Gu Siyi’s eyes swept across the screen, then met Xia Zhijun’s meaningful gaze. Her face flushed crimson.
Trying to maintain her composure, she quickly snatched back her phone and mumbled, “Thinking about what? … I don't know what you're talking about…”
Xia Zhijun moved closer, his arms encircling her waist, his head resting on her shoulder. With a faint smile playing on his lips, he whispered in her ear, “Really not thinking about anything?”
“…” Images that couldn't be described flashed through Gu Siyi’s mind…
On the surface, the academic god appeared to be a refined and steady gentleman. Those who didn't know him well might even consider him aloof and detached. But when it came to that, he truly… was incredibly insatiable, as if he could never get enough.
“Stop it…” Gu Siyi turned her face away, avoiding his scorching breath.
“Didn't you say you'd help me with my homework?… Come on… Let's look at the problems…” She pushed the book towards him.
Xia Zhijun composed himself. After all, they were in a classroom, not in a bedroom. He knew his limits, though he couldn't resist teasing her a little.
Xia Zhijun briefly skimmed through the material and then helped Gu Siyi organize her thoughts. He had a thorough understanding of her study habits and weaknesses, and after his analysis, she quickly grasped the concepts.
After evening self-study, Xia Zhijun walked Gu Siyi back to her dormitory building. “Send me your class schedule,” he said. “I'll try to join you for your electives from now on.”
“Will… will that take up too much of your time?” Gu Siyi asked hesitantly.
“It won’t,” Xia Zhijun replied calmly.
“Are you sure it won’t affect you?” She felt his major was complex and demanding, and she worried that even their usual dates might interfere with his studies.
Xia Zhijun placed his hand on her head. “Don’t worry about me. You’re the one who’s fallen behind in your coursework.”
“…” That was awkward.
“Go on up. Get some rest, and pay attention in class tomorrow.”
“Okay!” Gu Siyi nodded and turned to leave.
Back in her dorm room, Gu Siyi messaged Zheng Peipei: “Let’s not discuss these kinds of topics on WeChat anymore. It would be so embarrassing if he saw them…”
Zheng Peipei: “Oh~ I forgot you’re a happy little person who makes everyone jealous, always spending time with your boyfriend~”
Gu Siyi: “If you replaced your Dou, you could too.”
Zheng Peipei: “No way! Absolutely not!”
Gu Siyi: “Then enjoy your bittersweet pain. Not everyone has the opportunity to date a Dou~”
Zheng Peipei: “That’s true~ My happiness is one in a million~ Incomparable~”
Gu Siyi: “You're like Mrs. Superstar [grinning emoji]”
Their chat ended. Zheng Peipei lay in bed, put on her earphones, and played the song Su Han had specially recorded for her. It was her exclusive version. Every time she listened to it, she felt so sweet.
As usual, she scrolled through his Weibo, checking out the online buzz and discussions about him. Whenever necessary, she would don a sockpuppet account and join the fray.
To avoid being exposed as a superfan, she had long ago left the fan club she had single-handedly established, choosing to be a free and unfettered fan with a secret love in her heart.
Zheng Peipei looked at their vacation photo together and drifted off to sleep, filled with thoughts of him.
She never imagined that the next morning, a piece of news would explode.
A photo of Su Han holding hands with a mysterious girl at the airport was posted online.
The angle of the photo wasn't great; it didn't capture Zheng Peipei’s face. But it did show Su Han’s profile and a shot of their backs.
This single stone stirred up a thousand waves. Fans were ecstatic, and anti-fans went wild.
Seeing the situation escalate, Zheng Peipei immediately called Su Han.
Anxiously, she said, “You need to clarify this…”
Su Han was silent for a moment, then said, “That wouldn’t be fair to you.”
“Fair or not, can you disregard your career? This is your professional responsibility! So many people are passionate about your music. How heartbroken would they be if you ruined everything because of a relationship?”
“…”
“And me too! I love the dazzling you on stage! I love listening to you sing, watching you dance! That's your charm!”
Having been part of fandom culture, Zheng Peipei knew that for an eighteen-year-old music prince, the most talented, purest, handsomest, and most adorable boy in the hearts of his fans… revealing a relationship at this time would be a fatal blow to his career.
“I’ll always be by your side. I don’t care about fame. Please, post a clarification on Weibo. Don’t let this continue to ferment!”
Su Han slowly said, “Okay, I understand.”
After hanging up, Su Han finally opened Weibo and posted the statement his manager had prepared for him.
As soon as he posted it, his manager rushed in, practically grabbing Su Han’s shoulders with tears in his eyes. “My dear boy, you finally came to your senses! Thank goodness!”
He had contacted Su Han the moment the photo was leaked, urging him to clarify the situation. But Su Han had refused, with a stubborn and inexplicable insistence. As public opinion continued to ferment, even the CEO was alerted, and the manager had been severely reprimanded and given a strict order to handle the matter.
The manager said, “I’ve already arranged for other major gossip to be released. Now that you’ve clarified, this rumored girlfriend incident will blow over quickly.”
Rumored girlfriend… was that all she was?
Standing by the floor-to-ceiling window on the 60th floor of the company building, Su Han looked out at the world and suddenly felt small and ridiculous.
His future seemed bright, but he was a puppet trapped in a cage.
Why, on this star-studded path, couldn't he even be himself?
Gu Siyi was usually so busy with school that she paid little attention to entertainment gossip. Zheng Peipei was quietly nursing her wounds and, unusually, hadn’t sought her out to vent.
This Thursday afternoon, Xia Zhijun had arranged to meet Gu Siyi and accompany her to her elective class.
When they entered the classroom together, they instantly drew the attention of all the students.
“Is that Gu Siyi’s legendary campus heartthrob boyfriend?”
“Oh my… Seeing him for the first time, he's so handsome!”
“They look so good together, absolutely dazzling.”
“Ahhh, I'm shipping this couple!”
Gu Siyi chose a seat in the very back and sat down with Xia Zhijun.
The people in front kept turning around to look. Unfazed, Xia Zhijun draped his arm over Gu Siyi’s shoulder and explained a difficult problem to her.
Their intimate posture made their relationship clear to everyone.
During the class, Xia Zhijun felt sleepy and rested his head on the desk.
The teacher, while lecturing, walked over and tapped his desk. “Student.”
Xia Zhijun sat up.
Looking at his handsome face, the teacher said with a teasing tone, “Sleeping in class can make you catch a cold. You can go back to your dorm to sleep.”
Xia Zhijun replied calmly, “But my friend isn’t in the dorm.”
Gu Siyi: “…?!?!?!”
His words caused everyone to turn and look at them.
The teacher paused, glancing at Gu Siyi, then back at Xia Zhijun. “So you’re here to accompany your friend to class?”
Xia Zhijun nodded.
Gu Siyi was extremely embarrassed, not knowing what expression to make.
The teacher smiled and said, “With such a beautiful friend, it’s understandable you’d want to accompany her.”
Xia Zhijun: “Thank you for understanding, Teacher.”
Gu Siyi: “…!!”
The teacher returned to lecturing. Gu Siyi leaned close to Xia Zhijun’s ear and whispered, “If you were sleepy, you shouldn’t have come with me.” It was both awkward and embarrassing…
Xia Zhijun: “I wanted to come.”
How else could he assert his claim?
How else could he deter those guys who were trying to hit on her?
So even though he’d been busy until late last night and had been working non-stop before this, he still came to class with her when the time came.
Ever since their first intimate encounter, Xia Zhijun had been taking Gu Siyi to a hotel every weekend.
To provide different experiences, while ensuring quality, he chose a different hotel each time, sometimes even taking short trips to nearby cities. Gu Siyi gradually accepted this routine: five days of abstinence, two days of indulgence.
This weekend, Xia Zhijun had booked a hotel in advance, but Gu Siyi said, “My parents are coming here on business this weekend and will be visiting me. I won’t have time to be with you…”
Xia Zhijun’s anticipation plummeted. After a moment, he said, “Alright, spend time with your parents. I’ll just catch up on some work.”
“Okay,” Gu Siyi nodded.
Gu Zhiyuan and Xu Jiahui, her parents, arrived and specifically invited Xia Zhijun to dinner with them.
That night, the couple stayed at a hotel and booked a separate room for their daughter.
After chatting with her mother, Gu Siyi returned to her room to rest.
Lying alone in the hotel bed, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep. She was terribly bored.
She wondered if she had developed a habit. It was Saturday night, and without him beside her, she felt empty, lonely, and restless…
She suddenly remembered Zheng Peipei’s question about whether she was thinking about it…
Now she was. Very much so.
Tossing and turning, she couldn’t resist picking up her phone and messaging Xia Zhijun: “Do you want to come keep me company?”
Xia Zhijun replied instantly: “Aren’t you with your parents?”
Gu Siyi: “We’re not in the same room…”
Xia Zhijun: “So you’re inviting me over?”
“…So you don’t want to?”
“Wait for me.”
Not want to? How could he not want to?
The weekend was his greatest anticipation each week.
Now, forced to forgo it, he had changed into his workout clothes, planning to run a few kilometers on the track to relieve his frustration.
Unexpectedly receiving Gu Siyi’s invitation, Xia Zhijun, who had just reached the ground floor of his apartment building, decisively went back upstairs and changed his clothes.
His roommates were amazed to see his expression transform from the indifferent, world-owes-me-millions scowl of a moment ago to one of radiant joy.
Xia Zhijun rushed to Gu Siyi’s hotel.
On the way, he saw Gu Siyi’s favorite tea shop and bought her a drink.
Seeing a dessert she liked, he couldn't resist buying that too.
He loved seeing the blissful expression on her face when she ate these things…
Of course, he loved even more seeing her expression when he was… with her.
Arriving at the hotel, Xia Zhijun was about to go upstairs when he saw Gu Zhiyuan in the lobby lounge area.
Gu Zhiyuan was sitting on a sofa, a laptop on the coffee table in front of him, reviewing something.
Lost in thought, he looked up and his eyes met Xia Zhijun’s.
…This was awkward.
“…” Xia Zhijun quickly regained his composure and walked over to greet Gu Zhiyuan.
Gu Zhiyuan asked, “Are you here to see Siyi?”
There was a hint of displeasure in his tone.
A young man coming to a hotel to see his daughter late at night naturally made a father feel a bit uncomfortable.
Even if he was her boyfriend, he shouldn't be moving in on his precious little cabbage so quickly.
Xia Zhijun nodded, calmly replying, “Siyi said she wanted something from this place, so I bought it for her and brought it over.”
Gu Zhiyuan looked at what he was carrying and indeed saw food…
That seemed reasonable…
Gu Zhiyuan quickly said, “That silly girl, making you deliver food so late at night, treating her boyfriend like a delivery guy!”
Xia Zhijun said, “I’m free on weekends.”
Gu Zhiyuan said, “You’ll spoil her like this.”
Xia Zhijun smiled. “It’s alright. I’ll spoil her. I like to.”
Gu Zhiyuan: …
These young people nowadays, they certainly had a way with words.