The next day when she woke up, Xu Sui couldn’t stand steadily at all. Her whole body felt like it had been dismantled. She stepped barefoot on the floor, finding each step difficult.
Zhou Jingze had a cigarette in his mouth and walked over wearing only athletic pants. He scooped Xu Sui up horizontally in his arms and carried her to the sink, helping her brush her teeth and wash her face.
He squeezed toothpaste onto a toothbrush, his voice clear: “Open your mouth.”
Xu Sui obediently opened her mouth, then lowered her head, pretending to seriously examine the cracks in the green sink. She still didn’t dare look directly at Zhou Jingze.
After spending the night together, every time she closed her eyes she saw scenes from last night’s passionate encounter, making her blush and feel embarrassed. This morning the two were still in the same cramped space, undressing before each other, brushing teeth together—it seemed ordinary yet extraordinary.
Xu Sui had minty foam in her mouth. When Zhou Jingze turned on the rusty faucet, water flowed briefly then stopped. His rock-black eyes surveyed this shabby hotel room with peeling walls, and he spoke with meaningful tone:
“Tsk, this first time was quite… memorable.”
After speaking, Zhou Jingze went out and brought back two bottles of mineral water for Xu Sui to rinse with. Xu Sui took a mouthful and spat it out. When she bent over, her lower abdomen ached faintly.
It was all because last night he had no restraint, tormenting her until midnight.
She complained softly: “It’s lucky my exam is in the afternoon. It’s all your fault.”
Zhou Jingze wore a lazy smile on his face. He gripped the young lady’s waist and pushed her toward the mirror, his tone slow, Adam’s apple rolling: “You should be grateful you have an exam this afternoon, otherwise we’d do it again here.”
In front of the mirror, she would die, right? Xu Sui was so scared she patted his hand and escaped.
After packing up, Zhou Jingze took Xu Sui out for a meal and personally escorted her to the exam venue. After Xu Sui finished her exam, she saw Zhou Jingze still waiting for her on a bench outside.
He leaned lazily against the chair, his long black lashes lowered, playing sudoku on his phone. Passing examinees couldn’t help but glance in his direction, but Zhou Jingze didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids.
Xu Sui was struck by a whim to startle him. She quietly circled behind his chair, holding her pencil case under her elbow, covered his eyes with her hands, and deliberately changed her voice: “Guess who I am?”
“Eleven.” Zhou Jingze’s tone was calm.
Xu Sui found it boring and released her hands, mumbling: “How did you guess it was me?”
“You have a milky scent.” Zhou Jingze’s tone was lazy, with a roguish air.
Xu Sui’s face reddened. In this regard, she could never win against him, so she simply changed the subject: “I think I did pretty well on the exam.”
“Good, I’ll take you to eat something nice.” Zhou Jingze smiled and reached out to pinch her cheek.
The weekend flew by, and results came out quickly. When the rankings were posted on Tuesday, Xu Sui saw her name behind “First Prize,” and her anxious heart finally settled.
She had money to buy the things she wanted.
Xu Sui took out her phone and messaged Hu Qianxi: [Xixi, about that Italian buyer you mentioned last time, can you send me her contact info?]
On the other side, under the blazing sun with incessant cicada calls, Zhou Jingze and his group had just finished an hour of emergency training. Each was drenched in sweat, their foreheads showing bulging veins from the heat.
The first thing Zhou Jingze did when he returned to the dormitory was take a cold shower. Sheng Nanzhou turned the fan to maximum, white blades whirring, but he still felt burning hot.
The sound of rushing water came from the bathroom. Sheng Nanzhou was unbearably hot and walked over to knock twice on the door, his tone agitated: “Buddy, let’s shower together.”
Zhou Jingze: “?”
Cold water from the showerhead poured down. Zhou Jingze raised his hand to slick his hair back, his dark brows and eyes dotted with water droplets as he closed his eyes to rinse. With a “bang,” Sheng Nanzhou burst through the door in a panic.
The two men faced each other. Sheng Nanzhou thought of a phrase—complete honesty.
“Get out if you don’t want to die.” Zhou Jingze’s tone was slow.
Sheng Nanzhou grabbed the showerhead and poured water over his head, his tone natural, actually thinking Zhou Jingze was making a big fuss: “Come on, we’ve grown up together since childhood, wearing the same pants. What’s wrong with showering together?”
Zhou Jingze turned off the showerhead with a “snap,” pulled down a bath towel from the rack to properly wrap himself, his tone slow with hints of subtle bragging:
“The situation has changed.”
“?” Sheng Nanzhou.
“I must remain pure for my wife.” Zhou Jingze’s tone was casual, revealing unconscious pleasure.
Sheng Nanzhou was silent for three seconds before realizing what he meant. He turned on the showerhead and sprayed Zhou Jingze wildly. Zhou Jingze raised an eyebrow and locked his throat directly. Water splashed everywhere as the two fought.
The tightly closed bathroom door occasionally made banging sounds, with Sheng Nanzhou’s angry voice faintly coming through the crack.
“Damn it, Zhou Jingze, you’re not human.”
“You old beast!”
The two had a fight in the bathroom while also getting washed. When Zhou Jingze came out, his hair was still wet. He grabbed a dry towel and casually wiped his head twice before tossing it into the laundry basket.
The fan turned lazily overhead. Zhou Jingze picked up ice water from the table, took a sip, and lazily leaned back in his chair to watch a soccer match on his phone.
Sheng Nanzhou came out later. Passing Zhou Jingze’s seat, he kicked his chair. Zhou Jingze didn’t even lift his eyelids and said one word:
“Speak.”
Sheng Nanzhou pulled his chair next to Zhou Jingze and sat down, asking: “Ye Saining came back, but you didn’t go see her.”
“I’m busy.” Zhou Jingze’s eyes never left his phone.
Sheng Nanzhou nodded, then tilted his chin at him and said something he’d been holding back for a long time: “Hey, what’s your deal now? Planning to just play around with her? You’ve had so many girlfriends before, no matter how wild you were, I never said a word; but Xu is different from the others. She’s such a good, well-behaved girl. She’d have to be blind to fall for a scumbag like you…”
Zhou Jingze’s gaze remained on the soccer match on his phone screen. Neymar scored a goal and the whole stadium cheered. The sound was too loud, so he paused, pressed his thumb, turned off the video, and put his hands behind his head:
“I want to introduce her to Grandpa.”
Sheng Nanzhou had been rambling, but hearing this, his voice stopped abruptly. He patted Zhou Jingze’s shoulder: “Damn, brother, I have nothing more to say.”
Who was Zhou Jingze’s grandfather? Regardless of the old man’s own impressive background, most importantly, he was the person closest to Zhou Jingze in this world.
He had never seen Zhou Jingze bring any girl to meet his grandfather.
Tsk, even playboys have their day of coming to shore.
Well, he really had to admire him.
On the weekend, Xu Sui stayed at Zhou Jingze’s house. After eating together, they planned to watch a movie. Zhou Jingze sat with one leg bent on the sofa, holding the remote control and pointing it at the projector: “What do you want to watch? Your favorite horror movies?”
“I’ve been watching that genre a lot lately. Let’s watch something suspenseful and mystery-focused.”
“Alright.” Zhou Jingze smiled.
The two sat side by side watching the movie. The room was dark, with only the projector casting a faint glow. Xu Sui hugged a pillow and watched seriously, but Zhou Jingze’s attention wasn’t on it. His fingers played with a strand of her hair, twirling it deeper, occasionally brushing her cheek.
Once a person surrenders themselves to another, after skin touches skin and intimate whispers, after passionate union with no distance remaining, the other person belongs completely to them.
That feeling was different—something he’d never experienced before.
Zhou Jingze felt a kind of pride, satisfaction.
She was his woman.
Xu Sui watched intently, only feeling his fingertips cool, and just touching her lips made her tremble. Soon her cheeks heated up, her toes curled up on the sofa, and her back broke out in fine sweat.
“Can you… think about something else?”
Xu Sui pushed his hand away, but her strength was weak, making it seem more like playing hard to get. The man’s large palm completely wrapped around her hand, his distinctly jointed fingers pressing against her, pinching her fingertip lightly, like electricity passing through—itchy and tingly.
Zhou Jingze turned his head, hot breath pouring into her ear, itchy and tingly, laughing lazily: “Too late, this is just how I am.”
“I haven’t showered yet.” Xu Sui’s ears were red enough to drip blood. She pushed him away and hurriedly left the sofa while he was distracted. Xu Sui rushed into the bathroom, and soon the sound of rushing water could be heard.
While Xu Sui was showering in the bathroom, she remembered she needed to set an alarm for tomorrow to get her delivery before it arrived at the door. Thinking of this, she realized her phone was still outside.
“Zhou Jingze, help me find my phone.” Xu Sui opened the door just a crack, her voice soft.
Zhou Jingze squinted and answered leisurely: “Sure, call me ‘husband’ and I’ll help you find it.”
“No way.” Xu Sui’s heartbeat obviously skipped a beat. She shut the door with a “snap.”
There was no sound outside for a while. While rinsing the foam from her body, Xu Sui thought that she habitually kept her phone on silent, so he’d probably need to look for a while.
The slender foam on her arms was washed away bit by bit. There was patient “knock knock” knocking at the bathroom door. Xu Sui hurriedly grabbed a bath towel to cover herself and opened the door.
Zhou Jingze leaned against the doorframe, his dark brows and eyes suppressing surging emotions. The atmosphere was a bit low, with “unhappy” written all over his face as he looked at her with leisurely composure.
“What’s wrong?” Xu Sui looked up at him.
Zhou Jingze handed Xu Sui’s phone to her, his tongue licking his back teeth: “Explain this?”
Xu Sui took it and saw her phone showing two missed calls from Zhou Jingze, with the contact saved as: ZJZ.
She immediately understood why Zhou Jingze was angry, but this kind of complex girlish sentiment would probably be hard for him to understand even if explained.
Xu Sui took a breath, clutching the bath towel at her chest with one hand, extremely well-behaved: “I’ll change it right now.”
The door gap was too wide, and heat gradually dissipated. Xu Sui instinctively shrank her shoulders. Her fingers were wet, and she couldn’t type correctly on the screen several times.
Zhou Jingze leaned against the door lazily watching her. She had just soaked in hot water and had a faint pink glow all over, tender like a freshly peeled lychee. The two collarbones at her chest were like two crescents.
She seemed to be thinking about what to change Zhou Jingze’s contact to. Her misty eyes were full of confusion, and her moist pink lips parted slightly as she bit her finger.
With a “bang,” Zhou Jingze pushed his way in, blocking her view, reaching out to grab the bath towel around her. His dark eyes surged with emotion, his Adam’s apple slowly rolling:
“You take your time thinking.”
The bathroom water rushed loudly, mist gradually swirling. Xu Sui only felt pain, the grinding sensation causing waves of pain at her ribs, like ants gnawing—painful yet carrying the pleasurable sensation of blood-sucking. The space was cramped, and she felt unbearably hot.
The showerhead water wasn’t turned off yet. Water drops hung on the steam-covered mirror, slowly sliding down. Hot water rushed on the floor, the whole room filled with steamy heat.
Zhou Jingze’s lashes were damp with sweat as he said hoarsely: “Tsk, the movie was only one-third through. I originally wanted to finish watching it with you on the sofa.”
“Looks like there’s no chance now.” Zhou Jingze raised his brow bone with lingering satisfaction.
Xu Sui bit her lip silently, tears in her eyes. Zhou Jingze still had leisure to pick up the phone from the sink and hand it to her, his tone casual:
“What do you want to change it to?”
Xu Sui had no choice. Her face flushed red as she stammered: “Boy… boyfriend.”
Xu Sui was being watched by him while forced to change the contact name, but she couldn’t hold the phone steady. The boy pressed completely against her, his large palm covering her back, fingers gripping her knuckles, teaching her to type.
She didn’t know if he was doing it on purpose. Xu Sui felt like she had no strength at all. At that moment, hot water from the showerhead poured down. With a shiver—hot and tingly—she tremblingly typed two characters:
Husband.
In the end, Xu Sui almost fainted from the heat in the bathroom.
The next day, Xu Sui overslept completely, sleeping until the sun was high. When she woke up, she found the space beside her pillow empty. Kui was lying by the bed lazily sunbathing, while 1017 jumped around on the bed, finally dragging and biting at her hair.
Xu Sui rescued her long hair from the fat cat’s mouth and put on a coat to get up. She discovered Zhou Jingze had bought her breakfast and left a note—”Out on business.”
After eating something, Xu Sui’s phone on the dining table rang. She ran out to the courtyard to open the door and signed for an international express delivery.
Xu Sui carefully carried it inside, went straight to the second floor, hesitated, then walked into an empty room at the far end of the second floor corner. She put the item inside, cleaned the room again, then spent the whole afternoon arranging things there.
At eight PM, Zhou Jingze came home as punctually as feeding cats. Opening the door, he found Xu Sui sitting on the carpet, leaning against the sofa and reading.
Xu Sui looked up from her book, and seeing who it was, her eyes brightened: “You’re back?”
“Mm, back to feed the cats.” Zhou Jingze smiled, carrying food over to her.
Xu Sui put down her book and crawled over, resting her elbows on the coffee table to unwrap the bag. She noticed there was also a red velvet cake beside it, and dimples appeared on her cheeks:
“Eh, why did you suddenly think to buy cake?”
Zhou Jingze sat on the sofa, tearing open the plastic wrap and handing her a fork: “I saw many people queuing on the street. Figured it must be pretty good.”
Xu Sui took a bite of cake, her cheeks puffing as she seemed to remember something: “Oh right, the game console seems to be broken.”
Zhou Jingze set his phone aside, walked to the low cabinet, turned it on, tapped and pressed buttons, twisted a knob, then said: “I’ll go upstairs to get the toolbox.”
Xu Sui nodded and continued eating her small cake. There was no sound from upstairs. After five minutes she realized and immediately rushed upstairs.
Xu Sui ran upstairs in a panic, almost falling halfway. When she reached the last room, she found Zhou Jingze with a red toolbox at his feet, staring at the three-dimensional object in front of him.
She pressed her chest and sighed in relief. Good, he hadn’t unpacked it yet, and the backdrop curtain hadn’t been lifted either.
“What’s this? My birthday present?” Zhou Jingze looked at her with leisurely composure.
Xu Sui shook her head, feigning nonchalance: “No, that’s just my delivery.”
Zhou Jingze looked at her with a half-smile, his voice low: “Open it. I want to see.”
Xu Sui met Zhou Jingze’s gaze and after three minutes of standoff, admitted defeat. It was all because the gift was too big and easily exposed, and his real birthday hadn’t come yet—still a week away.
Xu Sui puffed her cheeks: “Alright, but you have to close your eyes. On your actual birthday, I have another gift for you.”
“Okay.” Zhou Jingze.
Zhou Jingze closed his eyes. Rustling sounds came from around him, then he heard Xu Sui unwrapping the box. After a while, suddenly “snap”—the lights went out, and everything fell into darkness.
“You can open your eyes now.” Xu Sui tugged at his sleeve, her voice soft and sweet.
Zhou Jingze felt like he’d waited a century. He opened his eyes, still wearing a roguish smile, about to ask if she was proposing to him with such ceremony. His eyes casually swept over, and his smile froze—he couldn’t say a word.
Directly in front was a long Halo Mandala sunset projection lamp, orange light and shadow cast on the opposite white wall like a huge orange, illuminating every photo on the wall.
Some of these photos he couldn’t even remember himself. He didn’t know how patiently Xu Sui had searched through his social networks to find them. Some looked like they were found on official websites, some were blurry.
His first baseball league championship, first place in the math competition with teachers and classmates. Also, his commemorative bungee jump at Navajo Bridge in the US at sixteen, and at seventeen, his first time representing the grand theater playing Bach in a foreign central hall.
In the center of the sunset wall was a small model airplane—aircraft G-588017.
That was the plane Zhou Jingze used in his flying competition with Gao Yang, and his first successful flight.
Last year when driving her to the train station, Xu Sui had asked: “What do you usually do during holidays?”
Zhou Jingze drove, his tone carrying reckless meaning: “Skiing, bungee jumping, racing—whatever’s most thrilling.”
“But aren’t those very dangerous?”
“Because I don’t care. With no one to worry about, I can only waste time. I think dying on some sunset boulevard someday would be worthwhile.” Zhou Jingze’s words were half-true, half-false.
This photo wall recorded every exciting and meaningful moment of Zhou Jingze’s life, along with the small model plane in the center. Xu Sui used her own way to tell him—your life hasn’t been wasted, the road ahead is just beginning.
“Happy birthday, Zhou Jingze.” Xu Sui said softly.
Zhou Jingze was somewhat speechless, only able to look at her and smile, his tone slow: “Suddenly want to grow old with you.”
How could there be such a foolish girl? She had worked hard preparing for the competition to win first place just to get prize money to buy a gift. She prepared with such care, wanting to present the best to him.
Xu Sui smiled back, quietly hooking his finger. Zhou Jingze grasped her hand in return, with great force, gripping very tightly, as if grasping something.
I hope you stay safe and sound, proud and free.
Happy birthday, my dearest.