Chapter 293: Chapter 293: Susu, Do You Believe in Destiny?

Zhou Mochen’s response was to pull a card from her purse and hand it to her. “You have money. This was always your money. No limit, no PIN.”

“…” Xu Su was surprised. “When did you put this card in my purse?”

“I don’t remember. Probably when we first got together.” Zhou Mochen couldn’t hold back his smile. “So, Susu, are you going to pick out a gift for me?”

He was just so happy…

The sales associate nearby kept her eyes lowered, but her posture had noticeably straightened.

Xu Su covered her face with her hands. “As long as you don’t mind that it’s cheap.”

This was a niche, entry-level luxury brand. The cufflinks she was looking at were made of ordinary agate and priced in the five-figure range.

’Compared to what he uses daily, this is probably less than a rounding error…’

Zhou Mochen smiled with lingering tenderness. “I would never dislike anything you give me.”

Xu Su: “…”

In the end, she bought the cufflinks.

While they were watching the movie, Zhou Mochen, holding a bucket of popcorn bigger than his head, kept glancing over at her. “Susu, can we go on dates like this more often in the future?”

Xu Su reached out and took his hand, her nose starting to tingle. “Okay.”

’In my last life, I was with him for ten years and never once set foot in a movie theater.’

’We had a private theater at home, but it never even occurred to me to sit down and properly watch a movie with him.’

’I was like a hedgehog, covered in spines, refusing to show him even a shred of softness.’

Whenever she thought of the Zhou Mochen from her past life, Xu Su’s heart ached.

’How is he doing now? I haven’t gone back to check on him in so long, not even as a spirit.’

’Is he… still alive…?’

On the way back, Xu Su gazed at the city’s nightscape outside the car window, her mood sinking.

Even someone as brilliant as Zhou Mochen could never guess she was thinking about his other self from another world. He assumed she was just tired and thoughtfully turned up the car’s heater a bit. “If you’re tired, take a nap. I’ll wake you when we get home.”

“Let’s not go home yet. Take me for a drive,” Xu Su said, rolling down the window. The stuffy, early summer night air hit her face, and she squinted, smiling. “Zhou Mochen, after I finish my college entrance exams, how about I take you to meet my grandma and uncles?”

Zhou Mochen squeezed her hand gently. “Okay.”

’So boring,’ Xu Su pouted. “Is ’okay’ the only thing you know how to say?”

No matter what she said, his answer was always “okay.”

“Then tell me, what do your grandma and the others like?” Turning the steering wheel, the car ascended onto an overpass. Zhou Mochen glanced at her. “I have to be on my best behavior so your family will like me.”

Xu Su chuckled. “I have complete faith in you. Don’t worry, they’ll all love you.”

’In my past life, that man always looked so presentable in public. Anyone who saw him would call him refined, elegant, and exceptionally talented. Add to that his handsome, clean-cut face… even without his extraordinary family background, he was a real catch.’

’Even after my grandma had a stroke and couldn’t speak clearly, her mind was still sharp at times. Every time she saw Zhou Mochen, her face was full of approval.’

’And don’t even get me started on my two uncles. I didn’t want my family to worry, so they never knew about the ’200,000 yuan transaction.’ Unaware of the circumstances, they were thoroughly impressed with Zhou Mochen.’

’But…’

’Then I remember how he chopped off Xu Weiping’s finger in this life…’

Zhou Mochen thought of this as well. He frowned, looking troubled. “About Xu Weiping… do your grandma and uncles know?”

Xu Su cleared her throat and nodded. “They know.”

Seeing his profile stiffen for a moment, Xu Su scoffed, “Regretting it now, are we? Weren’t you being ruthless back then?”

“I don’t regret it now, either,” Zhou Mochen said calmly. “Anyone who hurts you is making an enemy of me. I have nothing to regret.”

“…” Xu Su fell silent for a moment, speechless, and said no more.

Chang City had developed rapidly in the last two years. The night view under the neon lights had the distinct chill of a major metropolis, having become a vast, lonely city of steel.

Xu Su stared blankly at the streams of traffic below the bridge, suddenly starting to imagine what her life would be like now, in this cold city, if she had never met Zhou Mochen.

She thought for a long time but couldn’t picture this hypothetical scenario.

In both her past life and this one, he had appeared too early. Not long after she arrived in Chang City, Zhou Mochen had forcefully entered her life.

’If it weren’t for Zhou Mochen, I would have still liked Xi Zirong, wouldn’t I…?’

That feeling of being surrounded by fog returned. Xu Su frowned, her head aching. “Zhou Mochen, let me ask you a question.”

“Okay,” Zhou Mochen said softly. “Go ahead.”

“You said before that it wasn’t love at first sight for you. You only started liking me after we met at that milk tea shop during my first year of high school.”

“Mhm,” Zhou Mochen nodded.

Xu Su’s heart skipped a beat. She sat up straight, desperate to understand the differences between her two lives.

’It was a known fact that Zhou Mochen wouldn’t stay long for a small-fry place like Chang City. It was only because he’d taken an interest in me that he was willing to stay in Chang City for three years.’

’So when did the Zhou Mochen of my past life start liking me? It wasn’t love at first sight at the factory, so when on earth did he fall for me!’

’In this life, the subsidized housing for the Xu Family was Zhou Mochen’s doing. It must have been the same in my past life, which means he must have noticed me not long after I started my first year of high school.’

’But in my past life, I was antisocial and had no friends. I just went between school and home. I never went to any milk tea shops or any shops at all. There was no chance for a coincidental meeting.’

Just as Xu Su was racking her brain to no avail, a question suddenly occurred to her. “So, if you hadn’t met me at the milk tea shop that day, how much longer would you have stayed in Chang City?”

Zhou Mochen froze, not expecting her to ask that. He pursed his lips in thought for a moment before saying, “No more than three days.”

Xu Su’s pupils dilated. ’So if I hadn’t gone to the milk tea shop with Huang Feng and the others that day, I might have actually escaped him this life?’

Her expression was frighteningly serious. When Zhou Mochen glanced over and saw it, he couldn’t help but become serious as well.

He began to explain to her slowly, “Not long after I first came to Chang City, I saw you delivering a meal to Xu Weiping. I originally wasn’t going to stay for more than half a month. By the time I saw you at the milk tea shop, the matter here that required my personal attention had already been resolved. I could have just left the rest to my subordinates.”

“And just as you were about to leave for Beijing, you met me.”

Xu Su continued the timeline, blinking in confusion. “You saw the look in my eyes through the glass window, mistakenly thought I recognized you, and came over to strike up a conversation. Only then did you get ’impure’ thoughts and delay your departure.”

“That’s right.” Zhou Mochen pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement.

“The first time I saw you, it was from two floors away. I couldn’t even see your face clearly, but I felt a flutter in my heart. The feeling was so unfamiliar I didn’t understand my own thoughts. It wasn’t until the second time we met that I vaguely realized it. Susu, do you believe in fate?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep