But he didn't want Su Zhiyi to call him that.
He wanted her to use a more intimate term, not the generic "Second Young Master Si."
After careful thought, he decided to correct her: "By the way, you don't have to call me Second Young Master Si. It sounds weird."
"But I've heard others call you that." Su Zhiyi looked up and blinked at Si Yanjing: "If I can't call you that, what should I call you?"
Si Yanjing's height had to be over 185 cm.
At 168 cm, Su Zhiyi had to look up to see him.
Her hair, which had been resting on her shoulders, slid down her back as she tilted her head, revealing her smooth, fair neck.
Her eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings, and her beautiful, light-colored eyes glistened with a watery sheen. She looked at Si Yanjing innocently, her brows slightly furrowed as if troubled by how to address him.
Si Yanjing, a pure-hearted straight guy, was completely defenseless against Su Zhiyi's gaze.
Just being stared at like that, his barely settled emotions shot up like a rocket and tangled into an unbreakable knot.
He coughed into his fist: "Ahem, like you said, they're others. If it were someone else, I wouldn't even bother to respond, let alone add them on social media or treat them to dinner."
"To me, you're certainly not in the category of 'others.'"
"Eh? So I'm not an 'other'?" Su Zhiyi's worried expression vanished, and her brows relaxed: "Then does that make me special to you?"
Her voice was lively, like a newborn bird, clear and pleasant.
"Let me think... Can I call you Yanjing-gege?"
"Ge... Gege...?"
As soon as the word "gege" left her mouth, it hit Si Yanjing like a thunderbolt, leaving him reeling.
He was stunned for a long moment. Then, for some reason, the scene from the basketball court earlier today flashed through his mind.
Su Zhiyi sitting in the stands with another man.
Close together, acting intimately.
A strange, indescribable feeling surged in his heart.
Without thinking, he blurted out awkwardly: "Have you only called me 'gege,' or have you called someone else that too?"
Without a moment's hesitation, Su Zhiyi's cheeks didn't even flush. She naturally said what Si Yanjing wanted to hear: "Of course, I've only called you 'gege.'"
But the thing from earlier today had been like a thorn piercing his heart, making him uneasy all day.
After hesitating, he finally asked the question that had been bothering him: "Then who was that guy I saw during the day?"
"What? Which guy?"
Su Zhiyi was caught off guard by his question. She looked confused, her expression complex, as if deep in thought.
Then she slowly shook her head and said apologetically: "I'm not sure which guy you mean. I only have two close girlfriends at school. As for boys... really, none."
Seeing her confused and innocent look, the heavy stone hanging in Si Yanjing's heart finally dropped, and his guard completely lowered.
Earlier at the school gate, he had been asking Zheng Yu about the man beside Su Zhiyi.
According to Zheng Yu, that man was Su Zhiyi's fiancé, named Song Lian, the only son of the Song family, and the next head of the house.
Three months ago, the Su and Song families had broken off the engagement, so the fiancé was now an ex-fiancé.
At first, he was annoyed that this man just happened to be Su Zhiyi's ex-fiancé.
If Song Lian had no relation to Su Zhiyi, he could have fooled himself into thinking Song Lian was just a friend or a suitor.
But of all things, he had to be her ex-fiancé...
Now, it seemed this so-called ex-fiancé wasn't that important to Su Zhiyi.
He could rest easy.
"Is something wrong?" Su Zhiyi said. "Can you tell me the name of the person you're asking about? Maybe I can recall."
"No, it's nothing."
Si Yanjing didn't intend to keep pressing; any more questions would only seem intrusive.
He trusted Su Zhiyi.
Since he was just an ex-fiancé, there was no problem having a current fiancé, right?
With that thought, his mood lifted again, and he smiled at Su Zhiyi: "Weren't we talking about dinner? Have you decided on a restaurant?"
Seeing that Si Yanjing wasn't pressing further, Su Zhiyi tactfully let the sensitive topic drop and gave a cheerful "Mm."
"Mm!"
Then, as if on instinct, the girl took a step toward Si Yanjing.
She closed the distance between them, extended a hand around Si Yanjing's arm, and loosely linked it with his, while raising her other hand to point ahead.
"There's a restaurant over there that's really good. I went there with my bestie last month. Since you have no restrictions... let's go with that one. But you know the deal: I pick the restaurant, you pay the bill."
Si Yanjing hadn't expected her to suddenly lean in, and his body stiffened for a moment.
But he didn't resist her intimate gesture. He let her pull him toward the restaurant she pointed at.
"...Okay," he said in a low voice.
She was too close, at this distance...
Her hair strands brushed against the back of his hand in the breeze as they walked.
Soft, smooth...
He could faintly catch her scent. It was unlike the heavy, suffocating perfume that men and women abroad often wore, which he hated and made him keep his distance.
Her fragrance was subtle, like small daisies blooming in spring—a very clear, fresh scent, mixed with a hint of sweet honey.
He instinctively wanted to draw closer.
Si Yanjing felt that in just half a day, he had already fallen.
What he didn't know was that while he was immersed in the sweet ambiguity with the girl, she was conversing with something called a system.
"I've been really lucky these past two days," Su Zhiyi said. "I've scored two fancy meals in a row. Saving money!"
The host was happy, so System 030 was happy too, cheering: "Let's eat big! Eat big!"
Author's Note:
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The calm before the storm...