A Love Confession - Chapter 11

Chapter 11 - It's a Bit Interesting

Zhou Jingze watched Xu Sui without speaking, the amusement in his dark eyes growing increasingly intense. Sheng Nanzhou was so startled that he banged his chin against the edge of the table, causing the peanuts sitting in the bone dish to rattle and spill onto the floor.

"Little Sister Xu, this news of yours is about as unbelievable as Dali wearing women's clothing," Sheng Nanzhou remarked.

"It's true. I learned it for a while back in elementary and middle school, though I'm quite rusty now," Xu Sui explained, taking the opportunity to lock her phone screen.

Nobody knew that Xu Sui could play the drums. Her father had sent her to lessons when she was a little girl, but after his passing, her mother forbade her from playing things like that, and Xu Sui began trying her best to become an obedient daughter.

Even after saying that, her face remained hot; heaven knew how much resolve she had mustered just to say those words aloud.

She simply wanted to be seen by Zhou Jingze.

"Alright then, that settles it. We have a month. We'll practice together on weekends or whenever we have free time," Sheng Nanzhou finalized.

Zhou Jingze lifted his hand slightly toward the front to signal the waiter over. The waiter walked up with a small notepad, totaled the bill, and stated the sum.

Zhou Jingze raised an eyebrow: "Is this calculation correct? We ordered quite a lot."

"The calculation's right. I'm giving you a fifty percent discount, and the drinks are on the house," a hearty, robust voice suddenly rang out from not far away.

The boss walked over and gave Zhou Jingze a pat on the shoulder: "Got to thank you for what happened last time."

Everyone turned to look, realizing it was the owner. Tall, heavily built, sporting a crew cut and a tattooed back, the man looked like a classic street tough; yet here he was thanking Zhou Jingze, making the visual somewhat surreal.

After exchanging a few polite pleasantries with Zhou Jingze, the boss left. Smiling, Zhou Jingze turned his head back, only to find himself locking eyes with a row of gossiping spectators.

"His son got into some trouble last time, and I helped sort it out," Zhou Jingze briefly explained, too lazy to utter another word of elaboration.

Nodding, Sheng Nanzhou's mind snapped right back to his band: "Hey, we still don't have a name yet, do we? Since this is a band thrown together over a barbecue, I see all those TV shows calling things 'Youth Night' or 'Championship Night'—how about we call it Barbecue Night?"

Hu Xixi: ???

Dali: ??????????

Xu Sui: .

"Moron," Zhou Jingze cursed out loud without the slightest hesitation.

On Tuesday, Xu Sui sat in her classroom attending a Public English lecture. During the mid-session break, as she sat at her desk organizing her notes, a female classmate near the doorway made faces at her and called out: "Student Xu, Senior Shi Yuejie is looking for you."

The girl drew out her tone and raised her volume, causing the whispering chatter among the surrounding female students to vanish instantly. Everyone whipped their heads toward the door in unison, letting out waves of teasing jeers.

Who was Shi Yuejie? A legendary figure at the Medical University, the president of the student union, possessing a great family background and good looks, and a recipient of the school scholarship for three consecutive years due to ranking first in grades. The main point was that he was genuinely a good person. Among the students at Med U who had interacted with him, not a single one had anything negative to say.

With a calm expression, Xu Sui walked out. Shi Yuejie stood before her wearing a white hoodie, his brows and eyes clean as he spoke: "The official notice comes out this afternoon. The school will clear up the exam incident, and there will also be a disciplinary notice regarding Bai Yuyue."

"Thank you, Senior," Xu Sui said.

Shi Yuejie nodded, and remembering something, he smiled: "Congratulations on taking first place in the medical skills competition."

"Pure luck." When Xu Sui smiled, her two dimples became prominent.

"I won't disturb your class any longer. Go on back, and if you ever need help with anything, feel free to find your senior," Shi Yuejie said in a gentle tone.

"Thanks," Xu Sui nodded.

As Xu Sui stepped back inside, the chorus of teasing grew even louder. You couldn't really blame them—Shi Yuejie was exceptionally outstanding, and the fact that he took the initiative to come find Xu Sui made it hard for people not to let their imaginations run wild.

The people around her exchanged amused smirks. With a composed expression, Xu Sui returned to her seat. When a girl in the front row asked to borrow a mechanical pencil lead, Xu Sui riffled through her pencil box, found one, and handed it over.

The front-row girl asked her: "The senior came looking for you, aren't you excited at all?"

"Not really," Xu Sui shook her head.

Hu Xixi was also attending this class. As a veterinary medicine student sneaking in to sit through a lecture purely because of the striking good looks of their Public English professor, she had come to witness a divine face in person, never expecting to run into this scene.

Hearing those words, Hu Xixi lifted her head from her textbook, looking at Xu Sui as if she had just discovered something profound.

To most people, Xu Sui was sweet-tempered, docile, capable, and calm under pressure, yet edged with a cool aloofness. Aside from when she was around Zhou Jingze, Xu Sui rarely seemed prone to nervousness or shyness.

Tch, Zhou Jingze really was a disaster of a man.

Seated right next to Xu Sui, Liang Shuang gave her face her habitual pinch: "Our Suisui is so popular."

"Not really, he just came to tell me about the matter concerning Bai Yuyue," Xu Sui patted her hand gently.

"Gosh, just mentioning her makes me mad. Ever since Bai Yuyue and Zhou Jingze broke up, I've felt like she's been acting a bit unhinged," Liang Shuang frowned. "Good thing she took the initiative to switch dorm rooms herself."

Once the truth was cleared up, public opinion shifted almost entirely, yet Bai Yuyue appeared unaffected, accepting her punishment with apparent grace. By the following day, she had already applied for a dorm transfer.

What astonished Xu Sui the most wasn't even that, but the fact that Bai Yuyue had actually apologized to her, and with a surprisingly sincere tone at that.

Thinking of this, Xu Sui pulled out her phone to stare dazedly once more at Bai Yuyue's apology text. What on earth had caused the change? Just the other day, Shi Yuejie had mentioned that Bai Yuyue adamantly refused to apologize.

Bai Yuyue backing down like that was something he hadn't expected.

Returning to her dorm that evening, Xu Sui discovered she had been pulled into a group chat containing both Zhou Jingze and Hu Xixi, leading her to guess it was dedicated to the band competition.

Sheng Nanzhou dropped a message in the chat: [Everyone should be free this weekend, right? The location is our school's C Rehearsal Hall at five in the afternoon, should be fine, right?]

Not a single person in the chat uttered a word.

Sheng Nanzhou rattled off several red packets back-to-back, which were snapped up in seconds. Immediately following that, the group began chiming in: [Received, Captain Sheng.]

Dali: [Captain Sheng is too polite, Sunday is an absolute must.]

Hu Xixi: [Me too.]

Zhou Jingze kept it to a single character: [Thanks.]

Sheng Nanzhou sent back a middle-finger sticker. Looking at her phone screen, Xu Sui smiled and typed: [I have no problem either, I'll head right over after finishing my weekend tutoring.]

Sheng Nanzhou complained in the chat: [Folks, our band still doesn't have a name yet. Everyone is welcome to pitch ideas enthusiastically.]

When no one paid him any mind, Sheng Nanzhou dropped another 500-yuan red packet. The chat sprang back to life like a wound-up clock, everyone suddenly eager to contribute.

Dali-who-can't-sing: [How about Beauty and the Beast?]

I-am-the-captain-listen-to-me: [The only beast here is you.]

Princess-Xixi: [Negative. Calling it Instant Explosion sounds much better.]

[Or Thirty-Six Love Letters?]

I-am-the-captain-listen-to-me: [I thought of a few options for everyone to pick from: Green Train, Cat Poop Coffee, Barbecue Night—how do these sound?]

Amidst the overlapping chatter and debate, Xu Sui gave it some thought and offered her own opinion among the wave of suggestions, but it was quickly buried by newer messages.

Sighing softly, she was just about to put her phone away when she froze upon glancing back at the screen, her eyes widening slightly as she saw that Zhou Jingze—who had remained silent the entire time—had finally spoken:

[What Xu Sui suggested just now works. Let's settle on Carbonated Mood.]

Xu Sui's decision to join Zhou Jingze's band had been made in a rush; she had joined impulsively without even figuring out what kind of competition it actually was.

It wasn't until she walked down from the Politics and History Building that afternoon and looked at the bulletin board that she understood: this "Music of Fireflies" performance was jointly hosted by two universities to promote friendly exchange and camaraderie between them, allowing students from both campuses to freely collaborate on musical pieces to perform on stage.

The event was generating massive buzz across the campuses. As Xu Sui stood before the bulletin board clutching her books and reading through the competition rules, a figure loomed over her from above as a gentle voice sounded:

"Interested?"

Hearing the voice, Xu Sui turned her head, recognized the newcomer, and offered a polite greeting: "Senior."

"It's a bit interesting," Xu Sui replied.

The corners of Shi Yuejie's mouth lifted as he raised a hand to adjust his glasses: "They always say that advising people to study medicine brings down heavenly wrath, probably because they think we work too hard. The school probably wants us to unwind a bit."

"I'm planning to sign up, and I was wondering if my junior sister here has any interest in collaborating?" Shi Yuejie's tone was relaxed and level, though unbeknownst to her, the knuckles of his lowered hand were curled tightly and tense.

Since Xu Sui had already joined Sheng Nanzhou's team, she was just about to refuse when a female voice interjected: "Senior, you're a step too late then. Xu Sui here has already teamed up with someone from the neighboring aviation academy to form a band and enter the competition together."

"How do you know that?" Xu Sui frowned.

A female student standing nearby waved her phone in front of her with a slightly mocking tone: "The forums of both schools have been spreading it everywhere already. Figures, though—the other party is Zhou Jingze, after all. Even if you don't play an instrument, you'd have to bite the bullet and join."

"Senior, don't waste your effort. Her loyalties have clearly strayed outside already," someone else chimed in.

Unwilling to embroil herself in petty disputes, Xu Sui was just about to clear the air directly when Shi Yuejie spoke up: "Whatever Xu Sui chooses to participate in is her own freedom. After all, I've heard that even under such heavy academic pressure, she still manages to pull down an A-plus average. I doubt her loyalties have strayed anywhere at all. What do you guys think?"

Shi Yuejie's tone was like a spring breeze—unhurried, bearing his customary gentleness, yet carrying an underlying deterrent force that brooked no argument. The few female students hadn't expected to hit a brick wall and humiliate themselves in the process; flushing crimson with embarrassment, they beat a hasty retreat.

As the crowd dispersed, Shi Yuejie and Xu Sui walked side by side along the campus path. When one or two students came careening past on bicycles ringing their bells frantically halfway down the path, Shi Yuejie gently guided her to the inner side of the walkway.

"Don't take what they said just now to heart," Shi Yuejie offered by way of comfort.

Xu Sui shook her head. At that exact moment, a gust of wind blew past, sending a yellowed leaf fluttering down. Reaching out to catch it, a maturity unbefitting her age surfaced deep within her eyes:

"I won't. Everyone has the right to express their own views. Compared to this, I've endured much worse malice, but I've learned to protect myself well enough by now."

"That's good to hear," Shi Yuejie nodded.

Walking shoulder to shoulder with Xu Sui for a stretch, Shi Yuejie suddenly spoke up as they neared an intersection: "Xu Sui, you and Zhou Jingze are very close?"

He used a very safe phrasing, serving as both a probe and a confirmation. Xu Sui shook her head and answered: "I don't know."

To Zhou Jingze, she figured she was probably just regarded as a good friend of his niece.