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A Love Confession - Chapter 12

Chapter 12 - You Kept My Person Here

Over the weekend, Xu Sui arrived at the Sheng residence half an hour early to tutor Sheng Yanjia, as she knew they had band practice coming up and did not want to make everyone wait because of her personal schedule.

The moment she stepped into Sheng Yanjia's room, Xu Sui announced some grim news: "I have somewhere to be a bit later, so there won't be any gaming session after the lesson ends."

The little curly-haired boy immediately slumped across his desk, looking thoroughly dejected: "I haven't played games for a whole week. I was just waiting to soar through the gaming world with Teacher Xiaoxu."

"Today we'll have a one-hour math lesson, and although there are no games to play," Xu Sui paused intentionally to build some suspense before patting his shoulder, "we'll spend the remaining hour watching a movie."

Sheng Yanjia snapped back to life instantly, changing his tune: "Teacher Xiaoxu, I can't wait to swim through the world of mathematics."

After Xu Sui finished teaching a rigorous math lesson, Sheng Yanjia eagerly cleared off his desk, turned on the projector, and asked with great excitement: "Teacher, what are we watching? Avengers or The Lord of the Rings?"

"Neither, we're watching Friends," Xu Sui replied with a bright smile, shaking her head.

As everyone knew, Friends was one of the staple films used for studying English and practicing oral communication, causing Sheng Yanjia to want to bang his head against the wall and die on the spot.

When the one-hour film concluded, besides the two math practice test sheets Xu Sui assigned to him, there was also a viewing response essay for Friends to write.

"It's a trap, it's all a trap! Teacher Xiaoxu, you're too mean!" Sheng Yanjia accused.

Checking the time, Xu Sui smiled and said: "No time to chat with you anymore. This bad teacher has to leave early."

Gathering her things, Xu Sui hurried downstairs and jogged quickly out toward the living room, only to run right into Aunt Sheng, who was organizing a card game session out in the courtyard.

Aunt Sheng wore a water-blue, frog-buttoned, patterned slit cheongsam draped with a woolen shawl, looking glamorous and stunning. Just struggling to find a fourth player for her card table, Aunt Sheng's eyes lit up the moment she caught sight of Xu Sui: "Teacher Xiaoxu, come over and play a round of cards."

"I have something I need to take care of," Xu Sui said anxiously, instantly sensing that something bad was about to happen.

Taking two or three quick steps over, Aunt Sheng stamped her foot playfully and grabbed Xu Sui by the hand: "Ten minutes, just ten minutes. Old Li next door had to use the restroom, so you're just filling in for him."

"But I don't really know how to play," Xu Sui inwardly wailed.

"It's fine, we'll teach you." Without taking no for an answer, Aunt Sheng pulled her along and pushed her straight down into a seat at the card table.

It was a square wooden table accompanied by a fruit platter filled with preserved fruits and roasted melon seeds. The slanted afternoon sunlight poured across the setup, mingling the hearty laughter and light scolding of the neighborhood players over wins and losses.

With the German Shepherd snoozing at Aunt Sheng's feet, Xu Sui took advantage of a deal interval to send a WeChat message to Zhou Jingze: [Um... I might be a little late. You guys go ahead and start practicing.]

In less than a minute, her phone displayed a reply from ZJZ: [Where are you?]

Xu Sui looked down to type her response: [Still at Aunt Sheng's place. She roped me into playing cards, and on top of that, I... don't really know how.]

Aunt Sheng was in the middle of dealing cards, her observation skills sharper than anyone's as she chuckled: "Teacher Xiaoxu, stop playing on your phone. Even if you're texting your boyfriend, it'll have to wait—you need to focus once you're at my card table."

Torn between tears and laughter, Xu Sui had no choice but to set her phone aside. Xu Sui only understood the barest basics of card games, having picked up a few rules merely by watching her uncle's family play every Lunar New Year. Otherwise, she was a complete novice in card games with zero chance of winning.

Ten minutes into the game, Xu Sui realized the hand she held was utterly terrible, whereas Aunt Sheng had been beaming with triumphant glee from the start. Sneaking a glance at her phone, she waited.

Zhou Jingze replied with two characters: [Hold on.]

Hold on to what? Was he going to send for backup, or was he going to call Aunt Sheng so she could leave? Xu Sui wondered anxiously.

Relying on her clumsy card-playing skills, Xu Sui scraped through the end of a round, but since Old Li from next door still hadn't returned and everyone was riding a wave of high spirits, she was forced to grit her teeth and keep playing with her terrible hand.

During the second round, Xu Sui's cards weren't looking too hot either. Just as she hesitated over whether to throw caution to the wind and play randomly, a low voice sounded:

"Play that one."

Simultaneously, a pack of cigarettes and a silver lighter materialized beside the edge of the table.

Whipping her head around with a start, Xu Sui saw that Zhou Jingze had somehow appeared right in front of her out of nowhere, dressed in a black windbreaker and gray trousers, featuring his signature thin lips and high-bridged nose.

"Jingze, what brings you here?" Aunt Sheng asked.

"You kept my person here, so I came," Zhou Jingze smiled.

Aunt Sheng's eyes darted back and forth between the two of them before she burst into an amused laugh: "Fine, the usual rules. Best two out of three—you have to beat me twice before you're allowed to leave."

Anxious urgency colored Xu Sui's voice: "Aunt Sheng, we really do have somewhere to be, we have a rehearsal..."

"Relax, it'll be quick," Zhou Jingze interrupted.

Throughout the subsequent card game, Xu Sui found herself even more distracted than before, because Zhou Jingze was standing right behind her, leaning down every now and then to provide guidance.

His elbow rested against the right side of Xu Sui's chair, revealing faint bluish veins, and his dark fabric brushed lightly against her shoulder. Xu Sui felt her senses magnified infinitely; he must have just washed his hair, as his presence carried the crisp, refreshing scent of peppermint overlaid with a subtle, bitter note of basil.

Her cheeks grew hot as a pair of distinct-jointed hands reached out, thumb and index finger sliding a card out while he chuckled under his breath: "What are you zoning out for?"

His fingertips brushed lightly against Xu Sui's hand—so soft, like drifting snow—and the black mole on the web of his thumb flashed repeatedly before her eyes. Feeling entirely ill at ease and fighting a shortness of breath, Xu Sui pressed her fingernails hard into the center of her palm.

Secretly, she told herself to stay calm, to pretend she didn't care, and to make sure not to give away any clues.

Otherwise, her feelings for him would have nowhere left to hide.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Sui forced herself to maintain composure. Zhou Jingze was clever, the kind of cleverness laced with a mischievous streak: he would hand you a taste of sweetness first, then catch you completely off guard.

Under Zhou Jingze's tutelage, Xu Sui won two consecutive rounds. Pushing all the money she had lost right back across the table toward Xu Sui, Aunt Sheng pointed an accusing finger at him: "Get lost already. If you stay any longer, I'm going to go bankrupt."

With a wicked grin, Zhou Jingze fished a cigarette out of the pack, clamped it between his teeth, and lowered his head to meet Xu Sui's hesitant gaze: "This money..."

"Keep it, go buy some candy," Zhou Jingze mumbled around the cigarette with a smile, his voice slightly indistinct.

Walking side by side out of the Sheng courtyard with a cigarette pinched between his fingers, Zhou Jingze walked a fraction faster than her. Staring at his broad shoulder, Xu Sui mustered her courage and said: "Thanks for what happened with Bai Yuyue."

Turning his head with a raised eyebrow, Zhou Jingze asked: "How did you know it was me?"

"I guessed," Xu Sui replied.

"Alright," Zhou Jingze kicked a loose pebble along the path, laughing lazily, "then how are you going to thank me?"

Xu Sui originally wanted to say, "Anything you want, as long as it's within my power," but instead, Zhou Jingze shoved one hand into his pocket, tilted his head to look at her, and pinned her with stone-dark eyes carrying a profound, meaningful tone: "Or are you going to treat me to milk tea again?"

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