Zhu Jinchao turned around at the sound, only to see a completely unfamiliar man standing in front of her, separating her from the annoying Lu Yuzhou.
"What are you doing?" He grabbed Lu Yuzhou's wrist, his sharp brows furrowing impatiently. "Handling a girl in broad daylight, don't you have any shame?"
"...Who...who are you?" Suddenly being bothered by someone's meddling, Lu Yuzhou's expression was visibly displeased. "Who are you to Zhu Jinzhao? It's none of your business to interfere when I'm talking to her."
"Hmph," the man sneered dismissively, and instead of answering, asked, "And who are you? What gives you the right to tug at this girl like that?"
"I..." Lu Yuzhou stammered, "I'm her boyfriend!"
"Boyfriend?" Zhu Jinzhao smirked, her smile tinged with sarcasm. "Didn't we break up two months ago? Wasn't your true love Zhu Mingyue? How come she's my boyfriend now?"
"..." Lu Yuzhou pursed his lips, too guilty to speak.
"Tch..." The man gave him a disdainful look and forcefully shook off his wrist as if it were dirty. "So you're a two-timing scumbag, huh? That makes perfect sense."
"...What's it to you?" Lu Yuzhou glared fiercely at the man, pretending to be tough, but his tone was clearly weak and powerless.
The man curled his lip in exasperation: "Who cares about you, you rotten piece of trash..."
"How dare you swear at me?" Lu Yuzhou was still unconvinced.
The man raised an eyebrow, his eyes full of provocation: "So what if I insult you? Want to hit me?"
"I..." Lu Yuzhou couldn't bear it any longer and took a step forward, but at this moment the man rolled up his short sleeve, revealing the well-defined muscles on his arms.
His muscles bulged powerfully, looking very solid, instantly extinguishing the anger in Lu Yuzhou's heart.
Lu Yuzhou was tall and muscular, but underneath his clothes was just loose, flabby fat. The man in front of him, on the other hand, clearly worked out regularly; he was not only strong and muscular but also had a very powerful aura.
Lu Yuzhou silently compared the options in his mind and realized that he was probably no match for the man, so he decisively chose to run away.
"...I can't be bothered to argue with you."
After saying that, he glared at Zhu Jinzhao resentfully, then turned and ran away in a sorry state.
"Phew..." Zhu Jinzhao breathed a sigh of relief, "Finally, they're gone."
The man turned to look at her, his tone, which had been icy just a second ago, suddenly softened: "Are you alright?"
Zhu Jinchao shook her head: "I'm fine, thank you for helping me out of that situation."
After saying that, he turned to leave.
"Hey—" The man reached out to stop her, "You don't look well. Did you get heatstroke from being in the sun for too long?"
"...Huh?" Zhu Jinchao frowned, not feeling any signs of heatstroke.
But the man didn't give her a chance to explain.
"Okay, you go sit under the shade of the tree and wait for me. I'll go buy you a bottle of water!"
He ran out as soon as he finished speaking, giving Zhu Jinzhao no chance to refuse.
Zhu Jinzhao didn't have much patience to wait for the man to return, but considering that he had just helped her, she couldn't stand him up, so she could only reluctantly sit under the shade of the tree and wait.
Five minutes later, the man came running back, carrying a cup of milk tea.
"I'm back." The man sat down beside her and handed her the milk tea. "I bought it for you."
She was slightly taken aback: "Didn't you say you were going to buy a bottle of water? How did it turn into buying milk tea?"
"Uh..." A hint of guilt flashed across the man's face. "I... I suddenly changed my mind and wanted to give you milk tea."
"..." Zhu Jinzhao was unable to refute it.
"Okay." She took the milk tea, drank a few sips as a courtesy, and then her eyes widened in surprise.
The man didn't buy a sweet milk tea, but a refreshing fruit tea, which happened to be her favorite.
"Thank you." She smiled at the man and sincerely thanked him.
The man scratched his head sheepishly: "You're welcome. Do you like it?"
"Hmm." Zhu Jinzhao nodded. "I like it, but why don't you have one? Didn't you buy one for yourself?"
The man chuckled and said, "I don't like fruit tea."
"Huh?" Zhu Jinzhao was a little surprised. "You don't like it, but you went out of your way to buy it for me?"
"...I didn't do it on purpose, I just bought it on a whim." The man started by making up a lie.
Zhu Jinzhao: "...You're quite skilled at handling things. This milk tea shop is quite far from here."
Man: "...Really?"
Zhu Jinzhao: "...Yes, ah."
"...Okay." Unable to explain his motive for running out to buy milk tea, the man simply changed the subject, "Um, my name is Shi Jing, what's your name?"
Zhu Jinzhao took a sip of fruit tea: "My name is Zhu Jinzhao, the 'Jinzhao' in 'Jinzhao Youjiu Jinzhao Zuizhao' (meaning 'drink today, for tomorrow we may die')."
"Ah..." Shi Jing's eyes lit up, "That sounds beautiful."
Zhu Jinzhao: "Thank you, your name sounds nice too."
"Hey..." Shi Jing chuckled foolishly. Just as foolish as Shi Jing outside the dream world.
In this dream, I wish that Zhu Jinzhao and Shi Jing would meet in the shade of a tree in the height of summer.
At first, Zhu Jinzhao only regarded Shi Jing as a passerby, thinking that the two of them would not have much interaction. But she never expected that she would "bump into" Shi Jing every now and then.
She could run into Shi Jing when she went out to eat with Jiang Jingwen, she could run into Shi Jing when she went home alone after class, and she could even run into Shi Jing when she went to a park to relax.
If you encounter someone by chance too often, it can no longer be a coincidence.
So Zhu Jinchao asked directly, "Shi Jing, you're not following me, are you?"
Shi Jing: "...No, why would I follow you? I'm so upright, so imposing, and so handsome."
"..." Zhu Jinzhao suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "Where do you live?"
Shi Jing casually pointed and said, "I live nearby. What, would you like to come over for a visit?"
"I'll be your boss!" Zhu Jinzhao couldn't help but curse at him.
He pouted, looking aggrieved, and then mustered up the courage to tug at Zhu Jinzhao's sleeve: "Let's sit down and talk, standing is tiring."
Zhu Jinzhao didn't want to talk to him, but she still listened to him and sat down on the bench.
Shi Jing scrutinized her expression and cautiously moved closer to her.
She looked down at her phone, showing no intention of speaking to him.
"Hey..." Shi Jing glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and sighed affectedly, "The weather is really nice today, what do you think, Jin Zhao?"
Zhu Jinzhao took a few seconds to answer, but her answer was irrelevant: "Shi Jing, the only son of Shi Fei, the founder of Shiyun Group. Male, 24 years old, Pisces, unmarried."
"!!!" Shi Jing was stunned. "How did you know?"
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