While waiting for their food, Lin Wanxia asked, “At the hospital just now, was that girl really just a regular schoolmate?”
Lin Yingzhou looked up, seeing right through her. “What are you trying to ask?”
“It’s just that it’s so unusual to see you with a girl. That’s all.” Lin Wanxia continued. “And I think she’s definitely got a thing for you.”
Having been around, Lin Wanxia could tell the girl had felt uncomfortable after seeing her.
She had definitely misunderstood the relationship between him and Lin Yingzhou.
Lin Yingzhou’s mind quickly replayed all the things Shen Yusi had done to get close to him.
Was it that obvious that she liked him?
Lin Yingzhou took a sip of his oolong tea. “Maybe.”
“Maybe~” Lin Wanxia snorted lightly. “You’re not yourself either.”
Lin Yingzhou snorted coldly. He didn’t think there was anything off about himself. “You’re bored.”
“Am I bored? I find it very interesting.” Lin Wanxia had originally planned to remind her dear little brother to clear things up with the girl and tell her they were cousins.
But this little stick-in-the-mud called her boring?
Fine.
Let him suffer the bitterness of love.
After dinner, Lin Yingzhou went home. As usual, he read some psychology literature and worked on his unfinished painting.
His phone sat on his desk. Several messages came in. Most were from the university, along with a few random notifications.
The semester was starting, which meant getting busy. He wondered if he would have time to reply to her messages.
Lin Yingzhou scrolled to his chat with Shen Yusi.
It was still stuck on that “golden opportunity” line. The longer the message was there, the more irritating it became.
At dinner, just the two of them sat at the large table.
It was so quiet you could hear the tiny sounds of chopsticks clinking. You could hear a pin drop.
Lin Yunzhi broke the silence. “How is that girl doing?”
Lin Yingzhou paused his chewing, thinking inopportunely of the man who had left with her in the hospital hallway.
She found a new target. Now she doesn’t even want to practice.
A three-minute passion, indeed.
Lin Yingzhou put down his chopsticks. “She’s improved a lot.”
“Mm. Teach her well.” Lin Yunzhi’s tone softened. “Your school has also started. If you’re too busy, you can put this on hold. It’s not important.”
“I understand.” Lin Yingzhou stood up. “Grandfather, I’m full. I’m going to my study.”
The Lin residence was a vast estate of grey bricks and black tiles, covering about 30 acres. The western building where Lin Yingzhou lived alone was surrounded by green bamboo, tall and slender, green all year round.
A night breeze swept through, rustling the leaves, creating a wave of sound.
He stood by the window, listening for a long time, before walking into another door.
The moment he stepped inside, the damp air of an artificial rainforest hit him. In the enclosed space, a sprawling bionic ecosystem of several hundred square meters climbed along the glass curtain wall.
At the center stood the withered trunk of a banyan tree, so thick it would take two people to wrap their arms around. Moss grew in the crevices of its bark.
In this carefully constructed living environment, only a single small blue snake lived. It was coiled around the trunk, its scales rasping against the dead wood.
Lin Yingzhou knelt on one knee on the grass and opened his palm.
The little snake sensed the familiar scent, slowly moved, and started to uncoil. Its golden-amber pupils contracted.
It slithered up Lin Yingzhou’s fingertips, the unique coolness of a cold-blooded animal seeping into his skin through his palm prints. Its scarlet tongue flickered across his thenar.
Lin Yingzhou stroked its scales. He watched the cold-blooded creature winding around his wrist, and his brows gradually relaxed. “So well-behaved.”
Lin Yingzhou stayed in this room for a long time, until his mind was calm again.
He returned to his study and remembered what Lin Yunzhi had said at dinner.
For a task arranged by an elder, it could only be that Shen Yusi didn’t want to learn, not that he didn’t want to teach.
Until she explicitly said she didn’t want to learn, Lin Yingzhou still had to be a good teacher.
He composed a message and sent it: 【Where’s your homework for today?】
While waiting for a reply, Lin Yingzhou scrolled up and started looking through their previous chat history.
He rubbed his brow. He found himself wondering if he had been taking some wrong medicine recently.
Otherwise, why would he have wasted time chatting with Shen Yusi about all that nonsense?
He was just a calligraphy teacher. He only needed to focus on his teaching.
Anything else that didn’t fit his role shouldn’t be done. Anything else that didn’t fit his identity shouldn’t be said.
So, Lin Yingzhou decided that from now on, if Shen Yusi said anything irrelevant, he just wouldn’t reply.
Shen Yusi replied: 【Oh, I was a bit busy today. I haven’t written it yet.】
Z: 【Busy with what?】
Island: 【Just some small things. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.】
Lin Yingzhou frowned: 【Write it fifteen times tomorrow.】
Shen Yusi’s eyes widened: 【I thought it was five times?】
Z: 【The five times from today, the five times for tomorrow’s homework, and the five times for the penalty.】
Island: 【Wow, you’re so cruel.】
Despite what she said, Shen Yusi obediently went to make up her homework.
She sat at her desk, chewed on her pen, and let out a long sigh.
This feels just like being caught by the teacher for not doing homework as a kid. There’s even a penalty!
Ugh!
But Z doesn’t seem to be angry about yesterday. Good! No need to change teachers!
Shen Yusi was about to start writing when she paused, remembering the elegant girl at the hospital.
But… she doesn’t like Lin Yingzhou anymore.
So what’s the point of practicing calligraphy now?
That was a question worth thinking about.
Forget it. She’ll just practice for now.
After she finished writing, it was already the next day. Shen Yusi picked the ugliest one, took a photo, and sent it with a message: 【Teacher Z, I’ve been thinking. My original reason for learning calligraphy wasn’t very pure.】
Z: 【So?】
Island: 【I don’t want to get into Class B anymore.】
Lin Yingzhou’s eyes darkened slightly: 【Why?】
Island: 【I just don’t think it’s necessary. From now on, I’ll learn calligraphy just for the sake of learning calligraphy!】
See! How passionate about calligraphy! How pure! Teacher Z should be so proud!
Lin Yingzhou snorted coldly.
Her affection was so cheap.
Earlier, she was working hard to get into Class B for him.
Now that a new guy had shown up, she immediately gave up.
Hah.
Lin Yingzhou wasn’t interested in the reason at all: 【Your reason for learning calligraphy has nothing to do with me. You don’t need to tell me.】
She had gotten a scolding for no reason. Shen Yusi held her head up, even more confused.
What had she done to make him angry again?
Psycho.
Out of sight, out of mind. Shen Yusi hid his chat window.
Then she opened the message from her advisor.
There were two days left until the military training ended. Her leg injury was basically healed. She still had to inform them.
After all, she had already made a bad impression by taking leave on her first day.
She would be in university for four years. It wouldn’t hurt to get along with her advisor.
The advisor was as understanding as she had expected: 【No problem. You keep resting at home for a few more days. Come back after the military training is over. It’s fine.】
In truth, the military training was almost over. The performance was coming up. Dragging in someone who hadn’t trained at all would only mean re-arranging the formation and affect the final result. It just wasn’t necessary.
Shen Yusi had thought of this too, which was why she had proactively told the advisor to leave a good impression.
For the next few days, Shen Yusi and Xie Sheng spent two days going on a shopping spree. They only stopped after buying all the new season items from the luxury counters.
Thankfully, her hotel suite was big enough. Otherwise, with her buying power, it would already be filled to the brim.
Shen Yusi also noticed that from that day on, Z had become very strange. He would read all her messages except the ones about calligraphy homework. And he would reply to none.
Their chat history now had nothing but sending homework and getting corrections.
Sometimes, even the correction messages took a long time to get a reply.
As time went on, Shen Yusi didn’t feel like talking to him about anything else anyway.
She had plenty of people to talk to. Whatever. It wasn’t like he was her boyfriend. She didn’t need to coddle him.
Men are all the same. So irritating!
–
To celebrate Shen Yusi’s recovery and the start of her real university life, Xie Sheng organized another night out at a bar.
This time, Shen Yusi stressed that she didn’t want any introductions to handsome guys.
She only liked untouchable flowers now. And untouchable flowers never went to bars.
But she hadn’t expected Qi Yue to show up too.
He was dressed casually today. His fingers tapped a steady rhythm on the glass table. He looked like he was sure to win.
He was sitting in the darkest part of the booth, but plenty of eyes were glued to him.
But for some reason, Qi Yue still lost.
He raised his glass of whisky, the amber liquid swaying gently. His gaze, however, lingered on Shen Yusi.
He threw his head back and downed it in one go.
After Shen Yusi sat down, she casually joined their game.
But she was out of luck today. She lost several rounds in a row. The table in front of her was covered in forfeit drinks she had to down.
After drinking them in one go, Shen Yusi nearly choked. She waved her hand. “My luck’s terrible. I’m out.”
Someone teased, “Don’t blame the road if you can’t drive.”
“Fuck off.”
Shen Yusi retreated from the battlefield and sat on the sidelines, watching them play.
She rested her chin on her hand, wondering if she was just rusty from not playing in a while. There was no way she could keep losing like this.
The sofa dipped slightly to her right. Shen Yusi looked sideways. It was Qi Yue, the one who had been winning big.
“You’re out too?” she asked.
Qi Yue laughed mockingly. “Just came to check on the poor little loser who had to throw in the towel.”
Shen Yusi snorted. “We all know my luck is bad. You’re supposed to quit while you’re ahead, not stay till they have to carry you off to get your stomach pumped.”
Qi Yue suddenly leaned closer.
In the suddenly shortened distance between them, Shen Yusi saw his eyes, amber from the whisky.
A man with a face that looked born to play with hearts. Even his eyelashes looked like the poisonous plumage of a peacock.
Shen Yusi’s wrist, resting on her chin, gleamed like jade. “I want to. But you saw how it’s going. If I lose again, I’ll be spending the night here. And Xie Sheng’s not going to drink for me.”
“I will.” Qi Yue placed the bottle of Ace of Spades in Shen Yusi’s palm. “Go for it. If you lose, it’s on me.”
Shen Yusi’s eyes lit up. She wasn’t going to be polite. “Really? Don’t lie.”
“Don’t you trust me?”
“No, no.” Shen Yusi cheerfully took Qi Yue’s hand and squeezed back into the crowd.
Su Ze joked, “What’s this, Little Island? You got yourself a ringer?”
Shen Yusi was cocky. “Wrong. I got myself a handsome guy to drink for me!”
The others seemed to catch on and started teasing. “Qi Yue, you better be careful. You might not be as lucky as you think.”
“Qi Yue, we never get a chance to make you drink. You’re not getting out of this one.”
Qi Yue raised an eyebrow, his tone arrogant. “Want to make me drink? You’ll have to get through her first.”
Shen Yusi quickly spat out a watermelon seed and joined in. “Yeah! You’ll have to get through me first!”
Someone called out, “Fine, fine, fine. Today, we’re going to wipe the floor with the both of you!”
As it turned out, when luck wasn’t on your side, the harder you talked, the more humiliating your defeat.
Xie Sheng had appointed herself the bartender. Whenever she saw Shen Yusi lose, she’d fill her glass to the brim.
Shen Yusi would just push it to the side, and the assembly line of forfeit drinks would flow straight into Qi Yue’s hands.
After a few rounds, the operation became incredibly smooth. Pour, push, drink. It was lightning fast.
By the end, the results hadn’t even come in, and there was already a glass of forfeit waiting for Qi Yue.
He was speechless for a moment. “Hey! Xie Sheng, how do you know she’s going to lose?”
“She hasn’t won a single round. Hurry up and drink.” Xie Sheng shoved the glass over.
Shen Yusi had long forgotten about the game. She was laughing so hard she could barely stand.
Seeing her so happy, Qi Yue couldn’t help but laugh too. “Shen Yusi, you did that on purpose.”
“What? I just have terrible luck.” Shen Yusi laughed, leaning in to look at him. “What’s wrong? Can you not handle it?”
Her eyes were bright and watery, staring straight at Qi Yue. When he didn’t say anything, she blinked mischievously. She looked like a proud little fox.
Qi Yue’s breathing was a little ragged. He used his index finger to push her forehead back. “This is nothing.”
He tilted his head back, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. He made the cheap beer sound like a beating heart.
The game was just an appetizer. After a few rounds, everyone ran off to the dance floor.
At the booth, only a lazy Shen Yusi and a tipsy-looking Qi Yue remained.
His hand propping up his forehead showed faintly bulging veins. He looked like he might be drunk.
Shen Yusi finally felt a pang of conscience. She walked over and asked, “Oh, are you okay?”
“No.”