Su Cheng picked up the teacup and drank it in one gulp. Only after finishing the tea did the shock in his heart subside slightly. He then spoke, "President Ji, what did you retract when I contacted you with my phone last night?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the air seemed to freeze for a moment. Ji Qingyi, who was holding a teacup beside him, also paused involuntarily, then lifted the cup and took another sip.
However, Su Cheng kept his eyes fixed on her, waiting for her response.
She slowly looked up at Su Cheng, her gaze calm, showing no signs of emotion. The delicate brows on her beautiful face were slightly furrowed. She pursed her lips and her cold eyes seemed devoid of any warmth. "It's nothing. Just random clicks."
After saying this, Ji Qingyi lowered her head to drink tea again, avoiding Su Cheng's gaze.
"I see. Did I disturb you last night?"
Su Cheng asked, looking at Ji Qingyi's back.
"Not really."
Ji Qingyi's voice remained calm, showing no hints of joy or anger.
Su Cheng didn't say much, just silently watched Ji Qingyi. Then he stood up, planning to go to the restroom.
He had consumed too much tea today.
Just as he reached the door, Ji Qingyi's voice came from behind, "Are you going to participate in the horseback archery this year?"
Hearing this, Su Cheng paused and turned to look at Ji Qingyi. After a moment of thought, he replied, "It's just that I’m very inexperienced with horseback archery."
Upon hearing Su Cheng's answer, Ji Qingyi nodded. She looked at Su Cheng and said calmly, "However… you seem to have a good tacit understanding with the Flame City Emperor."
Su Cheng felt his toes curling, almost digging out a three-bedroom apartment. He stammered, "N-no, it’s not… I-I’m not…"
"Come with me."
Ji Qingyi stood up, her black silk legs long and straight, walking out step by step, clearly in a good mood.
Along the way, she spoke to a steward about something, then continued forward. Eventually, Su Cheng had no choice but to follow. The two walked out of the dojo side by side.
Students passing by stopped in their tracks, their eyes filled with awe and surprise.
"So it’s not just a rumor. Su Cheng really has a close relationship with President Ji. They can even take a walk together."
"If only Su Cheng had a better background, I’m sure no girl could resist him."
"Tsk, to be able to walk alongside President Ji, Su Cheng must be quite capable. Otherwise, how could he catch President Ji’s eye?"
"That’s true."
"It seems President Ji doesn’t judge friends by their background. After all, no one has a better background than her."
"Exactly."
…
Listening to the chatter of the crowd, Su Cheng’s steps became slower. He turned to look at the petite woman beside him and asked with some confusion, "President Ji, where are we going?"
Even while walking, Ji Qingyi exuded elegance. She placed her hands in front of her, radiating a nobility tempered with reserve. Of course, her icy demeanor also remained.
Upon hearing Su Cheng’s question, she slightly turned her gaze toward the school’s building in front of her, "The horse stables."
Hearing "horse stables," Su Cheng felt even more embarrassed. He had no idea why Ji Qingyi knew the name of his horse, "Flame City Emperor."
Such an embarrassing name was usually not spoken in front of others, yet now Ji Qingyi knew it.
As the two passed by the club building, a tall girl exited the club.
It was none other than Gu Ruoxue, the ex-girlfriend and not-so-ex-girlfriend.
Su Cheng saw Gu Ruoxue come out, his gaze involuntarily drawn to her. Ji Qingyi beside him also followed his gaze and saw Gu Ruoxue. Her eyes flickered for a moment before she casually looked away.
Gu Ruoxue glanced at Ji Qingyi, then shifted her gaze to Su Cheng and walked past the two of them without a word.
They passed each other without exchanging greetings.
As she walked by, Gu Ruoxue still cast a glance at Ji Qingyi.
Su Cheng turned to look at Gu Ruoxue’s back and muttered to Ji Qingyi beside him, "You know each other, why didn’t you greet her?"
Ji Qingyi glanced at Su Cheng and spoke in a calm tone, "Have you ever seen me greet anyone first?"
"Uh." Su Cheng was stumped.
It seemed reasonable. Their personalities overlapped.
Both were aloof and unlikely to be the ones to initiate greetings.
The two then boarded the school’s vehicle. The ride was comfortable, and under the setting sun, it felt neither stuffy nor hot, but rather cool. The vehicle slowly approached the horse stables.
Upon arrival, they saw the horse stalls.
Inside the stalls were dozens of high-quality horses. Su Cheng stood outside the stalls, looking at these horses, his thoughts drifting to his own horse. His mood was complicated.
He didn’t understand why the president had brought him here.
"Ji Qingyi, what are you doing here?"
Suddenly, a middle-aged woman, both an employee and a teacher, approached them. She glanced at the two, and since Su Cheng was looking down, she didn’t recognize him.
"14."
Ji Qingyi simply said two numbers and continued walking. The staff member hurriedly followed.
Soon, the staff member led a horse out, and the horse, upon seeing Su Cheng, expressed great excitement, even mimicking a jumping motion, its four hooves moving in unison as if dancing.
Each hoof hitting the ground in perfect synchrony.
"So, did you teach it this dance?"
Ji Qingyi asked with interest.
"Yes…"
Su Cheng was so embarrassed that he almost buried his head in the ground.
"Does this movement have a name?"
"Emperor Dance."
"This horse, after being tamed by first-year student Su Cheng from Class 2, has developed a high sense of self-esteem. If it doesn’t recognize someone, it might ignore them or even bite or kick them."
The staff member explained to Ji Qingyi.
"I see."
Ji Qingyi glanced at the horses, then said to the staff member, "Take the horse to the training area for me."
"Sure!"
The staff member responded and immediately led the horse away.
Watching the staff member leave, Ji Qingyi then turned her gaze back to Su Cheng, "Come on, let’s see your Flame City Emperor."
"Okay."
Su Cheng followed behind Ji Qingyi.
The two arrived at the training ground, where the staff continued, "Flame City Emperor is very clever, and once tamed, it’s extremely difficult to tame again."
Upon hearing this, Su Cheng looked up, his face full of shock as he exclaimed, "How do you know its name is Flame City Emperor?!"
"Ah, so it’s you, Su Cheng. No wonder it was so obedient. It’s because the owner is here," the staff member said in surprise, then smiled at Su Cheng and explained, "Initially, we called it by its given name but it wouldn’t respond, and it even ignored us entirely. So, we sent someone to your class to find you. You weren’t there, but your friend told us it’s called 'Flame City Emperor'."
"...…"
Su Cheng fell silent.
Another Wang Guancong, his arch-nemesis.
Then, the staff member handed the reins to Su Cheng and left the training ground, leaving him with Ji Qingyi.
The horse slightly bowed its head, making a pose as if inviting Su Cheng to ride it, looking quite endearing.
Su Cheng’s mouth twitched, then he looked at Ji Qingyi, "President Ji, so what’s the purpose of this?"
Ji Qingyi glanced at him coldly, and soon several people in black appeared, some holding targets, some holding bows and arrows, and various tools, starting to set up the track. Everyone worked methodically, each busy in their own spot.
"Teaching you horseback archery."
"Is it difficult?"
"One day to ride, two days to drive, three days to gallop, four days to speed, five days to race."
…
Night fell.
It was seven o’clock.
Su Cheng, exhausted, rode his bicycle home. Although his archery skills were top-notch, horseback archery was a completely different matter. He had to shoot without holding the reins, and his lower body had to remain stable. Fortunately, today they only practiced shooting while moving, which wasn’t too challenging for him.
In truth, he wasn’t particularly interested in winning the horseback archery championship, but it seemed President Ji hoped he could bring back a championship.
So, he decided to win one.
"Is Cornelia not here today?"
After buying a heap of premium ingredients from the fresh produce market, he found no familiar figure waiting at his apartment door. This surprised him slightly.
After parking his bicycle, he opened the door to his home and was surprised to find Cornelia asleep on the couch.
It seemed she had waited for him and fallen asleep.
While Cornelia lay on the sofa, Yaya beside her was watching cartoons. When Su Cheng returned, Yaya flapped its wings excitedly, about to make a sound, but Su Cheng quickly gave a shushing gesture. Yaya immediately closed its mouth.
Su Cheng retrieved a blanket from the bedroom and covered Cornelia with it, then turned off the TV. He quietly made his way to the kitchen, with Yaya perched on his shoulder.
Half an hour later,
Cornelia woke up, rubbing her eyes. Seeing the blanket on her, she suddenly looked towards the kitchen, where she saw Su Cheng wearing an apron, cooking.
Her blue eyes flashed with mischief, and then she closed them again, pretending to still be asleep on the sofa.
She wanted Su Cheng to wake her up himself.
But after about ten minutes, the food was ready, and she heard the sound of Su Cheng eating alone.
However—
Su Cheng didn't wake her up. He was eating by himself in secret!
This made her angry, and she opened her eyes.
Looking up, sure enough, Su Cheng was eating.
But the next second, she was stunned, because Su Cheng was eating yesterday's leftovers.
This puzzled her.
Her anger immediately disappeared.
Suddenly, Su Cheng stood up to clean the dishes, which startled her into pretending to sleep again, though she was thinking: "Did he not prepare food for me today?"
A few minutes later…
"Hey, wake up, time to eat," came Su Cheng's slightly disapproving voice as he tugged at her blanket.
"You're so noisy," she retorted, huffing as she threw off the blanket, revealing her big eyes, glaring at Su Cheng.
"You eat first, I'll take Yaya for a bath," Su Cheng said, grabbing Yaya and heading towards the bathroom.
Cornelia was fuming, stomping her feet as she watched Su Cheng's retreating back, blurting out instinctively: "You already ate…"
But before she could finish, a tempting aroma reached her, making her swallow hard. She turned her head.
She was floored. The dining table was laid out with a neat arrangement of three dishes and one soup—her favorites: sweet and sour pork ribs,Cola chicken wings, and sliced beef with green pepper.
She stood there for a moment, then walked to the bathroom door, watching Su Cheng's back as he bathed Yaya, and asked woodenly: "You… aren't you eating?"
"I'm already full."
"Oh…"
The next moment, Cornelia coquettishly rattled the doorframe, looking at Su Cheng's back with her delicate, cherubic face puffed up adorably.
"From now on, you must eat with me!"
"Alright, I got it," Su Cheng agreed indifferently, not turning around, continuing to dry Yaya with a towel.
Seeing Su Cheng too busy to pay attention to her, Cornelia sat down at the dining table, picking up her chopsticks and biting into a piece of sweet and sour pork rib.
Mmm…
It was delicious.
As she chewed, her eyes reddened, looking towards the bathroom. She remembered how, a few days ago, Su Cheng had seemed to be eating with her, but rarely touched his food.
So, she made up her mind.
"I'm going to eat it all, not leaving a single bit!"
That way, there would be no leftovers, and tomorrow Su Cheng would eat with her!
It was the best solution she could think of.
Half an hour later…
When Su Cheng emerged from the bathroom, he saw Cornelia with a mouthful of sauce, licking an empty plate clean, even cleaner than his face…
"I mean… wasn't that a bit much?" Su Cheng asked as he approached her.
Startled, Cornelia quickly placed the "cleaned" plate on the table, acting as if she hadn't heard him. "What did you say? I didn't hear you!"
Noticing the grease nearly dripping onto the table, Su Cheng frowned: "Wipe the oil off your mouth."
He reached out and dabbed at the corner of Cornelia's mouth, his fingertips getting a bit of grease.
Cornelia glared at Su Cheng.
But within seconds, she realized how intimate and bold her actions had been.
Her face nearly blushed red, but she turned her head stubbornly, denying it: "What oil? Are you talking nonsense?"
Acting as if nothing had happened.
Su Cheng frowned, but didn't pursue it further, waving his hand dismissively: "Finish up and rest, I'll clean up."
……………………
That night,
After sending Cornelia off, Su Cheng lay in bed, unable to fall asleep no matter how he tossed and turned. Looking out at the night sky, his thoughts drifted.
Today, his ex-girlfriend claimed he had never had an ex-girlfriend, and the student council president had demanded an answer from him by Saturday.
And tomorrow was Friday, with an open class.
He would be in the same class as Gu Ruoxue. He wondered if he should probe further tomorrow.
"Maybe I should bother the club president again. No, perhaps I should just greet her."
Thinking of this, he took out his phone, opened Ji Qingyi's chat window, and typed: "President Ji, are you asleep?"
He still hadn't figured out what Ji Qingyi had withdrawn the other day, which made him very curious.
A few minutes later, Ji Qingyi replied.
[Ji Qingyi]: "No."
Seeing Ji Qingyi's message, Su Cheng continued: "What keeps you from sleeping, President?"
[Ji Qingyi]: "Watching the moon."
[Su Cheng]: "A fine pastime, indeed."
But after a few minutes, Ji Qingyi didn't reply. He thought to himself: "Maybe she doesn't like this way of chatting?"
Eventually, he had to end the awkward exchange with "Goodnight," and just as he sent it,
[Ji Qingyi]: "Mhm."