Zhou Jingze walked Xu Sui back to school, escorting her all the way to the women’s dormitory building. Xu Sui bid him goodnight as usual before leaving. After a moment, Zhou Jingze called out to her: “Eleven.”
Xu Sui turned around, her expression puzzled: “Mm?”
“Want to come back with me to meet Grandpa?” Zhou Jingze’s eyes held a hint of a smile as he looked down at her.
“Ah?” This caught Xu Sui completely off guard. Afterward, she felt her reaction was wrong and quickly waved her hands: “I don’t mean I don’t want to meet your grandfather. I’m afraid he won’t like me.”
Zhou Jingze raised an eyebrow, looking at her with a half-smile: “You’re already calling him Grandpa—how could he not like you?”
Xu Sui blushed from his teasing. Zhou Jingze reached out to pat her head and said seriously: “Anyone I like, they’ll really like too.”
Finally, Xu Sui nodded. When she returned to the dorm, she was quite happy. He planned to introduce her to his family—everything was developing in a very good direction.
There were still five days until Zhou Jingze’s birthday.
After washing up that night, Xu Sui lay in bed, holding her phone and searching for tattoo shops near the school. She planned to get… a tattoo as a birthday gift for Zhou Jingze.
Xu Sui had wanted to do this for months. Although she was afraid of the pain, she wanted to leave a mark related to him on her body.
Previously at Beishan Ski Resort, Zhou Jingze had said the thing he regretted most was having to remove the tattoo on his hand after choosing to become a pilot.
Then she would get his disappeared tattoo from the back of his hand tattooed back, hoping to make him happy.
The next day, after class, Xu Sui went alone to the tattoo shop she’d found on her phone. The shop was in a hidden alley about a kilometer from school.
A wooden sign stood at the shop entrance with “Yiheng Tattoo Shop” written in red paint that had partially peeled off from wind and weather.
Xu Sui lifted the door curtain decorated with a samurai cat design and walked in. The owner seemed to be tattooing someone else—pig-like screaming sounds came through the bamboo curtain of the partition, making her shiver.
“Tsk, if you scream any louder and my hand slips, it might hurt even more.” An impatient female voice came through.
The front desk girl poured Xu Sui a glass of water, looking apologetic: “It’s a bit busy today, please wait a moment.”
Xu Sui nodded and sat on the sofa waiting for the owner to come out. After waiting about an hour, a tall, burly man came out looking deathly pale, nearly stumbling while scanning to pay.
After the customer left, the owner leisurely emerged. The moment Xu Sui saw her clearly, surprise flashed in her eyes. The tattoo artist was actually a woman, around thirty, beautiful and alluring.
The owner wore a dress, her red lips holding a lady’s menthol cigarette. Seeing Xu Sui on the sofa, she removed the cigarette and asked: “Tattoo?”
“Mm.” Xu Sui nodded.
“What design?”
The female owner sat beside Xu Sui. She smelled a faint rose fragrance and took out her phone to show the owner a photo.
After saying this, the air seemed to freeze for a second.
“Looks like a men’s tattoo,” the female owner’s red lips parted slightly, her tone somewhat meaningful. After a pause, she changed topics: “Where do you want it?”
Xu Sui thought for a moment and said: “On the ribs.”
“Below the chest? The needle piercing the skin layer above the rib bone might hurt a bit.” The owner warned.
The owner’s charming eyes swept over her. The girl before her had waist-length hair, fair skin, and very clean dark eyes. There were several textbooks beside her—clearly a good girl.
Usually, no matter what customers wanted tattooed or where—even if it was below their butthole—she wouldn’t blink an eye. But this girl was obviously a good student, so well-behaved that it stirred compassion.
“Are you sure you want it on the ribs?” the female owner confirmed again.
Xu Sui took a breath. Although she was a bit scared, she nodded firmly: “Yes, on the ribs.”
Every time they made love, Zhou Jingze liked to press there, forcing her to open her eyes, domineeringly demanding she remember who he was through pain and unbearable sensation.
She wanted to remember this love.
The female owner finally nodded. Xu Sui followed her into the room, undressed to her midriff, and the tattoo artist sat on a cushioned chair, gave her anesthesia, positioned the design, then leaned down to begin tattooing on the skin layer of her ribs.
The moment the ink needle pierced her skin, Xu Sui furrowed her delicate brows and let out a muffled groan. After a long four hours, the tattoo was finally complete.
Xu Sui lay on the bed, slowly sitting up to put on her clothes. With her back to the tattoo artist, she was slender, with a smooth spine extending down the middle, her shoulder blades like a butterfly about to take flight.
The female owner walked over to give her care instructions. Her eyes swept over—she had a beautiful chest shape, like two peaches, fair and tender. The freshly tattooed design on the lower side at the ribs, wrapped around her jade-like skin, had a kind of rebellious yet obedient beauty.
“You have a beautiful chest.” the female owner praised sincerely.
“Thank you.”
“I hope you won’t regret it.” She meant tattooing such a beautiful place.
Xu Sui’s movement of putting on clothes froze, then she shook her head: “I won’t.”
When Xu Sui finished dressing and went out to pay, the female owner held a menthol burst cigarette and handed her a bottle of medicine: “Be careful not to let that area get wet, or the wound might get infected. It’ll scab and peel after a week.”
“Okay, thank you.”
When Xu Sui walked out of the alley, the sun was a bit harsh. She instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes, and her stomach rumbled with hunger. Just as she was about to find a noodle shop, her phone made a “ding dong” sound—a message from Hu Qianxi:
[Sui Sui, did you know Ye Saining came back?]
Xu Sui’s eyelid twitched. Saining, Ye Saining? Was this the same girl from when she sent the wrong message, Zhou Jingze mistook her for Ye Saining, and got unprecedentedly angry?
Afraid Xu Sui wouldn’t know this person, Hu Qianxi shared Ye Saining’s social media homepage. The sun was blindingly bright, so Xu Sui walked to the shadows and clicked on her homepage.
Ye Saining had over 2 million followers on social media, her name was Emily, her work bio said: Model, part-time painter, location: UK, followed by a work contact email.
Xu Sui leaned against the wall, scrolling with her thumb. Ye Saining’s homepage shared magazine shoots, oil paintings she’d painted, and art exhibitions she’d attended.
From her social media, it was clear Ye Saining was a somewhat famous model—5’10” tall, with elongated seductive eyes and pure amber irises, like a modern cat woman.
A mature, sisterly type of beauty.
Xu Sui scrolled to her latest post and her gaze froze. Ye Saining had shared a photo without any caption, showing her at a small private drinking party.
The long table held many types of alcohol. On the right side, a man’s hands holding a wine glass occupied two-thirds of the photo. He wore a silver watch on his wrist, his knuckles clearly defined, long clean fingers resting on the transparent glass.
There was a black mole right in the center of the tiger’s mouth on his hand.
The comments below were all things like “Please sister post photos” and “Emily should be happy in summer too,” to which Ye Saining hadn’t replied.
Except for one: This guy’s hands look so good, is he your mysterious boyfriend, Ning Ning?
The aloof Ye Saining playfully replied: Secret, hehe~
So after Zhou Jingze walked her back to school last night, he went to a party. Xu Sui’s eyelashes trembled. Just then, a new message came in from Hu Qianxi:
[Sui Sui, I just found out she came back. She used to chase my uncle, and they’ve been on good terms ever since. You should keep an eye on him. Of course, maybe I’m being suspicious—my uncle should tell you about it, right?]
So they had this kind of history. Xu Sui didn’t know how to reply and closed the chat window. She also felt Zhou Jingze would proactively tell her about this person.
Unfortunately, Zhou Jingze contacted her as usual, never mentioning Ye Saining at all during their conversations. Xu Sui didn’t say anything either. They agreed to have dinner Friday night, with Xu Sui asking him to accompany her to buy a gift for meeting Grandpa.
Zhou Jingze took Xu Sui to a Hong Kong-style tea restaurant. After the dishes arrived, Xu Sui used her fork to twirl some noodles and put them in her mouth, her cheeks puffed: “What does your grandfather usually like? Chess, tea?”
Zhou Jingze sat across from her, pulled out a napkin and leaned forward to wipe food from her mouth, deliberately teasing: “Give him an airplane—he’d like that.”
“Ah, I don’t have that much money,” Xu Sui’s eyes widened, “but I have some prize money left. Would a model plane work?”
Hearing this, Zhou Jingze pinched her cheek, his expression darkening: “You can only give those to me.”
“Then let’s hurry and finish eating so we can go shopping.” Xu Sui finally said.
At eight o’clock, Xu Sui bit the straw in her milk tea cup, gently sucking to the bottom, making slurping sounds. Zhou Jingze sat across from her, having finished eating long ago.
Xu Sui put down her cup and smiled: “I’m done eating. Let’s go.”
Zhou Jingze nodded, picking up the cigarettes and lighter from the table. His phone, set aside, began buzzing. He glanced at the caller ID, frowned, but still picked up the phone and held it to his ear: “Hello.”
A faint female voice came from the other end. Xu Sui lowered her lashes, unconsciously gripping her skirt hem. Zhou Jingze held the phone, responding lazily: “Just finished eating.”
“Mm.”
“Now?” Zhou Jingze lifted his eyelids to glance at Xu Sui, hesitated for a moment: “Wait for me there.”
After Zhou Jingze hung up, he raised his hand to call the server over to pay the bill, while turning to speak to Xu Sui, his voice clear: “Eleven, a friend of mine has something going on. We’ll buy the gift another time.”
He stood up, took the card from the server, freed one hand to pat her head, then left directly. Soon after, the minty scent lingering around her nose gradually faded.
“But—” Xu Sui looked at his departing figure, the words stuck in her throat unfinished, the warmth from where he’d touched her head still lingering.
Summer nights fell late. By evening, the light boxes along the street lit up, making the sky appear dark blue. Xu Sui sat in the restaurant looking out the window. The fountain in the square simultaneously shot up various water sprays, causing children to squeal and play excitedly.
Outside the square was a young couple who walked to the McDonald’s dessert stand window and bought two ice creams—second one half price. After tasting each other’s flavors, they smiled at each other, the sweetness in their eyes almost melting each other.
“But—can’t I be your first priority?” Xu Sui murmured to herself, the disappointment in her eyes obvious.