The Player
Su Yuning wasn’t entirely inexperienced when it came to romance.
After all, she was a newly minted adult with a normal psyche—of course she’d thought about dating.
But since her external and internal qualities were nothing remarkable—neither blessed with outstanding looks nor possessing an interesting soul—she’d only briefly dated an equally ordinary boy from the neighboring class before quickly breaking up.
Both found the other dull and uninteresting, so that relationship ended without any real development.
After this thoroughly unremarkable romantic experience, Su Yuning had an epiphany: she realized that tall, long-legged, chiseled, and well-voiced two-dimensional characters were far more appealing. From then on, she only indulged in fantasies about various handsome men in the realm of fiction, never giving real-life romance another thought. ~
But ever since coming to the Aristocratic Academy, handsome men seemed to be dropping into her life one after another, and these living, breathing versions were even more captivating and tempting than their fictional counterparts. Claiming she wasn’t moved would be a lie—Su Yuning wasn’t that detached.
Staring at Meng Zhizhuo’s face so close to hers, meeting his shimmering peach-blossom eyes, her heart began to race uncontrollably again. She swallowed hard, chanting frantically in her mind: Lin Shuiqing, Lin Shuiqing, Lin Shuiqing!
This was Lin Shuiqing’s man. A god-tier guy like this naturally deserved a goddess of equal standing. One must have self-awareness and not get carried away!
Meng Zhizhuo reached out, gripping her under the arms to pull her out. Su Yuning reacted quickly, clinging to the car seat. Ignoring the strange feeling in her heart, she opened her mouth and wailed, “Help! Ahaha—don’t tickle me!”
Her body went limp, and her grip loosened. Meng Zhizhuo pulled her out of the car seat but didn’t set her down. Instead, he pressed her against the car door in that position, one hand supporting her bottom and the other cradling the back of her head.
Su Yuning’s feet couldn’t reach the ground. She kicked wildly a few times before hearing a low, tingling hum escape Meng Zhizhuo’s throat—something had brushed against her leg.
After a moment of confusion, her eyes widened instantly. Su Yuning didn’t dare move recklessly anymore.
Seeing her finally behave, Meng Zhizhuo chuckled, “Why aren’t you moving now?”
He leaned forward, pressing his upper body against Su Yuning until she could barely breathe. Su Yuning kept her mouth shut, turning her head away to avoid looking at him.
Meng Zhizhuo turned her face back. “Come on, baby, look at me.”
Su Yuning’s face flushed red, but she stubbornly retorted, “Who—who’s your baby! Don’t call me that! I’ll tell Lin Shuiqing!”
“What does she have to do with this?”
Meng Zhizhuo looked into her eyes, earnestly explaining, “I admit, in the past, I’ve had many women. But baby, you’re different from them. With you, I’m serious. Why don’t we give it a try? I’ll make you happy.”
Su Yuning: Pfft! Shameless!
I’ve heard this kind of player talk before, okay! My online girlfriends have long shared the scripts cheaters use to sweet-talk naive girls. Did you think I’d fall for it?
“All the others were just for fun, but you’re the only one I’m serious about”… Gag—
The strange feeling in her heart vanished completely. Su Yuning began struggling desperately again. “Cheater! Don’t even think about manipulating me! I won’t fall for it! That whole ‘player settling down’ act isn’t trendy anymore! I’d sooner believe I’m Qin Shi Huang than trust a cheater like you to be faithful—”
Meng Zhizhuo was both annoyed and amused, wanting to explain but helpless as Su Yuning refused to let it go, struggling so fiercely that he could barely hold her down, fearing she might get hurt.
Watching that chattering little mouth, his throat grew dry with thirst.
Seeing his wolfish gaze, Su Yuning quickly covered her mouth.
Up close, Meng Zhizhuo was really quite handsome. No wonder he could be such a player.
But thinking of touching her?
No way!
Su Yuning struggled with all her might, clutching her phone as she warned, “Pervert! You creep! I want to go back to school! Take me back to school right now, or I’ll call the police!”
“Baby, don’t be so guarded. I won’t do anything.”
Su Yuning raised her voice, “What else do you want to do?!”
Meng Zhizhuo choked on his words—he couldn’t say it outright.
He took a few deep breaths of cold air to calm himself, softening his tone. “Alright, I’ll take you back to school. But I have a condition too, baby. Don’t avoid me, okay? If you agree, I’ll take you back.”
Su Yuning hesitated for a moment. “Fine.” Agreeing now didn’t mean she had to keep her word later—what could he do about it?
But Meng Zhizhuo seemed to see through her thoughts. With a bitter smile, he reached over and ruffled her hair under her wary gaze. “Forget it, I won’t force you. Let’s go.”
When they arrived at the school, before Meng Zhizhuo could say anything, Su Yuning demanded he unlock the door, threatening to call for help otherwise.
She even warned him, “The security guards at our school aren’t pushovers! If I call one over, you’d better watch out!”
Meng Zhizhuo laughed again, his gaze softening. “Alright, I get it.”
He really opened the car door and let her out. Su Yuning walked away without looking back.
The silver sports car remained parked outside the school for a long time. As it finally drove off, it passed a black Maybach heading in the opposite direction.
Through the car windows, Lu Ji and Meng Zhizhuo’s eyes met. After a brief exchange, the two cars drove off in separate directions.
Her heart still pounding on the way back, Su Yuning took out her phone and scrolled to Lin Shuiqing’s name to calm herself down. She hesitated over how to explain what had happened but couldn’t figure it out. In the end, she was taken back to the dormitory by Quan Ling, who had been waiting for her.
Quan Ling looked at her. “What’s wrong? Where did you go?”
“Nowhere special…”
Quan Ling didn’t press further, urging her to freshen up in the bathroom. When Su Yuning came out, Quan Ling helped her put on a face mask and stood behind her, applying hair oil.