PDLP Chapter 433 - 431: Bonus -
Chapter 433 - 431: Bonus -
And he has a face like that...
Zhou Mochen stared at the photo of Si Xuan on his computer screen. Even though it was just a simple ID picture, it was easy to see how exceptionally handsome the man was...
He had never paid attention to anyone’s appearance before, man or woman, but this time was different.
Thinking about how his little girl seemed to have a soft spot for pretty faces, Zhou Mochen’s expression darkened. For a long moment, he regretted having so easily agreed to let her go on a trip last night.
Li Li stood to the side with a slight bow, his eyes lowered, completely unaware of what his boss was secretly agonizing over.
After a long moment, the tension in Zhou Mochen’s face slowly eased.
’It’s alright. I trust her.’
’My Susu is so wonderful. I shouldn’t always doubt her heart. I have to try to trust her.’
Xu Su had no idea her dear boyfriend was already on high alert for potential ’love rivals.’ She was happily watching two maids help her pack her luggage.
The temperature in the Tibetan Area during July and August was quite pleasant. She wasn’t particular about clothing styles, so she just had them pack a few casual outfits. The main things to prepare were some medicine, gear for the trip into Tibet, and so on.
She kept asking questions in the group chat, seeing what everyone else was preparing. Since Xu Su had left the gathering yesterday and not returned, she was naturally on the receiving end of some friendly criticism. They had all agreed to ’punish’ her properly the next time they met.
Sika, in particular, was sliding into her DMs for the gossip, persistently asking if the man who showed up yesterday was her boyfriend...
Xu Su was so pestered that she had no choice but to put her off by promising to talk when they met tomorrow.
There had been over twenty people at yesterday’s dinner, but not nearly as many were going to LS. Including Xu Su, there were only about ten people in total. As they were all discussing what to pack, Xu Su thought of an important question.
’A road trip... a road trip obviously means we have to drive ourselves, right?’
’But my driving skills...’
Xu Su typed: [Can I bum a ride? I just got my license and my driving is terrible. Is there a car I can get a spot in?]
Everyone in the group was close, and Xu Su was used to their straightforward way of chatting where you could just say whatever was on your mind.
Liu Yun quickly replied: [You didn’t know? We already sorted it out yesterday. We’re taking four cars. The Chief, Beiyue, You Shan, and Tiger are each driving one. The rest of us are all hitching a ride.]
Tiger was the screen name for Mountain Tiger Hunting. His real name was Chen Xing, and he was also a university student in Beijing, though not at University B.
’So everyone’s just hitching a ride, huh...’
Xu Su felt relieved.
She opened another chat window, where there was a new message.
Si Xuan: [Are you doing okay today?]
It was followed by a sun emoji.
As if trying to warm her spirits.
Xu Su paused for a moment, then replied, ’Not bad.’
Having been seen in that state by Si Xuan yesterday, Xu Su felt a sense of shame and embarrassment now that she had time to process it.
She had rarely been so mortified, which made her feelings toward this future senior from her department rather complicated.
On one hand, he had genuinely helped her. In fact, you could say he’d saved her by stopping her from self-harming just in time.
But on the other hand, Xu Su felt awkward, as if her privacy had been laid completely bare for him to see...
It gave her a helpless feeling of having been forced into an intimate conversation with a near-stranger.
Of course, it wasn’t Si Xuan’s fault.
She would get her feelings in order. At the very least, she couldn’t repay his kindness with malice.
After arranging to meet up with her friends from the Qingxuan Sect near the university town tomorrow, Xu Su exited the chat window and clicked into her small three-person group to chat with Huang Feng and Qian Jia.
Only after entering the group did she see that Huang Feng and Qian Jia had been pinging her in the chat all day yesterday.
The most recent message was from Huang Feng: [Susu, have you noticed? I think Shen Chen likes you.]
It had been sent yesterday afternoon. Huang Feng must have sent it after getting off work, having mulled it over for a while.
Xu Su hadn’t replied, so a series of missed voice calls and messages tagging her followed.
The chat history from before that was on another phone and was no longer accessible.
Xu Su stared intently at that top line of text, a little lost in thought.
’So, Shen Chen likes me, and even Huang Feng, who’s only met him a few times, has figured it out?’
After Xu Su sent an emoji to show she was online, a call from Huang Feng immediately popped up.
"You finally show up! You disappeared for two days straight, not answering your phone or replying to messages. If my brother hadn’t told me you were okay, I would’ve thought you’d gone missing."
The concern in Huang Feng’s voice warmed Xu Su’s heart. "You have time to call me while you’re at work?"
"When there are no customers at the milk tea shop, I can just mess around on my phone," Huang Feng mumbled. "I have so much to talk to you about! Did you know Shen Chen came looking for me and Jiajia the day before yesterday? Jiajia gets off work soon, too. Come find us."
’The day before yesterday?’
That was the day she’d stood up Huang Feng and Qian Jia to go to the construction site, the day Shen Chen had been searching for her everywhere. That must have been why he couldn’t find her, which led to him going crazy yesterday.
It was indeed inconvenient for Huang Feng to talk for long while she was at work. After hanging up, Xu Su went to the study to let Zhou Mochen know she was leaving, then drove out.
As it happened, the dessert and milk tea shop where Huang Feng worked wasn’t far from University B, and Qian Jia’s coffee shop was on the same street. It was summer break, and the afternoon sun was at its most scorching, so there were very few people on the street.
Xu Su drove a custom-made Phantom. She no longer cared whether it was low-key or not. In a place like Beijing, there was no such thing as a flashy luxury car.
She parked the car in front of the milk tea shop where Huang Feng worked. Xu Su put on a pair of sunglasses and got out directly, not even bothering with a mask.
After Si Xuan had stopped her from hurting herself yesterday, Xu Su had come to a realization. It was her own face, so why the hell should she hide it? It wasn’t like she’d done something she couldn’t be seen for!
Inside the dessert and milk tea shop, a few couples were lingering to enjoy the air conditioning. As Xu Su walked in, a girl in one of the couples happened to be facing the door. The moment she saw Xu Su, her expression went slack, and her eyes locked onto her, unable to look away.
Her boyfriend, sitting across from her with his back to the door, called out to her several times. When he saw his girlfriend looking as if she were completely spellbound, he assumed some campus heartthrob was out showing off. Annoyed, he turned to look at the entrance, and his gaze instantly went vacant, equally captivated.
Huang Feng, standing at the cash register, had known Xu Su since she was sixteen. Over the past three years, she had witnessed the impact of Xu Su’s increasingly breathtaking beauty day after day, so she was long used to such reactions from strangers.
She waved at Xu Su and carried a glass of lemonade over to a small table in the corner.
"I get off in a little over an hour, and Jiajia will be here soon. Just hang out here for a bit while I finish up the last leg of my shift."
Xu Su, of course, didn’t mind. She smiled and waved at Huang Feng. "Go ahead and finish your work. We can all go out for dinner together after Jiajia gets off."
Of course her friend’s job was important. She wasn’t in a rush, and she wasn’t the type of person who expected the world to revolve around her.
Xu Su pulled out her phone to entertain herself, completely oblivious to the fact that in just that short amount of time, a photo of her was already being passed around a small group chat at University B.