Chapter 134: Chapter 134: You’re Quite Good to Him.

From his point of view, the person interested in his daughter must have a hell of a background to get him promoted from a manual laborer of over a decade straight to workshop supervisor.

’They must be a direct descendant of the old factory director’s family, at the very least, right? If his daughter really managed to marry into the old factory director’s family, she would have hit the jackpot.’ Xu Weiping would absolutely love to see that happen.

Still, Xu Weiping wanted to put on a fatherly act. His tone was admonishing but not harsh. “You’re a student. You should be focusing on your studies, not playing on your phone all day and letting your grades slip.”

’He said it as if he actually cared about his daughter’s grades.’

The corner of Xu Su’s mouth twitched. Without even looking up from her phone, she casually replied, “Okay.”

The text was from Zhou Mochen. He had taken a photo of the flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square and sent it as an MMS with the caption: “When are you going to come visit me in Beijing for a while?”

Xu Su read it but didn’t plan on replying.

Around lunchtime, Xu Su received several more text messages.

Zhou Mochen’s was the usual, asking if she had eaten yet, where she was spending the New Year, and other trivial things.

Huang Feng sent a holiday greeting. Judging by the message, she had probably written it herself.

There were also a few New Year’s greetings from other classmates who had her number.

The last one was from Xi Zirong. As her boyfriend, his text wasn’t nearly as subtle: “I miss you so much. I haven’t seen you in two days. Susu, are you at your grandfather’s house right now? Would it be okay if I came to see you this afternoon?”

Xu Su replied to them one by one, even patiently answering Zhou Mochen.

When she got to Xi Zirong’s message, she agreed to meet him that afternoon at the Xinhua Bookstore across from the Xia Sheng Road bus stop.

Not long after lunch, Xu Su told Chen Shulan she was meeting a classmate and left the old Xu Family residence.

She was in the bookstore, flipping through some world classic unrelated to her studies. She had barely read a few pages when a hot drink appeared in her line of sight. Xu Su looked up to see Xi Zirong sitting across from her, smiling.

The boy wore a black jacket that made his lips seem redder and his teeth whiter, giving him a vibrant, youthful air. Several girls in the bookstore couldn’t help but steal glances in their direction.

Xu Su picked up the hot drink he’d brought, but just as she was about to take a sip, Xi Zirong snatched it away. Looking a little worried, he carefully checked the milk tea’s temperature before stating decisively, “Wait a bit before you drink this. I don’t want you to burn yourself again.”

“…” ’This guy has a real talent for mother-henning,’ Xu Su thought. She held out her hand. “Let me hold it. My hands are cold, and it’ll warm them up.”

Xi Zirong grabbed her hand and stood up. “Come on, let’s go for a walk.”

Xu Su put the book back on the shelf and asked doubtfully, “Where are we going?”

Without letting go of her hand, Xi Zirong led her along. In less than ten minutes, they arrived at the entrance of an arcade. The young man turned his head to ask, “Ever been here?”

’An arcade?’

Xu Su shook her head. “Nope.”

’…Isn’t he supposed to be an academic god? Instead of reviewing his books at the bookstore, he brought his girlfriend to an arcade for a date?’

As it turned out, that was exactly his plan. Xi Zirong seemed determined to have her play all the games she had missed out on for the last decade-plus, all in one go.

Despite his “academic god” persona, he wasn’t a novice at a single one of the arcade games.

He bought two hundred game tokens and led Xu Su from one game to the next—racing, fighting monsters, shooting hoops—all of which were new to her.

Xi Zirong, however, was an expert at all of them. Just like he was tutoring her on practice problems, he patiently taught her how to play each game, step by step.

Eventually, they passed by the claw machines.

Xu Su only glanced at them for a second, but Xi Zirong immediately pulled her over.

Of the three claw machines, only one was free; couples were playing at the other two.

Xi Zirong had probably never tried a claw machine before, because this thing finally stumped him. It took him twenty failed attempts before he finally managed to grab a Mashimaro plushie.

Xu Su took the plushie he handed her and pouted. “At this rate, you could have bought several of these Mashimaro plushies for what you spent…”

Her words were dripping with disdain for Xi Zirong’s skills…

In the meantime, the young couple at the machine next to them had already won five plushies.

Enough to trade in for one of the big ones.

Xi Zirong: “…”

He rubbed his nose, a little embarrassed. “How about… we just go buy one?”

’He could play until tomorrow and still might not win five small plushies.’

Xu Su shook her head. “Forget it. Even if you bought one for me, I wouldn’t be able to take it home.”

By the time they left the arcade, it was almost five in the afternoon. Xu Su placed the Mashimaro plushie in Xi Zirong’s hands. “You should keep it. It’d be hard for me to explain if I brought it home.”

Xi Zirong glanced at the little bunny and smiled. “Then I’ll bring it back to school for you on the fourth day of the New Year.”

“Alright.”

The thought of parting made Xi Zirong reluctant to let go. His gaze grew clingy as he held onto Xu Su’s hand. “Are you going home to sleep by yourself again tonight? Can I walk you home?”

Xu Su shook her head. “You don’t have to. My parents are coming back with me.”

’Xu Weiping and his wife were making such a show of valuing her now. Afraid their loving-parent facade wasn’t convincing enough, there was no way they’d let her go home to sleep alone.’

Xi Zirong was disappointed. He wanted to give her a hug, but the streets were crowded. Afraid of upsetting Xu Su, he forced himself to resist the urge.

Xu Su had to tell him several times to let go, reminding him that she needed to get home for dinner. Only then did Xi Zirong reluctantly release her hand, standing there and watching her walk away with a pitiful expression.

Xu Su: “…”

’She had no idea why Xi Zirong, who normally had such a cool and detached personality, was suddenly being so clingy.’

~~

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Xu Su made plans to go shopping with Huang Feng. Her main goal was to pick out a suitable birthday gift for Xi Zirong.

When Xi Zirong had invited his other classmates, he’d specifically told them not to bring gifts. But Xu Su was different. Even though Xi Zirong didn’t want for anything, she still wanted to give him something.

They went from clothing and shoe stores to book and stationery shops, and even looked at various toys and LEGO sets. Xu Su considered and ruled out all the things a boy might like, one by one.

Finally, they walked into an accessories shop.

Xu Su’s eyes were immediately drawn to a pair of silver rings. The design was beautiful; the otherwise plain band was engraved with a single, tiny four-leaf clover, accented with a few small chips.

The “chips” weren’t real diamonds, of course—just ordinary sparkling crystals. But they were truly beautiful.

Xu Su fell in love with them at first sight.

Xu Su had a rough idea of Xi Zirong’s finger size. After deciding they would fit him, she asked for the price and ended up buying both rings.

The whole process was swift and smooth, taking less than ten minutes in total. She spent five hundred and eighty yuan.

Huang Feng, who was with her, was stunned. “Susu, you’re so extravagant! You didn’t even try to haggle? That’s a whole semester’s worth of our tuition!”

Xu Su paused. The option of haggling hadn’t even occurred to her…

’Well, the money’s already been paid…’ Xu Su smiled. “It’s not every day you find the perfect gift, so I just bought it. It wasn’t that expensive.”

Huang Feng watched her smile and could practically smell the sickly-sweet scent of love in the air. “I always thought you weren’t that into God Xi, that he was the only one invested in the relationship. It looks like I was being too narrow-minded. You’re actually really good to him.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep