CH 6

“Thank you,” Xu Sui replied and picked up the glass of water. She quickly drank the water to avert Zhou Jingze’s gaze. After drinking a few sips of water, her throat felt much better.

“Are you upset?” Hu Xixi asked Sheng Nanzhou jokingly.

“At him?” Sheng Nanzhou laughed and turned to face Zhou Jingze, “You’re so heartless.”

Zhou Jingze, unbothered, leaned over to his ear and whispered in a doting tone: “Be good, I’ll let you touch it at night.”

Sheng Nanzhou jolted away, distancing himself from Zhou Jingze, and exclaimed: “Don’t seduce me; I’m straight!”

“He didn’t even care about the breakup but was more upset at losing Wei,” Sheng Nanzhou said, suddenly remembering it.

“No way. Didn’t you raise the cat for about a month and even bring it to get vaccinated. It left already?” Hu Xixi turned to Zhou Jingze and asked.

“Yea,” Zhou Jingze replied softly, speaking with a low voice, “It was a heartless cat.”

When they finished eating, Zhou Jingze went to the canteen restroom to wash his hand. After he came back, he grabbed a tissue to wipe his hand and said, “Let’s go.”

“Bye-bye, chubby. Bye Xu Sui,” Sheng Nanzhou waved at them with a smile.

Xu Sui nodded her head, while Hu Xixi clenched her fist and snapped back: “Bye, brainless. Who even wants to see you anyway!”

Xu Sui and Hu Xixi walked back to the dormitory together. Even though they knew Bai Yuyue and Zhou Jingze had broken up, they pretended they didn’t know because Bai Yuyue looked really heartbroken after the breakup.

The following weekend eventually came, and it happened to be rainy the night before. When Xu Sui opened the door and walked out, the air was filled with the fragrance of the grass, mixed with the smell of rain immersed in the soil.

It didn’t take long for Xu Sui to get on the bus. The sun eventually came out and penetrated the window, dazzling the glass. Xu Sui subconsciously stretched out her hands to cover her eyes from the light.

The tutoring session was at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Before arriving, Xu Sui had to transfer buses three times in a row. She was sweating, her clothes sticking onto her skin. She sat on the bus with a pale face, wanting to vomit multiple times.

Finally, she got off the bus and arrived at Amber Lane, looking for house No. 79 according to the address given by the upperclassman.

Not long after getting out of the bus, Xu Sui still felt nauseous and slowed down her pace. Then, she suddenly saw a convenience store not far away.

Xu Sui decided to walk over to the 711 convenience store. The automatic entry door slowly opened, making a “ding” sound.

“Welcome.” A lazy, emotionless voice greeted her.

Xu Sui looked over, and it turned out to be Zhou Jingze, who was casually sitting on the chair at the cashier counter. His dark eyelashes drooped, with a faint expression, looking as though he was not awake.

Zhou Jingze’s elbows were bent, and he was playing games with his head down. Yet, from the side view, he looked sharp, cold, and attractive.

Xu Sui froze and stood in the same position. Zhou Jingze rubbed his neck and looked up. He raised his eyebrows and asked: “How come it’s you?”

“I came here to do something,” Xu Sui replied nervously.

Zhou Jingze nodded his head indifferently, lowered his head, and continued playing his game. Xu Sui turned around and stood in front of a row of coolers deciding what to buy. The game “KO” sound effect kept coming from behind her. Although Zhou Jingze was not looking at her, Xu Sui was still nervous because the two were alone in the same place.

Xu Sui was quiet for a while, forgetting what she would buy in the convenience store. She opened the cooler, and the cold air rushed over her. Finally, she hurriedly picked a bottle of white peach-flavored milk.

When Xu Sui brought the item to check out, Zhou Jingze put his mobile phone aside, stood up, and scanned the item. While Xu Sui was looking through her purse, Zhou Jingze noticed she looked unwell. Her face was abnormally pale, and her eyes were dark and weak.

“What happened? You look pale.” Zhou Jingze’s voice was low, and he was staring at her.

“I have motion sickness.” Xu Sui replied.

Zhou Jingze’s tongue pressed on his left cheek and smiled: “Wait.”

He turned around and shook his jacket; a box of mint fell into his hand. He opened the lid and tossed a mint in his mouth. With the candy rolling on the tip of his tongue and in an ambiguous tone: “Stretch out your hand.”

Xu Sui’s slender eyelashes quivered and stretched out her hand. Suddenly, a handful of green mint was placed in her palm. She didn’t dare to raise her head because she didn’t want to meet his gaze. So instead, she stared blankly at her hand.

“I often eat this. It helps me stop feeling dizzy,” Zhou Jingze said vaguely.

Five minutes later, Xu Sui walked out of the convenience store. She stood under the sun, holding the mints in her palm tightly. Although she was about to melt under the sun, she felt extremely happy.

She unwrapped the piece of mint and put the wrapper in her pocket. The mint was cold, but she tasted the sweetness.

Who knew? Many coincidences can happen one after another on the same day.

Xu Sui went the wrong way and looked for the house for half an hour. Only later did she realize that the address was just behind the 711 convenience store.

She stood at the door and rang the doorbell politely. A nanny opened the door.

The nanny led her in. A woman in her forties, with a beautiful and charming appearance, was wearing a skirt that complimented her looks.

“You’re Xiao Xu, right? Your senior already told me about you. You can call me Aunt Sheng. I just sliced some fruits, so come and eat.” The woman said enthusiastically.

“Thank you,” Xu Sui looked at her and asked, “Who is the one I’m tutoring?”

“Look at me, I almost forgot! It’s my youngest son. I’ll tell him to get down now,” Aunt Sheng shouted at the top of the stairs, “Sheng Yanjia, hurry up and come down! Your new tutor is here; stop bothering your brother playing games.”

No response.

Aunt Sheng smiled in embarrassment: “Xiao Xu, how about you come up with me? I’d also like to see you teach.”

“Sure.” Xu Sui nodded.

Xu Sui followed the woman upstairs, and the two walked to the third room on the left. Xu Sui stood at the door and saw two people playing games.

“Sheng Yanjia, stop pestering Zhou Jingze to play games with you. I’ll give you three seconds to come out,” Aunt Sheng said calmly, “The Uncle Li downstairs wanted to take your game console for a long time.”

The game sound effects suddenly stop—

Hearing Zhou Jingze’s name, Xu Sui’s heart was startled. Zhou Jingze put down the console switch. When he turned his head, he was stunned when he saw Xu Sui. He felt a slight sense of amusement. What a coincidence this was.

“Time for class,” Zhou Jingze said, standing up and patting the child’s head.

Sheng Yanjia clung onto Zhou Jingze’s legs and begged bitterly: “No, brother please, one more round.”

“No more, you’re too bad at the game,” Zhou Jingze replied while unclasping the kid’s hands, chuckling, “Remember to listen in class.”

Zhou Jingze raised his eyebrows while he walked out of the room and stood in front of Xu Sui. Met with the confusion in her eyes, he briefly explained: “He’s Sheng Nanzhou’s brother, and I live nearby. The convenience store belongs to his family. So I help Aunt Sheng watch it for a while when she goes to play cards.”

As Zhou Jingze explained and exposed Aunt Sheng, she was embarrassed and gently pushed Zhou Jingze away, preemptively: “Don’t block Xiao Xu from tutoring!”

“Okay.”

The tutoring session was relatively short. Although Xu Sui spent only about 30 minutes, Aunt Sheng was satisfied with her and asked her little son to greet her new tutor.

Sheng Yanjia had short, curly hair. He had a clear, reluctant expression on his face, but he could only listen: “Hello, teacher Xiao Xu.”

Xu Sui smiled, and Aunt Sheng sent her out. During that time, Zhou Jingze was sitting on the sofa and was about to leave. Aunt Sheng immediately stopped him and asked: “Where are you going?”

“Where else? I’m going home.” Zhou Jingze smiled helplessly.

“You’re the only one in your family. Stay here for dinner. I’ll cook your favorite roasted eggplant,” Aunt Sheng said.

Zhou Jingze smiled lazily and jokingly commented: “If this continues, I’ll soon become your son.”

“That’s perfect! I wanted to sever the mother-child relationship with Sheng Nanzhou a long time ago. So you can just replace him,” Aunt Sheng said blankly.

Zhou Jingze lowered his head and smiled. His expression was relaxed and content. In the end, he did not leave.

Aunt Sheng sent Xu Sui out and took her hand, in a soft tone: “Stay here for dinner.”

Xu Sui smiled and shook her head: “I have something to do, so I’ll have to go to the library.”

“Oh, okay. I also wanted to let you know that I was very satisfied with your session just now. Sheng Yanjia will have an exam in the next half of a year. This kid’s grades are not so good that the pigs I raise are even better than him. I hope you can help him. Of course, I know about the commute and how it takes you some effort to come here. How about you think it over tonight and contact the senior who referred you?”

“Sure.” Xu Sui nodded.

Xu Sui returned to her dorm at night. She found a clean glass jar and put all the mints that Zhou Jingze gave her in it; she couldn’t bear to eat one.

At ten o’clock, she was still the only one in the dorm. Xu Sui held her chin and looked at the glass jar in a daze. Then, suddenly, Hu Xixi pushed the door in and said: “Sui Sui, did you miss me?”

“Of course,” Xu Sui smiled sweetly.

“I heard from Liang Shuang today that you went to tutor. How was it?” Hu Xixi questioned while sitting down.

Xu Sui poured her a glass of water and thought for a while: “It was pretty good. The student I happened to tutor was Sheng Nanzhou’s brother.”

“Amber Lane?! Damn. It’s really far from the school. You must be exhausted,” Hu Xixi replied in a worried tone, “but Sheng Nanzhou’s brother does seem to be looking for a tutor.”

“Yea,” Xu Sui responded, in a hesitant tone whether to ask or not, “Xixi, I heard from Aunt Sheng that Zhou Jingze lives alone?”

Hu Xixi sighed, “His family relationship is a bit complicated. They lived in Amber Lane, but when his mother died when he was a junior in high school, his father planned to move out. However, Zhou Jingze refused, so he ended up still living in that villa. Fortunately, he’s all grown up and raising a German shepherd that can accompany him.”

“Oh, so it was like that.” Xu Sui said. She suddenly remembered Zhou Jingze’s eyes, slightly smiling when Aunt Sheng insisted him stay for dinner.

A few minutes later, the senior sent Xu Sui a message asking if she had considered the tutoring job. Xu Sui thought of those dark and silent eyes and responded:

I’ve considered it. I’ll tutor.