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Beep—
A crisp phone message notification sound interrupted Song Junzhu's just-improving mood.
She glanced at her phone screen. One after another, WeChat messages popped up like a series of death summons.
There was one from her mother, one from her father, and one from her younger brother.
The faint smile on Song Junzhu's lips vanished instantly. She didn't even have to open them to know exactly what they said.
Lu Xing, leaning on the table and ostensibly admiring the knife, caught the reflection of Professor Song's icy expression on the polished wall.
F*ck!
Song family, I will hate you for the rest of my life! I’m trying to run a morning class here!
He had just managed to coax Professor Song back to a good place with great difficulty. With one round of messages from that group of idiots, all his hard work had gone down the drain.
Lu Xing silently shed tears of frustration, drawing a circle in his heart to fiercely curse the mother and son.
You’re happy now that you’ve hit send, but Professor Song still needs me to fix her! Isn't this just bullying an honest man? Do honest people deserve this?
So infuriating!
Lu Xing took a deep breath, gave himself three seconds to let his mental defenses crumble, and then forced his lips back into a smile.
He stroked the scabbard of the knife and asked naturally, as if he had just remembered something.
"Professor Song, how are you feeling today?"
"How am I what?" Song Junzhu’s attention was instantly diverted. She looked at him with confusion.
Lu Xing straightened up, turned around, and leaned his hands against the table, drawing out his voice with feigned regret.
"Ah, it seems I guessed wrong."
Song Junzhu wanted to know why he had suddenly appeared, so she pressed, "What did you guess wrong?"
"Don't you usually use that reading app at night? I noticed your reading time hasn't increased at all this week."
Lu Xing lowered his head shyly. "I thought you might be sick. I was worried, so I flew over to see you."
Song Junzhu was stunned, listening to his words in a daze.
Lu Xing furrowed his brow in a display of inner conflict.
"Professor Song, if you blame me for monitoring your reading time, I will be very sad."
"I am not sick. I am just on my period."
Song Junzhu finally smiled, her peach blossom eyes sparkling with a trace of genuine affection.
Lu Xing laughed along with her, looking a bit silly.
'Hehe. You’ve been mesmerized by me, haven't you!'
Although Professor Song had never detailed her family situation, it was clearly terrible.
Even though her face remained calm, she had clearly "checked out" mentally for a while.
Some people collapse by screaming hysterically. Some collapse by babbling nonsense. Others collapse by becoming as silent and still as stagnant water.
Professor Song was the latter. She was too competitive to let anyone see her break. Until the timing was perfect, Lu Xing would absolutely not poke at her sore spots.
"You..."
Song Junzhu wanted to speak, but she felt something stuck in her chest, something so bitter she couldn't find the words.
It was ridiculous. Her own family came to her door daily to say sweet things for money, yet they hadn't even noticed how pale she was from the pain.
This "Snail Boy" she had hired was silently tracking her well-being in a dozen different ways and had flown thousands of miles to be here.
(TL: A reference to the Chinese folktale of the "Snail Maiden" who secretly does housework and cooks for a hardworking man.)
She let out a long sigh, the tension in her brow smoothing out.
It was good. It was so good to know there was still one person in this world concerned about her.
Even if that concern was bought, it didn't matter. She had a lot; a lot of money.
"Professor Song, why don't you go sit down? I will make you a late-night snack."
Lu Xing softened his tone, sounding a bit pitiful. "I didn't eat well on the plane."
"That's right!"
Song Junzhu suddenly remembered something. She picked up her phone and tapped it a few times.
Plop.
Once the operation was complete, she tossed the phone back on the table.
"Don't wrong yourself by sitting in economy. I have transferred you the ticket money. Buy a first-class ticket for the flight back."
She knew Lu Xing was a bit of a miser and probably wouldn't spend money on a better seat. The fact that he had flown over at his own expense moved her even more.
Lu Xing acted even more embarrassed. "Professor Song, I didn't come for the money. I came to see you."
'Hehe. I knew she’d use Alipay! It arrives in seconds! This habit is the best! If it were a WeChat transfer, I’d have to click 'receive,' which would be... awkward.'
I told you she’d reimburse me! Long live the generous clients!
Song Junzhu didn't want to argue, so she drifted over to the sofa, leaving him with one final sentence: "I told you to take it, so take it. I am not short of money."
Lu Xing’s eyes practically turned into hearts. Sis Song is the best!
Seeing her pick up a book to pretend to read, Lu Xing took the opportunity to silently mute the phone she had left on the table.
Hehe! Since the Song family is the source of the problem... I’ll just eliminate the source! Muted equals invisible. Instant kill!
...
By nine-thirty, the usually cold and deserted house finally felt alive.
Professor Song’s sharp features were softened by the warm yellow light of the dining room.
She lowered her head, taking small sips of the soup. The porcelain spoon in her pale, jade-like hand looked like a high-end artifact.
Lu Xing had to admit, her parents' genes had combined perfectly.
"What are you looking at?" Sensing his lingering gaze, Song Junzhu felt a rare wave of awkwardness.
Lu Xing toyed with his spoon, but his eyes never left her face. He spoke with a hint of dissatisfaction.
"Why are you even thinner than before?"
Now that she had just taken a critical hit from her family, this was when she needed care the most.
To hell with it! I’ll go for it! Lu Xing decided to use the cheesiest, most "greasy" lines possible.
Song Junzhu was taken aback.
If anyone else had been so flirtatious, she would have ensured they never saw tomorrow’s sunrise. But with Lu Xing... if she had to choose between a pretentious fraud and a gentle coward, she found his "useless" brand of devotion strangely tolerable.
"Isn't it good to be a little thinner?"
Lu Xing propped his head up and sighed with deep melancholy.
"When I am back in Haicheng, I spend my free time wondering if you are eating well here. You are always so busy you forget everything else. I wonder if you are sleeping. I could accompany you before, but now I’m not there. I even wonder if you are dressed warmly enough. I saw the weather forecast; the weather here is always so bad..."
Song Junzhu lowered her head, listening to his chattering. The soup in her spoon hovered, never reaching her lips.
'So that was why. That was why he always messaged her before the weather changed.'
He was constantly checking the capital's forecast. That was why he shared sleep-inducing songs when she was restless; he was monitoring her app usage to see if she was staying up late.
Through his rambling, she discovered a thousand small details of silent care she had never noticed. She propped her forehead in her hand, her long hair falling to hide her face and her emotions.
Plop.
A soft sound of a drop hitting the table.
People are strange creatures. They can withstand a hurricane without blinking, yet they can be broken by a single gentle word of care.
Song Junzhu stared blankly at the tears that had fallen onto the table. It was ridiculous.
She hadn't cried through all the professional storms, the indifference, or the family violence—yet she was crying now over these few words.
No.
I can't cry. Crying doesn't solve problems!
She immediately came back to her senses, roughly and mercilessly wiping the tears from her cheeks. Her tender, fair face instantly flushed red.
"Don't."
A hand held her slender wrist.
Song Junzhu looked up.
Lu Xing immediately squatted down, absolutely ensuring that he could be on eye level with Professor Song, or even look up at her when communicating.
Professor Song sat there like an expensive doll in a shop window, glamorous but expressionless, even as tears escaped her chin and fell into Lu Xing’s palm.
Lu Xing knew the grievances in her heart were ready to be released.
The timing was ripe.
A professional "simp's" code: Solve all the client's emotional problems.
All of them.
...
...