Sweet Temptation: After Rebirth, The Campus Heartthrob Can’t Hide His Feelings Anymore - Chapter 9

The cold wind howled through the campus, brushing past the bare trees, occasionally snapping a brittle branch.

Xu Zhizhi stood in the snowstorm, her dark hair dotted with snowflakes like blooming pear blossoms.

She was particularly sensitive to the cold, her cheeks flushed red from the biting chill. Unable to withstand the freezing air, she sneezed.

Zhou Xuci, standing a meter away, unwrapped the scarf from his neck and walked toward her, stopping just a step short.

He held out the scarf. “Don’t catch a cold.”

Xu Zhizhi lowered her gaze, her eyes settling on the scarf in Zhou Xuci’s hand.

His hands were exceptionally beautiful: pale skin, well-defined knuckles, long and slender fingers with smooth, harmonious proportions.

Even the most elite hand models couldn’t compare.

Zhou Xuci noticed her hesitation. “What’s wrong?”

Xu Zhizhi took a step back, her eyes curving into a polite smile as she declined his kindness. “I don’t feel that cold. Thank you, Senior.”

Sharing a scarf was too intimate.

She didn’t want to cross that line.

The warm-toned streetlight cast its glow on Zhou Xuci’s sharply defined features, the interplay of light and shadow in the snowstorm acting like a flawless filter, illuminating his entire being.

Under the light, he seemed to shimmer.

Zhou Xuci was perfect, flawless in every way.

But Xu Zhizhi had already poured eight years of reckless love into Shen Yu, exhausting every ounce of passion and emotion she had.

Eight years was an eternity, long enough to drain her of all enthusiasm and excitement.

Her fervent love had been like chasing the clouds and moon across eight thousand miles without rest.

She was exhausted, truly without the strength to chase anymore.

She didn’t dare to.

Nor did she want to gamble again.

This time, she wanted to live for herself, not under the Shen family’s pity or sympathy.

Zhou Xuci’s gaze lingered on her face for a few seconds before he smiled gently again, draping the scarf over his arm.

“Let’s go,” he said.

“Mm,” Xu Zhizhi nodded obediently.

The first snow always carried romantic expectations, and the sudden snowfall had set the entire campus abuzz.

Xu Zhizhi suddenly remembered the first time she had seen the first snow.

In her past life, she had heard that people who witnessed the first snow together would stay together until their hair turned white.

Romantic to her core, Xu Zhizhi had run for thirty minutes in the middle of the night, foolishly rushing to find Shen Yu.

She waited outside his dormitory for two full hours in the bitter cold, nearly freezing into an ice sculpture, while Shen Yu comfortably played ranked games in his room, carrying female teammates to victory.

Her love had always been cheap, so cheap it could be trampled underfoot without a second thought.

As the Shen family’s adopted daughter, she had grown accustomed to humility, sinking deeper into a dangerous quagmire, the more she struggled, the more trapped she became.

The biting wind scattered Xu Zhizhi’s memories. Shivering from the cold and ignoring the discomfort in her stomach, she lowered her head and quickened her pace toward the dormitory.

At the fork in the road, she stopped and turned to look at Zhou Xuci behind her. “Senior, the medicine helped. I’m feeling much better now. I can walk back to the dorm on my own. Thank you so much for tonight.”

The male and female dormitories were in separate areas, they weren’t going the same way.

She didn’t want to trouble him any further.

“I’ll transfer you the money for the medicine later,” Xu Zhizhi waved at him. “Goodbye, Senior.”

Zhou Xuci called out to stop her.

“Is something wrong?” Xu Zhizhi asked.

Zhou Xuci pulled out his phone, tapping on it as he walked toward her.

“You haven’t even added me on WeChat. How are you going to transfer the money to me?” Zhou Xuci stared at Xu Zhizhi.

“Sorry, I forgot,” Xu Zhizhi said, slightly embarrassed, quickly pulling out her phone.

Zhou Xuci scanned the QR code and added her as a friend.

Xu Zhizhi thanked Zhou Xuci once more before turning to walk toward the dormitory.

Zhou Xuci stood in place, his gaze lingering on Xu Zhizhi’s retreating figure. The cold wind blew the first snowflakes onto him, forming small patches of snow.

His eyes held a trace of expectation as he watched her figure grow more distant.

He hoped she would turn around, but once again, his hope was in vain.

Zhou Xuci didn’t know how many times he had stared at Xu Zhizhi’s unreachable back, yet she had never noticed.

Xu Zhizhi’s gaze toward Shen Yu was too focused, so much so that she overlooked the presence of Zhou Xuci behind her.

Zhou Xuci reached out, trying to grasp the swirling snowflakes, but he caught nothing. He lowered his eyes to his empty palm, a wave of loneliness spreading in his gaze.

Even if we start over, she still doesn’t like me.

It’s fine.

I still like her.

Xu Zhizhi arrived at the dormitory building and spotted Shen Yu from a distance.

Dressed in a down jacket, Shen Yu stood at the entrance, seemingly waiting for someone.

Xu Zhizhi didn’t want to interact with him. She lowered her head and quickened her pace, walking briskly forward.

“Xu Zhizhi!”

Shen Yu called out to her.

Xu Zhizhi pretended not to hear and walked even faster, but she couldn’t escape, Shen Yu blocked her path.

“Blocking me on WeChat and my phone number, what’s your deal?” Shen Yu’s face was cold as he stood in front of her, raising his voice in accusation. “What kind of game are you playing?”

He had come specifically to confront her.

Xu Zhizhi’s recent coldness and distance had inexplicably unsettled Young Master Shen.

In the past, Shen Yu had hated how Xu Zhizhi stubbornly clung to him. But now that she had inexplicably withdrawn, he found himself unaccustomed to it.

Perhaps it was the humiliation of being blocked that drove him to seek her out in the freezing cold, demanding answers.

Xu Zhizhi glanced at him indifferently. “Haven’t you always hated me?”

“Yeah, I hate you. So what?” Shen Yu replied arrogantly.

Xu Zhizhi stared at him without flinching, long accustomed to his harsh words. She felt numb. “Then isn’t blocking and deleting exactly what you wanted?”

Shen Yu’s eyes flickered over Xu Zhizhi’s wind-chilled, reddened face. His tone was impatient as he spoke domineeringly, “Even if we’re talking about blocking and deleting, that should be my decision. Who gave you the right to take matters into your own hands?”

Xu Zhizhi’s hands, hidden in her pockets, clenched into tight fists. She lowered her gaze, biting her lower lip hard, refusing to respond.

Her self-doubt gnawed at her. The label of the “obedient girl” weighed on her, making her afraid to resist.

“Xu Zhizhi, everything you eat, wear, and live on is provided by my family. To put it bluntly, you’re just a dog raised by the Shen family.” Shen Yu always knew how to strike where it hurt most.

“Shen Yu, I’m not your dog,” Xu Zhizhi interrupted, her body trembling slightly. “I’ll block whoever I want, it has nothing to do with you…”

She swallowed hard, lifting her head to meet Shen Yu’s condescending gaze. “You have no right to interfere with my actions.”

“Xu Zhizhi!” Shen Yu was infuriated, glaring at her. “If it weren’t for the Shen family, would you even be where you are today?”

Xu Zhizhi’s eyes reddened, tears welling up as she raised her voice in retort, “Shen Yu, if it weren’t for the Shen family, I wouldn’t be an orphan.”

Shen Yu choked on his words, pausing. “You!”

Xu Zhizhi’s eyes burned crimson. “I was foolish before and did many disrespectful things to you. I apologize for my past mistakes. From now on, I won’t disturb you again. And I ask that you don’t disturb me either.”

Living our own lives in peace is the best ending for us.

With those words, Xu Zhizhi turned and walked straight into the dormitory building without looking back.

Shen Yu let out a furious roar, “Xu Zhizhi! How dare you!”

…