Chapter 14 The Supermarket Moment
Shen Xiuming drove me to the supermarket to buy ingredients for dinner.
At the checkout, my eyes landed on those small square boxes lined up beside the counter. My cheeks instantly burned.
I nudged Shen Xiuming. He was busy paying and didn’t react.
Did he already have some at home?
But he told me this was his first relationship. How could he possibly have them?
If we didn’t buy any now, and later—after drinks, good food, the mood rising, everything unstoppable—we realized there was nothing, that would be so much more awkward.
So I reached out boldly, grabbed a few boxes, and tossed them straight into his basket.
Then I declared with fake bravado, “Pay for everything together!”
Shen Xiuming thought I had thrown in some chewing gum. He reached in to check what flavor I liked so he could buy it for me next time he came alone—
Until he saw exactly what it was. The pale skin on his face flushed crimson in an instant.
“Cen Cen, you…” He pressed his lips together, fished the small boxes out, and quietly placed them back on the shelf.
“Why not buy them? Do you already have some at home?” I asked.
His face was so red it looked like it might bleed. Even his eyelids had turned pink, and his Adam’s apple bobbed hard.
“No. I don’t.”
“Then why put them back?”
“You picked the small size.”
I: ……
I grabbed the larger size instead. Bought them.
We went to Shen Xiuming’s place and cooked dinner.
I hugged him from behind while he wore an apron. I kissed him.
We curled up on the sofa and watched a movie.
In the end, he told me to sleep in his room while he took the living room sofa.
I stared at him. “Wait, Shen Xiuming, what does that mean!”
He patted my head gently. “Before you graduate, we should keep our relationship pure. Didn’t you say it yourself—one day as a teacher, a lifetime as—”
I slapped my hand over his mouth. “Okay, okay. I get it.”
Shen Xiuming had both the boldness and curiosity of someone younger, yet also the old-fashioned restraint of someone older.
Just like how he dared to start an online romance that shocked everyone, but the way he held back now told me he was in it for real.
And that was exactly why I loved him so damn much.
That night, I slept without dreams.
The next morning, Shen Xiuming woke me up early for a run.
Ever since we got together, I stayed up late much less. My body felt stronger than ever.
We jogged along the river until we reached a breakfast shop near his place.
Shen Xiuming said he had been eating at this shop for decades—ever since he was a kid, his mother used to bring him here.
It was the first time I heard him mention his parents. I opened my mouth, ready to ask more—
Suddenly a man in his fifties or sixties burst into the shop. The moment he saw Shen Xiuming, he charged straight over.
“You brat, if you don’t save your sister—”
The man glanced at me, then whipped out his phone and snapped photos right in my face.
“I’ll expose you for messing around with your own student! I’ll make sure you can never show your face at school again!”