novelraw Chapter 268: "Stop Looking at Those Weird Things.
Chapter 268: "Stop Looking at Those Weird Things.
She hurriedly explained, "He’s your buddy, isn’t he? He was just here, and now he’s gone. I was just asking casually. How could that be called ’being concerned’?"
’Although her impression of Shen Chen had improved compared to her previous life, it was still a far cry from "concern"!’
Zhou Mochen was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "What do you think of Shen Chen as a person?"
Xu Su: "..."
’My boyfriend is asking me what I think of his buddy...’
’What kind of question is that?’ Xu Su was speechless for a good while, not knowing what to say...
She didn’t want to give a perfunctory answer, so she thought about it very seriously. Unable to come up with a specific evaluation, she finally managed to squeeze out after a long pause, "As a buddy, he’s pretty good."
Zhou Mochen watched her quietly, his tone lukewarm. "It seems to me you two get along quite well. You bicker every time you meet."
"How is bickering every time we meet ’getting along’?!" Xu Su reached out and linked her arm with his, saying irritably, "Don’t be jealous over everything, Zhou Mochen. The only one I want to like right now is you."
"Besides, don’t you know what kind of person Shen Chen is? Don’t lump me together with him. He can’t say more than a few words to me before he starts being sarcastic. The only reason he even gives me the time of day is because of you."
"That’s hard to say." Seeing Xu Su’s undisguised aversion, Zhou Mochen chuckled and ruffled the top of her head. "Don’t be fooled just because that kid’s a player who parties harder than anyone. He’s never actually been serious about anyone. For the past year or so, he really has been treating you differently."
Whether Shen Chen’s attitude toward Xu Su was just him looking out for his buddy’s girlfriend was impossible to say. There was no basis for comparison, so who knew if it was normal?
In their circle, who actually had a proper girlfriend? An equal romantic relationship was nonexistent. It was called ’following,’ and the guys themselves didn’t respect their own female companions much, let alone their buddies.
Zhou Mochen was a real exception. He never used to mess around with them before. Now that the impossible had happened and he’d fallen for someone, he had, without any instruction, become the model boyfriend, wanting to cradle his little girlfriend in the palm of his hand.
So, in Zhou Mochen’s view, it wasn’t excessive for his buddy to be as nice and respectful as possible to his girlfriend.
But even so, when he saw Shen Chen fly directly to Chang City on the first day of the Lunar New Year just for Xu Su, he couldn’t help but have his doubts...
"So, a stud in body, but a virgin in spirit?" Xu Su, completely unaware of his thoughts, said with a look of disgust, "...I find that hard to comment on..."
Xu Su’s remark was brutally accurate. Zhou Mochen was stunned for a second, not expecting her to say something like that. He shot her a glance and said, "What’s all this about ’studs’ and ’virgins’? Where did you learn these words? What kind of books have you been reading?"
He quickly wracked his brain, trying to remember if he had seen any questionable reading material on his girlfriend’s desk...
"...Online..." Xu Su, realizing she was supposed to be a high school student, laughed a little awkwardly. "It’s the internet age, isn’t it? I see stuff when I’m browsing forums and blogs. I’m not wrong, though!"
"You should look at less of that weird stuff." Thinking of her occasional comments about being ’kept,’ Zhou Mochen became extremely serious. "Don’t just apply everything you see online to real life, you hear?"
’I’m not looking at weird stuff...’
Xu Su was quite indignant.
The way the girl muttered under her breath with her head down was incredibly cute. Zhou Mochen couldn’t resist reaching out, tilting her chin up, and lowering his head to kiss her.
"No!" Xu Su didn’t refuse at first. It was only when he gently squeezed her chin, trying to get her to open her mouth, that she got scared and clamped a hand over her lips, pushing him away with the other. "You can’t kiss me like that, I still have cuts in my mouth."
Zhou Mochen paused, gently squeezing her chin with the hand holding it. "Let me see. Is it any better?"
Xu Su let go of her hand, obediently opened her mouth halfway, and pointed to two small cuts inside her cheek, near the corner of her right lip. "It’s much better than when I first woke up this morning, but it’s still a little sore."
"Mm... My poor Susu has suffered. Kisses."
"...Ngh!"
Xu Su’s eyes widened. She was about to push him away when she felt how careful he was being.
Afraid of hurting her, Zhou Mochen was extremely gentle. It was a lingering, tender kiss, completely different from before when his kisses would get heated. This one was filled with nothing but heartache and concern...
Xu Su’s hands, which had been pressed against his chest ready to push him away, ended up wrapping around his neck...
The night of the first day of the Lunar New Year was, in the end, spent at the hospital.
The next morning, after her fever broke, Xu Su started showing cold symptoms like a slight cough and a stuffy nose. She thought her discharge from the hospital would face another setback.
Fortunately, after another series of check-ups, the doctor determined it was just a minor cold. She was prescribed some medicine to take at home and was cleared for discharge.
And so, on the second day of the Lunar New Year, Xu Su finally left the hospital.
She got home just in time for lunch. Compared to the hospital food, the meal cooked by the housekeeper, while also light, tasted much better.
Xu Su had a very good impression of the housekeepers. Thinking about how they had to come to work on the second day of the New Year, she couldn’t help but ask Zhou Mochen, "Just how high a salary are you paying to get these ladies to work for you on a day meant for family reunions?"
"I don’t know. Huang Chao arranges these things." Zhou Mochen poured a cup of hot water and popped the cold medicine from the hospital out of its blister pack one by one, handing them to her. "Take them."
"Huang Chao’s job scope is that wide?" Xu Su asked, looking at him as if he were Zhou Bapi. "You’re really working that one guy to the bone."
"He’s my personal assistant in Chang City. These things are part of his duties."
"Personal assistant... a personal assistant?" Xu Su was extremely puzzled. "Huang Chao is just a personal assistant? He doesn’t handle your company’s affairs?"
Zhou Mochen clearly didn’t understand why Xu Su was so curious about this, but he still answered seriously, "If by ’handle,’ you mean having real authority, then he currently holds no real power."
"What’s so surprising about that?" Across from them, Shen Chen, who had been busy with a laptop, looked up. "Are you feeling indignant on your classmate’s brother’s behalf? Don’t look down on personal assistants. A personal assistant is a true confidant, you get it? He handles all the big and small matters in Brother Zhou’s life and knows his social circle inside and out. Who wouldn’t show him some respect? Anyone who comes from a personal assistant position ends up as a trusted figure by the leader’s side."
’Oh...’ ’So at this point, Huang Chao hasn’t truly entered the Zhou Group yet. But he really does become Zhou Mochen’s confidant later on...’
Xu Su blew on the hot water, swallowed the cold medicine, and looked at Shen Chen across from her. "What about you, then? I’ve never even seen your assistant."
"Curious about that?" Shen Chen smiled. "Which one do you want to see? I can bring them over for your inspection next time."
"..." ’This guy just can’t speak a single sentence without being sarcastic, can he!’
Xu Su shot him a glare, couldn’t be bothered to deal with him, and got up to walk toward the study.