CM - 66

Shen Ting-wen returned home and sent Zhou Shu-rong a message: “I’m home.”

Zhou Shu-rong saw it but didn’t reply.

Shen Ting-wen sent another message: “Asleep?”

Zhou Shu-rong was lying on her bed, looking at the chat screen. Shen Ting-wen’s messages kept popping up. She didn’t know what to say in reply, but she really wanted him to know she was still awake.

Shen Ting-wen then sent: “Good night.”

Zhou Shu-rong felt a slight urgency, just a little, not much. She picked up her phone and sent him a message: “You woke me up.”

Upon seeing the message, Shen Ting-wen smiled and didn’t expose her: “Oh, well, go back to sleep then.”

Zhou Shu-rong rolled over, holding her phone, and typed a few words: “How can I sleep when you’ve woken me up?”

Shen Ting-wen put down his glass of water, cleared his throat, and pressed the voice message button: “Then should I sing you to sleep?”

Hearing his voice, the image of him looking hurt and talking about his tightness returned to her mind. She threw her phone to the side and didn’t reply.

She rolled over again, lying flat on her back and staring at the ceiling, feeling disappointed in herself for letting Shen Ting-wen lead her around. She was too easily tempted. Why did every little thing he did now affect her emotions? It was so embarrassing.

Seeing that she wasn’t replying, Shen Ting-wen guessed she was trying to brainwash herself into keeping her distance from him again. So he sent another message: “Don’t try to get away from your boyfriend. Your boyfriend doesn’t approve.”

Hearing this, Zhou Shu-rong frowned: “Can you stop calling yourself my boyfriend? Don’t you have a name?”

“I do. My name is Shen Zhou. Shen from Shen Ting-wen, and Zhou from Zhou Shu-rong.”

Zhou Shu-rong’s heart raced.

Shen Ting-wen continued: “Even though my name is very nice, I still prefer the title of ‘your boyfriend.’ I worked so hard to become your boyfriend. You’re not allowed to take that right away from me.”

Zhou Shu-rong’s heart beat even faster.

Shen Ting-wen glanced at the time. It was getting late. He lowered his voice and spoke softly: “Good night, my little silly Rong.”

Hearing his voice, Zhou Shu-rong, who felt he had the potential of a voice actor, was filled with a sense of unease. She felt so hot she couldn’t sleep for the next five hours.

Shen Ting-wen went up to the third floor, opened his bedroom door, and turned on the light, revealing a room filled with photos of Zhou Shu-rong, from childhood to now. He picked one up, touched her expressionless face, and thought about the anger, nervousness, and hurt she had shown him. His smile returned.

The first time he saw her, he was only three years old, just starting to form memories. Besides Shen Cheng and Wen Huo, the only person he remembered was Zhou Shu-rong.

Back then, he didn’t have many thoughts, or rather, he didn’t think he had any. He was just curious and then interested. Gradually, through this process of discovery, he fell deeply. One day, he suddenly got hard looking at her picture, and he knew he was completely lost.

He didn’t know when he started having these feelings for her, and he didn’t need to know. The process wasn’t important.

He sat down at his desk, rested his head on it, and closed his eyes. His mind was filled with Zhou Shu-rong, every version of her.

How could he be so consumed by one woman? What kind of man was he? But he was exactly this kind of man.

His intelligence and ability surpassed so many people; he might be more useful to society than even Shen Cheng, but all he wanted was Zhou Shu-rong.

It couldn’t be helped. Zhou Shu-rong couldn’t live without him; she needed him more than society did. Although this might be a betrayal of national resources and his upbringing, who was truly without guilt?

Between owing it to society and owing it to Zhou Shu-rong, he would always choose to owe it to society. Society was not as important as Zhou Shu-rong.

He was a common man, and a common man only wanted to protect the woman he loved.

On Monday, school started. Zhou Shu-rong was in so much pain from her period that her face was pale, her lips were white, and she lay on her desk all morning, not moving at all.

Shen Ting-wen saw how much pain she was in, so he did her cleaning duty for her and excused her from morning exercises.

The teacher in charge of morning exercises went to Class 16 and didn’t see Zhou Shu-rong. She asked where she was.

Shen Ting-wen said, “She’s not feeling well.”

The teacher rolled her eyes, “What’s not feeling well? Faking period pain again? I’ve noticed you girls have no other excuse; you always say you have period pain. I’m telling you, one day you’ll be cursed and get a real illness, and you’ll regret the laziness you’re showing today!”

Shen Ting-wen didn’t like what he was hearing, “Teacher, you’re a woman too, aren’t you? It’s really vicious to curse other women like that.”

The teacher was taken aback and shot him a nasty look, “It’s none of your business. Stay where you are!”

The class was a little surprised by Shen Ting-wen’s actions. It wasn’t just this time; his behavior lately had been so unlike him. He was paying too much attention to Zhou Shu-rong.

Back in the classroom, some students habitually turned on the air conditioner. Shen Ting-wen reached out and turned it off, which earned him a wave of dissatisfaction, but no one dared to say anything.

Shen Ting-wen had Jing He buy two boxes of drinks from the convenience store and gave a bottle to everyone. Only then did the sarcastic comments and eye-rolling stop.

Jing He handed a hot milk tea to Shen Ting-wen, “Brother, you don’t usually drink milk tea.”

Shen Ting-wen didn’t say anything and placed it on Zhou Shu-rong’s desk.

Jing He understood.

At lunchtime, everyone went to the cafeteria or convenience store. Zhou Shu-rong didn’t go. She couldn’t move. It was strange; this time, the pain was exceptionally bad.

Shen Ting-wen also didn’t go. He ordered food from off-campus, climbed the wall to pick it up, and gave it to Zhou Shu-rong. While he was at it, he put a heat pack on her stomach, knelt down by her desk, and held her back, saying, “Let’s take the afternoon off.”

Zhou Shu-rong turned her head to look at him, like a little pitiful thing, “The school doesn’t allow dating. Can you just stay away from me?”

“No.”

“You’re so annoying,” Zhou Shu-rong said weakly.

Shen Ting-wen was firm, “I’m going to ask for the afternoon off for you.”

Zhou Shu-rong didn’t want him to, “The test scores are coming out this afternoon. I want to see my physics grade.”

“I’ll get them for you.”

Zhou Shu-rong didn’t engage with him further and instead said, “This might be a warning sign, telling me to break up with you.”

Shen Ting-wen nodded, “Okay, we’ll break up.”

Zhou Shu-rong was stunned.

Shen Ting-wen reached out and held her stomach, warming it, “You’ll still be in pain after we break up, so does it even matter?”

Zhou Shu-rong fell silent. His palm was so warm.

Seeing her continue to break out in a cold sweat, Shen Ting-wen decided not to let her stay at school. As soon as the homeroom teacher was in, he went to ask for the afternoon off for her.

The homeroom teacher approved her leave but didn’t let him go. She reminded him, “This is a very important period. Don’t disappoint your teachers. There are some things you need to avoid, and you need to keep your distance from certain students.”

Shen Ting-wen couldn’t agree to that, “Have my grades dropped?”

The homeroom teacher fell silent. They hadn’t. Even though his mind had been on Zhou Shu-rong lately, his grades hadn’t slipped. Just as other teachers had said before, a student like Shen Ting-wen, from a family like his, should have already gone abroad according to certain unwritten rules. But he had stayed in the country for school, raising the university acceptance rate and increasing the school’s reputation. They should tacitly give him some leeway and open a few doors for him.

She felt she was being too nosy. She should be paying attention to the students whose grades were dropping.

These damned social rules.