Chapter 208: Chapter 208: “Stay Away From Me, You Stink.

“…” Xu Su shot him a fierce glare.

He was even learning how to make excuses. It was obvious. Zhou Mochen had clearly promised he wouldn’t come to school and disturb her studies, yet here he was, showing up silently without a word of warning.

It was hard not to suspect that he was either here to check up on her—to see if his little girlfriend was actually keeping her distance from the male students at school.

Or he had guessed that Xu Su wouldn’t be obedient and stick to bland food…

Xu Su wanted to cry but couldn’t. It was just her bad luck. He had caught her red-handed, ignoring the doctor’s orders, and now he was seizing the opportunity to basically announce his identity to everyone.

Xu Su didn’t even have to think to know what her classmates would be gossiping about after Zhou Mochen’s series of intimate actions just now.

’His attitude just now didn’t seem like that of a normal friend at all!’

The cafeteria at City No.1 High School had private rooms, but in the five-plus years of her past and current lives combined, Xu Su had never once been in one. This was also the first time she was dining with the school’s administration, and it was all thanks to Zhou Mochen…

Zhou Mochen was led to the seat of honor. He naturally pulled out a chair, waited for Xu Su to sit, and then casually took the seat next to her.

The dining table was already laden with all sorts of dishes. Several school administrators, whose names Xu Su didn’t know, eagerly introduced each one to Zhou Mochen, insisting they were all specialties of City No.1 High School.

Xu Su: “…”

’As a bona fide student of City No. 1 High School, I’ve never tried a single one of them.’

Everyone was waiting for Zhou Mochen to be the first to pick up his chopsticks.

He, however, seemed completely oblivious. When they got to the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, a school administrator—another one Xu Su couldn’t name—praised the dish to the high heavens, saying it was the signature dish of a certain master chef at City No.1 High School.

Hearing this, Zhou Mochen finally seemed to show some interest. He picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and placed it in Xu Su’s bowl.

After carefully checking to make sure there were no bones, he smiled at Xu Su and said, “You like fish. Here, try your school’s. See how it tastes.”

Seeing Xu Su’s sullen face and her silence, he picked up the mango juice on the table and poured her a glass. He habitually began to coax her, “Don’t be mad at me, Susu. If you want to eat spicy food, I won’t stop you once your wound has healed. Just bear with it for a few more days, okay?”

“…” The entire table fell silent. Xu Su’s face flushed red, and she couldn’t utter a single word.

Her homeroom teacher, Teacher Wu, was sitting just two seats away. Being coddled by Zhou Mochen like this in front of her teacher made Xu Su feel both mortified and angry.

Her hand, hidden under the table, shot out toward Zhou Mochen and gave his thigh a vicious pinch.

Xu Su wasn’t weak. A flicker of distortion crossed Young Master Zhou’s usually calm and nonchalant face, but he barely managed to control it.

Knowing his girlfriend was embarrassed, Zhou Mochen decided to quit while he was ahead. He offered a few gentle platitudes to the others, telling them not to be so formal and to feel at ease. Only then did the conversation around the table liven up.

Seeing that everyone’s attention was no longer focused on them, Xu Su silently breathed a sigh of relief. She started picking at the fish in her bowl, listening to the conversation as she ate. The more she listened, the more she began to understand.

Zhou Mochen’s visit to the school was a spur-of-the-moment decision. Although he had donated a great deal of money to City No.1 High School, he had only visited twice in total. The academic building he had single-handedly funded was nearly complete, yet he had never once made an appearance.

Now that their deep-pocketed benefactor had made a rare appearance, the school administrators in charge of public relations and finances were naturally going to be enthusiastic.

It happened to be lunchtime, so they had gathered many of the school’s leaders, including Teacher Wu, the grade-level director for the third years, to accompany him. The original plan had been to eat at a hotel off-campus.

But who would have thought that Zhou Mochen himself would say he wanted to see the cafeteria environment at City No.1 High School? The administrators had no reason to refuse and hurriedly brought him over.

And as a result, they ran right into Xu Su, who was about to dig into a bowl of hot and sour glass noodle soup…

Xu Su was truly impressed by Zhou Mochen. The first-floor cafeteria was massive, it was peak lunch hour, and it was packed with people. Yet, somehow, amidst so many students wearing the same uniform, he had managed to pinpoint her exact location.

At the table, a middle-aged man addressed as Principal Zeng suddenly stood up with a glass in hand. “Mr. Zhou, thank you so much for your support of our school’s educational endeavors. The scholarship fund you donated has helped countless outstanding students from low-income families who can only rely on their education to change their lives.”

“From what I personally know, many high-achieving, underprivileged students have been able to continue their studies because of this generous scholarship. On behalf of all the students you’ve helped, I’d like to propose a toast to you.” Principal Zeng’s words were sincere as he drained the glass of baijiu in one go.

Someone nearby immediately cheered in approval.

Zhou Mochen smiled as well. He was in the middle of picking up some dried bamboo shoots with his chopsticks. After placing them in Xu Su’s bowl with his usual composure, he tapped his finger on the table. Huang Chao immediately refilled his glass. It looked like he was going to drink.

Xu Su was a little surprised. From what she knew of him, although Zhou Mochen never gave anyone the cold shoulder and seemed quite approachable, he actually had his own strict standards for everything—for example, he rarely accepted toasts from others.

He didn’t just drink with anyone who offered a toast. It depended on his mood, and it also depended on the person.

The Zhou Mochen that Xu Su knew wouldn’t care what banquet it was or what the other person’s status was. No matter how eloquent the toast, he would at most have his assistant drink a glass as a token gesture, and even that was considered giving the other party a great deal of face.

There was nothing to be done about it. The man was born in the clouds; he had all the capital he needed to look down on the world.

But now, here in a high school in a small city that wouldn’t even count as third-tier, he had actually accepted a toast from a vice-principal and downed a full glass of baijiu.

From a bottle that probably cost no more than five hundred yuan.

Xu Su stared in a daze. Even the rice in her bowl didn’t seem appealing anymore.

“What’s wrong?” Zhou Mochen had wanted to ruffle the girl’s hair, but seeing her neat bun, he instead placed his hand on her ear and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Why aren’t you eating? What are you spacing out for?”

He leaned in very close, and the reek of alcohol wafted over her as he spoke. Xu Su recoiled, a look of disgust on her face. “Stay away from me. You stink.”

Baijiu really did have a strong smell. Xu Su herself didn’t particularly like drinking it, and she liked the smell of it on other people even less.

Her blatant disgust made Zhou Mochen laugh in exasperation. He opened a bottle of mineral water and took a few gulps to suppress his irritation before turning to another administrator who had come to offer a toast, putting on a helpless expression. “You all saw that. My girlfriend doesn’t even want me near her when I drink. I can’t have any more.”

He pointed to Huang Chao beside him. “But let’s not be a wet blanket. Huang Chao, you have a few drinks with them.”

“!!!” Xu Su looked up and glared at him. “Zhou Mochen!”

He actually called her his girlfriend in front of so many school administrators!

Although his attitude had been very ambiguous, anyone with eyes could see their relationship. But Xu Su had a bit of an ostrich personality; unless it was the absolute last resort, she was determined not to spell things out.

She was still a student! How could he just announce their relationship in front of her teachers like that? Xu Su was at a complete loss.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep