Living Only For Myself: Make Those Who Hate Me Regret It-Chapter 83 - 82: Who? Which Friend?

"..." Xu Su fell silent for a few seconds, having already accepted the fact that Zhou Mochen was becoming more and more domesticated.

She unwrapped a pair of disposable chopsticks and delicately started picking at the crayfish.

The crayfish were spicy, and Xu Su had specifically requested extra spicy. Although Zhou Mochen’s expression showed some disapproval when she ordered, he didn’t object.

Used to cafeteria food, Xu Su’s stomach wasn’t prepared. After just a few bites of the crayfish, the spice made the tip of her nose bead with sweat. She took off her school uniform jacket, then ran to get two bottles of herbal tea, handing one to Zhou Mochen.

Looking at Zhou Mochen across from her, who was diligently peeling crayfish, Xu Su felt a rare pang of embarrassment. "You should eat some too. Don’t just peel them all for me."

Zhou Mochen had become quite adept at peeling them. Hearing her, he chuckled softly and asked, "Susu, how many days off does your school get for the May Day holiday?"

She didn’t know when it started, but he no longer called her Xu Su.

Xu Su didn’t pay much attention to such minor details.

This year, Labor Day fell on a Monday. The school had already sent out a notice: in addition to the regular break on Saturday afternoon, the first-year high school students would get an extra day off. This meant they had a day and a half of vacation after their Saturday morning classes.

Before Zhou Mochen could ask, Xu Su took the initiative. "I’m going home this weekend. I haven’t been back in two weeks. If I don’t go back for May Day, my parents will probably hunt me down at school."

Chen Shulan and her husband were the most old-fashioned kind of parents. They favored their son over their daughter. And while they didn’t care much for their daughter, they couldn’t allow a grown daughter, one who now had some "value," to escape their control.

She hadn’t been home in half a month, so they were probably already complaining. With the official public holiday this week, the textile factory would definitely be closed. If Xu Su didn’t go back, her parents might very well show up at school.

Zhou Mochen quickly finished peeling the last crayfish, took off his gloves, and pulled out a few napkins to slowly wipe the red oil from his fingers where the glove had torn.

He frowned and said softly, "If you don’t want to go back, then don’t. I’ll deal with your parents. I won’t let them cause a scene at your school."

He’d learned to fear her pattern of behavior—every time she went home, she’d return and give him the cold shoulder.

After their last argument, Xu Su went home again the following weekend. When she returned to school, she got in Zhou Mochen’s car but wore a cold expression and ignored him the entire way.

He was both anxious and angry, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had finally discovered the little lady’s habit of taking her anger out on him.

So, for the past two weeks that Xu Su hadn’t gone home, Zhou Mochen, despite the inconvenience of not being able to see her, didn’t really object. In fact, he almost wished she wouldn’t go home at all.

One trip home, one cold shoulder. Who could stand that?

Hearing Zhou Mochen offer to deal with her parents, Xu Su didn’t get angry. They both knew about each other’s existence by now, so there was no point in getting angry.

Xu Su shook her head. "There’s no need. My parents may not treat me well, but I’m not an adult yet. They hold the status of ’parents,’ and I can’t just disregard that."

She spoke her mind: "Once I get into a university far, far away from them, I’ll only need to keep in touch with my relatives on my grandma’s side. I won’t have to worry about so much."

In any case, Xu Weiping and his wife were paying her school fees for the year. Once she had her own income in the future, she would pay them back with interest.

Most importantly, she wasn’t an adult yet. It would be completely inappropriate for a man like Zhou Mochen to confront her parents on her behalf.

With Zhou Mochen’s methods, if he didn’t offer the Xu Family sufficient benefits, they could easily leak a bit of information. One could only imagine how nasty the rumors about Xu Su would be.

But if it was like her past life, where Zhou Mochen had to offer them benefits in exchange for her freedom, to make her parents shut up and not ask about her whereabouts, Xu Su was even more against it.

’How is that any different from my parents selling me?’

Seeing her refusal, Zhou Mochen didn’t insist. Instead, he nodded and said, "Then promise me you won’t give me the cold shoulder again after going home. Susu, I can be your punching bag, but please don’t just shut me out with a cold face."

Xu Su knew she had a habit of misdirecting her anger, but hearing him say it so directly still made her a little embarrassed.

Xu Su felt a bit awkward. "I know, I know. Don’t act so pitiful about it. You know I don’t like talking to people when I’m in a bad mood."

Getting a soft reply from her was enough to satisfy Zhou Mochen. He smiled. "Then I’ll come pick you up the day after tomorrow."

In the car on the way back to school, Zhou Mochen steered with one hand while his other reached over and took hers.

Xu Su quickly tried to pull her hand away, but he held it tight.

Zhou Mochen sighed. "Susu, we haven’t seen each other in so many days. We finally get to meet, and now I have to send you back so soon. Just let me hold your hand."

"..." Xu Su had to admire him. He could act like a hooligan in such a fresh and refined way.

"Your birthday is coming up soon. Is there anything you want for a gift?"

Xu Su froze for a second, then quickly realized he was right. Her birthday was on May 5th.

She shook her head and refused. "There’s nothing I want. Don’t get me anything."

The car stopped at their usual spot. Zhou Mochen turned his head to look at her. "If there’s nothing you want, then I’ll just get you something based on my own ideas."

"..." Remembering the gifts he gave her in her past life, Xu Su’s mouth twitched. She quickly said, "Same old rules. The gift can’t cost more than five hundred yuan. And don’t exploit any loopholes like you did with this phone. It has to be a gift with a market price of no more than five hundred yuan."

Zhou Mochen watched her, as if in thought. After a long moment, he reluctantly nodded. "Alright."

By the time Xu Su got back to the school, it was almost eleven. She didn’t go to the classroom to study and instead headed straight back to her dorm.

The others in the dorm weren’t back yet. Only Qian Jia was lying on her bed, groaning softly.

Xu Su hurried over, lifted the back of Qian Jia’s shirt, and looked at the place where she’d been hit.

After all this time, the red mark had turned into a purplish bruise.

Xu Su took out some medicinal wine and, following the school doctor’s instructions, began to rub it vigorously into Qian Jia’s back.

Qian Jia had a sharp nose. Even though she was in a lot of pain, she still sniffed out the spicy scent of crayfish on her. "Susu, where did you just come from? Didn’t you go to study?"

Xu Su was sweating from all the rubbing. She let go, capped the bottle of medicinal wine, and replied, "I went out for a late-night snack with a friend. I’ll bring some back for you guys next time I get the chance."

She had truly forgotten this time. While eating the crayfish, it hadn’t even crossed Xu Su’s mind to get some to-go to share with her dorm mates.

Qian Jia’s eyes lit up. "Who? Which friend? A guy or a girl? Someone from our school? God Xi?"

Xu Su shot her a look and covered Qian Jia’s face with her hand that wasn’t covered in medicinal wine. "Why are you so nosy?" she said with mock disgust. "Be good, just lie there and rest. I’m going to take a shower."

The smell of medicinal wine all over her hand was a bit much for Xu Su to bear.