Does He Love You

Su Ze couldn't even remember when he had bought this three-quarter sleeve shirt for her.

He adjusted the slightly ill-fitting collar for her and then went downstairs with Shen Qingsheng.

He had originally wanted to invite Meng Xingyao along. With her as a senior, it would have been easier to get familiar with the environment.

But she said that Gu Qingqing and Xu Ziyin, the couple, had invited her to go shopping, so she wouldn't be joining them.

Huaxia University was vast and magnificent, with students constantly walking around the campus.

It should have been summer, but a cool breeze was blowing.

This situation was caused by natural disasters. Since the continuous natural disasters had begun to plague Planet Blue, the seasons had been thrown into chaos.

The two of them strolled hand in hand across the university campus.

With Uesugi Akizuki's and Su Ze's good looks, they attracted many glances from passersby. However, no one was foolish enough to approach them and cause trouble, as often seen in clichéd novels.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at a milk tea shop.

It was a good time to take a break. Su Ze ordered a lemonade, while he got strawberry milk for Uesugi Akizuki.

"You sit here for a while. I'm going to smoke," Su Ze said, leaving Uesugi Akizuki at the table. He put a cigarette in his mouth and fiddled with the wheel of his lighter, which only sparked without igniting.

Su Ze stood on the curb, slightly frowning, patted the lighter, and tried again, but still, no flame appeared.

Snap!

A lit lighter was suddenly handed in front of him. Without looking up, Su Ze leaned in and lit his cigarette.

"What a coincidence," came the voice of a young man.

"Yeah, it is," Su Ze replied.

He recognized the voice. Su Ze took out his cigarette box and shook it, offering one to Cang Yu, who smiled and closed the lighter, putting it back into his pocket. "Zhi Xu doesn't let me smoke."

"…You're such a good boy," Su Ze said, a bit speechless.

He put the cigarette back in his pocket and asked, "You two are usually inseparable, right? Where's Zhi Xu?"

Seeing Cang Yu alone made Su Ze feel a bit uneasy.

In the Land of the Living Dead, the two of them were practically glued together, constantly showing affection everywhere they went, like a team dedicated to killing the mood.

"She… went shopping with Meng Xingyao, Gu Qingqing, and the others. You know, accompanying girls while they shop is even more exhausting than fighting a mysterious being, so I didn't go."

"…"

"Heh… hehe…" Su Ze chuckled dryly, suddenly feeling out of his depth.

He had gone shopping with Uesugi Akizuki before, but it wasn't exactly like a typical couple.

Uesugi Akizuki wasn't like other girls who loved to run around while shopping. She would obediently follow Su Ze, and if she wanted something, she would just tell him. If Su Ze didn't allow it, she wouldn't ask for it.

As the two chatted, a girl with bright eyes frowned from a distance, looking at them. "Su Ze? Could this be a case of 'enemies on a narrow road'?"

The girl was Situ Jiajia, who had just been released from jail not long ago. Her father, Situ Jiayang, had spent a lot of effort to get her out, managing to keep it hidden from the opposing commander.

Su Ze couldn't have imagined that a single phone call to report her would have made him enemies with the commander's daughter and the commander himself.

As Situ Jiajia pondered whether to give him a good knock on the head, she suddenly noticed Uesugi Akizuki in the milk tea shop, holding a cup of milk tea and staring blankly at the ceiling.

She looked a bit silly, with red hair and extremely beautiful features.

Situ Jiajia was stunned. She had heard that Uesugi Akizuki was beautiful, but she hadn't expected her to be this stunning! She was almost otherworldly!

Among all the girls she had met in her life, Uesugi Akizuki ranked at the top, a solid T0.

Of course, since there was a ranking, there were other girls who could match her.

The first person she thought of was the white-haired cool older sister from Ghost Officer. Considering Uesugi Akizuki's ghost lineage, she also thought of another cool older sister from the same lineage.

That woman's looks were also on par with Uesugi Akizuki's.

She was a bit excited to imagine the scene when the two met.

Taking advantage of Su Ze's moment of smoking and chatting, Situ Jiajia quietly entered the milk tea shop and sat down across from Uesugi Akizuki.

Uesugi Akizuki thought Su Ze had returned, so she looked down and saw a girl instead, looking at her with some confusion.

She didn't understand why the girl had sat down here when there were so many empty seats.

Situ Jiajia looked directly into Uesugi Akizuki's eyes without showing any signs of fear, smiled, and asked, "Are you Uesugi Akizuki?"

Uesugi Akizuki, being a straightforward person, nodded.

Situ Jiajia glanced outside and saw that Su Ze's cigarette was already half-smoked, so she got straight to the point. "Do you like Su Ze?"

The sudden, seemingly random question left Uesugi Akizuki puzzled, but she still nodded.

Uesugi Akizuki's feelings for Su Ze were subtle. Their relationship was more like siblings, but there were also moments that went beyond that.

In simpler terms, they were more than friends but not yet lovers.

"Does he like you?" Situ Jiajia asked again.

Uesugi Akizuki nodded without hesitation. How could there be a Su Ze in the world who didn't like her?

She had no doubt that Su Ze liked her and was gradually coming to believe that he had abandoned her out of necessity at the time. After all, looking at the present, wasn't he still treating her as well as before?

It seemed they were mutually in love, which was good. It seemed the Forerunner's resources were secure!

However… Situ Jiajia's lips curled up. Su Ze the stubborn one and the silly Uesugi Akizuki made such a great couple to ship!

Even without the Forerunner matter, Situ Jiajia would have tried her best to get close to the two and become friends with them just to ship their relationship.

There was just one regret—she hadn't witnessed the process of their mutual attraction…

She suddenly remembered and asked, "What's your relationship?"

Uesugi Akizuki had only said that he had left his daughter in Su Ze's care. If the two were in a romantic relationship, Uesugi Akizuki would have already chopped Su Ze into pieces by now, or perhaps Su Ze would have already become a son-in-law.

The question left Uesugi Akizuki a bit confused. What was her relationship with Su Ze? She didn't really know.

"Not lovers?" Situ Jiajia asked again.

Seeing Uesugi Akizuki tilt her head with a puzzled expression, Situ Jiajia's face gradually lit up with excitement!

Wasn't she the daughter of a commanding officer? She was quite clever and quickly figured out the nuances.

Having read Uesugi Akizuki's background and deeply understanding her tragic life, Situ Jiajia naturally knew.

Uesugi Akizuki had been extremely well-protected, like a caged canary, rarely exposed to the outside world. Love? How could she possibly understand that?

"Come on, let's exchange contact information!" Situ Jiajia took out her phone.

Uesugi Akizuki shook her head. She had some basic knowledge, though not much, and she recognized the phone.

"No phone?" Situ Jiajia realized. The people from before had kept her away from the outside world and hadn't given her any communication tools.

This had led to her lack of common sense, making her appear a bit silly, but she could still be cultivated. In a few months, as she gradually learned about the world, she might not be so naive and easy to trick.

She was a pitiful and endearing girl, and Situ Jiajia felt great sympathy for her.

Meeting Su Ze really seemed like the universe's way of compensating her for all those years.

"Do you think Su Ze really loves you?" Situ Jiajia asked seriously.

Uesugi Akizuki, though puzzled, still stubbornly nodded.

"Then ask him to buy you a phone. That way, you can easily contact him. If he loves you, buying a phone shouldn't be a problem, right?" Situ Jiajia stood up and left, walking past Su Ze as he entered the shop.

Su Ze furrowed his brow slightly, feeling that the girl who had just passed by him looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place who she was.