It was the last exam of the final term, and everyone in the dormitory was up by 6 AM.
"Zhen Bao, who's picking you up today?" Qian LeLe asked while putting on makeup.
"Who else could it be but Fu Ming Shi?" Jia Xiao Yu answered without hesitation as she walked out of the bathroom.
Zhen Bao silently agreed.
"You two are so great together. His family already approves of you, and he treats you like a princess. As your auntie, I feel at ease leaving you with him," Qian LeLe said enviously.
The wealthy and handsome Fu Ming Shi...
Zhen Bao smiled and lowered her head, double checking the items in her bag as a final preparation.
After getting ready, the four roommates went out together. As Zhen Bao reached the door, she happened to bump into Feng Yue and her roommates. Zhen Bao couldn't help but glance at Feng Yue, but Feng Yue acted as if she didn't see her. She breezily walked past with her arm hooked around another girl, not acknowledging anyone.
Zhen Bao retracted her gaze, her heart relatively calm. She couldn't fulfill Feng Yue's request, so it was understandable that Feng Yue chose to cut ties. Zhen Bao wouldn't beg her to stay friends.
"Did you and Feng Yue have a fight?" Nothing escapes the keen eyes of girls about subtle tensions between their friends. As usual, Jia Xiao Yu hooked her arm around Zhen Bao's and whispered the question as they walked towards the stairwell.
Zhen Bao shook her head. "No fight, just a little misunderstanding." She didn't want to say more about her and Feng Yue's strained relationship.
Jia Xiao Yu snorted lightly. "You're so even-tempered, Feng Yue must have provoked you. She still dared to give you the cold shoulder. Zhen Bao, just ignore her from now on and let her stew in her own juices."
Zhen Bao gave a wry smile.
Once in the exam hall, Zhen Bao used every minute to cram. She only put away her notes 3 minutes before the exam started.
After the exam ended, some students directly went home while Zhen Bao first returned to her dorm. On the way, she received a call from Fu Ming Shi saying he was stuck in traffic and would arrive in about half an hour. With the dorm building empty, Zhen Bao had nothing to do by herself and tidied up some items before heading to the school gate to wait for Fu Ming Shi.
After waiting by the roadside for 10 minutes, she saw Feng Yue dragging a red suitcase out of the building, the wheels rumbling over the ground. With the awkward relations between them now, Zhen Bao only glanced at her before turning her face back towards the direction Fu Ming Shi would come from, scanning for any sign of him. Therefore, she didn't notice the hateful look Feng Yue threw her way.
After another 10 minute wait, Fu Ming Shi finally arrived.
Seeing the familiar car, Zhen Bao smiled and jogged over.
"So happy?" Fu Ming Shi's gaze never left her after being apart for over half a month and immediately seeing her smile upon his arrival.
He looked at her with restrained yet smoldering eyes. Zhen Bao lowered her head to buckle her seatbelt and softly asked, "Don't you still have work this afternoon?"
Since there were many students around, Fu Ming Shi suppressed his urge to kiss her right away and drove the car out first. "No need. We'll go back to the villa first, eat lunch, then set off."
"Where to?" Zhen Bao looked at him in puzzlement.
Fu Ming Shi's lips quirked up as he kept his eyes on the road. "You just finished an exam. Soaking in a hot spring is the best way to unwind and rejuvenate."
Zhen Bao's heart thumped erratically. She had forgotten about the hot spring after cramming for half a month.
Fu Ming Shi glanced at her a few times. He deliberately asked, "Why do you always blush when hot springs are mentioned?"
Zhen Bao turned her head towards the window, touching her cheek with her left hand as she desperately tried to find an excuse. "It's a bit hot in the car."
Fu Ming Shi smiled, his voice dipping lower. "I thought you were..."
He left the implication hanging heavily in the air.
Zhen Bao's face grew even warmer, feeling flustered inside. She had never soaked in a hot spring before and couldn't imagine what it would be like. Fu Ming Shi said they would soak separately, so he probably wouldn't see her in a swimsuit right? But some online information showed mixed gender pools too.
However, Zhen Bao didn't dare ask Fu Ming Shi which type of pool he had chosen.
~
After lunch, Zhen Bao carried her bag and got into Fu Ming Shi's Maserati.
After driving for two hours, the car slowly pulled into a villa area with traditional Chinese architecture. Zhen Bao curiously took in the surroundings until the car stopped in front of a white-walled, black-tiled courtyard with two stone lions guarding the entrance.
Fu Ming Shi unbuckled his seatbelt. "We're here."
Zhen Bao blankly got out of the car.
The villa butler took their luggage while Fu Ming Shi held Zhen Bao's hand to tour the courtyard. Near a man-made hill, Fu Ming Shi pointed and told Zhen Bao, "There's a pool here. You can soak in it if you like."
Zhen Bao was too shy to be outside.
After looking around, Fu Ming Shi brought her inside the villa. The two-story building had an ornate, antique indoor hot spring chamber on the west side of the first floor. The pool was even bigger than a university lecture hall, with clear water and a round pool-within-a-pool about 10 square meters in the center.
"Which pool do you pick?" Fu Ming Shi stood beside Zhen Bao with his hands in his pockets, smiling lightly as he asked.
Zhen Bao bit her lip. "The one outside," she said softly.
Since this pool was so big, Fu Ming Shi could swim in it. As a guest, she should use the pool by the artificial hill. The hill was cleverly designed to conceal the inside from external view.
Fu Ming Shi looked mildly surprised. His gaze met Zhen Bao's as he pointed to the central smaller pool. "I thought you would choose that one."
Zhen Bao lowered her head. "I can't swim. Using such a big pool would be wasteful."
Fu Ming Shi's eyes flashed with amusement. He bent down to look at her flushed face. "Did you misunderstand?"
Zhen Bao blankly lifted her head. Misunderstand what?
Fu Ming Shi gestured to the side. "The round one is the small pool. The rectangular is the big pool. I'm letting you pick one here."
Zhen Bao's cheeks blazed with embarrassment as she grasped Fu Ming Shi's meaning. She stammered, "You, you said we would soak separately?"
"Is this not separate?" Unable to resist, Fu Ming Shi pulled the adorable fiancée into his arms and kissed her ear. "Silly girl, soaking in hot springs can cause dizziness. For safety, people usually soak together in pairs at least. Since this is your first time, you need to be extra careful."
Zhen Bao buried her face against his chest, even her ears turning red. Just imagining having to face him in a swimsuit made her nervous.
"You'll get used to it sooner or later, like when we go to the beach next year." Fu Ming Shi's chin rested on her head as he seduced in a low voice.
Zhen Bao didn't make a sound.
Fu Ming Shi's voice lifted up teasingly. "Worried my self-control is too poor?"
Zhen Bao slowly shook her head. She knew he wasn't the rash type.
Fu Ming Shi's Adam's apple bobbed. "Then it's settled like this?"
Zhen Bao secretly eyed the big pool next to them. After hesitating for dozens of seconds, she nodded.
