Andrew looked at the message and fell into a momentary silence.
He really didn't know how to reply to this.
After hesitating for a while, he quickly got up and returned the computer to Tony.
"I'm leaving. You guys have fun."
"So early? Why don't you stay for dinner?"
"No need."
After Andrew finished speaking, he left the dormitory and ran quickly towards the school gate.
From Scarlett's recent reply, he vaguely sensed that her mood seemed to be quite bad. He didn't dare to gamble on whether it was true, so he didn't dare to delay and immediately headed back.
After all, if Scarlett was angry, the consequences would be truly severe.
---
Meanwhile, inside the apartment, Scarlett had just hung up the phone. Covering her forehead with one hand, she lay in the study chair, feeling vexed.
Ding-dong!
The sound of the doorbell suddenly broke the silence in the room, reaching Scarlett's ears and making her open her eyes and sit up.
"How is he back so fast? It's quite a distance from school to here, right?"
Scarlett was puzzled by how quickly Andrew had returned, but she still suppressed the vexed emotion on her face, not wanting to reveal her bad mood to Andrew.
He is already quite scared of me. If I show impatience on my face, he'll probably be too scared to even enter the house.
After adjusting her mood, Scarlett opened the door.
Unexpectedly, Suzanne was standing outside.
The other person was holding two cups of milk tea and handed one to Scarlett: "Sister Scar, surprise!"
"..."
Scarlett showed no expression and gave no response, causing the smile on Suzanne's face to freeze, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
"Remember to take off your shoes when you come in."
Scarlett turned and walked into the room after speaking.
This reaction made Suzanne unable to help but complain, "I came to see you, you should at least react a little. This is quite disheartening."
Upon hearing this, Scarlett turned around and forced a very stiff, almost creepy smile, "Hehe."
"Is that better?"
"Forget it, forget it, that's a bit scary."
Suzanne waved her hands repeatedly and handed the milk tea to Scarlett, "Here, take it."
"No need. I don't want to drink it. You can take it back and drink it yourself."
"Ah? What's wrong with you? Did your family call you again?"
Suzanne had seen Scarlett hang up calls from her family several times at school. Back then, she realized Scarlett had some conflict with her family.
Because there were many eyes and ears at school, Suzanne had never asked the reason.
"Mm."
Scarlett responded coldly.
"What kind of conflict are you having with them that keeps you so unhappy?"
Suzanne followed alongside and inquired. Seeing that Scarlett didn't answer, she guessed again, "Marriage pressure?"
"Something like that."
Upon hearing this, Suzanne immediately expressed her support for Scarlett, "I support you on this. You absolutely cannot compromise when facing marriage pressure! This is about your entire life; you absolutely cannot be casual about it!"
These firm words made Scarlett unable to help but smile slightly, "I didn't expect that usually you're so carefree, but you're quite rational when it comes to marriage pressure."
"Of course! I even told my mom not to rush me into marriage. Maybe my future boyfriend is still in elementary school wiping his runny nose."
"You're actually thinking of an older woman eating young grass."
"I call it liking younger guys. Don't you know the younger and purer a man is, the easier he is to trick? I can tame him, make him obedient and shape him as I desire. Those older men have already been tainted by other bad women; their minds are long gone from being pure."
Suzanne started fantasizing about having a cute and handsome young boy as her Boyfriend while she spoke.
Scarlett listened and smiled without replying, but in her heart, she thought of Andrew. This Little Fellow is indeed quite pure, and already obedient, even a bit foolishly cute.
After accompanying Scarlett for a while, Suzanne left, and the room returned to being just Scarlett alone.
She picked up her phone, her fingers hovering over the screen as her mind replayed the argument with her parents. Their words echoed again and again, insistent, pressing, leaving her restless.
Should she really listen to them?
For a moment, she hesitated.
Marriage… was it truly something she needed to decide now? Or was she just being pushed into something she wasn't ready for?
Then, unexpectedly, Suzanne's words slipped into her thoughts.
A younger boyfriend… obedient, someone pure, easy to shape…
Scarlett couldn't help but recall Andrew.
That obedient, slightly foolish, yet undeniably sincere little fellow.
The thought made her lips curl faintly, but almost immediately, she shook her head.
"What am I even thinking…" she murmured softly.
This wasn't something to joke about. Suzanne might treat it lightly, but for her, this was her life.
With a quiet exhale, she forced those thoughts away, clearing her mind.
She didn't want to think anymore.
Turning around, she walked toward the kitchen, opened the cabinet, and took out a bottle of tequila. Pouring herself a glass, she leaned against the counter, hoping the burn of alcohol would soothe the turmoil in her heart.
Scarlett took a sip, put down the glass, and looked at the increasingly dark sky outside the window. She worried that it might rain on the way back for Andrew, so she sent him a message to ask.
"Where are you? Are you walking back?"
"Teacher, I'm almost there, about ten minutes."
Seeing that Andrew was about to arrive based on his reply, Scarlett didn't mention going to pick him up. Instead, she took the wine glass back to the living room and took another sip, then went to the bathroom to wash her face to clear her head.
---
At this moment, Andrew was pedaling a shared bicycle, desperately riding towards the apartment.
"Damn it! Why are there no ride-hailing cars around at this hour?"
Andrew complained, then sped up even more, "Faster, faster, my stupid legs, pedal faster!"
Scarlett's message just now made Andrew think he had done something that displeased her while he was in the room, urging him to come back. Thus, Andrew dared not delay at all; he was almost standing up to pedal the bike.
But riding a shared bicycle was truly tiring, "This little yellow bike is so broken. I'll never ride it again."
When Andrew arrived downstairs, he was already drenched in sweat. He didn't dare to rest or catch his breath, instead taking two steps at a time up the stairs.
As soon as he opened the door, panting heavily, he said, "Teacher... I'm back!"
Scarlett looked at Andrew's wet hair and clothes, with quite a few water droplets on his face, and assumed it had started raining outside.
"Is it raining outside again? Did you get caught in the rain coming back?"
"No! No!"
Andrew managed to say two words before he almost couldn't catch his breath. He quickly lowered his head and took several deep breaths.
Seeing Andrew's state, Scarlett knew his body was soaked in sweat and she was momentarily confused.
"If it's not raining outside, why are you in such a hurry?"
"No... No, didn't you urge me to come back?"
Andrew gasped, and then first apologized to Scarlett, "Scar... Teacher, if there is anything... anything I did that displeased you, just tell me... I'll correct it right away."
Hearing Andrew's words, Scarlett realized that he rushed back because he had interpreted her words as an urgent summons.
Scarlett looked back at the message she sent to Andrew, not finding any sense of urgency in it, so she asked Andrew if he was walking back.
Am I that scary?
Scarlett asked herself internally again. She looked at Andrew, who was still panting, and sighed slightly.
"Sit in the chair for a while first. I'll go get you a towel to wipe yourself down."
"Oh."
Andrew responded weakly and collapsed onto the chair with a thud.
His mouth dry and throat parched, he saw the cup on the table filled with "water." Without thinking twice, he picked it up and downed it in one gulp.
But after finishing it, he savored the taste and felt something was strange.
"Why is this water sweet? And a little spicy?"
Just then, Scarlett returned from the balcony with a towel.
Seeing Andrew holding the cup from the table, which was now empty, Scarlett's eyes widened. She quickly ran to Andrew, snatched the cup, and asked:
"You drank it all?!"
"Wh... What's wrong? I... I thought it was water."
"That's Tequila! Fifty percent alcohol! You drank this entire glass?!"