Chapter 99: Encounter
Su Yu picked out a few hats from the various styles on the shelf and tried them on in front of the mirror to see if they suited him. He finally chose a black and white baseball cap that he quite liked.
But just as he looked down at the price tag on the cap, he inadvertently glanced at the shelf in front of him. A staff member in a work uniform was restocking the goods. His gaze was fixed on her slender back, his stare so intense that if any other customer had seen him, they might have mistaken him for a shameless pervert. But the only one who noticed him at that moment was…
“Xiao Yu! What do you think of this hat? The starfish pattern is so cute.”
Gu Zhi, who was also browsing the clothes nearby, suddenly walked over with a cute hat. Without giving Su Yu a chance to refuse, she put it on his head. She stood in front of him, completely blocking his view. After putting on the hat, she even affectionately smoothed the hair peeking out from under the brim.
“It looks great. Let’s take a picture together.”
Gu Zhi wore a hat with a matching pattern. She didn’t even give Su Yu a chance to speak and forcibly put her arm around his shoulder, her hand resting in the crook of his neck. She smiled happily at the camera. If only Su Yu’s panicked expression could be replaced with the same smile, the picture of the two of them would look just like a couple in love.
To most onlookers, it was a scene of a gentle and generous older sister teasing her shy and reserved younger brother in a flirtatious romance.
Gu Zhi’s voice was not quiet, attracting the attention of several other customers. They looked at the playful duo and couldn’t help but smile in blessing.
“Hmm? Why does Xiao Yu have that expression? Not very photogenic.” Gu Zhi looked at the photo on her phone, seemingly dissatisfied with Su Yu’s panicked and nervous expression. But she still saved the photo, her cheek rubbing against the boy’s neck. “Hehe, but it’s still quite cute.”
But Su Yu couldn’t hear those happy words at all. He looked at the girl who had been attracted by the sound and had turned around. His quiet heart began to beat faster. He clearly had no relationship with the girl, and even if he and Gu Zhi were a couple in the eyes of others, it wouldn’t matter. But why… did he have the urge to run away?
The girl quietly looked at Su Yu, her dark, deep eyes without a ripple. She nodded slightly at him, her expression as indifferent as a stranger’s. This should have been a reasonable reaction… but for some reason, it made Su Yu a little disappointed.
But it was Gu Zhi who spoke first, not Su Yu. She still held onto Su Yu’s arm, which he hadn’t had time to pull away. She looked at Xia Qian Ge with a charming smile. Xia Qian Ge’s work uniform was slightly messy, with small specks of dust on her cuffs and shoulders, making her look a little pathetic, even though she was just as beautiful.
“You are? The girl from last time? The one from the student union, right? I think your name is… Xia Qian Ge?”
Gu Zhi smiled and greeted Xia Qian Ge. She looked at the heavy goods at Xia Qian Ge’s feet with concern. “Are you still working part-time? It must be very hard. No wonder you looked a little tired that day. If you have any difficulties, you can talk to me.”
“Oh, I forgot to introduce you. His name is Su Yu.” Gu Zhi gently pulled Su Yu over, the two of them a little close for a moment. “He’s my…”
“Sister, we know each other. We were high school classmates.”
Su Yu interrupted Gu Zhi and explained, his arm also subtly pulling away from Gu Zhi’s full chest.
“You know each other? Really, you’re so shy when you see a classmate.” Gu Zhi didn’t seem to mind Su Yu’s actions. Instead, she dotingly smoothed Su Yu’s messy collar, her movements soft and slow, as if she were deliberately showing off to others.
Gu Zhi’s gentle palm could clearly feel the rising temperature of Su Yu’s slightly flushed neck, and his racing pulse. She calmly smoothed his collar and turned to look at the silent Xia Qian Ge.
“I’m sorry you had to see that. Xiao Yu has always been very shy. He was like this when he was a child. He hasn’t grown up at all. He used to always cry in my arms.”
Gu Zhi’s long, narrow eyes were filled with a rich smile. It seemed that because she had rarely met her brother’s classmates, she was mercilessly revealing his past embarrassments, but her tone was full of sweetness.
“Is that so? No wonder Su Yu was a bit introverted in high school. It turns out he has such a doting older sister.”
Xia Qian Ge smiled, her dark eyes as calm as a bottomless deep pool. Even if you looked hard, you could only see an unfathomable gloom. “But sister looks very young. If I hadn’t met you at school, I really wouldn’t have been able to tell that you were old enough to be a teacher.”
“Haha, it’s so nice to be praised by a pretty girl like Qian Ge.” Gu Zhi heard the deliberate emphasis at the end of her words, but her eyes still curved into an alluring arc. “Then… let me ask you something. Xiao Yu said he didn’t have a girl he liked in high school. You can tell me, is that true?”
“Cough cough, we still have a lot of things to buy.” Su Yu coughed twice. He was really glad that this encounter hadn’t caused too many accidents and didn’t want any more complications. “We should go now.”
“It’s okay. It’s really a coincidence today, isn’t it? It’s not often that I meet your sister, Su Yu. It’s okay to chat a little. I’m about to get off work anyway.”
Xia Qian Ge didn’t seem to care about Gu Zhi’s question. Her dark pupils were pure black, without any impurities. Combined with the whites of her eyes, she looked a bit innocent and naive. “As for whether Su Yu has a girl he likes, I’m not sure. But there were many girls who liked Su Yu in high school.”
“Is that so? It’s a pity I wasn’t with Xiao Yu during high school. He’s too embarrassed to tell me about his past, which makes me very curious. After all, with such a well-behaved younger brother, it wouldn’t be good if he was snatched away for no reason.”
Gu Zhi, having gotten her answer, nodded slightly. She then suddenly asked, “A pretty girl like Qian Ge must have many boys who like her. Do you have a boy you like now?”
“Sister, you shouldn’t ask Qian Ge such a question.”
“Oh, oh, I’m sorry. Maybe it’s because the students who have been coming to the counseling room these past few days have been asking me some emotional questions, so I just blurted it out…”
Gu Zhi quickly smiled and apologized, saying that perhaps it was a habit she had developed from doing psychological counseling for college students.
“No.”
Just as Su Yu breathed a sigh of relief, Xia Qian Ge suddenly spoke. She smiled and gave Gu Zhi her answer, as if she didn’t care about the consequences. “I’m not considering these things right now.”
“Oh… is that so?” Gu Zhi looked at Xia Qian Ge deeply, as if she wanted to carve her gaze into the girl’s dark pupils. Then, she nodded in agreement. “That’s right. Although you’re in college, you should still focus on your studies.”
Gu Zhi seemed to want to say something more, but she looked down at her phone, as if she had received a message. She frowned, looking a little regretful.
“What’s wrong?” Su Yu asked in a low voice.
“There’s an emergency at home. I might have to go back. I’m sorry, Xiao Yu. I dragged you out for nothing.”
“Oh, it’s okay. What about Xiao Chan?”
“I’ll go pick up Xiao Chan by car later. Xia Qian Ge is about to get off work. You two can go back together later. Don’t bully Qian Ge.”
Before Su Yu could say anything more, Gu Zhi turned and left quickly, as if there was really something urgent.
Su Yu was stunned and didn’t react. He turned to look at Xia Qian Ge behind him and smiled apologetically. “Are you okay? My sister might be a little excited.”
“Yeah, it’s nothing. I’ve actually met her before. Your sister, Su Yu. You two…” Xia Qian Ge smiled and shook her head, her dark, inky pupils hidden by her hair, making it hard to see clearly. “You seem to have a good relationship.”
