Chapter 171: Chapter 171: Be good, change your clothes before you come out.

However unwilling he was to admit it, he knew with perfect clarity that his little girl’s attitude toward him tonight was abnormally warm.

Normally, if he came looking for her this late at night, he’d most likely get the door slammed in his face.

Even if he managed to threaten her into coming out, he would definitely be met with nothing but her cold sarcasm. The girl was all thorns, and she wouldn’t rest until she’d left him covered in wounds.

But even so, he had still come… He missed her too much.

Even if it meant practically begging for punishment, he had traveled through the night to be here.

The question caught Xu Su off guard. The image of Zhou Mochen living like a walking corpse flashed through her mind, and a dense, sharp pain began to prick at her heart again.

She reached out and caressed his face. The twenty-three-year-old Zhou Mochen had yet to suffer too much from the bitterness of unrequited love. At her intimate gesture, he cooperatively leaned his face into her touch, his eyes uncontrollably filling with a smile.

Xu Su could even read the flavor of ’happiness’ in his gaze.

He had been chasing her for so long, so long that just a tiny bit of reciprocation from Xu Su was enough to make him this content.

Xu Su couldn’t quite describe her current mood. She narrowed her eyes, barely managing to soothe the discomfort in her heart.

“Zhou Mochen… I’m sorry.”

Xu Su’s voice was very soft, almost a murmur, as if she were speaking to someone else entirely.

“What’s this? Finally grown a conscience and realized how awful you’ve been to me?” Zhou Mochen leaned in closer. Thinking of how the girl had given him the cold shoulder before, he still felt a little wronged. “I’ve never been in so much pain in my entire life.”

“…” Xu Su raised an eyebrow, a little curious. “How much pain?”

’Was it as painful as what I went through? Even in my spiritual state, I was in agony…’

After calming down, Xu Su couldn’t understand it. She was clearly full of resentment for Zhou Mochen, yet seeing him reduced to such a wreck made her ache for him, made her desperately want to return to her own body and wake up.

’I wanted to hold him and tell him not to cry…’

“It hurt a lot. I couldn’t bear to let you feel that kind of pain, Xu Su. I like you.” Zhou Mochen kissed her cheek, his voice a little hoarse. “I’ve liked you since the first moment I saw you, and I like you more and more. Be nicer to me, okay?”

He couldn’t help himself and pulled her into his arms again. “You really won’t come back to Chang City with me?”

“…” ’We were having a nice conversation, how did we get back to this…?’

Xu Su was a little speechless. She patted his shoulder. “It’s late. Take me back.”

“Fine, whatever you say. I’ll take you back.” Zhou Mochen’s tone was a bit like he was grinding his teeth, but then he switched to a soft, coaxing voice. “You really don’t want me? My dear Susu, if you reject me again, I’m really going to be a wreck.”

“…” Xu Su didn’t answer his absurd words. She placed her hand on his face, pushed him away a little, and lifted her chin, repeating, “Take me back.”

Her imperviousness made Zhou Mochen laugh in exasperation. He was completely helpless against her, and in the end, could only start the car dejectedly.

He wasn’t angry for more than two minutes before he couldn’t help but speak again. “How about I come pick you up on the third?”

“No need.” Xu Su shook her head. “I came back with my classmates, so I’ll go back with them.”

Zhou Mochen pressed his lips together and said no more.

Soon, the car stopped on the road in front of Grandma Xu’s house. Before getting out, Xu Su thought of something. She turned and pulled Zhou Mochen’s face toward her.

Seeing the obvious dark circles under his eyes, she frowned. “It’s so late. Why don’t you find a hotel in Kang County to sleep? Don’t drive through the night.”

“Worried about me?” Zhou Mochen reached out and ruffled the top of her head, agreeing to everything. “Okay, I’ll listen to you. I’ll sleep in Kang County tonight.”

…

She tiptoed back into the house. It was already nearly three in the morning.

Xu Su lay on her bed with her eyes closed, her mind completely filled with the thirty-five-year-old Zhou Mochen. ’Can I even go back…?’

’How am I supposed to get back…?’

If it were possible, Xu Su was willing to go back.

Setting aside all their grievances and entanglements, this journey as an Apiao had made Xu Su understand one thing clearly: she didn’t want Zhou Mochen to die, nor did she want him to live as a hollow shell, neither human nor ghost.

But it seemed she couldn’t go back… Even if she returned as a soul, she couldn’t wake up in her body.

Before falling asleep, Xu Su thought about her experiences in this lifetime, mulling over her tangled mess of a love life in a state of half-sleep.

’Is there really no solution that doesn’t hurt anyone…?’

***

Xu Su woke up very late. Everyone else had been up since the sun was high in the sky, but she was still sleeping.

Two years of high school had conditioned her to a biological clock of waking at six and sleeping at twelve. Her late night had utterly defeated it.

She hadn’t truly fallen asleep until four or five in the morning, so she still hadn’t gotten up by late morning. Huang Feng and the others had come to knock on her door several times.

When there was no response from inside, they all started to panic.

Finally, Grandma Xu took out the key and opened the door. They were relieved to see Xu Su sleeping soundly in her bed.

“This child is under so much pressure from her studies at school, her nerves are wound too tight. Now that she’s home and relaxed, she’s sleeping more soundly.” Grandma Xu tidied Xu Su’s messy hair, her heart aching a little. “Let her sleep. It’s rare for her to get a peaceful rest.”

Xu Su was completely unaware of all this. When she finally woke up, it was already lunchtime.

She habitually fumbled for her phone to check the time and then scrambled out of bed.

Bleary-eyed, she opened her bedroom door and saw Xi Zirong in the living room, explaining a problem to Chen Dong. On the other side, Chen Ni was also doing her homework, with Huang Feng and Qian Jia gathered around her.

As for Xu Ran, he was wandering around, looking here and there, occasionally offering some guidance to the middle schooler, Chen Jun.

Grandma Xu wasn’t there; she had probably gone to the kitchen to help her two daughters-in-law.

Xu Su: “…”

What a harmonious, ambitious, and friendly scene of studying. She felt a little gratified, and also a little grateful to her classmates for helping tutor her younger siblings.

Xi Zirong looked up and saw the girl with her long hair in disarray, her collar hanging loosely and revealing a glimpse of her collarbone.

He walked over in a few steps, blocking everyone else’s view. “Be good. Go get changed before you come out.”

Xi Zirong kept his voice very low, but his actions still drew everyone’s attention.

“Susu, you’re finally awake!” Huang Feng’s voice was as bright and loud as ever. She held up the test paper belonging to Chen Ni, eagerly trying to claim credit. “I’ve already gone over a whole set of problems with your little sister!”

Xu Su tilted her head to peer around the boy in front of her, her eyes curving into a smile. “Thank you, my dear Fengfeng.”

“Get changed, then we can talk.” A hand gripped her shoulder. Xi Zirong straightened her collar, his thumb brushing over the faint mark he himself had left last night. His gaze was anything but innocent, completely undisguised, as if afraid the girl wouldn’t understand his intentions.

“…”

Xu Su shrank back half a step, brushed his hand away, and turned back into her room. She was a little angry that he would be so brazen in front of her younger siblings. If no one had been around, there was no telling what he might have done.

’…Indeed… there’s no such thing as a man who isn’t driven by desire.’

Zhou Mochen, who looked as noble and unattainable as a flower on a high peak, was like this.

And Xi Zirong, with his mild temperament, who seemed gentle and polite to everyone, was like this too.

When she came out again, she was wearing a white, waist-cinching slip dress that ended a little above her knees. Over it, she wore a pale yellow, long-sleeved sun shirt. The light-colored outfit gave the girl the illusion of being very gentle.

Her hair was casually tied up in a bun, with a few stray strands falling across her forehead, revealing her entire palm-sized face.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep