Chapter 195

Growing up, he was more like a brother. Qiao Suisui thought, a bit distracted.

Qiao Jiming patted her head and said: "Did you hear that? You come try it once."

She said "oh," and followed his method to add a heavy insurance to the door lock.

"If someone knocks on the door, don't open it directly for them. Ask who it is first, remember? Do you?" He wasn't very reassured, remembering some news reports about drunks breaking into girls' rooms, and asked again: "Otherwise, why not just come home with me?"

Qiao Suisui waved her hand impatiently, "Not going back."

He didn't say anything more.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed. Qiao Suisui answered; it was Guan Weizhi asking if she had time, telling her to bring her homework to the entrance of the lecture hall to find him. Qiao Jiming walked away to help her organize her clothes.

She hadn't brought many clothes this time; her underwear and skirts were all clean, so they weren't packed separately. Qiao Jiming was casually folding skirts when he pulled out a white lace bra.

The boy's ears turned red instantly. His movements paused for a few seconds, then he continued organizing as if nothing had happened, though the base of his ears and his neck were covered in a faint blush.

At this moment, Qiao Suisui hung up the phone and walked over to see that all her clothes had been sorted and folded; he was putting them into the wardrobe piece by piece.

"I'll do the rest myself."

"Mm."

Qiao Jiming faced the wardrobe, his back to her, so she couldn't see his expression. He agreed, but his hands continued to help her put the clothes into the wardrobe, only stopping after everything was organized.

"Whose call was that just now?" he asked, seemingly casually, with his back to her.

"A friend." Qiao Suisui didn't want to tell him too much.

A flash of disappointment crossed Qiao Jiming's eyes. He gently closed the wardrobe door, still with his back to Qiao Suisui, his hand still on the handle, and lowered his eyes: "Have you been in a bad mood lately?"

"Hm?"

Qiao Jiming said: "Or did I do something to make you angry?"

"Why do you say that?"

The boy turned around and walked to her. His height had surpassed hers in the last two years. At this moment, Qiao Jiming leaned down slightly, his long, handsome fingers picking up a strand of her hair and smelling it at the tip of his nose.

"Because it seems like you've started to hate me again... Sister."

He was very close, so close that Qiao Suisui could smell the pleasant, fresh soap scent on him.

Qiao Suisui turned her face away, covering it up uncomfortably: "No, you're overthinking it."

Qiao Jiming watched her for a long while, then smiled slightly: "Alright, I'm overthinking it."

Afterward, she gave a few perfunctory replies, urging him to leave. Qiao Jiming didn't know if he didn't understand or was doing it on purpose, delaying for a long time before finally leaving slowly. Before leaving, he told her to reply to his messages and calls in time.

After sending off this "brother," Qiao Suisui lay back on the hotel's large bed, pondering the message Ye Xi had sent. She recalled the scene before she was forced to log out, her brain spinning rapidly.

Qiao Suisui got up, picked up a pen, and organized her thoughts while writing in a notebook. After filling a page, she deduced a conjecture that was very close to the truth—

In that bizarre dream, she remembered the system seemed to have prompted her with "Game Failed."

Qiao Suisui drew an arrow next to the words "Game Failed" and wrote "Log Out."

Game failure leads to logging out.

What made her trigger the failure ending?

She was clearly living well, and she had been following the system's requirements to bear children and accumulate points. The game's freedom was very high; the system had never assigned her any tasks, and everything proceeded according to her own choices at every step. Where exactly did the problem arise? Qiao Suisui used her pen to draw circles on the paper in frustration, unable to figure out what behavior had caused the game failure.

She decided to keep the appointment tomorrow and ask that so-called player 001.

Perhaps, besides her and Ye Xi, there were many other players, and the others were still in the game, with progress not as fast as hers.

Were their worlds in the game the same as hers?

Would they also meet Luka, Zongfang, and Anubis? Would they experience the same plot as she did? Were there other players who, like her, were forced to log out?

Questions occupied her mind. Without realizing it, the time she had agreed to meet Guan Weizhi had passed, and Qiao Suisui hurried to the school's lecture hall.

When she arrived, Guan Weizhi was leaning on the desk in the first row of the classroom, head down, reading a book. The man was wearing a white shirt with gray slim-fit trousers—clothing without any logos, but just by looking at the cut, the fabric, and how it fit his body, one could tell it was expensive. His long legs were crossed, and the sunlight shone through the classroom window onto him, casting a halo over his whole person. He was cold yet scholarly, and his handsome appearance combined with his cold temperament made people hesitant to approach.

"Teacher Guan, sorry, I'm late."

Guan Weizhi didn't even lift his head, his gaze not leaving the book, and he said coldly: "You're busier than I am, it seems."

Qiao Suisui showed a hint of embarrassment, then took an assignment out of her bag and handed it to him with both hands.

"Teacher Guan, this is my homework."

Guan Weizhi's gaze shifted from the book in his hand to those fair, delicate fingertips, and then to the A4 paper neatly stapled together.

He didn't take the end of the paper closest to him, but instead took it right by her fingertips, flipping through it nonchalantly.

Qiao Suisui picked at her fingers nervously, waiting for the verdict.

"Not bad."

Hearing Guan Weizhi's evaluation, she was stunned for a moment.

This assignment was something she had rushed out last night. Some of the professional knowledge in it she didn't remember well because it had been too long, but she didn't care and just outputted everything. Because today was the final deadline, she had rushed, and she hadn't even had time to read it through completely after finishing. She hadn't expected Guan Weizhi not only not to lecture her but even to praise her. Qiao Suisui felt a bit guilty for a moment, standing there and chuckling dryly, not knowing what to say.

The classroom fell into silence.

After a long while, Guan Weizhi's voice rang out suddenly: "It's lunchtime."

Qiao Suisui nodded.

Guan Weizhi glanced at her, didn't hear her follow-up, lowered his eyes, paused for two seconds, and said: "Come with me."

"Where to?"

"To pay back the meal you owe."

Until Qiao Suisui was sitting in the passenger seat of Guan Weizhi's car, she still had an unreal feeling. In fact, Guan Weizhi had only joined the school this semester. There were rumors that he was a "parachute" hire, but he had never responded to them directly. She was a drama literature major, and the teacher-student relationship in this major was generally much closer than in other majors. Plus, many professors who came from an arts background weren't as rigid or pedantic as those in other departments; at most, they had a bit of academic persistence, but most were casual and free, often getting along well with students.

So, on some special days, it was perfectly normal for teachers and students to eat and drink together.

It was just that Qiao Suisui had never gone out to eat alone with any teacher; before, she had always tagged along with seniors to "mooch" meals from department professors.

"Seatbelt."

"Hm? Oh." She came back to her senses and went to pull the seatbelt to fasten it, but unexpectedly, it got stuck.

Just as she was adjusting it, a long hand reached over to help her adjust the seatbelt.

His scent approached along with it, bringing a unique fragrance. She had an impression of this scent; it was one of Penhaligon's perfumes.

Qiao Suisui had been educated about this perfume when Lin Xixi dragged her shopping. The name was "The Tragedy of Lord George," and the top note was brandy, leaning toward a woody scent, giving one a sense of nobility. The bottle featured a golden deer head. At the time, she had glanced at the price and quickly put it back.

Qiao Suisui thought distractedly that the whiff just now was worth 500 yuan, not noticing at all that Guan Weizhi's gaze was unobtrusively sweeping over her slender, snow-white neck and delicate collarbone.

The man helped her fasten the seatbelt, didn't linger too long, turned back, placed his hands on the steering wheel, and adjusted his breathing without a trace.

The car was exceptionally silent.

Qiao Suisui sat quietly in the passenger seat, looking straight ahead. Suddenly, Guan Weizhi's cold voice came.

"What do you like to eat?"

Orthopedic *yandere* younger brother VS high-mountain flower teacher, who do you choose?

(End of chapter)