The pretty little follower gets targeted by the crazy guys at the elite academy

Zhou Si had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, unlit, and he merely squinted at Li Ruo, asking her in a cold voice:

"Are you really going to treat his wound?"

"Otherwise what?"

Li Ruo met Zhou Si's cold gaze: "Let him rot here?"

"I can have the team doctor handle it," Zhou Si said, his mind still unsettled.

"Zhou Si,"

Li Ruo's voice suddenly became serious:

"He swam for four hours. From the high seas border to here, four hours, and he was injured. He didn't come here to fight you, he came to see me."

Zhou Si fell silent.

"If you block him outside, he won't leave. If you have people stop him, he'll force his way in. If you hit him, he'll fight back. You know his personality."

Li Ruo looked at him:

"Instead of letting him cause chaos on the whole island, it's better to let him in, let him see me, let him know I'm still alive. Then he'll leave."

Zhou Si, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, remained silent.

His expression was complex, like a tangled rope that couldn't be untied or cut.

"You seem to know him quite well," he said in a muffled voice.

Li Ruo ignored his words, turned around and walked into the inner room to get the first-aid kit.

She took two steps, then stopped and turned around.

"Zhou Si".

"Hmm." Zhou Si turned his head slightly.

"You've lit your cigarettes, put them out, put them out again, lit them again—that's three cigarettes now."

"Either smoke, or quit. What kind of person neither smokes nor quits?"

She turned and left, leaving Zhou Si standing there alone.

He looked down at the cigarette in his hand, which he had crumpled into a mess. The filter was covered in fingerprints, and tobacco shreds were leaking out from the cracks and scattered all over the ground.

He threw it into the trash can, took out a fourth one from his pocket, and put it in his mouth.

This time he lit the fire.

The smoke rose, blurring his silhouette.

He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, watching the smoke swirl in the air and then gradually dissipate.

"What's so special about it?"

He pondered her words, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of his lips:

"I guess I'm... a fool."

-

The sound of running water could be heard in the bathroom.

Lu Ran stood under the showerhead, the hot water washing away the seawater and salt from his body and rushing into his wounds, making him wince in pain.

But he didn't say anything, he just stood there and let the hot water pour down on his head for ten minutes.

His mind was filled with the marks on Li Ruo's neck.

Lu Xingzhou's.

He took a deep breath, buried his head under the showerhead, and let the water fill his ears, nose, and mouth.

He doesn't want to think about those things, but they're like they're etched into his mind, impossible to shake off.

He drifted at sea all night, swam for four hours, and was covered in injuries, all just to see her.

Then he saw her sleeping with another man.

His lips curled up into a self-deprecating smile.

This is probably the price of being a mistress.

He himself thought it was outrageous when he said that.

But so what if it's outrageous?

Is it really unreasonable to wait five years for her?

Is it really possible for a ship to drift at sea overnight?

Is it possible to stand in front of her, smile, and say, "I don't care"?

He cares.

He cares about it terribly.

But he couldn't say.

To speak out is to lose, and to lose is to lose everything.

So he laughed and said, "I want to be number three."

At least this way, he can stay by her side.

"Third place it is."

He muttered to himself, "I'll overtake you sooner or later."

Lu Ran turned off the tap, walked out of the bathroom barefoot, leaving a trail of wet footprints on the floor.

-

Downstairs, Zhou Si stood in the living room leaning against the door frame, the cigarette between his fingers already burned down to the filter.

He flicked the cigarette butt into the trash can, turned and walked into the living room, sat on the sofa, had the maid pour him a glass of wine, and then sat there waiting for Li Ruo to bring out the first-aid kit.

Before Li Ruo came out, Lu Xingzhou came downstairs first.

After taking a shower, Lu Xingzhou changed into a new set of clothes.

Wearing a light gray linen shirt, dark casual trousers, and with her hair neatly combed, she descended the stairs with an air of nobility and elegance.

Zhou Si sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, playing with the folding knife in his hand.

The blade opened and closed under the light, making a crisp clicking sound.

As Zhou Si watched him come downstairs, his gaze swept from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet, finally settling on the side of his neck.

There were several scratches there.

It's very light, but eye-catching enough.

Zhou Si's pupils contracted slightly, and he looked away.

"Do the clothes fit?" His voice was indifferent.

Lu Xingzhou looked up and smiled. "It fits perfectly. Thank you."

He walked over and sat down opposite Zhou Si, leaned back on the sofa, picked up a magazine and flipped through it, his posture as elegant as if he were having afternoon tea in his own living room.

Zhou Si gave him a cold glance: "It wasn't prepared for you. It's for myself."

Lu Xingzhou's smile froze for a moment.

[Hahahaha, Zhou Si, that's enough!]

[This isn't for you; it's for myself. Translation: This is my territory, and Li Ruo is the mistress of this territory. You are an uninvited intruder.]

Zhou Si's mouth is a murderous knife!

[Lu Xingzhou's smile froze on his face.jpg]

Lu Xingzhou quickly regained his composure and placed the magazine on the coffee table:

"Zhou Si, your biggest problem is that you're too honest."

"Yeah," Zhou Si leaned back on the sofa, "that's why I've survived until now."

The two stared at each other, and something in the air seemed to explode silently.

After a brief eye contact, Lu Xingzhou picked up another magazine and flipped through it without even looking up, asking:

"Lu Ran is up."

"Um."

"Did he pick a fight with you?"

"no."

Lu Xingzhou looked up: "So what did you say?"

Zhou Si closed the folding knife and looked at him: "He said he wants to be the other woman."

Lu Xingzhou: "..."

Zhou Si: "He also said that being a third person made him happy."

Lu Xingzhou remained silent for a long time.

"Tell him,"

Lu Xingzhou's voice was calm: "The number three contestant's number has already been distributed. Let him take number four."

Zhou Si's lips curled slightly, adopting the demeanor of an empress: "So, you admit you're the third party?"

Lu Xingzhou's finger paused on the magazine cover for a second.

He looked up at Zhou Si.

There was no anger or choked expression on his face, just a calm smile, as if he had heard a not-so-funny joke.

"Zhou Si,"

He placed the magazine on the coffee table, leaned back, and relaxed as if he were on vacation.

"Is your Chinese language not very good?"

"When did I say I was the other woman?"

Zhou Si leaned back on the sofa, twirling the folding knife in his hand between his fingers, the blade reflecting a cold light.

"So, what number do you think you are?"

Lu Xingzhou finally raised his head and looked at Zhou Si.

In those eyes that always held a smile, there was only one certainty at this moment.

"you guess."

Zhou Si's fingers stopped.

The blade of the folding knife was half-open, stuck there, as if someone had pressed the pause button.

The reception room was silent for a few seconds.

Only the pendulum of the grandfather clock swayed back and forth, making a dull sound.

"I guess you can't," Zhou Si said indifferently.

Lu Xingzhou's smile froze once again.

"The number plates for contestant number three have all been distributed."

Lu Xingzhou said unhurriedly, "The subject of this sentence is contestant number three. I said I finished speaking, not that I am number three."

He paused, a slight smile playing on his lips: "You insisted on assigning me a number, what could I do?"

Zhou Si placed the folding knife on the coffee table; the metal struck the glass with a crisp sound.

"I don't want to guess. Just tell me, what number did you assign yourself?"

Lu Xingzhou tilted his head:

"I don't take a number, I don't participate in your queuing system."

Zhou Si's eyes narrowed: "On what grounds??"