He felt a simmering heat from the pads of his fingers that had just touched the girl's chin.
As soon as the girl finished speaking, Jiang Sui's obsidian eyes were fixed on the half of her neck exposed by her collar. The tips of her ears were tinged with crimson.
The heat, relieved by the air conditioning, instantly spread throughout Su Qing's body.
She hadn't lost her memory and knew exactly what she had said. She clasped her fingers together and gently placed them on her lap. Her eyes drifted down, resting on the pink wrapper of the soda on the coffee table. Naturally, she was aware of that gaze, but she didn't dare look back. She didn't know how to do it.
Afraid of failing to catch it, she would have felt like crawling into the ground, if she hadn't been gripping the fabric of her pants at her knees, giving her enough strength.
"Su Qing, do you know what you're saying?"
The boy's throat radiated a fierce heat, as if it had been burned, yet his voice carried a contradictory coldness.
Don't know what had changed her, the desire to be close to him. Was it the streetlight? Or something else? For a moment, Jiang Sui searched his mind for every possibility. Why would she say "try"?
That person, who was so impatient, who always wanted to hide, was now saying "try."
He suppressed the urge within him to embrace her.
The tension between reason and emotion was painful.
Now that he had the chance, he felt timid and hesitant, unsure what to do. He pinched his fingers, his blazing gaze never leaving her profile.
A rich, intense color enveloped Su Qing. She shifted imperceptibly, creating a slight distance between them. It took a tremendous effort of energy and courage, and the heat in the air seemed to fade considerably.
"Jiang Sui, I'm very picky. You have to keep your promises, or I might regret it at any moment."
Su Qing gripped the fabric around her knees to ease her nerves.
"I won't give you a chance to regret it."
The voice, quickly cut off, was impatient and overbearing, weighing heavily on her heart.
He seemed to be like this all the time, always trying to outdo her.
He didn't even hear the phrase "I'm picky," but instead focused entirely on the word about regretting it, even frowning at the thought.
He was deeply displeased.
Unexpectedly, the young man quickly interrupted her. Su Qing's gaze darted wildly, feeling a little thirsty. "Also, don't do anything to upset me."
Someone mustered her courage, but her soft words now took on a more arrogant tone, even her eyebrows raised. Her palm-sized face, once indifferent, now had a lively and vivid expression.
Jiang Sui never looked away, his expression calm and serious.
"I even paid for the gift you were giving to your rival. Qing Qing, what else are you dissatisfied with?"
"Or, is it because I did this that you're unhappy?"
He was clearly asking about her feelings, but why was his tone so heavy?
As she spoke, she saw the boy's eyes flickering over the obtrusive Quantum Mechanics book, his brow furrowed as if he were suppressing the urge to throw it in the trash.
He even briefly wondered if, that night, if he hadn't thrown away the test paper that man had given Qing Qing, this whole situation wouldn't have happened.
It was simply his own fault.
Perhaps worried that Jiang Sui would be upset, Su Qing patiently explained again, the word "rival" being particularly jarring.
"Before the English competition, that Zhang Yihan gave me a test paper, but I lost it. I had promised to buy him the latest practice test papers for the 53rd exam. He was recommended for admission to Peking University, and I remember he saying he seemed to be majoring in physics, so I chose this book. It was like returning the favor."
After she finished, she reviewed it, realizing there was nothing she had missed. This was the whole story.
Jiang Sui narrowed his eyes, a hint of danger in his eyes, as if he were poking into the girl's heart.
"So, Qing Qing, do you remember his major, or every word he said?"
A strong sense of dissatisfaction spread within Jiang Sui, especially at her serious expression just now.
"I didn't...!"
Su Qing was stunned. She'd been about to explain, but somehow things had changed.
"No, we were just deskmates."
Biting her lip, she was a little lost for words, a bit innocent.
She'd actually been planning to have the book packaged in the bookstore. If she had, Jiang Sui would be mad with jealousy...
Jealous?
Su Qing looked up, a flicker of surprise in her eyes, and asked tentatively.
"Jiang Sui, are you jealous?"
The boy drank his soda discontentedly, trying to dispel the frustration within him. His Adam's apple rolled, his jaw tensed, his expression grave.
Placing the bottle on the table, he leaned over to Su Qing, lightly tapping her forehead with his thumb.
"You just realized that?"
Each tap, neither too hard nor too light, coincidentally synchronizing with the throbbing of her heart. Su Qing fluttered her eyelashes, not shying away.
She hadn't expected the boy, with his slightly sour face, to admit it so bluntly.
"There's no need to be jealous. It's nothing. We're just deskmates. Unlike you and Xu Miaoran, you guys..."
Su Qing's face fell slightly as she thought of something. She pursed her lips, about to speak, then quickly closed her mouth and drank some soda.
A chill pierced her heart.
"You two were also involved in a scandal."
Back then, the school gossip was incredibly detailed. Su Qing pinched her fingertips. Although she knew there was nothing serious between them, she had clearly noticed that Jiang Sui was dressed like a young master that day in Jiangcheng, while Xu Miaoran was naturally dressed like a princess, both in formal attire.
That night, he seemed to have been drinking.
The fragments that had been lingering in Su Qing's mind suddenly became clear.
Su Qing's face grew serious.
"What's going on in your little head? Your brother Sui had go to school and teach them a lesson about those nonsense."
"But, little Qing, you look jealous. Brother Sui truly love, but I can't let you feel jealous."
Pinching Su Qing's cheek, Jiang Sui couldn't help but lean in and place a light kiss. His cold lips pressed against her blushing cheek, and for a moment, he couldn't let go.
Su Qing bit her lip, covered her face with her hands, and hide in the corner of the sofa.
She wasn't jealous...
For a long moment, she peered through her fingers at the smiling boy. He was so depraved, her heart trembling, unable to recover. The test paper she pulled out from the desk was blank...
Su Qing felt uneasy, feeling guilty, and licked her lower lip.
"Well, let's study first, okay?"
She remembered they still had three tests left: comprehensive science, English, and math... and she hadn't finished any of them yet.
Love can't be a meal.
Studying is king.