“Thank you.” Xu Sui picked up the water beside her, quickly tilted her head back to drink, using it as cover to avoid Zhou Jingze’s gaze. She gulped down several mouthfuls before her throat felt slightly better.

“Are you heartbroken?” Hu Qianxi asked.

“Him?” Sheng Nanzhou let out a cold laugh, turned around and moved closer to Zhou Jingze, running his hands all over his chest with an affected tone, “Shuhuan, you have no heart!”

Zhou Jingze remained unmoved, leaned down to his ear with a doting tone, speaking in a breathy voice: “Be good, I’ll let you touch tonight when we get back.”

Sheng Nanzhou recoiled from him like he’d been electrocuted, keeping his distance from Zhou Jingze as he cursed: “Stop fucking seducing me, I’m straight!”

“Master Zhou doesn’t care about the breakup. Losing ‘Hey’ makes him sadder,” Sheng Nanzhou said.

“Really? You only had it for less than a month after picking it up, even took it to the hospital for shots and checkups, and it’s gone so quickly?” Hu Qianxi said.

“Mm,” Zhou Jingze responded flatly, his voice lowered as he muttered, “Ungrateful cat.”

After the group finished eating, Zhou Jingze went to the restroom behind the cafeteria to wash his hands. When he came out, he was holding a tissue, wiping his hands as he said: “Let’s go.”

“Bye fatty, bye little sister Xu.” Sheng Nanzhou waved at them with a grin.

Xu Sui nodded. Hu Qianxi immediately clenched her fists and cursed: “Bye your ass, who wants to see you anyway.”

After they left, Xu Sui and Hu Qianxi walked back to the dormitory side by side. Although they now knew about Bai Yuyue and Zhou Jingze’s breakup, they decided to pretend they didn’t know.

Because Bai Yuyue seemed truly devastated by this heartbreak.

A new week arrived. The previous night had brought rain, and stepping outside, the air was filled with the fragrance of grass mixed with the earthy scent of rain-soaked soil.

Xu Sui had just gotten on the bus when the weather changed dramatically. The sun came out shortly after, its bright rays piercing through the bus window glass somewhat blindingly. Xu Sui instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes.

The tutoring interview was scheduled for 4 PM. Xu Sui transferred buses three times. Due to sweating, her clothes clung to her back. Sitting on the bus, jolted by the ride, she felt nauseous and her face turned pale.

Finally, Xu Sui got off before 4 o’clock. She walked into Amber Lane, searching house by house for No. 79 according to the address her senior had given her.

Not long after getting off the bus, the nausea in Xu Sui’s body was still severe. She walked very slowly. Suddenly, she spotted a convenience store in the distance – a 711 with a red number 7 in the center of the sign, surrounded by a green border.

Xu Sui walked over. The automatic doors slowly opened with a “ding.”

“Welcome.” A lazy, emotionless voice sounded.

Xu Sui looked over and was shocked to see Zhou Jingze. The boy was casually slouched in the cashier’s chair, his dark eyelashes lowered, looking tired and drowsy as if he hadn’t woken up.

He was biting a cigarette at an angle, his elbow bent, showing taut muscle lines, head down playing a game. From the side, the prominence of his cervical spine was obvious – cold yet alluring.

Perhaps from maintaining the same position too long, Zhou Jingze raised his hand to rub his neck. Looking up and seeing it was Xu Sui, he raised his eyebrows slightly: “Why is it you?”

“I came here for something,” Xu Sui replied nervously.

Zhou Jingze nodded indifferently and lowered his head to resume gaming. Xu Sui turned around, standing among a row of freezers picking and choosing, while constant “KO” sounds came from behind her. Even though Zhou Jingze clearly wasn’t looking at her, Xu Sui felt incredibly nervous being alone with him in this space.

Xu Sui momentarily blanked out, forgetting what she’d come to the convenience store to buy. The cold air from the freezer hit her, making her shiver. Finally, she hastily picked a box of white peach flavored milk.

When checking out, Zhou Jingze tossed his phone aside, stood up, and scanned the item. As Xu Sui was paying, Zhou Jingze noticed her unusual appearance – her face was abnormally pale, making her eyes appear particularly dark and fragile.

“What’s wrong with you? You don’t look well,” Zhou Jingze’s voice was low as he stared at her.

“A bit carsick,” Xu Sui answered.

Zhou Jingze’s tongue pressed against his left cheek as he smiled. He tossed out a sentence: “Wait.”

He turned around, found a jacket, shook it vigorously, and a box of compressed tablets fell into his palm. Zhou Jingze opened the lid, casually picked out a candy, unwrapped it and tossed it in his mouth. His tongue rolled the tablet around, crunching the mint candy loudly, his voice muffled: “Hold out your hand.”

Xu Sui’s long eyelashes trembled as she extended her palm. Suddenly, a handful of green mint candies dropped from thin air, clattering down like a reward just for her. Not daring to look up and meet his gaze, she stared transfixed at his hand – fingers with distinct joints, a black mole at the tiger’s mouth, swaying before her eyes.

“I eat this candy often, seems to help with motion sickness,” Zhou Jingze said with a cigarette between his lips, his voice unclear.

Five minutes later, Xu Sui walked out of the convenience store. Standing under the sun, she gripped the candies tightly in her palm, her hand full of sweat. That day, the sun was hot enough to melt her, yet she felt unusually happy.

Xu Sui unwrapped a candy, putting the wrapper in her pocket. Though the mint candy was cool, she tasted sweetness in it.

Who would have known that fate’s coincidences would occur one after another on the same day. She took a wrong turn, spent half an hour looking for No. 79 Amber Lane, only to discover this house was right behind the 711 convenience store.

Xu Sui stood at the door, politely pressing the doorbell. Someone responded with “Ai” and quickly walked over to open it. An auntie opened the door.

The housekeeper led Xu Sui inside, where she finally met the real lady of the house. She was a woman of about forty, stunningly beautiful, wearing a form-fitting skirt with mature charm.

“You’re little Xu, right? Your senior already told me about you. Just call me Aunt Sheng. Come have some fruit, I just cut it,” the woman said warmly.

“Thank you,” Xu Sui looked at her and asked, “Who needs tutoring?”

“Look at my brain, I forgot to mention – it’s my youngest son. I’ll call him down,” Aunt Sheng called toward the stairway, “Sheng Yanjia, come down quickly, the new teacher is here. Stop bothering your brother to play games.”

No response.

Aunt Sheng smiled awkwardly: “Little Xu, why don’t you come upstairs with me? I’d like to see your trial lesson anyway.”

“Alright.” Xu Sui nodded.

Xu Sui followed the woman upstairs. They walked to the third room on the left. Standing in the doorway, Xu Sui immediately saw two people playing games.

“Sheng Yanjia, still bothering Brother Jingze to play games. I’m giving you three seconds – get out here,” Aunt Sheng said calmly, “Uncle Li who collects scrap downstairs has wanted to buy your game console for a long time.”

The game sounds stopped abruptly—

Hearing the familiar name, Xu Sui’s heart jumped. Zhou Jingze put down the Switch controller, turned around, and seeing Xu Sui, he was momentarily stunned, then amused. What a fucking coincidence.

“Class time.” Zhou Jingze stood up and ruffled the child’s head.

Sheng Yanjia hugged Zhou Jingze’s leg, pleading desperately: “Bro, please, just one more game with me.”

“Not playing, you’re too terrible at it,” Zhou Jingze crouched down, peeling off his fingers one by one with a lazy chuckle, “Study well.”

Walking out of the room, Zhou Jingze raised an eyebrow upon seeing her, stood in front of Xu Sui, and meeting the confusion in her eyes, he briefly explained: “He’s Sheng Nanzhou’s younger brother. My family also lives nearby. The convenience store belongs to his family – I was just helping out for a bit because Aunt Sheng went to play mahjong.”

Embarrassed by being tattled on by the younger generation, Aunt Sheng unceremoniously pushed Zhou Jingze out: “Don’t block Teacher Xu from giving her lesson!”

“Fine.”

The trial lesson was fairly short. After Xu Sui taught for about thirty minutes, Aunt Sheng was already expressing satisfaction and had her youngest son welcome the new teacher.

Sheng Yanjia, sporting a head of small curls, his chubby face clearly showing reluctance, could only say against his will: “Teacher Xu, welcome.”

Xu Sui smiled. Aunt Sheng walked her out, just in time to encounter Zhou Jingze sitting on the sofa about to leave. Aunt Sheng immediately stopped him: “Where are you going?”

“Where else? Home,” Zhou Jingze smiled helplessly.

“No way, there’s only you at home, go home my ass. Stay for dinner, auntie will make your favorite braised eggplant,” Aunt Sheng said.

Zhou Jingze laughed lazily: “If this continues, I’ll practically become your son.”

“Perfect, I’ve long wanted to disown Sheng Nanzhou as my son anyway. You can take his place,” Aunt Sheng said expressionlessly.

Zhou Jingze lowered his head, laughing until his shoulders shook, looking relaxed and cheerful. In the end, he didn’t leave.

Aunt Sheng walked Xu Sui out, holding her hand with a reproachful tone: “I told you to stay for dinner.”

Xu Sui shook her head with a smile: “I still have some things to do, and I need to go to the library later.”

“Little Xu, I was very satisfied with your trial lesson just now. Sheng Yanjia has half a year before his entrance exam, and this kid’s grades – I could raise a pig and it would be smarter than him. I hope you can help him. Of course, I understand your concerns about the commute – coming here is indeed quite troublesome. Why don’t you think about it tonight and contact your senior later.”

“Alright.” Xu Sui nodded.

That evening, Xu Sui returned to the dormitory. She found a clean glass jar and put all the mint candies Zhou Jingze had given her inside. She couldn’t bear to eat even one.

By 10 o’clock, she was still alone in the dormitory. Xu Sui propped her chin on her hand, staring at the glass jar in a daze. Suddenly, Hu Qianxi burst through the door: “Suisui, did you miss me?”

“Yes.” Xu Sui smiled sweetly.

“I heard from Liang Shuang today that you went for a tutoring interview. How did it go?” Hu Qianxi sat down.

Xu Sui poured her a glass of water and thought for a moment: “It went well. Coincidentally, the family I interviewed with is actually Sheng Nanzhou’s family, and the student I’d be teaching is his younger brother.”

“Amber Lane?! Who dragged you so far away? The school is quite far from there, you must be exhausted, Suisui,” Hu Qianxi looked heartbroken, “But Sheng Nanzhou’s brother does seem to be looking for a tutor.”

“Mm,” Xu Sui replied. She remembered something and asked Hu Qianxi, her tone hesitant as if afraid of seeming overly concerned, “Xixi, I heard from Aunt Sheng that Zhou Jingze lives alone?”

Hu Qianxi sighed: “Anyway, his family situation is a bit complicated. Originally, his whole family lived in Amber Lane. In his third year of middle school, his mother passed away, and his father planned to move away, but Zhou Jingze refused. He still lives in that villa now, just him alone. Fortunately, he’s raised a German Shepherd since he was young, so it can keep him company.”

“I see.” Xu Sui responded. She suddenly remembered that afternoon when Zhou Jingze sat on the sofa, the faint smile that appeared in his eyes when Aunt Sheng asked him to stay for dinner.

Soon after, her senior sent a message asking if she’d decided about the tutoring job. Xu Sui thought of those dark, silent eyes and typed in the chat box:

I’ve decided. I want to take it.