SWTHTC - 32

Chapter 32: “Lunch Together?”

October 8th—a day for returning to school, a day for exams.

And a day for meeting.

When Hou Zihao walked into the first exam room, Zhou Leqi hadn’t arrived yet. However, he was fortunate enough to notice a key detail: their seats were next to each other.

Mock exams always assigned seating based on the previous major exam results. The top scorer sat in the first row, first seat; the second-place student sat in the first row, second seat, and so on. Since they had ranked first and second respectively in the last mock exam, their seats were now adjacent. Although the exam seating arrangement kept students spaced apart, this setup was much closer than their current classroom arrangement.

Not bad at all—another reason to love exams.

Hou Zihao happily settled into his seat. There were still twenty-five minutes before the first exam started. Some students from other exam rooms who were close to Hou Zihao formed groups and flocked to the first exam room to “worship” him, seeking blessings for good luck. Ge Ao was the most enthusiastic among them. He had run over from the second exam room, praying that he wouldn’t fall out of the top forty in the science rankings, or else his mother would ban him from using the computer.

He prayed fervently for nearly five minutes, treating Hou Zihao like Manjushri Bodhisattva, hoping to borrow some of his brilliance. Hou Zihao used to let them do this without complaint, but this time he was a bit stingy. After a while, he stopped them. Ge Ao, confused, asked why. Hou Zihao’s expression turned serious as he said, “This time, I need to focus.”

At this, Yan Lin, sitting in the third seat of the first row, became unhappy. He immediately spoke up, questioning, “What do you mean? Are you saying you didn’t even try hard last time and still beat me?”

Hou Zihao: “…Sigh.”

Ge Ao stood by, grinning mischievously and stirring the pot. After a while, he asked Hou Zihao, “Why are you so serious this time?”

Hou Zihao didn’t explain, but he had his own reasoning.

He had scored eighty points lower than Zhou Leqi in the last mock exam. Who knew? If she skipped one section of the comprehensive science test, her total score might still surpass his. Not only would that be embarrassing, but it also gave him an anxiety akin to being a “good-for-nothing unemployed boyfriend.” It wasn’t about competing with her, but at least he wanted to narrow the gap to within twenty points to avoid looking too bad.

As he pondered this, Zhou Leqi finally entered the exam room with the proctor.

She was already beautiful, but after seven days of not seeing her, she seemed even more radiant. Her familiar figure stirred something in Hou Zihao’s heart. As she passed by his desk, he subtly greeted her without drawing attention.

She saw him and lightly nodded in response.

Instantly, his mind drifted away from the exam.

At this moment, the proctor cleared their throat, standing on the podium while organizing the soon-to-be-distributed exam papers. They glared at Ge Ao and said, “Students from other exam rooms, please leave quickly. The exam is about to begin.”

Ge Ao realized the teacher was referring to him. He immediately shrank back, ready to flee. Before leaving, however, he couldn’t resist reaching out to touch Hou Zihao’s forehead, giggling. “I’ve taken your brilliance!”

Hou Zihao: “….”

Chinese was Zhou Leqi’s least favorite subject, and to make matters worse, it was always the first exam.

She always felt that every option in the multiple-choice questions about scientific essays was identical. She thought there was nothing to say about ancient poetry analysis, and the essay topics always seemed vague and impossible to distill into a clear thesis… Therefore, every time she took the Chinese exam, she was particularly nervous. To maximize her score, she meticulously tried to hit every scoring point, cramming every available space on the answer sheet until she literally couldn’t write anymore. From the moment the exam papers were handed out to the final seconds before collection, she kept her head down, writing nonstop.

Hou Zihao, on the other hand, was different.

He was lazy. His answers were as concise as possible, yet he always hit the key points. Everything the standard answer included, he had; and sometimes, he even had things the standard answer didn’t. He finished every exam twenty minutes early, capped his pen, and never made any further changes.

Then what did he do?

He turned his head to look at Zhou Leqi.

At first, Zhou Leqi didn’t notice him watching her. But when she glanced at the clock on the wall behind the classroom, her gaze accidentally met his halfway. He had been spinning his pen smoothly and elegantly, but the moment their eyes met, his heart skipped a beat. The pen slipped from his fingers and fell onto the desk with a “clap.”

This startled the proctor.

Upon noticing that the second-ranked student wasn’t reviewing their paper but instead playing with a pen, the proctor grew furious and scolded, “If you’re done, check your answers carefully! Don’t get cocky, or you’ll regret it during the actual college entrance exam!”

Hou Zihao: “….”

Zhou Leqi didn’t look at him again. After checking the time, she lowered her head and resumed answering the exam questions.

But her lips… secretly curled upward into a faint smile.

The Chinese exam ended at 11:30 AM, right at lunchtime. There were still several hours before the afternoon math exam. Yan Lin packed his bag and invited Hou Zihao to have lunch together in the cafeteria. Unfortunately, he was rejected.

Hou Zihao dragged his feet while packing his bag, glancing sideways at Zhou Leqi in the first seat of the first row. He dismissed Yan Lin, saying, “I’m not hungry. You go with Ge Ao.”

Yan Lin: “….”

Good job, Hou Zihao. Really impressive.

Speechless, Yan Lin slung his bag over his shoulder and left. By then, only a few students remained in the exam room. Hou Zihao casually slung his bag over one shoulder and approached Zhou Leqi. Bending down, he softly asked, “Want to have lunch together?”

At that moment, Zhou Leqi looked up at him but didn’t speak.

Hou Zihao thought for a moment, guessing she might be worried about attracting attention if they went to the cafeteria together. He tentatively suggested, “Not the cafeteria, but the small food street nearby.”

He was indeed skilled at reading her mind.

Sure enough, this time Zhou Leqi pursed her lips slightly and nodded.

During exam periods, the school gates were relatively relaxed compared to usual times, allowing students to come and go during breaks. So, Hou Zihao took Zhou Leqi to the small food street near the school.

He had known for a while that she loved meat, so he had done his homework. On this street, there was a famous fried chicken strip shop and a grilled squid stall. If it weren’t for the incident where their relationship had been reported and she had gotten upset with him, he would have brought her here long ago.

But his preparation hadn’t gone to waste. Now, he put it to use. He queued up to buy her food, while she bought two cups of milk tea from another stall. They strolled through the bustling street, eating and chatting casually.

She truly enjoyed eating meat. She devoured the fried chicken strips with great relish. Though she didn’t say much, the frequency of her blinking increased, and the warmth of the food added a rosy glow to her cheeks, making her even more beautiful.

Seeing her enjoyment, he felt content. However, he noticed that she was unusually quiet today, and her occasional glances at him seemed a bit off.

It was as if… she had some grievances toward him.

He wasn’t sure if he was overthinking it, so he cautiously asked how her Chinese exam went. She responded indifferently with a simple “Fine,” offering no further elaboration.

…Hou Zihao realized the situation wasn’t good.

Had he offended her again?

Hou Zihao furrowed his brow, frantically reviewing recent events. After much contemplation, he still couldn’t pinpoint what he might have done wrong. They hadn’t seen each other during the break, so how could he have offended her?

Fearing that the progress he had made before the holiday would be erased, he hesitantly asked, “…Are you mad at me?”

He had lost count of how many times he had asked her this question. In the past, Zhou Leqi would always respond with “No” or “I’m not mad.” But this time, she turned her head to look at the roadside, pretending not to hear him.

That was it.

She was really mad.

Hou Zihao’s confidence wavered. He painstakingly reviewed everything again but still couldn’t figure out where he had gone wrong. After a while, he cautiously asked, “…Can you give me a rough idea of what’s bothering you?”

Zhou Leqi glanced at him.

He rubbed his nose and said, “Just this once. Next time, I’ll figure it out myself.”

Zhou Leqi pursed her lips and speared another piece of fried chicken with her skewer.

She wasn’t exactly mad… just feeling a bit uneasy.

Yesterday, he hadn’t contacted her. Normally, this wouldn’t matter—who contacts someone every single day? They weren’t kindergarten kids. Yet, she inexplicably felt a twinge of disappointment and a sense of helplessness, as if everything was slipping out of her control.

She knew these feelings were absurd, even somewhat pathological, but she couldn’t understand their source.

In truth, it stemmed from insecurity.

Ever since Zhou Lei and Yu Qing divorced, her heart had been in a constant state of turmoil. Deep down, she yearned for an anchor—a constant presence in her life.

She hadn’t consciously regarded Hou Zihao as such a figure, but subconsciously, she hoped he would always be there, not suddenly appearing and disappearing at random.

These expectations were unreasonable, and she knew it. But perhaps because he had always been so kind and accommodating to her, she felt she could cautiously express her needs.

She gently poked at the golden fried chicken strips in her small bag with her skewer, avoiding his gaze. Masking her awkwardness with indifference, she asked, “…Were you busy yesterday?”

Yesterday?

Hou Zihao raised an eyebrow.

Yesterday… he had gone out with his family for dinner. Afterward, Uncle Yuan and Aunt Zhang had enthusiastically invited them to play golf. The venue was far from the city, and they returned home very late, nearing 11 PM. He had considered sending her a text to say goodnight, but feared waking her and upsetting her.

But what did she mean now?

Was she… blaming him for not contacting her yesterday?

Hou Zihao grew even more uncertain. Suddenly feeling a lack of insight, he cautiously said, “Yesterday? I went out with my parents. We got home around 11 PM… Busy or not, sigh.”

As he spoke, he observed her expression, hoping to gauge her emotions. However, this was difficult. They hadn’t known each other for long, and Zhou Leqi wasn’t someone who readily displayed her feelings.

She simply replied with an “Oh” and said nothing more.

What is a girl? Perhaps forever a mystery. Just like Su Ruini to Hou Feng—even after decades of marriage, Hou Feng still needed to constantly observe and guess her thoughts.

This was an essential part of relationships, as well as a romantic charm—a sign that one person was willing to offer another boundless care and patience.

At that moment, Hou Zihao suddenly understood this. After a brief silence, he began this gentle process of deduction.

He asked her, “Can I contact you every day from now on?”

After asking this, he noticed her fingers gripping the skewer tightened slightly. Her lips, partially hidden by stray strands of hair, seemed to curve upward for a fleeting moment. Her eyes remained lowered, seemingly indifferent, but her arms unconsciously crossed in front of her, silently revealing her inner insecurity.

He heard her say, “I won’t necessarily reply every time.”

Reserved, tsundere, adorable.

Endearing.

Hou Zihao smiled and said, “Alright. Reply when you have time, and ignore me when you don’t.”

She didn’t speak, but it seemed she was secretly happy.

Hou Zihao withdrew his gaze and thought:

He seemed to understand her a little better than before.

________________________________________

Author’s Note:

He really likes her.