Chapter 20: White and thin waist

Despite her reluctance, Ji Su did not run away from the battle.

A silver six-seater SUV pulls up in front of the school and Zhou Yang pulls the door open, "Get in, guys."

Gu Zhao was the first to get on the bus with his long legs and took a seat in the third row.

He Yiming followed closely behind, happily sitting in the second row inside.

Ji Su stood beside the car, looking towards the passenger side, but the next moment, Wang Mingzhe got into the passenger seat with his crutches.

"Susu, where do you want to sit?" Qiao Jin whispered to him, "Actually, I don't dare to sit in the same row with Mr. Gu Da."

Ji Su: "......"

If he had a choice, he'd rather go in the trunk.

Zhou Yang leaned against the door and greeted, "Qiao Jin , Ji Su , you guys get on too."

Ji Su was about to go up, when Qiao Jin suddenly said, "He Yiming, I want to sit with Susu, can you move to the back?"

He Yiming froze, "Huh?"

Qiao Jin said whatever he could, "I have something to discuss with Susu, so it's easier to sit in the same row and talk."

"Yes, of course." He Yiming responded and got up to move from the second to the third row.

Ji Su gave a quiet thumbs-up behind his back and got into the car without any more dawdling.

They were going to a neighboring city for fun this time, and it was about a three or four hour drive to their destination just in time for lunch.

On the way, Ji Su felt as if there was a gaze at the back of his head, making him feel like he was on pins and needles, and he had never felt like he was traveling such a long distance before.

Luckily, Wang Mingzhe, the co-pilot, kept talking, so the atmosphere in the car wasn't too dull.

During the second half of the trip, Ji Su simply leaned back against the window of the car and pretended to sleep with his eyes closed.

By twelve o'clock they had reached their destination without incident.

The SUV drove straight into the lodge and drove a little further in, stopping in front of a cluster of villas.

The townhouse is a two-story villa built on a hill with a great view and comes with its own large terrace and private swimming pool.

"Let's all go to the second floor first to choose a room and drop off all your stuff." Zhou Yang introduced herself as she headed up the revolving staircase, "There are three bedrooms upstairs, exactly two to a room."

Qiao Jin immediately snatched back, "I'll share a room with Ji Su!"

"Well, I'll share a room with Little Joe." Ji Su answered, throwing him a grateful look.

"Alright, then I'll share a room with Brother Gu." Zhou Yang continued with the arrangements, "He Yiming, Old Wang is all yours."

Upon hearing this, He Yiming patted his chest and assured, "Don't worry, I'll definitely take care of the old king next door!"

Wang Mingzhe said angrily, "Fuck off, you're the old king next door!"

Several people chose their rooms and each went into their rooms to put their luggage away.

Ji Su closed the door to her room, only now finally breathing a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry Susu." Qiao Jin looked at him and spoke in a guilty tone, "I really thought Gu Zhao wasn't coming today, how could I have known that Zhou Yang would do something so unreliable too!"

Ji Su shook his head, "You can't blame Zhou Yang for this, it was Gu Zhao who wanted to come on a whim."

"Makes sense." Qiao Jin muttered, "Then let's not blame him, let's blame Schoolmaster Gu Da."

Ji Su walks into the bedroom, "No one is to blame, the person most to blame is me."

If he hadn't made this big mess, he wouldn't be afraid to face Gu Zhao now.

"Aiya, Susu you're saying that again." Qiao Jin couldn't help but sigh as well, "What's wrong with you wanting to help others? If you want to blame it, blame it on God's will."

Ji Su didn't answer, placing his backpack on the table and pulling his laptop out of it.

"Damn, Susu, did you really put the computer on your back?" Qiao Jin leaned over, "We're out here to have fun, you're not going to stay in your room and draw, are you?"

"My senior sister introduced me to a list earlier, so I'll prepare it first." Ji Su smiled, "Don't worry, I'll spend the evening on it."

"That's fine." Qiao Jin paused and then asked, "Did Sister say anything about the fact that you you added the wrong person?"

Ji Su tone down: "Originally wanted to help sister to revenge Zha Nan, but the result is all in vain, nothing to help, sister also told me to stop meddling in this matter."

"How can you say that you didn't do anything to help?" Qiao Jin disagreed again, "If it wasn't for Sister getting the wrong micro-signal, the plan would have succeeded."

Ji Su turned around and leaned back on the edge of the table, "I have a suggestion for my schoolmate to take the transfer records directly to the police, I don't know if I can recover the loss."

Qiao Jin wrapped his arm around his shoulders and shook him back and forth, "Geez don't think about it so much, now that you're out here just relax and have fun!"

Ji Su is a bit helpless: "With Gu Zhao around, I can't relax ......"

"In fact, I think, you are your own guilt." Qiao Jin analyzed, "Think about it, Mengmeng has always appeared in front of Gu Zhao as a girl, and you haven't revealed any flaws. Qiao Jin analyzed, "Think about it, Mengmeng has always appeared in front of Gu Zhao as a girl, and you haven't revealed any flaws, so no matter how smart he is, he won't just associate it with you!"

Ji Su : "It seems so ......"

Qiao Jin: "So, relax!"

As we were talking, there was a knock on the door of the room, "Ji Su, Qiao Jin, have you guys packed up?"

"Coming!" Qiao Jin answered, stepping forward to open the door.

He Yiming stood in the doorway and said, "Come on, let's go to lunch together."

Lunch was at a private restaurant at the resort, Zhou Yang had booked a private room in advance, surrounded on three sides by a lake with a breathtaking view.

"Let me take a look at the menu." He Yiming opened the menu and first turned his head to ask, "Ji Su, do you have any contraindications?"

"I can't eat seafood, there's nothing else I'm avoiding." Ji Su casually replied back and added, "But you guys eat your own, don't mind me, I'll just eat the other dishes."

He didn't notice that just as he was talking about seafood, Gu Zhao, who had been playing with his cell phone, suddenly looked up at him.

But that glance was so quick that no one noticed.

"Tell you what, we'll take turns ordering, and whoever wants what can order it themselves." Zhou Yang suggested.

Wang Mingzhe knocked the bowl with his chopsticks, "Don't be polite, everyone, this lunch is on Brother Gu today!"

"Really?" Qiao Jin said in an exaggerated tone, "Is Gu so generous?"

Zhou Yang : "Qiao Jin, why are you calling Brother Gu too?"

"What, you can't call it that?" Qiao Jin smiled and said, "I'll call Brother Gu after you."

"Hahaha!" Zhou Yang laughed out loud, "You'll have to ask Gu himself if it works."

Qiao Jin tried on the verge of death, "Brother Gu, do you think I can call you that?"

Gu Zhao, however, just looked at him and said nothing.

Qiao Jin couldn't help but shrink his neck and shut his mouth to order.

*

After lunch, Wang Mingzhe, who has difficulty with his legs, asked He Yiming to accompany him to go fishing at the lake, while the others went around the lodge and finally came to the horse farm to experience horseback riding.

Ji Su changed into his equestrian clothes in the locker room and ran into Gu Zhao on his way out.

Gu Zhao's feet lurched and his eyes moved down to land on those legs.

The black shirt was cinched in by the belt, a handful of waist was thin and narrow, white breeches wrapped tightly around the long, straight legs, the leg line was extremely smooth, the calves were a little longer than the average proportion, and in knee-high black boots, they looked pretty and sharp.

Being able to wear breeches in such a way that it's almost impossible to pick out a flaw, it's not hard to imagine just how perfect those legs are that are hidden underneath the fabric.

Ji Su felt the other's scrutinizing gaze and took an uncomfortable step back.

"What's wrong Susu?" Qiao Jin came out from inside, "Why are you standing here?"

When he finished speaking, he saw Gu Zhao on the opposite side of the street, he instinctively took a step forward and blocked Ji Su with his body, "Brother Gu, why don't you go ride a horse?"

Gu Zhao withdrew his eyes and headed for the door without a word.

"Jo, I think something is wrong." Ji Su looked down at her legs, "He just kept staring at my legs."

"What's so strange about that, your legs look good." Qiao Jin replied, "You send him pictures of your legs in skirts, and he doesn't have see-through eyes, so he can't see your legs in see-through pants?"

Ji Su frowned slightly, "But ......"

"An, Gu Da schoolmaster won't have such a rich imagination." Qiao Jin didn't think so, "Besides, you're not wearing shorts, and he wouldn't dare to peel off your pants and look at your legs in broad daylight, so what are you afraid of?"

Ji Su: "......"

Qiao Jin pulled his arm and headed out, "Go, go, go, let's go horseback riding!"

The horse farm was huge, and there were already a number of people riding horses on the endless green grass.

Both Ji Su and Qiao Jin had never ridden a horse before, so each of them picked a gentle white horse.

Instead of asking for a professional trainer, Qiao Jin used Zhou Yang as a personal trainer to teach him how to ride and interact with people.

Zhou Yang was very patient, teaching him over and over again, and in the end, she simply got on the back of the horse herself, taking him to feel the joy of riding a horse on the grass.

Ji Su, under the guidance of the horsemanship instructor, also grabbed the reins with her left hand and stirred up the horse's back smoothly.

"Just keep your knees out of the saddle and relax against the sides of the horse." The trainer was leading the white horse in front of him, giving instructions in a warm voice, "Yes, relax your body, find the balance and the rhythm of the rise and sit ...... Yes very good, you're a fast learner ......"

After half an hour or so, Ji Su had basically mastered the correct riding skills and was able to break away from the instructor and ride the horse slowly on the grass by herself.

Su Ji leaned down and stroked the white horse's neck, whispering softly, "Little White Dragon, when I have refined my horsemanship in the future, I will come back to you."

Just then, a panicked cry rang out ahead at first, accompanied by the rumbling of horses' hooves.

Ji Su straightened up, only to realize that a runaway horse was galloping in his direction.

He immediately pulled the reins tighter, "Little White Dragon, get out of the way!"

However the white horse was frightened and jerked his head up, raised his front legs, and then spread his hooves in a wild gallop as well.

"Susu!" Qiao Jin, who was not far away, realized this scene and exclaimed in shock, "Zhou Yang! Susu seems to have had an accident over there!"

Zhou Yang twisted his head, his face changed, and he was about to ride over to save the people when he saw another tall black horse galloping away like lightning.

"It's fine, Brother Gu passed." He quickly calmed Qiao Jin, "Gu's horsemanship is much better than mine, Ji Su will be fine!"

Meanwhile, Ji Su could only hold on to the neck of the white horse to prevent himself from falling off the horse's back.

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang in her ears, "Ji Su."

Ji Su didn't dare to open his eyes and heard the other man say, "Let go."

At such a critical juncture, his mind had deserted.

Turns out G's voice sounds lower and more magnetic in reality than in voice, he should have heard it that time at the birthday party ......

Gu Zhao, controlling the two horses as they drew closer and closer together, repeated in a hushed voice, "Let go."

Ji Su bit her lower lip and decisively released her hold on the horse's neck.

In the next instant, a large, warm hand clasped his waist and carried him from the back of the wildly running white horse to another horse.

Ji Su slowly opened his eyes, and a handsome and cold face was reflected in the bottom of his eyes.

His heartbeat was deafening, and he just felt that heart in his chest.

Gu Zhao locked eyes with him, and for a moment no one spoke.

"Susu!" at that moment Qiao Jin and the others rushed over, "Are you alright?"

Ji Su snapped back, "No ...... I'm fine."

Gu Zhao unmovingly let go of his hand, straddled his horse and extended another hand towards him.

Ji Su borrowed that big hand and lifted his leg to get down from the horse.

However, because of the excessive shock just now, he was a bit off his feet, and his legs gave out just as his feet hit the ground, almost falling to the ground.

Luckily, Gu Zhao was able to hold his waist in time and stabilize him.

"I'm sorry ......" Ji Su's ears were hot and she was a little embarrassed to look at the handsome face, "Thank you for saving me."

"It's fine." Gu Gu Zhao, with a sigh of relief, turned and led his horse aside.

After taking a few steps, he lowered his eyes to the hand he had just held around Ji Su's waist.

How can any boy's waist be so thin and soft?

For some reason, the white, thin waist in the photo came to him.

Gu Zhao frowned and gripped the reins in his hands.

*

After this kind of incident, Ji Su won't dare to get back on the horse for a while.

He wanted to go back to rest by himself and let the others continue to play, but Zhou Yang saw that it was getting late and suggested that we all go back to the villa together to prepare for the open-air barbecue party in the evening.

Back at the villa, Wang Mingzhe and He Yiming had also caught two big fish.

A few people went about their business and set up a grill on the large deck.

He Yiming was looking for something to say while he was busy, "Ji Su, is horseback riding fun?"

"Don't mention it." Qiao Jin took over, "There was an accident at the stable just now, Ji Su was almost thrown off his horse, it was scary."

"Huh?" He Yiming was startled and asked anxiously, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Not hurt." Ji Su whispered back, "Thanks to Gu Zhao, he saved me."

"Damn, that sounds exciting!" Wang Mingzhe said in an excited tone, "What was the situation, is there anyone who can give me a colorful description?"

Gu Zhao coldly said, "You want to try too?"

"No, no, no, no ......" Wang Mingzhe waved his hand hastily, "My foot is still not healed, I don't want to try it!"

In the midst of the scuffle, it got dark and the terrace lights came on.

Bright strings of crystal lights hang overhead and are ambient with the dots of stars in the sky.

The grilled food was brought to the table, cans of beer were opened, and the six men split into two rows and sat down at the table to crack on.

Ji Su was not a talkative person, mostly listening to the others, and when he saw that the barbecue on the table was almost finished, he silently got up and went to the side of the barbecue grill to continue grilling some new food.

Gu Zhao clasped a can of beer in one hand, his gaze falling absently on the pretty face.

"Brother Gu, don't just hold the beer without drinking!" Wang Mingzhe started slapping the table, "No talking or drinking, what are you doing?"

Gu Zhao not-so-subtly withdrew his gaze, lifted his jaw, and took a sip of his beer.

"No no no! This is too perfunctory!" Wang Mingzhe boldly demanded, "If you're a man, you should take a bite!"

Gu Zhao looks over, "What did you say?"

"No, no, no, I didn't say anything." Wang Mingzhe was abashed for a second, and turned his head to goad He Yiming again, "Old He, you do one!"

He Yiming didn't push, draining the rest of the beer in the can in one gulp, then got up, "I'll go help Ji Su with the grilling."

He walked over to Ji Su, "I'll grill it, and you go get something to eat."

"It's fine." Ji Su sidles up and smiles slightly, "I'm almost done eating."

He Yiming was shaken by his smile, "You eat so little, no wonder you look so thin."

Ji Su's hand moved, inexplicably remembering G's earlier comment that he was too skinny and told him to eat more.

Thinking so, he unconsciously lifted his eyelashes and ran right into a pair of dark and deep eyes.

Gu Zhao sat there, not sure if he was watching him or just happened to look in his direction.

Ji Su was slightly stunned and quickly lowered her eyelashes to avoid the other's eyes.

After the BBQ, we all sat on the deck, watching the view and chatting.

Gu Zhao seemed to resent their noise and went back to the living room, sitting alone on the sofa and playing with his cell phone.

Wang Mingzhe inadvertently realized that the others had disappeared and asked loudly, "Hey? Have you seen Brother Gu?"

Ji Su returned, "Into the living room."

"Ugh ......" Zhou Yang didn't know what came to mind and frowned sadly, "I thought coming out to play would make Gu happier."

"What's wrong?" He Yiming was the only uninformed person present, "Gu Zhao is unhappy? Isn't he always like this?"

"It's not because he's that--" Wang Mingzhe just opened his mouth, but was interrupted by Zhou Yang's elbow, and hurriedly changed his words, "It's okay, it's okay, Gu has always been like this haha ......"

Ji Su and Qiao Jin looked at each other, knowing in their hearts what was going on.

Qiao Jin tries to change the subject, "Hey, I suddenly remembered something ......"

A few more people chatted enthusiastically, but Ji Su sat quietly for a while, made up her mind, and got up to go inside.

Gu Zhao sits on the couch, eyes downcast, looking at the screen of his cell phone, but his fingers don't move, obviously not playing with it.

Ji Su walked over and stood a few paces away from him and opened her mouth to call, "Gu Zhao."

At the sound of his voice, Gu Zhao lifts his eyes.

"I really thank you for today, if it wasn't for you, I would have definitely fallen off my horse." Ji Su said with a flourish, "If you need my help in any way in the future, I will definitely try my best to help you."

Mengmeng owed Gu Zhao once, and this time he owes Gu Zhao again, and he really doesn't know what to do to really make it up to each other.

Gu Zhao's thin lips opened and closed, and his words turned around before finally becoming one word: "Good."

Ji Su finished what he wanted to say and prepared to leave, "I'll go upstairs first then."

He turned around, not realizing that the gaze behind him had landed on his leg again.

"Ji Su." Gu Zhao asked coldly, "Do you have any siblings?"

"Huh?" Ji Su turned back again, unsure, "I have a brother, what's wrong?"

Zhao Gu stares him in the eye, "No older or younger sister?"

"There is also a little sister, only ......" Ji Su hesitated for a moment, her voice lowered, "My sister settled abroad with my mother, I haven't seen them for a long time."

The last time he'd seen his mom and sister, to be exact, was six years ago, and since then they'd only seen each other on the occasional video.

Gu Zhao leaned forward and pressed, "How old is your sister?"

Ji Su replied, "Eight years old."

Gu Zhao leaned back on the back of the sofa, his thin lips pursed, looking in a bad mood.

Unsure of what he meant, Ji Su softly inquired, "Is there anything else?"

Gu Zhao, with long legs, "How do you know I've run into an Internet scam?"

Ji Su lowered her eyes and stared at the carpet pattern in front of her, "I was just saying, after all, there are quite a lot of internet scams these days."

Gu Zhao's tone is inscrutable: "You've met them too?"

"No ......" Ji Su paused and tried to talk him down, "There's so much falsehood on the internet, and the person on the other end of the internet might not be who you think they are."

Mengmeng is not only not what you think she is, she's not even a girl.

Gu Zhao's eyes narrowed slightly, "Are you lecturing me?"

"No, that's not what I meant." Ji Su shook her head and apologized from the bottom of her heart, "I'm sorry I took offense."

In reality Gu Zhao seems to have crossed the line by saying this himself when they haven't even said a few words in total.

Gu Zhao looked back to his cell phone, "You go."

Ji Su pursed her lips and turned to go upstairs.

He went back to his bedroom, turned on his computer and drew for a while, but really wasn't in much of a state, so he closed it again and went downstairs.

Gu Zhao remained in the same position as before, and Ji Su purposely went around the sofa side to the terrace.

"Ji Su!" He Yiming was the first to spot him and stood up to ask, "Where were you just now?"

Ji Su walks over, "I'm going to my room."

Qiao Jin reached out and pulled him back, "Susu, you're not really going back to drawing, are you?"

"Just drawing for a while." Ji Su smiled slightly, "Not much of a hand tonight."

"What kind of drawing?" Zhou Yang followed up with interest, "Do you guys still have homework on May 1?"

Ji Su explains simply, "It's not a homework assignment, it's an order that was taken."

Wang Mingzhe was very cuddly: "Crap, so powerful?"

He Yiming was also surprised, "Ji Su, you're only a sophomore and you're already out there taking orders on your own?"

"That's nothing. Susu is great at many things." Qiao Jin looked proud of herself and was even happier than others praising her, "Our Susu is a college bully, winning the highest scholarship every year."

Ji Su touched his hand, "Little Joe, don't hold me up."

Qiao Jin disagreed: "How can this be called cudgeling? This is clearly the truth."

Zhou Yang chimed in, "That's right, Ji Su, don't be modest."

"Right, speaking of majors." He Yiming changed the subject and wondered, "Why did you guys study architecture?"

Qiao Jin thoughtlessly replied, "I chose architecture because I thought the career of an architect sounded cool, and when I chose my major, I chose architecture in the heat of the moment, and now I think my brain should have been in the water at that time."

Zhou Yang laughed, "Hahaha! That sounds very much like something you could do."

He Yiming looked at Ji Su: "Ji Su, what about you?"

"I ah ......" The smile on Ji Su's lips diminished, and after a few seconds of silence, he finally gave an irrelevant answer, "Because I'm better at drawing pictures."

That wasn't the real reason he chose to study architecture, but he was afraid that saying it out loud would provoke ridicule or sympathy, so he'd better keep it to himself.

It was a slightly cooler night in the mountains in early May, and after a bit more chatting, a few people decided to go back to their rooms.

Zhou Yang walked into the living room and looked around, suddenly pointing over to the side in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, "Huh? I just realized there's a piano here."

The crowd's eyes followed the direction he was pointing, the floor-to-ceiling windows were half-open, the white curtains brushed against the black and white piano with the wind, the picture was quiet and beautiful.

"This villa is really well equipped, it actually even has a piano." He Yiming walked over and touched the body of the piano, "It's a pity that none of us can play it."

Qiao Jin blurted out, "Who says no one knows how to play the piano, Susu does!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Gu Zhao, who was sitting on the sofa, raised his eyes abruptly.

Ji Su was so shocked that she immediately brushed it off, "No, I've never learned to play the piano, I can only play a couple of times."

"What blind playing?" Qiao Jin thought he was being modest again, "Aren't you still in tone- ow!"

Ji Su quickly stomped on him to stop him from finishing his sentence.

Over there, Gu Zhao put down his long legs that were set up, and there were a few more probing hints in his sultry eyes.

"It's fine, playing blindly is still better than not knowing anything at all." He Yiming, completely unaware of the undercurrents in the scene, enthusiastically invited, "Ji Su, just play one."

Ji Su: "......"

What is this? A forced talent show?