’An entanglement of ten years wasn’t something you could just forget on a whim...’

Her prolonged silence and strange mood made Zhou Mochen look over at her. "What’s wrong?"

Xu Su sniffled, suppressing the sudden urge to cry. "Nothing," she said listlessly.

’I wonder if I’ll ever have the chance to see that thirty-five-year-old Zhou Mochen again, even if it’s only in a dream.’

’The eighteen-year-old Zhou Mochen from her last dream had been so real...’

’So real that if the Zhou Mochen in her current life hadn’t denied ever making a "gentleman’s agreement," Xu Su would have been utterly convinced that she had sleepwalked into another dimension.’

She wasn’t the type to hide her feelings well. Not only did Zhou Mochen know her well enough, but even Shen Chen could tell the young woman was not in a good mood. She was clearly not "fine" as she claimed.

Neither of the two men spoke again. In the quiet atmosphere, the champagne-colored Cayenne drove into a neighborhood of English-style villas. Each detached home occupied a vast plot of land, with a security booth every few dozen meters, giving the area an imposing air.

A servant had already opened the villa’s arched gate. Shen Chen drove the car in and parked right next to the garden fountain.

As soon as Xu Su got out of the car, he pointed to the barely visible roof of the house next door and teased her, "What a coincidence, right? When Brother Zhou was developing this area a few years ago, I heard he was planning to keep a unit for himself, so I asked him for the one next door. And now, we’re neighbors."

Xu Su had long known that for people like them, gifting houses and cars was nothing special. She just said, "Oh," nonchalantly and pushed him aside irritably. "You’re in the way. I need to use the restroom."

She hadn’t brought much luggage from Chang City, and the servants were carrying it in.

Zhou Mochen took Xu Su’s hand and walked toward the main entrance, briefly explaining the layout to her. He then looked at a woman in her fifties standing nearby and said, "This is Sister Liu, the housekeeper here. You can tell her if you need anything."

Sister Liu didn’t look at Xu Su, merely lowering her eyes and giving a slight bow before leading her to the restroom.

’Xu Su had lived in this house in her past life and knew Sister Liu quite well. But right now, she could only pretend not to know the way and obediently follow her.’

’Maybe this is just how rich people are. Every property has a dedicated manager, a housekeeper, and when they feel like staying over on a whim, all they need to do is give a heads-up without any advance preparations.’

When she came out of the restroom, Zhou Mochen and Shen Chen were brewing tea in the courtyard next to a small fish pond. Xu Su went over to look at the koi in the pond. They were all beautiful specimens. She couldn’t resist picking up a few pellets of fish food from the railing and tossing them in.

After watching the fish scramble to eat it all, she clapped her hands in satisfaction and sat down.

Shen Chen handed her a cup of tea. "Not going to wash your hands?"

"Nope." Xu Su huffed. "Who drinks hot tea in this heat? I want an iced soda."

Zhou Mochen took her hand, washed it carefully under the slowly trickling faucet, and then dried it with a paper towel before saying, "You can’t have anything iced. If it’s too hot, wait for the tea to cool down before you drink it."

His reminder made Xu Su remember that her period was due in a few days...

’Why can’t I have iced drinks for days beforehand?’ she thought, pouting in defiance. "Zhou Mochen, you’re so controlling."

Zhou Mochen patted her head and coaxed, "Be good if you don’t want to keep drinking that medicine."

"..." Thinking of the bitter medicine for regulating her period, Xu Su couldn’t be bothered to complain about the hot tea anymore. She picked up the cup and took a small sip.

She didn’t know much about tea, but she found this one had a light fragrance and a hint of sweetness. It was refreshing and invigorating. She couldn’t help but take another sip, draining the small teacup.

Seeing this, Shen Chen, who had been quietly listening to them, refilled her empty cup. "How is it?" he said with a smile. "Not bad compared to wine, right?"

"What kind of tea is this?" Xu Su asked. "It tastes better than the one we had in Chang City."

"The one in Chang City is called Ku Song. You probably can’t appreciate its flavor. This one suits you better." Shen Chen turned his head to look at her and explained slowly, "They’re both good for your health. The annual yield for this one is low, so it’s not sold on the market."

Xu Su just said, "Oh," finding his smile a bit dazzling. She lowered her head and focused on sipping her tea.

’Young Master Shen is quite the character,’ she thought. ’He’s the one who parties all night with fine wine and beautiful women, yet here he is acting like some old-school official who’s all about healthy living and shuns debauchery.’

’And he’s surprisingly convincing. Xu Su almost believed he was an upright gentleman, completely immune to temptation.’

After two cups of tea, Xu Su’s thirst was quenched. She took out her phone and started replying to messages from Huang Feng and Qian Jia.

Both of them knew Xu Su was going to Beijing today and had been chatting in the group chat. Huang Feng had at least been to Beijing once before, but Qian Jia was a girl from the countryside. In her whole life, the farthest she’d ever traveled was to Chang City.

Soon, she would be leaving her hometown to study in the Capital. She planned to get a summer job before school started to save up some living expenses.

For Qian Jia, everything was a new challenge. She hadn’t even arrived yet, but she was already both nervous and excited.

Fortunately, it wasn’t like she was leaving home completely alone. She had a good friend, Xu Su, in Beijing, and she had already arranged with Huang Feng to stay with her at Xu Su’s place for company.

As for Xu Su herself...

She had already told her two best friends that she had to live with Zhou Mochen for the summer, so she could only hang out with them during the day.

This led Huang Feng and Qian Jia to tease her relentlessly about becoming completely "boyfriend-managed," saying she’d lost all the assertiveness she had when she was with Xi Zirong.

They had witnessed both of Xu Su’s relationships firsthand. In the one with Xi Zirong, whatever their Susu said, went. No matter the decision, Xi Zirong was the one who listened to her. Even with the breakup, it was obvious Xi Zirong couldn’t let go, but he still did as she said.

But her relationship with Zhou Mochen started with him beating someone up at school, followed by him driving her to and from school for a year. Their cohabitation near City No.1 High School was public knowledge. The impression he gave people was that he was aggressive, domineering, and well-connected.

Neither Huang Feng nor Qian Jia had ever spoken to Zhou Mochen, so they didn’t know him well. They could only judge the dynamic of their relationship based on his attitude during his frequent phone calls and from the bits and pieces Xu Su let slip.

In short, from their perspective, in this new relationship, their Susu was the one who was firmly under control.

It wasn’t that they questioned Zhou Mochen’s affection for Xu Su, but they were convinced that Xu Su was totally "boyfriend-managed."

What could Xu Su do? She was helpless about it too.

’It looks like I’ll never be able to shake off this "boyfriend-managed" title in my life.’

Chatting in the group was one thing, but Xu Su also listened in on the two men’s conversation from time to time.

At one point, Zhou Mochen walked away to take two phone calls. Xu Su was a little curious. ’He never used to hide from me when taking calls. What’s going on?’

’Look how open Shen Chen is, just answering his phone as soon as it rings.’

But curiosity was one thing; Xu Su still had that much trust in Zhou Mochen. ’It’s probably just important business,’ she thought.