A Love Confession - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Reunion

At six in the morning, sparrows fluttering their wings against a telephone pole shattered the alley's tranquility. Because it had just rained the previous night, the osmanthus flowers were beaten into a scattered mess, looking like an overturned honey jar flowing across the damp ground.

Dampness crept in through the gaps in the window. Xu Sui slumped over the desk, her shoulders flinching instinctively. She raised her head with effort, rubbing her face with her hand to snap herself more awake.

Xu Sui had just finished two surgeries yesterday, and coupled with an overnight shift that lasted until now, an unmistakable weariness was hidden beneath her long, dark eyelashes.

Inside the bathroom, Xu Sui held mint-flavored mouthwash in her mouth, unscrewed the faucet, cupped a handful of water, and simply washed her face.

At seven-fifty, people in the department began arriving one after another, exchanging good mornings. Xu Sui seized the exact moment to quickly finish a croissant. Her black coffee was placed nearby, but someone took it away and replaced it with a bottle of milk.

When Xu Sui looked up, it was the new intern doctor. The young man scratched his head sheepishly: "Dr. Xu, drinking too much coffee is bad for your health."

"Thank you." Xu Sui smiled, glancing at the time. "Let's go, it's time for ward rounds."

Most of the patients in the inpatient department liked Dr. Xu to conduct rounds. She was gentle, patient, and would even listen to their occasional complaints.

Several interns followed behind Xu Sui as she made her rounds room by room. The hem of her white coat fluttered slightly. Following her line of sight, a blue ID badge was pinned to the left side of her chest—Xu Sui, Surgeon at Puren Hospital.

When doing rounds on a young woman who had her appendix removed two days ago, Xu Sui deliberately gave a few extra instructions, telling her to avoid certain foods and regulate her rest schedule.

The young girl was young, and having recovered her previous vitality not long after surgery, she rolled her large eyes and said she would die if she had to keep eating such tasteless, bird-like food.

"Dr. Xu, can I drink milk tea?" The young girl asked cautiously.

Xu Sui held her signature pen, pausing over the blue folder. She raised her eyes to meet a pair of hopeful eyes and relented: "Just a little bit."

"Why, but I'd rather drink Yihetang." The young girl looked troubled.

"..."

The interns behind her couldn't help laughing. Xu Sui spoke with a blank expression, her voice carrying a hint of cruelty: "Now you can't even have a little bit."

The young girl realized belatedly and cried out in remorse, "I was wrong, Doctor!"

After finishing the rounds, Xu Sui walked back to the office with her hands in her pockets. In the corridor, she ran into her mentor, who was also the head of surgery.

"Xiao Xu, just finished rounds?" The other party asked her.

"Mm," Xu Sui nodded. Seeing that the director seemed to have something to say, she took the initiative to ask, "Teacher, is there something you need?"

"You've certainly been busy lately. You're the hardest worker in this department, holding that drive I had back in my youth," Dr. Zhang smiled, his expression kind. "But you also need to balance work and rest. Your mom even called me up to make me worry about your major life events."

Xu Sui froze, not expecting that the consequence of her repeatedly rejecting blind dates would be her mother enlisting the department head to pressure her. She steadied her mind: "Teacher, do you know what my mom's dream is after entering middle age?"

"What is it?"

"To be a matchmaker, starting with me as her practice run." Xu Sui pointed at her own innocent self.

"You child," Director Zhang chuckled, his tone helpless, before shifting the topic abruptly. "There's a young man in the staff residential compound where I live who's a good person with great credentials..."

Xu Sui's eyes drifted over him and she diverted the topic: "Teacher, how is it that I smell cigarette smoke on you? It's pretty strong."

Everyone at Puren Medical knew that Dr. Zhang possessed superb medical skills and held great authority, but he was also notoriously afraid of his wife. Director Zhang's wife was the head nurse in pediatrics and frequently came by to check up on him. Every time the senior's wife caught the smell of smoke on him, she threatened that if she didn't need to consider that his hands were still used for saving lives and healing the wounded, she would practically snap them in half.

"I didn't even have time to smoke today. It might have gotten on me from a patient's family member," Dr. Zhang grabbed his collar and sniffed it, looking panicked. "I won't say more, I'm going to wash my hands first."

After the teacher left, Xu Sui finally got off work at eleven in the morning. She returned home to catch up on sleep, sleeping soundly until dark. When she awoke, the sky had completely darkened, and distant neon lights were beginning to twinkle.

Xu Sui spaced out for a moment, got up to close the window, connected her phone via Bluetooth to the speakers to play a very chaotic rock song, and stepped onto a reflexology mat to relax.

Most people assumed reflexology mats would be extremely painful, but for Xu Sui, it was a great way to relieve stress. Her phone made a "ding" sound. With sweat dotting her forehead, Xu Sui sat directly on the reflexology mat to grab her phone.

Her mother had sent a long string of messages, the gist of which was telling her to go on a blind date.

Qingfeng: [The guy this time is really nice, two years older than you, and he's even a lawyer. He's a successful person and looks good too. The matchmaker said he's a responsible and excellent young man.]

Qingfeng: [Go meet him tomorrow? Don't make excuses, I know you don't have to work a night shift tomorrow night.]

Qingfeng pushed a contact card to you. Xu Sui opened the other party's avatar and complained internally: [This photo pose with arms crossed over the chest doesn't look like a success guru; it looks like a salesman.]

As soon as Xu Sui's mother saw her deflecting, she knew she wanted to muddle through it like usual, and this attitude was problematic. A bit angry, her mother didn't bother typing this time, sending a barrage of death-match voice messages instead.

Qingfeng: [You're 27 this year, practically an old maid. How can you still act so unconcerned?]

Xu Sui replied: [Mom, I don't really want to get married right now.]

At least her thoughts at this stage were like this: being single was relaxed and carefree, and coupled with Xu Sui's busy work, she truly had no energy to think about this matter.

Qingfeng: [Then what do you want to do?]

Before Xu Sui could reply, Qingfeng sent another message: [Then do you want to go become a nun?]

Xu Sui laughed despite herself and was about to reply when a Zhihu notification suddenly popped up on her phone screen. She clicked into it, and after all these years, someone had still liked and replied to that answer of hers.

The question was: "During your student days of unrequited love, what was the funniest thing you ever did?"

On a whim at the time, Xu Sui had replied anonymously:

In my second year of high school, a foreign movie was released that I loved so much I bought movie merchandise—a blue T-shirt.

On the first day I wore it to class, I suddenly noticed that he was also wearing a blue T-shirt. Although he was wearing the most ordinary blue T-shirt imaginable, my heart beat so clearly, and I secretly assumed it was a couple's outfit.

Perhaps God saw how bitter my unrequited love was and specially sent me this sweet coincidence.

Ever since then, I frequently wore this clothing. Even the night before, I would fantasize about whether he would wear a blue T-shirt the next day. He sat in the second-to-last row, and I sat in the second row from the front. Every morning during morning study, in order to catch an extra glimpse of him, I would deliberately enter from the back door, pretending to walk past him inadvertently. Occasionally, when my peripheral vision caught him lying lazily with his head pillowed in his arms, his hair messy, and the blue shadow jutting from his thin shoulder blades, my heartbeat would speed up abnormally, making me inexplicably happy for the whole day.

As a result, I later found out that this piece of clothing was just a 9.9-yuan T-shirt his girlfriend casually bought to bundle an order at the supermarket. Such a reckless and unbothered boy didn't even mind wearing it every day.

I snapped to my senses instantly, as if I understood one thing: he might never see me.

Xu Sui's like count for this reply was pushed to the top, and many people even replied underneath her: Not funny at all, why do I feel so heartbroken. Hugs to the little sis.

Xu Sui stared in a daze. As she looked back at this answer of hers from years ago and intended to hide it, a new reply popped up: Do you still like him now?

The astringency at the bottom of her eyes deepened bit by bit. Xu Sui sat on the reflexology mat, and for some reason, a dense, aching pain surged through all the bones and limbs of her body, making it a bit hard for her to breathe.

Xu Sui didn't reply. She exited the software and replied to her mother: [Okay.]

The next evening, Xu Sui dressed up specially. She arrived at the restaurant according to the address her mother gave her, and the other party was already waiting there.

The other party was named Lin Wenshen, working at a law firm. He made a much better impression on Xu Sui than the photo did; his facial features were fairly decent, and he treated others with courtesy.

The two of them chatted reasonably well. After the meal, Lin Wenshen suggested taking a short walk nearby. Xu Sui thought that since she had already come out on a blind date, there was no need to act coy, and she ultimately nodded.

At ten in the evening, the moonlight was bright and white. Xu Sui and Lin Wenshen walked side by side, exchanging words from time to time in a fairly comfortable atmosphere.

On the snack street, blue and red cloth awnings were staggered in rows. On the barbecue grill, eggplants sat on tin foil while the boss sprinkled a handful of cumin. Under the searing heat of the oil and fire, it made a sizzling sound, and next to it, the carbon-grilled Pacific saury gradually turned yellow, its fresh and fragrant scent spreading everywhere.

Lightbulbs hung overhead with fine specks of dust floating on them, casting dim light.

Cheng You brought a plate of skewers over to sit in front of the man. The two of them drank a little alcohol and began chatting casually. Cheng You handed him a skewer of beef, his tone somewhat cautious: "Boss, don't put too much pressure on yourself. This time... just treat it as a rest."

Zhou Jingze was biting down on a skewer. Hearing this, he lifted his eyelids to glance at him and chuckled lowly: "What pressure could I possibly have."

"As long as you don't, good." Cheng You let out a sigh of relief.

Zhou Jingze sat across from Cheng You, his feet resting casually on the horizontal bar beneath the table. Not long after sitting down here, he had already attracted sideways glances from girls at several neighboring tables.

Yet he couldn't even be bothered to lift his eyelids. A cigarette was pinched between his fingertips, and the smoke rose slowly—rebelliously handsome and aloof.

Being with him, Cheng You had already experienced attention coming from all directions and felt immensely proud. Plus, whenever he drank, he liked to chatter away, spewing a whole basket of nonsense: "Hey, Boss, not gonna lie, during these years flying around the world in the skies as a pilot, I honestly never looked closely. If you want a place with lots of beauties, it's still our Jingbei City."

"Hah, look at those long legs." Cheng You sighed in admiration.

Zhou Jingze didn't even look, letting out a cold sneer: "Keep staring and I'll tell your old lady."

Cheng You withdrew his gaze sheepishly, his eyes lighting up halfway through as he nudged Zhou's arm: "Boss, look right across us, there's a fresh and lovely one. She looks totally like she's from the South."

Hearing the words "from the South," Zhou Jingze subconsciously raised his head. A pair of pitch-black eyes swept over, and then he froze. The other person indeed had the typical appearance of someone from the South—fair-skinned, with a pair of brimming almond eyes, wearing an apricot-colored knit dress with two thin straps that exposed her fair shoulders.

"Tsk, she has a boyfriend, but the vibe between these two looks like they just met—probably on a blind date. But both of their temperaments are the scholarly type, they actually match quite well," Cheng You commented.

The moment Cheng You finished speaking, he felt the surrounding air drop sharply. Panicking a little, he glanced over and saw his brother bare-handedly snapping a handful of bamboo skewers beside him in two, without saying a single word.

Xu Sui didn't notice the commotion over here as she walked side by side with Lin Wenshen through this snack street. Seeing that they were nearing the end, a few sounds of struggle came from the alley entrance.

As it turned out, an old lady selling sweet soup was being harassed by a few drunken thugs who were about to smash her stall under the pretext that the food tasted terrible. Xu Sui didn't mean to meddle, but the old woman's bitter, pleading voice instantly reminded her of her grandmother.

Just as Xu Sui was about to walk over, Lin Wenshen pulled her back, his tone shrewd: "You absolutely must not go over right now. It'll be terrible if you get extorted by the thugs or the old lady."

"I like being extorted." Xu Sui hooked the corners of her lips, then looked at Lin Wenshen's hand holding onto her. The other party let go awkwardly.

The old woman was shoved to the ground by the ringleader of the thugs. Xu Sui walked over to support her, her voice calm: "How much is it, I'll pay for it."

The thug with dyed red hair lit up when he saw Xu Sui, placing both hands on the skin of her bare shoulders: "Since little sis is pleading for mercy, we'll let this slide. Keep big brother company for a drink."

"Don't... mess around, I'm a lawyer... you-you-you let go..." Lin Wenshen pushed his glasses up, too nervous to utter a single complete sentence.

Seeing that Lin Wenshen was a pushover, several thugs waved the iron rods in their hands and asked, "What, want to fight?"

Lin Wenshen took a step back, glanced at Xu Sui, and actually gritted his teeth and ran away.

The thug's hand lingered on Xu Sui's shoulder, rubbing it audaciously. In less than a second, Xu Sui twisted his wrist backward, producing a "click" sound.

Crap, you fucking—" The red-head let go in pain, his face sinking completely. Just as he raised one palm, preparing to slap her down, abruptly, an elongated hand with distinct, clear-cut knuckles materialized out of thin air and forcefully intercepted the thug's fist.

It was Zhou Jingze.

"I thought it was a woman's hand, soft and lacking strength." Zhou Jingze's tone was reckless and wildly unbothered.

His remark was tantamount to provocation. The other party freed one hand and swung it over, but Zhou Jingze sidestepped, grabbed the red-head's arm, and slammed him to the ground with a single punch, eliciting a painful scream from the red-haired man.

With several people gathered around, a fight broke out instantly.

Xu Sui squatted down, helped the old woman up, helped her pack her things, and silently sent her off.

The melee came and went quickly. Fighting four men single-handedly, Zhou Jingze left the thugs scrambling away in a panic. Zhou Jingze stood under the streetlamp, his long shadow stretching out right before her.

Only then did Xu Sui raise her eyes to look at him closely.

Zhou Jingze was wearing a flight jacket with four stripes on his shoulders, his head and neck held straight with an oppressive presence. He had single eyelids, extremely short hair, sharp and distinct facial contours, a fresh red scratch left on his chin, and a pair of pitch-black, sharp eyes staring straight at her.

Xu Sui's heart shrank abruptly under Zhou Jingze's gaze, and she took a step back instinctively. At that moment, a cool breeze blew, whipping up roadside leaves and plastic bags into a swaying, precarious dance in mid-air.

Seeing her familiar reaction, Zhou Jingze pressed the tip of his tongue against his left cheek and let out a scoff.

The man tilted his head and spat out a glob of blood-tainted saliva toward a trash can, then flicked a cigarette out from a cigarette case. His slender fingertips twined around the cigarette butt, and he lowered his head to bite down on it as his silver lighter made a "click" sound.

Still carrying that dawdling, nonchalant air.

He was waiting for Xu Sui to speak.

Xu Sui looked away, her tone unexpectedly detached: "Thanks for tonight, I'll be leaving first."

After saying this, even Xu Sui herself felt stunned inside. She had imagined countless scenarios of the two of them reuniting, never expecting that when it truly happened, they would even skip the pleasantries.

Xu Sui turned around and wanted to leave, but Zhou Jingze closed in a step. The scent of tobacco on him was prominent, and his chilling aura left people unable to move.

From the ground view, his shadow abruptly encircled her. His eyelashes dropped, casting a faint ring of shadow under the streetlamp's projection, his tone carrying a trace of gnashing teeth:

"Are you on a blind date?"