A muffled thunder rumbled across the overcast sky.
Both of them seemed to suddenly wake up. Zhou Jingze let go of her and said quietly: “Sorry.”
Xu Sui stayed in Zhou Jingze’s dormitory until her clothes dried before going home. Zhou Jingze happened to drive her back.
The rain had stopped. As soon as they opened the dormitory door, a cool breeze rushed in.
“Wait.” Zhou Jingze called out to her.
Xu Sui looked puzzled and watched him go back inside, taking out a hand warmer he had bought from the convenience store earlier, unwrapping it and handing it to her.
“Ah, thank you.” Xu Sui was surprised.
Zhou Jingze pulled at the corner of his mouth as a response. He walked ahead with both hands in his pockets, while Xu Sui followed behind, the two walking one after another toward the parking lot.
At 8 PM, Zhou Jingze drove her to her front door. Xu Sui unbuckled her seatbelt and thought for a moment before getting out: “Thank you for today.”
“Don’t take what they said to heart.”
Zhou Jingze reached for the cigarette pack on the center console, shook out a cigarette and put it between his lips. He lowered his head with a nonchalant tone, self-mockingly: “Sorry you had to see that embarrassment.”
Xu Sui shook her head and asked softly: “So why were you grounded from flying?”
The cigarette didn’t light after two attempts. Zhou Jingze simply took it from his mouth, looked at her with a casual, devil-may-care tone, raising an eyebrow: “Concerned about me?”
There was that unrestrained Zhou Jingze again.
But Xu Sui knew he didn’t want to talk about it, so he put on that carefree act.
Xu Sui had to give up. She opened the car door and said: “I am concerned about you, as an ex-girlfriend.”
No matter what, she wasn’t someone who wished Zhou Jingze ill.
A long silence was her answer.
After getting out and closing the car door, Xu Sui had only walked a few steps when she heard someone call her. Turning back to stop, the car window slowly rolled down, and they were only a step apart.
The lighter made a “click” sound, instantly igniting the cigarette with a crimson glow. Zhou Jingze took a drag, tapped off the ash, his dark, sharp eyes locked on her, making it impossible to move: “I don’t need sympathy. You know what I want, Yiyi.”
“I want you.”
Since the incident at the base, Xu Sui privately asked Sheng Nanzhou why Zhou Jingze was grounded, but the usually cheerful Sheng Nanzhou remained tight-lipped.
He replied with a long message: What I can tell you is that his situation has quite significant impact. His case is still under investigation, but several domestic airlines are concerned about Jingze’s reputation and have temporarily suspended considering him, so he can only work as an instructor at a subsidiary’s base. This matter—you’re the last person he’d want to know about it.
Xu Sui stared at this message twice, unable to imagine Zhou Jingze facing such circumstances, yet he acted as if nothing had happened.
Once praised endlessly by university professors as a true lone wolf born for the sky, a genius pilot, now trapped in such a small space.
Xu Sui lowered her eyes and replied: [Okay, thank you.]
[No big deal.] Sheng Nanzhou quickly replied.
After a while, Sheng Nanzhou sent another message. Opening it, even through the screen, Xu Sui could feel the cautiousness in his tone:
[Um… has Qianxi contacted you?]
Xu Sui replied: [Yes, but rarely. She sends postcards during holidays. Don’t worry, she’s doing well.]
[That’s good.] Sheng Nanzhou sent three words back.
Xu Sui hesitated in the dialog box before sending: [Actually, her interest in Lu Wenbai back then was just a whim. Later when I asked her about her feelings for you, she told me you always saw her as a little sister.]
[I’ve always wanted to ask, why haven’t you two gotten together all these years?]
After a long time, Sheng Nanzhou replied with one sentence: [I want to know too.]
Unable to find answers from Sheng Nanzhou, Xu Sui brought this up when having dinner with Liang Shuang, asking her to help investigate the full story of Zhou Jingze’s grounding incident.
After hearing this, Liang Shuang was a bit confused: “Sui Bao, I don’t quite understand you.”
After all, he had wronged Xu Sui first, making her heartbroken, losing ten pounds in a month, and finally fleeing to Hong Kong.
“They’re two different things,” Xu Sui knew what Liang Shuang meant.
She unconsciously stirred the juice in her cup with the straw, remembering last week’s scene where Qian Sen said with disdain that he’d be stuck in that shabby place for life. She sniffled and said softly: “I just can’t stand it. He shouldn’t be like this now.”
Xu Sui seemed to want to say more but stopped herself. Liang Shuang held her hand comfortingly: “It’s okay, things will get better.”
After the incident at the base, their relationship had somewhat eased. She didn’t know what Zhou Jingze was thinking, but she had always been straightforward, maintaining a certain distance.
After they could chat normally, Zhou Jingze quietly participated in her life in an unobtrusive way. Occasionally when Xu Sui’s friends complained that some band tour tickets were too hard to get.
All the comments below were unanimous: Find a programmer boyfriend, he’ll have any ticket you want.
Xu Sui laughed: Indeed worth considering. (／▽＼)
Then Zhou Jingze sent a screenshot with the message: [Had someone save two tickets.]
[Both for me? Thank you, perfect timing for me and my friend to go.] Xu Sui replied.
The other party was silent for a while before replying. When Xu Sui clicked to see, she could almost feel his gritted teeth through the screen:
[Yes, both for you.]
For example, Zhou Jingze would ask Xu Sui to dinner on weekends, but he wasn’t the direct type—probably afraid of being rejected—so during casual chat he’d ask:
[A friend opened a restaurant and insisted on giving me two discount coupons, 30% off.]
This time he learned his lesson and added: [Want to go together?]
At this moment, Zhou Jingze was drinking in a private room at a club. Inside, music played and laughter echoed, but he sat on the sofa with his knees against the coffee table, lazily leaning back, holding his phone, never lifting his head once.
Sheng Nanzhou sat nearby having just opened a bottle of Rémy Martin. Seeing Zhou Jingze’s “I’m very busy, don’t disturb” attitude, he got annoyed.
“Are you fucking here to drink or did you rent a room to mooch wifi?” Sheng Nanzhou cursed while pouring him wine.
Zhou Jingze didn’t even lift an eyelid.
Sheng Nanzhou leaned over to look, and although Zhou Jingze raised his hand to block him, he still caught a glimpse. But the content made him even angrier:
“Buddy, I only invested a small share in that restaurant, and the discount coupon I gave you is 8.8% off, not 30%!”
As Sheng Nanzhou talked, he realized something was wrong, his face showing sudden understanding: “Good guy, so that’s why you agreed to be an instructor at the training base. All my previous persuasion was useless, but you saw the cooperation contract between Zhongzheng and Puren Hospital in my car that day, didn’t you?”
“Brilliant, worthy of being my Zhou-ye, making big moves quietly.” Sheng Nanzhou gave him a thumbs up.
Two years ago, due to a flight accident that injured his hand, Sheng Nanzhou stopped being a pilot and changed careers. Over the years, he’d been investing and playing with funds, and with parental support, he turned to investing in aviation.
After Zhou Jingze’s incident, everyone in the industry worried about reputation impact and stopped using him. Sheng Nanzhou held shares in Zhongzheng Aviation and proposed hiring Zhou Jingze as a flight instructor at the base for triple salary, though he could only work at a subsidiary training base.
Zhou Jingze’s refusal was within Sheng Nanzhou’s expectations, and he felt it was beneath him—how could a soaring dragon be confined to a small pond? He should be flying straight up to the ninth heaven through wind and rain.
But his sudden agreement to teach in that remote place puzzled Sheng Nanzhou. Now everything made sense.
Xu Sui was his answer.
After figuring everything out, Sheng Nanzhou patted Zhou Jingze’s shoulder, put his hand on his neck, and asked: “Buddy, you’re not chasing Xu Sui, are you?”
For someone as arrogant and proud as Zhou Jingze, Sheng Nanzhou really couldn’t imagine him lowering himself to chase someone. It could be listed as one of the year’s most anticipated events.
Zhou Jingze finally moved his gaze from his phone. He leaned forward to grab the wine from the table and downed it in one gulp. Seeing Sheng Nanzhou’s expression waiting for a good show, he raised his eyebrow:
“What’s it to you?”
Red light swept over. Zhou Jingze used a fork to spear a strawberry from the fruit plate and put it in his mouth, stood up and patted his shoulder: “I’m leaving.”
It was only 8 o’clock—anyone who didn’t know would think he had an important meeting.
Sheng Nanzhou stared at his retreating figure and sneered coldly. Wasn’t this just not admitting it? Heh, saving face while suffering inside—you’ll get yours eventually.
Zhou Jingze walked out of the club just as Xu Sui’s message came in. He opened it:
[No time this week, free next Monday at noon, only two hours.]
Zhou Jingze stared at the message and couldn’t help but mock himself. The words revealed crisp efficiency—her schedule was full, and having dinner with him wasn’t very important, so she could spare two hours from her lunch break.
Great, all the setbacks he’d suffered in his lifetime were concentrated on someone named Xu Sui.
Zhou Jingze had no choice. The young master had to humble himself and typed in the dialog box: [Okay, whatever you say.]
But this dinner never happened. On her way to the restaurant, Xu Sui suddenly received a call from the hospital about a major bus rollover accident on the Ring Road with too many casualties and insufficient staff. Xu Sui had to rush back.
After finishing work, Xu Sui was exhausted and naturally forgot about the dinner.
Zhou Jingze naturally didn’t get to have dinner with Xu Sui either.
While Xu Sui was busy beyond belief, Li Yang sent her a message: [Sui Bao, it’s my birthday next Saturday, you can’t forget. Save a whole day for me, come to my house for a party.]
When she received this message, Xu Sui had just finished washing her hands in the disinfection room. She pulled out a tissue, dried her hands, and replied: [Okay.]
[It doesn’t matter if you buy a gift or not, the important thing is that you and Shuangshuang come.]
Xu Sui smiled at this message, then put her phone in her white coat pocket and walked out.
Even so, Xu Sui still picked out a tie to give Li Yang as a birthday gift.
After work that evening, Xu Sui returned home, ordered takeout, hung up her coat, boiled water, and cleaned up the table. She sat cross-legged on the sofa eating takeout.
While eating, she boredly scrolled through social media when Li Yang suddenly messaged her about his failed pursuit, sending a row of crying emojis: [I saw him post a video of his cat on Moments, finally had an excuse to chat with him, asked about his cat’s health, and smoothly invited him to my birthday party. He gave me two words: No time.]
[He’s really hard to get, but the harder a man is to get, the more I want to get him 55555.]
Xu Sui laughed after seeing this. Li Yang really had daily drama, still thinking about Zhou Jingze. She comforted him: [Well… at least you have us to accompany you, don’t be unhappy, maybe he really has something going on.]
At this point, crying wouldn’t help Li Yang. After venting to Xu Sui, he felt better and could only accept the fact that Zhou Jingze wouldn’t be at his birthday party.
On Saturday, Xu Sui originally intended to carpool with Liang Shuang to the birthday party, but the passenger seat was occupied by her new boyfriend—an 18th-tier celebrity, the little wolf dog who had surgery under general anesthesia.
The little celebrity was named Tan Wei, with deep features, handsome looks, fashionable and avant-garde clothing. He politely greeted Xu Sui.
The two were being lovey-dovey, in the heat of passion. Xu Sui didn’t want to witness their PDA, so she sent them both to the back seat and volunteered to be their driver.
After driving for over an hour, they arrived at the villa where Li Yang was holding his birthday party—Minluo Mansion. They arrived just in time. Upon entering, Liang Shuang gasped and cursed: “Rich second-generation really know how to party. This setup must have cost this much.”
Looking around, Li Yang was indeed an experienced player. Crystal chandeliers hung like vines in the hall, even the balloons floating above sparkled with flowing light.
Desserts, appetizers, alcohol—even the tableware he used was the finest, all imported or fresh ingredients flown in.
He divided this birthday party into two themes: indoor and outdoor—beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows was also a pool party.
The birthday boy stood surrounded by crowds. Seeing Xu Sui and Liang Shuang arrive, he put down his wine glass, walked over, and pretended to be angry: “You made me wait so long.”
Xu Sui handed over the gift, saying warmly: “Happy birthday, Li Yang.”
“Love you, sweetheart.”
Liang Shuang was about to give Li Yang his gift when she sharp-eyedly noticed him flirting with her boyfriend. She punched his chest: “Stop seducing my husband.”
“I’m not, just saying hello,” Li Yang looked innocent.
Li Yang led Xu Sui and them to the central sofa area, where all of Li Yang’s friends sat—both men and women, all from rich second-generation circles. Each was elite, knowing how to play, make money, and enjoy life. Though open-minded and decent people, they still emanated a kind of class superiority.
Xu Sui sat by the armrest of the sofa, mostly listening to their conversations. When the topic came to her, she’d generously joke around. Overall, the atmosphere was fine.
Li Yang pulled out his camera and slapped his thigh: “Oh my, we haven’t taken photos yet.”
“Let’s do it.”
Li Yang snapped several shots, picked a satisfying one, and also photographed the wine glasses on the long table, with the caption: [Although… the birthday party has begun.]
A group of people gathered together, cursing the volatile stock market. After cursing, they inevitably turned the topic to romantic relationships.
A woman diagonally across from Xu Sui’s right named Bai Jiajia took out a lady’s cigarette from her bag and put it in her mouth. Her companion snatched the cigarette away and sighed:
“You’re smoking here too? Pay attention to your image.”
Bai Jiajia shrugged, smoothed her skirt, and snatched back her cigarette: “There’s no man here who can conquer me, so I can only submit to my current physiological desire to smoke.”
“What about that one?”
“Too thin.”
“The man in the tailcoat?”
“Average.”
“The one at eight o’clock?”
“Not fun.”
Her companion withdrew her gaze, sank back into the sofa, and said: “True, looking around the whole place, it’s just like that—either all looks with no substance or completely ordinary. Give me one too.”
They were drinking and playing games when Li Yang suddenly stared at his phone for two seconds. After reacting, his tone carried hidden excitement: “Someone’s joining us later.”
“Who?” someone laughed, “Your romantic interest?”
“Is he handsome?”
Li Yang smiled shyly: “Not really romantic, he has a cold personality, but I can show you photos.”
Li Yang pulled up his photos to show the ladies present. Everyone lifted their eyes with little interest, thinking it was another muscle-bound guy he typically liked.
But the moment they saw the photo clearly—
Fuck, absolutely stunning.
Like carbonated drinks poured into ice cubes, sizzling, countless bubbles rushing upward, the atmosphere immediately changed.
Bai Jiajia and her group perked up, starting to touch up their makeup and spray perfume.
“Damn, this is absolutely my type.”
Li Yang made a “no” gesture: “He’s mine, none of you can try to hook up with him.”
Bai Jiajia took out a haute couture necklace from her handbag, smiling as she threw cold water on Li Yang:
“I bet this that he’s straight.”
“The mole on his tiger’s mouth is so sexy, want to kiss it.”
Xu Sui sat on the edge of the sofa. Hearing this, her eyelids moved, and her gaze glanced over to see the woman across from her repeatedly zooming in to admire the man in the photo.
She looked once.
Zhou Jingze.