Su Qing hung up the phone, wrote the address in a notebook, and tore off the page.
Perhaps because Su Qing had been away for the past few weeks, Su Rao had almost accepted her decision to study at a classmate's house, so she didn't ask any further questions when she left today.
Su Qing wore a white shirt, a blue headband, and white sneakers. The place was quite far; she estimated it would take about an hour.
Even after Su Qing boarded the bus, her heart was still pounding.
This wasn't her first time facing difficulty, but it was the quickest moment to resolve. Perhaps because it was the weekend, the afternoon bus wasn't crowded, and the swaying ride made it easy to fall asleep. But at that moment, Su Qing's mind was clear.
She had recorded the call, and now she needed to find out who this person was and why the person was threatening her.
Thinking of Jiang Sui's call, Su Qing felt curious about what he was up to the next day and why he couldn't review. However, she suppressed her inner doubts.
She spent a long while editing her text on her seat before secretly sending a text message.
[I don't know how to answer the questions. Your questions are so difficult.]
It took her a long time to come up with these words, inspired by a previous conversation with Liu Ranran, where she'd said that boys seemed to like girls who acted coquettishly and showed weakness.
Su Qing bit her lip and nervously sent a message.
A moment later, the reply wasn't a text message, but a call from the young man. Su Qing was momentarily stunned. She'd wanted to ask what Jiang Sui was doing, but she felt too embarrassed to ask, so she sent a text to see if he was truly busy.
But she hadn't expected Jiang Sui to call her back right after she sent the message.
Su Qing was a bit surprised, looking around. The town's buses were all rather old and noisy, and there was the occasional car horn outside the window. Su Qing didn't know whether to answer the phone, or how to answer it...
Instantly, the phone in her hand felt like a hot yam.
She didn't know what to do. She had just told Jiang Sui that she had homework to do, and now she was running into the bus.
After a while, Su Qing thought about it and finally sneaked to the back of the bus, where the noise was weaker. Fortunately, there were no other people on board. She covered the phone with her hand.
"Hello."
The banging sound outside the window startled her, and she hung up decisively.
Then she quickly texted the boy back.
[My Mom's Here]
The moment the message was sent, she felt a wave of fear. She wondered if the boy had heard the banging sound.
Jiang Sui, in the taxi, frowned the moment he answered the phone.
Looking at the message from the girl, his brow furrowed into a frown.
Her voice didn't sound like she was at home; it was clattering, like she was outside. And she hung up so quickly.
"What's up, Brother Sui? My brother wife-in-law isn't answering your calls?"
Hu Yifan, sitting next to him, leaned back on his seat, his head tilted, observing Jiang Sui's solemn expression. Just then, he'd boasted to him about having a girlfriend, even saying she'd texted him.
And now he's like this?
He was completely dejected.
"No, something's just not right."
Jiang Sui narrowed his eyes, staring at his phone screen without saying a word. The girl on the other end, fearing he wouldn't believe her, sent him another text.
[Mom told me to take a nap. I'm going to take one now. I'll talk to you when I get up.]
She was incredibly well-behaved; she was in the habit of taking naps. Jiang Sui checked the time in his phone, but it wasn't even that time.
He'd been observing the girl's reactions for the past few days, feeling she was hiding something from him. But those clear eyes always deceived him so easily.
Jiang Sui didn't want to force her, but he was simply focusing more on her.
Hu Yifan, who beside him, raised an eyebrow and looked at Jiang Sui.
"It's not right, isn't it? A girl has those days every month. It's perfectly normal to be a little off. You need to be more attentive and protective of her during these times."
Hu Yifan, who had never tasted pork but had seen pigs run, spoke freely.
Jiang Sui's brows paled considerably, his lips pursed into a slit. He stared at his phone and quickly sent a text to Su Qing.
[Are you feeling unwell? I see you haven't been eating much lately. So get some sleep and drink some brown sugar water when you wake up.]
Jiang Sui pondered the last sentence for a long time before finally typing it out, intending to find her once he was done with his business.
When Su Qing received Jiang Sui's text message in the bus, her eyes fell on the last few words.
Her fingers stiffened and her ears blushed. She wasn't in a mood to rebel...
But Su Qing also realized that perhaps her recent reactions had made the young man aware that something was amiss, so to allay his concerns, she simply accepted it.
She replied, "Okay, I'm going to sleep."
——
It wasn't until she reached her destination that Su Qing realized why this place felt so familiar. It was in a phone booth near the basketball court where Hu Yifan had been injured.
And at that moment, at the basketball court, stood the man she knew so well, Jiang Sui.
She had no time to dodge; the boy's gaze locked on her the moment she appeared.
With long legs and long strides, he approached Su Qing...
Su Qing was stunned. She desperately wanted to hide, but besides the open space, the phone booth was across the way. It seemed she couldn't even run.
She could only watch helplessly as the boy drew closer and closer until he grabbed her arm.
Su Qing was stunned, her head hanging in silence, unsure how to address Jiang Sui. Hu Yifan, standing nearby, naturally observed the scene.
Damn…
My brother wife-in-law, could she know something? He felt a tinge of worry, but he couldn't go over to her, so he could only stand aside and bask in the sun.
He took Su Qing's wrist and led her to the shade of a tree.
The young man's face was expressionless, his eyes etched with displeasure.
"Asleep?"
His voice was flat, emotionless.
Su Qing bit her lip. Caught in her lie, exposed. She scratched her fingers, her palms drenched in sweat.
"No..."
"I just..."
Su Qing was at a loss for words. She'd felt this place was familiar on the way there, but she'd never imagined it would be here.
She'd never imagined they'd meet here.
And what was he doing here?
Doubts filled her heart.