She's Too Sweet - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Su He looked at her WeChat messages, then glanced at the dark sky outside.

Behind her, Chi Ying peeked over and asked, “Su He, what do you want to eat? I’m ordering takeout.”

Su He lowered her head.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard.

Finally, she put away her phone, grabbed some clothes, and went to the bathroom to change. Coming out, she told Chi Ying and Chen Lin, “I need to go out for something. You two eat without me.”

“Hmm, it’s almost 8 o’clock, where are you going?” Chi Ying asked casually.

Su He just smiled without answering, put on her shoes, grabbed her bag, and left the dorm.

Chen Lin called out, “Come back early!”

Su He nodded.

Soon, she disappeared into the night.

When she arrived at Huadong New District, it was almost 9 PM. Su He found it hard to believe she was rushing over like this. But ultimately, he was her employer.

She should be rushing over.

She went upstairs and used her key to open the door. The room smelled of cigarettes, making her wrinkle her nose as she entered. She immediately saw Xie Lou sitting on the sofa with a tablet in his hands. He lazily glanced up at her and said, “There’s food in the kitchen. I haven’t had lunch.”

Su He: “……”

She remained silent and turned to enter the kitchen.

The counter was covered with ingredients – vegetables, meat, and fish. The fish was still jumping, clearly just bought.

He had calculated that she would be done with military training and called her over to cook.

Just like last time, she made sour and spicy fish, keeping the other dishes light and nutritious. When she brought everything to the table, Xie Lou caught the spicy scent and raised an eyebrow, asking, “Sour and spicy fish?”

“Yes, is that okay?” Su He responded, bringing out bowls and chopsticks.

Xie Lou chuckled softly, “Of course it is.”

His deep voice and laugh made her ears tingle. Su He’s face reddened slightly as she wiped her hands clean and said, “Let’s eat.”

Xie Lou sat down and reached for his chopsticks.

Then he paused, looking toward Su He.

His gaze fell on her neck.

Her skin was fair, making the red marks obvious.

At this moment, they looked like bite marks.

Xie Lou withdrew his gaze, his lips curling into an ambiguous smile as he lowered his head and began eating.

Su He felt strange under his gaze. Only after visiting the bathroom and seeing the red marks on her neck did she suddenly understand. She rushed out of the bathroom, wanting to explain.

But the next second, she stopped.

Explain what?

What was it to him?

She let out a breath, feeling hungry herself. Since her work was done, she’d go home and make some noodles. She put away the knives, tidied up the kitchen a bit, and said, “I’m leaving.”

Xie Lou made a sound of acknowledgment without looking up.

He was still eating the sour and spicy fish.

Su He didn’t look at him either, walking toward the door. Just as she pulled it open, she came face to face with Chen Yao, who had his hand raised to ring the doorbell.

Chen Yao saw her and his hand froze mid-air.

After a moment, he looked at the door number, then back at Su He with uncertainty: “Su… classmate Su… you live here?”

Su He shook her head: “No, I came for work. Excuse me.”

Chen Yao was about to move aside, but suddenly darted inside instead, shutting the door and blocking Su He’s path. “What kind of work are you doing?”

“Whoa, it smells amazing!” Chen Yao was immediately distracted by the aroma.

He looked toward the dining area.

Xie Lou gave him a cool glance.

Chen Yao was consumed with envy and jealousy. “You have the mood to eat here? Your girlfriend is about to go abroad, she’s at the airport right now…!”

In his agitation, he even forgot to use honorifics.

Su He, who was trying to leave, paused at these words.

After speaking, Chen Yao turned back to Su He, “What’s going on between you two?”

His tone was somewhat confrontational, with a hint of gossip.

Su He looked up, wanting to explain again.

Xie Lou’s languid voice came from behind: “Don’t block her way. Let her go.”

Chen Yao: “……”

He finally moved aside, and Su He opened the door and left.

Chen Yao stood there for a moment before walking to the dining room, pulling out a chair while eyeing both the delicious-looking dishes on the table and Xie Lou.

Xie Lou finished a bite of rice and said: “There’s still rice in the pot, help yourself.”

“Ah, okay.” Chen Yao immediately stood up, but the next second, he leaned on the table, looking at Xie Lou, “What are you eating for? Xiao Cen is at the airport! You know she’s leaving the country today, go see her off!”

Xie Lou’s hand paused as he wiped his mouth, then crumpled the napkin and tossed it into the nearby trash can. He leaned back in his chair and said, “She doesn’t need me to see her off.”

“You’re afraid if you go, you won’t be able to let her leave, right?” Chen Yao seemed to see right through him.

Xie Lou gave a lazy smile without responding.

His eyes showed no particular emotion.

Chen Yao stared at him for a while, unable to read anything. He clicked his tongue, “Whatever, I’m not getting involved.”

With that, he rushed to the kitchen, grabbed bowls and chopsticks, served himself some rice, and his first bite was of the sour and spicy fish. As soon as he tasted it, “Damn, this is delicious!!!!!!”

“This was made by our classmate, Su?”

“In the years we didn’t seen her, she developed these cooking skills?”

No wonder Xie Lou favored her.

Young Master Xie’s palate was hard to satisfy.

Chen Yao gave Xie Lou a suggestive look.

Xie Lou glanced at him, “Shut up and eat.”

Ten minutes later, Chen Yao licked the sauce clean from his plate, patted his belly, and took a deep breath, saying, “Never thought she’d be working as a cook while studying, working her way through school.”

Xie Lou didn’t respond. He carried his empty bowl to the kitchen and put it in the dishwasher. After wiping his hands, he came out and bent down to get his cigarettes. Chen Yao followed behind him, glanced at the clock – Xiao Cen’s boarding time had arrived…

Chen Yao opened his mouth to remind him: “It’s… almost 10 o’clock.”

Xie Lou sat on the sofa armrest, lowered his head to light a cigarette, pretending not to hear.

Chen Yao: “…..” Breaking up like enemies?!

After a while, he thought and said, “I remember now, Su He’s grandmother used to be an amazing chef, no wonder she’s working as a cook now!”

Xie Lou made a sound of acknowledgment.

Chen Yao moved closer to him, smiling suggestively, “Spending so much time with her, will you… fall in love with her?”

Xie Lou narrowed his eyes.

His voice was languid as he replied.

“No.”

* * * * * * * * *

Su He didn’t return to her school dormitory; it was too late to go back at this hour.

She went back to her home in the old district. Although the refrigerator was nearly empty, there were still some noodles and eggs. She made herself a bowl of egg noodles, adding her grandmother’s special noodle sauce. After finishing, she felt quite satisfied.

Her two roommates sent WeChat messages asking about her.

“Are you coming back? It’s really late.”

Su He replied: “Not coming back, see you tomorrow.”

“Oh my, did you go on a date with a handsome guy?” Chi Ying sent a winking emoji.

Su He paused.

Xie Lou’s face flashed through her mind.

Those days of secret admiration felt like they were from a century ago.

Young and naive, she had fallen for that face of his.

From Chen Yao’s words tonight, it seemed he had someone.

Tch.

Not surprising.

She sat on the sofa for a while. The 120-square-meter apartment was empty, but quiet. While showering, she saw the red marks on her neck.

Su He rubbed at them, but they wouldn’t fade, and even started to hurt a bit.

She pressed a hot towel against them, then came out wearing her pajamas when her phone rang.

She looked down.

It was Wang Hui calling.

Her brow furrowed as she sat down and answered.

“Hello.”

“Back from military training?” Wang Hui asked with a laugh.

“Mm.”

Wang Hui laughed again, “Um… have you found a job?”

Su He: “No.”

“Huh? Didn’t you say you were going to find work?” Wang Hui asked cautiously.

Su He: “Jobs aren’t easy to find. I haven’t been here long.”

“You could work at a restaurant…” Wang Hui said anxiously.

Su He closed her eyes briefly, took a breath, and said, “Fine, I’ll look tomorrow.”

Only then was Wang Hui satisfied. She said in a low voice: “Your sister’s been sick a lot lately, this month’s living expenses…”

“I know.” Su He cut her off before she could finish. Wang Hui was even more pleased, and laughed: “If you find a job soon, it won’t matter whether we give you money or not, right? We all know your grandmother left you quite a bit of money…”

“Have you ever given me living expenses?” Su He couldn’t listen anymore and interrupted Wang Hui’s words directly.

Wang Hui was startled on the other end, her breathing growing heavier. After two seconds: “You…”

“I’m going to sleep.”

With that, Su He hung up the phone.

* * * * * * * * * *

Adult self-study students had limited majors to choose from. Su He chose Financial Management. Wen Man chose Human Resource Management, while Chi Ying and Chen Lin chose Marketing.

Because of different majors, the four of them rarely had classes together, so Su He had to attend classes alone.

Sitting in the classroom listening to the lecturer, her headache from last night began to ease somewhat. She ate lunch in the cafeteria, and with no afternoon classes, Su He arranged to meet Wen Man at the library. She arrived first. The library was quite crowded, with almost no window seats left, except for one spot in the last row.

Though next to the window, there was a male student sleeping there.

Su He, holding her books, hesitated before carefully sitting down.

She kept her eyes straight ahead, opening her book to read. Sunlight slanted in, falling on the male student’s back of head and arms. Su He glanced at the book standing upright in front of him…

Worried it might fall.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, he shifted slightly, and the book began to tilt.

Su He instinctively reached out to steady the book.

Her wrist was caught by a warm hand, and the man facing the window turned his head. He opened his narrow eyes, still clouded with sleep and a hint of laziness, his voice deep, “Don’t mess around…”

Xie Lou.

Su He froze for two seconds, then struggled to pull away.

Her struggle made Xie Lou a bit more alert…

“Oh, it’s you…” his tone was lazy.

Su He: “……”

At this moment, Wen Man entered the library, walking towards them and waving. Like seeing a lifeline, Su He grabbed her books and got up, walking towards Wen Man to join her.

Xie Lou sat up straight, letting out a lazy yawn. Then he raised his hand to run it through his hair, but half a second later, he stopped the motion, staring at his palm.

Something was missing?

Right.

Her hand had been quite soft.

At this thought, he let out a derisive laugh.