Zhou Chiye had been very happy lately. Every day, he went to school with Ji Zhaoxi and came home with her, and after school, they could spend a long time together at home.
While playing basketball on the court, he suddenly noticed something off. Why did his heart feel so empty?
He looked over at the seats in the lounge and finally realized—Ji Zhaoxi hadn’t come to him of her own accord in a long time!
She used to bring water and look at him eagerly.
But now, there was no water, and not even that eager look anymore.
She had become perfunctory. She used to care about him so much.
Zhou Chiye’s heart ached sharply. Just then, a ball suddenly flew over and knocked him flat.
The court went silent.
“Brother Ye, Brother Ye, are you okay!”
“Brother Ye, why didn’t you dodge?”
Zhou Chiye squinted up at the sun in the sky.
“Take a picture for me.”
The others stared at him in confusion.
Take a picture? Did Brother Ye think this pose was cool?
The guy with monolids beside him twitched his lips and raised his phone. Zhou Chiye immediately put on a vulnerable expression. Click. The picture was taken.
“Send it to her.”
The monolids guy showed no surprise, directly sending it to Ji Zhaoxi.
Zhou Chiye wiped the sweat from his face with a towel, grabbed his clothes and bag, and left.
“Brother Ye just left like that?”
“Who threw that ball? Brother Ye won’t let them off easy.”
“Come on, wasn’t Brother Ye just standing there like an idiot?”
Everyone was running around, and he was just posing there.
Zhou Chiye first went to the lounge to take a shower, then slowly made his way to the infirmary to lie down.
And so he waited for Ji Zhaoxi to come.
As soon as class ended, Ji Zhaoxi arrived. She was startled by the big bump on Zhou Chiye’s forehead. He lay weakly on the bed, not looking at her, radiating a silent sense of grievance.
“Didn’t the doctor put medicine on it for you?” Ji Zhaoxi opened the nearby cabinet and began applying ointment to him.
Zhou Chiye didn’t say a word, letting her treat him.
Ji Zhaoxi was very close to him, close enough that he could feel her breath. Zhou Chiye’s gaze flickered away, but the next second it unconsciously landed on her lips.
Ji Zhaoxi concentrated on applying the medicine when she suddenly felt an intense stare. She looked down at him, and the two stared at each other wide-eyed.
Seeing his eager expression, she paused for a moment, then it dawned on her.
Zhou Chiye felt a little embarrassed—had she finally understood what he wanted?
The next second, Ji Zhaoxi pulled out fifty yuan from her pocket and generously stuffed it into Zhou Chiye’s hand.
Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him—she wasn’t a stingy person.
She never expected Zhou Chiye to have learned her “I want money” expression. Sure enough, even she, the creator, couldn’t resist it—such was the power of that look.
Zhou Chiye closed his eyes in despair.
What had he even been expecting? She was just so clueless!
The atmosphere in the competition class was intense. Everyone was locked in heated debates, passionately discussing things, with the teacher joining in.
Ji Huaichuan sat in a corner, exuding a lifeless air.
The radiance these people gave off was even more blinding than the sun outside.
He wanted to go home. He didn’t want to be here for lessons…
Just then, a girl with short hair suddenly sat beside him and whispered, “Ji, can you teach me how to solve this problem?”
Ji Huaichuan looked at her expectantly. “If I explain it to you, will you pay me?”
He wanted to make a decent profit from tutoring too!
The girl blinked at him, taken aback. Ji Huaichuan cleared his throat seriously. “Ahem, just kidding. I’ll explain it now.”
The girl’s face flushed. “Alright, how much?”
Ji Huaichuan was about to name a price, but seeing how nice she seemed, he kept his mouth shut.
Better not take advantage of her.
He patiently explained the problem, but the moment he finished, he slumped despondently back onto the desk.
He wanted to go home for a hot shower, eat the chef’s cooking at the Zhou house, and roll around on that huge bed…
He would buy a house like that for himself one day—one for his mom, one for his sister—then he’d become the pillar of the Ji family!
“Ji, what are you thinking about?” the girl asked curiously.
Ji Huaichuan answered instinctively, “Money, money, money…”
The girl burst out laughing. Ji Huaichuan glanced at her. “Classmate, do you have any more questions you don’t understand?”
The girl hesitantly pointed to the next problem, and Ji Huaichuan began explaining again.
The night grew deeper. Outside the study’s floor-to-ceiling windows, leaves rustled in the wind. Indoors, a dim floor lamp lit the room.
Ji Zhaoxi curled up in a rocking chair, her body drawn into a small ball. The chair gently swayed with her breathing, occasionally letting out a creak.
Zhou Chiye, who had just said he was going to study, now sat on the carpet beside her. He snuck a glance at her, then his gaze fell on her hand.
Her fingers looked almost translucent in the lamplight, the tips faintly pink.
Zhou Chiye’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He cautiously leaned closer to Ji Zhaoxi to make sure she was asleep, then held his breath, grabbed her hand, and took a gentle bite.
Before he could react, her hand jerked back. Ji Zhaoxi looked at him triumphantly. “I knew you were going to secretly bite my hand again! Caught you!”
Zhou Chiye said nothing, but his breathing instantly grew uneven. In the lamplight, Ji Zhaoxi could clearly see the embarrassment in his eyes.
“Zhou Chiye, aren’t I great at faking sleep?” Ji Zhaoxi was still reveling in her own cleverness.
Zhou Chiye’s face was bright red, but he didn’t look away. He stared at her stubbornly, his eyes filled with longing.
The atmosphere in the study suddenly grew strange.
Ji Zhaoxi finally sensed something wrong. She looked down at Zhou Chiye in front of her, felt his breathing grow heavier, and scrambled to leave.
“Ahem… I was just joking. Don’t be mad. I’m going to bed now.”
But the next second, Zhou Chiye grabbed her wrist and, using the momentum, pulled her back into the rocking chair. His back blocked the light, his eyes rimmed red, and his lashes trembled slightly.
Their breaths mingled. Ji Zhaoxi’s scalp tingled under his gaze. She pushed at him and whispered, “How about this—I’ll go do my homework now, and tomorrow you can bite my hand again, okay?”
Zhou Chiye lowered his head even more, stubborn and insistent, his voice muffled. “Don’t leave.”
She was always so smart in other areas—like when it came to leaving him.
Then, she wasn’t dumb or slow at all; she ran off faster than a rabbit.
