Confession

Chapter 29: Warm but short-lived and timid.

At the same time, he took something out of his pocket and handed it to her. Xu Sui looked down. When Zhou Jingze went out, he bought her a hand warmer with a kitten pattern to keep her warm from the IV infusion.

Xu Sui looked at him and said, “Thank you.” Zhou Jingze didn’t reply but raised his eyebrows with a smile. With half a bag of drips left to take, Zhou Jingze sat back on the chair, keeping his head down and playing on his phone.

Zhou Jingze was sitting on the chair and fell asleep. Feeling bored sitting there, Xu Sui remembered she had put a book of A Tale Dark and Grimm in her bag. Now it finally came in handy.

She raised her eyes to look at Zhou Jingze, who was napping with his eyes closed. Xu Sui didn’t want to wake him up, so she quietly got out of the bed and reached out to unzip her bag.

Because her hand was still attached to the thin tube, and the line wasn’t long enough, her foot slipped when she got the book. In a panic trying to maintain her balance, she held onto the wall with one hand, and the book fell out.

Zhou Jingze was awakened by the noise. He sat up and raised his hand, rubbing his neck:

“If you need something, I’ll get it for you.”

“Book.” Xu Sui pointed to the book lying on the ground not far away.

The pink curtain was pulled back, and Xu Sui was about to lie back on the bed when suddenly, as the infirmary door opened, a gust of wind blew in and rattled the book on the ground.

Immediately, a photo with a blue background was blown out.

Xu Sui became nervous and hurriedly said, “No need, I can do it.”

Zhou Jingze raised his eyebrows, walking slowly without a pause towards the door. Xu Sui was so anxious that she jumped out of bed, ignoring the needle on the back of her hand.

The cool wind blew the photo on the ground into the air; it swirled and landed on the ground lightly, just with the white back facing up.

Xu Sui’s heart was in her throat, and when she was about to pick up the photo, a long arm reached in front of her and picked it up.

Zhou Jingze held the corner of the photo with his slender hand and raised the corner of his lips towards Xu Sui. She was so anxious that she immediately reached out her arm to grab it.

“Want it? Nope.” Zhou Jingze raised his eyebrows lightly.

“Give it to me quickly!” Xu Sui’s face was flushed red.

She jumped up towards Zhou Jingze’s hand in a hurry, trying to grab the photo. He was obviously teasing her.

Every time she jumped, Zhou Jingze would raise his arm higher.

Xu Sui tugged at his sleeve; her eyes were full of anxiety, but she pretended to be fierce: “Give it to me quickly, or I will—”

“Or what?” Zhou Jingze seemed to be more interested, and his tone was careless.

After thinking about it, Xu Sui dryly stammered in a soft and smooth voice: “I’ll… bite you!”

Zhou Jingze was stunned and immediately laughed. He was laughing so hard that he couldn’t hold his breath. His chest was throbbing from the joy.

“A very important person?” Zhou Jingze looked at her with a half-smile.

It probably is important.

Xu Sui nodded, and her long eyelashes trembled: “Yes, it’s very important.”

Zhou Jingze wiped away the smile on his face and stood up straight, returning the photo to her.

After he accompanied her for the infusion, he sent her back to the university. The two walked in tandem, with Xu Sui walking in front, and Zhou Jingze with his hands in his trouser pockets, following behind her not too hurriedly or slowly.

Xu Sui looked down and saw the two shadows on the ground intertwined, like an intimate entanglement.

They were still a bit far from the dormitory when Xu Sui stopped. Zhou Jingze walked with her, and he attracted enough attention throughout the way. If he sent her to the girl’s dormitory, it wouldn’t just be as simple as only attracting attention.

“Just here is okay,” Xu Sui looked up at him.

“En.” Zhou Jingze nodded.

When he was about to turn around to leave, Xu Sui stopped him. She hesitated for a moment: “Thank you so much for today; is there anything you want?”

Zhou Jingze lowered his head and laughed. He’s the type to have no materialistic desires, and there was nothing he really wanted. Just as he was about to say no to Xu Sui, he raised his eyelids and looked behind her inadvertently.

Shi Yuejie, dressed in a straight white button-down shirt, was about to come over.

Zhou Jingze’s heart became wicked, and he lowered his neck. He dropped his head, and with a cynical smile on his face, he lowered his voice: “I, I want you—”

The two words “want you” have a deep meaning, and it happened to fall on Shi Yuejie’s ears that he suddenly stopped.

Zhou Jingze’s voice was low and filled with flirtations and attachments that fell on Xu Sui’s ear. Her left ear was numb and itchy. Her heart skipped a beat. She asked, “What?”

A pair of dark eyes were looking up at him. Xu Sui’s eyes were clean and tense that Zhou Jingze was startled. He sighed in his heart.

“To not cry.” Zhou Jingze raised his hand and patted the top of her head. His eyes were overflowing with helplessness.

After he left, Xu Sui remained in place, dazed. She still felt the light touch of his broad palm against her head. The warmth remained on the top of her head.

So, did Zhou Jingze pat her head just now?

Xu Sui was stunned, and a voice pulled her away from her thoughts. Shi Yuejie stood in front of her, frowning slightly: “Junior Sister Xu.”

“Ah, senior brother, what’s the matter?” Xu Sui returned to her senses.

Shi Yuejie had a handsome face, and his eyes contained tints of worries: “I heard that you fainted at Beihang’s basketball court this morning. I was afraid something happened to you.”

The words “I was afraid something happened to you” were straightforward and transparent that Xu Sui subconsciously backed away. After taking a step back, she pulled the distance between the two and shook her head: “I’m fine, thank you, senior brother.”

This action clearly fell into Shi Yuejie’s eyes, and he lowered his eyelashes to hide his dejected expression. His tone was still gentle:

“Then you should eat light meals these days and remember to rest.”

On the following afternoon, when Xu Sui went to attend her public English class, she found that a small number of people were missing. The English professor who walked in saw the situation and didn’t say anything.

Who knew that halfway through the class, the professor pushed up her glasses and said, “Now I’ll take attendance and then return back to the question; credits will be deducted from those who don’t show up.”

Who knew the English professor who was always lenient would make such a move. The class immediately exploded like a frying pot. Some people were using their phones under the desk to send text messages, probably about “in case she called on me, who would help” and so on.

Xu Sui had no one she needed to help. She sat by the window in a daze with a pen in her hand. The sun was shining brightly, and it glistened on her desk. Outside through the window, she heard sounds of basketball dribbling from the court and the cheers and applause from the boys.

She remembered Zhou Jingze on the basketball court yesterday, whose body was vigorous like a leopard, swift and alluring, and how he gave up the game and rushed over to pick her up when she fainted.

In fact, Xu Sui really wanted to ask him why? A heart that had shrunk and cooled slowly came back to life again.

Zhou Jingze was like poison. She tried to quit, but she found herself more addicted.

Suddenly, a slightly stern voice pulled Xu Sui back from her thoughts: “The girl in the third row on the far right by the window, please translate the meaning of crush.”

​​She was caught daydreaming in class, and Xu Sui had to get up to answer the question. Fortunately, it was not too difficult: “The verb is to break, and the name is a soft drink.”

“Sit down.” The English professor nodded.

“Actually, crush has another meaning in English. As a noun, not just a crowd of people pressed together, it’s also a warm but short-lived and timid secret admiration. Passionate love.” The English professor added.

Xu Sui suddenly raised her eyes and tried to recall carefully what the teacher said about her crush. She wanted to look up the word in a book. When she glanced at it inadvertently, she paused.

Her scrap paper was filled with Zhou Jingze’s name.

Is it? Warm but short-lived and timid love?

——