OSTF - 9

“Rub what? Want your eyes to get damaged?”

A deep, magnetic voice sounded in her ear.

He Xingwang held her wrist, forcibly stopping her movement, leaned in slightly, and said in a low voice, “Look up.”

Chi Suisui tilted her head back and blinked.

To be honest, He Xingwang didn’t know if she was telling the truth, but watching her blink repeatedly, she did look quite uncomfortable.

“Did an eyelash fall in?” Chi Suisui asked.

He Xingwang’s attention also shifted to her eyelashes, curled and long, like fans, with a pearlescent shimmer around her eyes at the moment.

He reached out, his fingertip pressed on her eyelid, gently lifting it.

“No,” He Xingwang said in a deep voice.

“Is that so?” Chi Suisui blinked again, pursed her lips, and urged, “It really hurts, He Xingwang, blow on it.”

“You’re quite energetic when ordering people around,” He Xingwang chuckled dryly.

His fingers were warm, and they felt warm on her eyelids too.

He Xingwang looked down at her and blew twice, very lightly. The air brushed over her eyes, slightly cool.

The two were close, and the faint fragrance from Chi Suisui’s body wafted into his nose, dispelling the stuffiness of the auditorium.

Under the yellow light, her features softened.

Chi Suisui’s eyes just looked at him like a quiet lake, so still that it calmed one’s heart.

Her clear eyes just looked at him.

He Xingwang blew twice, and then he saw the hidden slyness in her eyes. He lowered his gaze and said, “Okay.”

He released her hand, his expression indifferent.

Chi Suisui said, “Thank you.”

He Xingwang only let out a “hmm” from his throat and didn’t say anything else. The leaders in the front row had almost all left.

Finally, someone noticed a missing person. “Where’s God He?”

The people in front looked back, but Chi Suisui had already turned around at that moment and walked forward, lifting her skirt, without looking back.

Her beautiful butterfly wings of the back slightly protruded, tempting to touch.

He Xingwang walked behind her. His long legs originally took large strides, and he could have overtaken Chi Suisui in a few steps, but he stayed behind her.

The school leaders in front wanted to urge them but couldn’t.

Until they left the auditorium.

Chi Suisui went backstage midway. It was full of alumni who had just changed clothes. Seeing her come in, they said, “President Sui, your cello is over there.”

The deep, restrained cello was placed there, with the area around it cleared.

Su Mian sneaked in from outside. “President Sui!”

Chi Suisui had just changed back into her original clothes and was tidying her hair. She turned her head and glanced at her. “Why did you come over?”

“I couldn’t help it!” Su Mian jumped over. “You were so cool and beautiful today! Did you hear us cheering for you?”

Chi Suisui smiled. “I’m not a celebrity.”

Su Mian said, “This has nothing to do with chasing stars. You were just too amazing. Did you see Zhou Qingya? Her face looked like it was about to explode when she left.”

“You turned a perfectly normal person into a horror movie,” Chi Suisui said casually. “What she’s like doesn’t affect me.”

Zhou Qingya’s behavior was not enough to occupy even a sliver of space in her heart.

The others backstage exchanged glances: This is the realm of the truly accomplished.

After being plotted against by Zhou Qingya, she could directly confront her to settle the score, and afterwards, she was calm and didn’t care about the other person’s state at all.

Learning this was a skill.

“They just said that God He took a long time to appear in sight after leaving the stage,” Su Mian recalled something. “I wonder what happened.”

Chi Suisui paused. “What?”

Su Mian said, “I don’t know, the group chat is still guessing.”

She held out her phone screen. The messages in the group chat were coming in several per second, instantly reaching 99+, very fast.

【Maybe his shoelaces came undone and he was tying them?】

【The main thing is that it’s a blind spot there, we can’t see either.】

【Speaking of which, Chi Suisui also seemed to...】

【Chi Suisui looked so beautiful this morning! A fairy-like alumna!】

【I love both God He and her!】

The rest of the topics were diverted.

Su Mian said, “I think tying shoelaces still seems like a reasonable explanation. You went on stage, was he wearing shoes with laces today?”

“...”

Chi Suisui hadn’t paid attention to that.

Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t very clear. It seemed like he was.

Chi Suisui asked amusedly, “If you went up to present flowers, would you look down to see if He Xingwang’s shoes were laced?”

“That’s true.” Su Mian was embarrassed. “Given that opportunity, I would either have fainted or just be looking at his face.”

Chi Suisui withdrew her gaze, her eyes sparkling, and slowly said, “Maybe there was just a small accident.”

Who said that accident couldn’t be a person?

After changing clothes backstage, the school paid for a dinner.

Adding up to more than twenty or thirty people, they all went to the booked banquet hall in a grand manner. The female host who had spoken to Chi Suisui earlier was also there.

After arriving, she went to the restroom. When she came back, she whispered in Chi Suisui’s ear, “I heard that the school leaders and God He are in the next hall.”

Chi Suisui was taken aback.

He Xingwang couldn’t eat outside food, so wouldn’t he be hungry tonight? But given his personality, he probably came prepared.

Someone next to her leaned over and asked, “Really?”

“Can we sneak over there?”

“I want a photo and an autograph, ahhh!”

The host smiled. “If you can sneak past the school leaders, I’ll admire you.”

As soon as these words came out, the girls in the private room all looked distressed.

The host quickly changed the subject again. “The video of this graduation ceremony will probably be edited in a couple of days and then posted on the official website.”

Many students took private photos today, but they definitely couldn’t compare to the professional ones.

Chi Suisui didn’t care about this.

She lowered her head, opened her phone, thought for a moment, and sent a message to He Xingwang: 【I heard them say you’re in the next hall.】

A few seconds later, there was a reply.

He Xingwang: 【Them?】

The focus of her question was the latter half, so why did he reply with this? Chi Suisui doubted his ability to grasp the main point.

She replied: 【The host, she.】

Chi Suisui: 【I typed the wrong word.】

Coming out with the school leaders meant accepting all sorts of questions, and once they started chatting, they couldn’t stop. He Xingwang himself didn’t talk much.

He lowered his eyes and swiped open his screen, seeing the two sentences Chi Suisui had just sent. He chuckled softly.

He Xingwang: 【Glad you corrected yourself.】

Chi Suisui: 【You still haven’t replied to my question. Are you next door?】

Chi Suisui: 【Then I’ll ride back with you.】

Just then, the dean next to her turned his head and asked, “Xingwang, when is your next competition?”

He Xingwang looked up. “Next month.”

Once this topic was opened, the deans and the vice-chancellor seemed like curious babies, asking questions endlessly, one after another.

He Xingwang tapped his finger on the table. As the number of questions increased, the rhythm of the dull tapping gradually quickened, small and clear.

He took the initiative to speak. “The food is getting cold.”

Only then did the school leaders hurriedly pick up their chopsticks.

They knew the implications of He Xingwang not eating outside food and didn’t insist.

Only after another five minutes did He Xingwang finally look down at his phone.

His lips were pressed into a thin line as he lowered his eyes and replied: 【Okay.】

The other side was quiet.

Since she hadn’t received a message from He Xingwang for a minute or two, Chi Suisui stopped looking at her phone and started chatting with the female host.

Someone who could be a host must have excellent eloquence and high emotional intelligence, able to quickly sense which topics were awkward and which were interesting.

Chi Suisui liked talking to smart people.

Halfway through the meal, the door was pushed open again.

Zhou Qingya and her friend appeared in the private room. Her friend was one of the people in charge of the graduation ceremony program list, so it was natural for her to come.

An hour had passed since they last saw each other, and Zhou Qingya looked very calm on the surface.

But seeing Chi Suisui sitting there with a faint smile, she still gritted her teeth and sat in the place furthest from Chi Suisui.

One of the reasons Zhou Qingya followed was that God He was next door.

She wanted to seize the opportunity to ask for an interview after leaving later. Just thinking about it made her heart burn with excitement.

Once she interviewed He Xingwang, everything else wouldn’t matter. The school incident wouldn’t affect her career, and who would remember after graduation?

When people of similar age ate together, most of them were actually playing with their own phones.

Not long after, exclamations rang out—

“Suisui, so many people are posting your video on their Moments!”

“I’ve seen it on short video platforms too.”

“My roommate’s Weibo was posted just ten minutes ago, and it already has hundreds of reposts, even though she doesn’t have many followers.”

Chi Suisui only curved her eyebrows slightly.

After a long while of lively chatter in the private room, someone said in the group chat: The leaders next door are leaving.

Instantly, this private room also became lively.

Everyone wanted to bump into He Xingwang.

However, they didn’t encounter him when they went out. It was estimated that the school leaders had gone directly to the underground parking lot and didn’t need to wait for a car here.

Their hopes of seeing He Xingwang were dashed.

Chi Suisui waited boredly at the door.

She opened her phone and saw He Xingwang’s reply from half an hour ago, guessing that he should be coming out soon.

Chi Suisui sent a message: “I’m at the lobby entrance.”

The reply came quickly.

He Xingwang: 【Okay.】

Chi Suisui was already used to his few words. Strictly speaking, he had become taciturn since that incident a few years ago.

The environment determines personality, and that saying was indeed correct.

However, no matter how much his personality changed, the person was still the same.

A round-faced girl walked over and asked curiously, “Suisui, what brand is the dress you’re wearing today? I think the design is so beautiful, I’d like to take a look too.”

Chi Suisui smiled. “It’s not a big brand.”

As soon as she finished speaking, a snort came from the left.

The air suddenly quieted down, and everyone’s eyes turned to Zhou Qingya. Zhou Qingya flicked her hair. “What are you looking at me for?”

The lobby was brightly lit. The clothes she was wearing today were a classic Chanel, recognizable to anyone who paid attention to fashion.

The host quickly smoothed things over. “As long as it looks good, what brand can’t you wear? I’ve even worn rented dresses.”

The person who had just asked the question was even more embarrassed.

Chi Suisui didn’t say anything, but the corners of her lips curved up as she looked at the bewildered girl. “Do you like it very much?”

The girl, aware of the awkwardness, didn’t know what to say.

“It was custom-made in Paris,” Chi Suisui said unhurriedly. “If you like it, I can give you the designer’s contact information.”

In short, it was haute couture.

The group of people standing here were no strangers to haute couture. But whether they could afford it was another matter. Most of them were still students. Even if their families were wealthy, they would mostly buy high-end luxury goods. A piece of haute couture costing hundreds of thousands or millions was still beyond their reach.

Zhou Qingya’s face turned black.

Enjoying the drama, a few girls started talking. “Suisui has such good taste. It looked really beautiful from down below on the stage.”

“So the previous rumors were all false.”

“President Sui is a real rich and beautiful woman.”

Zhou Qingya’s friend pulled her back and whispered, “Don’t humiliate yourself again. The matter that finally died down.”

To make her expression look better, she coaxed, “I’ll have my dad pick us up tonight. A young lady like her still has to wait.”

Just as she was speaking, a Bentley arrived.

It was dark outside, and Zhou Qingya didn’t look closely at the license plate. She pulled her friend forward and couldn’t help but snort as she passed Chi Suisui.

“Some people can keep waiting. My uncle is really—”

Zhou Qingya was about to open the car door but couldn’t. The car door was locked.

Because of her provocation, everyone looked over there.

Zhou Qingya had only said half a sentence when the rear window slowly lowered. He Xingwang slightly turned his head, frowning as he looked at the two people standing by the car.

“—He... God He?”

Zhou Qingya’s eyes widened. She didn’t have time to think about why her friend’s father had become God He. A moment of surprise flooded her heart.

“God He, can I interview you?”

“...”

Zhou Qingya didn’t get an answer. She glanced at He Xingwang and realized he wasn’t looking at her but past her, towards someone behind her.

She turned her head and saw the end of his gaze.

It was Chi Suisui again.

He Xingwang ignored her words. The light shining out from the hall made his eyebrows and eyes look even deeper, his contours distinct.

He lowered his eyes. “Chi Suisui.”

His voice was deep and steady.

Chi Suisui was watching the drama with her arms crossed. She couldn’t help but raise her lips, and He Xingwang caught her smiling. The smile faded.

He was angry.

Chi Suisui said goodbye to the host. “I’ll leave first.”

The host was also stunned. What was He Xingwang doing, waiting for Chi Suisui? She quickly reacted. “Okay, be careful.”

The people around her were as dumbfounded as she was, countless questions stuck in their throats.

Chi Suisui glanced at the people by the car. “Excuse me.”

The dazed Zhou Qingya was pulled aside by her recovered friend, watching helplessly as Chi Suisui got into the car and closed the door.

The car window also closed, and they couldn’t see anything clearly.

A group of people looked at each other, watching the taillights gradually disappear from view before letting out a breath.

Someone broke the silence. “Was Chi Suisui just in God He’s car?”

No one answered.

This was too surreal. Two people who clearly had no intersection...

The host stood there, feeling like the amount of information today was explosive. Looking at the extremely embarrassed Zhou Qingya in front, she couldn’t help but laugh.

City neon lights lit up the prosperous night.

After getting in the car, Chi Suisui tidied her clothes and said casually, “You didn’t reply to me for so long just now. I thought you had left first. I’m going to settle the score with you when we get back.”

Not to mention complaining, at least their relationship was there.

Leaving her alone to leave, she wouldn’t be angry, but if their parents found out, they would both be dragged back and reprimanded.

Chi Suisui took out a mirror and touched up her lipstick.

He Xingwang was staring at her, her red lips glistening. He said slowly, “There is indeed a score to settle.”

Chi Suisui tilted her head. “What score?”

Wait a moment, this sounded like what she said when she went to confront someone.

Chi Suisui pondered for a few seconds. Could it be that He Xingwang realized she was deliberately teasing him and wanted to settle the score?

Chi Suisui coughed lightly. “He Xingwang, you’re so petty.”

He Xingwang remained unmoved. “Hmm.”