Su Zhiyi nodded and said earnestly: “Mm, you have gotten a little taller.”
She reached out and gestured at her own jawline: “Before, you were around here on me, now…”
Su Zhiyi raised her hand, letting it rest near her earlobe, and smiled softly: “You’re about here.”
Gu Xizhou immediately beamed with joy: “You observe so carefully.”
“I grew three centimeters, and even my mom couldn’t tell.”
But Su Zhiyi could notice such a small detail; she really was amazing.
0820 was also gratified and added appropriately in her mind: “Doesn’t that just mean she actually cares about you a lot? Hurry up and ask her to go home together, she definitely won’t refuse you.”
Gu Xizhou didn’t speak, but Su Zhiyi smiled and said: “After differentiation, you’ll grow even taller. Then your mom will be able to see it.”
She stepped down from the lectern and said to Gu Xizhou: “The classroom cleaning is done. You should be able to head home now. Want to walk back with me?”
Gu Xizhou’s eyes grew even brighter: “Yes.”
Su Zhiyi headed towards her own desk, saying to Gu Xizhou as she walked: “I’ll grab my notebook first. Hurry up and pack your bag.”
“Okay.”
The two quickly gathered their things and left the classroom together.
Gu Xizhou followed slightly behind her, walking with her through the corridor, down the stairs, and out of the teaching building.
Along the way, Su Zhiyi kept finding topics to talk about with Gu Xizhou. She asked how she was feeling at school, if she had made any new friends.
She said Yan Qing was a good person, that Gu Xizhou could interact more with her.
Her words were very gentle, not like a classmate, but more like Gu Xizhou’s older sister.
At that moment, the setting sun cast its rays, the evening glow burning like fire, dyeing the edge of the sky red. The brilliant twilight coated Su Zhiyi in an exceptionally soft light.
Gu Xizhou looked up at Su Zhiyi, her eyes very bright: “Su Zhiyi…”
Su Zhiyi glanced back at her, a little puzzled: “Mm?”
Gu Xizhou’s gaze was intense, her expression utterly sincere: “Thank you. Thank you in every sense of the word.”
Although encountering Su Nanfeng was a very painful thing, meeting Su Zhiyi… even if the other was the sister of the person she hated most, even if it was out of a sense of compensation, for her to treat Gu Xizhou this way was already an amazing thing.
Without Su Zhiyi…
Su Zhiyi smiled softly, her eyebrows curving as she said: “Why do you keep saying thank you? I already said we’re friends. If you have any difficulties, I’ll help you out.”
“Not just me, any friend you make will help you. You’re a very good kid.”
Hearing this, 0820 whispered in Gu Xizhou’s ear, gloating: “Being treated like a child now.”
“You’re done for. If an Omega treats you like this, the probability of them seeing you as a romantic interest is very low.”
Ah, poor 1022. Encountering a mature angel with an underdeveloped body, it’s hard not to be seen as a child.
Perhaps it would take many years in the future before catching the other’s favorable eye. Or perhaps, they might never catch their eye, missing each other for a lifetime.
Was this one of the millions of possible lives she and Su Zhiyi could have?
Paths crossing, but never embracing.
Thinking of this…
A great sense of regret surged in 0820’s heart.
Her mood instantly plummeted. She quickly changed her words and said with a light scoff: “Quick, refute her. Say you’re not a child.”
But Gu Xizhou didn’t do that. She smiled and also said with emotion: “But actually, few people would do that.”
“The reason you do this is because you’re also a good kid.”
Su Zhiyi was stunned for a moment, then her smile widened: “That’s right, we’re both good kids.”
The two soon reached the subway entrance. This was where Su Zhiyi had to part ways with Gu Xizhou.
Gu Xizhou was a bit surprised: “Aren’t you taking this line home anymore?”
Su Zhiyi shook her head and explained to Gu Xizhou: “I moved. I’m temporarily staying near the school now.”
Gu Xizhou knew from the “future” memories that Su Nanfeng was currently living in a villa in a residential area near the school. It seemed Su Zhiyi had moved in to live with her.
Gu Xizhou bit her lip. After thinking for a moment, she said with a sense of acceptance to Su Zhiyi: “Then see you tomorrow, Su Zhiyi.”
“Mm, see you tomorrow.”
Gu Xizhou turned and entered the elevator down. Su Zhiyi stood in place, watching her figure disappear, before feeling at ease and turning to walk back in the direction she came from.
Her home’s direction was actually the opposite of the subway line Gu Xizhou needed. If it weren’t to see Gu Xizhou off, she wouldn’t have come this way.
After about a fifteen-minute walk, Su Zhiyi returned home. Before her footsteps even reached the villa’s entrance, Su Nanfeng came rushing out like a dog from the house, yapping: “Didn’t you say you were just going to get a notebook? Why were you so slow!”
Su Nanfeng looked Su Zhiyi up and down, sniffed her, and her expression immediately changed drastically: “Why do you smell like alpha pheromones!”
“Rosemary scent, it’s Gu Xizhou’s scent. And you still say you’re not dating her!”
Su Zhiyi’s head buzzed from her shouting. She walked to the entrance to change her shoes, patiently explaining: “On my way back to get my homework, I happened to run into her being on duty. So we walked back together.”
Su Nanfeng, like a dog, circled around her sister, chattering and muttering: “But she definitely hugged you, right! Don’t try to fool me. Everyone’s wearing suppressant patches. Even if adolescent pheromones are unstable, without physical contact, you wouldn’t have her scent on you!”
“You really do like her!”
“I’m telling Mom. You’re secretly dating someone behind the family’s back!”
Su Zhiyi didn’t want to explain to her anymore. She changed her shoes and turned to ask Su Nanfeng: “The tutor will be here soon. Are your lessons prepared?”
Su Nanfeng was instantly guilty, even her muttering stopped. But after a moment, she started grumbling again: “You just care about your alpha, you don’t care about me at all.”
“I bet you knew Gu Xizhou was on duty, so you found an excuse to ditch me, go back to the classroom to meet her, and then walk home with her.”
“Tell me, did she just walk you home?”
Ah, next time, I’ll just beat Gu Xizhou up.
Su Zhiyi glanced at her, her eyes devoid of emotion: “I walked her to the subway station. I was afraid your so-called friends would try to avenge you and block her on the way.”
Su Nanfeng’s expression instantly froze. After a moment, she looked at Su Zhiyi with great grievance: “That was them doing that, what does it have to do with me?”
“How does it not have to do with you?” Su Zhiyi smiled, carrying her backpack towards the living room. As she walked, she said: “If you keep nagging like this and hold such a big grudge against Gu Xizhou, don’t expect me to walk home with you anymore.”
“I’ll walk her home every day until she graduates high school.”
Su Nanfeng instantly protested: “Why? Why should you? Who is she to you that you have to walk her home like this!”
Outside, Su Zhiyi could be gentle to anyone, maintaining her good-kid image. But facing her sister, who was currently being disciplined with the stick, Su Zhiyi let her experience the harsh cold of a December winter.
She placed her backpack on the sofa and said coldly: “Because you have a criminal record, because you have too many thug friends, because you called her my alpha.”
Su Nanfeng was left speechless by the rebuke, her eyes welling up: “Zhiyi, you’re so mean to me… I was just saying it casually.”
Compared to Gu Xizhou, her sister, older by ten minutes, was practically an uncivilized barbarian and a brat.
Su Zhiyi was exhausted from child-rearing. She sat on the sofa and nodded at Su Nanfeng: “Open your backpack. Before the housekeeper brings dinner, I’ll check the notes you took in class.”
“If I find out you didn’t write them yourself, heh…”
Seeing her sister finally paying attention to her, Su Nanfeng immediately bootlicked and unzipped her backpack, incredibly eager: “I took them, I took them all. Check them if you don’t believe me, look.”
Su Zhiyi soon checked her notes. Not long after, the housekeeper who looked after them came to deliver dinner. After dinner, the private tutor arrived and started teaching Su Nanfeng.
Su Nanfeng’s studies were a complete mess. Her good brain, during her middle school years, was entirely used on figuring out how to bully classmates, not a bit of thought put into her studies.
Su Tianyu had arranged several private tutors for her. From Monday to Friday, lessons ran from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM. On weekends, lessons took up the whole day, with four hours carved out in between for cello practice.
The impact from the incident with Gu Xizhou was very obvious. Su Nanfeng’s cello teacher, to avoid potential scandal, had resigned. Some mainstream music competitions and associations had blacklisted her.
Unless Su Nanfeng was exceptionally gifted, or the Su family threw a huge sum of money into it, it would be difficult for any music academy to accept her as a student in the future.
Of course, Su Tianyu would never spend money on Su Nanfeng for this. This meant Su Nanfeng’s musical career path was already broken.
However, she herself didn’t care much. She was full of confidence, believing that taking an unconventional path to become a teacher at a music studio might be a good career, one that could infuriate Su Tianyu.
She was in her peak rebellious adolescent phase, believing she was the greatest under heaven.
But the moment the private tutor arrived, and Su Zhiyi sat beside her doing homework and keeping her company, she had to tuck her tail between her legs and behave.
Often, after a full day of tutoring, it was as if she had been strapped to a torture device. Her face would be terribly contorted, utterly pained.
Around 8:30 PM, Su Zhiyi finished the homework assigned by the teacher. Seeing Su Nanfeng suffering through her lesson, she thought for a moment, then took the beautifully wrapped gift box out of her backpack.
Amidst the pleasant scent of the wrapping perfume, she carefully unwrapped it layer by layer. Once fully opened, she discovered it contained materials for making a little clay figurine.
Su Zhiyi’s eyes lit up. She took out her phone, snapped a picture, and sent it to Gu Xizhou: “Saw the gift, thank you.”
Gu Xizhou’s message came in quickly: “Do you like it?”
Su Zhiyi replied: “Yes, how did you know I like this kind of thing?”
Gu Xizhou sounded a bit shy: “I saw your social media feed. It was all these clay figurines. I guessed you must like making handmade crafts.”
“Really glad I didn’t give you the wrong gift.”
