Chapter 71: Confession

“I don’t like you anymore.” With a glimpse of the slender figure disappearing, Xu Su stepped back as if abruptly awakened from a dream, and spoke to Bai Yushi, “Thank you, and I’m sorry.”

“Thank you for your help, and sorry for using you,” Xu Su said hastily.

Bai Yushi withdrew his hand and smiled, “I was out of line.”

“Professor Bai, I have something else to attend to. I’ll head back now. Thank you,” Xu Su said, lowering her head, and then quickly left.

Back at home, Xu Su felt a weight lift off her shoulders. She lay on the bed, holding her phone, and deleted all the text messages exchanged with Zhou Jingze during this time, including their call records.

She was erasing everything related to Zhou Jingze.

In the pub, Zhou Jingze sat at the bar, drinking one glass after another. The alternating red and green lights from the dance floor cast a rugged and profound outline on his side profile.

Perhaps feeling a bit hot from drinking, Zhou Jingze took off his coat and laid it aside, wearing only a loose-necked sweatshirt. His forearm was toned and smooth, the wrist bone prominent as he held a square glass, exuding a sense of mischief and restraint.

Many in the pub wanted to approach him, which annoyed Zhou Jingze. Already a bit drunk, he ordered the strongest drinks and directly handed a glass to a nearby girl trying to flirt with him.

Zhou Jingze tugged at the neckline lazily, lifting his eyebrow. “Have a drink with me, and I’ll give you a chance.”

The girl was shocked. What kind of man provokes a drinking contest upon first meeting? Before she could respond with anger, another man intervened, taking the glass from Zhou Jingze.

Apologizing to the girl, he explained, “He’s had too much to drink and is acting out of line.”

The girl snorted and walked away in her high heels.

Zhou Jingze picked up another glass from the table, finished it in one go, and Shen Nanzhou stood beside him, knowing he had been through a rough time recently. He sat down to accompany his brother in drinking.

Halfway through the drinks, Shen Nanzhou patted Zhou Jingze’s shoulder and said, “Li Haoning is a despicable person. You trusted him like a brother. Don’t worry, this matter isn’t over. Lao Zhang said he’ll continue investigating privately, and I’ll do my part.”

“Whatever,” Zhou Jingze said, then took another sip.

It didn’t matter anymore since Xu Su wouldn’t come back. He was indifferent.

Things had gotten to this point; how much worse could they become?

Shen Nanzhou sighed and could only continue drinking with him. He thought Zhou Jingze was just letting off steam, but he didn’t realize Zhou Jingze had no intention of stopping. Shen Nanzhou snatched the glass from him, scolding, “Are you out of your mind? I’m calling Xu Su right now.”

Zhou Jingze didn’t dare to reach for another glass.

Shen Nanzhou thought to himself, Xu Su was indeed Zhou Jingze’s Achilles’ heel.

He dialed Xu Su’s number on speakerphone, and after a while, Xu Su answered with just a simple “Hello” before hanging up.

Shen Nanzhou felt embarrassed, but Zhou Jingze remained calm. He absentmindedly spun a small ball on the table, lips moving in an inaudible murmur.

“What?” The electronic music from the dance floor pierced their ears, nearly causing tinnitus. Shen Nanzhou leaned closer to hear what Zhou Jingze was saying, and froze.

Zhou Jingze’s dark brows furrowed slightly as he tugged at his lips, speaking slowly, “It’s over.”

Finishing his words, Zhou Jingze slowly removed a silver ring from his finger. Due to prolonged wear, there was a white mark around the joint.

Staring at it in his hand for a moment, the lights flashed over, obscuring his expression.

With a “thud,” he tossed the ring into the glass, causing it to fizz and spill over.

The silver ring sank swiftly, then plunged down.

Zhou Jingze glanced at it once, then left the bar without looking back.

Shen Nanzhou didn’t understand Zhou Jingze well enough. He knew Zhou Jingze would regret it and quickly fished the ring out of the glass, chasing after him.

“Damn it, either I’m your slave or your nanny every time—” Shen Nanzhou complained as he followed.

After the first snowfall, the temperature in Beijing dropped sharply.

It was so cold in the morning that people didn’t want to get out of bed.

Xu Su’s teaching assignment at the base had officially ended. She no longer had to go to that dusty place or see Zhou Jingze again.

After bumping into her with Bai Yushi, Zhou Jingze never contacted her again.

Xu Su thought her life was relatively peaceful until Shen Nanzhou visited over the weekend.

Seeing Shen Nanzhou, Xu Su wanted to shut the door, but he held his mouth in pain and slipped in.

“What do you want?” Xu Su’s voice was calm.

Taking the glass of water she handed him, Shen Nanzhou took a sip and said, “Go see him. He’s in the hospital.”

Xu Su paused while pouring herself water and responded, “He has someone to take care of him. Whether I go or not doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter. It’s all because of you that he’s ended up like this. Xu Meizi, you don’t know how miserable Zhou Jingze is. He ended up in the hospital with stomach bleeding from drinking for you. He’s even skipped work at the base, and his grandfather called me because of this.”

“I rarely see him so depressed. I think only you can ease his troubles. Just go see him, please.” Shen Nanzhou pleaded earnestly.

“The address is here. I’m leaving first, there’s something else I need to attend to, little sister.”

Sheng Nanzhou placed his business card there, got up and left the living room, leaving Xu Sui alone. She picked up the business card on the coffee table and glanced at it—it was the address of a hospital.

At three in the afternoon, Xu Sui packed up and bought a basket of fruit from the fruit shop, heading towards West River Hospital.

Upon arriving at the inpatient department, Xu Sui asked about the location of Nurse Zhou Jingze’s ward.

Taking the elevator upstairs, Xu Sui arrived at Ward 702. After hesitating for a moment, she knocked on the door, and a hoarse voice from inside responded, “Come in.”

Xu Sui pushed open the door and walked in. When she looked up, her eyes met those of the man on the hospital bed.

A nurse was changing Zhou Jingze’s bandages. He lay there, also looking at her. His messy hair fell over his forehead, his eyes deep and dark, his lips pale.

After the nurse finished changing his bandages, she blushed and said, “Remember to rest. Stick to light meals like congee these days.”

After speaking, the nurse walked past Xu Sui with a tray. Xu Sui caught sight of a familiar medication, picked up the medicine box, and looked at it.

It was an antibiotic used after appendectomy.

“Did the patient have an appendectomy?” Xu Sui asked.

The nurse nodded, “Yes.”

Xu Sui put the medicine back in the tray, immediately understanding that she had been deceived by Sheng Nanzhou to come here.

Feeling overwhelmed, despondent, and distressed because of her, it was all a deception.

Xu Sui placed the fruit basket on the low cabinet by his bed. Zhou Jingze’s gaze was sharp. He raised his eyelids to look at Xu Sui, his tone heavy, “Why are you here?”

It turned out he was also unaware, his tone distant as if she shouldn’t be here.

After placing the fruit basket down, Xu Sui’s tone was flat, “Sheng Nanzhou sent me. As long as you’re okay, I’ll leave first.”

This was a meeting that should never have happened.

As Xu Sui just walked out of the ward, Zhou Jingze’s face darkened. He pulled out the IV needle, took a long stride, and followed her out.

As Xu Sui reached the window in the corridor, a tall figure approached. Zhou Jingze pressed her against the wall, his knee between her legs, restraining her, holding her tightly in his embrace.

He stared at her intensely, “What’s the meaning of that text message?”

“It means it’s inappropriate,” Xu Sui said, turning her face away.

Unexpectedly, her face was forcibly turned back by him. Zhou Jingze looked at her and cursed directly, “How the hell is it inappropriate? How were we together for so long before?”

“But we still broke up, didn’t we?” Xu Sui said lightly.

Though Xu Sui’s tone was gentle, her words were piercing. One sentence silenced them both.

There was a deep bruise on the back of Zhou Jingze’s hand from the IV. Blood was oozing out.

Zhou Jingze’s chest rose and fell sharply. He lifted Xu Sui’s chin with one hand, looking at her seriously, “As long as you say you don’t like me anymore, I’ll let you go.”

His tone was not serious, nor was it spiteful. That was just how he was—admitting fault when wrong, treating someone well if liked. But if the other person no longer liked him, persisting was pointless.

Xu Sui lowered her eyes, looking at the second button of his shirt collar, and said softly, “I don’t like you anymore.”

As soon as these words landed, the surroundings fell silent, even the sound of the wind brushing against the windows could be heard.

The sun did not shine today. The weather was dark and oppressive, making it hard to breathe.

Tiny specks of dust floated in the air, shattered and fell to the ground.

Xu Sui felt Zhou Jingze slowly release her. As he moved away, the scent of basil, which was on him, disappeared.

Zhou Jingze stood there, saying nothing more. After gaining her freedom, Xu Sui quickly took her bag and hurried down the stairs.

Back in the ward, Zhou Jingze picked up his phone and started watching a football match calmly, as if he hadn’t just experienced something distressing.

He watched Neymar running half the field, about to perform a scissor kick, when suddenly the screen changed to a call from Dalu.

Zhou Jingze answered the call. Dalu’s voice came loudly from the other end, “Bro, which ward are you in? It’s huge here, hard to find.”

“Don’t bother coming,” Zhou Jingze said.

“Huh?” Dalu sounded puzzled.

He glanced outside at the sky, the ominous wind pressing down with thick dark clouds, as if it were about to rain.

“Xu Sui just left. If she refuses, help her call a car,” Zhou Jingze paused and continued, “If she refuses to go.”

After saying this, Zhou Jingze hung up, ignoring Dalu’s shouting on the other end.

A week later, Zhou Jingze was discharged from the hospital. After resting at home for a few days, he resumed work as usual and took his German Shepherd for walks during his free time.

Thankfully, he had his pets—cats and dogs.

On Friday, Zhou Jingze took Kuai to the park for a walk, but somehow ended up upstairs at Xu Sui’s house.

Zhou Jingze glanced at her floor, dark with no lights on—she hadn’t returned.

He took Kuai and walked into the convenience store, buying a pack of Huanghelou cigarettes and a lighter.

Pushing open the convenience store door, Zhou Jingze saw Liang Shuang about to enter.

Liang Shuang paused, clearly seeing him too.

“Of all people, why you?” Liang Shuang’s tone was unfriendly.

Zhou Jingze tore open the cigarette pack’s plastic wrap, pulled out a cigarette, and smiled lightly, “I said I was passing by. Do you believe me?”