When Qin Du returned, Ji Zhaoxi was already asleep in bed. He couldn't help but soften his movements.
The dim yellow light spilled lightly over the bed. Ji Zhaoxi slept on her side, her face slightly flushed from deep slumber. She breathed evenly, exposing her pale neck, shoulders, and arms.
Her skin tone formed a stark contrast with the dark bedsheets. The atmosphere in the room felt incredibly heavy, making it seem as if she were completely swallowed up by it.
Qin Du made no sound. His fingers tightened unconsciously, and his breathing grew heavy.
The mere thought of what he had done on this bed, while she lay there so defenselessly, made his heart tremble uncontrollably.
In her sleep, Ji Zhaoxi sensed a familiar presence and instinctively drew closer to him. A tentative kiss brushed against her lips. She let out a soft murmur and tried to dodge the nuisance interrupting her rest.
But the next second, she felt the back of her head being gently supported. Pinned to the bed, the kiss deepened relentlessly. Ji Zhaoxi's breathing grew ragged, her face now completely flushed red.
He patiently sucked and nipped at her inch by inch. Faint swallowing sounds echoed in the room, filling the air with a thick, ambiguous tension.
Her eyelashes fluttered, and she finally opened her eyes.
Seeing her dazed look, Qin Du let out a low chuckle and pulled her into his arms.
Ji Zhaoxi grumpily bit his neck.
"Are you hungry?" Qin Du buried his face in her shoulder. Eyes closed, he breathed in her scent like an addict.
Only by her side could his heart find complete peace.
Opening the door and seeing her right there—he had imagined this scene countless times.
Qin Du took Ji Zhaoxi out to eat.
Along the way, Ji Zhaoxi kept worrying about her upcoming speech competition. It was starting in a few days, but she felt terribly underprepared in many areas.
"If only you could be in the audience with me," Ji Zhaoxi sighed.
Unfortunately, family and friends tickets were strictly reserved for parents or spouses, and they even ran background checks. Qin Du didn't fit any of the criteria, so he couldn't go.
Qin Du stroked her hair and coaxed softly, "Then I'll wait for you at the school gates."
He sounded so pitiful that Ji Zhaoxi couldn't help but laugh out loud.
One wore a student-like white shirt, while the other wore a cold, stiff overcoat. Yet, they looked strangely harmonious together.
The bodyguard standing nearby tried his best to minimize his presence.
The last time he heard Qin Du speak this softly, it usually meant someone was about to suffer.
Qin Du cut his steak and naturally swapped his plate with the one in front of Ji Zhaoxi. Ji Zhaoxi didn't find anything unusual about it; she was long used to Qin Du taking care of her.
The two were incredibly affectionate. Qin Du used tongs to open the baked clams for her, placing the meat onto her plate. Ji Zhaoxi's eyes curved into crescents as she planted a kiss on his cheek. Qin Du's eyes filled with a warm smile.
"Qin Du, why are you so good to me?"
Qin Du gave a helpless but fond hum of acknowledgment.
The bodyguard held his breath, keeping his eyes fixed on the scenery outside the window. The scenery was quite nice, actually.
After dinner, Qin Du drove Ji Zhaoxi back to her university.
Sitting in the car, Ji Zhaoxi leaned against him and mumbled, "If you hadn't come to Shanghai, would we never have seen each other again in this lifetime?"
Qin Du wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. "No."
Wherever she went, he would follow.
"Really?" Ji Zhaoxi looked at him skeptically. "What if I had gone to Guangzhou back then?"
Qin Du looked at her earnestly. "Xixi, if you went to Guangzhou, then I would have followed you to Guangzhou."
"But you ignored me before!" Ji Zhaoxi glared at him angrily, starting to bring up old scores.
Qin Du's heart tightened, and he looked away. "Xixi, I was wrong before. I won't do that ever again."
But everything he said was true.
It was true that he hadn't dared to contact her, and it was also true that he would have stayed by her side, watching over her all along.
As if venting her frustration, Ji Zhaoxi bit his shoulder hard. Qin Du let out a muffled groan of pain.
Looking at the puffy-cheeked Ji Zhaoxi, Qin Du felt a bit guilty. He carefully touched her teeth. "Xixi, next time you should just bite my neck. Biting my shoulder might hurt your teeth."
"Sweet talker!"
Suddenly, Ji Zhaoxi felt a cold sensation on her wrist. She looked down and saw a watch that Qin Du had slipped onto her without her noticing.
Ji Zhaoxi didn't like large watches; she only liked delicate women's watches. Qin Du had somehow found out about this and frequently gifted her watches. She didn't even know how many she had collected by now.
"I'm leaving now."
Seeing Ji Zhaoxi's pitiful expression, Qin Du's heart melted completely. He cupped her face and kissed her several times.
"Good luck with your competition."
Ji Zhaoxi made it back to her dorm right at curfew. The moment Lin Fang heard the noise, she immediately pulled back her bed curtains.
"Zhaoxi, why are you back so late?"
Ji Zhaoxi disliked Lin Fang's attitude—seemingly just asking, but actually prying. She gave a perfunctory hum in response.
Lin Fang's eyes immediately locked onto the watch on her wrist. Ji Zhaoxi hadn't been wearing a watch when she went out, but she came back with one. Furthermore, the watch did not look cheap; it wasn't something a student could afford.
"Are you... dating someone?" she asked tentatively.
Seeing Ji Zhaoxi remain silent, Lin Fang acted as if she had discovered some huge secret. She pulled her bed curtains all the way back and leaned her entire upper body out.
"Those things from before were also given by your boyfriend, right? Is your boyfriend really rich?"
"Why are you so shy about it? If you have one, you have one. Besides, your boyfriend is so good to you and gives you such expensive gifts. Shouldn't you be happy?"
Ji Zhaoxi lost all her patience. "Lin Fang, what exactly are you trying to say? Can you stop paying so much attention to me? When I was studying English before, you asked me about it every single day. Now I wear a watch, and you ask about that too. What does it matter to you who gave it to me?"
"No wonder your English has been stagnating. You spend all your time snooping on your roommates. Where would you find the time to study?"
If Lin Fang acted like this with everyone, it would be one thing, but she specifically targeted her alone. She was perfectly polite to the other roommates.
The moment English was mentioned, Lin Fang's face turned ugly.
Gao Lin had witnessed all of this, her face showing some disapproval. "Lin Fang, don't casually go around saying other people have boyfriends. It's a very sensitive topic."
There were couples in the school, but everyone pretended not to see them. If such things were pointed out, the consequences could be unpredictable.
Lin Fang wouldn't listen at all. She raised her voice, "Your English only improved because others helped you! Everyone helps you—your classmates help you, the teachers help you. If you had to rely on yourself, you wouldn't have improved so fast!"
Ji Zhaoxi looked at her in bafflement. "I sought help, and people were willing to help me. What's wrong with that? It's better than you stubbornly burying your head in your books but not making any progress at all."
Qi Zhenzhen let out a low whistle, her eyes full of excitement.
She hadn't expected Ji Zhaoxi to have this side to her, stabbing right into Lin Fang's sore spot.
Looking at Lin Fang, who was now crying out of anger, Gao Lin sighed. "Lin Fang, if you have things you don't understand, you can ask us too."
Honestly, she didn't understand what went through Lin Fang's mind either.
In the beginning, Lin Fang was actually the one who was closer to them, while Ji Zhaoxi remained rather quiet. But later on, Lin Fang suddenly started ignoring them. She would hide behind her bed curtains every day, refusing to speak to them at all.
