fell:

“No.”

Sheng Yanjia looked back to see Zhou Jingze and angrily covered his face: “Why is it you again, ah – Brother, you’re so annoying.”

Seeing Zhou Jingze, Xu Sui’s heart inevitably skipped a beat, the corners of her lips turning up: “How did you come?”

“Felt like it.” Zhou Jingze’s voice was light.

“Aunt Sheng is back from shopping, let’s go downstairs.” Zhou Jingze bent down, picked up the remote from the carpet and pressed the power button on the projector.

Sheng Yanjia dared to be angry but not speak. The group went downstairs together. Little Curly had nowhere to vent his frustration, so as soon as they reached the stairway, he took a detour to go harass his older brother who was still sound asleep.

Aunt Sheng was downstairs organizing things, putting fresh ingredients into the refrigerator box by box, while setting aside the ingredients needed for today in a pile as high as a small mountain.

“Little Xu, please sit, go eat some fruit,” Aunt Sheng said warmly. When her gaze met Zhou Jingze standing casually with his hands in his pockets, she immediately changed her expression: “What are you standing there for? Go properly take care of Teacher Little Xu.”

“Tsk,” Zhou Jingze’s tongue clicked against his cheek as he chuckled lightly: “Fine.”

The two came to sit on the sofa one after the other. Xu Sui was afraid Aunt Sheng might notice something and tease them, so she sat a bit farther away, leaving one seat’s distance between her and Zhou Jingze.

Seeing this, Zhou Jingze raised an eyebrow, pressed the TV remote power button, then leaned back against the sofa and methodically began peeling an orange, even removing all the white pith cleanly.

Xu Sui was watching TV when Zhou Jingze leaned closer to her, gesturing to the fruit in his hand.

“Thank you.”

Just as Xu Sui reached out to take it, Zhou Jingze leaned his whole body over, revealing a roguish smile, deliberately emphasizing each word: “Didn’t Aunt Sheng tell me to take good, good care of you?”

“Be good, open your mouth.”

Zhou Jingze’s deep voice with its grainy texture replayed in slow motion by her ear, his warm breath brushing against her most sensitive spots. Her heart trembled, and Xu Sui opened her mouth as if bewitched to eat the orange segment in his hand.

Suddenly, Aunt Sheng’s cheerful voice came: “Little Xu—”

Xu Sui was startled, her teeth biting his knuckle, her soft lips brushing across Zhou Jingze’s fingertip. She hurriedly stood up, her voice carrying a trace of panic: “Coming.”

After the girl left, Zhou Jingze lounged on the sofa, staring at the very light tooth mark on his index finger and smiled.

Xu Sui walked into the kitchen, her voice gentle: “Aunt Sheng, is there anything I can help you with?”

“What a disaster, the delivery guy Old Wang just came, I need to go to the convenience store to check inventory now,” Aunt Sheng took off her apron: “Just help me watch the soup in the pot, don’t touch anything else, leave it for me.”

“Okay,” Xu Sui agreed.

The gas stove simmered the soup in the clay pot on low heat, making gurgling bubbling sounds. Xu Sui looked at the ingredients in front of her. Since she had nothing else to do, she started washing some vegetables and side dishes.

The faucet made rushing sounds. Xu Sui washed seriously, not even noticing her fingers turning red from the cold. She was washing small red cherry tomatoes, placing them one by one into a white porcelain plate.

While washing, Xu Sui casually tasted a small tomato – delicious, sweet and sour. Zhou Jingze had entered silently at some point, his brow furrowing:

“Aren’t you cold?”

Xu Sui paused her movements, smiling: “I didn’t notice until you mentioned it, it does seem a bit cold.”

Zhou Jingze walked over, reached out to turn off the faucet, and pulled a paper towel from nearby to dry her hands.

The water sound stopped, leaving only the bubbling sounds from the soup pot in the air. Xu Sui stood obediently letting Zhou Jingze dry her hands while her other hand secretly reached for the small tomatoes on the plate.

Zhou Jingze raised an eyebrow: “That good?”

Xu Sui had just swallowed one small tomato and popped another in, her cheeks puffed out, her voice unclear: “Sweet.”

“Let me try.”

Zhou Jingze leaned over, gripped her chin with one hand, and brought his lips close. He bit her gently, forcing Xu Sui to open her lips.

This kiss made Xu Sui’s heartbeat accelerate. Her lips and teeth were pried open, a moist tongue slid in, the cherry tomato was bitten through, and the juice was slowly forced down her throat.

A bit of red pulp stuck to the corner of her lips. Zhou Jingze reached out with his thumb to wipe it away, then in front of her, his Adam’s apple slowly rolling, licked it clean bit by bit.

Xu Sui’s face burned terribly. She looked away, but her face was turned back. He fed her another soft-centered small tomato, his hands not idle, kneading gently.

In someone else’s kitchen, he dared to do such things.

Sounds of Sheng Nanzhou and Sheng Yanjia playing came from upstairs, and the pot in the kitchen made urgent bubbling sounds.

Teeth bit lightly, the red small tomato was half-peeled, a casual twist of fingertips produced juice, and pressing the nail in left a mark on the flesh.

After sucking once, it was sweet.

Xu Sui was nervous and scared, pushing against his chest making muffled sounds.

Suddenly, sounds came from outside. Xu Sui frantically pushed him away, turning her back to stand at the counter organizing her clothes. The faucet turned on again, the rushing sound seeming to wash away some of the previous intimacy.

Aunt Sheng put her keys on the coffee table and walked in, feeling the atmosphere was strange. She looked suspiciously at Zhou Jingze: “What are you doing in here?”

“Supervising,” Zhou Jingze said calmly, pointing: “I was afraid she wouldn’t wash the vegetables properly.”

Xu Sui: “…”

“I need you to supervise—” Halfway through her words, Aunt Sheng realized what was happening and quickly ushered Xu Sui out: “Oh my, I invited you here to eat, not to work.”

“It’s okay, I was just helping—” Xu Sui explained.

“Both of you go out, dinner will be ready soon.” Aunt Sheng waved them away.

As soon as Xu Sui and Zhou Jingze were shooed out, they encountered the bleary-eyed blind Young Master Sheng coming downstairs with his eyes closed, supported by little Sheng Yanjia who was shorter than his brother.

Zhou Jingze put his hands in his pockets, lifted his neck to glance at Sheng Nanzhou, and sneered: “You got up quite early.”

“The bed stuck to me,” Sheng Nanzhou corrected.

“Four people, let’s play flying chess,” Sheng Yanjia snapped his fingers.

The group played for about half an hour before the meal was ready. Aunt Sheng called the kids to the table. She was in a good mood today and opened a bottle of red wine.

Looking at these kids, Aunt Sheng suddenly asked: “Why didn’t Xixi come? I even made her favorite steamed taro ribs today.”

Xu Sui and Zhou Jingze looked at each other and tactfully said nothing. It wasn’t that Sheng Nanzhou and Hu Qianxi were having a cold war – it was just that Hu Qianxi was currently dieting for love while pursuing Lu Wenbai, and Sheng Nanzhou was actively avoiding the situation.

Aunt Sheng swirled her wine glass and kicked her son: “Hey, I’m asking you a question. Why aren’t you responding? Don’t you adore her the most? Whenever there’s something good to eat or play with, you immediately think of her.”

“Mom, I feel like these ribs are a bit salty,” Sheng Nanzhou took a bite and frowned.

Mother Sheng knew her son best – when he didn’t want to talk, you could pry his mouth open and it would be useless. So she didn’t expose him, casually responding: “Really? Add some water then.”

At least it won’t kill anyone.

Sheng Nanzhou put down his chopsticks and gave his mother a thumbs up.

This was how the two brothers were raised.

Aunt Sheng had made a table full of rich dishes. After two glasses of wine, in her excitement she held Xu Sui’s hand and kept thanking her: “Little Xu, that boy Sheng Yanjia really burned high incense to meet such a good teacher like you. Otherwise he might not have gotten into Hua High. You’re like a reincarnated Bodhisattva for our family.”

Xu Sui felt very embarrassed and said: “Little Jia worked hard too, I just provided tutoring support.”

“Come, thank you!” Aunt Sheng pulled her hand to toast, very enthusiastically.

Zhou Jingze sat to the side, his expression lazy: “Aunt Sheng, putting such a high hat on her makes her afraid to even eat.”

With Zhou Jingze’s reminder, Aunt Sheng embarrassedly let go of her hand: “My fault, I’ll stop talking, eat, eat.”

Halfway through the meal, Aunt Sheng looked at Xu Sui sitting beside her – fair skin, bright eyes, excellent person, good personality. The more she looked, the more satisfied she became.

“Little Xu, you don’t have a boyfriend yet, right? Let me introduce you to someone. Anyone Aunt Sheng approves of definitely won’t be bad,” Aunt Sheng said.

Xu Sui looked stunned. Just as she was about to say she had a boyfriend, Sheng Nanzhou suddenly interrupted with a look of watching the show: “Mom, what type? You already have a candidate so quickly?”

“Of course, Old Gu’s son who often comes to our house to play cards, remember? PhD, he’s a national engineer.” Aunt Sheng described vividly.

Zhou Jingze was slowly drinking soup when he suddenly commented: “Too old.”

Aunt Sheng thought for a moment and continued: “What about Little Zhang, the brother two grades above you?”

“The one who studies geological exploration? Zhou Jingze leaned back in his chair, wiping his hands: “A bit short.”

“What about Old Lin’s son? Not bad, right? Handsome, tall, same age as you all, really outstanding.” Aunt Sheng was determined to argue with him.

Zhou Jingze’s tone was insufferably arrogant: “He can’t fly planes.”

Aunt Sheng was so frustrated she lost her head and didn’t realize the loophole in his words, asking angrily: “Where am I supposed to find someone tall, young, handsome, and able to fly planes to introduce to Xu Sui?”

Zhou Jingze smiled, lifted his eyelids, and said word by word: “Isn’t one sitting right in front of you?”