Is my roommate a caged bird? I'm stealing her away.

Zhou Suisui felt her blood rush to her head and her cheeks burn from his last words.

She can't talk to shameless people!

"I'm not talking to you anymore!" She turned her face away, her voice irritated, and raised her hand to try to break free from his embrace. "...I'll go sit over there."

But the arm around her waist remained completely still.

Chen Boxu not only didn't let go, but instead hugged her even tighter, her back completely sinking into his embrace, and she could clearly feel the warmth from his chest.

"Where to?" His voice rang close to her ear, not loud, but carrying an undeniable force.

Zhou Suisui struggled a few times, but it was completely futile. The position was too intimate, and there were many people around; she could feel the gazes cast upon her from time to time.

How embarrassing.

Zhou Suisui felt a little ashamed. Her voice was muffled, tinged with embarrassment: "...Let me go, this feels so weird."

Chen Boxu ignored her small protest and kept his arm firmly around her.

There was a few seconds of silence.

Unable to bear the awkward atmosphere any longer, Zhou Suisui decided to casually ask about something that interested her, "How did you... resolve the issues at my company the other day?"

She paused, her voice softening slightly, "...because...my...my supervisor...suddenly became incredibly nice, even saying I could take a few days off while still getting paid..."

Chen Boxu looked down at her, his face expressionless.

A moment later, he suddenly lowered his head and gently brushed his chin against the top of her soft hair. The movement was very light. But the words that followed were like an invisible lock, pinning her firmly to the spot.

"Zhou Suisui," he called her name, "get your bearings."

He tightened his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him and holding her tightly in his embrace.

"Just say what you want." He paused, his breath brushing against the top of her head. "Don't make me guess."

Zhou Suisui opened her mouth, unsure what to say. Feeling a little down, she finally spoke after a while: "...I don't want anything."

Her voice was low, her gaze lowered, "Can't I even ask a casual question?"

She took a breath, as if she had finally recognized a certain boundary, her voice icy:

"...Okay, I'll shut up."

As the last word fell, she was simply held stiffly in his arms, her gaze casually fixed on a certain point, adopting a posture of refusing to talk.

Chen Boxu lowered his eyes.

His gaze moved from her trembling eyelashes to her tightly pursed, bloodless lips.

Chen Boxu's gaze lingered on her tightly pursed lips for a moment.

Immediately, he raised his hand, his fingertips brushing against her cheeks, then his thumb and forefinger gently pinched the soft flesh of her cheeks with a slight pressure.

Caught off guard, Zhou Suisui's lips were pinched so hard that she pouted and made a muffled "mmm" sound.

Her eyes widened instantly, and she immediately reached out to pry his fingers off: "What are you doing! Let go!"

Chen Boxu not only didn't loosen his grip, but instead pulled her even closer to him in that position.

He lowered his eyes, looking into her angry eyes, and his lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Didn't you say you weren't going to talk anymore?" His voice was low, with an almost cruel calm, his gaze fixed on her forced pouting lips.

"Let me hear your answer to how you're going to shut up."

---

Zhou Suisui lay in the room, finally finding some peace and quiet. Being with Chen Boxu felt like she had been through three days of final exams.

Too tired.

He could always make her angry very easily, and then make her forgive him just as quickly.

After dinner, he told her to go back to her room and wait for him. Zhou Suisui thought back on everything that had happened that day, her feelings were complicated.

She wanted to get rid of the feeling of irritability, so she got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower. She enjoyed a nice bath, changed her clothes, and went back to bed.

"Are you going to sleep? Or are you waiting for Chen Boxu?" Cheng Fang's words suddenly echoed in my mind: "Don't go to sleep early? Do a good deed every day?"

She wanted to see what kind of nonsense he could come up with. Zhou Suisui's mind was in turmoil, so she simply opened WeChat to chat with Liu Weiwei, scrolling through short videos and aimlessly browsing through things she liked.

Time passed by, minute by minute.

Damn it! Cheng Fang must be lying to her! She's such an idiot for actually believing him.

Suddenly, my phone rang.

Zhou Suisui quickly looked at it and saw it was a voice message from Cheng Fang, followed by a message:

[catch.]

She hesitated for a few seconds, but still pressed the call button.

She could faintly hear laughter and conversation coming from the other end of the receiver, and a strange tightness gripped her heart, a sense of unease rising within her.

"Hey, Cheng Fang, what do you want to say?"

There was no response from the other end; where was he?

A moment later, Cheng Fang's voice came through the receiver, a little soft, but still audible:

"Hey, Cheng Fang, what do you want to say?"

There was no response from the other end; where was he?

A moment later, Cheng Fang's voice came through the receiver, a little soft, but still audible:

"Bo Xu... My old man asked me if you're planning to settle down."

"without."

A familiar voice rang out; it was Chen Boxu.

Are they together now?

Zhou Suisui's breath hitched, and her fingers instinctively tightened around her phone.

The background noise on the other end of the phone was loud, and another voice broke in, sounding like Old Wu, with a rather loud voice:

"Haha, it's no wonder Uncle Cheng is overthinking it. He only sees Lin Xiao by your side these past few years, and the old man thinks you've settled down and are going to start a family. He's quite envious."

Chen Boxu's voice rang out, not loud, and slightly distorted by the electricity, but its indifference and calmness were exceptionally clear: "I have no such intention."

He paused, then added:

"I will not marry Lin Xiao."

The other end of the phone went silent instantly.

Zhou Suisui relaxed a little and pressed her ear even closer to the phone.

Cheng Fang seemed to chuckle softly, and then his voice rang out again, this time clearer:

"Then... what about Zhou Suisui?"

This silence lasted longer than any before.

Zhou Suisui could even hear her own heart pounding in her ears.

Immediately afterwards, a very short sneer came through the receiver from Chen Boxu.

"Zhou Suisui?" He repeated the name, his voice carrying undisguised disdain, "Something to kill time."

These words were like ice water poured over her head. Zhou Suisui's fingers tightened around her phone, and a bitter feeling spread through her heart.

pain.

But I am very clear-headed.

A lazy, teasing laugh came faintly from the other end of the phone: "Bo Xu, those words are really hurtful."

Chen Boxu's voice rang out again, deeper than before, the deliberate disdain gone, leaving only a calm, factual statement:

"Did I say something wrong?" His tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable air of authority. "Every penny she spends now, every place she lives in, is given to her by me."

After a brief pause, he added that almost cold-blooded conclusion, which seemed more like a statement he was making to himself:

"Those I raise are naturally under my jurisdiction. As for the others," he lowered his voice, "I haven't thought about it."

A slight clinking sound came from the other end of the phone, like the sound of a wine glass being put down.

Then, Lin Shen's voice, clearly surprised, rang out. It wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the sudden silence:

"...Damn, Bo Xu, I thought you really liked her."

There was another brief silence on the phone.

Zhou Suisui's knuckles turned slightly white as she gripped her phone. She didn't want to listen anymore, but she couldn't.

Then, Chen Boxu's voice rang out again, still calm and without any discernible emotion, only slightly more somber than before:

"A little," he admitted readily, but his voice lacked warmth, as if assessing the quality of an item. "But..."

His voice trailed off, carrying a cold indifference that seemed to sever all ties:

That's all.