Chapter 15: CH 15

Chapter 15: Their palms intertwined in the dark.

Xu Sui handed him the band-aid. Zhou Jingze took it and put it in his pocket. Then, he looked at her and asked: “Have you eaten?”

“No.” Xu Sui was still a little dazed and unconsciously said that.

Zhou Jingze nodded, his voice hoarse: “Then come eat with me.”

“Ah, ok.” Xu Sui said and apologized to Hu Xixi silently in her heart.

Zhou Jingze stuck his hands in his pocket and walked forward. Xu Sui noticed a white plastic bag wrapped around his fingers with medicine. He walked forward a few steps and made sure no one was following. Then, he stopped and looked back at her.

Xu Sui immediately followed behind him. She wanted to ask something like, “Is the injury serious” but he didn’t seem to be in the mood to talk.

The two went to a dumpling store that was about to close. The owner yawned, and the steam made her eyes even more watery.

“Xiao Zhou, is that you?” The owner greeted with a smile.

“Yes, how was the business today?” Zhou Jingze asked.

The lady rubbed her eyes and said, “It’s pretty good today. Of course, there are more take-outs now that it’s getting cold.”

Zhou Jingze smiled and said, “You’re doing a great job.”

He then pointed at a table, signaling Xu Sui to sit down over there and wait. Xu Sui walked over and sat down. She took out a tissue and wiped the table, then looked over.

Zhou Jingze stood there and said to the owner: “Two bowls of dumplings.”

After ordering, Zhou Jingze sat down across from her; his slender, pale hands resting on the tabletop. He wasn’t a talkative person, and Xu Sui was not very good at starting conversations, so silence fell between them.

Soon, the owner brought over two bowls of steamed dumplings and two tea eggs, and in a cheerful voice: “It’s closing, so you guys can have these for free.”

The owner served a bowl full of dumplings in front of Xu Sui, who took a small bottle of vinegar from the table and poured a lot of it into the bowl. When Zhou Jingze saw this, he raised his eyebrows: “You like it that sour?”

“It’s much tastier.” Xu Sui explained.

“You should try it,” Xu Sui said with a smile, “but you can just add a little bit.”

Her taste wasn’t ordinary when it came to eating; normal people’s stomachs wouldn’t be able to handle it. After hearing her suggestion, Zhou Jingze added a little vinegar, and sure enough, it was a lot tastier that his appetite improved.

The two sat face to face while eating. Xu Sui saw that he was in a bad mood, so she searched for some jokes online.

“I have a few questions for you,” Xu Sui looked at him in a serious tone, “How come the frog lost to the dog in a swimming competition?”

Zhou Jingze: ?

“Because the frog did a breaststroke and fouled.”

Zhou Jingze raised the corner of his mouth. However, Xu Sui was not discouraged and continued to ask: “How can Xiao Wang brush his dentures while also casually whistling?”

Zhou Jingze: ?

A dimple appeared on Xu Sui’s cheek: “Because he was brushing his dentures!”

…

They walked out of the shop after paying for the food. There were not many people on the street as it was getting late. Xu Sui lowered her head and thought about where it went wrong? The jokes were funny to her.

Xu Sui thought of something and caught up with Zhou Jingze. She patted him on the shoulder and said: “If this is the case, then I’ll pull out my ultimate joke.”

“Which is?” Zhou Jingze turned his head.

Xu Sui was wearing a sweater today. She didn’t know when she put her hat on, but she tucked her arms into her sleeves and pulled her eyelids down, making a grimacing face at him.

But her eyes were bright and beaming, not scary at all.

She looked cute but fierce.

“What are you doing?” Zhou Jingze raised his eyebrows.

“I’m acting like a ghost. Don’t I look like one?”

“What kind of ghost.”

“A happy ghost.” Xu Sui replied.

Zhou Jingze couldn’t help but burst into laughter. He showed his first genuine smile tonight, not the mechanical and emotionless type where he raised the corners of his mouth.

Xu Sui fixed her clothes and seemed to say to herself: “You finally laughed.”

It was genuine happiness.

Xu Sui and Zhou Jingze arrived back at the universities shortly. When Xu Sui returned to her dorm and opened the door, 1017 ran to her. She looked at Hu Xixi, who was on the bed, and apologized: “Sorry Xixi, something happened, and I got back later.”

“It’s ok. Thanks for bringing me food!”

After Xu Sui took a shower, she went to bed and went on her phone. A text message appeared.

From ZJZ: 【Thank you tonight.】

Xu Sui typed “you’re welcome” in the dialog box but felt it was too formal, so she deleted it and sent: 【No problem, did you arrive back yet?】

After two minutes, another message from ZJZ: 【Yea, I just finished taking a shower.】

Xu Sui smiled and replied: 【 That’s good. Good night then.】

Xu Sui had a good sleep. Compared to her good mood, Hu Xixi had been moody recently. Sheng Nanzhou called several times, but she ignored all of his calls.

He also asked someone to deliver snacks to her several times, but they were all rejected.

When Xu Sui and Hu Xixi went to buy milk tea, Xu Sui tentatively asked her if she was going to forgive Sheng Nanzhou, but she only replied: “There’s no way I’ll ever forgive him. He went overboard this time.”

Usually, they would both joke around and laugh it off, but Sheng Nanzhou realized he was too much this time. Hu Xixi wouldn’t answer his phone calls nor see him. He then decided to beg Zhou Jingze to invite everyone out to eat, where Xu Sui would bring Hu Xixi out with her. Then, he would apologize to her in person.

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Zhou Jingze agreed and gave him a kick as if he had it coming: “I told you to stop teasing her.”

“Yes yes, Lord Zhou, no— uncle, I realized my mistake.” Sheng Nanzhou kneeled.

Zhou Jingze leaned over and picked up his phone on the table while sitting on a chair. He sent a message to Xu Sui, asking her to tell a lie.

When Hu Xixi heard Xu Sui say that Zhou Jingze won a flying competition and was planning to treat everyone out to dinner with the prize money, she was skeptical: “He’s only a freshman. How could he even start flying.”

“… he could’ve had private lessons..? ” Xu Sui was speechless for a second, but fortunately, she thought of a reason.

“Ok, Sheng Nanzhou isn’t coming, right?” Hu Xixi asked while trimming her fingernails.

According to what Zhou Jingze taught her when telling a lie— she has to look straight at Xixi’s eyes to make it believable. So Xu Sui forced herself to look directly at her eyes, and replied calmly, “Yea, he’s not.”

Hu Xixi then finally agreed to go.

On Wednesday night, Xu Sui and Hu Xixi went to a European restaurant in the city. As soon as they walked in, the waiter wearing a red bow tie greeted them and led them to the elevator. They went all the way up to the 23rd floor.

The elevator door opened. Fine, red imported carpets with intricate patterns were laid underneath them. A glass chandelier hangs from the middle of the ceiling. Xu walked forward with Hu Xixi. She glanced at the people around her; they were dressed with nobleness and modesty.

Suddenly, she felt that Zhou Jingze was really from superior family background, and they were from two completely different worlds.

The two then walked to No. 2309. At a glance, when Hu Xixi pushed open the door, she saw a mousse cake in the middle of the table, as well as Sheng Nanzhou, whom she wanted to beat up.

After Hu Xixi realized the situation, she turned to Xu Sui, shocked and displeased: “Xu Sui, you have learned to lie.”

“I—” Xu Sui wanted to hide, and she subconsciously ran behind Zhou Jingze.

Zhou Jingze’s eyes unwavered, and he said coldly, “I taught it to her.”

Zhou Jingze put his hands in his pockets, then tilted his head to look at Xu Sui, who was behind him, “Come with me to buy a pack of cigarettes.”

Zhou Jingze wanted to leave the two alone. Xu Sui understood his intentions and followed him out.

The two walked to the convenience store that was near the restaurant. A cold breeze was blowing hard. Zhou Jingze went in and bought a pack of cigarettes. While they were checking out, Xu Sui’s stomach growled.

“39.8.” said the cashier.

As soon as Zhou Jingze paid for the money, he glanced at Xu Sui and smiled lazily, “Can we also get some oden.”

Xu Sui stood behind him and was about to wave her hand to refuse, Zhou Jingze turned around and took out a cigarette from the cigarette case, making a “clink” sound. His low voice rang:

“Order whatever you want to eat, little kid.”

As Zhou Jingze went out to smoke, Xu Sui sat at a table in the convenience store to eat oden. She ordered some meatballs, kelp, pieces of ham, and other snacks.

While she was eating, she secretly looked at the man smoking not far away.

After she was done, Zhou Jingze raised his hand and signaled her to come out. When Xu Sui walked up to him, he stepped on the cigarette while glancing at the time:

“That should’ve been enough time for them. Let’s head back.”

The two took the elevator upstairs, and it happened that they were the only ones in the elevator. Xu Sui stood in front of him, while he was leaning on the elevator; his Adam’s apple moving up and down.

“Do you think they’ll resolve their issues?” Xu Sui asked.

They were currently on the 11th floor. When Zhou Jingze was about to answer, the elevator shook violently and made a “bang” sound.

Immediately following, the elevator lights went out, and it became pitch dark. The darkness intensifies the feeling of fear little by little.

Who knew they would be the ones to experience an elevator failure that happens once in a lifetime. Xu Sui was a little flustered and turned her head subconsciously but couldn’t see where Zhou Jingze was.

“Zhou Jingze?”

Xu Sui called his name twice. After hearing no answer, she tried her best to keep calm and immediately pressed the emergency button. Her voice was trembling a little bit:

“Hello. There’s an elevator malfunctioning. Please send someone over here as soon as possible.”

“Hello, can you provide me the specific location?” the maintenance man asked.

“The 11th floor of Building F,” Xu Sui answered, “Please come over here soon.”

After the brief conversation, Xu Sui walked to the back of the elevator. She took out her phone; the signal was only one bar, and her battery was low.

She turned on the flashlight and found that Zhou Jingze was curled up in the corner. His eyes were closed, and his eyelashes were trembling. There was sweat dripping from his forehead.

Xu Sui bent down beside him and nudged his arm: “Zhou Jingze.”

Zhou Jingze opened his eyes and glanced at her, leaning his back against the wall. He felt like a sea sponge constantly being suppressed by the sea— powerless and fearful.

He thought of the damp attic, the dark spider crawling around, and the suffocation. He struggled to escape, but it was all in vain.

Xu Sui saw that Zhou Jingze had trouble breathing. His dark eyelashes were wet with sweat on his forehead, and his face was pale.

When she was in the same class as Zhou Jingze in high school, she heard people say that he was claustrophobic. She thought it was a joke, but it turned out to be true.

Seeing that Zhou Jingze was so uncomfortable, a trace of distressedness spread across her face. She wanted to do something to relieve his current condition.

If possible, she would bear those pains on his behalf.

Xu Sui hesitated for a moment, grabbed his wrist lightly, and said, “Don’t be afraid.”

Zhou Jingze’s eyes were closed tightly. He felt that he had fallen into endless darkness. A container sinking into the deep sea, water seeping in and pushing it down.

In the darkness, someone grabbed his wrist and spread warmth and light. Then, he heard a clear, gentle voice repeating:

“Don’t be afraid.”

Zhou Jingze opened his eyelids. A fair and smooth face appeared in front of his eyes. His face was reflected in her deep and striking eyes, like driftwood illuminating in the dark night.

He grasped the hand and intertwined it with his. Their palms pressed against each other, warmth spreading over their bodies.

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