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Chapter 6

Waiting for Him

In the latter half of the day, Chu Zhixia couldn’t even take a proper bath. She ended up poking around Zhou Haoying’s Moments — this was the look a beauty should have. His profile picture was a simple doodle of a small animal, probably a wolf. His signature was an inscrutable, profound sentence in Italian. His Moments were only visible for a month, with few posts, all concise and clean captions, mostly high-end selfies.

Her own style would probably be like that if she weren’t preparing for the graduate exam.

Since she started studying, she had been studying more than ten hours a day under great pressure, not wanting to tell others she was preparing for exams. Sometimes, when emotions ran high, she wanted to post some nonsensical captions — though she had restrained herself from doing so. The previously exquisite selfies were gone; every day she tied her hair into a high ponytail and wore pajamas to study, no thoughts of being pretty or not.

She first locked her Moments for three days, deleted her auto signature, and hadn’t decided what to change her profile picture to, so she kept the original.

After doing all this, Chu Zhixia took a deep breath and cautiously clicked open Shen Qingshi’s Moments, her fingers trembling slightly.

Indeed, it was a work account, mostly dental science popularization knowledge or academic forums. His personal signature was a string of phone numbers; she noted them down carefully and saved them in her phone. After thinking about it, she saved it under the name Shen Qingshi — she still thought that name sounded nice.

Finally, she clicked his profile picture again and zoomed in to look.

Handsome. Really handsome.

Even such a formulaic, routine work photo showed how incredibly handsome he was.

His features—if one detail was a bit more, it would be too strong; a bit less, too faint.

Unrivaled beauty, refined and elegant, just perfect.

No wonder he was so hard to flirt with.

Thinking of this, Chu Zhixia curled her toes in the bubbles and forgave herself for making no progress.

It wasn’t that her ability had declined, or that she had become ugly or boring from studying, but perhaps he really was hard to get close to.

She could see that although he drove a very low-profile black Volvo and lived in a mid-to-high-end community like hers, from his manner of speech, clothing taste, and the aloof yet cultured way he treated people…

He probably came from a very privileged family.

Even more, he was definitely not just an ordinary wealthy person.

Chu Zhixia had mingled in art colleges for a long time, worked as a host for two years after graduation, and met people from all walks of life, so she had some ability to size people up.

But just how extraordinary and wealthy he was, she wasn’t quite sure.

Chu Zhixia’s own family had some money, but circles even higher or much higher than hers were really hard to tell apart — and she didn’t dare to try.

Thinking this way, it was no wonder she couldn’t get to him. Maybe he was used to being surrounded by many big beauties or genuine rich daughters.

The thought made her heart feel a little sour and bitter.

Was she already getting jealous? Fantasizing about rivals?

But it didn’t matter. Chu Zhixia flipped her thick long hair, got out of the bathtub, and wrapped herself in a towel.

She was widely recognized for her beauty — during the art exams, the three top academies stamped her portfolio for both excellent figure and beauty.

She believed in herself.

…

Believing in herself.

This phrase was not only for flirting with Shen Qingshi but also for her graduate school retest.

After all the fun, it was still time to study.

The day she borrowed the umbrella was a Saturday. She got home late, and after dinner a heavy rainstorm started and lasted all night. Chu Zhixia felt that Shen Qingshi was more likely to return the umbrella on Sunday since he had said “I’ll return it tomorrow.” So she spent all Sunday at home reading scripts and practicing monologues.

Script monologues were also the most important part of the professional test.

Chu Zhixia had analyzed with Zhou Haoying and other teachers. Singing was basically just listening; no one really tested sight singing or ear training. As for body movements, it was obvious—just looking at the figure and appearance. But the two monologues were absolutely the most important, the core of the exam. Out of a total 100 points, the monologues carried the highest and foundational scores.

Chu Zhixia got up very early, almost never staying up late to keep her skin in good condition. She made herself a pot of honey grapefruit tea — she wanted some sweet refreshment and skipped other food. She poured the brewed grapefruit tea into a tall-necked glass jar, added ice cubes; its bright yellow-orange color was fresh and appealing, placed it on the living room coffee table, and just looking at it lifted her spirits. Then she laid a mat on the carpet and sat right on it to study.

During breaks, she went to the bathroom to check her makeup in the mirror — based on last time’s experience, she applied very light and fresh makeup.

She waited for the buzzer — maybe Doctor Shen would come.

With this hope, Chu Zhixia studied happily, fully immersed in the emotions of the script.

Her major was like this: if life felt beautiful and her heart calm, even very classical and obscure plays and films could be read deeply and understood. Conversely, if she felt too utilitarian, she wouldn’t be able to focus or feel the text, and would just memorize terms and others’ opinions — which was exhausting.

Chu Zhixia actually hadn’t been a very good learner before. After the art exam, she had put a lot of effort into academic subjects too. But since her experience at the TV station, or perhaps this time preparing for exams, she had become much more thorough about studying. She no longer stuck to formality — like having to sit at a desk doing exercises, or studying for three hours straight without bathroom or water breaks. Those were superficial. The essence was grasping the knowledge points and underlying logic.

Chu Zhixia had just breezed through the classical period, about to look for representative playwrights and some key scripts, when the buzzer finally rang.

She put down her pen, took out a small mirror to check her appearance, and rushed to the door — only to find someone else on the screen.

Five minutes later, Chu Zhixia opened the door. After the elevator arrived, she quickly took slippers from the shoe cabinet for them and enthusiastically said, “Zhou Haoying? Auntie!! You came too?!” She hadn’t expected them to come. Thinking about it, it had been a while since she moved and hadn’t seen Aunt Zhou — she missed her a bit.

But Zhou Haoying’s face looked a little off. He lowered his head to change shoes, glanced at the open books and notes spread on the living room floor, and said, “Mom, I already told you she’s studying and busy, is it really necessary to disturb her?”

Aunt Zhou was good-tempered, but after her son said that, her face looked a bit embarrassed, holding the thermos lunch box awkwardly.

“Zhou Haoying, what nonsense are you saying? Don’t you want me to eat the food your mom made? How could that be disturbing?”

Chu Zhixia nudged him with her elbow and quickly took the lunch box.

But Aunt Zhou still seemed uneasy and adjusted her sleeves. “Miss, I’m not disturbing you—”

“Zhou Auntie!!”

It had been so many years, Aunt Zhou was an honest person but just couldn’t get used to saying it that way. Chu Zhixia knew Zhou Haoying hated hearing that — so she cut in immediately, “What delicious food did you make for me this time? You don’t know, since I moved out, I can only order takeout or skip meals. No time to cook.”

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Zhou Haoying indeed heard it and his expression darkened slightly. He quietly stepped to one side.

Aunt Zhou didn’t think much of it. After all these years, it was just like that. She smiled and said, “Then tell me what you want to eat. I’ll make it for you and bring it over. Madam—Sister Ling also misses you very much.”

Perhaps noticing her son’s obvious low mood, Aunt Zhou changed her words.

Sister Ling is Chu Zhixia’s mother.

To be honest, ever since Aunt Zhou came to their home when Chu Zhixia was nine, many things happened later, and Aunt Zhou and Zhou Haoying stayed at their house. Yin Xueling—that is, Chu Zhixia’s mother—truly regarded Aunt Zhou as a younger sister.

Just as Chu Zhixia treated Zhou Haoying as a brother.

Zhou Haoying transferred to the same elementary school as her, then junior high and high school… they studied and practiced arts together; their growth paths almost completely overlapped.

Later, Yin Xueling went off on her own to start a business and was very busy every day with endless business trips and meetings. It was Aunt Zhou who took care of the two children at home—cooking, laundry, attending parent-teacher meetings, arranging driver pickups—she had basically become half a mother to Chu Zhixia.

However, Aunt Zhou was very particular; she seemed to always want to use proper titles to remember their relationship.

Chu Zhixia raised her hand to touch Zhou Haoying’s somewhat discouraged blond hair, bent down to tidy up the mat on the floor, and invited them to sit on the sofa.

“No need, the house is far from here, and I’m currently on a diet, so I don’t really want to eat much.”

Chu Zhixia put the lunch box down and sat as well. Then she thought and asked, “How’s my mom? Is she still angry?”

Aunt Zhou glanced at her son and said, “You know your mom’s temper—tough on the outside but soft inside. She’s not angry anymore, just feels it’s a pity that you gave up hosting.”

Chu Zhixia nodded, understanding her mother’s thoughts. “I know, but just let me study for now. Even if I still want to host later, it’s not too late after the master’s.”

“You’re a good kid for having your own ideas. I’ll talk to her later.” Aunt Zhou smiled and looked at the time; it was noon. She hurriedly opened the lunch box on the table. “Eat quickly, don’t just drink beverages.”

It seemed all parents were like this.

Chu Zhixia suddenly felt very warm and knowing Aunt Zhou meant the honey grapefruit tea, she smiled and said she would pay attention next time. She poured a glass for each of them and gave Zhou Haoying some extra ice.

“Don’t be upset,” she softly coaxed as she handed it to him. She didn’t like seeing a beauty sad.

Zhou Haoying sipped the tea, his expression brightened a bit, and said, “Eat quickly, it’s all your favorite food. After eating, you can study.”

Only then did Chu Zhixia relax, washed her hands clean, and regardless of dieting, first took a big piece of sweet and sour ribs. “Smells so good!”

—

After the meal, Aunt Zhou tidied the lunch boxes and insisted on helping clean the room. Chu Zhixia said several times it wasn’t necessary, but Aunt Zhou ended up just changing the trash bag and took the other garbage downstairs.

Zhou Haoying seemed like he wanted to say something, glanced at his mother, but still said nothing and quickly followed downstairs.

Chu Zhixia walked them to the community gate and guessed that it must have been her mother who sent Aunt Zhou to check on her.

Since the sudden quarrel during the New Year, she had already moved out for almost a month.

Otherwise, since Zhou Haoying always said she was very busy with exams, Aunt Zhou would also be careful not to disturb her studies and wouldn’t come unannounced.

She wasn’t unaware of her mother’s expectations and arrangements, but…

Thinking this, Chu Zhixia felt a little unsettled. The spring afternoon sunshine was nice, and she wasn’t in a hurry to go back, so she decided to get some fresh air.

Suddenly, she felt tired—deeply exhausted and confused. She was too lazy to look for another spot, so she just sat at the edge of the lawn, hugging her knees.

Lowering her head, the spring sun shone warmly on the back of her neck.

It felt very comfortable.

Until—

It seemed a shadow gathered over her whole body.

Blocking the sunlight.

Shen Qingshi had only just gone downstairs and spotted her immediately.

The young girl was sitting at the far edge of the lawn, head buried deeply, pitiful like a little mushroom.

He lightly clenched the wooden umbrella handle and walked over.