Chapter 44: Took the initiative to kiss him and let out a “pop” sound.
As soon as the voice fell, the atmosphere fell into dead silence.
Xu Sui quietly tugged at Zhou Jingze’s sleeve, but unexpectedly he grabbed her hand, and she was unable to break free. Sheng Yanjia was sharp-eyed and noticed the small movements between the two of them; he became stimulated and looked up at the sky, screaming: “I don’t accept it!”
“Brother, you’re stealing mine’s!”
Zhou Jingze took a sip of water, raised his eyebrows, and said domineeringly and arrogantly: “She has always been mine. How could I be stealing.”
Sheng Yanjia’s eyes were red, and he covered his ears: “I won’t listen!”
“You have a sister-in-law, you should be happy.” Zhou Jingze pricked his heart and provoked him.
Sheng Yanjia broke down with an “ah” and immediately fell on the table. Aunt Sheng didn’t care about her younger son’s pretentious calling but looked at the two of them in surprise and asked, “Are you two dating?”
Xu Sui finally broke free from Zhou Jingze’s hand and said in a gentle voice, “Yes.”
“Fuck, then, didn’t this kid make a big profit?” Aunt Sheng uttered a curse in excitement.
Sheng Nanzhou held his forehead helplessly: “Mom, pay attention to your image. Your youngest son is still a minor.”
Despite this, Aunt Sheng was quite happy that the two of them were together and drank several glasses of wine in a row. Finally, when the two were about to leave, Aunt Sheng quietly pulled Xu Sui aside to talk while Zhou Jingze waited for her outside the yard.
Aunt Sheng patted Xu Sui’s hand: “Aunt Sheng won’t treat you as an outsider. I grew up watching that kid grow up. Although his temper is a bit bad, he is a very steady and kind child. Please bear with him at times.”
“Okay.” Xu Sui nodded.
On the way back to school, the two sat together in the back seat of the taxi. The scenery outside the car window speeded through like a film. During the winter, Xu Sui’s hands and feet were cold, so Zhou Jingze held her hands, slowly spreading the warmth from his palm bit by bit.
Zhou Jingze pinched her fingertips and asked, “What did Aunt Sheng tell you?”
“She said—” Xu Sui buried her face in the collar of his sweater and rolled her eyes, “She said you’re a playboy and unreliable.”
Zhou Jingze was not angry when he heard that and smiled: “Okay, I’ll try to become more reliable in the future.”
——
The winter passed by quickly, and the final exams of the semester were approaching. The students began a new round of studying war. Whether reviewing carefully or cramming at the last minute, they can always be seen actively reciting the books on the school benches or in the corridors of the teaching halls.
“I don’t want to fail.” Hu Qianxi held the thick book with a painful expression on her face.
Xu Sui’s memorization skills aren’t bad, but she found that after falling in love, her concentration on the course declined a bit. After the finals, Xu Sui should have gone back home immediately, but she wanted to stay with Zhou Jingze for two more days.
Moreover, she was a bit worried about Zhou Jingze’s illness.
After the exam, Xu Sui told a lie to her mother. When she called Mother Xu, her heartbeat was almost at 120. After the call was connected, Mother Xu asked her: “Hey, Yiyi, did you buy the ticket back yet?
“Hey, mom, I bought the ticket before,” Xu Sui’s voice was soft, and she swallowed nervously, “But the teacher asked me to take part in a medical project, and I might arrive back a week later.”
“Oh, well, let me know when you come back, and I’ll pick you up.” Mother Xu didn’t doubt her when she heard it was a school affair.
“Okay.”
After hanging up the phone, Xu Sui breathed a sigh of relief and felt it was really not easy to lie.
After Zhou Jingze knew she had finished discussing it, he sent a message. She could feel his indecency and dirty-mindedness through the screen.
ZJZ: 【Sleep with me?】
Xu Sui typed:【Of course no.】
When the school was locked, Zhou Jingze drove to the school gate to pick her up. He carried her luggage into the trunk. Xu Sui opened the passenger door, turned her head, and saw a German Shepherd and a fat orange in the back row of the car.
Xu Sui’s eyes were filled with surprise, and she sat in and waved at them. Master Kratos raised his paw, brushing against the seat and trying to jump into her arms. 1017 meowed excitedly at her twice before sitting in the seat coldly.
With a “bang,” the car door closed. Zhou Jingze stretched out his long legs and turned sideways before sitting in. He caught a glimpse of the excited German Shepherd and whistled.
The German Shepherd immediately withdrew his paws and obediently sat back on the seat.
Zhou Jingze sent Xu Sui to his house. As soon as he was about to take her to dinner, he received a call from his grandpa. After hanging up the phone, he picked up the lighter and cigarettes on the table and was about to leave.
Zhou Jingze’s eyes stopped on Xu Sui and paused, his voice hesitated: “I need to go to grandpa’s house tonight, you—”
“I’m fine, you should go.” Xu Sui said.
Zhou Jingze nodded: “Okay, call me if anything comes up.”
After he finished speaking, Zhou Jingze turned around and left. Xu Sui suddenly remembered something. She rushed out and hurriedly said, “Hey, tonight—”
Unfortunately, Zhou Jingze left in a hurry and didn’t hear what she said at all. The sound of the engine roared outside the yard, “I have a party tonight, and I might be back a bit later.” The words stuck in Xu Sui’s throat.
At the end of each semester, the major would always host a party. Xu Sui usually never attends them, but this time, since she was going back home later, Liang Shuang caught her right away.
Liang Shuang begged Xu Sui to come for a long time, telling her that the guy she liked would also be coming, and asked Xu Sui to accompany her to the party. Xu Sui had no choice but to agree.
At seven o’clock in the evening, Xu Sui tidied up simply. She put on some blush to lift her complexion before heading out. When she met Liang Shuang, her eyebrows flashed in surprise: “Shuang Shuang, this is the first time I see you dress up so carefully.”
Liang Shuang used to take a neutral and cool route. But today, she had her hair and nails done. She wore an apricot-colored coat and a black velvet skirt, appearing elegant and eye-catching.
Liang Shuang took her arm and said: “Hai, I can only say that the guy has a lot of face.”
The two arrived at the TG KTV mentioned in the group chat and pushed open the door to the room. A group of people was knocking on cups to play games, relaxed and lively. On campus and in the laboratory, they are rigorous medical students who seek knowledge, but after taking off their white coats, they’re still a group of energetic young people who love to joke.
“Liang Shuang, this… is this still you? Did I become cross-eyed from studying?” A boy pushed down his glasses.
Liang Shuang pulled Xu Sui to sit down and put her bag aside. She smiled brightly: “It is indeed sister I.”
The lights flickered, and someone recognized Xu Sui sitting next to Liang Shuang and whistled: “Clinical student Xu Sui from Class Two, seeing you is better than hearing about you from others.”
The contrast in Xu Sui is that she tends to be nervous and shy in front of people she likes but very calm in front of outsiders.
Xu Sui smiled: “That of an overstatement? I just needed to rush home early during the break.”
“Yes! Do you know why everyone calls you the canteen goddess? Because apart from the places where you study, people see you the most in the cafeteria. Besides, I don’t usually see you attending any clubs or social activities.” Someone interjected.
Xu Sui was taken aback for a moment, but when others mentioned it, it seemed to be true. She took a sip of her drink and joked, “Maybe I’m too boring.”
After playing the game for a while, the door to the room was pushed open again. Two tall boys came in one after the other. The former was wearing a dark blue coat, handsome, and holding a blue umbrella, while the latter was a little shorter, wearing a red sweater with thick eyebrows and big eyes, fair skin, and a lively face.
“It’s him!” Liang Shuang suddenly became reserved and whispered.
“Which one?” Xu Sui asked.
“The one in front, wearing a navy blue jacket.”
Xu Sui looked up, and the two walked in one after the other. Someone saw them holding umbrellas and asked, “Is it raining outside?”
“Sleet. The road wasn’t easy to walk on.” The boy in the blue windbreaker replied.
The red sweater trembled all the way in. Seeing there was an empty seat next to Xu Sui, he sat down and said, “It’s indeed really hard to walk on.”
“Damn, it’s a good thing that winter is coming to an end.” Someone replied.
The boy in the red sweater leaned over to take some tissues from the table. He wiped off the water droplets on his body and raised his eyes inadvertently; his voice was surprised when he saw Xu Sui: “Hey, I saw you before. Xu Sui, right? I saw you at Brother Guan’s psychological counseling center the other day.”
“Ah, hello.” Xu Sui answered politely.
She came and went in a hurry that day and didn’t have much of an impression of this boy.
The boy in the red sweater was very enthusiastic. He took the initiative to introduce himself: “Hi, my name is Wei Yu. I’m a freshman majoring in clinical medicine. We’re in the same school, can I call you senior sister?”
“Yes.” Xu Sui nodded.
For the rest of the time, most of the people were chatting while playing games, accompanied by a few male college students singing ghostly cries and wolf howls. Wei Yu was very attentive to Xu Sui, either bringing her snacks or teaching her how to play games.
And Xu Sui’s expression has always been cold and indifferent, very discreet.
In the middle of the conversation, someone brought up that after this year would be the second semester of sophomore year, and junior year was only a blink of an eye away. Someone started a discussion: “Hey, do you guys know? I heard from the previous seniors that every year the school has some openings where juniors can go to Hong Kong University B as an exchange students. Our department seems to have two openings. But I don’t know if it’s true.”
“It’s true. Our professor briefly mentioned it in advance. B is really good and awesome. There was a saying that with the same grades, you can get into the top three universities in China, but you may not be able to get into the medical school of University B.” Someone said.
“I don’t know who can get this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” the man with glasses said in an envious tone and suddenly shifted his eyes to Xu Sui, “Xu Sui, I think you can.”
“Yea, the top student in the department, isn’t one sitting with us here?” Someone else echoed.
“Me?” Xu Sui was stunned for a moment and took a small bite of the fruit, “I never thought about it.”
Besides, Hong Kong is a bit far away.
The group chatted for a bit before moving on to another topic. Xu Sui felt bored, so she ran to pick a song, sitting on the high stool about to sing.
Wei Yu walked over with her phone. The red and green lights interlaced, and the surrounding darkened. His expression was a little weird and gloomy: “Senior sister, your phone.”
Xu Sui took it and saw that it was Zhou Jingze calling. She jumped off the stool, not noticing Wei Yu’s expression, and hurried out with her phone.
Xu Sui came to the corridor and finally left the noise in the room. She stood by the window to answer the phone; a “snap” sound of a lighter igniting came from the other line.
“Have you eaten yet?” Zhou Jingze’s voice was a little hoarse.
“Ate.” Xu Sui responded.
It was pitch black outside; the clouds pressed down, and the wind and snow were intertwined, a feeling of coldness and desolation. A gust of wind surged in and fell on her face with a chill. She stood on tiptoe and closed the window.
Even standing in the corridor, the sound of cheers from men and women and shaking dice still floated out from the gap in the room. Through the receiver, Zhou Jingze raised his eyebrows and extinguished the lighter:
“Where are you?”
“KTV,” Xu Sui replied. Seeing that there was silence over the phone, she explained, “I wanted to tell you this afternoon, but you left in a hurry. It was just a simple major gathering.”
Afraid that Zhou Jingze would think too much, she hurriedly brought up another topic and asked, “Are you still at Grandpa’s house?”
“Grandpa?”
Zhou Jingze took a puff of a cigarette, intentionally biting and repeating the word. His tone carried a faint smile, coming through the unsteady electric current. Xu Sui’s ears were about to go numb.
Only then did she realize what she had said and licked her lips nervously: “No, I said it too fast, it’s your grandpa.”
Zhou Jingze exhaled a puff of white smoke and was about to speak when a bright male voice passed over faintly. Wei Yu just came back from the toilet and saw Xu Sui still on the phone. Unclear if it was intentional or not, he spoke quite loudly: “Sister, Senior Sister Liang Shuang is looking for you.”
Xu Sui turned around and replied: “Okay, I’ll come in soon. ”
“It’s so cold outside. Sister, you should come in earlier, so you don’t get cold.” Wei Yu said concernedly.
“Okay, thank you.”
Seeing Wei Yu go in, Xu Sui chatted with Zhou Jingze again, shrinking her neck from the cold, and said in a soft voice, “I’m going to go back in, it’s a bit cold, bye bye.”
“En.” Zhou Jingze said in a low voice as if it was a degree colder than usual.
After Xu Sui hung up the phone, she walked back into the room. As soon as she entered, Liang Shuang took her hand, blushing like an apple: “Just now, we both got the same glass of wine at the same time, and then our hands touched each other. What a fucking fateful coincidence!”
” Wu wu wu, I’m so excited.”
Xu Sui chuckled, “Calm down. He seems to be walking towards you.”
“Ahhh—”
This entire night, Wei Yu was next to Xu Sui; everyone knew his intentions. Someone joked: “You like Senior Sister Xu Sui, don’t you?”
Wei Yu was about to answer, but Liang Shuang pulled Xu Sui’s shoulder and answered, “Hey, my Sui Sui has a boyfriend already. Junior Brother, your idea won’t work ah.”
“Zhou Jingze from Beihang Aviation Institute, right?” A boy asked.
Xu Sui took a sip of water and replied, “Yes.”
Wei Yu shrugged his shoulders and continued to talk to Xu Sui with a look of indifference, calling her sister every time. Xu Sui quietly widened the distance between the two calmly, and the smile on her face faded: “You can call me Senior Sister or Xu Sui.”
Wei Yu froze for a moment and then nodded: “Okay.”
Afterward, Xu Sui Sui deliberately kept a distance from Wei Yu. Most of the time, she tilts her head to chat with Liang Shuang or play games with them.
As the party was coming to an end, the group was either taking a taxi or carpooling back. Someone asked: “Xu Sui, how are you going back ah? Is your boyfriend here to pick you up?”
Xu Sui shook her head: “He can’t come because of something.”
Liang Shuang had a good time playing dice. Xu Sui didn’t know how to, so she folded some origami alone, like the paper cranes. Seeing this, Wei Yu poured her a glass of wine and was about to hand it to Xu Sui when a cold voice came from the door: “She can’t drink.”
A figure with a sense of oppression shrouded. Wei Yu took the opportunity to look up. Zhou Jingze wore a black drawstring hooded jacket, and his shoulders were stained with snow particles. The light and shadow intertwined. His brows and eyes were sharp, and he raised his eyes and looked at him from top to bottom with a cigarette in his mouth.
Wei Yu looked away, a little guilty.
Xu Sui was so focused on folding origami that she didn’t notice Zhou Jingze come in. After hearing his voice, she looked surprised and said, “You’re here ah.”
Zhou Jingze placed a black long-handled umbrella in the corner. He stubbed the cigarette and openly sat upright between Wei Yu and Xu Sui.
As soon as he sat down, he took out a carton of milk from his pocket, raising his chin at her, and said, “Here.”
It was the FamilyMart white peach-flavored milk that she loved and it was still hot. When Xu Sui took the milk, she found that his clothes and shoulders were wet; clear that he came here in the wind and rain.
“I’ll help you wipe it.”
Xu Sui leaned over and picked up the tissue on the table, brushing off the snow particles on his shoulders with a serious expression and wiping off the water droplets on his hands. The hands of the two naturally held together, and their fingers interlocked.
Wei Yu looked at the close intimacy between the two as if no one else was around, and his face twisted slightly.
Ever since Zhou Jingze came in, the room has been completely suppressed by him, and the atmosphere became a little tense. They warmly greeted Zhou Jingze, who casually nodded back.
He didn’t care about these things and lazily nestled back in his seat, wrapping his fingers around Xu Sui’s long black hair.
Zhou Jingze stayed with her for a while, and when the party was just about to end, he walked out of the lobby holding Xu Sui’s hand and suddenly remembered something: “I left my lighter upstairs, wait for me.”
Zhou Jingze went back to the 10th floor again. He opened the door and walked into the room, looking around. The silver lighter engraved with his name was lying on the table, and Wei Yu was on the side drinking his last glass of wine while looking at his phone.
He walked over slowly, picked up the lighter on the table, then straightened up and walked out of the aisle. Zhou Jingze was chewing mints intermittently. When he passed by Wei Yu, he tilted his shoulder and inadvertently bumped into him.
The wine in Wei Yu’s hand poured all over his lap; the bubbles were still making a sizzling sound, embarrassing and miserable.
Zhou Jingze exposed his white teeth and smiled carelessly:
“Sorry, my hands slipped.”
Wei Yu held back the curse words in his chest. But before Zhou Jingze took two steps, he stopped when he thought of something and turned around, a pair of dark and sharp eyes fixed on him:
“Stop fucking thinking about my woman.”
Zhou Jingze hailed a taxi and went back. The inside of the car was full of warmth, while the outside was cold and solemn; rain dripping against the glass window like beads from a broken string.
Xu Sui was sitting in the back row on her phone and found that Wei Yu had added her contact from a group chat. The introduction message was: Sorry for bothering you, senior sister, but I have some questions about studying for the course that I want to ask you.
She hesitated for a moment, then agreed. After accepting, Wei Yu actually sent a series of questions. At this time, they just got out of the car at the alley entrance and still had to walk some distance to get back, so Xu Sui sent him a message along the way.
As soon as the car door was opened, the rain forcibly fell obliquely over. Zhou Jingze opened the long-handled umbrella and walked forward while holding her. The crack in the bluestone slab at the entrance of the alley let out a flow of a stream, and the whistling wind rang in their ears. The lit-up lights looked extraordinarily warm in the silent and endless night.
Because Xu Sui was walking on the cold road and couldn’t type, she had to hold her phone in one hand and send a voice message over to Wei Yu: 【The studying issue you just mentioned, my method is usually to draw a human body tissue diagram by myself first, and then memorize. This makes it easier to form a memory. 】
Wei Yu immediately sent another voice message. The clear and youthful voice was very crisp on a rainy night: “Senior sister, I also encountered another difficult problem. Incision infection during surgery, between males and females, which group is more susceptible to infection?”
Xu Sui thought for a while and said, “Female. It’s related to the thickness of subcutaneous fat on the abdominal wall. I have seen some case information before and can find it later and send it to you.”
Unsure whether it was because of Xu Sui’s patience and serious answers, Wei Yu didn’t send any more messages. She let out a sigh of breath and turned off her phone. After walking for a while, the two of them walked to the door of the house together. Only then did she realize that there was something off with Zhou Jingze who was beside her.
Along the way, to keep her from getting wet, Zhou Jingze tilted his umbrella to her side and got his shoulders wet again. But this time, the situation was more serious. His hair and jacket were dripping with beads of water, looking messy.
Xu Sui was about to say, “Let me see—” but Zhou Jingze silently closed the long black umbrella and turned on the light. He placed the key in the entrance and walked in.
After entering the door, Zhou Jingze leaned back on the sofa. 1017 jumped into his arms, and Master Kratos lay beside his feet. Zhou Jingze dropped his shoulders slightly. He lowered his head and swiped through his phone. His eyelids were full of laziness, disregarding the soaked clothes on his body.
Xu Sui took out a clean towel from the bathroom, pointed to his hair, and raised her eyelashes: “Do you want me to wipe it for you?”
Zhou Jingze subconsciously wanted to refuse but understood it after a while. His voice was a little hoarse: “Come here.”
Xu Sui walked over and wiped his hair with a towel. She stood beside him while Zhou Jingze was sitting on the sofa. When he turned around, he was just at the height to wrap his arms around her waist.
The two were very close. The faint smell of her body wash mixed with the scent of milk penetrated the tip of his nose. It was a little itchy, and Zhou Jingze’s Adam’s apple swallowed with difficulty.
Everything seemed normal about Zhou Jingze, but Xu Sui felt something was off; the pressure around his body was a little low.
Xu Sui took the initiative to speak: “Do you want to drink water?”
“No.”
“Have you eaten yet?”
“.”
Xu Sui wiped his hair, turned her head to think for a moment, and tried to find something to say again: “Then you— ”
Suddenly, Zhou Jingze grabbed her slender white wrist violently, and Xu Sui was forced to bend down. She lowered her head and bumped into a pair of deep, dark eyes. Their breaths intertwined. After looking at each other for more than a second, her thoughts began to become disordered.
“Xu Sui,” Zhou Jingze called her seriously. He raised his eyebrows and said slowly, “I’m jealous, can’t you see?”
Xu Sui went blank for three seconds and explained: “No, he asked me questions regarding my major, it wouldn’t be good for me to be impolite.”
“Oh,” Zhou Jingze nodded expressionlessly. He frowned and pulled her wrist down, “But I’m just jealous, what do you think I should do?”
The room reeled before her eyes, and Xu Sui sat on his lap. Their foreheads were touching.
A look of I’m just being unreasonable, waiting to be coaxed.
Xu Sui lowered her pitch-black eyelashes and thought carefully. In a hesitant tone, “Then—”
“Huh?”
Zhou Jingze looked up from the phone screen quickly. Xu Sui put her arms around his neck, bent down, and kissed him on the lips. The air was quiet, and there was a “pop” sound.
A quick touch like jelly, soft and sweet.
Master Kratos, who was lying beside his feet, groaned.
1017, nestled in Zhou Jingze’s arms, glared at the two parties: “It’s okay to torture the dog, but why also torture the cat?”
“I’m going to take a shower first.” Xu Sui’s voice was quite calm after the sneak kiss, and she immediately turned her back to him, heading to the bathroom.
Zhou Jingze narrowed his eyes and looked at her slender back. The back of her fair ears was flushed.