Chapter 75: Reunion
“Over here, Su Yu, I’m here!”
An Zhi held a cup of milk tea and called out from the intersection, her voice sweet and childish. She even stood on her tiptoes to make herself more visible.
Although the girl was small, she was quite noticeable. She had a pretty face, a soft and sweet personality, and was both adorably innocent and easy to talk to. She was the type of person who was impossible to dislike. It wasn’t that no boys in her class liked her. They probably wanted to make a move before she was taken, but who knew how that turned out.
“Hey, I’m treating you to the first cup of milk tea of autumn.”
An Zhi wore a large, light pink wool sweater that was loose on her, like a dress. It looked especially cute on her small frame. She tilted her head and handed him the milk tea she had been hiding in her wide sleeve. Her pink lipstick was bright and dazzling.
“But autumn is almost over.”
Su Yu took the milk tea and took a sip. Hmm… it wasn’t as good as Old Mo’s. He suddenly remembered that he had to find a good milk tea shop near Qingchuan University for He Mu Qing and test it out for her.
Their chat frequency had decreased a lot these days. They would mostly chat a little on the weekends. The girl, in order to get good grades… would hand over her phone to the homeroom teacher for safekeeping every Monday. Even though she had previously cursed the homeroom teacher for this stupid and unnecessary method.
“Then don’t drink it. Give it back.”
“Haha, just kidding.”
Su Yu dodged An Zhi’s small claws. The little girl puffed out her cheeks, her freshly curled bangs blowing up. An Zhi’s elementary school girl temper always made him want to tease her, probably because in elementary school… he had always been suppressed by his childhood friend, who was a year younger, and had never stood up for himself.
The little girl’s temper came and went quickly. She soon forgot about it and started chatting with Su Yu about the Youth Association’s welcome party.
“By the way, there’s something you’ll never guess. Do you know who our Youth Association’s advisor is now?” An Zhi said mysteriously, looking like a know-it-all.
“Gu Zhi…”
“That’s right, it’s our psychology teacher, Teacher Gu!”
“Huh… how did you?” An Zhi was not one to keep secrets. Before Su Yu could finish, she had blurted it out. Then she was stunned for a moment, realizing her mistake, and stared at Su Yu as if she had seen a ghost. “How did you know?”
“My sister told me. She’s the one who organized today’s welcome party.”
“What, no fun.”
An Zhi pouted, her small leather shoes tapping on the ground, her pure white lace socks dazzling, her skirt fluttering like a butterfly. She stared at Su Yu’s empty hands.
“Don’t you know it’s going to rain today?”
“We’ll see when it rains.”
Su Yu looked at the clear sky and didn’t think it looked like it was going to rain.
…
Nie Hong looked at the exquisite decorations in the private room, the sparkling lights. The fruits and snacks on the table alone probably cost as much as the entire budget for a welcome party.
The Youth Association’s annual freshman welcome party was traditionally held in the activity room, with board games and sunflower seeds. But this time, the new advisor was generous, treating all the freshmen to a dinner party.
Nie Hong thought this was inappropriate, but she couldn’t dampen the freshmen’s enthusiasm before they even started. So she turned a blind eye and pretended she didn’t know.
None of the seniors came, except for Nie Hong and Da Zhuang. The rest were all new members of the association. The group was excited and lively, but compared to the enthusiasm for the seniors, the gentle and beautiful young teacher was much more popular.
A few bold students brought their drinks to Gu Zhi and chatted with her. Gu Zhi covered her mouth, a bright smile in her eyes. She seemed to understand the topics of the young people and was chatting happily with them.
Nie Hong’s side was much quieter. She felt that something was not right. What was Gu Zhi’s purpose in joining the Youth Association? She didn’t seem to be someone who was short of money or snobbish. Even as a new teacher, there was no need to be so serious about such a trivial title.
Compared to these, Nie Hong was more inclined to believe the absurd reason that Gu Zhi was a rich young lady who was out to experience life.
The door to the private room was suddenly pushed open, and the lively atmosphere faltered. Everyone stopped talking and looked at the girl peeking her head out from behind the door, smiling awkwardly and greeting the people who were looking at her.
“Hi…”
No one responded. An Zhi was very embarrassed, her face flushed, and she wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
The door opened wider, and Su Yu pushed An Zhi into the private room, closing the door behind him. They were both late and had missed the self-introduction part. But most of the people present knew An Zhi. The little girl was always helping out in the Youth Association office. But Su Yu was a stranger to almost everyone.
“I’m Su Yu. Sorry I’m late.”
Su Yu lowered his eyes in apology. The little girl immediately reacted. “Oh, right, right. We’re late. Sorry.”
An Zhi pulled Su Yu to a seat. The two of them seemed to have a strange chemistry, like a cute and clumsy female lead and a cool and collected male lead in a romance drama.
The seats seemed to have been arranged just right, not too many, not too few. But most of the freshmen still sat together, habitually distancing themselves from the old members of the association. Da Zhuang sat next to Nie Hong, the seat next to him empty. And there was also an empty seat next to Gu Zhi, as if no one wanted to sit there.
The boy who had been chatting with Gu Zhi suddenly felt the smile on the teacher’s face fade a lot. He was a little confused, wondering if he had said something wrong. He noticed that Gu Zhi’s gaze had obviously shifted and landed on the pair who had just entered.
An Zhi was pulling Su Yu’s sleeve. Their gazes met. He saw Gu Zhi wink at him, a charming smile on her face.
“You can sit with the senior sister. I’ll go sit over there.”
“Oh, okay. You go ahead.”
An Zhi nodded, let go of Su Yu’s sleeve, and obediently sat next to Nie Hong.
“Have you been busy at school?”
Gu Zhi considerately pulled out a chair for Su Yu and watched him sit down. But her fox-like eyes were fixed on his right sleeve, her eyelids squinting slightly, hiding a clear impatience. After so long, she still hated it when others touched her things.
“I’m fine. I was just delayed on the way.”
Su Yu smiled and explained. He didn’t have much contact with Gu Zhi at school. They would only occasionally chat when Gu Zhi was done with class. He was worried that he had been neglecting Gu Zhi, after all, he was not the same child who used to cling to her.
“Haha, I see. Then have fun today.” Gu Zhi smiled and nodded, placing some candy in front of Su Yu. “When you used to come for a change of dressing, Xiao Yu would always pester me for candy. I even told you that you would get cavities, but you weren’t afraid.”
“Thank you. You still treat me like a child, sister. I’ve grown up. I don’t like candy anymore.”
Su Yu still took a piece, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth. The hard candy melted into a sweet syrup, a cloying sweetness that he had outgrown.
“Haha, it seems you really don’t like this taste anymore.” Gu Zhi looked at Su Yu’s slightly furrowed brow and said softly with a gentle smile.
“Then you’ve really grown up. From now on, I’ll treat you like an adult, okay?”
