Chapter 118: Chapter 118: The Young Master Won’t Let You Go to School to Look for Miss Lu Chapter 118: Chapter 118: The Young Master Won’t Let You Go to School to Look for Miss Lu Xu Jingmin had just finished speaking when Aunt Yao heard the sound of footsteps “clomping” down the stairs.
Aunt Yao quickly poked Xu Jingmin to remind her.
Xu Jingmin hurriedly quieted down, and soon after, Zhou Shuyan came downstairs.
He had changed into a new outfit, which looked like he had just bought it.
“Mom, Aunt Yao, do I look younger in this?”
“Oh my, young!” Xu Jingmin thought of something and said, “You look like a college student.”
Zhou Shuyan had thought the same when he looked in the mirror, so he nodded and quickly went back upstairs.
Xu Jingmin whispered to Aunt Yao, “Why do I feel like he might be in love?”
“It looks like it, and he’s really trying to make himself look younger,” Aunt Yao analyzed. “Maybe his interest is much younger than him?”
“Did you notice? When I mentioned he looked like a college student, he was clearly happier,” Xu Jingmin said proudly, her eyebrows almost flying off her face. “Do you think his love interest might be a college student?”
“Madam, if you bring up a college student, I can’t help but think of the Miss Lu Youxi that the young master mentioned before,” Aunt Yao said.
Mentioned by Aunt Yao, Xu Jingmin’s eyes lit up, and Aunt Yao quickly reminded her, “The young master doesn’t want you to go to the school to find Miss Lu.”
“I won’t go,” Xu Jingmin said immediately. “But I can still keep an eye on things quietly.”
No sooner had she spoken these words than Zhou Shuyan came downstairs again, having changed his clothes.
Xu Jingmin and Aunt Yao quickly stopped their gossip.
*
On Friday night, Zhou Shuyan texted Lu Youxi to ask her to go house-hunting with him on Saturday.
Lu Youxi calculated the time, and she should have sold her stocks before the National Day holiday.
By then she would have enough money to rent a place.
It was best to find a place now and reserve it, so when her parents came to visit with Youxue, they wouldn’t need to stay in a hotel.
She could also bring some luggage to settle in beforehand.
On Saturday morning, just after ten, Lu Youxi received a call from Zhou Shuyan. “I’m waiting for you at the school gate.”
Lu Youxi paused, “You’re already there?”
Zhou Shuyan said with a hint of laughter, “Hmm.”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Lu Youxi hurriedly packed her things, ready to leave. “It takes a while from my dorm to the school gate, you’ll have to wait.”
“No problem,” Zhou Shuyan said, standing upright at the school gate in his newly bought clothes, looking like a peacock in full display.
Lu Youxi thought that since returning from Hexing Village, Zhou Shuyan seemed like a changed man.
He hadn’t been this gentlemanly back in Hexing Village.
When they were in Hexing Village, Zhou Shuyan hadn’t missed any opportunity to tease her.
Lu Youxi quickly packed her things and left.
She ran all the way to the school gate, a bit tired and panting.
Just as she arrived at the school gate, she noticed Zhou Shuyan’s attire was different than before.
While in Hexing Village, Zhou Shuyan wore baggy, shapeless, worn-out tank tops and faded pants, his entire appeal resting on his looks.
After arriving in the Imperial Capital, besides the first day when she saw him upon their return, they had only contacted each other by phone.
This was the first time Lu Youxi had seen Zhou Shuyan dressed as a city dweller.
She hadn’t expected that a neatly fitting T-shirt and jeans would suit Zhou Shuyan quite well.
Lu Youxi ran up to Zhou Shuyan.
The day was still very hot, with the sun blazing down at just past ten.
The sunlight in the Imperial Capital felt scorching and particularly dry.
Running this distance, Lu Youxi’s forehead was sweaty, and her face had turned red from the sun.
Her skin was fair, and it reddened easily upon exposure, now her redness was especially conspicuous.
It was the same during military training, she’d turned notably red every day.
Yet bizarrely, after the redness faded, her skin didn’t darken.
This made Lu Xiaohui and the others incredibly envious.
“Why did you run?” Zhou Shuyan, seeing the sweat on Lu Youxi’s forehead, pulled out a tissue.
Lu Youxi hadn’t expected him to directly wipe the sweat off her face without letting her do it herself.
The four-ply tissue was thick, but it still couldn’t block the warmth of Zhou Shuyan’s fingertips.
Even without a tissue barrier, and though there was still some space between his palm and her cheek, Lu Youxi could feel the warmth.
Now, her face felt even hotter.
Fortunately, it was already very hot, and since she had run all the way, her face was already hot and red.
Even if it turned hotter and redder, at least it didn’t look noticeably different.
Lu Youxi felt as if she were nailed to the ground, not moving at all, so tense she felt like wood.
Just then, Zhou Shuyan’s fingertips accidentally, or perhaps intentionally, grazed the edge of her earlobe.
With no tissue barrier.
It happened so fast, barely a second’s time, just a feather-light touch along her earlobe.
Yet it felt like a shock of electricity much finer than strands of hair, like a small snake moving erratically, starting at Lu Youxi’s earlobe and spreading simultaneously to her ear’s root, cheek, and neck.
This jolt of electricity brought Lu Youxi sharply back to her senses, and she instinctively stepped back half a step.
“What’s wrong?” Zhou Shuyan, surprised, looked at his hand and awkwardly said, “Sorry, was I too forward in wiping your sweat?”
Lu Youxi shook her head, “No, it’s just that it’s already been wiped.”
Zhou Shuyan nodded, “I spoke to the agent as you requested. I arranged to meet the agent at the first community. Let’s head directly there; the agent is waiting.”
“Okay,” Lu Youxi nodded.
Zhou Shuyan was about to hail a cab.
Lu Youxi quickly stopped him, “What are you doing?”
“Taking a cab,” Zhou Shuyan said puzzled. How else would they get there?
He couldn’t drive his own car.
He had even learned to hail a cab from Yu Zeqin.
Though Yu Zeqin might not have taken a cab in many years, at least he knew how to do it.
“Why take a cab? Taxis are expensive,” Lu Youxi said. “Which community is it? Let’s take the subway there.”
“I don’t know how to get there,” Zhou Shuyan said.
“No problem, just ask the staff at the subway station,” Lu Youxi said without hesitation and dragged Zhou Shuyan with her to the subway station.
After getting directions, they needed to ride the subway for a while and then transfer to a bus.
Zhou Shuyan didn’t understand at all and followed Lu Youxi the entire way.
As Lu Youxi went to buy the tickets, Zhou Shuyan stopped her, “Let me buy them.”
Lu Youxi was about to object, but Zhou Shuyan said helplessly, “I have a job, and I work at a company with a decent monthly income. It doesn’t make sense for you, a student, to spend money. You don’t want to take a cab, I get that, but at least let me buy the tickets.”
“Alright,” Lu Youxi didn’t argue with him. “But I’ll be getting money soon too, so you can’t pay for everything then.”
“Okay,” Zhou Shuyan bought the tickets, and while waiting for the train with Lu Youxi, he asked her, “What do you mean by you’ll have money soon?”