[Two thousand words have been added to the previous chapter, please refresh the page to read~]
Seemingly lost in thought, Song Guizhou's gaze was unusually focused.
Feeling a little uncomfortable under his gaze, Shi Xi took the towel from his arm and draped it over herself.
Song Guizhou was still completely unaware of what was happening until Shi Xi put on the bath towel.
Shi Xi wiped her hair a couple of times and found that the other person was still standing still, so she stretched out her hand and snapped her fingers in front of him.
"What are you thinking about? You seem so engrossed."
Song Guizhou then came to his senses, his gaze lingering for two seconds on Shi Xi's exposed abdomen as she dried her hair, before shaking his head. "I wasn't thinking about anything."
"Isn't Brother Xiao An going home?" Song Guizhou asked suddenly, standing next to Shi Xi.
During this time, Shi Xi was at school and did not live at home. She would only occasionally send him messages to chat and inquire about his studies.
"No." Shi Xi glanced at Song Guizhou, inexplicably feeling that his words sounded like he was checking up on her. "I've been quite busy lately, so you'll stay home by yourself for now."
After a pause, Shi Xi added, "If you're really bored, you can go find your classmate."
"Oh." Song Guizhou looked a little disappointed, and before he knew it, he had followed Shi Xi to the door of the changing room.
Shi Xi made a stop gesture, smiled at Song Guizhou, and said, "Wait for me outside." She closed the door before he could say anything.
Song Guizhou looked surprised and murmured, "What a pity."
...
After Shi Xi changed her clothes, it was almost time for her to go into seclusion, so the two left the swimming pool.
"You should go back now," Shi Xi said.
"Brother Xiao An."
Song Guizhou stopped and looked at Shi Xi, his expression somewhat hurt. "I haven't seen you in a long time."
Seeing him like this, Shi Xi sighed inwardly, "I'll go back this weekend."
Song Guizhou looked doubtful. "Really?"
\"certainly.\"
Shi Xi glanced at Song Guizhou, "You don't believe me?"
"Then kiss me." Song Guizhou said suddenly after a long silence.
"???"
Shi Xi was surprised and wondered if she had misheard.
Song Guizhou lowered her eyes and said in a clearly unhappy tone, "Brother Xiao An really lied."
Shi Xi was instantly at a loss for words, not understanding what he was thinking.
This kid, has he been watching too many idol dramas?
"Are you sure you want to kiss me?" Shi Xi raised an eyebrow, looking at Song Guizhou's ears, which were so red they looked like they could bleed.
I found it funny.
Why are you shy now that he made the request himself?
"Hmm." Song Guizhou's face flushed even more.
It looks like a teapot bubble, it's quite cute.
Shi Xi chuckled softly, and like coaxing a child, she touched her own lips with her thumb, then lightly pressed her thumb against his cheek, like a dragonfly skimming the water.
"Look, we've kissed."
"Now you believe me, right?" Shi Xi crossed her arms, leaned down slightly, and whispered in his ear.
"I believe you." Song Guizhou's voice was hoarse, and his whole body was stiff, as if he was enduring something with all his might.
After dropping the person off at the school gate, Shi Xi returned to her dormitory.
A classmate saw the two of them together earlier and asked out of curiosity.
"Your good friend is visiting you again?"
"Hmm," Shi Xi said casually, then, remembering the random pairings on the school forum, she added, "He's my younger brother."
It just so happens that this person not only read the campus forum, but also secretly shipped Shi Xi and Song Guizhou as a couple.
She had originally wanted to come over for a piece of candy, but was unexpectedly denied it on the spot, leaving her somewhat disappointed. "Ah, so it's your younger brother."
No wonder Shi Xi called Song Guizhou "my child" back then.
This person and Shi Xi were just students in the same grade, and the two were not very familiar with each other, so they only exchanged a simple greeting.
When Shi Xi arrived at the dormitory building, she saw Tang Jue standing at the door.
"Instructor Tang," Shi Xi called out politely.
He had assumed Tang Jue was just passing by, but unexpectedly, the other man walked towards him.
"Have you finished writing your thesis proposal?"
Tang Jue looked at him. "Professor Zhang should have told you that I'm in charge of your graduation thesis."
Shi Xi mimed typing on a keyboard, "I'm working on it."
Tang Jue walked to his side. "Let me see."
"...I'm in my dorm, I didn't bring it," Shi Xi said. "How about I send it to you after I finish writing it?"
He didn't intend to trouble Tang Jue, since Shi Xi had a premonition that the paper would definitely not be completed, and it would be a waste of Tang Jue's time.
"I'll go to the dorm with you," Tang Jue said after hesitating for two seconds.
"Perfect timing, let's see if there's anything that needs changing."
Since he had already said so much, Shi Xi couldn't refuse any longer and could only agree.
...
Shi Xi led Tang Jue into the dormitory. Wang Ke was away on an internship and didn't stay in the dormitory, so Shi Xi was the only one in the dormitory at the moment.
The dormitory is on the third floor, and you can see the green belt below from the terrace.
Shi Xi turned on her computer, and the screen displayed the soon-to-be-completed thesis proposal.
Tang Jue stood behind Shi Xi, watching her slender fingers move across the PowerPoint slides on the mouse, eventually fixing his gaze on the computer screen.
"Stop." He bent down slightly, pointing to a line on the screen, "Make a slight change here..."
Shi Xi listened to his words and began to revise carefully. After she finished, Tang Jue straightened up again and said, "Continue."
Just as Tang Jue bent down again to offer his suggestions for revision, he suddenly felt his lips touch something. Looking down, he saw it was Shi Xi's hair.
It also has a fresh shampoo scent.
"Excuse me, I'll be right back for a moment," Shi Xi said to Tang Jue, covering her mouth and pushing back her chair.
Tang Jue watched him run to the bathroom and heard the sound of the door being locked from the inside, and felt that something was wrong.
He frowned and strode quickly to the bathroom door, where he heard suppressed, muffled coughs coming from inside.
"Yu Jiu'an, what's wrong?"
"Listen to me, open the door."
Shi Xi didn't have time to talk to him right now. Looking at the blood splattering in the sink, she felt that she shouldn't have agreed to go back to Song Guizhou for the weekend.
Tang Jue shouldn't have been allowed to come up either.
My throat feels like it's burning.
Shi Xi took a deep breath, turned on the tap, cleaned the countertop, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "It's nothing, just a simple cold."
Shi Xi looked up and saw her reflection in the mirror. Apart from being a little pale, there was nothing unusual about her.
He took an orange-flavored hard candy from his pocket, put it in his mouth, and the sweet taste quickly replaced the taste of blood.
Shi Xi opened the bathroom door and looked at Tang Jue, whose face was filled with worry. "Let's continue."
Tang Jue glanced at the sink and toilet, then stared at him for a while before pursing her lips. "Yu Jiu'an, what's wrong with you?"
"I went swimming for a while earlier, I guess I caught a chill," Shi Xi said nonchalantly.
"Do we need to continue making changes?" He looked at Tang Jue.
"No." Tang Jue shook his head. "You rest first, I'll come find you again tomorrow."
——
Shi Xi understood that Tang Jue didn't mean to revise his thesis proposal.
Instead, I'll ask him again tomorrow what exactly happened.
Seeing the other person's stubborn gaze, Shi Xi smiled. "Instructor Tang."
"I'm planning to drop out of school."
Tang Jue was stunned.
He looked at Shi Xi with a surprised expression, seemingly not expecting that to be his answer.
He suddenly recalled the video in his mind. At that time, Shi Xi only made the man apologize to Song Guizhou, but did not apologize to him.
In other words, Shi Xi tacitly accepted the other party's statement—
Yu Jiu'an was destined to die young.
"I'm sorry, Instructor Tang, your guidance just now will probably be wasted."
Looking at Tang Jue's expression, Shi Xi sighed inwardly.
"Actually, the situation isn't that bad."
"I just wanted to get away for a while, there's no need to worry too much."
Tang Jue stood frozen in place, seemingly taking a long time to compose himself. "...If you just want to clear your head, there's no need to drop out of school."
"You can take a leave of absence. I'll keep your student status on hold, and you can come back whenever you want."
"...so I can come back."
He was telling an obvious lie: a student's leave of absence from the university can only be retained for a maximum of two years.
Actually, dropping out or taking a leave of absence makes no difference to Shi Xi. He feels he might not even survive six months, let alone two. :)
But he didn't say it aloud; he just nodded and said, "Okay."
"Instructor Tang, close the dormitory doors quickly."
"You should go now."
...
Tang Jue stood at the foot of the dormitory building, watching the light finally go out, Shi Xi's words echoing in his mind.
He is preparing to drop out of school.
He should have been prepared long ago, because his former counselor had told him, "If Yu Jiu'an ever wants to drop out, don't ask questions, just approve it."
From that day on, he knew that Yu Jiu'an would leave sooner or later.
But when he heard it with his own ears, he still found it hard to believe. Just a few minutes ago, they were discussing how to revise their thesis proposal.
He stood there blankly, seemingly thinking a lot, yet also as if he hadn't thought of anything at all; his mind was a complete mess.
\"bite--\"
My phone beeped with a new message notification.
Tang Jue looked down at his phone.
[Teacher Zhang: How's it going, Xiao Yu? Is your thesis proposal finished yet?]
It was Teacher Zhang asking about the progress.
Tang Jue composed himself and replied to Teacher Zhang's message.
Tang: He is trying.
...
Shi Xi didn't think that dropping out of school would have much of an impact on Tang Jue.
I just felt that he probably hadn't dealt with similar situations before, which was why he was slow to react.
He saved the revised document, closed his laptop, and went to brush his teeth and wash his face.
I was brushing my teeth when I suddenly received a phone call.
Shi Xi looked down and saw it was an unfamiliar number.
He spat out the foam in his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and then answered the phone.
"Hello? Who is this?"
A magnetic voice, carrying a subtle electric current, came from the other end of the phone.
"It's me."
"Mr. Si?"
Shi Xi was somewhat surprised. "What do you need me for?"
There was a two-second silence on the other end before they spoke again.
"...There's a parent-teacher conference at school tomorrow afternoon, are you going?"
Shi Xi frowned upon hearing this.
There's a parent-teacher meeting, so why didn't Song Guizhou tell him?
Shi Xi thought about it for a moment. Her father was very busy lately and probably wouldn't have time to attend the parent-teacher meeting. If he didn't go, then there would be no chance for the meeting to start.
"I'll go." Shi Xi said.
"I'm going too, why don't we go together?" Si Beiling asked, his tone inexplicably expectant.
Shi Xi was genuinely puzzled; Si Beiling was unusually enthusiastic.
Could it be that his nephew has a very good relationship with Song Guizhou?
"Okay, thank you for your help." Shi Xi thought for a moment before finally replying.
"See you tomorrow," Si Beiling said.
Shi Xi hummed in response and replied, "See you tomorrow."
...
The next afternoon, Shi Xi received a call from Si Beiling.
"Get down."
"?" Shi Xi asked in confusion.
Shi Xi did not go downstairs immediately, but went to the terrace, where she saw Si Beiling standing leisurely at the foot of the dormitory building.
When he saw Shi Xi, Si Beiling looked up and greeted him.
Shi Xi changed his shoes and locked the dormitory door. He had just walked to the dormitory entrance when he ran into Tang Jue.
"Are you going out?" Tang Jue asked Shi Xi.
"Yes, it's a parent-teacher conference for the kids," Shi Xi said. "Teacher Tang, what's this?"
Only after Shi Xi finished speaking did she remember that Tang Jue had said yesterday that he would come to see her today.
Is he going to have to keep revising his thesis proposal?
"There's still a little bit left to fix," Tang Jue said, looking at Shi Xi. "I don't like leaving things unfinished."
Shi Xi: "..."
Si Beiling, who had walked over, glanced at Tang Jue, then looked at Shi Xi, "And who is this?"
"My advisor is Tang Jue."
"This is the child's classmate's parent, Si Beiling," Shi Xi introduced to the two.
"Teacher Tang, do we need to ask for leave to attend the parent-teacher conference?" Si Beiling nodded to Tang Jue and then asked.
Tang Jue listened to Si Beiling's question, but his gaze shifted to Shi Xi beside him. "No need."
"He doesn't have many classes lately, but he hasn't finished his thesis proposal yet, so he needs to come back early."
"Since that's the case..." Si Beiling looked at Shi Xi, "Then I'll send him back as soon as possible."
Shi Xi listened to what sounded like a conversation between the two and found it somewhat amusing.
It gave me a strange sense of déjà vu, like when I hadn't finished my homework and was being called out to play by my best friend, or when my parents were giving me a lecture.
It's very immersive.
"Don't worry, Instructor Tang." Shi Xi smiled.
He looked at Tang Jue, "I will definitely go and come back as soon as possible."
"..." Tang Jue didn't understand what Shi Xi was laughing about, but he felt much more relieved after hearing what he said.
He was about to speak, wanting to say something more, when he saw Shi Xi following Si Beiling toward the school gate.
Si Beiling looked at Shi Xi with suspicion, "Was your graduation thesis handled by your academic advisor?"
"Yes." Shi Xi nodded. "It was originally Teacher Zhang, but he went abroad for further studies, so he handed it over to his top student."
Tang Jue is Professor Zhang's graduate student. His previous advisor was on maternity leave, so he was only a part-time advisor.
Si Beiling looked away. "So that's how it is."
The car was parked not far from the school gate, and the two arrived shortly afterward.
After the vehicle drove away, a new post appeared on the university's forum—
[Holy crap! Look what I found!]
The photos that were released showed Si Beiling and Shi Xi looking at each other from a distance at the bottom of the dormitory building, and Shi Xi finally getting into Si Beiling's car.
[I recently became a fan of Yu Jiu'an and his kid, and today this big shot from the Si family showed up at the dorm to pick someone up. You know what that means.]
[Hehe, I get it! This guy saw everyone shipping the wrong couples and couldn't sit still any longer, so he came here to subtly assert his ownership.]
[...So, this person might be reading the Sports University post right now, right?]
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