Chapter 44: Chapter 43: However, She Did Not Want to Experience It Again

Xu Su turned to look at him but said nothing.

Xi Zirong walked over and squatted down beside her, his eyes immediately falling on the broken chain. Realizing it couldn’t be fixed, he stood up. “Put the bike back in the shed. I’ll take you home.”

Xu Su stood up as well, shaking her head. “That’s okay. I’ll just go to the dorm and stay with Qian Jia. I’m not going home tonight.”

“If you don’t go home tonight, won’t your parents worry?”

Seeing that Xu Su was pushing her bike, about to turn around without answering him, Xi Zirong reached for her wrist. Xu Su instinctively pulled away.

“Xi Zirong, keep your hands to yourself.” Xu Su was utterly exasperated, her tone sharp. “I don’t want you to take me home. Can’t you understand that?”

Day students from First High School were constantly passing by on their way home, occasionally turning to stare. Neither Xu Su nor Xi Zirong was an unknown figure at school. It was easy to predict that by tomorrow, this would add another colorful Chapter to the school’s gossip about them.

Xu Su had had enough of the prying eyes. She decided to clear the air once and for all. For days, she’d been looking for a chance to have a serious talk with Xi Zirong anyway.

This wasn’t the ideal place for it, but it was still better than the classroom.

Xu Su said, “You’re first in our year. You don’t have to worry about your grades, so you can afford to play this ’high school romance’ game. I can’t. I have to study. I need to get into the top three, and I want to win the top-tier scholarship.”

When the boy in front of her remained silent, she pressed on. “You haven’t actually confessed or anything, so maybe I’m just misreading the situation. And you can think I’m being presumptuous or full of myself, but I still have to tell you: I don’t like you. I just want to focus on my studies.”

The truth was, Xu Su didn’t even know what it felt like to like someone. At the tender age when romantic feelings first begin to bloom, she had been tied to Zhou Mochen. He gave her no choice, permitted no refusal, and allowed her no opportunity to get too close to any other boy.

She didn’t like Zhou Mochen, but she had never liked anyone else, either.

And what did Xu Su think of Xi Zirong’s actions lately?

She had no thoughts on the matter.

If, one day, Zhou Mochen were to disappear completely, if Xu Su got into her dream university and escaped her family—then maybe, if she met someone like Xi Zirong again, she would consider giving it a try.

But absolutely not now.

She was only a freshman in high school. What could possibly be more important than studying?

It was early January, and the air was frozen solid. The late night was even colder than the day had been. In the short time they’d been standing there talking, a bone-chilling cold seeped in from all around.

Xi Zirong stood in the darkness, his expression hard to make out. He was silent for a moment before speaking. “Wanting to study hard doesn’t have to conflict with liking me. I won’t let your grades slip. Xu Su, how about we make a bet? If I can help you get into the top three for final exams, you’ll go out with me. What do you say?”

’I’d have to be crazy to take that bet.’

Xu Su let out a short, angry laugh. “I know you’re a good student, and that the key points you highlight are always perfect—you can probably even predict the exam questions. But I don’t like you. Do you understand? I don’t like you.”

After her blunt refusal, Xu Su, worried she hadn’t been clear enough, added, “Surely our great Class President isn’t so conceited as to think that anyone you like is obligated to like you back, right?”

Worried that other passing students might overhear, Xu Su kept her voice low. To make sure he heard her, she even took a step closer as she spoke.

Xi Zirong stood there stiffly, completely still. Xu Su waited patiently. Just as she thought he was about to say something, his hand moved.

Xi Zirong pulled off his own gloves and held them out to her. “Here, put these on. Your hands are red from the cold.”

…, Xu Su was speechless for a moment. She felt like she was just wasting her breath. She grabbed her bike and started to leave.

“Then we don’t have to go out. How about you just let me tutor you?” Xi Zirong grabbed her handlebars, his voice retaining its youthful clarity. “We can just be classmates. Just… don’t avoid me. Old Wu won’t say anything.”

“I promised Old Wu that I wouldn’t let it affect my grades or yours. You don’t have to like me. Just treat me like a normal classmate. Can I please just tutor you?”

His voice, carried by the night wind, sounded faint and indistinct by the time it reached her ears.

Time trickled by. Fewer and fewer First High School students passed them. The wind howled dismally. Xu Su raised a hand to rub her face, which had grown stiff from the cold, before she finally managed to snap out of her daze.

’It finally dawned on her. This academic prodigy seemed to have a bit of a ’simp’ Attribute.’

Xu Su was genuinely curious now. She couldn’t help but ask softly, “Xi Zirong, what exactly do you like about me?”

’What did he like so much that, despite his aloof personality, he was willing to be so forward? Pouring her water, giving her homework, making overtures… he was so forward that he didn’t even tone it down after talking to their homeroom teacher, just letting the rumors about him fly. Xu Su really didn’t think she was that charming. Her days consisted of grinding practice problems, and more practice problems. She didn’t joke around with her classmates and would avoid speaking both in and out of class if she could. Aside from a decent-looking face, she had no other outstanding qualities. Compared to Fu Zichen with her good grades and popularity, or Rao Lu who could sing, dance, and create amazing bulletin boards, Xu Su knew she was hardly one of the most outstanding students in their class.’

Xi Zirong lowered his head. Their eyes met in the darkness for barely a second before he looked away, managing a faint smile. His voice was soft. “I don’t know what it is I like about you. But… I even like you when you’re angry like this. Xu Su, I won’t get in the way of your studies. Just please don’t avoid me.”

The boy’s voice was full of a lingering tenderness, but all Xu Su felt was…

’…how cheesy it was.’

Xu Su shivered. She was practically allergic to romance. She turned her head, trying to break the awkward tension, but as her gaze swept across the wide road to her left, she froze.

It felt like being plunged into an ice cave.

Beyond the guardrail separating the sidewalk from the road, a black SUV was parked. A tall, slender figure stood beside it, and there was no telling how long he’d been there. He was just watching them quietly. Xu Su could feel the menacing aura radiating from him.

’Why is Zhou Mochen here?’

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Xu Su shuddered uncontrollably. Xi Zirong, thinking she was just cold, raised his hand to put the gloves on her.

Xu Su flinched away as if he were carrying the plague, stumbling back several steps with her bike. Her voice trembled as she spoke. “I’ve said everything I need to. Xi Zirong, you should go home now.”

Xi Zirong opened his mouth to say more, but the sound of distinct footsteps approaching from the side made him turn his head.

Zhou Mochen was already walking over. With his sharp, handsome features and tall frame, he exuded the oppressive presence of a grown man as he approached Xu Su, step by step. His face was devoid of emotion. “Get in the car. I’m taking you home.”

He didn’t seem angry that she was chatting with a male classmate in the middle of the night.

’Only Xu Su knew that the angrier he got, the better he was at hiding it. She had once seen him beat a man until his ribs cracked, all with a placid, almost casual expression, not a hint of fury on his face.’

’As for what Zhou Mochen looked like when he truly lost control of his anger… Xu Su had seen that, too. And she had no desire to ever witness it again.’

’The way he looked right now was already starting to overlap with that memory of Zhou Mochen.’

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