Chapter 23

Having lived in the school for a month, I never called Jason.

One day, when I returned to the dorm, my roommate said someone had called for me.

I was happy because I knew it was him.

I quickly called him back.

It was Lily who answered the phone.

"He's not here. Is there something you need? Are you adjusting well to life at school?"

"Nothing, school is fine, and my classmates are all very nice to me."

After hanging up the phone, I sighed for the entire night.

They must have gotten back together.

Like he said, I'm only 18 years old, and he is already 31. He should be getting married soon.

What right do I have to make him wait for four years?

What position do I have?

He doesn't like me at all.

He even told me to find a guy of similar age.

There are indeed boys in my class who pursue me.

There is always bubble tea on my desk, but I never know who it was from.

Until one day during our classroom cleaning duties, I saw a bubble tea receipt fall out of Samuel Russell's drawer.

He quickly picked it up and nervously stuffed it back into the drawer.

"What's that?" I asked him with a smile.

"Just trash," he replied nervously, his face turning pale.

"Let me see." I took the receipt out, and his face instantly turned red.

The truth was right in front of me, and he couldn't hide it anymore.

"What clever excuse! I looked at him anxiously.

"I'm going home this weekend," I said, putting away the receipt.

"Mhmm."

"Could you give me a ride?" I asked him with a smile.

"Well... I can," he replied, as if using all his strength.

During the weekend, he accompanied me to the train station, carrying a milk tea in his hand and even buying motion sickness pills for me. "Is your home far?"

"Not too far, just a half-hour train ride."

"That's good."

As I was about to board the train, I suddenly thought of something and asked him with a smile, "Would you like to come to my house?"

"Huh?" He was surprised and panicked, immediately starting to fiddle with his glasses.

"Well, it's not far, don't you want to hang out with me?"

"It's not that, is it appropriate to go all of a sudden?" he hesitated.

"My house only has one uncle, and he doesn't come home often. We can do our homework together, and you can help me with this paper we just got. Will you explain it to me?"

"Sure."

So I took Samuel to my uncle's house.

On the way back, I first took him to the car repair shop.

Everyone saw me in high spirits. Jason, who was still working on a car, looked up at me and said, "You actually came back?"

The next second, he saw Samuel standing next to me and his face changed drastically.

"This is my uncle, and this is my class monitor, Samuel."

"Hello, Uncle," Samuel greeted politely.

Jason stared at me and didn't say anything for a while. Finally, he just made a sound of agreement, seeming not in a good mood.

"Rachel, you haven't come to see everyone for the past two months, and it turns out you got a boyfriend?" Uncle Bear ran over, looking resentful.

"Ah, it's not like that," Samuel blushed in fright.

I looked at Jason, who was still fixing the car with his head down. I couldn't see his emotions clearly.

"Uncle Bear, he's not officially my boyfriend yet, but I quite like him," I admitted generously.

When Jason heard this, his hand froze, and he didn't say anything.

After greeting them, I pulled Samuel away.

"Your uncle seems to not like me very much," he asked me.

"Don't mind him, he has always been taciturn," I reassured him.

Back at my uncle's house, I noticed that the flowers I had inserted earlier had withered but had not been thrown away. However, the whole house was even cleaner than when I left.

It must have been cleaned by Jason's ex-girlfriend.

Thinking of this, my heart hurt, but not as much as before.

Throughout the afternoon, Samuel studied the test paper with me in the living room.

He looked refined and gentle, completely different from the rough and irritable Jason.

I suddenly wondered what it would feel like to be in a relationship with someone like him.

He noticed me staring at him and stopped, looking at me.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

"Have you ever been in a relationship?" I asked him, biting my pen.

"No, I haven't. Why?" He became nervous.

"Would you like to give it a try?"

"I...," he became even more nervous, "How do we try?"

"Like this." I leaned over and gently kissed his cheek.

He recoiled in shock. But I didn't back down.

At this moment...

"What are you guys doing?" Suddenly, the familiar voice sounded at the door.

It was Jason.

My heart skipped a beat.

Even the class monitor was startled and pushed me away.

"You saw everything, so why are you asking?" I snapped.

"You go outside," Jason walked over, suppressing his temper, and said to Samuel.

Samuel glanced at me, afraid that I would get scolded. "Uncle, it's my fault, don't blame her."

"I said, you go outside first, don't you understand?" This time, Jason couldn't control his temper.

Afraid of his anger, Samuel reluctantly walked out with his belongings.

Jason walked over, locked the door, and then looked at me, as if wanting for an explanation.

I don't know why, but seeing him angry, I wasn't scared at all, instead, I felt quite relieved.

"Tell me, what do you mean by bringing him here?" He suppressed his emotions and asked me calmly.

"I like him, so I asked him to hang out." I replied.

"Like? You're so young, why are you imitating others' romance?"

"Why can't I have a romantic relationship?" I asked him back, "Uncle, you don't like me, and don't allow me to like someone else?"

"Your so-called liking is bringing him home and doing things that shouldn't be done?" He stared at me with a stern face.

"I just kissed him, what's wrong with that? Uncle?"

"If I hadn't come back, would you have stopped at just a kiss? Do you think I'm a fool?" he seemed really irritated.

Seeing him angry was quite amusing.

"Uncle, you're so strange. You can bring that woman home; why can't I bring a guy home?" I continued to ask him.

"Rachel, don't provoke me, I'm not falling for it."

"Uncle, are you genuinely concerned about me, or are you just using concern as an excuse to be jealous?"

"Jealous? Are you lucid?" He suddenly stood up and yelled at me.

"If you're not jealous, then you're not jealous. Why are you yelling at me?" I whispered.

He was dumbfounded, unable to recover for a while.

It seemed like I hit the nail on the head.

Seeing him like this, my mood suddenly improved.

"I'm going out for a while," I smiled at him.

"What are you going out for?" he looked dejected.

"To see him off. It's impolite to chase him away like this."

I got up and walked towards the door, and he didn't stop me.

But when I was changing my shoes, he faintly asked, "Are you coming back?"

Hearing him say that, my nose suddenly became sour.

It felt like he was an elder left behind, waiting for me to come back every day.

Finally, someone was waiting for me?

"Very soon, in about ten minutes," I turned back and smiled at him.

I walked out the door, and sure enough, Samuel hadn't gone far, he was lingering downstairs.

I thought for a minute, then walked towards him, "Let's go, I'll see you off at the station."

"Did your uncle scold you?" he asked worriedly.

"No," I reassured him with a comforting look, "He can't bear to."

We arrived at the station, and I saw him off. He asked if he could invite me out next time.

"Samuel, let's just be friends," I smiled and told him.

"Why?" he looked disappointed.

"The milk tea you bought is delicious, but I'm allergic to mangoes. I heard that mango is your favorite flavor" I explained.

"Then I won't buy that flavor next time," he said.

"You don't have to change yourself for me. There are plenty of girls in our class who like mangoes, and many of them like you too," I smiled and handed him a cup of mango-flavored milk tea.

"Good luck, class monitor. Goodbye," I didn't want to hold him back, nor did I want him to change for me.

If it's not right, it's not right. If there's no feeling, then there really isn't.

I just tried kissing him earlier, and I felt nothing. Instead, my mind was filled with thoughts of Jason.

So on the way back, I thought a lot and ultimately made peace with myself.

I compromised and stopped struggling. I'll just like him like this. If he responds, that's great, but if not, I'll accept it.