Chapter 276: His Heart Ached for Her
Chapter 276: Chapter 276: His Heart Ached for Her
Xie Huaizheng had been a little angry at first, but now, he wasn’t so angry anymore.
He even felt a little guilty.
’He actually snapped at Zhaozhao, his treasure.’
’What on earth had he just done?’
Right now, he couldn’t forgive the man he was just a moment ago.
Su Zhaozhao, nestled in Xie Huaizheng’s arms, stopped crying. She sniffled and looked up at him. "Actually, this is my fault. I shouldn’t have secretly had you try things with apple in them behind your back. I just thought that if your body could get used to it, your mind would surely follow. I didn’t expect to be found out so quickly."
"Zhaozhao, you don’t have to explain. I know what you were trying to do." Xie Huaizheng hugged Su Zhaozhao tightly.
He buried his face in the crook of Su Zhaozhao’s neck and took a deep breath.
His senses filled with the faint scent of jasmine from her skin.
Xie Huaizheng found it utterly intoxicating.
He pulled Su Zhaozhao over to sit on the nearby sofa, then stood up, grabbed the little bit of remaining apple water, and drank it all down in one go right in front of her.
Even as he thought about the apple, those unpleasant images from his memory suddenly flashed through his mind.
But Xie Huaizheng forced himself to endure it, trying his best not to dwell on those images.
"Zhaozhao, look. I finished it."
Xie Huaizheng said to Su Zhaozhao with a smile.
Su Zhaozhao hadn’t expected Xie Huaizheng to actually finish the apple water. She paused, then frowned. "If you don’t like it, you don’t have to force yourself. We can find other ways to overcome these psychological scars."
Su Zhaozhao felt a little embarrassed.
This was originally her issue to solve, but now it had turned into Xie Huaizheng being the one trying to overcome it.
Xie Huaizheng took a tissue and wiped Su Zhaozhao’s face, looking at how she had cried until her cheeks and eyes were red.
She had the tragic beauty of a pear blossom in the rain, looking utterly pitiful and lovely.
His heart ached terribly to see it.
He couldn’t resist kissing Su Zhaozhao’s cheek. "It’s okay, Zhaozhao. I know what you were thinking. And because of that, I’m willing to make an effort for you."
Before, he would just avoid things he disliked. It wasn’t like this issue really affected him much anyway.
He used to have trouble sleeping, but after getting together with Su Zhaozhao, the shadows of the past seemed to have gradually faded.
These days, he could sleep soundly through the night most of the time.
He was so grateful to Su Zhaozhao. Having her by his side gave him immense peace of mind.
However, as for not eating apples, he had never made an effort to overcome it.
After all, apples weren’t some essential fruit. If he didn’t eat apples, he could just eat other fruits.
But only now did he realize that, all this time, Su Zhaozhao had been quietly working so hard to get him to accept eating apples.
He hadn’t known she was secretly trying so hard.
Thinking of this, Xie Huaizheng reached out and ruffled Su Zhaozhao’s hair.
"Zhaozhao, I was angry just now, not just because you deceived me, but also because you were quietly making all this effort for me, and I didn’t even know."
As long as he thought about that, something like eating an apple no longer seemed so unbearable.
Hearing Xie Huaizheng’s words, Su Zhaozhao couldn’t help but smile at him.
"I understand. The truth is, I didn’t trust you enough either. I was thinking it would be better to let your body get used to it first."
She never imagined that after finding out what she’d done, Xie Huaizheng’s first thought would be not to disappoint her, so he would try his best to overcome it.
A phrase suddenly came to Su Zhaozhao’s mind: meeting each other halfway. She and Xie Huaizheng were both making an effort.
Su Zhaozhao wrapped her arms around Xie Huaizheng’s waist. "I know, Xie Huaizheng. From now on, let’s work on this together and pull that psychological scar out of you by the roots! After that, our Camp Commander Xie will be completely invincible!"
"Alright. In that case, Teacher Su, you have to stay by my side," Xie Huaizheng said, ruffling Su Zhaozhao’s hair again.
Then he got up to clean up the mess.
"Don’t you lift a finger. I’ll take care of all this," Xie Huaizheng said to Su Zhaozhao.
"Okay." Su Zhaozhao watched as Xie Huaizheng swept up the broken pieces from the floor and then took the bowls and chopsticks into the kitchen to wash them.
Su Zhaozhao followed him and watched him wash the dishes. His movements were neat and efficient; you could tell at a glance that he was a capable man.
Su Zhaozhao couldn’t help but ask, "Did you do a lot of chores back home before?"
Hearing Su Zhaozhao’s question, Xie Huaizheng couldn’t help but give a dry laugh.
Back home before...
’Forget chores, he was lucky if he didn’t cause trouble for the family.’
’Otherwise, why would the old man have sent him all the way out here to be disciplined?’
It was only because he was with Su Zhaozhao, and he couldn’t bear to see her struggle, that he was willing to do these things.
"Yes," Xie Huaizheng finally said to Su Zhaozhao.
’Can’t exactly expose my own lie, can I?’
"I knew it!" Su Zhaozhao laughed.
"Also, would you mind if Jiaxin came over for dinner for the next few days?"
Xu Jiaxin was her friend, after all. She had bought a lot of things from her in the past—she was her biggest patron!
She also had other products to introduce to Xu Jiaxin, so she wanted to stay on good terms with her.
"It’s no problem, I don’t mind," Xie Huaizheng said. "I’m just worried you’ll overwork yourself."
"I won’t!"
As soon as she got Xie Huaizheng’s approval, Su Zhaozhao beamed.
For the next few days, Xu Jiaxin ate at Su Zhaozhao’s house.
Of course, she felt a little bad about it, so after much persuasion, she insisted on paying for the groceries. Sometimes she would also buy all sorts of miscellaneous things for Su Zhaozhao.
Her whole vibe was one of generosity and wealth.
For Su Zhaozhao, getting to eat delicious meals was the best part.
One day, as Su Zhaozhao was heading to class, she suddenly heard someone call her name.
"Teacher Su, the midterm exams are coming up. Why don’t you let me take over your English classes for the next few days? If I remember correctly, your subject doesn’t have an exam right now."
The woman in front of her had a gentle and beautiful smile, but her words were anything but polite.
Su Zhaozhao recognized her. Her name was Lin Siqian. When Zhaozhao had come to deliver vegetables before, she had seen Zhou Chengguo fawning all over her.
It was because of her that Zhou Chengguo had decided to break up.
Su Zhaozhao had no real relationship with her. She only knew that Lin Siqian taught Chinese, but the two of them never really interacted on a daily basis.
Hearing her request now, Su Zhaozhao immediately refused. "No. Even though English doesn’t have an exam, the workload is still heavy. If I give these classes to you, I won’t be able to finish my lesson plan."
"What you’re teaching now is all very simple anyway. Even if the students don’t understand, they’ll have more systematic and professional instruction when they get to middle school. Learning English now isn’t that important, is it?"
Lin Siqian couldn’t help but continue trying to persuade Su Zhaozhao.
She simply didn’t want Su Zhaozhao to stay at this school anymore.
Whether Su Zhaozhao gave up the class or not, she would have a pretext.