Chapter 15 Jealousy

Chapter 15: Getting Jealous

Monday morning, Lin Xishan arrived promptly at Professor Chen's office door.

Professor Chen's office was on the top floor of the School of Economics building, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the entire campus.

Hearing the knock, Professor Chen looked up from a pile of papers, pushing his reading glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Xiao Lin, you're here? Perfect timing—the project team is all here. Let me introduce you."

"Sure, thank you for your trouble."

With that, Lin Xishan followed Professor Chen into the small meeting room next door.

Four people were seated in the conference room—two men and two women, all looking like graduate students.

When they saw Professor Chen enter, they stood up one after another to greet him, their curious and appraising gazes landing on Lin Xishan.

"This is Lin Xishan, a sophomore from the Business School," Professor Chen introduced. "I mentioned him to you before—our new research assistant."

A female student wearing round glasses was the first to extend her hand. "Hi, I'm Shen Zhiyi, second-year master's student in Economics and Management, mainly in charge of data analysis."

"Hello, senior," Lin Xishan said with a sweet, obedient smile—the mask he habitually wore in front of others.

"I know you," Shen Zhiyi smiled. "I saw you helping Professor Chen organize materials in the library last time. You were very quick and neat."

The others introduced themselves in turn.

Professor Chen's project was an investment analysis of the new energy vehicle industry chain, and Lin Xishan's work was assigned to the data analysis section.

"The workload is substantial, but I know you can handle it," Professor Chen said, patting his shoulder. "If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask Shen Zhiyi. She's been on this project for two months already."

Lin Xishan nodded. "Got it, Professor."

The first day's project meeting ran from nine to noon. Professor Chen spoke quickly, jumping from topic to topic, and his standards for data were almost impossibly strict.

Lin Xishan listened while taking notes, covering seven or eight pages with cramped, dense handwriting.

After the meeting, Shen Zhiyi called out to him. "Xiao Lin, want to grab lunch together? I'll run through the data processing process with you."

"Sure, thanks, senior." Lin Xishan stuffed his notebook into his backpack, then, as a matter of course, picked up Shen Zhiyi's canvas bag for her.

The two found a corner seat in the cafeteria, and Shen Zhiyi pulled out her laptop and began walking him through the process step by step.

Lin Xishan ate while listening, occasionally asking questions—each one right on point.

When Shen Zhiyi finished, she closed her folder and looked at him. "Have you done similar work before?"

"No, this is my first time," Lin Xishan said honestly.

"Then you're a fast learner." Shen Zhiyi paused. "Professor Chen rarely brings undergraduates onto his projects. You're the first."

Lin Xishan took a sip from his soup bowl and smiled modestly. "Just lucky, that's all."

It wasn't luck, actually—it was all part of his careful scheming. But there was no need to tell the senior across from him that.

After lunch, Lin Xishan attended two classes, then returned to the desk Professor Chen had arranged for him and began processing the first batch of data.

At four in the afternoon, his phone buzzed.

Lin Xishan glanced at the screen, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. It was a message from Pei Zhi checking up on him.

He typed back with one hand: "At work. What's up, boss?"

"Pei Zhi: Can't I just ask?"

"Lin Xishan: Of course you can. Always at your service."

A few seconds of silence passed before he replied.

"Pei Zhi: What time do you get off?"

"Lin Xishan: It's my first day, so I'll probably be here until seven or eight. Why?"

"Pei Zhi: Nothing."

"Pei Zhi: You're busy."

Lin Xishan stared at those two words—"you're busy"—for a while. No matter how he read it, it sounded more like "why aren't you paying attention to me?"

Over the next few days, Pei Zhi's "checking up" maintained a frequency of once a day.

Tuesday afternoon, Lin Xishan was organizing data when his phone buzzed.

"Pei Zhi: Have you eaten?"

"Lin Xishan: Not yet, got something on my plate."

"Pei Zhi: Go eat."

"Lin Xishan: Got it."

Wednesday night, Lin Xishan was working overtime at his desk until past nine, the only person left in the entire office.

He rubbed his sore, tired eyes and was about to pack up and leave when his phone lit up.

"Pei Zhi: Still not off work?"

Lin Xishan froze. He didn't remember telling Pei Zhi he was working late today.

"Lin Xishan: How did you know?"

"Pei Zhi: You usually text back around this time. Today you didn't."

Lin Xishan stared at that line of text, suddenly feeling something he couldn't quite put into words.

Pei Zhi was tracking what time he usually replied.

Isn't that a little too intimate?

Then again, this was his first time being someone's sugar baby. Maybe this was normal sugar daddy behavior?

With that thought, he carefully chose his words before replying.

"Lin Xishan: Just finished up. About to head out."

"Pei Zhi: Mm."

Lin Xishan stared at that message for two seconds, feeling like the other person had something to say but had held back.

Forget it. He was probably just overthinking things.

By Thursday, Lin Xishan had gotten to the point where his phone buzzed and he already knew who it was from without even checking.

After the afternoon project meeting, he saw three unread messages on his phone.

"Pei Zhi: You busy today?"

"Pei Zhi: I've got rehearsal tonight."

"Pei Zhi: Go ahead and work."

Three messages, each an hour apart, and reading them left Lin Xishan feeling a bit complicated.

It went from the tentative "You busy today?" to the report "I've got rehearsal tonight," and finally ended with the resigned "Go ahead and work."

Lin Xishan leaned against the hallway wall and read the three messages over twice.

This guy was clearly using "Go ahead and work" to cover up his expectations.

He could, of course, pretend not to notice—after all, even though the other guy had said he wanted Lin Xishan at his beck and call, he hadn't actually used that rule to pressure him yet.

And right now, he was busier than he'd ever been.

Every day was a blur of classes and Professor Chen's project team, so busy he barely had time to sleep.

But Lin Xishan thought about it and finally typed: "What time's the rehearsal? I'll head over after I'm done."

Pei Zhi replied right away: "Seven."

Then another message came right after: "No need to force yourself."

"Lin Xishan: No trouble. The Patron said I have to be at his beck and call, so how could I refuse?"

The other side was quiet for a long time.

So long that Lin Xishan thought he wasn't going to answer, and was about to lock his screen when a new message popped up:

"Pei Zhi: Don't call me that."

"Lin Xishan: Call you what? Patron?"

"Pei Zhi: ...Mm."

"Lin Xishan: That's too formal. Let me think... How about baby, sweetheart, or darling?"

"Pei Zhi: Piss off."

Lin Xishan stared at the "piss off" and could almost picture the look on Pei Zhi's face when he typed it.

He probably had a cold expression, but his ears were definitely bright red.

Damn, he kind of wanted to see that.

With that thought, he smiled and locked his phone.

At 7:40 in the evening, Lin Xishan showed up at the door of the rehearsal room Pei Zhi had sent him.

He thought for a moment, bought a carton of warm milk from a stall by the entrance, and tucked it into his coat before going in.

Well, after all, the other guy had "invested" a million in him, so this was the least he could do in return.

It definitely wasn't that he wanted to tease the other guy with the milk and see how he'd react.

Yeah, definitely not.

Lin Xishan used the code Pei Zhi had given him to enter the rehearsal room, and found only Pei Zhi inside.

He was holding a guitar, head bowed, plucking the strings.

Hearing the footsteps, Pei Zhi looked up and saw Lin Xishan. His expression stayed calm as he said, "You're here?"

But the string under his fingers hit a jarring note, and Pei Zhi stiffened a little.

Lin Xishan held back his laugh, walked over as if nothing had happened, and handed him the milk from his coat: "This is for you."

Pei Zhi glanced at the carton of milk. "I only drink coffee, not milk."

Lin Xishan sat down next to him. "Master Pei, it's eight at night. If you drink coffee, you won't sleep—are you trying to become immortal?"

Pei Zhi shot Lin Xishan a look, then took the milk. Instead of answering, he asked, "What time did you get off work today?"

"Seven," Lin Xishan said. "I could've left earlier, but Senior Sister Shen talked to me a bit longer about the project."

Pei Zhi's fingers paused on the milk carton, a hint of wariness creeping in. "Senior Sister Shen?"

"She's in the project group, a second-year master's student, mainly in charge of data analysis," Lin Xishan said casually. "She's really nice, taught me a lot."

Pei Zhi repeated his words: "Taught you a lot?"

Lin Xishan didn't catch the change in his tone and replied, "Yeah."

"Is she pretty?"

The question was blunt enough that even an idiot would catch the implication.

Lin Xishan turned to look at him. Pei Zhi's expression hadn't changed, but there was something in his eyes that Lin Xishan couldn't quite read.

"Pei Zhi, you're not jealous of a senior sister, are you?" Lin Xishan laughed.

"I'm not jealous." Pei Zhi's voice was stiff. "Just asking."

"Oh, just asking." Lin Xishan drew out the last syllable. "So, should I answer or not?"

Pei Zhi turned his head away, refusing to look at him. "Suit yourself."

Lin Xishan said honestly: "Well... Senior Sister Shen is indeed quite pretty, and she has great presence. She's already independently handling the data analysis module in her second year of her master's—she's very capable."

Pei Zhi's expression visibly turned cold.

Lin Xishan noticed the change in his expression, holding back a smile as he continued, "And she's really gentle, speaks softly, and working with her is very comfortable—"

"That's enough." Pei Zhi interrupted him.

Lin Xishan asked, knowing full well, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Pei Zhi picked the guitar back up, plucking at the strings a few times, the sound messy and all over the place, like his head was somewhere else.

Lin Xishan leaned off to the side, cocking his head to watch him.

The light came from the side, clearly tracing the lines of Pei Zhi's profile. A high-bridged nose, thin lips pressed together slightly, and stray strands of hair hanging down, covering half of one eye.

He really did have a good-looking face.

But Lin Xishan wasn't just noticing his face.

"Pei Zhi," Lin Xishan called out.

"Hm." Pei Zhi pursed his lips, not looking at him.

"Do you have something you want to say?"

Pei Zhi's fingers stopped.

He didn't look up, just stared at the guitar in his arms, silent for a few seconds. "No."

"Liar."

Pei Zhi finally looked up, meeting Lin Xishan's gaze, still digging his heels in: "I just wanted to check what you were up to."

"Oh, check." Lin Xishan deliberately nodded with an exaggerated look of realization. "I thought you were being jealous."