CH 45

Chapter 45: She felt quite ridiculous.

Zhou Jingze was stunned for a moment before realizing that the girl took the initiative. He could not let it go this easily.

Just as Xu Sui stepped into the bathroom door, she was pushed against the door in a flash. Zhou Jingze leaned over, clasped her hand over her head against the wall, and leaned down to kiss her.

The hot air in the bathroom was misty. Tiny drops of water were sticking to the wall and were hit by the momentum; the droplets began to crumble and fragment. Xu Sui bit her lips uncontrollably and grunted from between her teeth. Her eyes were a little watery and red.

Zhou Jingze let go of her reluctantly. He rubbed her lightly and said in a hoarse voice, “I’ll wait until you are willing.”

Xu Sui went in to shower and came out an hour later after tidying up her clothes. Then, Zhou Jing went into the shower. In the freezing weather, he took a cold shower, only to forcefully wash away the heat in his heart.

According to Guan Xiangfeng’s suggestion, Zhou Jingze must gradually get used to the sealed space to cure his illness. Xu Sui picked a small empty room in their house. The light was very dim, and the room looked extremely depressing but good for treatment.

Zhou Jingze directly moved a camp bed in the room.

In the middle of the night, when the door was closed and the lights were off, Xu Sui clearly felt that Zhou Jingze’s body froze for a moment, and he began to become short of breath. Xu Sui hesitated for a bit before pulling her into his embrace and putting her face against his chest. She said softly:

“It’s okay.”

It’s okay to be sick, and it’s okay to meet those bad things– I’ll accompany you from now on.

Zhou Jingze relaxed his nerves and raised his hand to stroke her hair. The two fell asleep while hugging each other. For a week straight, Xu Sui stayed with him almost every day and kept recording his psychological and physical reactions to the stressful environment every night.

Xu Sui liked this period very much as if there were only the two of them left in the world. During the day, they stayed at home to play games and watch movies together. In the evening, the two of them took the dog and cat out for a walk.

Zhou Jingze took her to taste the hidden delicacies in Amber Alley. Many of them watched Zhou Jingze grow up, so they naturally sounded close. Seeing that he brought a well-behaved and gentle girl in, the owner asked, “Xiao Zhou, your girlfriend ah.”

The orange sunset sauntered in obliquely. Xu Sui squatted down, pouring a little bit of water into her palm. Master Kratos breathed out and came over to drink the water. She raised her hand and touched the German Shepherd’s head, but she was distracted and only heard Zhou Jingze’s low voice that carried a smile:

“Yes, my wife.”

After staying at Zhou Jingze’s house for a week, Xu Sui couldn’t help but not want to go back home. After returning to Liying, Xu Sui could only contact Zhou Jingze through the phone. She had never been like this before, looking forward to the arrival of the Chinese New Year and then returning to school quickly after the winter vacation.

To see him sooner.

At the beginning of the new semester, Xu Sui was deeply immersed in love. Except for attending class, she spent the rest of the time with Zhou Jingze. To her, Zhou Jingze is different, adventurous, and unknown, with a compelling charm.

Xu Sui was washed away like a clean white paper.

Unlike a typically good student, Zhou Jingze was carefree and carried a bad vibe. He would call her out in the middle of the night and secretly drive her on the highway to see a glimpse of the sunrise and then send her back to class after watching it.

He took her skydiving and bungee jumping, doing things she had never dared to do in 20 years.

But Xu Sui had a faint feeling of insecurity in her heart. By the time she realized it, she had already been called to the office by the teacher.

The homeroom teacher had the typical Mediterranean hairstyle. He was slightly chubby and smiled all day long, always friendly but a bit forceful with the students. He held a thermos and asked in a friendly tone, “Did something happen to your family?”

Since childhood, Xu Sui usually never let the teachers and parents worry about her; she was a child who saved them a lot of worries. It was the first time she was called to the office, so she was a little confused.

“No.” Xu Sui shook her head.

“That’s good then.” The homeroom teacher put the thermos on the table and grabbed the blue folder on the side. He flipped through it, “The counselor told me you asked for a leave twice a week, and you missed the major class last week once.”

“Although your recent grades are still at the top, they are declining,” the homeroom teacher looked at her with a smile and unexpectedly knew at a glance, “Have you been in a relationship recently?”

“Yes.” Xu Sui hesitated.

“Falling in love is a good thing; young people should fall in love more,” the homeroom teacher smiled and blew on the tea leaves on the cup, “But you have to balance your studies and relationship ah. The teacher will tell you a secret. We have two spots for our major to go to University B. One of the spots is intended for you.”

Having said this, the teacher’s expectations and the meaning of his words were self-evident.

Xu Sui bowed to the teacher before leaving. When she walked out of the office, the sun was a bit blinding, and she subconsciously raised her hand to cover her eyes.

After returning to the dormitory, Xu Sui searched for University B. The relevant links showed that Hong Kong is far from Jingbei City, one south and one north, and Li Ying is in the middle, a little further down.

Hong Kong’s climate is suitable for all seasons. It’s located east of the Pearl River Delta, an international financial and trade city. The related links popped up. University B has strong professors, especially when it comes to medical achievements. The level of scientific research was also very high.

When people are young, they want to visit anywhere.

Xu Sui glanced at it twice and then closed the web page. She opened the book and started studying. No matter what, she should calm down now and make up for the dropped grades, spending more time on her studies.

At noon, when Hu Qianxi came back to the dormitory after class, the first thing she did was turn on the fan and mutter, “This garbage school is not humane. When will they install an air conditioner for us ah?”

Liang Shuang took off her hair roller and chewed bubble gum “When you graduate.”

“Stop it, I’m really going to faint,” Hu Qianxi fanned herself by her neckline and muttered, “It’s only May, and it’s not even the summer solstice yet. It’s so fucking hot.”

Xu Sui was taking notes, and when she heard summer solstice, she subconsciously looked at the calendar on the table. June 21 was circled by her with a red pen.

Summer solstice, Zhou Jingze’s birthday.

——

Xu Sui and Zhou Jingze still got along with each other without any changes, but she subconsciously refused to go out with him several times. On the weekends, Xu Sui went to do homework at Zhou Jingze’s house.

Zhou Jingze played on his phone a couple of times and felt bored and began to move around. The sound of cicadas was chirping in summer, and the room was stuffy and hot. A gust of cool wind blew in, and the green windows fluttered, a faint sound of panting.

Xu Sui pushed him away and picked up the pen again, beginning to chase the person away: “After I finish these mock test questions, you can come in.”

Zhou Jingze tilted his head and sucked her neck. One hand touched around, and the other took her test paper to look at it for a while. Pressing lightly, he asked in a hoarse voice,

“Is the question more important, or am I more important?”

She didn’t dare to not answer this question, and if she got it wrong, she would only be punished worse, so Xu Sui had no choice but to say, “You… if this happens again, I… will not come.”

Zhou Jingze had no choice but to let go of her. He turned his head away and helped the little girl put on half of the white bra he had taken off and then buttoned up the clothes. His dark eyes scanned the title of the test questions on the table— mock competition. He raised his eyebrows:

“Why’d you participate in the competition?”

“En, and there’s two,” Xu Sui smiled, and her tone was light, “Because there’s a prize money.”

Because Xu Sui was busy preparing for the competition, she had more time to dedicate to her studies. Unclear if it was because she was too slack before, it’s a little harder to pick it up than usual now.

Although tired, Xu Sui gritted her teeth and persisted. She ran to the library before dawn in the morning, finished class in the morning, and spent time in the laboratory in the afternoon.

At four o’clock in the afternoon, when Xu Sui was recording the animal mollusk anatomy data, she accidentally knocked over a test tube due to a lack of attention. The experimental data was instantly destroyed, which meant they had to start all over again.

Xu Sui repeatedly apologized. One of her classmates was from a poor family and was thin and weak; he was staring at the overturned test tube, and his lips twitched. Usually, he doesn’t talk much in class, but now he seems to have finally put up with it for a long time. His tone was sarcastic: “Can you bring your brain to the lab again? Because of your own mistakes, all of us have to pay for it.”

“Either way, it’s not like you didn’t miss class. Why don’t you just miss the work this time?” the boy said harshly.

Xu Sui’s apologetic voice stopped abruptly. Her voice was calm, and she changed her words: “I’m sorry for causing everyone trouble. I can do this experiment. The names will still have everyone’s.”

She felt that it was nothing. It was her fault, and she should own up to it. Xu Sui stayed in the laboratory alone and was so busy that she didn’t finish collecting all the data until 8 pm. She was so tired that her eyes hurt, and she couldn’t straighten her back.

Xu Sui took off her white coat, packed her things, and walked out of the laboratory. She then emailed the homework to the professor and sat on a bench on campus in a daze.

Not long after, Zhou Jingze called. Xu Sui answered it and said softly, “Hello.”

“Where are you?” There was the sound of a cigarette being lit from the other side of the phone.

“School.”

Zhou Jingze smiled lightly and dusted the cigarette ash with his hand: “Do you want to go to an escape room tomorrow? Da Liu organized it.”

Xu Sui thought for a while: “I don’t have time.”

It meant that she couldn’t go. Zhou Jingze was stunned and then raised his eyebrows: “You rejected me three times this week.”

Xu Sui didn’t answer. She thought to herself because I’m not like you, who has absolute talent in everything and can do things with ease.

As for me, whatever I do, I have to use all my effort.

Seeing that there was no sound on the other end of the phone, Zhou Jingze tapped the cigarette ash: “Have you eaten yet? I’ll come to find you, packed—”

Xu Sui suddenly interrupted him and asked in a tired tone: “Can you do something meaningful?”

Apart from eating, all he did was play. Anyway, his life road was broad and smooth, and she had to work hard to keep up with him.

As soon as the words came out, the atmosphere froze instantly, and there was no need to say the second half of the sentence, “I packed your favorite fresh shrimp noodles for you.”

Zhou Jingze switched hands to hold the phone, pressed the tip of his tongue against his left cheek, and sneered, “If it’s that meaningless to be with me, then you should have seen it clearly in the first place.”

After speaking, Zhou Jingze hung up. Holding the phone, Xu Sui mechanically went back to the dormitory to shower, dry her hair, and wash her clothes. Finally, she lay down to sleep.

The next day when Xu Sui woke up, she subconsciously took out her phone to check, but Zhou Jingze didn’t send any message. Xu Sui lowered her eyes and brushed her teeth before taking a shower.

After she replenished her energy, she felt her mind was much clearer. In fact, when Xu Sui said that sentence last night, she felt very regretful. It was obviously her own problem, but she took her anger out on him.

He didn’t do anything wrong.

A mistake in the experiment; she could have told him she had been wronged instead of saying something like that.

After class, Xu Sui thought about it and felt she should take the initiative to apologize; after all, she lost her temper first. She called him, but it took a long time for him to answer the phone.

“Hi.” His voice was flat and hoarse.

“What are you doing?” Xu Sui thought for a long time and only came up with this lame opening sentence.

There was a roaring wind sound from the receiver, and Da Liu’s voice could be faintly heard, “Boss Zhou, the instructor is calling for assembly! You’re still showing off affection with Sister Xu ah.”

Zhou Jingze seemed to have changed to a different place to answer the phone, and the noise faded. His voice became clear, his Adam’s apple rolling: “I’m training.”

“Oh, okay, then I’ll leave you to it.” Xu Sui said.

Zhou Jingze didn’t contact her until nine in the evening.

Xu Sui sat at the table, obviously reading a book, but her eyes looked at her phone from time to time. The phone screen never lit up again throughout the day.

Xu Sui sighed and took out her phone, logging into WeChat. She hesitated whether to send a message to Zhou Jingze and scrolled through Moments with entanglement.

She immediately swiped on the photos of them playing board games. Amongst the pictures posted by Da Liu, one of them was a photo with Zhou Jingze’s side profile, with the words: 【Boss Zhou spent money. 】

In the photo, Zhou Jingze was holding a card between his fingertips and smoking a cigarette with one hand. His eyebrows were lazy, and his expression was always the usual carefree and a little arrogant.

The two quarreled, but he didn’t seem to be affected at all. He was even in the mood to go out and play.

Xu Sui’s eyelashes trembled, and she felt quite ridiculous. All her emotions were about him, but Zhou Jingze was born to be careless even when he likes someone.

She exited the Moments, and the edited but unsent messages to Zhou Jingze were deleted one by one. Xu Sui put the phone aside, intending to concentrate on her own things.

Hu Qianxi just came back from the outside, and there was a box of cut watermelons next to Xu Sui’s table. Xu Sui didn’t have much appetite, so she asked, “Xixi, do you want some watermelon?”

“I—” Hu Qianxi looked at Xu Sui, hesitant to speak. After hesitating for a long time, as if she had made some big decision, “I have something I want to tell you.”

“Okay.” Xu Sui got up and walked out with her.

A gust of wind suddenly blew in the corridor. The wind was strong at night, shaking the clothes hanging in the corridor of the girls’ dormitory. Many people closed the doors and windows one after another.

On the other side, Sheng Nanzhou pushed open the window of the board game room, and the smoke dissipated a little with the wind. He looked disgusted: “Can’t smoke you guys to death.”

“Hurry up, Brother Zhou. Stop whining, it’s your turn.” Someone called him.

Zhou Jingze leaned back on the sofa and drew a card. The phone that was placed on the side lit up. He picked it up and unlocked it. It was a message from Ye Senin.

N:【It will be your birthday soon. 】

Zhou Jingze spoke briefly, typing three words: 【Seems to be. 】

There was no reply, and Zhou Jingze didn’t care. After playing a round, he went to the toilet halfway. The phone lay quietly on the table. After a while, the screen lit up, and a message from Ye Senin popped up in the notification bar:

【Then I have a big surprise for you. 】