Chu Zhi felt something wasn’t quite right about this topic, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what.
She had no doubt that Lu Jiaheng was an expert in this area, but she had never actually seen him take the initiative, let alone seduce anyone.
Chu Zhi blinked, curiously leaning closer: “How do you seduce someone?”
The two of them were huddled in the corner of the last row in the classroom, Lu Jiaheng sitting by the wall with Chu Zhi next to him.
The classroom was full of people. Though they spoke quietly, Gu Han, who had just finished painting her nails, overheard them.
Gu Han stared in disbelief, wanting to pull Chu Zhi aside to say something but unsure if she should interfere.
She tapped Lin Tong beside her and pointed: “What’s going on with these two? Why is Pink Water Cup here? Isn’t he a junior? What’s he doing in a freshman elective?”
Lin Tong looked unconcerned: “Oh, I invited him.”
Gu Han: “…”
Gu Han shouted: “You traitor!”
Lin Tong said seriously: “I’m a loyal supporter of Pink Water Cup.”
Gu Han frowned, lowering her voice to whisper: “But I don’t think he’s suitable for A-Zhi. He seems kind of… not serious? What if A-Zhi actually falls for him and gets hurt?”
Lin Tong rested her chin on her hand, watching the teacher’s passionate lecture in front: “Mm, I used to think so too.”
“What do you mean ‘used to’?”
Lin Tong didn’t respond, appearing lost in thought.
Before the National Day trip to Cang Yan Mountain, Lin Tong had felt the same way.
In fact, back then she hadn’t even thought Lu Jiaheng had any special feelings for Chu Zhi, at most just some interest or curiosity.
But after several days of observation, she felt things were different from what she’d imagined.
Especially on the car ride back—Lin Tong actually hadn’t been asleep at all.
Thinking about it, she grinned: “Don’t worry about it. Our little girl isn’t stupid. Look how carefree she is—who knows who’ll end up getting hurt in the end.”
Gu Han deadpanned: “I vote for the genius senior we’ve never met.”
Lu Jiaheng said he would help with the script, and he was genuinely serious about helping Chu Zhi with the script.
With complete focus and dedication, the two of them started from the shopkeeper’s first scene, analyzing what expression should accompany each line of dialogue.
Chu Zhi had no afternoon classes. When the elective ended, they were just going over the scene between the knight and the shopkeeper. Chu Zhi planned to finish this part and then go straight to drama club, saying goodbye to Lin Tong and Gu Han.
The classroom’s heating was strong. Chu Zhi wore a lotus pink mohair sweater, lying on the desk looking like a fluffy ball, pointing at the script: “Should I act shy here?”
Lu Jiaheng paused, also lying down, his tone unenthusiastic: “No.”
Chu Zhi was confused: “No?”
“Mm, here you should appear more aloof. This type of knight completely lights up at the slightest hint of interest. Actually, the play doesn’t need to follow the script exactly—it’s better if the actor adds their own understanding and interpretation.”
Chu Zhi looked completely lost.
“Like this part—” Lu Jiaheng pointed to a section of the script, continuing seriously: “Here, when the knight is about to leave the shop, the shopkeeper pretends to be deeply grieved and faints on the bed, the knight carries her and realizes his feelings—this is too fake. If you want to seduce the knight, you can’t be too forward. You need to act indifferent, make him feel lost after he leaves.”
Chu Zhi humbly accepted the advice: “Should we change it then?”
“Yes,” Lu Jiaheng ground his back teeth, smiling without warmth: “Tell him to get lost, hurry up and leave my shop.”
Chu Zhi: “…”
Chu Zhi sighed, worried: “Senior, that doesn’t really seem like seduction anymore.”
Lu Jiaheng made an “oh” sound, looking at her for input: “Then how would you do it?”
Chu Zhi frowned in serious thought but didn’t speak, creating a moment of silence.
Lu Jiaheng waited a bit, then suddenly said: “Since you can’t explain it, let’s try it out.”
Chu Zhi looked up: “Huh?”
He suddenly slumped, his back slouching as he lazily leaned back: “Pretend I’m the knight right now.”
Stretching his long leg to the side, Lu Jiaheng unexpectedly leaned in close, raising his eyes with a curved smile, lowering his voice meaningfully: “Try seducing me?”
The distance suddenly closed between them, his dark eyes staring straight at her. Chu Zhi instinctively leaned her upper body back, her face reddening again.
The after-effects of the 200-meter race from the sports meet promptly followed.
She quickly raised her hand to cover her left ear, then immediately dropped it.
Lu Jiaheng watched her intently, his smile deepening.
He had noticed recently that when she felt embarrassed or guilty, she would unconsciously tug at her earlobe or touch her ear.
Even her little habits were so cute.
He licked his lips and gave a low laugh, not retreating but pressing forward even more. The more she leaned back, the more he leaned forward, his voice gentle: “Little Zhizi, have you been getting more easily embarrassed lately?”
Chu Zhi had been sitting sideways facing him in her seat. As he moved forward, she kept moving back, her upper body leaning further and further back. She gripped the edge of the desk tightly, her shoulders starting to shake as she tried to maintain balance.
She made a small sound, her voice tiny and urgent: “Don’t come any closer…”
By now, class had been over for a while, and the classroom was empty except for the two of them in the last row.
It was a first-floor classroom, with pristine white snow outside the window, like powdered sugar sprinkled on a chocolate cake.
The classroom was well-heated, warm enough to make even one’s heart feel hot.
Chu Zhi gripped the chair back with one hand and the desk edge with the other, unable to free a hand to push him away, feeling like she might cry.
Just when she thought she was about to fall back onto the chair, Lu Jiaheng’s lips parted slightly, letting out a soft breath as he reached his arm through her side to support her back.
His palm was warm, strong and steady against her back as he gently pulled her forward, helping her settle back into her chair.
Chu Zhi sighed in relief, but after catching her breath, she frowned with a red face, annoyed. Just as she was about to speak, her phone rang.
She took it out to check the caller ID, immediately answering with a crisp “Senior.”
“…”
Lu Jiaheng lowered his eyes, his mouth drooping.
After she hung up, he lifted his eyelids slightly: “Going now?”
Chu Zhi nodded while organizing her things.
Lu Jiaheng sprawled in his seat, looking dejected: “Oh.”
Chu Zhi didn’t really want to talk to him.
She put the script and books in her bag, then stood up to shake out her coat. After thinking for a moment, she felt she should still say thanks: “Senior, thank you for today.”
Lu Jiaheng turned around, leaning sideways against the desk as he watched her slowly put on her coat. He reached for the white wool scarf hanging on the chair back and handed it to her, standing up as well: “Going to drama club?”
“Mm.” Chu Zhi took the scarf and wrapped it around her neck. The scarf was quite long, so she wrapped it several times, lowering her head to pull it up and adjust it to cover her chin.
Her hair was loose today, falling down around the white wool scarf wrapped round and round, the strands trapped by the scarf creating a puffy arc like a little mushroom.
Lu Jiaheng uncrossed his legs and stood up, grabbing his coat: “Let’s go, I’ll walk you. Can I watch the rehearsal?”
Chu Zhi had already bundled herself up completely, pulling the scarf up again to cover her mouth and nose, leaving only her eyes visible.
This person had just deliberately teased her, and now he was acting like nothing had happened, which was really too much.
Chu Zhi buried her nose in the scarf, her voice muffled: “No.”
Lu Jiaheng, like a protagonist in “Bleach” preparing to face an enemy head-on, dramatically swung his coat like a haori, putting it on with flourish, casually saying: “It’s fine, I can watch.”
Chu Zhi: “…”
How could he be so self-willed!
Chu Zhi stopped walking, standing at the back door of the classroom glaring at him: “Senior, what you’re doing isn’t right.”
Lu Jiaheng laughed softly, his expression innocent, obedient, and confused: “Hmm?”
“Could you please stop always being so—” Chu Zhi frowned, thinking for a long time but unable to find the right words to express herself.
He must be like this with all pretty girls.
When he finds something amusing, he plays around a bit, then acts like nothing ever happened.
Getting so close without even blushing or his heart racing.
How could there be such a terrible man.
Why would there be such an awful man.
As her emotions built up, continuing to swell, Chu Zhi rubbed her nose against the scarf, her long eyelashes lowering, looking unhappy.
Her voice was very small and sullen: “Lu Jiaheng, you jerk.”
Lu Jiaheng: “…”
At the bowling alley’s rest area, Lu Jiaheng leaned back in the sofa, staring blankly ahead in low spirits.
Cheng Yi held a bowling ball, making flamboyant spins and jumps at the lane’s approach before releasing it, scoring a strike.
Cheng Yi let out a cheer, continuing his flamboyant spins and jumps as he bowed and exited, sidling up to Lu Jiaheng and throwing an arm around his shoulders: “My Heng has been down lately, spacing out every day. What’s caught your soul?”
A man walked over, pressing his phone screen where the stopwatch timer digits stopped: “Over eight minutes. He just stared at that ball for over eight minutes, barely even blinking.”
“How do you know he didn’t blink?”
“I was watching him the whole time.”
“Then you’re pretty bored too.” Cheng Yi rolled his eyes while patting Lu Jiaheng’s shoulder, “Your Highness, got something on your mind? Talk to me about it.”
Cheng Yi had expected Lu Jiaheng to either ignore him with cold elegance or say something like “you’re too free.”
After a few minutes of silence, he spoke softly: “I got scolded.”
The guy with the stopwatch was drinking water nearby and upon hearing this, sprayed it all out. The crystal-clear water stream traced a perfect arc through the air, splashing generously onto Lin Boyang’s arm.
Young Master Lin exploded with curses, cursing relatives while jumping two meters away, his facial expression twisted with rage.
The timekeeper hastily wiped his sleeve while wide-eyed: “Who was it, male or female? What did they say? Are they still alive?”
Lu Jiaheng didn’t answer, pursing his lips with a slightly confused and bewildered expression.
Cheng Yi cleared his throat, moving closer to sit beside Lu Jiaheng, speaking softly: “Was it your little junior who scolded you?”
Lu Jiaheng answered absent-mindedly: “Mm.”
“What did she call you?”
“Jerk.”
Cheng Yi: “…”
Cheng Yi was shocked: “Lu Jiaheng, what inhumane thing did you do to that young lady?!”
Lu Jiaheng couldn’t even be bothered to respond to him.
He had thought things were developing in a good direction.
Like recently, whenever he got close, Chu Zhi would get shy, wouldn’t dare meet his eyes, would panic slightly and look away.
This had never happened before.
But then he got scolded.
Not only scolded, but for the past few days after that, she wouldn’t answer his calls, his messages sank like stones in the sea, and even his little ally Lin Tong had gone silent.
Thinking about her rehearsing the play, acting opposite some unknown “senior,” and being angry for some unknown reason, Lu Jiaheng felt extremely irritated.
This feeling of having his emotions completely tied to and affected by a girl was something he had never experienced before.
He sprawled boneless on the sofa, his long legs slightly bent, frowning with his thin lips pressed into a line.
Cheng Yi spoke in a falsetto: “Even when our Prince is dejected he’s so handsome~~”
Lin Boyang rolled his eyes: “Idiot.”
As the two engaged in another fierce battle, the timekeeper, having listened long enough to understand it was about a girl, passed through the battlefield unscathed and scooted over to Lu Jiaheng, counting on his fingers sagely: “Bro Heng, look, when women look at men, they only care about three things: houses, money—”
He deliberately paused, then continued meaningfully after a while: “And their root.”
Lu Jiaheng: “…”
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