In the car.
Chen Ziming sat in the driver's seat and opened a photo of him and Su Yue.
Such a sweet-smiling girl, yet she had such a childhood. He gently caressed the face in the photo, his expression full of concern.
But then, a hint of doubt surfaced.
Why would she send the photo to her mother, making it so clear that she was living with a man.
She must have known Su Minghua and he knew each other.
Even if she truly didn't want to go home, she could have found any excuse. There was no need to go this far.
Unless... she intentionally wanted her parents to know.
He recalled Su Minghua's words and couldn't help but become more suspicious.
No matter how moving those words were, he couldn't entirely believe them. Simply for the matter of applying to college and that slap, it wasn't enough to explain her reaction that day.
If there was still some hidden story between her and Su Minghua...
Then all her subsequent actions would make sense.
She had always refused to be his girlfriend, yet she publicly stated he was her boyfriend and lived with him.
She had come to him for protection.
His finger touched the smiling face on the screen again, his expression unreadable.
After a long moment, he put down his phone, started the car, and left.
Su Yue was busy with exams and studies, naturally having no time for anything else. When she received the message from her mother allowing her to live with Chen Ziming during the summer vacation, she didn't think much of it, only feeling relieved that Su Minghua had backed down.
She also saw her mother's subtle reminder to be careful and found it amusing. Discussing this with her mother felt a bit awkward, so she simply replied with a perfunctory emoji and ignored it.
She focused on her studies.
The topic for her academic paper had also been assigned: find a social hot topic and write about it.
This wasn't urgent; it was due after the semester started. Exams were more important for now, so she put the paper aside, intending to deal with it after the exams.
In the evening, she rushed back to the dormitory just before it closed, finally able to relax a bit. She checked her social media accounts; the boyfriend-perspective photo she posted yesterday had indeed garnered a lot of attention.
Everyone urged her to quickly reveal her brother-in-law's photo to see who could be worthy of their fairy sister. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Of course, she couldn't post it. His identity was special, and he couldn't be exposed.
After scrolling through that, she replied to other messages.
Then she realized Chen Ziming had sent no messages.
Was he that busy? Or was he afraid of disturbing her studies?
Or perhaps, he had forgotten her the moment they parted?
She actually quite missed seeing his messages, no matter what they were. Although she had approached him with a purpose, she had also started to like and rely on him.
So she cared.
After hesitating on the balcony for a long time, she still called him.
To her surprise, he answered quickly, but there was silence.
"Officer Chen," she called out softly, feeling a little confused why he seemed so distant and indifferent after they parted.
"Mm, finished studying?" he finally spoke, his voice carrying a hint of coldness.
"Mm." Sensitive to others' attitudes, she felt a pang of disappointment upon hearing his voice and blamed herself for making the call.
She shouldn't be proactive, shouldn't fall for him, or she would end up like this, her mood swayed by others.
But her heart didn't stop beating just because she willed it to. In her usual temperament, she would have hung up the phone directly in such a situation, just like on Saturday.
But she didn't. Instead, she continued to hold the phone, waiting for him to speak.
"Calling me, do you miss me?"
His voice was different than usual, a little languid.
"Did you... drink?" she didn't answer, sensing something was amiss and asked him.
"Mm, had a bit, reported it," he said.
He was at Ren Siyuan's place. Coincidentally, Ren Siyuan worked at the Municipal Procuratorate, and they were discussing the disposition of a criminal apprehended during a recent mission.
This had also been approved by the precinct chief.
By now, they had drunk quite a bit, and the matters were discussed. When she called, he was already feeling somewhat tipsy.
He walked to the balcony, didn't turn on the light, and sat down.
Taking her call.
Ren Siyuan understood him well and saw that he seemed troubled, so he didn't disturb him for the moment.
He sat quietly, the alcohol lending a misty haze to his eyes, making his expression unreadable.
And it was impossible to guess what he was thinking.