Chapter 23: What to hide?

Ji Su went back to his room, closed the door behind him and leaned his back against the door panel before realizing that his heart was beating a bit fast.

Qiao Jin came out from the bathroom and said with concern, "What's wrong Susu, did you drink too much?"

"No." Ji Su shook her head, "I'm not drunk."

He wasn't a great drinker, but he wasn't a two-drinker.

"But your face looks so red." Qiao Jin pointed his finger at his face, "Are you sure it's really okay?"

Ji Su lifted a hand and touched her fingertips to her slightly hot cheeks, "This is from being scared by Gu Zhao just now."

"Huh?" Qiao Jin's eyes widened, "I'm not going to be here for a while, what did Mr. Gu Da do to you?"

Ji Su stood up straight, "He added me on WeChat."

Qiao Jin : "Which WeChat?"

"Of course it's a big one." Ji Su pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, "Mengmeng that number, I haven't logged in for a long time."

"It's okay, I'm surprised!" Qiao Jin patted his chest, and added, "To be on the safe side, you'd better cancel Mengmeng's number first."

Su Ji looked down at the cell phone screen, there was a slight hesitation in his heart, and softly replied, "Let's talk about it, maybe we can use it again."

"It can't be that you can't let go, can it?" Qiao Jin joked, "Is there any other Zha Nan waiting for Mengmeng, the Justice Envoy, to punish him?"

Ji Su: "......"

"But seriously, I've always heard that it's very hard to add Gu Da schoolmaster's WeChat, it can be called difficult." Qiao Jin got serious, "What does he mean by taking the initiative to add you on WeChat now?"

Ji Su thought for a moment, "Maybe it's so I can repay him for saving me earlier?"

Qiao Jin was puzzled, "How can I repay you?"

Ji Su sighed softly, "To be honest, I don't have a clue."

"In that case, Gu Zhao is really that kind of character." Qiao Jin stroked his chin, "Not only does he have a grudge, he also returns favors."

"That doesn't sound wrong." Ji Su curved her lips slightly, "Actually, sometimes I envy him for that kind of personality."

No need to look at anyone's face, no need to deliberately try to please anyone, grudges are clear and free.

It's just that it's inevitable that such a person would feel lonely inside, right, otherwise how could they like the same song as him ......

"Don't, don't, don't!" Qiao Jin rubbed his arms hard with both hands, "I get goosebumps just thinking about you turning into a dead fish face like Gu Zhao!"

Ji Su laughs, "I'm just saying it off the top of my head."

Qiao Jin put down his hand and said seriously, "Susu, I have to remind you, Gu Zhao has a grudge against you!"

Ji Su smiled slightly, "Got it ......"

As a result, Qiao Jin turned back to his playful face, "So, you must hide it well!"

Ji Su walks to the table, sits down and opens WeChat.

He looked at the WeChat interface that familiar avatar and nickname, the mood is indescribably complex.

Mengmeng had blackmailed G, but Gu Zhao had added back his big number, maybe it was some kind of instruction from the underworld, in order to give him a chance to make up for the other side.

With this in mind, Ji Su took the initiative to send a hello emoji as an icebreaker to start the conversation.

Gu Zhao: [?]

Ji Su: "......"

That's good. That's a very Gu Zhao question mark.

Ji Su: [Ready to sleep?]

Gu Zhao: [Uh-huh.]

Ji Su looked at the cold text in the dialog box and felt that this day just couldn't be talked about anymore.

Now that he thought about it, he also admired himself for pretending to be Mengmeng, persistently posting for so long in the face of Gu Zhao's initial lack of response.

Though it was a leg photo that finally attracted the other guy.

Ji Su: [Okay, have a good night's rest...]

After Ji Su sent this message, she realized that she had unconsciously adopted Mengmeng's typing habit of adding a wave at the end of a sentence.

He immediately withdrew this message and retyped it.

Ji Su: [Okay, good night.]

Gu Zhao: [What was withdrawn?]

Ji Su: [Nothing, there's a typo ......]

This time silence fell across the room, and Ji Su waited a few minutes for a reply, but when she didn't get one, she put her phone down and went to take a shower.

After all, he's not Mengmeng's pretty sister in a dress, so it's only natural that Gu Zhao wouldn't respond to him with enthusiasm.

*

On the third day of the vacation, it was unlucky enough to rain.

But there were plenty of indoor activities at the resort lodge and the group had a great time.

In the evening, after they had dinner at the hotel, they stumbled upon the fact that there was a billiard room inside.

"Go go go, let's go play pool!" He Yiming had a hard time catching a sport he was good at and couldn't wait to show it off.

Wang Mingzhe raised an eyebrow, "What, want to PK a game?"

He Yiming snorted, "Just you?"

"What, you're looking down on cripples?" Wang Mingzhe said defiantly, "Believe it or not, I can KO you with just one foot?"

Qiao Jin skillfully inserted the knife: "Report a sliver, playing billiards seems to be using your hands, not your feet hey."

"Alright, then you'll just wait and see!" Wang Mingzhe put down his bold words, "He Yiming, if I don't make you cry today, I won't be called Wang!"

A few of them jostled into the billiard room, and Ji Su followed them in.

Probably because it was raining today, there were quite a lot of people in the billiard room. He Yiming picked an empty table and started to set up the balls.

Ji Su leaned against the empty table and watched the battle in silence.

He Yiming's billiards skills were really good, scoring two big shots right off the bat, but Wang Mingzhe didn't blow it either, and the two had a good back-and-forth.

In the end, He Yiming took the game by hitting the eight black ball into the pocket.

Wang Mingzhe hugged the pillar and howled, "I'm not convinced! I didn't play well just now, let's play another round and another!"

"One more game and you'll lose as well." He Yiming said as he walked up to Ji Su and asked with a smile, "How's that, I'm not bad at billiards, am I?"

"You're very good at playing billiards, but of course Wang Mingzhe isn't bad either." Ji Su shallowly served a little water and affirmed again, "That game just now, it was wonderful."

"I'm happy to have your approval." He Yiming handed him the club, "Would you like to try?"

Ji Su was slightly stunned, then politely declined, "I'm not much of a pool player."

"It's okay if you don't know how to do it, I can teach you." He Yiming invited warmly, "It's easy."

"Wait, did I hear you right?" Qiao Jin on the other pool table looks up, "He Yiming, who did you just say you were going to teach to play pool?"

He Yiming was unsure: "Teaching Ji Su, what's wrong?"

"Hahaha!" Qiao Jin laughed three times exaggeratedly, "You teach Ji Su how to play billiards? Just don't let him make you cry!"

He Yiming reacted with hindsight and asked a bit awkwardly, "Ji Su, are you very skilled at playing billiards?"

"It's okay." Ji Su laughed, "Don't listen to Xiao Qiao, he kind of likes to exaggerate."

Qiao Jin watched the fun from the sidelines, "Whether it's exaggerated or not, He Yiming, you'll know if you try it yourself."

"Come on, Ji Su." He Yiming's fighting spirit was instantly aroused, "Let's have a friendly sparring match."

Having said that, Ji Su couldn't refuse any longer, and could only take the cue and stand in front of the billiard table.

Gu Zhao, who had been looking down at his cell phone, finally raised his eyes and his gaze landed precisely on him.

He Yiming set up the ball again and gentlemanly said, "Ji Su, you tee off."

Ji Su applied shellac to the club head and returned, "You drive first."

"OK." He Yiming didn't make it any easier, and fired a beautiful shot.

Next to him, Wang Mingzhe came back to life with full blood, "Ji Su, can you avenge me in this game?"

Ji Su lifted his eyelashes, a faint smile on his face, "I'll do my best."

As if to match his words, He Yiming just missed the goal: "Ji Su, it's your turn."

"Good." Ji Su answered, setting up her club and leaning down.

His posture for playing billiards was extremely standard, with his side chest pressed against the pole, his small arm vertical, his left leg slightly bent, his right leg upright, appearing to be long and straight, and several folded corners of his body regularized like a ruler.

The stooping position makes the black suit pants taut, and from Gu Zhao's perspective, the superior waist and hip curves are revealed, so perfect that they look like they've stepped out of a manga.

Someone gathered around and marveled, "That pose, professional, right?"

"There was a crunch as the cue struck and the white ball hit the edge of the pool table.

"Ah ......" The onlookers couldn't help but make a sound of regret, thinking they had looked away.

The next instant, however, the white ball, after a few repeated collisions along the edge of the table, cleanly slammed a solid-colored ball into the pocket.

"Crap! Beautiful!" Wang Mingzhe clapped his hands vigorously, "Ji Su, I was right about you, go go go!"

Ji Su smiled slightly and bent her body down again.

For the rest of the game, He Yiming could only stand by in disbelief, watching Ji Su slowly and methodically complete a clean shot.

When Ji Su straightened up again, he realized that a large crowd had gathered around him, and the applause and whistles rang out for a long time.

Qiao Jin, who was watching the battle from a distance, gloated, "He Yiming, now you know I wasn't exaggerating just now, right?"

"Ow ow ow! Cow-pow-cow-pow!" Wang Mingzhe excitedly threw away his crutches and jumped up to hug Ji Su, but unfortunately, a big hand reached out of thin air behind him and picked up the back of his collar, curbing his actions.

Gu Zhao coldly said, "Don't you want your feet?"

"Brother Gu am I not too excited?" Wang Mingzhe only had to give up his plan to pounce on him and shouted, "Ji Su! From today onwards, you are my only male god!"

Ji Su pursed her lips, "Thanks."

But he didn't forget He Yiming, and walked over and whispered, "Understood."

He had considered making a mistake on purpose, but the thought of Gu Zhao staring at him from behind inexplicably put him off, and he focused on his pool game.

Playing to your original strengths is a sign of respect for your fellow opponents.

He Yiming This time is really embarrassed and at a loss for words, "I'm sorry ...... it's me who's so out of my depth that I actually thought of teaching you how to play billiards just now."

"No, you meant well." Ji Su said in a gentle tone, "Actually, you were the one who accidentally missed just now, otherwise I wouldn't have had the chance to clear the table in one shot."

He Yiming had mixed feelings in his heart, a little lost, but more moved: "I know you are comforting me, Ji Su, you are really nice."

Ji Su was about to reply when a cold voice suddenly sounded behind him, "I'm going back."

"Huh? You're going back now?" Wang Mingzhe obviously hadn't had his fun yet, "Brother Gu, you haven't even gotten on the field to play a game yet!"

Gu Zhao looked at him, "You want to fight me?"

"No, no, no, no ......" Wang Mingzhe refused waving his hand repeatedly, "Zhou Yang, we should go back!"

Zhou Yang on the other side could only put down his clubs, and took Qiao Jin to walk out, "Go, go, go, let's go back to the villa and continue to play!"

*

Back at the villa, He Yiming couldn't get enough of Ji Su's amazing performance on the pool table and asked, "When did you start playing pool?"

"I learned it in middle school." Ji Su recalled, "There was a neighbor's older brother who was a snooker pro at the time, and by chance, I learned how to play snooker from him."

He only half-answered this question, in fact his initiation into snooker came from his mother, an internationally renowned snooker player, and he probably inherited more or less the relevant genes.

"I see." He Yiming touched his nose and said in a self-deprecating tone, "No wonder I lost so miserably just now, but it's not a loss to you haha!"

"He Yiming! Ji Su!" at that moment, Wang Mingzhe shouted at them, "Come and play cards!"

Ji Su walks over, "I really don't know how to play cards anymore."

"I testify that Susu is not modest this time." Qiao Jin helped him to testify, "I've known him for years, and I've never seen him play poker."

"Alright, then Ji Su, you can watch the battle from the sidelines." Zhou Yang shuffled the cards skillfully in his hands, "Who else doesn't know how to play cards?"

Gu Zhao spoke up, "I don't fight either."

"Huh?" Zhou Yang said in a surprised tone, "Gu you're so good at playing cards, you don't play?"

Gu Zhao settles on the couch, "Too lazy to watch you rookies peck at each other."

Ji Su: "......"

Is that something you can just say?

"Aiya, forget it." Wang Mingzhe hurriedly signaled Zhou Yang, "It's just as well that Brother Gu isn't fighting, so you won't have to lose so much that you won't have pants to wear."

Gu Zhao raised his eyebrows slightly, "You guys bet on clothes?"

"Huh?" Qiao Jin had a question mark on his face, "You guys aren't going to play that game where you lose a card and take off a shirt, are you?"

He Yiming resisted, "No? It's summer, where are the few clothes to take off?"

"Oops I'm just kidding, we'll just play around." Wang Mingzhe smiled a little lewdly, "Otherwise when the police uncle comes and says we're organizing a kinky party, we won't be able to explain ourselves hahaha!"

Qiao Jin: "Ahhhhh you're disgusting!"

The four of them started to play "Bao Jinhua", Ji Su and Gu Zhao sitting at the two ends of the sofa, each playing with his cell phone.

In fact, Ji Su mentally wanted to go upstairs, but he had thought about it last night, and until now, there was no reason why Gu Zhao would associate him with Mengmeng, and it would be easier to arouse suspicion if he acted unnaturally.

So he needs to calm down, or at least get used to being in the same space as Gu Zhao first.

After playing for a while, Qiao Jin threw the cards in his hand, "What a lousy card! I don't want to play anymore!"

"Don't rush, don't rush, Xiao Qiao, don't rush." Zhou Yang reassured in a loud voice, "This stuff depends on the luck of the hand, your luck hasn't come yet."

Qiao Jin, cheered up again by his reassurance, got up and asked, "What would you like to drink? I'll go to the refrigerator to get it."

Wang Mingzhe: "Coke."

He Yiming: "Coke kills sperm."

Wang Mingzhe: "Mineral water, I'm sick of it!"

Zhou Yang took over, "Then I'll drink mineral water too, thanks."

"OKOK." Qiao Jin gestured and crossed the couch to get water from the fridge.

Holding three bottles of mineral water in one hand and unscrewing the mouth of a Coke bottle with the other, he said in a triumphant tone, "I'll drink Coke, I'm not afraid of spermicide!"

Ji Su glanced up at him at that and smiled, shaking her head.

Qiao Jin sipped his sip as he walked back, ready to cross the couch back over to the poker table again.

Gu Zhao's eyes were downcast, his gaze falling on the screen, but he coldly stuck out a foot as he passed by.

"Pfft--" The cocoa in Qiao Jin's mouth spurted out, and his body lunged forward due to inertia and lack of control.

Ji Su, who was sitting at the end of the couch, was startled and reflexively got up to meet him head on.

The result was predictable, a large bottle of Coke spilling all over himself.

"Crap!" Qiao Jin steadied himself and hastily apologized, "I'm sorry Susu, I didn't mean it!"

Ji Su looked down at his coke soaked shirt, "It's okay, I'll just wipe it off."

"I just--" Qiao Jin turned back in wonder and looked toward the ground several times, "Are the tiles in this villa uneven? Why did I fall for good reason?"

Gu Zhao had withdrawn his foot long ago and was playing with his cell phone with an expressionless face, as if nothing had just happened and he didn't care what happened.

"I'm really fine." Ji Su bends down, pulls a couple sheets of paper from the coffee table and adsorbs the coke from her clothes, "You go play."

"Alright then, I'm going." Qiao Jin returns to the poker table with the rest of the water.

Ji Su wiped it with a napkin for a while and realized that the cola liquid had seeped into the fabric of her clothes.

"That ...... I'll go upstairs and take care of it first." He looks at Gu Zhao and explains, "The coke won't rub off, you have to take it off to get it cleaned."

Gu Zhao didn't look up, "Uh-huh."

Ji Su walked around the couch and quickly went upstairs.

Back in his room, he unbuttoned his shirt and took off his equally wet pants, shoving them into the washing machine together.

Wearing thin summer clothes and not without coke stains on his skin, sticky and slimy, he simply walked into the bathroom and took a shower.

I was halfway through the wash before I remembered that it had rained all day today and not until evening, and the clothes I hung out on the balcony last night must not have dried yet.

Ji Su began to regret why she hadn't listened to Qiao Jin and prepared a few extra changes of clothes before she left.

But what was done was done, and he had no choice but to rummage through the bathroom cabinets and pull on his bathrobe.

Ji Su made up her mind that she would never step out of her room again tonight.

With that thought, he had just stepped out of the bathroom when he heard a knock at the door.

Ji Su walks behind the door, "Who is it?"

"It's me." Gu Zhao's low voice sounded outside the door.

Ji Su stumbled from foot to foot, tying her hands tightly around the belt of her bathrobe as she asked warily, "Can I help you?"

Gu Zhao: "Open the door first."

Ji Su looked down at the bathrobe on her body and spoke decisively to decline, "Sorry, I'm not really up to it right now."

Gu Zhao was standing right outside the door, just a doorstep away from him, and he couldn't help but hold his breath for fear that the other man wouldn't leave.

Luckily Gu Zhao isn't the stalker type and stood there for a few seconds before leaving without saying a word.

Ji Su breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to the bathroom, taking the laundry out of the washer and preparing it for drying on the balcony.

He opened the balcony door and lit the light on the balcony, took down the hangers and hung both his shirt and suit pants to dry.

After hanging out, he turned his head and was caught off guard when he ran into a pair of dark, ink-like eyes.

Ji Su's heart skipped a beat and her body froze in place.

Gu Zhao's eyes narrowed slightly as his gaze fell on his face.

Having just finished her bath, Ji Su's hair was still wet, with beads of water dripping down from the tips, soaking her picturesque eyebrows and making her lips red and teeth white.

He was wearing a loose white bathrobe, the neckline loosely revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin as well as flat, sunken collarbones; the belt was instead tied tightly, pinching out a handful of not-so-small waists.

Gu Zhao's line of sight descends and stops.

The bathrobe wasn't long enough to reveal a beautiful calf, slim and straight, white as jade, attached to a pale, skinny ankle, as if one hand could easily hold it in its heart and play with it over and over again.

Ji Su came back to her senses, realizing the other man was ogling her legs, and instinctively wrapped her robe tightly around her and took a step back.

Gu Zhao stepped away from him on long legs, his eyes sullen.

Ji Su's scalp went numb and her voice changed a bit, "Gu Zhao, what do you, what do you want?"

Gu Zhao doesn't say a word and approaches him step by step.

Ji Su's heart was about to jump out of his throat, so he could only continue to back away.

Under the high tension, he accidentally stepped on something, and his body suddenly lost balance and fell backward.

In a flash of lightning, a large, hot hand gripped his waist and scooped him back up steadily.

"Hiding from what?" A low, cold-feeling voice drilled into his ears, Ji Su's ears softened, and a tingling electric current quickly shot up his spine.