Chapter 12
Since the start of the school year, Pandora had grown accustomed to Iris rushing past her to the classroom every morning, even faster than she could. Today was another early morning class, and she was ready to race Iris once more. However, as the hands of her pocket watch moved another number, Iris still hadn't appeared. Missing this last chance to meet meant being late was inevitable. Even if she wanted to be lenient, Pandora couldn't change her principles and put roll call at the end of class just for Iris. So, she could only pray for the sleepy little pig, Amen.
When the kind-hearted Professor Pan entered the lecture hall just in time, a casual glance revealed that the person she had been waiting for all morning was already sitting upright in the center of the third row. She wondered if she was mistaken, but upon closer inspection, she realized that the person who always seemed drowsy and sleepy during the first class—who else could it be but the great writer Zhou? Pandora instantly felt betrayed. They had agreed to arrive on time together, but someone had secretly arrived early!
Lala's resentment lingered until lunchtime. Finally waking up, Iris poked at the rice in her plate, too ashamed to look anyone in the eye. She knew, of course, that Pandora could be easily appeased with a plausible excuse, but she was too embarrassed to tell anyone her real reason for arriving early. If others knew she had to get up early for school because her sheets were too wet to sleep in, she'd never be able to hold her head high in Hong Kong again. Thinking of this, Iris's resentment suddenly surpassed Pandora's. If Zhuang Zhuoyuan hadn't been so energetic early in the morning, she wouldn't have even lost her spare sheets.
"That bastard Zhuo Yuan!" Iris cursed inwardly, forcefully stabbing a chicken leg until the flesh was torn apart. Pandora, sitting opposite her, glanced at Iris, who immediately stopped, forcing a smile and pleading, "Lala, I really can't control my biological clock. Next time, it'll be fine. Even if I do get up early, I'll definitely wait for you by the lotus pond, and then we'll go into the classroom together, okay?"
Pandora wasn't really angry. Teasing Iris was far more fun than a fit of rage that could age a person. Now that she had achieved her goal, she dropped her stern face and happily ate her lunch, while also asking Zhou, who seemed to have little appetite all afternoon, "What's wrong? Is your devoted fiancé too busy to prepare a lovingly packed lunch for you again today?"
Busy, he's incredibly busy. Iris thought to herself, remembering how she'd fallen into Zhuang Zhuoyuan's trap while still half asleep that morning, and her lips immediately pursed: "Don't mention him!"
But as if on cue, her phone rang. The screen displayed the words "Zhuo Yuan BB" in large letters. Iris instinctively wanted to hang up, but her hand betrayed her and answered, "Hello?"
Her voice was muffled and weak through the microphone. Zhuang Zhuoyuan became anxious as soon as he heard it and blurted out, "Baby, does it still hurt a lot?"
"Zhuang Zhuoyuan!"
"Yes, Madam!"
Iris's initial anger and embarrassment were easily dispelled by this response. She instantly forgot what she was going to say, and after a couple of seconds of stunned silence, she simply curled her lip and complained helplessly to the person on the other end of the phone, "PC38171 scared me away!"
"Sorry, Madam!" Zhuang Zhuoyuan said seriously again, and Iris finally couldn't help but laugh out loud. Hearing that soft laugh, Zhuang Zhuoyuan, who had coaxed his future wife back, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Even though he knew that Iris was always easy to coax, he didn't want her to be sullen for too long, so he obediently apologized again: "Sorry, BB, I was too hasty this time."
Iris picked at a leaf beside her. From the moment she uttered that first sound, she had already hurried out of the restaurant to find a secluded spot to make the call, all for the sake of her image. Now, she didn't need to be so reserved. She spoke honestly, a little embarrassed and hesitant, "You don't need to apologize. I agreed first, and then you... Actually, I just... I still have a little..." She stammered, then in a rush, stamped her foot and ripped the leaf off. Iris cried out "Ouch!" and sat back down on the edge of the flowerbed. The strange sensation in her sensitive area clearly reminded her of what had happened the night before. Those memories only made her cheeks flush even more, and Zhuang Zhuoyuan's breath seemed to still be on her neck, still in her ear...
"I can't think about it anymore!" Iris covered her face, quickly said "Bye-bye" to Zhuang Zhuoyuan, and tried to hang up, but thankfully he stopped her in time, preventing the call from being disconnected. Without even looking, Zhuang Zhuoyuan knew what his girlfriend looked like. If she hadn't been so alluring that morning, he wouldn't have lost control and taken her again. "BB, BB," he whispered, the allure of his low-pitched sex even more potent with the added gentleness. At that moment, not only did he want to hold her in his arms, but Iris also wanted to cling tightly to his waist and lean against his shoulder. Fortunately, Zhuang Zhuoyuan remembered the purpose of his call. Although he had tried to be as careful and gentle as possible last night, he had still hurt Iris to some extent during the process, so her current physical condition was his primary concern: "Is there still bleeding? Should I bring back some medicine later? Or should we take the afternoon off to see a doctor?"
"No!" Iris hurriedly refused, then quickly covered her mouth after realizing she had raised her voice. She then explained to Zhuang Zhuoyuan, "I'm not trying to hide my illness! It's just that there's only a little bit of blood now, similar to what I saw this morning. I checked, and it's normal, there's nothing wrong!"
"Are you sure?"
"Sure!"
Hearing that she had regained her energy, Zhuang Zhuoyuan was relieved to confirm that Iris was really alright. He said a few more words and made a serious promise before finally preparing to end the call with Iris, but he didn't forget to ask for a kiss at the end: "Come on, give me a kiss. Be a good girl and wait for me this evening. I'll pick you up from school."
Iris's mood instantly soared to its peak. She walked into the restaurant with a smile and returned to her seat. Pandora, seeing her face flushed with love, couldn't help but tease her again: "People in love do change their expressions faster, so what kind of 'love potion' did your Mr. Zhuang add to your meal?"
"Go away!" Iris ignored her, chuckling to herself for a while before inviting Pandora again: "Lala, are you free on Saturday afternoon? How about I take you to the TV station to watch them record a show?"
"Jianjian?!" Pandora immediately thought of her beloved Ouyang Jian. Years ago, when she was heartbroken and despondent, it was this host's radio broadcast that gave her hope.
Iris knew the other person would be excited, but Ouyang Jian's show wasn't scheduled during the time slot she and Elaine had agreed upon. She shook her head regretfully and said, "Ouyang Jian doesn't have a filming assignment until tonight. Even after we finish our visit, we might not be able to run into him."
As long as Ouyang Jian's itinerary included a TV station that day, that would be fine! Pandora, the fangirl, perked up immediately and asked, "Then can I stay there a little longer?"
Of course, Iris had considered the request. She smiled and nodded, but gave Pandora a heads-up beforehand: "I've talked to Elaine about this, and she confirmed that she can find someone to take care of you. However, we both have appointments later that day. Is it okay if you wait for Ouyang Jian in the lounge by yourself? Elaine's arrangement will take you to the recording studio to watch the filming. After work, that girl will also take you home. But if you want to leave halfway through, or if you don't want a stranger to pick you up, you'll have to arrange a car in advance."
As long as she could see Jianjian, nothing else mattered! Pandora nodded vigorously, her expectant expression a stark contrast to her usual aloof and arrogant demeanor. Iris was delighted to have won her back and immediately texted Elaine to finalize the plans for Saturday afternoon.
Professor Pan was in a good mood that day and assigned very little homework. However, Iris had not yet finished a short paper that the department head had assigned earlier. So, while waiting for the driver, Tchaikovsky, to arrive, the studious and ambitious Iris went straight to the library and borrowed several thick books before the borrowing limit was reached, giving Professor Zhuang an extra workout.
The weight of these eleven books wasn't much for Zhuang Zhuoyuan, but considering the large stack of books he already had at home, and the deadline countdown on the computer screen, he seriously doubted whether his girlfriend could finish reading this pile of densely formatted books with small fonts in such a short time.
Iris walked ahead with her hands behind her back, looking relaxed and cheerful: "As for reference books, I only need to take some of the information for reference. Looking at the table of contents and those articles won't take much time. Besides, not all of them are reference books for my thesis. There are also some that I plan to use as bedtime stories. I didn't borrow them before because I thought they were too thick. Now that I have you as my free labor, of course I'll borrow them all at once."
So she was still finding new ways to torment him. Zhuang Zhuoyuan spoke up knowingly, and Iris readily admitted it. She turned around and asked Zhuang Zhuoyuan frankly, "Do you have any objections?"
Zhuang Zhuoyuan seemed oblivious to the other words besides "willing" in the options she presented. Since both parties were willing, he naturally had no reason to say no. Besides, in just the short distance across the campus, the gazes he'd noticed lingering on Iris had already made him quite aware that if he put his things down now, a swarm of suitors would immediately swarm around him. Zhuang Zhuoyuan had no desire for his girlfriend to be surrounded by people with ulterior motives. He slightly adjusted his books, holding them with one arm, then wrapped his other arm around Iris's waist, who was half a step in front of him, and quickly stole a kiss on her cheek.
Iris looked at him questioningly. Zhuang Zhuoyuan blinked and smiled brightly: "It's okay to do a little hard work, but the reward must be substantial."
"You cheat!" Iris squinted her nose, and sure enough, she got pecked on the lips again.
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