Living Only For Myself: Make Those Who Hate Me Regret It-Chapter 55 - 54: "What were you thinking about this morning? That look like the sky was falling?
The next second, it hit her. ’Why do I feel like I’m the one cheating?’
’Am I still being influenced by my past life?’
She and Zhou Mochen were husband and wife in her last life, sure, but in this life, they were nothing. So why did seeing Xi Zirong make her feel like she was doing something wrong?
Xu Su averted her gaze and said into the phone, "Is there anything else?"
The person on the other end was silent for a moment before saying, "You should get some rest, then. If you’re not feeling well, we can just skip the exam..."
Hearing him spouting nonsense, Xu Su hung up directly. Only then did she raise her head to look at Xi Zirong, who was standing in front of her.
"What are you doing here?"
If she remembered correctly, Xi Zirong’s testing room was in Class 21. Their rooms were two floors apart.
Xi Zirong watched her hang up. His eyes swept over the phone in her hand, his thoughts unreadable.
The room was full of students from their grade, and almost everyone recognized the school’s public ’couple’. Many gazes drifted their way.
By now, Xu Su had grown somewhat accustomed to the gazes of the curious onlookers. She picked up her thermos, poured herself a cup of water, blew on it, and took a small sip. Seeing that he was still just standing there silently, she asked, puzzled, "Xi Zirong, do you need something?"
But she saw Xi Zirong staring intently at the thermos in her hand. Puzzled, Xu Su followed his gaze and looked down...
’It’s just a normal thermos...’
Xu Su waved her hand in front of his face. "Hey, what’s wrong with you?"
Xi Zirong snapped out of it. He grabbed a nearby stool and sat down across from her. He placed his hands on the table, his long fingers tapping unconsciously against the surface. His eyes never left her, and he seemed very nervous.
After a long moment, he finally managed to speak. "Last time... your brother... I mean..."
Xu Su listened patiently, but he took forever to start talking, and even then, he couldn’t form a coherent sentence. He was nothing like his usual composed self.
Just as Xu Su’s patience was wearing thin, Xi Zirong finally pointed at the black thermos in her hand. His eyes darkened as he said, "My family has one of these thermoses too, but it’s red."
’So?’
Xu Su arched an eyebrow, confused.
Xi Zirong added, "I happened to overhear my mom say it cost two thousand yuan when she bought it."
His voice was strained, and his eyes, locked on hers, held a hint of helplessness.
’!’
It all clicked for Xu Su. ’No wonder he suddenly asked about Zhou Mochen that night...’ 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
’So this thermos is that expensive?’
That made sense. Few things that came from Zhou Mochen were ever cheap.
Xi Zirong must have been wondering these past few days why her ’brother’ could afford to pick her up in a car when her family was so poor.
Private cars weren’t nearly as common back then as they would be in the future.
But how could she explain Zhou Mochen’s identity? For a moment, Xu Su didn’t know what to say.
Her silence seemed to shatter the light in Xi Zirong’s eyes.
Who knows what conclusions he’d jumped to, but when he spoke again, his voice was trembling. "Xu Su, I have money. I can get a lot of money, enough for your tuition, enough to keep you in school forever..."
Xu Su’s head snapped toward him. Xi Zirong looked like he was about to burst into tears. Before she could get angry, she quickly scanned their surroundings. Seeing that everyone else was a good distance away and that his voice had been soft enough that no one could have overheard, she let out a small sigh of relief.
Then she turned and glared at him, leaning in closer. "I don’t care what’s going on in that head of yours, but I’m telling you, it’s not what you think. Now, immediately, get a grip, go back to your classroom, and focus on your exam."
Xu Su checked the time on her phone. The next exam was in ten minutes. Seeing him still sitting there, motionless, she stood up and, under the watchful eyes of everyone in the room, pulled him out of the classroom.
All along the way, she could hear the soft gasps of their classmates.
She didn’t let go until they were outside the classroom. Looking up at him, she saw his eyes were still misty and filled with pain.
"..." Xu Su was speechless. She said, "Xi Zirong, whatever it is, we can talk about it after the exams. If you let this affect you, and you don’t get first place on these finals, I will never speak to you again."
She didn’t want to be the reason the school’s resident "God of Exams" fell from his pedestal.
In Xu Su’s eyes, nothing was more important than this exam. Judging him by her own standards, she naturally assumed Xi Zirong felt the same way.
The threat seemed to work. Xi Zirong collected himself and gave her a long, deep look. "Fine. I’ll finish early and wait for you on the athletic field. Xu Su, come find me on the field after your test."
Xu Su didn’t say anything. She just waved a hand dismissively and went straight back to the classroom.
Just those few steps made her stomach cramp painfully, and she didn’t have the energy to say anything else.
The second exam of the morning was chemistry. It started at 10:30 and ended at 12:00, lasting ninety minutes.
Several of the major questions on the test were of a similar type to ones Xi Zirong had given her to practice. For Xu Su, this exam felt much easier than the midterms. Despite not feeling well, she still completed the test without a hitch.
After checking her answers twice from beginning to end and estimating the time, Xu Su also turned in her paper early.
After all, if she waited until the official end time, the athletic field would be swarming with students. It was better to go out now and clear things up with Xi Zirong.
The weather was nice today. After so many days of endless rain, the sun had finally made a rare appearance. This was the warmest part of the day.
Xu Su tightened her scarf and, carrying the thermos, headed to the athletic field. From a distance, she spotted the boy sitting on the steps. He was wearing a light-brown down jacket and had neat, short hair. The moment he saw her, he shot to his feet and started walking straight toward her.
Seeing him coming, and feeling too lazy to walk any farther, Xu Su just stood where she was and waited for him.
The boy quickly reached her and looked down, his brow suddenly furrowing. "You’re a little pale. Are you not feeling well?"
Xu Su couldn’t be bothered to answer that. She pursed her lips and asked directly, "What on earth were you thinking about this morning? What was with that ’sky is falling’ expression?"
Xi Zirong faltered and glanced at the lawn. "Should we sit down to talk?"
Xu Su gave the cold, hard ground a disdainful look and shook her head.
In her current condition, she couldn’t handle sitting on that.
After waiting for what felt like an eternity, Xi Zirong still hadn’t said a word.
Even though the sun was out, the occasional gust of cold wind was no joke.
She’d always been sensitive to the cold, especially during her time of the month.
"If you’re too embarrassed to ask, I’ll just say it." Xu Su had finally lost her patience. "The person you saw last time wasn’t my biological brother... he’s my neighbor. This thermos is his."
This was the story she had prepared. It wasn’t exactly a lie, either, since Zhou Mochen was set to become the Xu Family’s neighbor next year.
Her relationship with Zhou Mochen couldn’t be explained in a few sentences. It was better to give a simple explanation than to try and fail to convey the whole truth.
Xu Su pulled the phone out of her pocket. "This is his, too. You know my bike is broken, so he’s been giving me rides these past few days. Something came up today, so he left his phone with me."
