Chi Cheng knew he had lost another game, but he didn't want to see her sarcastic remarks. He just held her tightly in his arms and refused to look at her face.
His voice was barely contained, and in the end he could only sigh helplessly, "Don't move, just let me hug you for a moment."
Shi Ling could tell that he was both aroused and restrained, and the area between his legs that was pressed against hers was already swollen and itchy.
He did hold her still, but his breathing became heavier with each breath.
Shi Ling held her phone while he held her.
Her wet hair clung to his arm, cold and itchy, like a snake coiling around his hand. The closer Chi Cheng got to her, the more he felt like he was drinking poison to quench his thirst, so he buried his face in her hair and took a deep breath.
Fortunately, he couldn't see her face clearly, nor could he see her mocking or indifferent expression that made him uncomfortable.
However, the two hugged for less than a few dozen seconds before there was a knock on the door.
Zhao Yongbin was outside. "Hello, Shi Ling, I'm here to return the double-sided tape I borrowed from you today."
Chi Cheng cursed under his breath, "Damn it."
He glanced at the restroom and ultimately gave up the idea.
Chi Cheng sighed again and released his grip on her.
"Get up."
Shi Ling reached out and picked up the bath towel from the ground before getting up.
She turned around and put on a thick bathrobe, then looked coldly at Chi Cheng before opening the door, gesturing for him to get up.
Chi Cheng was wearing loose cargo pants today, and stood up with his hands in his pockets, looking quite annoyed.
The front of his pants was flat, but knowing him as Shi Ling did, she knew that the hand in his pocket was definitely pressing against that hard erection through the pocket as a cover.
Shi Ling opened the door, and Chi Cheng walked out with a dark face.
Zhao Yongbin looked at him with surprise, "Why did you do that?"
Chi Cheng stood at the door, his grip on his hand in his pocket loosened, and his expression softened.
"I came to borrow some documents, but she didn't have any."
Zhao Yongbin handed the double-sided tape to Shi Ling, "Thanks. I sent you a WeChat message earlier but you didn't reply, so I just came over."
He was usually warm-hearted and righteous, and it was rare that he didn't flirt with Shi Ling. He turned to look at Chi Cheng and asked, "What information do you need?"
Chi Cheng finally took his hand out of his pocket and snapped it with a crisp sound.
"Did you buy the textbook for the Investment course?"
Zhao Yongbin: "Can I not buy it? I'm not trying to be mean, but you're such a cheapskate. You can buy a used one for a lot of money on Amazon. Come to my room, I'll let you take a look first."
As Chi Cheng walked out, he glanced almost imperceptibly at Shi Ling, who was holding the door open.
Zhao Yongbin had already walked into the corridor, and she spoke softly in a voice only the two of them could hear.
Don't come to me next time you're in heat.
Author's Note: Minor revisions
After thinking about it, I realized that Chi Cheng is a relatively high-level character, so I made some adjustments.
Chapter 9
(Reality timeline)
Just as Shi Ling said, Chi Cheng does have many friends, especially female friends.
A girl he had given a presentation with at university, who was also at KCL, asked him if he wanted to play tennis.
Chi Cheng simply skipped his afternoon Business School class. He had just packed his bag and was about to leave when the doorbell rang outside their four-person dorm room.
Xu Yiting had dinner with friends in Chinatown today. On the way back, he passed a bubble tea shop and remembered that Shi Ling hadn't tried the popular London bubble tea yet, so he bought two cups.
Chi Cheng was still carrying his tennis bag. "Looking for Brother Bin?"
Xu Yiting: "No, is Shi Ling here? Could you please call her for me?"
Xu Yiting saw the man opposite him instantly turn hostile.
"You know her?"
Xu Yiting smiled and said, "Dude, don't be nervous. I'm her high school classmate."
The ferocity in Chi Cheng's eyes at that moment was undeniable; there was no point in saying more.
His jawline was taut. "She went to class."
Xu Yiting handed the milk tea bag to Chi Cheng, "Then please give it to her for me later, thanks."
After saying that, he left.
The sudden appearance of Shi Ling's high school classmate put his alarm bells on high.
To be honest, in Chi Cheng's opinion, Shi Ling was a very simple person emotionally. She was only nodding acquaintances with most people, and her attitude was indifferent; she would never say an extra word unless absolutely necessary.
But she is by no means dull or boring; her eyes are full of charm when she is with people she is willing to associate with.
Just as Zhao Yongbin said, she has a kind of contrasting sexiness.
Shi Ling broke up with him unilaterally, which Chi Cheng found somewhat inexplicable. Moreover, in order to get the score for the Con exam, he barely slept for a whole month afterward, thinking that if he saw Shi Ling, the two of them would naturally reconcile.
Who knew that after suffering such a setback for so long, the reason why Chi Cheng had remained so proud and composed and had not humbled himself to admit his mistake was because he had a good grasp of Shi Ling's personality. He was not worried at all that Shi Ling would pay attention to others.
Chi Cheng's phone kept vibrating in his pocket. His friend asked him if he had left yet, and he only came back to his senses when he took out his phone.
He had been standing in front of Shi Ling's door, stunned, for a long time.
He had to sadly admit that, in such a short time, the person who brought her milk tea was no longer him.
Even those who have always been successful are now experiencing the desolation of things changing and people being gone.
Chi Cheng pursed his lips, ultimately refraining from throwing away the milk tea. He hung the milk tea on Shi Ling's doorknob, wishing for time to turn back.
Memory Divider
When I was studying for IELTS, I took Shi Ling to see a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, and he brought back some Chinese medicine.
When he knocked on Shi Ling's door and no one answered, he casually hung the door on the ground.
Chi Cheng went to the fire escape but didn't see her.
I guess she's probably studying in the classroom.
CC: I've hung the Chinese medicine on your door.
Shi Ling: [Transfer 200 yuan]
Shi Ling: Thank you.
CC: No thanks, treat me to dinner next time.
Shi Ling naturally did not reply.
But from then on, his attitude towards him became much "better".
For example, after class, Chi Cheng always habitually slept on his desk, which always blocked Shi Ling from leaving.
Shi Ling had woken him up with a frown.
Now we'll just pry his long arm up, without even calling him, and let him come back in by himself.
For example, he has a habit of twirling his pen, and sometimes he absentmindedly flicks it away.
Now, if Shi Ling glares at him, she'll even help him pick it up.
Shi Ling has good skin, and after two or three days, she tied her hair up again.
The Shi Ling I saw during the day and the Shi Ling I saw in the fire escape at night were completely different people.
She tied her hair up and wore a white cardigan.
She looks like a campus goddess.
The first week's mock test scores are out, and Shi Ling has already scored 8 in reading. Her listening and speaking scores are improving very slowly. In fact, she has only been studying for IELTS for less than two months, so this is already the result of her daily intensive practice.
With time running out, her target score is 7 points in total, with all sub-scores exceeding 6.5.
She indulged herself for only two or three days before resuming her regular study sessions every night until the classroom closed at 10:30 pm.
Chi Cheng and his friends were eating out when Elsa tagged them in the group chat, saying they owed too much homework and that if they didn't hand it in soon, their parents would be notified.
They complained as they went back to the classroom to finish their homework.
Shi Ling spent almost every day last week doing reading practice. Now that she's faster, she can finish a set of reading exercises in under 40 minutes, so she can spend more time reviewing other modules during evening self-study.
So when Chi Cheng and the others came in, Shi Ling was wearing headphones and listening to an audio exercise. After they came in, they were still talking all at once, and Shi Ling couldn't hear them at all. Afraid that turning the volume up would damage her hearing, she simply turned off the audio exercise and opened her notebook to memorize high-scoring vocabulary for essays.
Chi Cheng couldn't remember what homework he owed a few days ago. He sat down and raised his hand to pat Shi Ling. She was thin and frail. When Chi Cheng patted her, he could feel the protruding shoulder blades on her back.
What was the homework yesterday?
During the day, the good lighting made her skin appear translucent and fair. At night, Shi Ling seemed very tired from studying, with some light blue under her eyes.
She cleared her throat before answering in a low voice, "The reading and listening sections only need to be checked, the writing section needs to be submitted for grading, it's a short flowchart, and the speaking section is part 2, a handicraft, which I record and send to the teacher."
Chi Cheng flipped through the book but couldn't find yesterday's essay.
Then he went to ask Shi Ling.
"A small Test 3 game similar to Sword 6".
Which article is about handicrafts?
Shi Ling turned around. Familiar with the textbook, she pulled out the oral English book from just a glimpse of the color. Chi Cheng's oral English book looked brand new, without a single note. Shi Ling quickly flipped to that page and turned it face down on the table.
After finishing one chapter, Chi Cheng went to film Shi Ling.
"What about the homework from the day before yesterday?"
Shi Ling frowned: "The day before yesterday was a masterpiece, Test1 of Sword 8."
Chi Cheng gets a headache just hearing about the masterpiece; it's at least 250 words long.
"What about the assignments before that?"