HomeSummer In Your NameChapter 83: Wandering Mind

Chapter 83: Wandering Mind

Who wanted to control his money?

Sheng Xia: “Why aren’t you sleeping yet?”

Zhang Shu: “Mm, it’s a bit noisy.”

In this situation, how could anyone sleep?

People say three women make a drama, but in Zhang Shu’s view, three men could set up quite a stage too.

A group video call was open on his phone.

Hou Junqi was livestreaming his barbecue, truly planning to be self-sufficient in Canada; Han Xiao had gone home for the National Day holiday and was eating spicy crayfish from Lianli; Qi Xiulei was curled up in bed reading a novel, occasionally cursing; Liu Hui’an was gaming at an internet cafe, keyboard sounds and curses rising and falling; Wu Pengcheng was lying shirtless in bed, the pure white pillow clearly showing he was in a hotel, and of course he wasn’t alone—the girl beside him would occasionally pop up to kiss him.

“Pfft, can’t bear to watch,” Yang Linyu cursed.

Wu Pengcheng’s girlfriend complained coyly: “Your friend is cursing at me!”

“No, no,” Wu Pengcheng was skilled at coaxing girls, his voice so sickening that Hou Junqi jabbed at his screen with a barbecue skewer. Wu Pengcheng laughed more brazenly, even raising his voice, “He’s just jealous. Some people are so useless, going out with their girlfriend but sleeping with their bros.”

His girlfriend also giggled a couple of times.

Han Xiao, mouth full of oil, couldn’t stop laughing, “Hahaha insulted two people at once, awesome, awesome!”

Yang Linyu: …

Zhang Shu: …

Wu Pengcheng’s side quickly devolved into kissing again, the phone screen went dark, but the smacking sounds grew even louder.

Liu Hui’an was commanding his teammates in the game: “Go, go, why are you being a coward, get it! First blood, first blood, first blood, beautiful!”

“…”

“Can’t listen to this, can we kick those two out of the group chat?”

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing you guys…” Wu Pengcheng reappeared on screen, “Bunch of virgins.”

“What the hell?”

“That’s enough!”

Zhang Shu quit the group video call and walked out of the room.

Behind him, from Yang Linyu’s phone came Hou Junqi’s voice: “Where’s Ashu? Why did he leave? My lamb skewers are perfectly seasoned, come smell them!”

Qi Xiulei returned from his novel world: “He’s triggered, going to make out with his girlfriend, who wants your lamb skewers?”

Wu Pengcheng shouted: “Then why won’t he let us watch, turn it on, turn it on!”

Zhang Shu slammed the door shut with a “bang.”

Heh, such shallow people wanting to see night-blooming jasmine?

Though he had only planned to use the bathroom and go back to sleep, now his mind was wandering.

Sheng Xia replied: “Go to sleep! If you can’t get up tomorrow, Xiaohe will be furious.”

Zhang Shu leaned against the doorframe, lips curving slightly as he typed: “Can’t sleep, help me doze off?”

Sheng Xia: “Sharing link: #Meditation Space 01#”

Zhang Shu: “…”

Zhang Shu: “That won’t work for me.”

Sheng Xia: “?”

Zhang Shu: “If you’re not sleeping, come down for a bit.”

Sheng Xia looked around, carefully stepping off the bed and out of the room.

Looking down from the railing, Zhang Shu stood tall in the living room, seeming like he could touch the second-floor ceiling with an outstretched hand. He tilted his head, gesturing for her to come down.

Sheng Xia hesitated for a few seconds.

She was wearing pajamas with nothing underneath.

He was wearing a loose, soft black T-shirt and knee-length gray shorts.

They were both dressed very casually.

Going back to change would risk waking her friends, so she looked down at herself—if she hunched a little, nothing would show.

Only one-floor lamp was lit in the room, he probably couldn’t see clearly.

So she carefully descended the stairs. The duplex stairs were extremely steep, and as she concentrated on her footing, she didn’t notice Zhang Shu had come to wait at the bottom. Still two steps away, she felt arms wrap around her waist, her whole body lifted into the air, spun around, and then trapped between the wall and his chest as dense kisses invaded.

The wall behind was cold, the body before her hot. Sheng Xia’s feet were off the ground, like a restless trapped beast, unconsciously pushing against his chest, almost letting out a whimper before catching herself.

People were sleeping both upstairs and downstairs, while they were kissing in a hidden spot.

His arm around her waist didn’t move, nor did his kisses stop. As his tongue probed, his other hand came up to catch her restless ones, gently caressing, threading through the gaps between her fingers to interlock them, placing them against his chest.

Under her palm was his strong heartbeat. Sheng Xia’s anxious heart was properly soothed, gradually sinking into the deep kiss.

Gradually, he began to be unsatisfied with just the entanglement of lips and teeth. The warmth moved leftward, hot breath spilling over her ear shell, her earlobe tightened, making Sheng Xia shiver.

This movement made his single arm lose its grip, and she suddenly slid down. The intense feeling of insecurity made her instinctively lock her arms, and hook her legs, wrapping around his neck and waist, completely hanging on him.

The kiss stopped.

Both of them froze for a moment.

Sheng Xia’s eyes were round in the night.

What was she doing?!

And that, that thing her thigh touched, what was that?!

And what did his half-smiling expression mean?!

Shyness, shock, panic…

All emotions mixed, and Sheng Xia’s face went through a spectacular range of expressions.

How she wished the wall behind her would absorb her, letting her escape his meaningful gaze.

Zhang Shu’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he coughed dryly, “Scared?”

Probably considering there were people in the rooms, he spoke right by her ear, his magnetic breathy voice making Sheng Xia shiver again, this time her whole body hitching upward.

Sheng Xia: …

Making her seem so forward, helps.

Zhang Shu indeed gave a short laugh, “Or ran out of strength?”

As he spoke, he hooked her legs and pressed her into his embrace, taking a few steps to the sofa and sitting down with her.

Fortunately, he wasn’t holding her by the bottom, or she probably would have suffocated from embarrassment.

She was still dazed, and by the time she came to her senses, she was straddling his legs.

This?

This was even worse than being against the wall—how could she dare to sit up straight?

She tightly hugged his neck without letting go, burying her head in the crook of his neck like an ostrich in the sand.

Zhang Shu looked up at the ceiling and sighed: “Be good, move up a bit. If you keep pressing like this, something serious will happen.”

The moment he held her, he had somewhat regretted it. The feeling of her pressed against him was too comfortable, his body’s response too swift—he couldn’t even control it, could only use passionate kisses to divert her attention.

He hadn’t expected her to bear-hug him.

This was fatal.

Who knew someone so innocent could naturally be so good at this?

Sheng Xia’s whole body was burning up, especially the ear he had spoken into—it felt like it was about to fall off.

She slowly loosened her arms, straightening up to create some distance.

But because her upper body moved away, her thighs shifted inward instead, touching something—she unconsciously looked down—

Even though his shorts were loose, she could still see some outline.

Sheng Xia suddenly jumped off him, nearly hitting the coffee table.

Zhang Shu quickly steadied her, his tone extremely helpless, “Slow down, I’m not going to eat you!”

Unexpectedly, Sheng Xia’s reaction was even bigger—barefoot, she ran straight for the stairs. At the stairway, she fumbled with her shoes for ages without getting them on right, finally just picking them up and running upstairs with them in hand.

Zhang Shu watched this series of actions, half-reclining on the sofa with his hand against his forehead, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Great, all his previous efforts were wasted.

Upstairs, passing by the railing, Sheng Xia couldn’t help glancing down again, only to meet his helpless yet intrigued gaze. She hurriedly looked away, escaping into the room.

The room was pitch black, and she leaned against the door, breathing heavily.

Before her eyes was how he had just looked: long legs casually spread, his whole body loosely reclining there, one hand against his forehead, smiling faintly as he looked up at her.

Sexy. A languid kind of sexy.

For the first time, Sheng Xia felt this word was so concrete.

What had he just said?

Eat her?

What kind of wolfish talk was that?

And how was he, that thing of his, how was it like that?

That’s cheating!

Sheng Xia carefully pulled out two tissues to wipe her feet, put down her shoes and put them on, fanned her face with her hand, and only after calming down did she tiptoe into bed, her whole body burning hot.

Beside her, Xin Xiaohe turned over. Sheng Xia turned her head—why did it seem like Xiaohe was smiling?

She must be seeing things.

Whew—

Sleep! Go to sleep quickly! Let him sleep or not as he likes!

During the following days of sightseeing, everyone noticed that Sheng Xia kept sticking to Tao Zhizhi and Xin Xiaohe, riding the cable car with Tao Zhizhi, boating with Xin Xiaohe, basically not paying any attention to Zhang Shu.

She wasn’t exactly cold, just not clingy, unlike the first day when their hands had never separated.

Yang Linyu was worried these two had fought, but Xin Xiaohe just smiled mysteriously.

Even Tao Zhizhi seemed to understand. Yang Linyu felt he was the only one being left out.

However, they didn’t skimp on any activities, tried all the local specialties, and the few days touring Heyan were enjoyed by all.

On the last evening, everyone decided to cook at the guesthouse, each making one dish as a farewell meal.

While buying ingredients at the supermarket, Sheng Xia was originally holding tight to Xin Xiaohe and Tao Zhizhi, the three girls walking ahead picking things out, with the two guys pushing the cart behind.

But shopping is just like that—people gradually drift apart.

Sheng Xia was crouching in the beverage section, torn: Pepsi or Coca-Cola?

Suddenly a tall shadow fell over her from behind, then someone crouched beside her.

Zhang Shu looked at the shelf, his slender hand lightly tapping between the two rows of cola: “Counting soldiers, counting generals, riding horses to battle, who gets picked, follows me, who won’t follow, is a little dog…”

When the word “dog” came up, his finger landed on Pepsi. He raised an eyebrow at her, seeking praise: “This one then.”

Then he picked up a bottle of Pepsi and put it in the cart.

Sheng Xia was still caught up in his strange rhyme, not getting up.

Zhang Shu crouched down again, his finger pointing between her and the cola: “Counting soldiers, counting generals, going home to cook, who gets picked, follows me, who follows me, is a little…”

Just one word left, but it landed on Sheng Xia, the next tap would go back to the cola. He suddenly drew out his voice, changing the ending: “Baby.”

“Ba” landed on the cola, “by” fell as his finger tapped Sheng Xia’s nose, his mouth curving up, his dark bright eyes reflecting her dazed expression.

Sheng Xia’s heart was pounding, nearly boiling over.

After all this time, he could still make her lose her head with just a few words.

Sheng Xia was twisting her fingers, just thinking of how to save some face, when her chin was lifted by the same finger that had tapped her nose. He leaned in for a light kiss, naturally pulling her up by the hand, “Follow me? You got picked.”

Who follows me, is a baby.

Little, ba, by.

Sheng Xia was stunned.

Had he planned this all along?

So when the couple who had been “physically together but emotionally apart” for several days appeared hand in hand at the checkout counter, everyone was taken aback.

What happened? Just a supermarket trip and they made up?

Yang Linyu: “As expected of my Brother Shu.”

Xin Xiaohe: “Heh, he can’t fail to handle his wife when her family’s about to leave, how embarrassing would that be.”

The shopping cart was full, packed into two huge shopping bags.

Looking at the bill, it was nearly six hundred yuan.

This wasn’t cheaper than eating out, was it?

Zhang Shu instinctively reached for his phone, already on the payment page, when he noticed the person beside him frowning. Understanding, he handed her his phone, “Then you pay.”

Sheng Xia was speechless.

Wasn’t this still him paying?

Just as she was about to reach for her phone, Xin Xiaohe’s phone reached over.

As they were guests, Sheng Xia couldn’t possibly let Xin Xiaohe pay. She quickly used Zhang Shu’s phone to pay—with a “beep,” the payment went through, the page jumped back to the payment homepage, and Sheng Xia glimpsed the balance.

She froze, looking again to confirm she hadn’t misread the decimal point.

Six figures?

While Sheng Xia was still surprised, Xin Xiaohe politely said beside her: “Oh my, we can’t let Brother Shu pay again, Brother Shu, you must accept our red packets later, okay?”

Zhang Shu put his phone back in his pocket, and picked up the shopping bags, his other hand reaching back by muscle memory to find Sheng Xia’s hand, gripping it precisely, while his gaze was on Xin Xiaohe: “No need.”

Xin Xiaohe: “No, no, we must.”

Zhang Shu: “Next time when we visit your rural area, remember to treat us.”

Xin Xiaohe instantly changed focus: “Our University Town is very trendy, okay! What do you mean rural, say that again?”

Yang Linyu nodded: “Great, we’ve won out—rural prices are sweet!”

Xin Xiaohe protested: “No, we can’t take advantage of Brother Shu.”

Yang Linyu: “Hey, your Brother Shu is rich! Why worry about it?”

“Oh? How rich?”

“Well, richer than you… oh, and richer than me too. Richer than both of us combined.”

“Wow!”

Back at the guesthouse, while stewing chicken wings, Sheng Xia kept thinking about this.

When he was valedictorian, various companies wanted to give him money, but he didn’t accept. In the end, he took the government’s hundred thousand and the school’s fifty thousand yuan rewards, part of which he donated to charity. She didn’t know exactly how much, but it must have been substantial—the charity organization even sent him a banner of appreciation.

And despite significant expenses at the start of school, including buying an expensive bicycle, how did he still have so much? And he didn’t seem like someone who would put all his eggs in one basket, he probably had more elsewhere.

He was richer than her?

The consequence of getting distracted was that Sheng Xia’s cola chicken wings got burnt.

Except for Zhang Shu who kept eating them, no one took a second bite.

The others’ dishes weren’t great either.

Xin Xiaohe’s sweet and sour ribs had lost all sourness, just overly sweet; Yang Linyu’s tomato fried eggs showed only tomato juice; Tao Zhizhi’s was okay—she made a pot of snail noodles, which would be hard to mess up too badly.

Only Zhang Shu’s Sichuan pepper chicken was perfect in appearance, aroma, and taste, even better than the braised chicken sold in restaurants.

Yang Linyu couldn’t understand: “Ashu, when did you learn to cook?”

Zhang Shu: “Learned from watching Hou Junqi’s live streams.”

“Hahahaha!!”

Hou Junqi had gone to Canada and hadn’t learned much yet, but was fully absorbed in cooking, always looking for some poor brother to video call and show off to whenever he made a big dish.

Once there were signs of failure, he would cut the video.

If slightly successful, he would show off across Weibo, Qzone, and WeChat Moments.

Tao Zhizhi could handle spicy food well and had eaten most of the chicken. Munching on a chicken leg, she mumbled: “Brother Shu, do you have any single brothers who can cook as well as you?”

Zhang Shu: “Hou Junqi, tall, rich, and handsome.”

“Hahaha, sounds good to me!” Yang Linyu agreed.

Sheng Xia held her forehead—tall, rich, and handsome?

Well, you could describe him that way, Hou Junqi wasn’t bad-looking actually.

But could he cook?

Xin Xiaohe muttered: “Old Hou is 195cm, how tall is Taozi? 165cm?”

Tao Zhizhi stammered: “163.”

Yang Linyu: “Isn’t the biggest height difference trending now?”

Zhang Shu: “It’s fine, doesn’t affect…”

He stopped halfway through his sentence, seeming to remember something, and suddenly glanced at Sheng Xia.

Sheng Xia quickly lowered her head, concentrating on eating.

Inexplicably guilty.

The image of him holding her up, lifting her whole body, suddenly flashed through her mind.

She had a feeling he was about to say—kissing?

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