This late-night snack stretched on exceptionally long. Gu Xizhou did her best to ignore the Su Zhiyi in front of her, but with such a big, living person right there, ignoring her was impossible.
Downing the last mouthful of soup, Gu Xizhou started clearing the table: “I’m full. It’s late, you should get some sleep too.”
Even after saying something like that, Gu Xizhou didn’t make any follow-up move. Or rather, she had no intention of taking things further.
Having been away from her allergen for so long, by now she didn’t even want to do anything to Su Zhiyi. But she also didn’t want a future with her.
After all, most of the time, seeing Su Zhiyi’s face irresistibly reminded her of Su Nanfeng, of those unbearable, unmentionable past days.
Sometimes, she even had thoughts of destroying the other person. To take out everything Su Nanfeng had done to her on Su Zhiyi.
Her heart was so dark. The only reason she still clung to her principles was the last shred of moral conscience within her, not wanting to ruin the visibly bright future ahead of her.
Let it be this way. Graduate, find a decent job, start a new life, and completely say goodbye to everything from the past.
Su Zhiyi would meet someone new, have a suitable romance, get married, have children, and live a life completely different from Su Nanfeng’s.
As for herself…
She would wait for Su Nanfeng to be discharged from the military. Find an opportunity to stab her a dozen or so times, not enough to be life-threatening, but silently making her pay the price.
That idea of getting close to Su Zhiyi, climbing the social ladder through her, gaining control of the Su Group, and then ruining Su Nanfeng’s family… it was just a juvenile delusion from her angsty teenage years.
In the end, her meeting with Su Zhiyi was just a stupid scheme. Without Su Nanfeng, they would never have even known each other.
They were never from the same world to begin with. Just like other classmates said, their heights didn’t even match, let alone other aspects.
Gu Xizhou’s mind was a mess of thoughts. Finishing tidying the table, she got up and walked to the nearby trash can.
She tossed the soiled tissue into the bin, as if throwing away all her shameful past.
As she turned to go into the kitchen, Gu Xizhou heard Su Zhiyi’s voice: “Gu Xizhou…”
Gu Xizhou turned her head. She saw Su Zhiyi, wearing an emerald green lace-trimmed slip nightgown, her long hair loose, sitting upright on the sofa. Her doe-like eyes looked at her seriously and expectantly: “Let’s give it a try.”
Gu Xizhou’s mind instantly went blank.
Under the fluorescent light, the girl in the green dress had skin as white as milk, her entire being radiating a gentle, delicious aura.
She just looked at her so earnestly, like that Princess Belle from the fairytale who gazes upon the wounded beast—brave and resilient.
It took Gu Xizhou a long moment to find her voice. She spoke with difficulty: “What do you mean by ‘give it a try’?”
This was not what she expected. Were omegas like this?
Suppressing the heat on her face, Su Zhiyi looked at the bewildered Gu Xizhou and tried to frankly state her thoughts: “I mean, try dating… see how it goes?”
Huh?
Gu Xizhou completely lost grasp of the situation. Things seemed to be inexplicably moving back onto the path she had originally planned. Just as she was about to steer towards a different future, fate pushed her back onto the predetermined route.
It all seemed preordained by heaven.
Gu Xizhou’s mind was a tangled mess. She froze for a moment, racking her brain before coming up with: “Su Zhiyi, I’m not tall.”
What she really wanted to express wasn’t this insecurity at all, but it came out in such a comical way.
Su Zhiyi visibly paused. Then, a smile slowly bloomed on her face. Her brows and eyes curved: “That’s fine, I can just not wear high heels.”
“I can also bend down to kiss you.”
Gu Xizhou: …
Gu Xizhou didn’t reply. She picked up Su Zhiyi’s bowl and went to the kitchen to wash it.
Not getting the answer she wanted, Su Zhiyi felt a bit anxious. She got up and followed behind Gu Xizhou, watching her busy silhouette in the kitchen, feeling a pang of grievance in her heart.
She had been this forward, so why wasn’t the other party reacting at all? Could it be that she was the only one feeling this way?
Wouldn’t that be incredibly awkward?
Su Zhiyi agonized alone, leaning against the doorway watching Gu Xizhou’s back. Her gaze was full of silent reproach.
Enduring the scorching gaze on her back, Gu Xizhou managed to finish the dishes. She dried her hands and turned around, meeting Su Zhiyi’s eyes.
Eyes met. With her back to the spacious kitchen, looking into Su Zhiyi’s glistening eyes, Gu Xizhou answered uncertainly: “If you want to be in a relationship, I can date you.”
“But if someday you feel it’s not right, or you want to break up, you can leave anytime. I…”
Before Gu Xizhou could finish, Su Zhiyi strode over aggressively, her face red, and clamped a hand over her mouth.
Gu Xizhou’s words were instantly muffled. She looked up, blinking innocently at Su Zhiyi, seemingly not understanding why she did that.
Su Zhiyi felt like her heart was about to explode. The corners of her eyes were red.
Covering Gu Xizhou’s mouth, her voice took on a tearful tone: “Don’t say things like that. It felt absolutely terrible just now.”
She had grown up without encountering any truly troublesome matters. But ever since meeting Gu Xizhou, her moods felt like they were tumbling through a tropical rainforest, always damp and unsettled.
Why hadn’t she noticed before that Gu Xizhou was someone who worried so much about the future? She was so brave when it came to righteous action.
Gu Xizhou let out a silent, helpless laugh. She couldn’t help but raise her hands and wrap them around Su Zhiyi’s waist. Moving slightly closer, she embraced her.
Su Zhiyi’s body stiffened for a second, but then she quickly, proactively raised her hands, wrapping Gu Xizhou in her arms. Lowering her head slightly, she rested her chin on Gu Xizhou’s shoulder.
A sweet, clean cherry scent enveloped her. Clearly, she was the one holding Su Zhiyi, yet due to the height difference, when they were close, Gu Xizhou had the illusion of being snugly held by Su Zhiyi.
Sensing the weight leaning on her shoulder, Gu Xizhou felt her heart grow heavy and weighted.
Now she really didn’t know what she should do. Perhaps it was the pheromonal attraction between alpha and omega, or perhaps it was a more secret, higher-level desire—she couldn’t refuse Su Zhiyi.
Just like right now, when she should clearly push her away, yet she couldn’t stop herself from holding her in her arms.
Gu Xizhou took a deep breath, patting Su Zhiyi’s shoulder reassuringly: “Don’t overthink it. I’m just not good at handling this kind of thing.”
“I’m very shy.”
Her tone was very calm. Looking down at her, Su Zhiyi indeed spotted sharply that Gu Xizhou’s ears had completely reddened, like teardrop-shaped rubies, looking like they might bleed.
Su Zhiyi’s unease was instantly smoothed away. She even felt composed enough to raise a hand and gently rub Gu Xizhou’s earlobe, whispering: “Your ears are very red.”
“Completely ripe.”
Gu Xizhou stiffened all over. Unable to resist, she raised her hand and gave Su Zhiyi’s waist a smack.
Su Zhiyi’s eyes immediately widened. She loosened her hold slightly and looked down at Gu Xizhou in disbelief: “Why did you hit me?”
Gu Xizhou let go of her, clearing her throat lightly: “Alright, it’s time for you to sleep.”
“Girlfriend, after doing something so dangerous today, do you feel no guilt at all?”
“Now, right now, immediately, go to sleep.”
She said quite a long string of words. Su Zhiyi’s head felt fuzzy, only catching one key point: “girlfriend.”
Su Zhiyi was still young. Facing the person she liked, she was also thin-skinned. Her face flushed, she stammered out a single word: “Oh.”
From that day on, they officially, albeit awkwardly, began dating.
Given their previous interactions were already so ambiguous, their getting together didn’t surprise their classmates too much. Still, in private, people would tease: why, with Su Zhiyi’s exceptional qualities, did she end up with someone like Gu Xizhou?
It wasn’t that Gu Xizhou was bad. But compared to a rich young lady like Su Zhiyi, with her average background and completely no one to rely on, Gu Xizhou really seemed too much like a social-climbing phoenix.
Their relationship didn’t change much. Gu Xizhou was very good at wearing a mask, maintaining a neither-close-nor-distant distance with everyone, showing appropriate care. She seemed to get along with everyone, yet wasn’t truly close to anyone.
Even with Su Zhiyi, she couldn’t become truly intimate. The most she could do, within her capabilities, was be compliant with Su Zhiyi, crafting the image of an ideal, devoted girlfriend.
Sometimes Su Zhiyi felt Gu Xizhou was very cold, yet her care didn’t seem feigned. So Su Zhiyi had no choice but to fall into yet another kind of sweet torment.
This continued until just before their fifth year. Gu Xizhou had never made any transgressive moves towards Su Zhiyi. The most frequent physical contact was hugs initiated by Su Zhiyi.
At their most intimate, it was just brief, superficial kisses.
Even as a first-time lover, Su Zhiyi understood that someone like Gu Xizhou was rare. She possessed many contradictory traits: traditionally conservative, yet also inclusive and open.
It was likely that before marriage, there would be no improper actions.
In their fifth year, Gu Xizhou and Su Zhiyi interned together at a subsidiary hospital partnered with the Su Group. They rented an apartment near the hospital and started living together—officially cohabitating.
Over the years, Gu Xizhou had worked and studied simultaneously, saving a decent amount. Renting an apartment with Su Zhiyi was financially well within her means.
Before moving in together, Su Zhiyi consulted her roommate who had already cohabited with a partner about how to get along well. The results she got were far from ideal.
